# This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago



## syscom3 (Dec 10, 2006)

*10 December 1941*

*SOUTH AMERICA*: USN PBY Catalinas of Patrol Squadron Fifty Two (VP 52) supported by seaplane tender (destroyer) USS _'Greene' _(AVD-13) and small seaplane tender USS _'Thrush' _(AVP-3), begin antisubmarine patrols over the south Atlantic from Natal, and thus inaugurate operations from Brazilian waters.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British General Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in- Chief Middle East Command, tells British Prime Minister Winston Churchill:


> "_Enemy is in full retreat_."


The siege of Tobruk is lifted after eight months as the Polish garrison breaks out of town early in the morning and joins other British Eighth Army forces in the Acroma area. A forward supply base is soon organized at Tobruk.


EDIT: *Contributions by members will be marked with name of the contributor in parenthesis, like this: (Njaco).*


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 10, 2006)

I will sticky this thread. I also have a really good book in German called the Day by Day Chronicals of WW2 as well as the Complete War diaries of the OKW so I will add to this thread whenever possible.


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## Hunter368 (Dec 12, 2006)

I like this idea, very cool guys.


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## syscom3 (Dec 13, 2006)

_Come on you guys..... start posting. I'm busy with the Pacific thread_




*12 December 1941
NORTH AFRICA*: 5 NZ Infantry Brigade starts the attack on Gazala.

A quote from one of the solidiers who had been through Greece and Crete. Sergeant Hargreaves,44 who was on the left flank of the advancing company, has also left a stirring account:


> ‘… So steady was the advance that the gunners could not range quickly enough with the result that the shells were bursting behind our line, though to me it seemed that several direct hits were made on the right flank but the boys came out of the smoke and dust still in line, never faltering. It was a magnificent sight to see that thin line moving steadily forward into a hail of lead, with shells of all sizes … bursting all around…. the fact that the ground was sandy saved more casualties…. One more dash brought us to within bayonet reach. We crossed the ground swiftly, some of the boys shouting encouragement to each other. From my position on the left flank, I could see our line, straight enough to bring joy to any bayonet instructor, stretching away to the right flank. Roaring “Forward!”, I came up ready for the final dash. It made the blood sing to see the boys leap forward, a steady line of gleaming steel backed by grim faces. Nothing short of death could stop them now.’


 _(posted by kiwi)_


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 13, 2006)

*13 December 1941*
*NORTH AMERICA*: The United States declares war on Germany and Italy. Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador soon follow.

*GERMANY*: Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slowakia announce they are at war with the US and England with Germany. Romania and Hungary declare war on the USA.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Paris the Germans begin searching door to door for Jewish residents.


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## syscom3 (Dec 13, 2006)

*13 December 1941*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Red Army launches a counter-offensive from the Kalinin area toward besieged Leningrad. German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte evacuate Tula.

*NORTH AFRICA*: XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, opens an attack on the German's Gazala line and meet firm resistance. Both sides suffer heavy losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: On 11 December, the British destroyers HMS _'Legion' _(G 74), Maori F 24) and _'Sikh' _(F 82) and the Dutch destroyer _'Isaac Sweers' _leaves Gibraltar for the Eastern Mediterranean. During the night, they receive a radio message from a patrolling RAF Wellington about two Italian light cruiser steaming southwards. These ships are carrying a cargo of fuel for German forces in North The destroyers steam at 30 knots through the Skerki-channel and spot several light flashes and vague silhouettes near Cape Bon, Tunisia, at about 0200 hours. The flotilla rounds the Cape and sights the two approaching Italian light cruisers R.N. _'Alberto da Barbiano' _and _'Alberico di Giussano'_. HMS _'Sikh' _is leading the group, then HMS _'Legion'_, HMS _'Maori' _and finally HNMS _'Isaac Sweers'_. Two of the four fire torpedoes; topredoes from HMS _'Sikh' _strike the first cruiser, which is also hit by one torpedo of and gunfire from HMS Legion and another torpedo from HMS _'Maori'_. The cruiser is ablaze and quickly starts to sink. The second cruiser opens fire but misses and is then sunk by one torpedo from HMS _'Legion' _and the concentrated gunfire by all destroyers. HNMS _'Isaac Sweers' _then encounters the Italian torpedo boat _'Cigno'_, which is attacked by gunfire and missed with four torpedoes. The destroyer reports also the sinking of an Italian motor torpedo boat, but this is not confirmed by the Italian Admiralty. The Allied destroyers arrive at Malta on 13 December.

In the Ionian Sea, the Italians begin a major convoy to Benghazi, Libya, using their main fleet, with battleships, as escort. Two of the transports are sunk today by the British submarine HMS/M _'Upright' _(N 89) about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) east-southeast of the Italian naval base at Taranto, Italy, in position 40.10N, 18.00E.


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## syscom3 (Dec 14, 2006)

*14 December 1941

EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 114th Division attacks in the Svir sectorin Finland and takes the village of Gora. Battles continue for nearly a month.

German forces evacuate Kalinin 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Moscow.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: While escorting a troop convoy, the Italian battleship R.N. _'Vittorio Veneto' _is torpedoed by the British submarine HMS/M _'Urge' _(N 17) about 17 nautical miles (32 kilometers) south-southwest of Messina, Sicily, in position 37.53N, 15.29E. The convoy is recalled and the battleship returns to base for repairs.

While escorting a convoy, the British light cruiser HMS _'Galatea' _(71) is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine _'U-557' _about 36 nautical miles (67 kilometers) west of Alexandria, Egypt, in position 31.17N, 29.13E. Four hundred sixty nine of the crew are lost and about 100 survivors are picked up by two destroyers. (Jack McKillop)


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## syscom3 (Dec 15, 2006)

*15 December 1941

ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine 'U-127' is sunk about 170 nautical miles (315 kilometers) west-northwest of the Tangier Zone in position 36.28N, 09.12W, by depth charges from the Australian destroyer HMAS 'Nestor' (G 02) which is escorting the 32 ships in convoy HG-76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); all 51 crewmen are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: On the central front north of Moscow, the Red Army takes Klin, on the rail line to Leningrad.
*
NORTH AFRICA*: The Government in Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Hungary and Romania.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A British supply convoy bound for Malta leaves Alexandria.


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## syscom3 (Dec 16, 2006)

*16 December 1941

NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel begins the withdrawal from Gazala to El Agheila. A second Italian supply convoy for Rommel sails from Italy. Covered by 4 battleships, 5 cruisers and 21 destroyers, this convoy is commanded by Admiral Iachino.


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## syscom3 (Dec 17, 2006)

*17 December 1941

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-131' _is sunk about 191 nautical miles (353 kilometers) east-northeast of the Madeira Islands in position 34.12N, 13.35W, by depth charges and gunfire from the British destroyers HMS _'Exmoor' _(L 08 ), _'Blankney' _(L 30) and _'Stanley' _(I 73), the corvette HMS _'Pentstemon' _(K 61) and the sloop HMS _'Stork' _(L 81), and by depth charges from a British (F4F) Martlet of No. 802 Squadron in the escort carrier HMS _'Audacity' _(D 10) all of which are escorting the convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); all 47 U-boat crewmen are lost. HMS _'Stanley'_ is the former USN destroyer USS _'McCalla' _(DD-253) which was commissioned as HMS _'Stanley' _(I-73) on 23 October 1940, as part of the destroyers-for-bases deal.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the Crimea, German attacks by the 54.Korps of the German Heeresgruppe Sud begin against the city of Sevastopol despite continuing Soviet offensives in other areas.

The Soviet submarine _'M-59' _is sunk by depth charge by Romanian destroyer _'Ferdinand'_ in the Black Sea.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Yesterday, a large Italian convoy left Naples, Italy, and by the time it had reached Sicily, it was escorted by the battleship R.N. _'Caio Duilio'_, the light cruisers R.N. _'Emanuele Filiberto Duca'd'Aosta'_, _'Raimondo Montecuccoli' _and _'Muzio Attendolo' _and a few destroyers. Not too far away, a second group, composed of the battleships R.N. _'Littorio'_, _'Andrea Doria' _and _'Giulio Cesare'_, the heavy cruisers R.N. _'Trento' _and _'Gorizia' _and several destroyers, provided additional support. Such a display of force is unnecessarily caused by the mistaken spotting of two British battleships in Malta. Today, a Luftwaffe reconnaissance plane spots a British formation proceeding from Alexandria, Egypt, toward the central Mediterranean. A battleship, identified as part of the group, is actually a tanker, but the faulty identification is repeated several times. During the day British naval Force K, composed of the light cruisers HMS _'Neptune' _(20), _'Aurora' _(12), _'Penelope' _(97) and destroyers HMS _'Kandahar' _(F 28 ), _'Lance' _(G 87), _'Lively' _(G 40) and _'Havock' _(H 43), joins Admiral Vian's Force B from Alexandria. Tonight this British force meets the Italian convoy escort. The action, the *First Battle of Sirte*, is spent protecting the convoy and is therefore indecisive. Both navies are simply escorting their convoys, but each thinks of the other as in pursuit of a naval engagement. The British are actually trying a double convoy attempt, one eastbound and one westbound. While the British commander Admiral Cunningham orders the convoy commander Admiral Sir Philip Vian to avoid direct contact, Italian Admiral Angelo Iachino was in active pursuit of a direct confrontation. The distance between the two groups, and some British avoidance maneuvers, did not allow the battleship R.N. _'Littorio' _group to sight the British until almost dusk. The sighting is aided by the antiaircraft guns of the British forces which are actively trying to repulse an Axis aerial attack. The _'Littorio' _opens fire at about 32 kilometers (17.3 nautical miles) from the British force; too far a distance for the British unit to reply. Admiral Vian immediately attempts a retreating maneuver with the aid of a smoke screen. British units receive some direct hits, but they were able to disappear into the darkness of the night. The British ships run into a newly-laid Italian minefield; the light cruiser HMS _'Neptune' _(20) hits four mines and is sunk and there is only one survivor from a crew of 767 and the destroyer HMS _'Kandahar _is sunk but all of her crew are taken off first. The light cruiser HMS Aurora is badly damaged and destroyer HMS _'Penelope' _is slightly damaged.

The Government of Albania declares war on the U.S.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Major General James E Chaney, Chief Special Observer Group, U.S. Army (SPOBS), writes to the Adjutant General, U.S. Army on the "Construction Program of U.S. Forces in UK," which indicates a shortage of accommodations for proposed U.S. forces in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.


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## syscom3 (Dec 18, 2006)

*18 December 1941
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-434' _is sunk about 225 nautical miles (416 kilometers) north-northwest of the Madeira Islands in position 36.15N, 15.48W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS _'Blankney' _(L30) and _'Stanley' _(I73) which are escorting Convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); 42 of the 44 crewmen survive.

The first German submarine involved in Unternehmen *DRUMBEAT *(Paukenschlag) , _'U-125'_, sails from Lorient. Unternehmen *DRUMBEAT *is an attack on shipping along the North American coast by five U-boats. 

*GERMANY*: Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, Commander in Chief of the Army, resigns his post due to ill health .

*NORTH AMERICA*: Censorship is imposed with the passage of the first American War Powers Act. This act is passed by Congress, authorizing the president to initiate and terminate defense contracts, reconfigure government agencies for wartime priorities, and regulate the freezing of foreign assets. It also permits him to censor all communications coming in and leaving the country. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints the executive news director of the Associated Press, Byron Price, as director of censorship. Although invested with the awesome power to restrict and withhold news, Price takes no extreme measures, allowing news outlets and radio stations to self-censor, which they do. Most top secret information, including the construction of the atom bomb, remains just that. The most extreme use of the censorship law seems to have been President Roosevelt signs Executive Order No. 8984 that provides that the Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet will take supreme command of the operating forces of all Navy fleets and coastal frontier commands, and be directly responsible to the President.The State Department announces that Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne and Admiral Georges Robert, French High Commissioner at Martinique, French West Indies, have reached an agreement neutralizing French Caribbean possessions.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb Brest and the crews reported that, at long last, the German battleship _'Gneisenau'_, still harbored in the port, is hit during an attack by 47 aircraft.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2006)

*19 December 1941

ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The British destroyer HMS _'Stanley' _[I 73, ex-USN USS '_McCalla_' (DD-253)] is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-574' _about 336 nautical miles (622 kilometers) north of the Madeira Islands in position 38.12N, 17.23W. _'Stanley' _is escorting about 30 ships in convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); only 25 of her 161 man crew survive. Within 12-minutes, _'U-574' _is sunk by ramming and depth charges from another escort, the British sloop HMS _'Stork' _(U 81); 16 of the 44 crewmen on the sub survive.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans continue their attack on Sevastopol, while the Soviets bring 14,000 men and supplies into the area as reinforcements.

*GERMANY*: With the retirement of Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch as Commander in Chief of the Army yesterday, Chancellor Adolf Hitler himself assumes personal command of the Army, especially of its operations on the Eastern front. Initial success leads Hitler to a hypnotic belief in his ability. When the success turns, Hitler remains convinced and therefore believes that the efforts of others is at fault.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: While on their way to intercept an Italian convoy bound for Tripoli the British Force K [light cruisers HMS _'Neptune' _(20), _'Aurora'_(12), _'Penelope' _(97) and the destroyers HMS _'Kandahar' _(F 28 ), _'Lance' _(G 87), _'Lively' _(G 40) and _'Havock' _(H 43)] run into a newly laid Italian minefield. HMS _'Neptune' _sinks while HMS _'Aurora' _and _'Kandahar' _are badly damaged and HMS _'Penelope' _is lightly damaged. HMS _'Aurora' _is patched up at Malta before returning home for repairs at Liverpool from April to June 1942. HMS _'Penelope' _is repaired at Malta but is bombed on 26 March 1942 while still under repair. She leaves Malta on 8 April 1942 for full repairs at the New York Navy Yard in the U.S. These repairs are completed in September 1942.

*NORTH AFRICA*: During the night of 18/19 December, the Italian submarine R. Smg. Scir launches three SLC (Slow Moving Torpedo) human torpedoes off the British naval base at Alexandria. The SLCs are a 21-inch (53 centimeter) torpedo fitted with an electric motor powered by batteries with an explosive charge in the detachable head. The weapon is manned by two operators using breathing apparatus. After release the SLCs, the submarine returns to La Spezia, Italy. Anticipating the return of the British Force B to Alexandria, the harbor nets are left open allowing the three SLCs to slip in and direct their weapons toward the designated targets. Since the expected aircraft carrier HMS _'Eagle' _(94) is no longer in the harbor, the three attach their explosive charges to the battleships HMS _'Valiant' _(02) and _'Queen Elizabeth' _(00) and the large tanker SS _'Sagona'_. Two Italian frogmen are captured, Lieutenants Luigi Durand de la Penne and Bianchi. They refuse to divulge any information until moments before the explosion (because they are being interrogated right above the area of the keel where the explosion is to occur). At 0600 hours local, the first charge detonates under the tanker SS _'Sagona' _and badly damages both the tanker and the destroyer HMS _'Jervis' _(F 00), which is moored alongside for refueling. The charge under HMS _'Valiant' _detonates at 0620 hours, and the one under HMS _'Queen Elizabeth' _at 0624 hours. The depth of water is 15 to 50 feet (4,6 to 15 meters) and the charges weighed about 300 kilograms (661 pounds). Both battleships were severely damaged and remained out of the war for a period of time. The Italians are interned in a POW camp for the rest of the war. This attack, which neutralizes the ability of the British to oppose the Italian Regia Marina with its battleships, allows deeply needed convoys to supply Axis forces in Africa. Additionally, de la Penne and Bianchi are awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valour in 1945 by Vice-Admiral Charles Morgan, the _'Valiant's' _skipper at the time.

Axis forces continue their retreat in Cyrenaica. The XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, continues to follow the withdrawing Axis forces, the Indian 4th Division advancing along the coast to Derna and the British 7th Armoured Division across the desert. Dictator Benito Mussolini requests German assistance for his hard-pressed troops in the Cyrenaica region of Libya in the form of a Panzer Division and various logistical support.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Selective Service (draft) Act is amended requiring the registration of all males 18-64. The age for those subject to military service is 20-44. Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command, recommends to the War Department to round up


> "all alien subjects 14 years of age or over, of enemy nations and remove them to the Zone of the Interior (ZI),"


 because the West Coast had become a wartime Theater of Operations. DeWitt also writes,


> "..._that there are approximately 40,000 of such enemy aliens and it is believed that they constitute an immediate and potential menace to vital measures of defense_."


....Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs relieves Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.

The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1942 is graduated early, due to the National Emergency.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: Colombia breaks relations with Germany and Italy; Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with Hungary and Nicaragua declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.


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## syscom3 (Dec 21, 2006)

*21 December 1941

ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine _'U-751' _puts three torpedoes into British escort aircraft carrier HMS _'Audacity' _(D 10) causing her to sink about 441 nautical miles (817 kilometers) northeast of Lagens Field, Azores Islands, in position 43.45N, 19.54W. In the general counter-attack, German submarine _'U-567' _is detected and sunk by depth charges from the British sloop HMS _'Deptford _'(U 53) and corvette HMS _'Samphire' _(K 128 ) about 444 nautical miles (822 kilometers) northeast of Lagens Field in position 44.02N, 20.10W; all 47 crewmen on the U-boat are lost. All of the British vessels are escorting convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.).

German submarine _'U-451' _is sunk about 18 nautical miles (33 kilometers) west-northwest of the Tangier Zone in position 35.55N, 06.08W, by depth charges from a British Fleet Air Arm Swordfish Mk. I, aircraft of No. 812 Squadron based at Gibraltar. The Swordfish is equipped with air-to-surface vessel (ASV) radar. This is the first submarine to be destroyed by an aircraft at night. Only one of the 45 man crew in the U-boat survives.

The USN light cruiser USS _'Omaha' _(CL-4) and destroyer USS _'Somers' _(DD-381), operating out of Recife, Brazil, encounter a darkened ship that acts suspicious and evasive when challenged. USS _'Omaha' _fires a starshell and illuminates the stranger; USS _'Somers' _sends an armed boarding party that learns that the merchantman nearly fired upon is the Soviet freighter SS _'Nevastroi'_.

*GERMANY*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler issues a proclamation to the armed forces after taking over as Commander-in- Chief of the Army, saying,


> "_After fifteen years of work I have achieved, as a common German soldier and merely with my fanatical will-power, the unity of the German nation, and have freed it from the death sentence of Versailles."_


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## syscom3 (Dec 23, 2006)

*23 December 1941

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *The second German submarine involved in Operation Drumbeat, _'U-123'_, sets sail from Lorient for North America.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The outer ring of Russian forts around Sevastopol is finally captured by the Germans.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine _'U-79' _is sunk about 69 nautical miles (129 kilometers) east of Tobruk, Libya, in position 32.15N, 25.19E,, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS _'Hasty' _(H 24) and _'Hotspur' _(H 01); all 44 crewmen survive.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Because of supply difficulties, which increase as pursuit progresses westward, elements of XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, are forced to remain in place. However, the Indian 4th Division seizes Barce, on the coast, and forward elements of the 7th Armoured Division force the Germans to retire from Antelat to Agedabia.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Free French forces seize control of the colony of St. Pierre and Miquelon, two islands off the coast of Newfoundland. These islands had been governed by pro-Vichy French officials.


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## syscom3 (Dec 24, 2006)

*24 December 1941

ATLANTIC OCEAN: * The third German submarine involved in Operation Drumbeat, _'U-66'_, sets sail from Lorient for North America.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine _'U-568' _torpedoes and sinks the British corvette HMS _'Salvia' _(K 97) about 104 nautical miles (193 kilometers) west-northwest of Alexandria, Egypt, in position 31.46N, 28.00E. All 106 crewmen on the corvette are killed.

*NORTH AFRICA*: A detachment of the 7th Armoured Division, XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, enters Benghazi and finds that the Germans have withdrawn.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USN commissions the light cruiser USS _'Atlanta'_(CL-51) at the New York, New York Naval Shipyard. The USN now has 20 light cruisers in commission.

Free French Naval Forces take possession of the two islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the south coast of Newfoundland without firing a shot. A strong protest is lodged by U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull but after several weeks of bickering between U.S., Canadian and British diplomats and "the so called Free French" as Hull describes them the coup remains a fait accompli.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Avro Lancaster Mk. I enters service with No. 44 Squadron at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, England. The Lancaster does not make its operational debut until 3 March 1942.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2006)

*25 December 1941

EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet winter offensives continue to gain ground. The Germans have lost significant strength at approximately 75 percent of their June strength. Guderian has less than 40 panzers available.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British 8th Army enters Benghazi and Agedabia.


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## syscom3 (Dec 26, 2006)

*26 December 1941
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: British submarine HMS/M H-31 (N 31) sailed from Falmouth, Devon, England, and left its escort on 19 December for a patrol in the Bay of Biscay, about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) west-southwest of Brest, France. She is reported overdue today. The cause of her loss is unknown but it is possibly a German minefield or a drifting British mines. All hands are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet landings at Kerch on the Black Sea in the eastern Crimea threaten some units of the German 11.Armee which continues their attacks on Sevastopol.

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in- Chief Middle East Command, is notified that four RAF fighter squadrons are to be transferred from the Middle East to the Far East.


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## syscom3 (Dec 27, 2006)

*27 December 1941
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The last two German U-boats involved with Operation *DRUMBEAT*, _'U-109' _and '_U-130'_, set sail from Lorient for the North American coast.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army continues its counter-offensive in the Kalinin area 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Moscow.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British 7th Armored Division, XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, attacks the German's Agedabia position, which is well-suited by nature for defense, but makes no headway.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The first Combined Operations of the war against German-held territory (Operation *ARCHERY*) takes place today when the British Navy lands commandos on the island of Vaagsoe on the Norwegian west coast. The Royal Navy has eight ships involved in the attack, the light cruiser HMS _'Kenya' _(14); destroyers HMS _'Chiddingfold' _(L 31), Offa (G 29), _'Onslow' _(G 17) and _'Oribi' _(G 66); submarine HMS/M _'Tuna' _(N 94); and troop transports HMT _'Prince Charles' _and _'Prince Leopold'_. The commandos are from the Royal Army's 3Commando with six troops, supported by two troops from No 2 Commando and the Norwegian Independent Company 1 known in Norway as the Linge Company (Kompani Linge) for a total of 51 officers and 525 other ranks (enlisted men). Air cover is provided by the RAF with two squadrons of Beaufighter Mk. Is and three squadrons of Blenheim Mk. IVFs supporting the troops while two squadrons of Hampden Mk. Is attack the fortress at Rugsuns in the target area, including making smoke, six Blenheim Mk. IVs attack German shipping near Sola Aerodrome to intercept the fighters from flying north to Vaagsoe. Thirteen Blenheims attacked Herdla Aerodrome, so the German fighters could not land here after being over the target area and refuel and rearm. The object of this raid is, while harassing the German defences on the coast of Norway, is to attack and destroy a number of military and economic targets in the town of south Vaagsoe, including the nearby island of Maaloy, and to capture or sink German shipping found in Ulvesund. Once ashore, the island of Maaloy and the town of south Vaagsoe is to be captured and anything of value to the Germans, such as fish oil factories, destroyed. After carrying out a number of rehearsals the force sailed on 24 December, arriving at an anchorage yesterday. Very heavy weather is encountered. During the passage the secretary to the captain of one of the infantry landing ships invites the commanding officer to his cabin and shows him a table moving rhythmically up and down the wall, a distance of some 6 inches (25,4 centimeters) . It is eventually discovered that this levitation is due to the heavy seas, which is literally squeezing the sides of the ship. The infantry landing ships suffer some damage. This is repaired, but since the weather does not immediately abate, it is decided to postpone the operation for 24 hours. The men are therefore able to eat their Christmas dinner in comfort. The weather having improved, the force sails at 1600 hours yesterday with the promise of still further improvement. By the time the Norwegian coast is reached, weather conditions are perfect. In the van was the light cruiser HMS _'Kenya' _and in line astern came the infantry landing ships. While it is still dark, landfall is made exactly at the estimated position and time. When the attack was over ten RAF aircraft are lost, two of ten Hampdens over the target area, two of 14 Beaufighters over the target area, four of six Blenheims while attacking a enemy convoy off the southwest coast and two of 13 Blenheims are lost during attacking Herdla Aerodrome. Ninety eight German prisoners are taken back to the U.K. Probably four German aircraft were lost over the target area. The attack was a success and the idea of Combined Operations was adjusted and used later during the war. The raid is enough to persuade German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to divert 30,000 troops to Norway, upgrade coastal and inland defences, and send the battleships _'Gneisenau'_, _'Scharnhorst' _and _'Tirpitz' _and the heavy cruisers _'Admiral Hipper'_, _'Lutzow' _and _'Prinz Eugen' _to Norway, a major diversion of effort and forces that could have had significant impact elsewhere. Hitler mistakenly thought that the British might invade northern Norway to put pressure on Sweden and Finland.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Rubber rationing is instituted by the U.S. government, due to shortages caused by World War II. Tires are the first items to be restricted by law.

Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.


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## syscom3 (Dec 28, 2006)

*28 December 1941

EASTERN FRONT*: The British commence Operation ANTHROPOID, the assassination of SS-Obergruppenfuhre r (U.S. Lieutenant General) Reinhard Heydrich, the German Protector of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. During the night of 28/29 December, two Czech resistance fighters, Jozef GabcÃ*k and Jan Kubis, are dropped by parachute into Czechoslovakia landing near Pilsen. They are to get in touch with the Czech underground and help them plan acts of resistance.

The Germans make some gains in the Fort Stalin area during their attacks on Sevastopol with the 22nd and 24th Divisions.

*GERMANY*: The final RAF Bomber Command bombing raids of the year are made during the night of 28th/29th December when 217 sorties were flown with Wilhelmshaven, HÃ¼ls and Emden the main targets.

*NORTH AFRICA*: XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, continues the assault on Agedabia with the 22d Armoured Brigade, 7th Armoured Division, whose tank strength by this time has been greatly reduced because of mechanical failure. After a futile effort to get behind the Axis position, the 22d Armoured Brigade falls back to El Haseiat. Both sides suffer heavy tank losses. The Italian Trieste Division captures key documents in a British Command Tank.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine _'U-75' _is sunk about 138 nautical miles (256 kilometers) east of Tobruk, Libya, in position 31.50N, 26.40E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS _'Kipling' _(F 91); 30 of the 44 crewmen survive.

The government of New Zealand scrapes the bottom of the manpower barrel and comes up with three battalions to defend the country. There are no tanks, very few guns, and almost no vehicles. However, the New Zealand 2nd Division is regrouping in Egypt to continue battling the Axis forces.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USN Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks, Vice Admiral Ben Moreell, requests authority from the Bureau of Navigation to create a contingent of construction units able to build everything from airfields to roads under battlefield conditions. These units will be known as the "Seabees" for the first letters of Construction Battalion.


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## syscom3 (Dec 29, 2006)

*29 December 1941*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The seaport town of Feodosia, on the shores of the Black Sea on the eastern Crimea, is the scene of new Soviet landings with troops of the 51st and 44th Armies. These forces along with those of the 26th Army at Kerch will pose a serious threat to the German 11.Armee. The Germans will halt their advance on Sevastopol to eliminate this threat. Feodosia was captured by the German 46. and 170. Infantriedivisions on 3 November. As the attack on Sevastopol was about to take place, most of the German forces were withdrawn to concentrate on the forthcoming battle. Left behind in the city were a small detachment of troops and all the wounded soldiers convalescing in the city's hospitals.

On 18 January 1942, after their failure to capture Sevastopol, the Germans are able to return and recapture Feodosia. They find that most of the German military personnel had been murdered. Wounded soldiers had been thrown out of the windows of the hospital to make room for Russian wounded. Water was then poured on the near dead bodies and then left to freeze. On the beach, piles of bodies are found where they were thrown from a wall several meters high after being beaten and mutilated, their bodies left in the surf so that the sea water froze and covered them with a sheet of ice. There are about 12 survivors who had hidden in cellars when the Russian troops arrived. Their testimony before a German court of inquiry confirmed that some 160 wounded soldiers are liquidated this way.

*NORTH AMERICA*: All German, Italian and Japanese aliens in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington are ordered to surrender contraband.


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## syscom3 (Dec 30, 2006)

*30 December 1941
NORTH AMERICA*: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Ottawa after his talks with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt over strategy to win the war with Germany. In a speech to Parliament this evening, Churchill quips,


> "_When I warned them (the French) that Britain would fight on alone, whatever they did, their Generals told their Prime Minister and his divided cabinet that in three weeks, England would have her neck wrung like a chicken - Some chicken! Some neck!" _


*NORTH AFRICA*: After another costly and unsuccessful tank battle for Agedabia, during which the British 22d Armoured Brigade is rendered ineffective as a fighting force, XIII Corps of the British Eighth Army suspends their assault pending the arrival of reinforcements. German tanks have proved superior both mechanically and in gun power.

*EASTERN FRONT*: While German Heeresgruppe Sud continues their offensive against Sevastopol, Soviet Caucasian troops make an amphibious assault against the eastern Crimea and seize Kerch and Feodosia. On the central front, the Germans continue to withdraw from the Moscow area under Red Army pressure.


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## syscom3 (Dec 31, 2006)

*31 December 1941*
*NORTH AMERICA*: In Ottawa, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill faces the press, and is asked about Yugoslavia, where partisans, Germans, Italians, and German puppet troops are chasing each other round the mountains.


> "_They are fighting with the greatest vigor and on quite a large scale, and we don't hear very much of what is going on there. It is all very terrible. Guerilla warfare and the most frightful atrocities by the Germans and Italians, and every kind of torture, but the people keep the flag flying."_


The RCAF has 14 squadrons operating overseas, seven more authorized; plus 16 at home, including eight on the West Coast.

America's last automobiles with chrome-plated trim are manufactured today. Starting tomorrow, chrome plating becomes illegal. It is part of an effort to conserve resources for the American war effort but the chrome is not missed too much because virtually no automobiles are produced in the U.S. from 1942 through the end of World War II.

*NORTH AFRICA*: On the Libyan-Egyptian frontier, the South African 2nd Division. assisted by the 1st Army Tank Brigade of XXX Corps, British Eighth Army, attacks and penetrates the Bardia fortress, on the main road from Tobruk to Egypt.

During the day, the British light cruiser HMS _'Ajax' _(22), the Australian destroyers HMAS _'Napier' _(G 97), _'Nestor' _(G 02) and _'Nizam' _(G38 ) and the British destroyers HMS _'Arrow' _(H 42), _'Gurkha' _(G 63) and _'Kingston' _(F64), bombard German defenses at Bardia.


*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans on the southern front break off attacks on Sevastopol in order to counter Soviet thrusts from Kerch and Feodosia. On the central front. Red Army troops seize Kaluga, southwest of Moscow. Losses on the Eastern front for the Red Army total at least 5 million casualties, 3 million prisoners, 20,000 tanks and 30,000 guns. Despite these losses the Soviets will retain initiative on the front well into spring.


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## syscom3 (Jan 1, 2007)

*1 January 1942
EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army starts an offensive against Finland on the Maaselka Isthmus between the Lake Onega and White Sea. The Soviet force includes six divisions (71st, 186th, 263th, 289th, 313th, 367th), three Marine Brigades (61st, 65th, 66th) and a ski brigade. Their objective is to recapture the town of Karhumaki (Medvezhjegorsk) and the western stretch of the Murmansk railway. The defending Finnish II Corps has two divisions (4th and 8th) and one brigade (1st Jaeger), the Soviet attackers seven divisions and two brigades. The Finnish troops are still suffering from the effects of the six-month long offensive, and the men are eagerly waiting to go home - a partial demobilization had been promised after the Finnish offensive ended in December. The Soviet offensive is able to penetrate the Finnish defences near the village of Krivi, and the fighting rages on for weeks. In early February, after both sides had suffered considerable losses, the Finns are able to push the Red Army back. (Mikko Harmeinen)

The Red Army continues a broad offensive throughout January with spectacular success in some sectors, but is unable to relieve the besieged ports of Leningrad and Sevastopol.

*NORTH AFRICA*: XXX Corps, British Eighth Army, renews their assault on Bardia after nightfall.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Germans take over Dutch radio stations. Publication of the only authorised program guide, De Luistergids, begins.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Declaration of the United Nations is signed by 26 nations in Washington, D.C. The original signatories are Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, South Africa, the U.K., the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and Yugoslavia. The parties pledge to uphold the Atlantic Charter, to employ all their resources in the war against the Axis powers and agree not to negotiate a separate peace with Germany, Italy or Japan. The Atlantic Charter and its eight principles are:
(1) the renunciation of territorial aggression;
(2) territorial changes only with consent of the peoples concerned;
(3) restoration of sovereign rights and self-government;
(4) access to raw materials for all nations;
(5) world economic cooperation;
(6) freedom from fear and want;
(7) freedom of the seas;
(8 ) disarmament of aggressors are also endorsed by the signatories at the Arcadia Conference.

U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle, issues orders to all German, Italian and Japanese aliens to hand in their short-wave radios, cameras and firearms to their local police stations. They are also forbidden to change their address without permission and, if living on the east coast, to obey a 2100 to 0600 hour curfew.

Joseph Stalin is named "Time" magazine's "Man of the Year" for 1941.

The U.S. Office of Production Management prohibits the sales of new cars and trucks to civilians. All automakers dedicate their plants entirely to the war effort. By the end of the month, domestic car manufacture has stopped. Automobile plants are converted wholesale to the manufacture of bombers, jeeps, military trucks, and other equipment.


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## syscom3 (Jan 2, 2007)

*2 January 1942
WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 2/3 January, 27 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons and Stirlings attack the German fleet at Brest and nine Whitleys and Manchesters bomb the port area at St. Nazaire.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Italian Bardia garrison, under pressure of the South African 2nd Division and British 1st Armoured Brigade (XXX Corps, British Eighth Army), surrenders early in day. The British capture 7,000 troops.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British tug HMS _'Daisy' _founders in the eastern Mediterranean while on passage from Alexandria, Egypt, to Tobruk, Libya.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Franklin D Roosevelt announces the beginning of the Liberty Ship program, i.e., the construction of 200 merchant ships of a standardized design.

The first organized lighter-than- air units of World War II, Airship Patrol Group One (ZPG-1) and Airship Squadron Twelve (ZP-12) are established at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey. The USN is the only military service in the world to use non-rigid airships--also known as blimps--during the war.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German Chancellor Adolf Hitler forbids the German 9.Armee to make any further withdrawals,


> "_not one inch of ground_."


On the central front in Russia, the Soviet Army achieves a breakthrough at Rshev.


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## syscom3 (Jan 3, 2007)

*3 January 1942
WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 3/4 January, 14 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons and four Stirlings attack the German fleet at Brest; one Wellington is lost.

During the night of 3/4 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches ten Hampdens on minelaying mission in the Frisian Islands; one aircraft is lost.


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## syscom3 (Jan 5, 2007)

*5 January 1942
NORTH AFRICA*: The government of Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Bulgaria and Finland.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 5/6 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 154 aircraft, 89 Wellingtons and 65 of other types, to attack German fleet units and the port area at Brest. Eighty seven aircraft are ordered to bomb the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau; 73 do. The remainder are ordered to bomb the naval docks and 65 do. A smoke-screen prevents accurate bombing but large fires are claimed. Another target is the port area at Cherbourg; 16 of the 37 aircraft dispatched bomb the port.

The Dutch Council of Churches today delivers a public protest against what it describes as "the complete lawlessness" of the Nazis in their treatment of Dutch Jews. Despite the protest - the latest of many by the Dutch people - the roundup and deportation of Jews is certain to continue. A year ago all Dutch Jews were ordered to register with the occupation authorities. Soon afterwards, the deportations to the stone quarries at Mauthausen slave labour camp, near Linz, Austria, began; few deportees survive for more than a few months.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Italian submarine R.Smg. _'Ammiraglio Saint Bon' _is sunk at 0542 hours local by a torpedo from the British submarine HMS/M _'Upholder' _(N 99) north of Milazzo, Sicily, in position 38.02N, 15.22E. The Italian submarine is en route to Libya carrying 155 tons of gasoline (petrol) and ammunition. The torpedo hits on the starboard side causing the gasoline to explode. There are only three survivors.

In the Ionian Sea, the 5,413 ton Italian auxiliary cruiser and former passenger ship SS _'Citta di Palermo'_, is en route from Brindisi, Italy, to Patras, Greece, escorting the motor vessel MV _'Calino'_. On board SS _'Citta di Palermo' _are about 600 Italian troops. At 0800 hours. when 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Cape Dukato, Lefkas Island, Ionian Islands, Greece, she is struck by two torpedoes fired by HMS/M _'Proteus' _(N 29). The _'Palermo' _took only six minutes to sink. There were a few survivors but almost all on board went down with the ship.

*MIDDLE EAST*: British General Claude E. Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, is given responsibility for Iraq and Iran. Lieutenant General Edward P. Quinan's forces in Iraq become the British Tenth Army, corresponding to the British Ninth Army under General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson in Syria. The British 18th and Indian 17th Divisions are both being moved from the Middle East to Bombay, India; Ceylon; and Singapore, Malaya, with "utmost dispatch."

*NORTH AMERICA*: The government orders all men between the ages of 20 and 44 to register for the draft (conscription) by 16 February. The U.S. Senate Committee investigating Hollywood war propaganda is dissolved. Today is the deadline for enemy aliens in San Francisco, California, to surrender radio transmitters, shortwave receivers and precision cameras to the U.S. Army's Western Defense Command. Also Japanese-American selective service registrants are classified as enemy aliens (IV-C) and many Japanese-American soldiers are discharged or assigned to menial labor such as "kitchen police (KP)."

A change in USN regulations, covering display of National insignia on aircraft, returned the star to the upper right and lower left wing surfaces and revised rudder striping to 13 red and white horizontal stripes.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army lands reinforcements on the Crimean coast near Eupatoria and Sudak. in an effort to break the siege of the Sevastopol naval base, but can make little headway against firm German resistance. On the central front south of Kaluga, Soviet forces hold Belev, west of the Oka River. Action on northern front along the Volkhov River is indecisive. Carried away by recent small successes and against the advice of his chief of general staff, General Georgii Zhukov, Premier Joseph Stalin orders a general offensive along the entire eastern front.

The Communist Polish Workers Party is founded in Warsaw by Marceli Nowotko, Pawel Finder and Boleslaw Molojec. The old Communist Party of Poland had been liquidated at Stalin's order in 1938-39.


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## syscom3 (Jan 6, 2007)

*6 January 1942
EASTERN FRONT*: The government of Australia declares war on Bulgaria.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The government of Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Vichy France.

The British 1st Armoured Division, which has recently arrived from the U. K. and relieved the 7th Armoured Division of XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, reaches Antelat. The port at Derna opens to traffic.

The deployment of German and Italian troops along the line El Agheila-Marada is completed. As the Germans take delivery of 55 new tanks, the British advance reaches Mersa Brega and El Agheila.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 6/7 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 31 Wellingtons to bomb the German warships at Brest; 27 bomb the targets. No special bombing results are claimed but a bomb which fell alongside the battleship _'Gneisenau' _holed the hull and flooded two compartments. Two Wellingtons also bomb the port area at Cherbourg.

RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Whitleys to bomb Stavanger Airfield; nine bomb the field.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 6/7 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches Hampdens to bomb six cities: five hit Essen, three attack Munster, two each bomb Cologne and Emden, and one each attack Aachen and Oldenburg.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Self-service cafeterias operated by local authorities as a cheap way of eating out have been named British Restaurants at the suggestion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. They developed out of emergency services created during the Blitz to feed people who were bombed out of their homes. Their popularity has led to plans to open more of them. The average price of meals is between 10 pence and a shilling. For that one can get roast meat, two vegetables, pudding, bread and butter and coffee.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In his annual State of the Union message to Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said today that Americas land, sea and air forces would be sent to Britain. He also announces massive increases in war production, including more than doubling the rate of aircraft building. This was his first speech to Congress since the war began. Mr Roosevelt spoke warmly of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who recently addressed the same audience, and wished him a safe return. Roosevelt submits a budget request of US$59 billion for Fiscal Year 1943 (with inflation, that is US$707 billion in year 2005 dollars). He also announces that the first year of a supercharged production schedule would result in 45,000 aircraft, 45,000 tanks, 20,000 antiaircraft guns, and 8 million tons in new ships; this will be upped to Forecasts for 1943 of 125,000 planes, 75,000 tanks and 11 million tons of shipping in 1943. Congressmen are stunned at the proposal, but Roosevelt is undeterred:


> "_These figures and similar figures for a multitude of other implements of war will give the Japanese and Nazis a little idea of just what they accomplished._ "



Leland Ford, Los Angeles, California, member of the House of Representatives, in a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, asks that all Japanese Americans be removed from the West Coast stating,


> "_I do not believe that we could be any too strict in our consideration of the Japanese in the face of the treacherous way in which they do things_."


The Second Marine Brigade (Brigadier General Henry L. Larsen, USMC) embarked in troop transports (former Matson Line passenger liners) SS _'Lurline'_, SS _'Monterey' _and SS _'Matsonia'_, and cargo ship USS _'Jupiter' _(AK-43) and ammunition ship USS _'Lassen' _(AE-3) sails from San Diego, California, for Pago Pago, American Samoa. The initial escort is provided by Task Force 17 comprised of the aircraft carrier USS _'Yorktown' _(CV-5), the heavy cruiser USS _'Louisville' _(CA-28 ), the light cruiser USS _'St. Louis' _(CL-49) and three destroyers.

In baseball, Cleveland Indians star pitcher Bob Feller, winner of 76 games in three previous seasons, follows Detroit Tigers' outfielder Hank Greenberg into the military. Feller, saying,


> "_I've always wanted to be on the winning side_,"


enlists in the Navy and reports to Norfolk, Virginia, for duty. During the 44 months he spent in the Navy, most of the time he was stationed aboard the battleship U.S.S. _'Alabama' _(BB- 60) in the gunnery department where he earned eight Battle Stars.

The Pan American Airways Boeing B-314A, msn 2083, registered NC18609 and named "Pacific Clipper." arrives in New York City after making the first round-the-world trip by a commercial airplane. This aircraft was in Auckland, New Zealand on 8 December 1941, and returned to the U.S. flying westward via Australia, the East Indies, India, Africa, South America and Trinidad, a total of 31,500 miles(50 594 kilometers).


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## syscom3 (Jan 7, 2007)

*7 January 1942
WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 7/8 January, 62 of the 68 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons dispatched attack German warships at Brest; and 25 of 27 aircraft dispatched attack the port area at St. Nazaire.

*NORTH AFRICA*: XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, patrols to Agedabia and finds that the Axis forces have withdrawn. A convoy arrives safely at Benghazi but because of rough seas, this port is not put into full operation.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces attack to the north and south of Mozhaisk. On the southern flank of the advance, Meshchovsk is captured.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German troops launch their second anti-partisan offensive in Yugoslavia, driving Marshal Josip Tito's forces 50 miles (80 kilometers) south. Despite the retreat and heavy losses, Tito's men fight on.


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## syscom3 (Jan 8, 2007)

*8 January 1942
NORTH AFRICA*: Axis forces retreat from El Agheila to Agedabia.

A flag of truce waving from the Italian positions around Halfaya Pass (Hellfire Pass) has for a moment brought a flash of chivalry and mercy into this ruthless war of tanks and bombs and bayonets. The white flag have immunity to an Italian medical officer bringing out five wounded Allied airmen so that they could receive attention from the South Africans besieging the position. He passes unmolested through the lines - lines from which only a few minutes before men had been sniping and shelling, aiming only to kill - and explained that the besieged Italians had no medical supplies with which to treat the wounded. It was therefore, he said only humane that the airmen - crew of a British bomber that had crashed in the Italian lines - should be brought out to their friends. Then the Italian officer is sent back under a safe conduct with a large supply of surgical dressings for his own wounded.

The interesting question here-- just what were those Italians doing at Halfaya (Hellfire") Pass on 8 January 1942? The Axis forces had retreated from the Tobruk area (itself a good ways west of Halfaya) a month earlier, on 8 December, after losing the "Crusader" battle, and were now almost 500 miles (805 kilometers) to the west! The answer: a primarily-Italian garrison, built around the 55th Division Savona and under the orders of that division's commander, Lieutenant General Fedele De Giorgis, is still holding on despite being completely surrounded, badly outnumbered, 500 miles (805 kilometers) in the British rear, and (as seen by the situation with medical supplies cited below) running out of every essential. A sort of advanced outpost position to begin with (protecting the coastal route through the pass but easily outflanked by movement through the desert, which was exactly how the British began the "Crusader" offensive), they had been left behind but refused to surrender. The Italians tried to run some supplies into them using submarines (on one such run the sub in question was attacked by German Stukas as it surfaced near Sollum), but could only bring in a meager amount in that fashion.

Pilots of No. 3 Squadron RAAF flying (P-40) Kittyhawks attack 35 Italian aircraft and eight Luftwaffe Bf 109s that are preparing to attack advancing British forces southeast of Agedabia. The Aussies claim seven aircraft destroyed and four probably destroyed vs. one Kittyhawk lost.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 8/9 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 151 aircraft to bomb German warships and the port area at Brest; 69 aircraft attack the warships and 49 hit the port area. In a second raid, 11 of 31 aircraft attack the port area at Cherbourg.

*MIDDLE EAST*: In Baghdad, a court sentences Rashid Ali, who led an anti-British coup last year, to death in absentia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: U.S. Major General James E Chaney is designated Commanding General US Army Forces in British Isles (USAFBI); he continues as the Chief, Special Observer Group, US Army (SPOBS).

*NORTH AMERICA*: Congress establishes the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) which will be headed by New York City Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia.

The Federal Government orders the distillery industry to convert 60 percent of its whiskey-making capacity to ethyl alcohol production, a move that will sharply increase the availability of explosive smokeless powder.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops attack Mozhaysk west of Moscow. On the Northern front, the Soviet Army begins an offensive near Lake Ilmen.


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## syscom3 (Jan 11, 2007)

*11 January 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Unternehmen *Paukenschlag *("roll of the kettledrums" ) descends upon the eastern seaboard of the U.S. like a "bolt from the blue." The first group of five German submarines takes up station off the east coast of the United States on this date. Over the next month, these boats (_U-66, U-109, U-123_, _U-125 _and _U-130_) will sink 26 Allied ships; the presence of the enemy off the eastern seaboard takes U.S. Navy antisubmarine forces by surprise. The first ship, the British freighter SS _'Cyclops'_, is sunk by _'U-123' _300 miles (483 kilometers) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The South African 2d Division of 30 Corps, British Eighth Army, attacks Sollum, just across the Egyptian border, and captures it early on 12 January. 13 Corps pursues Rommel's forces toward El Agheila, a strong natural position.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The plan to dispatch the U.S. V Corps, reinforced, and air and supply forces to Northern Ireland (Operation *MAGNET*) is approved.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces continue to push west ward on central front and cut the north-south Rzhev-Brvansk railway line.


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## syscom3 (Jan 12, 2007)

*12 January 1942
GERMANY*: Adolf Hitler orders plans are to be made for the battle cruisers _'Gneisenau' _and _'Scharnhorst' _to sail from Brest, France, to Norway.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, General Officer Commanding Panzer Gruppe Africa, adopts his subordinates' plan to prepare a surprise counteroffensive against the British. Neither the German nor the Italian High Command are informed of the plans. As a result, British codebreakers who are reading top-secret German messages with their Enigma machine can't warn the unprepared 8th Army.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: _'U-374' _(Type VIIC) is sunk in the western Mediterranean east of Cape Spartivento, in position 37.50N, 16.00E, by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS _'Unbeaten'_. 43 dead, but 1 survivor taken into captivity.


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## syscom3 (Jan 13, 2007)

*13 January 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Despite opposition, Admiral Karl Donitz, Flag Officer U-Boats, begins Unternehmen "*Drum Roll*" (*Paukenschlag*) , the use of U-boats in the waters off the eastern coast of North America. The submariners are surprised to find peacetime conditions on the U.S. coast, with lighthouses and marker buoys still lit. In addition there is no radio silence and positions of merchant ships are frequently given away in radio communications. These conditions and the inexperience of the USN escort vessels lead to a loss of 150,000 tons in the first month of the operation. The fact that "Drum Roll" could not begin until some weeks after the German declaration of war on the US indicates how unprepared the Navy was for this sudden development.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Representatives of nine German-occupied countries meet in London to declare that all those found guilty of war crimes would be punished after the war ended. Among the signatories to the declaration were Polish General Wladyslaw Sikorski and French General Charles de Gaulle. The core of the declaration was the promise of;


> "_the punishment, through the channels of organized justice, of those guilty of, or responsible for, these crimes, whether they have ordered them, perpetrated them, or participated in them_."


 It increased the resolve and solidarity among the Allies to defeat the Axis.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Combined Chiefs of Staff attending the ARCADIA conference in Washington, D.C., agree to move USAAF units and contingents to bases in the U.K. as soon as possible.

The Ford Motor Company patents a plastic-bodied automobile which was 30 percent lighter than ordinary cars. Plastic, a relatively new material in 1942, was revolutionizing industry after industry in the United States.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the U.S. War Production Board, with business executive Donald M. Nelson as its chairman. The War Production Board, created to establish order out of the chaos of meeting extraordinary wartime demands and needs, replaced the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board. As chairman, Nelson oversaw the largest war production in history, often clashing with civilian factories over the most efficient means of converting to wartime use and butting heads with the armed forces over priorities. Despite early success, Nelson made a major judgement error in June 1944, on the eve of the Normandy invasion, when he allowed certain plants that had reached the end of their government/military production contracts to reconvert to civilian use. The military knew the war was far from over and feared a sudden shortage of vital supplies. A political battle ensued, and Nelson was eased out of his office and reassigned by the President to be his personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek in China.

Nineteen West Coast shipyards adopt around-the-clock, seven-day-a-week work schedules.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army has driven deep a salient between the German 2.Panzerarmee and 4.Armee on the central front southwest of Kaluga; the salient deepens with the capture of Kirov.


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## syscom3 (Jan 14, 2007)

*14 January 1942
EASTERN FRONT*: Following their seizure of Kirov yesterday, Soviet forces recapture Medya, on the central front northwest of Kaluga, driving a wedge between two Panzer divisions.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Malta receives 14 air raid alerts in 19 hours today. A total of 262 air raids are sounded in Malta this month.

*NORTH AMERICA*: New York: Banner headlines in this evening's newspapers have sent tremors all around the island of Manhattan. The news of the torpedoing of the Panamanian tanker _'NORNESS' _just 100 miles from the piers where liners berth has brought home the realities of war to New Yorkers. The SS _'NORNESS' _falls victim to _'U-123'_, 73 miles south-southwest of Nanucket Island, Massachusetts. Only two days ago the British merchant ship _'CYCLOPS' _was sunk 300 miles off the eastern seaboard. These two attacks are the first signs of what Admiral Dönitz called the Paukenschlag - roll of drums - to mark America's entry in the war. Dönitz has sent his finest long-range U-boats into the Atlantic to prey on America's coastline. They lie on the seabed by day, and surface at night to pick off ships silhouetted against the bright lights on America's coast. With orders to "sink as much shipping as possible in the most economical manner", U-boat commanders are relishing the prospect of a second "happy time". The first "happy time" began in 1940 when the U-boats enjoyed a rich crop of sinkings in British home waters.

The Anglo-American ARCADIA Conference, held in Washington, DC starting on 20 December 1941, developed plans for the proposed Anglo- American offensive against Germany. Participants include President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and their
military staffs. Among the major decisions reached are:
(1) an agreement to establish Combined Chiefs of Staff to direct the British-American war effort;
(2) the main effort must be made first against Germany;
(3) occupation of French North Africa (Operation GYMNAST) is of strategic importance in Atlantic area.

As discussions are begun in Washington to consider who shall go to China instead of Lieutenant General Hugh A. Drum, General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff U.S. Army, proposes Major General Joseph W. Stilwell, who is being considered for command of Operation GYMNAST.

President Roosevelt orders all aliens in the United States to register with the government. The brunt of these orders later will fall on Japanese-Americans on the West Coast.


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## syscom3 (Jan 15, 2007)

*15 January 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: While tracking Convoy HG 78 (Gibraltar to the U.K.), German submarine _'U-93' _is sunk about 219 nautical miles (406 kilometers) north-northeast of the Madeira Islands by the British destroyer HMS _'Hesperus' _(H57), a convoy escort; 40 of the 46 crewmen survive.

German submarine _'U-123' _sinks its third ship during Operation DRUMBEAT, a 6,768 ton British tanker about 88 nautical miles (163 kilometers) south-southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A., in position 40.25N, 70.50W.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command sends five Blenheims and four Wellingtons to bomb airfields: three aircraft bomb Schipol Airfield, with the loss of one aircraft, and two each bomb Soesterberg and Texel Airfields.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: Representatives from 21 American republics meet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for an Inter-American Conference to unite the American republics to coordinate policies in the defense of the Western Hemisphere. The delegates unanimously adopt a resolution which calls for all of the American states to sever diplomatic relations with the Axis powers. All of the governments involved at the conference, with the exceptions of Argentina and Chile, break off relations with the Axis states. The conference ends on 28 January.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 15/16 January, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack three cities:
- 96 bombers are dispatched to bomb Hamburg; 60 aircraft bomb with the loss of five bombers. Hamburg reports 36 fires, three large, three people killed and 25 injured, but no major incidents.
- 60 aircraft are sent to bomb Emden; 42 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of two bombers. Bomber aircrews claim many fires.
- One aircraft bombs Kiel.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine _'U-577' _is sunk about 56 nautical miles (103 kilometers) northeast of Tobruk, Libya, by depth charges from a British Navy Swordfish Mk. I, aircraft "G" of No. 815 Squadron based at Landing Ground 75, Maaten Bagush, Egypt; all 43 crewmen are lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: An agreement is signed in London between Greece and Yugoslavia for the constitution of a Balkan Union. (The Balkan Pact, signed in February 1934 by Greece, Romania, Turkey and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Pact which consisted of 39 articles promoting the principles of friendship and non-aggression, mutual assistance and defense of common security and the protection of the rights of minorities.)

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Washington, Secretary of War Henry Stimson says nearly 2 million men will be inducted into the military this year. By years end it will have 3.6 million men under arms.

The State Department issues a memorandum outlining its position with respect to French sovereignty over bases the United States intends to build in French Oceania.

In baseball, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives baseball the go-ahead to play despite the war. In his famous "green light" letter, the President says,


> "_I honestly think it would be best for the country to keep baseball going." _


He encourages more night baseball so that war workers may attend. Ironically, the Chicago Cubs, who had signed contracts to install lights at Wrigley Field, drop their plans because of the military need for the material. There will be no lights at Wrigley for 35 more years.

The first "blackout" Cadillacs are completed by General Motors. Due to restrictions on materials necessary for the war effort, these cars have painted trim rather than chrome. They also lack spare tires and other luxuries.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe Mitte (Field Marshal Gunther Hans von Kluge) evacuates the Kaluga sector and takes up winter positions 20 miles (32 kilometers) further west.


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## syscom3 (Jan 16, 2007)

*16 January 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-248' _(Type VIIC) Sunk in the North Atlantic in position 47.43N, 26.37W, by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS _'Hayter'_, _'Otter'_, _'Varian' _and _'Hubbard'_. 47 dead (all crew lost).

*NORTH AFRICA*: The HQ of the Australian 9th Division is established at Tripoli.

*EASTERN FRONT*:The Soviet government publishes the contents of a document found at Klin, northwest of Moscow, and signed by deceased Field Marshal von Reichenau. It was prepared during his command of the German 6.Armee, earlier in the campaign, and instructs German troops to be "merciless" with the civil population.

German units take Theodosia in the Crimea and capture 10,000 Soviet troops. Adolf Hitler has ordered the Wehrmacht to wipe out a Russian force in the eastern Crimea, then overwhelm Sevastopol in western Crimea, home port of the Soviets' Black Sea Fleet.


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## syscom3 (Jan 17, 2007)

*17 January 1942
NORTH AFRICA*: The Italian positions around Hellfire Pass surrender. They have been besieged by a South Africans unit. The Italian a garrison unit, built around the Savona Division and under the orders of that division's commander, General De Giorgis, is still holding on despite being completely surrounded, badly outnumbered, 500 miles in the British rear. This unit has held this position since being bypassed during Operation Crusader on December 8, 1941.The Italians have tried to maintain the position by using submarines. 30 Corps, British Eighth Army, receives the surrender of the Halfaya garrison and takes 5500 German and Italian prisoners. The 1st Free French Brigade Group was to have participated in the attack on Halfaya, had the garrison not surrendered. With the destruction of the Axis forces in East Cyrenaica and reopening of communication line from there into Egypt, the first phase of Libyan campaign is successfully concluded. In West Cyrenaica, British 13 Corps reconnoiters the Germans El Agheila position.

Destroyer HMS _'Gurkha' _is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-133'_, North of Bardia at 31 50N 26 14E. There are 9 casualties, with survivors being taken off by Dutch destroyer _'Isaac Sweers' _which towed the wreck clear of the burning oil field.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, Commander in Chief Heeresgruppe Sud, dies of a stroke while returning to Germany.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Convoy PQ-8, en route from Iceland to Archangel, U.S.S.R., is attacked by German submarines; the first such attack on an Arctic convoy. German submarine _'U-454' _sinks the Tribal class destroyer HMS _'Matabele' _and a merchant ship. There are only 3 survivors, as the destroyer explodes when hit a second time a few hours later.

*SOUTH AFRICA*: South African Nationalists push a motion in Parliament to make the nation a republic disassociated from Britain, that would declare neutrality. The Parliament rejects the Afrikaners' motion.


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## syscom3 (Jan 18, 2007)

*18 January 1942
WESTERN FRONT*: A Fireman called Kremer is severely wounded by a revolver fired by a resistant in Port Maillot.

One of the greatest race horses of his time, Epinard, was stolen during the German occupation of France. On this day, newspaper accounts disclosed that the famous equine was being used as a delivery wagon horse.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarines attack three unarmed U.S. merchant ships off the east coast of North America:
(1) a freighter is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-552' _off St. John's, Newfoundland; there are no survivors from the 28-man crew;
(2) a tanker is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-66' _about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; there are 13 survivors from the 35-man crew
(3) a tanker is shelled and damaged by _'U-123' _off Oregon Inlet, North Carolina; although the tanker is torpedoed by _'U-123' _upon the U-boat's return and damaged further, the holed tanker reaches Hampton Roads, Virginia, safely the next day; one man perishes in the shelling and four drown when the ship is abandoned after she is torpedoed.

*GERMANY*: German civilians are to get a taste of the fare being eaten by their soldiers at the front - in the form of "field-kitchen meals" to be served in all German restaurants on Mondays and Thursdays. Customers who bring meat, fat or bread vouchers are entitled to change them for the "voucher-free meal of the day" which usually consists of soup of boiled vegetables. Neither meal - "served from the same pot as their soldiers" - appears to be winning popular approval. They tend to lack the calorie-rich foods like potatoes, peas or noodles, and there is precious little meat in them.

Germany, Italy, and Japan sign a new military pact in Berlin.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army encircles several German divisions at Demjansk near Lake Ilmen. In the Crimea, German troops of Heeresgruppe B recapture Feodosia and seal off the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Haifa: Burma's prime minister, U Saw, was arrested here today when his plane touched down while he was returning to Burma from talks with British representatives. He had been trying unsuccessfully to secure a British promise of Burmese independence in return for supporting the war effort. The nationalist U Maung Saw is unpopular with the British authorities, who see him as a demagogue of suspect loyalty. This suspicion now seems justified, because he contacted Japan's legation in Lisbon on his return flight. He was unaware that Britain had broken Japanese codes and knew of these overtures.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The first increment (1,400 men) of US forces to be sent to the United Kingdom sails for Northern Ireland.

In baseball, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio is named 1941's Player of the Year.


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## syscom3 (Jan 19, 2007)

*19 January 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In attacks against unescorted coastal shipping, German submarines sink two unarmed merchant ships off the East Coast of the U.S..
(1) A U.S. steamship is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-123' _32.5 miles (52 kilometers) northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in position 35.42N, 75.21W
(2) a Canadian steamer is sunk 192 miles (309 kilometers) east of Cape Hatteras in position 35.00N, 72.30W.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army recaptures Mozhaisk, 100km west of Moscow. Heavy fighting continues on the southern front; the Germans in the Crimea recapture Feodosia. Soviet paratroopers are landed south of Smolensk to help organize partisan action in the German rear.

*GERMANY*: Directors of German armament firms were told today that they must increase production by 10% this year. The message was delivered by Robert Ley, the leader of the German Work Front. Increasing number of foreign workers, as well as PoWs, will be forced to work in German factories during the course of the year. Armaments remain the main priority and the Nazi authorities intend to offer productivity bonuses in the form of tobacco or brandy for armament workers. Improved conditions for working mothers are also promised, but there is a sterner side to the productivity drive, too: the workforce is also to be motivated by the threat of various punishments for "slackness", including transfers to concentration camps. Reports by the Security Service of the SS speak of "idleness" and "insubordination" towards superiors. Certainly Germans do not like the longer working hours - the average working week is up from 47 to 49.2 hours this year.

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Claude E. Auchinleck, General Officer Commanding Middle East Command. issues operations instructions to Commander, British Troops in Egypt (BTE), and Commander, Eighth Army, restating that the objective in Libya is Tripoli and outlining a plan for a defensive stand in the event the Libyan offensive cannot be continued.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2007)

*20 January 1942*
*GERMANY*: At what will become known as the *Wannsee Conference*, Heydrich presents plans to the leaders of Germany for the "*Final Solution*". While Hitler was not present, it is commonly assumed that he knew of the conference and the "Final Solution". Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the "Final Solution" of the "Jewish question." Reinhard Heydrich, SS general and Heinrich Himmler's number-two man, met with Adolf Eichmann, chief of the Central Office of Jewish Emigration, and 15 other officials from various Nazi ministries and organizations at Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. The agenda was simple and focused: to devise a plan that would render a "final solution to the Jewish question" in Europe. Various gruesome proposals were discussed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. Heydrich proposed simply transporting Jews from every corner of Europe to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death. Objections to this plan included the belief that this was simply too time-consuming. What about the strong ones who took longer to die? What about the millions of Jews who were already in Poland? Although the word "extermination" was never uttered during the meeting, the implication was clear: anyone who survived the egregious conditions of a work camp would be "treated accordingly." Shortly after this conference, the elimination camps of Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau began their work.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill that decrees Daylight Savings Time for the duration of the war. It goes into effect on 9 February.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Mozhaisk, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Moscow, falls to Soviet forces.


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## syscom3 (Jan 21, 2007)

*21 January 1942
NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel's Axis forces, with strong air support, go on the offensive in West Cyrenaica, pushing rapidly eastward in three columns astride the main road; the British are taken completely by surprise. The British Eighth Army's 13 Corps commander orders a withdrawal to the line Agedabra-El Haseiat at once and a further retreat if necessary; he also orders the Indian 4th Division to check the coastal advance toward Benghazi.


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## syscom3 (Jan 22, 2007)

*22 January 1942

WESTERN FRONT*: The unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'Norvana' _is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-123' _south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. There are no survivors, and pieces of wreckage from the ship when she explodes hit her attacker.

*GERMANY*: RAF bombers attack Munster.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Continuing swiftly eastward, Axis forces occupy Agedabia.

The Afrika Corps formally becomes the Panzerarmee Africa.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Leningrad, the mass evacuation of civilians begins via the "ice road" across Lake Ladoga. (About 440,000 people are transported out of Leningrad between 22 January and 15 April 1942.) Meanwhile, Soviet forces recapture Uvarovo, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Mozhaisk.


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## syscom3 (Jan 25, 2007)

*25 January 1942
NORTH AFRICA*: Speeding eastward again, the forces of General Erwin Rommel, General Officer Commanding Panzerarme Africa, capture Msus. The weakened British 1st Armoured Division of 13 Corps, Eighth Army, is ordered to fall back on Mechili, leaving a detachment to protect the withdrawal of the Indian 4th Division from Benghazi and Barce. General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, visits Eighth Army HQ, where he remains until 1 February. General Neal Ritchie, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, revokes the order for a general withdrawal of 13 Corps and orders the Indian 4th Division, over which he takes direct control, and the British 1st Armoured Division to counterattack in the Msus area.

*URUGUAY*: The government breaks diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and Japan.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The German submarine _'U-125' _attacks unarmed U.S. tanker SS _'Olney'_, forcing the latter aground off Cape Lookout, North Carolina. _'Olney' _is subsequently removed from her predicament, however, repaired, and returned to service.


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## syscom3 (Jan 26, 2007)

*26 January 1942
WESTERN FRONT*: An armed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-125' _off the eastern seaboard. There are no survivors from either the 36-man civilian crew or the 9-man Armed Guard.

U.S. troops of the 133d Infantry, 34th Division, arrive in Northern Ireland.

*GERMANY*: The RAF bombs Hanover.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The German advance is stalled by a sandstorm.


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## syscom3 (Jan 28, 2007)

*28 January 1942

SOUTH AFRICA*: Pro-Axis extremists blow up five power stations in an attempt to sabotage supplies to the Rand gold mines.

*GERMANY*: Hitler decorates the Luftwaffe pilot Adolf Galland with the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. Goering is appalled that the jewels are paste.

*WESTERN FRONT*: "_Sighted sub, sank same_." During an antisubmarine sweep astern of convoy HX 172, the crew of a PBO-1 Hudson of USN Patrol Squadron Eighty Two (VP-82) based at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, attacks a surfaced submarine off Cape Race, Newfoundland. Although the pilot (Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class Donald F. Mason) reports "_sighted sub, sank same_," no U-boat is lost on this date.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: The Third Conference of Foreign Ministers of the (21) American Republics at Rio de Janeiro is concluded. Despite the efforts of Argentina and Chile, Pan-American unity is preserved; within days, all Latin American nations that had not already done so (except Argentina and Chile) sever ties with Germany, Italy, and Japan. Today, Brazil and Paraguay break diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and Japan.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Indian 4th Division is authorized to withdraw from Benghazi since armored elements of the 13 Corps, British Eighth Army, are too busily engaged to assist it. The Indian 7th Brigade, the last to withdraw, finds its line of retreat blocked but breaks out to the south and eventually makes its way back to Eighth Army. Rommel's troops enter Benghazi as the British retreat; this is the fourth time the city has changed hands.

*UNITED STATES*: The Air Force Combat Command activates Headquarters 8th Air Force at Savannah AAB, Savannah, Georgia, under command of Brigadier General Asa N Duncan. The 8th is originally designated as the U.S. air element of Operation GYMNAST, the early plan for the Allied invasion of northwest Africa.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet Marshal Konstantin Timoshenko advances into the Ukraine. The Ukrainians are happy to see him, as the Germans have been practicing massacres.


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## syscom3 (Jan 29, 2007)

*29 January 1942*
*SOUTH AMERICA*: The government breaks diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and Japan.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: US Coast Guard gunboat USCGC _'Alexander Hamilton' _(WPG-34) is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-132' _at 1312 hours local 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Reykjavik, Iceland. One torpedo, of a four-torpedo spread, smashed into the ship's starboard side, directly abeam of the stack. It hit the fireroom bulkhead and flooded the two largest compartments of the ship, blew up two boilers, exploded directly under the main electrical switchboard, demolished the starboard turbines and flooded the auxiliary engine room, and wrecked the auxiliary radio generator and emergency diesel generator as well. The blast also destroyed three of the ships seven boats. The interior of the ship was plunged into darkness--no heat, steam, nor electricity remained. As the ship settled by the stern, it is abandoned. Later, a tug attempts to take her to port but high seas prevent this.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Great Britain and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of alliance with Iran, wherein Iran agrees to remain neutral; Britain and the USSR promise to withdraw their troops from Iranian territory six months after hostilities with the Axis cease. The Persian Corridor is to become the principal route for movement of supplies to the USSR. The alliance started off shakily: the Soviets bought up most of Iran's grain harvest, which caused a bread shortage and riots in the streets. Allied troops put the rebellion down, and the United States shipped in grain to compensate for the losses. The Soviet Union then attempted to agitate for the overthrow of the shah by supporting the Tudeh (Farsi for "masses") party, which the Soviets believed would be more generous in oil concessions. Tudeh forces did manage temporarily to take over northern Iran in December 1944.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Axis main forces remain in the Msus area, but elements pursue the Indian 4th Division of the British Eighth Army as it falls back slowly toward the Derna line. Rommel's Axis forces enter Benghazi
and capture 1,300 trucks.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Five-inch (12.7 cm) projectiles containing radio-proximity fuzes are test fired at the Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Virginia, and 52 percent of the fuzes functioned satisfactorily by proximity to water at the end of a 5-mile (8 kilometer) trajectory. This performance, obtained with samples selected to simulate a production lot, confirmed that the radio proximity fuze would greatly increase the effectiveness of anti-aircraft batteries and led to immediate small scale production of the fuze.

*EASTERN FRONT*: On the central front, the Soviet Army continues to deepen its salient southwest of Kaluga and the Soviets report the capture of Sukhinichi.


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## syscom3 (Jan 30, 2007)

*30 January 1942
GERMANY*: Hitler turned up at Berlin's Sports Palace today to celebrate the ninth anniversary of his coming to power. There was little to celebrate. He admitted that the offensive on the eastern front was stalled, and blamed the extreme cold, with temperatures of minus 42 Fahrenheit. He confessed:


> "_I do not know if the war will end this year."_


 He also warns:


> "_The result of this war will be the complete annihilation of the Jews ... the most evil universal enemy of all time will be finished."_


*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The hulk of the US Coast Guard gunboat USCGC _'Alexander Hamilton' _(WPG-34), torpedoed by a German U-boat yesterday, is again taken in tow by a tug. The tow progresses 18 miles (29 kilometers) but the cutter's list increases rapidly to starboard and she suddenly capsizes at 1728 hours.

An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by German submarine _'U-106' _about 150 miles (241 kilometers) east-northeast of Norfolk, Virginia.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The last pre-war automobiles produced by General Motors' Chevrolet Division and Chrysler's DeSoto Division roll off the assembly lines today.

The Secretary of the Navy authorizes a glider program for the Marine Corps consisting of small and large type gliders in sufficient numbers for the training and transportation of two battalions of 900 men each.

California Governor Culbert Olson revokes the professional and business licenses of 5,000 Japanese, German and Italian aliens in California. The revocations mostly affect Japanese-Americans.

The Congress passes the Emergency Price Control Act which allows the Office of Price Administration (OPA) to place ceilings on prices and rents.


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## syscom3 (Jan 31, 2007)

*31 January 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two British merchant tankers are torpedoed and sunk by German submarines: the first by _'U-107' _about 590 miles southeast of New York City and the second by _'U-109' _about 320 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

While escorting troop convoy NA2 from St, John's, Newfoundland, RN destroyer _'Belmont' _is torpedoed by _'U-81' _and sinks with the loss of her entire ship's company. USS _'Satterlee' _(DD-190), was commissioned as HMS _'Belmont' _(H-46) on 8 Oct. 1940, as part of the bases for destroyers deal.

HMS _'Culver' _(ex USCGC Mendota) was torpedoed by a U-boat in the mid-Atlantic.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The U.S. Military Mission to USSR, which is to advise and assist Russians on lend-Iease matters, arrives at Basra; the group subsequently proceeds to Tehran, Iran, where headquarters is established.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The last pre-war automobiles produced by Chrysler, Plymouth, and Studebaker roll off the assembly lines today.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The British government recognizes the independence of Ethiopia.

Major General Ira C Eaker is designated Commanding General, Bomber Command, U.S. Army Forces in British Isles (USAFBI) and ordered to proceed to the UK.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command attacks four targets visually during the night:
(1) 50 bombers attack the German fleet at Brest; five aircraft are lost;
(2) 14 attack the port area at St. Nazaire;
(3) six attack the port area at Le Harve;
(4) one attacks the port area at Cherbourg.


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## syscom3 (Feb 1, 2007)

*1 February 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: British intelligence suffers its most serious setback of the war when the Germans change the Enigma code used by their U-Boats. The British won't break this code, called "Shark," for a year, giving the Germans a major advantage in the Battle of the Atlantic. To make matters worse, the Germans break the British merchant ship code and now the Germans know where the British are, instead of vice versa.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army continues its powerful offensive throughout February but with diminishing success as German resistance stiffens with the arrival of reinforcements. Further efforts to break through to Leningrad and Sevastopol are futile, but some success is achieved in other sectors. Soviet forces in the Crimea are reinforced.

*GERMANY*: Germany begins rationing tobacco, with women receiving only half the male allowance.
*
NORTHERN FRONT*: Vidkun Quisling is appointed head of the Nazi puppet government in Norway.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British General Sir Neal Ritchie, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, orders a general withdrawal of 13 Corps, to the line Gazala-Bir Hacheim in order to avoid envelopment. The Indian 4th Division, which reverts to 13 Corps command, completes a withdrawal to the Derna line during the night of 1-2 February.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USAAF activates the VIII Bomber Command at Langley Field, Virginia; VIII Interceptor Command at Selfridge Field, Michigan; and the IX Interceptor Command at New Orleans AAB, Louisiana.

*SOUTH AFRICA*: Two bombs are planted in Johannesburg.

*WESTERN FRONT*: At a meeting in the Velodrome d'Hiver in Paris, Jacques Doriot, speaks to a PPF crowd of 50,000, according to his parties estimate, 30,000 according to the Propaganda Abteilung. The crowd roared in turn for Hitler, Petain and Rommel. [PPF stands for Parti Populaire Francais - a Fascist party formed in 1936 by Jacques Doriot, which collaborated with the Germans.


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## syscom3 (Feb 2, 2007)

*
2 February 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-103' _about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of the mouth of the Delaware River, New Jersey. Exposure to the frigid weather will eventually kill 34 of the 38-man crew who survive the loss of the ship at the outset.


_'U-581' _(Type VIIC) is sunk in the mid-Atlantic south-west of the Azores, in approximate position 39.00N, 30.00W, by the British destroyer HMS _'Westcott'_. 4 dead and 41 survivors. _'U-581' _was sunk near the coast of Pico Island, in front of a place called Guidaste. One of the officers, Ltn. Walter Sitek, managed to swim 6 km to shore where he was picked up by the locals. He then managed to pass through neutral Spain and make his way to Germany again when he again went to sea on a U-boat. Oblt. Walter Sitek commanded 3 boats (_U-17_, _U-981 _and _U-3005_) during the rest of the war and survived the fighting. The rest of the crew, 37 men, were picked up by the British destroyer and taken to POW camp being finally released in 1947.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Egyptian Cabinet resigns after a dispute with King Farouk regarding his pro-Axis sympathies.

General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, orders the British Eighth Army to hold Tobruk as a supply base for a future offensive.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The British Naval Staff reports that the German battleships _'Gneisenau' _and _'Scharnhorst' _will probably attempt to leave Brest, in occupied France, and pass up the English Channel through the Straits of Dover.


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## syscom3 (Feb 3, 2007)

*3 February 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A Panamanian freighter is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by German submarine _'U-103' _approx. 15 miles south of Fenwick Island light located on the Delaware/Maryland border in the U.S.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte launch a counterattack at Vjasma, cutting off and encircling several Soviet divisions.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British evacuate Derna.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The major league baseball club owners hold a special meeting to discuss wartime regulations, they decide to allow 14 night games for each club, with the Washington Senators allowed 21. Two All-Star Games will be played, one with a military All-Star team. Curfews are set for night games with no inning to start after 0050 hours local.

The Canadian Women's Auxiliary Air Force is renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force (Women's Division).


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## syscom3 (Feb 4, 2007)

*4 February 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: USS _'Branch' _(DD-197), which was commissioned as HMS _'Beverley' _(H-64) on 8 Oct, 1940, part of the destroyers-for- bases deal, today attacks and sinks _'U-187'_.

An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by German submarine _'U-103' _about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of Cape May, New Jersey.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British ambassador to Egypt, Sir Miles Lampson, presses King Farouk to appoint a pro-Allied government by surrounding his palace with tanks.

13 Corps, British Eighth Army, completes a withdrawal to the line Gazala-Bir Hacheim and is fortifying it while Axis forces hold the line Tmimi-Mechili. A lull ensues until summer during which both sides conduct harassing operations and prepare to renew the offensive. The British gradually relieve battle-weary forces with fresh troops as they become available.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Canadian press baron Max Beaverbrook is appointed Britain's Minister of Production. His steamrolling determination as Minister of Aircraft Production has already resulted in Britain producing more fighters than Germany.


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## syscom3 (Feb 5, 2007)

*5 February 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by German submarine U-103 about 175 miles (282 kilometers) east-northeast of Norfolk, Virginia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The British kick off Operation *Disclaim*, parachuting a team of agents near Sarajevo to join up with the partisans.

*MIDDLE EAST:* The Iranian government breaks diplomatic relations with Vichy France.

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Erwin Rommel's offensive is halted by the British at Gazala, just west of Tobruk. The British forces lose 40 tanks, 40 field guns and 1,400 troops. This was a disaster for the Allies in more ways than one; now the Allied convoys to Malta must pass between Axis occupied Crete and Axis airfields in Benghazi. The Axis forces are also in trouble; they have run to the end of their supply line, and his southern flank is hanging in mid-air, vulnerable to British raiders like the Special Air Service. Both sides gasp for breath in the intense desert heat. Rommel's engineers repair the damaged port of Benghazi, and motorize some units with captured British trucks (which are actually captured American lend-lease 2-1/2 ton trucks, which are very survivable). Another gain for Rommel is the recapture of Axis ammunition stocks in Benghazi, which had been left behind in the December retreat, and inactivated by removing their lighters. Now these stocks are made serviceable. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In WW2 a British Commonwealth sailor could be awarded one of four awards for gallantry in action; the Victoria Cross, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal or be mentioned in dispatches. Only the Victoria Cross or the mentioned in dispatches could be awarded posthumously in WW2.

US Naval Operating Base, Londonderry in County Derry, Ireland is established to serve as a turnaround point for transatlantic convoys.


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## syscom3 (Feb 6, 2007)

*6 February 1942
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. freighter, en route from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-10'_. There are no survivors from the 35-man crew.

The five German U-boats that have been raiding Allied shipping along the U.S. east coast break off Operation *Drumbeat *to return to their bases in France. They have sunk 25 ships in 25 days, including nine by _'U-123'_. Still,precautions along the coast are few: many oceanside communities are not blacked out at night; lighthouses and buoys are still lit; ships do not zig-zag; and the Navy has too few vessels to organize convoys. Admiral Karl Donitz is sending 15 subs to replace the first five; ten will stalk the Atlantic seaboard and five will prowl the Caribbean. During February this second wave of U-boats will sink 48 ships nearly half of them tankers.

_'U-82' _(Type VIIC) is sunk north of the Azores, in position 44.10N, 23.52W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS _'Rochester' _and the corvette _'Tamarisk'_. 45 dead (all hands lost). The boat was lost during an attack on convoy OS-18 while returning from operations off the US East Coast (Operation Drumbeat).

*GERMANY*: In Berlin, Adolf Hitler orders the Minister of Armaments and War Production, Dr. Fritz Todt, to chair a committee to coordinate all ministries involved in armaments design, manufacture and production. One of the grave problems facing Germany is its inability to organize its war effort. The various companies, ministries, and Nazi party organizations bicker and feud amongst themselves for priorities and resources, hamstringing the war effort.

*NORTH AFRICA*: A new Wafd (nationalist) government is formed under British pressure in Egypt.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The first Combined Chief of Staff Conference in Washington, DC. begins. [This conference is the combined high military leaders of the UK and the US.] This is a followup to the Arcadia Sumit of December, 1941.

The Navy Department redesignates Naval Coastal Frontiers--Eastern, Gulf, Caribbean, Panama, Hawaiian, Northwest, Western, Philippine's Sea Frontiers.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 6-7th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 57 Wellingtons and 3 Stirlings to attack the German fleet at Brest; only 21 aircraft claimed to have bombed the primary target area, in thick cloud; one Wellington is lost.

During the day, the RAF Bomber Command dispatches 33 Hampdens and 13 Manchesters to carry out minelaying operations in the Frisian Islands; one Hampden is lost.


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## syscom3 (Feb 7, 2007)

*7 February 1942
EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces attack Rzhev, to the west of Moscow.

*GERMANY*: The Nazi armaments and munitions minister, Fritz Todt, returning to Berlin after talks with Hitler, is killed when his plane crashes on take-off. Albert Speer is appointed as Minister of Munitions in his place.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Hampdens on a minelaying mission in the Frisian Islands; Luftwaffe fighters attack and three Hampdens are lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel's forces stop near Gazala.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9054 establishing the War Shipping Administration (WSA) to bring the control and operation of all U.S. merchant shipping under a single head. The WSA's most pressing task is to mobilize the shipping capacity of the country (the majority of which is still in private hands by the end of the year 1941) to bring it under single control so that vessels can be allocated more readily on the basis of overall shipping needs of the U.S. and the Allies.

The federal government orders passenger car production stopped and the automobile industry converted to wartime purposes. The government offers automakers guaranteed profits regardless of production costs throughout the war years. Furthermore, the Office of Production Management allocates US$11 billion to the construction of war manufacturing plants that would be sold to the automobile manufacturers at remarkable discounts after the war.

*NORTHERN FRONT: * The month-long battles at Maaselk Isthmus culminate today as the Finnish reinforced 19th Brigade (Col. Kai Savonjousi) finish destroying the encircled Soviet 367th Rifle Division in Krivi. The recapture of Krivi, which the Red Army had captured on the first day of their offensive on 1 Jan, brings the battles to close, and the front-line is back where it was before the Soviet offensive.The encircled Russians fought back furiously, and the last two days have been bloody. The final Finnish offensive starts at 3 am, and by 2.45 pm the pocket has been destroyed. Finns count 4000 Russian corpses from the battlefield, only 152 POWs are taken. Finnish losses are 121 killed or missing. During the last month, both sides have suffered heavy losses and are now very exhausted.


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## syscom3 (Feb 8, 2007)

*8 February 1942*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A British freighter is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-108' _about 100 miles east-northeast of Norfolk, Virginia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet General Kurochkin's troops encircle 90,000 German soldiers at Demyansk in the USSR.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The third contingent of Canadian troops arrives in Great Britain.


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## syscom3 (Feb 9, 2007)

*9 February 1942*

*NORTH AMERICA*: The 85,000 ton French passenger liner SS _'Normandie'_, built in 1931 and regarded by many as the most elegant ocean liner ever built, burns and sinks in New York Harbor during its conversion to a USN transport to be named _'Lafayette' _(AP-53). When France surrendered to the Germans in June 1940 and the puppet Vichy regime was installed, the _'Normandie' _was in dock at New York City. The US Navy immediately placed it in "protective custody," since the U.S. government did not want a ship of such size and speed to fall into the hands of the Germans, which it certainly would if it returned to France; the Navy took control of the ship shortly after Pearl Harbor. While undergoing conversion to a transport, a welder accidentally set fire to a pile of flammable life preservers with his torch, and by early the next morning the ship lay capsized in the harbor, a gutted wreck. Salvage from this ship will be auctioned in July, 1945.

On this day, Congress pushes ahead standard time for the United States by one hour in each time zone, imposing daylight saving time--called at the time "war time."

The Screen Actors Guild rejects General Hershey's plan to defer movie stars that was announced yesterday.

The 78th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) and its three subordinate units, the 82d, 83d and 84th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor) , USAAF are activated at Baer Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Canadian Anti-conscription candidates are soundly defeated in four by-elections.


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## syscom3 (Feb 10, 2007)

*10 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two Canadian ships are sunk: (1) German submarine _'U-564' _sinks a Canadian motor tanker about 450 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and (2) Canadian corvette HMCS _'Spikenard' _is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-136' _off Iceland; 57 crewmen are lost.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command attacks five cities visually during the night without loss:
(1) 34 bombers attack Bremen;
(2) six attack Emden;
(3) and one bomber each attacks Borkum, Cruxhaven and Wilhelmshaven.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Fifteen bombers of RAF Bomber Command attack the German fleet at Brest visually during the night without loss.


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## syscom3 (Feb 11, 2007)

*11 February 1942
*
*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Shipping loss: ML "_Doob_" - mined in Kazachiya bay in Sevastopol.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 11-12th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 49 aircraft to bomb Mannheim while one Manchester drops mines in the Frisian Islands.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Montreal, Quebecois riot against conscription plans that may call for Canadian draftees to be sent overseas to fight, in violation of government policy. Canadian troops who cannot be sent overseas are called "Zombies."

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 11-12, 25 Wellingtons and 6 Whitleys of RAF Bomber Command bomb Le Havre; one Wellington is lost. Other operations include 18 Wellingtons attacking Brest (one Wellington is lost) and five aircraft flying leaflet missions.

Unternehmen *Cerberus: *To the fury of the British, three of Germany's most powerful ships made a daring dash up the English Channel today. By this evening they were within range of the safety of the German ports._'Scharnhorst'_, _'Gneisenau'_, and _'Prinz Eugen' _begin their "Channel Dash" in Unternehmen *Cerberus*. They will leave Atlantic port of Brest move through the English Channel in daylight to naval bases in Germany. This morning at dawn, a pair of Spitfires from RAF Hawkinge patrolling the French coast noted unusual activity by light naval forces. The weather is bad, and getting worse, with snow on the ground, very heavy and low cloud, and poor visibility. At 0920, the Germans begin efforts to jam British radar along the South Coast. Given this unusual behaviour, a second pair of Spitfires are sent to investigate at 1020. On their return, they reported spotting a "convoy" including a possible capital ship. It was not until 11.09am today that an RAF Spitfire (one of two flown by senior RAF officers on a separate operation) spotted the German ships, by which time they were in the Straits of Dover. The Dover Castle guns fired, but fell short. The Eight boats from Ramsgate and Dover Motor Torpedo boats sped out, but could not get within range because of the powerful German E-boat escort. They did fire but at extreme range. Six Swordfish of 825 Naval Air Squadron, which had earlier been moved from Lee-on-Solent to RAF Manston to help concentrate attacks in the chokepoint of the Dover Straits, led by Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Kingsmill Esmonde (b.1909), are ordered at 1130 to mount an attack as soon as possible. made a brave attack, despite the fact that their Spitfire escort was not ready. It was recognized that his slow and vulnerable aircraft would need significant fighter escort to survive. Three fighter squadrons from RAF Biggin Hill and two from RAF Hornchurch were ordered to accompany him. The Biggin Hill aircraft were to defend against the now very large Luftwaffe fighter escort covering the ships, whilst the Hornchurch aircraft were to accompany his torpedo bombers in a low level attack, distracting anti-aircraft fire and strafing the ships to keep gunners heads down. However, the Hornchurch fighter controller telephoned Esmonde to warn him that his squadrons simply could not reach the rendezvous by the allotted time. The timing was also exceptionally tight for the nearer Biggin Hill units. But Esmonde feared that even a short delay might take the German ships out of reach. As soon as the first ten Spitfires from 72 Squadron appeared overhead at Manston at 1228, he set off with his Swordfish, with only one-fifth of his planned escort. The RAF Station Commander at Manston said of Esmonde -


> "_He knew what he was going into. But it was his duty. His face was tense and white. It was the face of a man already dead. It shocked me as nothing has ever done since._"


German fighter attacks began only ten miles out from the English coast. The Spitfires engaged, but found it impossible to keep track of both their opponents and the Swordfish, flying at only about 100mph at very low level. The other two Biggin Hill squadrons arrived to engage German fighters in the general area. One Spitfire was lost, and two Messerschmitts were thought to have been destroyed. Esmonde's six Swordfish pressed on alone, under heavy fighter attack and then, as the battlecruisers came into sight, intense anti-aircraft fire. The lower port wing of Esmonde's biplane was shot away, but he somehow managed to keep flying until he was eventually shot down and killed with his two crewmen just before he got in torpedo range. The two Swordfish with him managed to drop their torpedoes before being shot down; five of their six crew survived. The second section of three Swordfish were also all shot down, with the loss of all nine men aboard. Their efforts were in vain, with no torpedoes hitting their targets. Esmonde was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, and the other seventeen men were also decorated. Seven Beaufort torpedo-bombers of 217 Squadron attempted to find their targets in the bad weather, and eventually five attacked, without success. Fighters shot down one. Other Beauforts and Hudsons attempted attacks, with the loss of four aircraft. Meanwhile, six elderly Royal Navy destroyers usually used for convoy duties, dashed south along the East Coast, coming under several air attacks. A squadron of RAF Whirlwind fighters was sent out to try to ward off the Luftwaffe, but was bounced and lost four aircraft. The effort proved too much for the worn engines of HMS _'Walpole'_, and she had to turn for home. The other five made radar contact at 1517, and ran in under heavy fire. The destroyers were repeatedly straddled, and HMS _'Worcester' _set on fire. Torpedoes were fired, but once again the range proved too great for accuracy. However, all the destroyers survived and retired to Harwich. Bomber Command RAF mustered 242 bombers to attack the ships off the Dutch coast before dark. Visibility was by now appalling, down to 1000-2000 yards in heavy rain, and the very low cloud base meant that bombs could not be dropped from sufficient altitude to have a chance of penetrating armour. 39 bombers were able to attack the German ships or their escorts, but 188 could not find them, and 15 were shot down. Fighter Command also sent up a total of 398 fighters - 102 strafed German patrol boats in the area, and claimed 16 enemy aircraft shot down, for the loss of 17 RAF fighters. But it was not until late tonight that mines - dropped by the RAF - succeeded where bombers had failed. The battle cruisers were damaged, _'Scharnhorst'_, seriously, as they neared German waters and ports. The RAF lost 42 aircraft.

The first action by RAF Douglas Boston III light-bombers takes place when No. 88 Squadron attacks shipping.

Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Retired), U.S. Ambassador to Vichy France, receives instructions from President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the U.S. government has learned that French ships are to be used to transport war materiel between France and Tunisia, and that unless the French government gives assurances that no military aid would go forward to any Axis power, and that French ships would not be used in the furtherance of Axis acts of aggression in any theater of war, the ambassador would be recalled to the United States;


> "_for consultation in a determination of American future policy with regard to the government of Vichy."_


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## syscom3 (Feb 12, 2007)

*12 February 1942

GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Hampdens and nine Manchesters to lay further mines in the Frisian Islands, although weather conditions were still unfavorable. Only eight aircraft laid their mines but all returned without loss, but one Hampden crashes in England.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Three Allied supply ships leave Alexandria, Egypt, for Malta, but all are lost to enemy before reaching destination. The destroyer HMS _'MAORI' _is sunk while moored in the Grand Harbour at Malta.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, indicates that 16 heavy bomber groups, three pursuit groups, and eight photographic reconnaissance squadrons will be sent to the UK during 1942. Brigadier General Asa N Duncan, Commanding General 8th Air Force, requests that his force, inadequate for its intended mission under Operation GYMNAST (early Allied plan for the seizure of Casablanca and the invasion of northwestern Africa), be strengthened by several bombardment and pursuit groups. This move, if carried out, would require diversion of units originally intended for other task forces.

The USAAF places a second production order for 410 Northrop P-61s.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar meet in Seville and report that they share many views.


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## syscom3 (Feb 13, 2007)

*13 February 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet winter offensive continue to meet increasing German resistance. Despite this, the Soviet spearhead has reached Belorussia.
*
GERMANY*: German Operation *Sealion *is formally cancelled. This is the plan for the cross channel invasion of England. While postponed many times, this cancellation makes it final.

During the night of the 13-14th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 39 bombers to Cologne and 18 to Aachen but all encountered icing and thick cloud and only meager bombing results were claimed. There are no losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italian torpedo boat _'Circe' _sinks the British submarine HMS _'Tempest' _off Taranto.

Admiral Erich Raeder, head of the German Navy, brings a new plan to Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Raeder proposes that the Germans drive through Libya, into Egypt, and keep on going through Iraq, Iran, and all the way to India, thus drying up Britain's oil supply, hooking up with the Japanese, and winning the war. To do so, the German will have to divert more resources to the Mediterranean, starting with massive supplies to North Africa. To do that, the Germans will have to invade Malta. Hitler orders the Luftwaffe's Air Fleet 2 to hammer Malta and knock out its airfields and will to resist. General Erwin Rommel, commanding the Afrika Korps, who will lead the drive to India, thinks it's a great idea.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 13-14th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 28 bombers to Le Havre but they encounter icing and thick cloud and only meager bombing results were claimed. There are no losses.


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## syscom3 (Feb 14, 2007)

*14 February 1942*

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 14/15th, 98 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command attack Mannheim; a Hampden and a Whitley are lost. Sixty seven aircraft claimed to have bombed the city in difficult conditions however, the Germans report only a light raid, with two buildings destroyed, 15 damaged, some railway damage and with one man wounded and 23 people bombed out.

*NORTH AMERICA*: "This Is War!," a 30-minute 13-week anti-fascist radio series, debuts this Saturday night at 1900 hours Eastern Time. This is the only radio series to air on all four networks, The Blue Network, CBS, Mutual and NBC. The program features such Hollywood stars as James Stewart, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Tyrone Power in shows that promote the Army, Navy, and Air Force and help Americans understand themselves and the enemy.

Movie Director Frank Capra is called up for duty with the Army Signal Corps.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Area Bombing Directive is issued to the RAF Bomber Command. It states that raids "should now be focused on the morale of the enemy civil population and, in particular, of the industrial workers." This represents a substantial shift in policy and targets civilian residential areas rather than factories.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 14/15th, 15 RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack Le Havre while one Manchester flies a leaflet mission. There are no losses.


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## syscom3 (Feb 15, 2007)

*15 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A Brazilian merchant ship is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-432' _30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Cape Henry, Virginia.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Two merchant vessels on a convoy to Malta are sunk.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 15-16th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches ten Whitleys and six Halifaxes to attack the port area at St Nazaire; only nine aircraft bomb visually, in cloudy conditions. No aircraft are lost but three crash in England.


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## syscom3 (Feb 16, 2007)

*16 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German Unternehmen *NEULAND *begins with simultaneous attacks on Dutch and Venezuelan oil ports to disrupt production and flow of petroleum products vital to the Allied war effort; German submarine _'U-156' _shells a refinery on Aruba, Netherlands West Indies, and torpedoes
and damages a U.S. merchant tanker as she lies alongside Eagle Dock; a second torpedo misses the ship and runs up on the beach. There are no casualties among the 37-man crew. The enemy does not emerge from the action unscathed, however, for the explosion of a shell prematurely in a gun barrel injures two men on board _'U-156'_, which will receive permission to put in to French Martinique Island.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 16-17th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 37 Hampdens and 12 Manchesters to the Frisian Islands; one Hampden and one Manchester are lost. Eighteen Wellingtons fly roving commissions over Northern Germany, eight aircraft bomb Bremen, seven bomb Aurich, two hit Oldenburg, one hit Wilhemshaven.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Navy launches a new battleship, the USS _'Alabama'_.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the16-17th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 aircraft to drop leaflets in France.

During the night of the 16-17th, two RAF Bomber Command bombers hit Schipol Airfield in Amsterdam and Sosterberg Airfield.

Eight RAF Bostons, of No. 88 and 226 Squadrons, commenced the first regular operations with this new type the of day bomber. They searched for German shipping off the Dutch coast without success or loss.


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## syscom3 (Feb 17, 2007)

*17 February 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: In Russia, the Soviet Army struggles to push the German lines back near Rhzev, on the Moscow front. The Soviet Air Force drops 7,373 Soviet paratroopers behind German lines amid fog; more than a quarter fall directly onto German lines and are taken prisoner.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 17-18th, 12 RAF Bomber Command bombers are sent on a roving commission over northwestern Germany but visibility is poor and most bombing results are unobserved; eight other aircraft bomb the city of Essen.

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, is ordered to release two more divisions for action in the Far East, the British 70th and the Australian 9th. The Australian 9th Division is subsequently allowed to remain in Middle East.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The House of Commons holds a debate on the escape of the German ships from Brest, France. Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces the formation of a commission of inquiry under Mr. Justice Bucknill.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 17-18th, three RAF Bomber Command Hampdens drop leaflets over Paris. Five Bostons of RAF Bomber Command fly an uneventful shipping search off the Dutch coast. RAF Bomber Command dispatches one Whitley during the night to drop leaflets over Oslo.


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## syscom3 (Feb 18, 2007)

*18 February 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A Brazilian tanker is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-432' _about 78 miles (126 kilometers) northeast of Norfolk, Virginia.

The Free French submarine _'Surcouf'_, then the largest submarine in the world, is sunk in a collision with a U.S. merchant ship near the entrance to the Panama Canal. There are no survivors of the 130- man crew.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: British miners are exempted from soap rationing.

*WESTERN FRONT*: An armed U.S. freighter is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-161' _while lying at anchor at Port of Spain, Trinidad; there are no casualties among the 36-man merchant crew and 9-man Armed Guard.

During the night of the 18-19th, six RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over Paris and Lille.

During the night of the 18-19th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 25 Hampdens on a mining mission over the West Frisian Islands.

The USN destroyer USS _'Truxtun' _(DD-229) and stores issuing ship USS _'Pollux' _(AKS-2) run aground during storm near Placentia Bay; the former just east of Ferryland Point and the latter off LawnPoint. Minesweeper USS _'Brant' _(AM-24) arrives on scene and contributes rescue parties as well as brings medical officer and corpsmen from destroyer tender and Support Force flagship, the destroyer tender USS _'Prairie' _(AD-15). The tragedy produces deep admiration for the lifesaving efforts of the local population.


> "_Hardly a dozen men from both ships would have been saved_," one observer writes later, "_had it not been for the superb work of the local residents_."


Many men jeopardize their own lives frequently to save the American sailors; several hang by lines over the cliffs to keep survivors from dragging over sharp rocks as they are pulled up from the beach below; others go out in a dory, risking swamping several times in the rough waves; after working all day rescuing USS _'Truxtun's' _people, some of the local inhabitants then toil all night rescuing USS _'Pollux's' _men with a stamina that defies description. Though poor, the men, women, and children of the town of St. Lawrence turn out to outfit the ;


> "....survivors with blankets, warm clothes, boots, fed them, cleaned them up as best they could and turned them in their own beds."


 Subsequently, they turn a deaf ear to offers to pay for food and clothing used in succoring the shipwrecked Americans.


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## syscom3 (Feb 19, 2007)

*19 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-128' _about 20 miles off Cape Canaveral, Florida and an armed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-96' _in the North Atlantic, about 300 miles west-southwest of St. Johns, Newfoundland. Although _'U-96' _sees three lifeboats pull away from the ship, no survivors from the 30-man merchant complement or the seven-man Armed Guard are ever found.

The transport USS _'William P. Biddle' _(AP-15) arrives at Guantanamo Bay and disembarks the USMC's 9th Defense Battalion.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 19-20th, seven RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons visually bomb Essen.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The Canadian Parliament votes to introduce military conscription. (_A note on Canadian conscription - although Canada had conscription the draftees were only to serve on the home front and not til late 44 that any consripted troops were sent overseas. According to Wiki only 2463 went overseas and 79 lost their lives. [contributed by pbfoot.])_

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal of any or all people from military areas "as deemed necessary or desirable." The military in turn defines the entire West Coast, home to the majority of Americans of Japanese ancestry or citizenship, as a military area. By June, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans were relocated to remote internment camps built by the U.S. military in scattered locations around the country. For the next two and a half years, many of these Japanese Americans endured extremely difficult living conditions and poor treatment by their military guards. 

General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed as Chief of the War Plans Division for the US Army.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces changes in the War Cabinet. It now has seven members instead of nine. Out went Lord Beaverbrook, who ceases to be minister of production. He had often been at loggerheads with Ernest Bevin, the powerful minister of labour. Out also went Sir Kingsley Wood, the chancellor of the exchequer, and Arthur Greenwood, the minister without portfolio. In came Sir Stafford Cripps, the darling of Labour's discontented left-wingers. Clement Attlee, Labour's leader, is now to remain deputy prime minister.

*WESTERN FRONT* : During the night, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets on Paris and Lille.

Police arrest several French Resistance leaders, including the philosopher Georges Politzer.

After their arrest by the order of French Premier Marshal Henri Petain, General Maurice Gamelin, former Commander in Chief of Allied Forces in France, and former Prime Ministers, Paul Reynaud and Leon Blum are put on trial, in Riom, for the French loss in this war. The defendants present evidence which tends to implicate the entire French military establishment, many of whom are now serving in the Vichy Government. The trial is adjourned and never completed.


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## syscom3 (Feb 20, 2007)

*20 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarines sink 2 US freighters. One is an unarmed U.S. freighter sunk by German submarine _'U-432' _about 125 miles (201 kilometers) east-southeast of Ocean City, Maryland. There are no survivors from the 38-man crew.

An armed U.S. freighter is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-156' _about 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Martinique. The 52 crewmen are rescued by the small seaplane tender USS _'Lapwing' _(AVP-1) and then scuttles the irreparably damaged merchantman with gunfire.

German submarine _'U-156' _puts in to the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean to put ashore one of the men wounded by the premature barrel explosion on 16 February.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German casualties in the USSR so far are 199,448 dead, 708,351 wounded, 44,342 missing and 112,627 cases of severe frostbite.

*GERMANY*: The German naval warships, _'Admiral Scheer' _and _'Prinz Eugen' _leave BrŸnsbuttel for Norway.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US supplies the USSR with a $1,000 million loan.

US Admiral William D. Leahy writes to President Roosevelt that he expects a recall "for consultation" since the French have not responded positively to Roosevelt's message of 11 February. President Roosevelt, while sympathetic to Admiral Leahy's position, subsequently informs his ambassador to Vichy that;


> "_to hold the fort [in Vichy] is as important a military task as any other in these days_."


Leahy is thus retained in France. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Major General Ira C. Eaker, who is to command the USAAF VIII Bomber Command, 8th Air Force, arrives by air with six staff officers to select a headquarters site and prepare for the arrival of American troops; he reports to Major General James E. Chaney, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, British Isles (USAFI).


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## syscom3 (Feb 21, 2007)

*21 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-504' _about three miles (4,8 kilometers) east of Jupiter Inlet, Florida.

An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-67' _about 225 miles (362 kilometers) west of Aruba, Netherlands East Indies.

On convoy escort destroyer HMS _'Montgomery' _rescued the survivors of _'Scottish Standard'_. USS _'Wickes' _(DD-75), was commissioned as HMS _'Montgomery' _(G-95) on 25 Oct. 1940.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army surrounds part of the German 16.Armee at Vyazma, a city northwest of Moscow. The Luftwaffe will airlift supplies to the Vyazma garrison until it is rescued in April. The same air supply tactic will fail next year at Stalingrad.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 20-21st, 21 RAF Bomber Command aircraft visually bomb eight cities. Six bomb Koblenz, five bomb Mannheim, three bomb Frankfurt-am- Main, two each bomb Aachen and Cologne, and one each bombs Darmstadt, Dortmund and Karlsruhe.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: During the night of the 20-21st, eight RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack four airfields to provide a diversion for a Fleet Air Arm strike from the aircraft carrier HMS _'Victorious' _on the German heavy cruiser _'Prinz Eugen'_, which had taken shelter in a Norwegian fjord near Trondheim after being torpedoed and damaged by the submarine HMS _'Trident'_. The Fleet Air Arm strike was not successful, because of poor weather conditions. Five aircraft attack Lista and one each attack Christiansand, Mandel and Stavanger. The aircraft attacking Stavanger is lost.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 20-21st, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft visually bombs the port area at Ostend.

During the night of the 20-21st, two RAF Bomber Command Manchesters drop mines off the West Frisian Islands.

US Ambassador Admiral William D. Leahy USN (Retired), receives an instruction to see French Vice Premier Admiral Jean Darlan immediately about German submarine U-156's receiving assistance at Martinique. Unless the Vichy French can assure the U.S. government that no Axis ships or planes will be allowed to enter French ports or territory in the Western Hemisphere, and that unless such assurances are rigidly maintained, the United States...


> "_will take such action in the interest of security of the Western Hemisphere as it may judge necessary and in accordance with existing inter-American obligations._ "


 Leahy writes in his diary that everything points to his early recall to Washington "for consultation."


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## syscom3 (Feb 22, 2007)

*22 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two U.S. tankers are sunk off the coast of Florida by German submarines:
(1) an armed tanker is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-128' _25 miles (40 kilometers) east of the city of Melbourne; six of the nine Armed Guards and 30 of the 41-man crew are rescued;
(2) an unarmed tanker is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-504' _about 41 miles (66 kilometers) northeast of West Palm Beach; only one of the 36-man crew survives. An unarmed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-129' _about 125 miles (201 kilometers) southeast of Trinidad, British West Indies.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 22-23d, 36 RAF Bomber Command aircraft attempt to bomb the floating dock at Wilhelmshaven which the Germans might be using to repair the battleships _'Scharnhorst' _or _'Gneisenau'_. The area was cloud-covered and bombs were mostly released on the estimated position of the city. Three other aircraft bomb the city of Emden.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ of U.S. Army Bomber Command, U.S. Army Forces, British Isles (USAFBI), is established under Major General Ira C. Eaker. Hugh Dalton is appointed president of the British board of trade. Air Marshall Arthur Harris is appointed Head of Bomber Command for the RAF. Amplifying the above: He first went to war against the Germans with the 1st Rhodesian Regiment in South-west Africa in 1915. He has 20 years experience of bombing. He learnt the hard way - flying worn-out Bristol Fighters on punitive raids against the tribesmen of the North-West Frontier, and Vickers Vernon transports fitted with bomb racks against Iraqi rebels. He has since commanded No. 4 Bomber Group and, for a year of the war, No 5 Bomber Group.Known to his friends as "Bert", he is a prickly individual and no respecter of authority. It is possibly for this reason that he has caught the eye of Churchill. He believes in strategic bombing and can be relied on to carry out Bomber Command's new orders to attack German civilian morale. He faces opposition, however, from those who regard his command as a costly diversion of resources.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 22-23d, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb the port area of Ostend.

Stulpnagel has a farewell tea in the Paris Talleyrand with Ernst Junger. Junger describes him ;


> "_In him, delicacy, grace, suppleness, are oddly mixed, suggesting a ballet master, with features like wooden guignol, melancholy and maniacal. He had sent for about the question of hostages, because he was most concerned that the record in the future be accurate. Beside, the question is the only one which has to do with his departure. Seen from the outside, he displays the grand proconsular power of someone in his position, and there is no way of learning the secret history of the quarrels and intrigues within the palace walls. The story is filled out with the struggle against the embassy and the Nazi party in France, the latter slowly gaining ground, without the Army High Command lending its support to the general_."


 Stulpnagel goes on to say that the campaign in Russia is taking an unexpected turn and he considered that Germany's tactical interests lay in securing its empire with the minimum of force. If you're wondering who these people are: Stulpnagel is the Milit`rbefehlsaber (German Military Governor) of Paris. Ernst Junger is a German writer who at the time was a member of Stulpnagel's staff, and kept a diary.


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## syscom3 (Feb 23, 2007)

*23 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two U.S. merchant ships are attacked by German submarines:
(1) An armed freighter is torpedoed by _'U-161' _about 275 miles(443 kilometers) west of Martinique; the damaged ship engages the sub in a surface gunnery action before the freighter is subsequently abandoned and the crew rescued. An attempt is made to tow the ship to St. Lucia but she sinks short of the island.
(2) An unarmed tanker is torpedoed by _'U-502' _about 54 miles (87 kilometers) north of Aruba, and although initially abandoned is reboarded. She is ultimately repaired and returned to service; there are no casualties among the 36-man crew.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops capture Dorogobuzh on the Dniepr River. German reports that day say that a partisan camp of more than 500 men armed with heavy machine guns and anti-tank guns, is located east of Minsk. In the Cherven region, partisans;


> "_have strict orders not to start any action, only to attack and destroy German search parties."_



*GERMANY*: During the night of the 23-24th RAF Bomber Command dispatches 23 Hampdens on minelaying mission off Wilhelmshaven and Heligoland. One aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini delivers a speech in Rome stating,


> "_We call bread bread and wine wine, and when the enemy wins a battle it is useless and ridiculous to seek, as the English do in their incomparable hypocrisy, to deny or diminish it."_



*NORTH AMERICA*:The USN's Bureau of Aeronautics outlines a comprehensive program which became the basis for the wartime expansion of pilot training. In place of the existing seven months course, the new program required 11 months for pilots of single or twin-engine aircraft and 12 months for four-engine pilots, and is divided into three months at Induction Centers, three months in Primary, three months in Intermediate and two or three months in Operational Training, depending on the type aircraft used. 

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Submarine HMS _'Trident' _(Cmdr. Sladen) sights KMS _'Prinz Eugen'_, in the North Sea, and fires three torpedoes, one of which hits aft, damaging _'Prinz Eugen's' _rudder and blowing away 30 feet of her stern. She is taken into Lo Fjord at Drontheim, and temporary repairs (including the fitting of two jury rudders) is completed by the beginning of May (1942).

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs Australian Prime Minister John Curtin that the convoy carrying the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions will proceed to Australian after refueling at Colombo, Ceylon.

HQ of the USAAF's VIII Bomber Command is established at Daws Hill Lodge, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England; Major General Ira C Eaker assumes command.


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## syscom3 (Feb 24, 2007)

*24 February 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Some 764 Romanian Jewish refugees heading for Palestine are killed when a Soviet submarine sinks their steamer _'Struma' _in the Black Sea. The Romanian ship _'Struma' _sailed from Constansa under the command of a Bulgarian captain, G.T. Gorbatenkoin, and flying the Panamanian flag. There are 747 Romanian Jews on board, many from the town of Barland, their hope was to reach Palestine. After three days at sea, the _'Struma' _anchored off the outer harbour at Instanbul, with engine trouble. Here she awaited British permission to proceed to Palestine, permission which the British refused, one reason given was;


> "_It will encourage a flood of refugees_"


 Turkey, for some unknown reason, likewise refused them to disembark although the local Jewish community, who were already running a camp for Displaced Persons, were quite willing to take the _'Struma's' _passengers and were in the meantime supplying them with food and water. One of the passengers, Medeea Marcovici, suffered an embolism and was transferred to the Jewish hospital in Instanbul. She was granted a visa for Palestine and died in 1996. After two months at Instanbul with engines that were damaged beyond repair, conditions on board became appalling, many of the passengers now suffering from dysentery and malnutrition. Eventually the Turkish police arrived to tow the _'Struma' _out into the Black Sea. The British had exerted strong pressure on Turkey to pursue this course. The enraged passengers fought them off, but a second attempt, where force was used, succeeded and the _'Struma' _was towed out and cast adrift outside Turkish territorial waters. This inhuman decision by the Turkish and British governments was to destroy the special relationship between Britain and the Zionist Jews. On the water for 74 days since leaving Conatansa, the _'Struma'_, hopelessly overcrowded, and with no country willing to accept them, was suddenly torpedoed and sunk by the Russian submarine SHCH-213 commanded by Lt. Col. Isaev, just ten miles from Instanbul. All on board, a total of 796 persons, perished except one, nineteen year old David Stoljar who today (1999) lives in Oregon USA.The British High Commissioner in Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael, stated:


> _'The fate of these people was tragic, but the fact remains that they were nationals of a country at war with Britain, proceeding direct from enemy territory. Palestine was under no obligations towards them"._



Six German divisions cut off at Demyansk, in the northern sector of the Moscow front are defying all the Red Army's efforts to crush them. The Demyansk pocket and other similarly defended localities are frustrating the Soviet offensive. One remarkable aspect of the Demyansk operation is that the 100,000 men in the pocket are completely cut off and are being supplied with food, fuel and ammunition by air. All types of aircraft are being used. Junkers Ju52 transports are the main workhorses, but bombers are also carrying in supplies. They are protected by every available Messerschmidt Bf109, but the Russians are having a field day, while other bombers are being shot down by a flak corridor set up by the USSR. Supplies are also being airlifted into another fiercely defended pocket, or "hedgehog", around Kholm. It is even more dangerous here, for the airfield is in range of Russian artillery and the Germans are being forced to drop supplies by parachute or land them by glider. The effect of the "hedgehogs" is the break up the cohesion of the Russian front. The Russians cannot maintain their offensive and the Germans cannot regroup effectively. Both sides are now showing signs of exhaustion. The Germans lose more men from frostbite than from gunshot, and the Russians are simply running out of steam.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Voice of America shortwave radio station broadcasts for the first time with the words,


> "_The Voice of America speaks. ... we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good or bad, but we shall tell you the truth_."


Its first programs are in German.

The USN's Bureau of Aeronautics issues a contract for television equipment, including camera, transmitter, and receiver, that is capable of airborne operation. Such equipment promises to be useful both in transmitting instrument readings obtained from radio-controlled structural flight tests, and in providing target and guidance information necessary should radio-controlled aircraft be converted to offensive weapons.

The US gun manufacturers stop production of 12 gauge shotguns for civilian consumption as they converted to war production.


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## syscom3 (Feb 25, 2007)

*25 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Five U-boats - four of them outward bound from their Biscay bases and fully loaded with torpedoes - have caused havoc with one of the first convoys to leave the United States for Europe. The convoy was sighted 600 miles north-east of Cape Race and trailed until the submarines formed a hunting pack and struck. In the three-day battle that followed, eight ships - six of them large tankers - were sunk. The U-boats escaped unscathed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Shipping loss: MS "TSch-405 "_Vzrivatel_"" - by field artillery, close to Eupatoria (later raised) (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 25-26th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 61 aircraft, 43 Wellingtons, 12 Manchesters and six Stirlings, to visually bomb a the floating drydock at Kiel; 36 aircraft bomb the target. In the bombing of the harbor area, the accommodation ship _'Monte Sarmiento' _is hit and burnt out with the loss of 120-130 lives; 16 people are also killed and 39 injured in the town. Three Wellingtons are lost. Nine Hampdens also fly a mining mission along the coast.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British submarine HMS P38 is sunk off the coast of Tunisia by Italian destroyers.

British Commandoes land on the Italian held Island of Castelorizzo in the Dodecanese Islands.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Washington, the Air War Plans Division recommends the removal of Operation GYMNAST (an early Allied plan for the seizure of Casablanca and the invasion of Northwest Africa) from the list of current projects. This proposal, if adopted, would leave the 8th Air Force uncommitted to any operation.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The debate that began in the House of Commons yesterday comes to a close with many speakers being sharply critical of government policy, with the bombing of Germany being called into question. Sir Stafford Cripps makes a speech asking why so many resources are being spent on building up Bomber Command. Major General James E Chaney, Commanding General US Army Forces in British Isles (USAFBI), instructs Brigadier General Ira C Eaker and the staff of the VIII Bomber Command to proceed to HQ, RAF Bomber Command for a study of bombing operations, and to make reconnaissance of certain airfields and submit plans for the reception and assignment of US Army Air Forces units.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 25-26th, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets on Paris and Lille.

Galtier-Boissire's diary notes more arrests by the Gestapo. "_Marie-Claude, daughter of Lucille Vogel and widow of Vaillant-Couturier"._

During the night of the 25-26th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 21 Whitleys to bomb aluminum factories at Heroya and Odda. These areas are cloud covered and the Whitleys return without bombing.


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## syscom3 (Feb 26, 2007)

*26 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two U.S. merchant ships are sunk off the U.S. coast by German U-boats:
(1) an unarmed bulk carrier is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by _'U-432' _about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east-northeast of Cape Hattaras, North Carolina.
(2) an armed tanker is torpedoed by _'U-578' _5 miles (8 kilometers) off Sea Girt, Delaware.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army engages the German 16.Armee near Starya Russa, inflicting heavy casualties.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 25/26th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 49 aircraft, 33 Wellingtons, ten Hampdens and six Halifaxes, to attack the floating drydock at Kiel; 26 aircraft bomb the target. Crews claimed good results in clear weather with bombs close to the floating dock. A high-explosive bomb scored a direct hit on the bows of the battleship _'Gneisenau'_, causing severe damage and killing 116 men in the crew. This proved to be the end of _'Gneisenau' _as a fighting unit. Bombing in the town of Kiel destroyed several houses and killed 16 people. Two Wellingtons and a Halifax are lost. Individual aircraft bomb Flensburg and Husum.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill exhorts General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command to launch an offensive against the German and Italian forces that are gathering in front of the Gazala line. He reminds Auchinleck that the longer he waits, the more time General Erwin Rommel will have to rebuild his strength. To this General Auchinleck replies that his intention is to first build up an armored striking force as quickly as possible and strengthen the defenses of the Gazala line. Only then would he mount a major offensive, which he advised Churchill would be in early June. The British XIII Corps is made responsible for defenses organized in depth over 36-mile (58 kilometer) area from Gazala to Bir Hacheim. The British XXX Corps prepares defensive positions on the frontier and has a detachment at Giarabub.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Soviet Ambassador to the U.S. Maxim Litvinov demands the Allies open a second front. He states that;


> "_only by simultaneous offensive operations on two or more of the fronts can Hitler's armed forces be disposed of_."



Canadian Prime Minister MacKenzie King orders the evacuation of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the coastal regions of British Columbia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The British government outlines a building plan to boost employment and provide cheap housing for all after the war.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 25/26th, two RAF Hampdens drop leaflets on Paris.

1000 Jews have already been arrested in Paris on General Stulpnagel's orders. Adolf Eichmann cables Lischka to arrange to deport as a preliminary measure resulting from the Wannsee conference.


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## syscom3 (Feb 27, 2007)

*27 February 1942
*
*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command fly three missions during the night of the 27th-28th: 68 aircraft, 33 Wellingtons, 17 Manchesters and 18 Hampdens, are dispatched to bomb the drydock at Kiel; the area is completely cloud-covered and only 50 aircraft bombed the approximate position of Kiel but, although Kiel reports hearing the planes, no bombs dropped in the town. No aircraft were lost. (2) In a second mission, 33 aircraft are dispatched to bomb the battleship _'Scharnhorst'_, which is believed to be at Wilhelmshaven, but the cloud was present here also; 26 aircraft drop their bombs but Wilhelmshaven reports only three bombs exploding, in the water of the harbor; three Whitleys are lost. (3) In the final mission, 11 Hampdens and four Manchesters lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order authorizing the creation of the Joint Mexican-U.S. Defense Commission.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: In a daring raid on France tonight British Parachute Regiment soldiers seized top-secret German RDF (radar) equipment. The paras had been trained for this operation, jumping at night into snow near the clifftop target at Bruneval, near Le Havre. The leader, Major John Frost, blew four blasts on his whistle to signal the attack and charged with four men through the front door of the enemy chateau overlooking the site, shooting as he went. Royal Engineers, guarded by paratroopers, tore out the aerial and other essential parts of the Wurzburg tracking device with crowbars. Enemy bullets hit the equipment as they worked. For a time afterwards it seemed as if the escape route down a cliff to a beach rendezvous was blocked by a clifftop machine-gun post, whose bullets hit Sergeant-Major Strachan in the stomach. Then a team of paras which had landed off the drop zone joined the fight after a forced march. Hit by crossfire - and a Gaelic battle cry as the enemy attacked - the German gunners fled. On the beach, survivors of the raid waited, but at first no-one responded to Frost's signals calling in the boats. As his men prepared to fight to the last round, the word was passed:


> "_The ruddy Navy's here_!"


The paras embarked with the secret equipment and, as instructed, brought with them a captured RDF operator. They lost three dead and six captured. There was one RAF Radar expert, Flight Sergeant C.W.H. Cox. not a Royal Engineer, who identified and stripped out the vital components. To add to the drama he had never been in a boat or an aircraft before the raid. Due to an amazingly stupid senior officer, the Radar expert had to wear army uniform and wasn't allowed to dress or carry papers that would have made him look like another para. As a result, he stood out like a sore thumb and had an escort who had orders to shoot him if he looked like he was to be captured, as he was trained in British radar. It takes courage to go on a mission like that, but to go when you know your own side will shoot you to stop you being captured, is something very special. (_contributed by Glider_.)


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## syscom3 (Feb 28, 2007)

*28 February 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: At the first light of dawn, German submarine _'U-578' _fires a spread of torpedoes at destroyer USS _'Jacob Jones' _(DD-130) operating about 38 miles (61 kilometers) east-northeast of Ocean City, Maryland. The first torpedo strikes just aft of the bridge and apparently exploded the ship's magazine; the resulting blast sheered off everything forward of the point of impact, destroying completely the bridge, the chart room, and the officers' and petty officers' quarters. As she stopped dead in the water, unable to signal a distress message, a second torpedo struck about 40 feet (12 meters) forward of the fantail and carried away the after part of the ship above the keel plates and shafts and destroyed the after crew's quarters. Only the midships section was left intact. All but 25 or 30 officers and men were killed by the explosions. _'Jacob Jones' _remained afloat for about 45 minutes, allowing her survivors to clear the stricken ship in four or five rafts; only 12 men are rescued.

An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by German submarine _'U-156' _about 170 miles (274 kilometers) northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico; the crew of _'U-156' _machineguns the tanker crew trying to launch one of the lifeboats, killing six men. A total of 30 men survive the sinking.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 10,000 Jews from Lodz, Poland were gassed at Chelmo this week, while 4,618 Jews have died of starvation in the Warsaw ghetto.

*GERMANY*: The use of cars, in Germany, other than for war work is banned.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Six RAF Bomber Command Blenheims, with a fighter escort, bomb the port area without loss.


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## syscom3 (Mar 1, 2007)

*1 March 1942* 

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A PBO-1 Hudson of Navy Patrol Squadron Eighty Two (VP-82) based at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, that was flying support for convoy ON.72, bombs and sinks German submarine _'U-656' _(Type VIIC) about 35 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland position 46.15N, 53.15W. All 45 hands on the U-boat are lost. The Hudson PBO-1 was one of 20 Lend-Lease Hudson IIIA's used by the USN to equip one squadron. These aircraft sank the first 2 U-boats sunk by the USN, _'U-656' _on 1 March, 1942 and _'U-503' _on 15 March.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: German General Halder issues a staff analysis that German losses in the war with the USSR have already reached 1.5 million.

The people of Leningrad are in a pitiable condition. More than 100,000 died of starvation last month, and there is no sign of the siege being lifted. There are fears that their rations will be cut even further with the coming of the spring thaw. With great ingenuity the defenders have laid a light railway across the frozen surface of Lake Ladoga. Supplies are now coming in by the railway and by truck convoys across the ice from Tiklvin, on the eastern side of the lake, which was recaptured by the Red Army on 8 December after ferocious fighting. When the ice melts, however, this life-line will disappear and the besieged city will have to relay on small ships running the gauntlet of the Stukas in almost perpetual daylight. Another worry for the authorities is that when the thaws come thousands of bodies hastily buried in snow drifts - because the ground is frozen too hard to dig graves - will be exposed and bring epidemics to people already suffering from the diseases of malnutrition. Some 300,000 of the strongest people have been organized into gangs to clean up the city once the ice melts. The Leningraders are determined that their city will come to life again. It must be emphasised that the real heroes of this siege are the ordinary people who, by tremendous courage, are managing to survive an almost impossible ordeal. The Soviet advance comes to a halt during March and the battle line remains about the same throughout month, despite continued fighting on all fronts. The Germans are unable to relieve their isolated II.Armeekorps (General of the Infantry Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlenfeldt), 16.Armee, southeast of Staraya Russa, but succeed in withdrawing the salient southwest of Kaluga. The Germans also contain Soviet attacks on the southern front, which are extended to region east of Kharkov.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Canadian Women's Army Corps is granted full Army status as "a Corps of the Active Militia of Canada."

The owners of the major league baseball clubs consider the question of whether players in the military can play for the clubs if they are on furlough or based near a game site? The owners decide against it.


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## syscom3 (Mar 2, 2007)

*2 March 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Minsk: The Germans shoot dead 5,000 Jews.

In Hungary, the government breaks diplomatic relations with Brazil.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Turkish government closes the Dardanelles to all ships without Turkish captains.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Regularly scheduled operations by the U.S. Naval Air Transport Service are inaugurated with an R4D Skytrain flight from NAS Norfolk, Virginia, to NRAB Squantum, Massachusetts.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The second U.S. Army increment (8,555 personnel) of the MAGNET Force, the movement of the first U.S. forces to Northern Ireland, arrives in Belfast in a 21-ship convoy plus escorts which sailed from Brooklyn, New York on 19 February. Among the arriving troops is the 34th Infantry Division headquarters and parts of the 133d and 168th Infantry. American strength in Northern Ireland on this date is reported as 10,433 (including 534 officers, 70 nurses, and 2 warrant officers).

*WESTERN FRONT*: Four RAF Bomber Command Bostons attacked ships off Den Helder without loss.


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## syscom3 (Mar 3, 2007)

*3 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-129' _about 250 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Chelmno: An estimated 3,200 Jews from Zychlin are gassed.

*GERMANY*: Four RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons jettisoned their bombs over Emden during the night of the 3rd/4th; one Wellington was lost. Four Lancasters with No.44 Squadron fly a minelaying mission in Heligoland Bight; this was the first Lancaster mission of the war.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) take under consideration a recommendation to continue Operation SUPERGYMNAST, the projected plan to combine the US and British plans for the seizure of Dakar, Casablanca and Tunisia, as an "academic study" only. Thus the proposed Northwest African venture (Operation GYMNAST) ceases to affect the USAAF 8th Air Force until it is revived later as Operation TORCH.

The War Production Board decrees that suits for men and boys no longer will have trouser cuffs and pleats, vests and patch pockets.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 235 aircraft, 89 Wellingtons, 48 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings, 26 Manchesters, 23 Whitleys and 20 Halifaxes to bomb the Bellincourt Renault Factory during the night of the 3rd-4th. The Renault factory, in the town of Boulogne-Billancourt just west of the center of Paris, was making an estimated 18,000 trucks a year for the German forces. The aircraft were dispatched in three waves, the crews of the leading wave being selected for their experience. The plan called for the massed use of flares and a very low bombing level so that crews could hit the factory without too many bombs falling in the surrounding town. There were no Flak defences. The target was bombed by 223 aircraft which caused serious damage to production facilities; unfortunately, some bombs fall off target, hitting nearby houses, killing 500 Frenchmen, including whole families. Only one Wellington is lost. The main raid lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes. One aircraft bombed the port area at Dieppe while two Whitleys drop leaflets over Paris.


> "_We were returning with Robert Rey from dining near the Opera'_, wrote Galtier-Boissire, _'when the antiaircraft opened up violently, making the ground shake. Away to the west there was a terrific raid. The Pont Neuf was crowded with bystanders who watched the bombing as they would have done a firework display on July 14._'


This, the first massive air-raid on Paris, was targetted on the Renault factory at Boulogne-Billancourt, where tanks were being made for the Heer. The bombing was inaccurate; some 500 killed and three times as many wounded.

The Vichy French government announces that 'official' German figures put the number of French arrested in 1941 at 5,390 and executions at more than 250.


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## syscom3 (Mar 4, 2007)

*4 March 1942

UNITED KINGDOM*: The first 40 Canadian Cruiser Tank Mk.I Rams arrive in England.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Tarpon Springs, Florida: Petro Botzis, owner of the Central pharmacy here, was advised Monday night by his parents that his younger brother, Anthony Botzis, was lost last week when a tanker was sunk off the eastern coast. Young Botzis was 21 and had been serving as a member of the crew aboard the tanker less than two months. He visited here about five years ago at the time of his brother's marriage and returned several years ago for a short visit.


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## syscom3 (Mar 5, 2007)

*5 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two unarmed U.S. freighters are sunk by German U-boats:
(1) the first, straggling from convoy HX 178, is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-404' _43 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia;
(2) the second is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-126' _47 miles north of Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. There are no survivors from the 36-man crew of the second ship.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Moscow announces recapture by the Soviet Army of Yukhnov, northwest of Kaluga, on the central front.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Chetnik guerrillas commanded by Chetnik leader Major General Draza-Dragoljub Mihajlovic, rout Italian forces in Montenegro.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Air Force Combat Command activates HQ XII Interceptor Command at Drew Field, Tampa, Florida.

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) begins flying antisubmarine patrols off the east coast.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound is replaced by Field Marshall Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, as Chairman of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. This appointment improves relations between Prime Minster Winston Churchill and the Committee as Admiral Pound was noted for a strictly maritime point of view.

Winston Churchill proposes to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that a U.S. division be sent to New Zealand on the condition that the New Zealand Expeditionary Force remains in the Middle East.

Civil servants' pencil sharpeners are withdrawn to conserve pencils.


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## syscom3 (Mar 6, 2007)

*6 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-129' _torpedoes and sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter about 130 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, and takes the sole survivor captive.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Rumanian government breaks diplomatic relations with Brazil.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British aircraft carrier HMS _'Eagle' _brings 18 Spitfires to Malta. Seven Blenheim bombers are also sent to aid in the defense of the island and offensive actions against Axis convoys.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The German battleship _'Tirpitz' _sets sail from her base in Trondheim to intercept the ships of convoys QP-8 and PQ-12 sailing from Iceland to Archangel, U.S.S.R. Despite information sent to the British aircraft carrier HMS _'Victorious'_, no contact is made between the forces. The British Admiralty draws criticism because of its inaction.


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## syscom3 (Mar 7, 2007)

*7 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Three Allied ships are torpedoed and sunk by German submarines in the Western Hemisphere today:
(1) _'U-126' _sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter about 9 miles NNW of West Tortuga Island, Haiti.
(2) _'U-126' _later sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter about 5 miles WNW of San Nicholas Mole, Haiti.
(3) _'U-155' _sinks an unarmed Brazilian steamship about 110 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Force H, consisting of the aircraft carriers HMS _'Argus' _and _'Eagle' _and supported by a number of destroyers, sets sail for Malta with a number of Spitfires on board. Fifteen Spitfires were flown off when Force H comes within range of the island.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The practicability of using a radio sonobuoy in aerial anti-submarine warfare was demonstrated in an exercise conducted off New London, Connecticut, by nonrigid airship (or blimp) K-5 and submarine USS S-20 (SS-125). The buoy could detect the sound of the submerged submarine's propellers at distances up to 3 miles, and radio reception aboard the blimp was satisfactory up to 5 miles.

The Tuskegee flying school graduates its first cadets. This US school was segregated for Black students. They joined the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Names: Capt. Ben Davis Jr.; 2LT Mac Ross, Charles DeBow, LR Curtis, and George Roberts.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 7th/8th, RAF Bomber Command flies two missions:
(1) 15 aircraft bomb the submarine pens at St Nazaire and
(2) 11 Hampdens lay mines off Lorient; one Hampden is lost.


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## syscom3 (Mar 8, 2007)

*8 March 1942*

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 211 aircraft, 115 Wellingtons, 37 Hampdens, 27 Stirlings, 22 Manchesters and 10 Halifaxes, the leading aircraft equipped with the Gee navigational aid, to attack the Krupps factories in Essen during the night of the 8th/9th. It was a fine night but industrial haze over Essen prevents accurate bombing with only 168 aircraft attacking the target and the raid was a disappointment. Gee could only enable the aircraft to reach the approximate area of the target. Photographic evidence showed that the main target, the Krupps factories, was not hit but some bombs fell in the southern part of Essen. Essen reports only a 'light' raid with a few houses and a church destroyed, ten people killed and 19 missing. Individual aircraft bomb Dortmund, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Oberhausen.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Lieutenant General Neil Ritchie, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, is ordered by General Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, to provide a diversion in Libya for passage of a convoy to Malta. The supply situation on Malta is very serious.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches six Blenheims to attack the port area at Ostend during the night of the 8th/9th; four aircraft bomb the target.

24 RAF Bomber Command Bostons, with much support from RAF Fighter Command, carry out a series of raids against targets in France. Twelve Bostons of No. 88 and 226 Squadrons make a low-level attack on the Ford truck factory at Poissy, near Paris, a target beyond the range of fighter cover. Two further formations, each of six Bostons, carry out Circus operations to the Abbeville railway yards and Comines power-station at times which would divert German fighter attention from the Poissy raid.

During the night of the 8th/9th, 13 Wellingtons and Stirlings bomb the port area at Le Havre, three Manchesters lay mines off Lorient, and a Hampden drops leaflets.

RAF Bomber Command dispatches six Blenheims to attack airfields during the night of the 8th/9th; two bomb Soesterberg Airfield.


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## syscom3 (Mar 9, 2007)

*9 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A Brazilian steamship is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-94' _about 130 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 9th/10th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 187 aircraft, 136 Wellingtons, 21 Stirlings, 15 Hampdens, ten Manchesters and five Halifaxes, to continue the series of heavy Gee-guided raids on Essen. One hundred forty three aircraft bomb but thick ground haze leads to scattered bombing and only two buildings are destroyed in Essen but 72 are damaged. Four other aircraft attack Duisburg and individual aircraft bomb Emmerich and Oberhausen. Two Welingtons and a Halifax are lost.

Five RAF Bomber Command Hampdens lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Admiral Harold Stark relieves Admiral Ghormley as Commander US Naval Forces in European Waters.

A major U.S. Army reorganization, implementing an Executive Order of 28 February, becomes effective today. General Headquarters is abolished and three autonomous commands, Army Ground Forces under Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, Army Air Forces under Lieutenant General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, and Services of Supply (later designated as Army Service Forces) under Major General Brehon B. Somervell, are given responsibility for Zone of Interior (ZI) functions under General George C. Marshall as Chief of Staff. The field forces remain under control of the War Department General Staff. The Air Corps and the US Army Air Force Combat Command, which previously had made up the Army Air Forces (AAF), are discontinued.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 9th/10th, nine RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons and Stirlings are dispatched to bomb the port area of Boulogne; only two aircraft bomb the target.

Six RAF Bomber Command Bostons on a Circus raid bomb the Mazingarbe fuel depot during the day; there are no losses.

Individual RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb Schipol and Soesterburg Airfields during the night of the 9th/10th.


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## syscom3 (Mar 10, 2007)

*10 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A U.S. tanker is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-588' _about 2 miles east of Barnegat, New Jersey, U.S.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 10th/11th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 126 aircraft, 56Wellingtons, 43 Hampdens, 13 Manchesters, 12 Stirlings and two Lancasters to bomb Essen; this was the first participation by Lancasters in a raid on a German target. This was another disappointing raid with unexpected cloud being the main cause of poor bombing; only 85 crews claimed to have bombed Essen. The report from Essen shows that only two bombs fell on an industrial target - railway lines near the Krupps factory - and a house was destroyed and two damaged in residential areas. Five Germans were killed and 12 injured and a Polish worker was killed by a Flak shell which descended and exploded on the ground. Individual aircraft bomb Bochum, Duisburg and Gelsenkiurchen.

In Berlin, a strange part of the propaganda war takes place when U.S. born Jane Anderson, a Georgia socialite makes one of her "Georgia Peach" broadcasts to the US on Deutsche Rundfunk shortwave. Anderson, married to a Spanish grandee, and a fanatical anti-Communist, has been broadcasting English-language propaganda aimed at the US, denouncing Jews and the U.S. media, and praising Adolf Hitler, in an increasingly hysterical and incoherent manner. Today, to embitter her American listeners with news concerning the delicacies to be found in Germany's fine restaurants, she reports on how Berlin nightclubs and teashops offer Turkish cakes laden with marzipan, chocolate, and champagne. Sweets and cookies and champagne, not bad! The U.S. Office of War Information rebroadcasts the descriptions of Berlin high life back into the Reich to anger the average German, who is eating ersatz chocolate and drinking ersatz coffee, and enduring "one-meal Sundays." The counter-broadcasts in turn outrage the Rundfunk, and Anderson is bounced off the air.

*MIDDLE EAST*: Iran is declared eligible for U.S. lend-Lease.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The House of Representatives votes to increase the U. S. national debt from US$65 billion to US$125 billion. (Considering inflation, that is from US$792 billion to US$1.524 trillion in 2002 dollars.)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill bluntly warns that if the U.S. Navy can't stop German U-boat depredations in the Caribbean, he'll order British tankers to remain in port.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Two RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb the Boulogne port area during the night of the 10th/11th.

One RAF Bomber Command aircraft bombs the Rotterdam port area during the night of the 10th/11th.


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## syscom3 (Mar 11, 2007)

*11 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two unarmed U.S. freighters are torpedoed and sunk by German submarines:
(1) _'U-126' _sinks the first about 40 miles east of Nuevitas, Cuba, and
(2) _'U-158' _sinks the second about 14 miles east of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, U.S.A.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Malta military garrison is placed under command of Commander in Chief Middle East Forces. Naval and RAF garrisons are under command of Commander in Chief Mediterranean and Air Officer Commanding in Chief, respectively. Lieutenant General Sir William Dobbie, Governor of Malta, remains commander in chief.

German submarine _'U-565' _sinks the British light cruiser HMS _'Naiad'_, north of Sollum, Egypt.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: The government of Brazil confiscates Axis property in reprisal for sinking of Brazilian merchant ships.


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## syscom3 (Mar 12, 2007)

*12 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A U.S. merchant vessels is sunk and two others damaged by German submarines:
(1) An armed tanker is torpedoed and irreparably damaged by _'U-158' _about 85miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S.A.
(2) _'U-126' _torpedoes two unarmed freighters off the coast of Cuba, sinking the first about 100 miles off Camaguey Province, and damaging the second about 10 miles off Cape Guajaba.

The first British armed trawlers sent to augment U.S. Navy patrol force efforts off the German submarine-plagued Eastern Seaboard, HMS _'Wastwater' _and HMS _'Le Tigre'_, begin patrol operations in the Third Naval District waters. They are assigned duties off Atlantic City and Barnegat, New Jersey, U.S.A.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Ten Soviet parachutists land near Birza, Lithuaniai to commit sabotage. They are seen, chased and shot, and all their equipment, including a radio transmitter, seized by German forces.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 12th/13th, RAF Bomber Command attacks Emden and Kiel. Twenty Wellingtons and 20 Whitleys are dispatched to Emden; 22 bomb with three Whitleys lost but bombing photographs indicate that the nearest bombs were 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the target. At Kiel, 68 Wellingtons are dispatched to attack the Deutsche Werke U-boat yard; 53 aircraft bomb and reports from Kiel indicate that the port area was successfully bombed, with damage in the Deutsche Werke and the Germania Werft yards, both building U-boats, and in the naval dockyard. Casualties are listed as 12 killed and 21 injured but it is not known whether service personnel were included. Five Wellingtons are lost over Kiel. In the final mission of the night, 16 aircraft lay mines off German ports.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order combining the duties of Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet and the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Admiral Ernest J King, Commander-in- Chief U.S. Fleet, is designated to replace Admiral Harold R Stark as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) effective 26 March.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 12th/13th, an RAF Bomber Command Hampden flies a leaflet mission.


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## syscom3 (Mar 13, 2007)

*13 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two unarmed ships are torpedoed and sunk off the U.S. coast by German submarines:
(1) _'U-332' _sinks a U.S. schooner about 510 miles east of Miami, Florida; there are no survivors;
(2) _'U-404' _sinks a Chilean freighter about 28 miles ESE of Asbury Park, New Jersey; there is one survivor.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army launches an attack against German Heeresgruppe B (General Erich von Manstein) from the Kerch peninsula in the eastern Crimea. The Soviets lose 130 tanks in three days.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 13th/14th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 135 aircraft of 6 different types to attack Cologne; 112 aircraft bomb the target and a Manchester is lost. This can be considered the first successful Gee-led raid. Although there was no moon, the leading crews carrying flares and incendiary-bomb loads locate the target and much accurate bombing follows. It is later estimated that this raid was five times more effective than the average of recent raids on Cologne. There were 237 separate fires and casualties were 62 killed and 84 injured. One aircraft visually bombs Bonn while five Hampdens lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 13th/14th, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb the port area at Ostend.

Ten of 11 RAF Bomber Command Bostons attack the Hazebrouck marshalling yard without loss during the day. During the night of the13th/14th, seven of the 20 aircraft dispatched bomb the port area at Boulogne (a Wellington is lost); one aircraft bombs the port area at Calais; 11 of 19 Wellingtons dispatched bomb the port area at Dunkirk (two aircraft are lost); and five of seven Hampdens dispatched drop leaflets. During the night of the 13th/14th, one RAF Bomber Command bomber attacks Schipol Airfield.


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## syscom3 (Mar 15, 2007)

*15 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A PBO-1 Hudson assigned to Patrol Squadron 82 based at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, which is providing coverage for convoy ON 74, sinks German submarine _'U-503' _(Type IXC) about 250 miles southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland, position 45.50N, 48.50W. All 51 crewmen are lost. The Hudson PBO-1 was one of 20 Lend-Lease Hudson IIIA's used by the USN to equip one squadron.

Three U.S. vessels are sunk by German submarines in the Western Hemisphere:
(1) U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse tender USCGC _'Acacia' _(WAGL-200) is shelled and sunk by _'U-161' _south of Haiti
(2) an unarmed tanker is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by _'U-158' _about 89 miles east of Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.A.;
(3) a tanker is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-158' _about 95 miles east of Wilmington, North Carolina.

*GERMANY*: At a staff meeting in Berlin, Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his generals study the situation in the Soviet Union. Moscow has not fallen, and will not fall. German casualties from Soviet firepower and frostbite have been immense, but the Soviet counterattack at Moscow, Staraya Russa, and the Crimea is petering out as the Soviets run out of supplies. The initiative is going back to the Germans, and Hitler forecasts the annihilation of the Soviet Army in summer. That evening, at the Sportspalast Hitler announces that the Soviet Union will be "annihilatingly defeated" in the next summer offensive.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 15th/16th, three RAF Bomber Command Blenheims are dispatched on Intruder flights to Dutch airfields. Schiphol Airfield is attacked by one aircraft.

Six RAF Bomber Command Bostons fly uneventful shipping sweeps off Brittany during the day.


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## syscom3 (Mar 16, 2007)

*16 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two unarmed merchant tankers are sunk by German submarines off the coast of the U.S.:
(1) The first is torpedoed, shelled, and irreparably damaged by _'U-332' _about 20 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; and (2) a British ship is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-404' _about 150 miles east of Norfolk, Virginia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: About 1,600 Jews are deported from the Lublin area in Poland to Belzec, the second camp after Chelmno - designed purely for the killing of Jews; it opened on 13 March, when 6,000 Jews from Mielec were murdered.

In response to the problem of partisans in the occupied Soviet Union, the Germans set up a special air detachment in Bobruisk, with orders to bomb partisan camps and seek partisan units from the air. This unit will take part in *Operation Munich*, a three-week anti- partisan sweep to begin in the third week of March.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Maritime Commission places orders for another 234 "Liberty" ships -- slow-moving 10,500-ton merchant vessels.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: British Lord Privy Seal Sir Stafford Cripps leaves London to negotiate with Indian leaders who want independence. Cripps will offer freedom after the war. Hindu leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharal Nehru demand immediate independence for a unified India while Moslem League President Mohammed Ali Hinnah wants a separate Pakistan.

The Soviet ambassador asks Churchill to open a second front on mainland Europe.


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## Civettone (Mar 17, 2007)

*17 March 1942
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Three unarmed merchant ships are attacked by German submarines off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A.: (1) _'U-124' _torpedoes and damages a U.S. tanker about 20 miles southeast of the cape and later torpedoes and sinks a Greek freighter in the same area; and (2) _'U-124' _torpedoes and sinks a Honduran freighter about 116 miles east northeast of the cape. (_syscom_)
*
EASTERN FRONT*: Germans open the Belzec destruction camp.

*GERMANY*: An RAF Bomber Command Wellington on a cloud-cover raid to Essen drops its bombs somewhere in the Ruhr. (_Syscom_)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Off Sicily: The British submarine HMS _'UNBEATEN' _sinks the Italian submarine _'GUGLIELMOTTI'_. (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Rationing of coal, gas and electricity for home heating and lighting was announced in parliament today. Sir William Beveridge, who helped to devise rationing plans in the last war, is now working out details of this new scheme. Hugh Dalton, the president of the board of trade, told MPs that the situation is now so serious that domestic fuel rationing must be imposed as soon as possible. A cut of at least 25% is likely. When the scheme starts, everyone will have to watch gas and electricity meters in the knowledge that persistent over-consumption will lead to prosecution and the cutting off of the supply. Meanwhile, in the next three weeks, coal deliveries to households will be limited six hundredweight at a time. Cuts in the civilian clothing ration also announced today will release 50,000 more textile workers for war service, and to save petrol all pleasure motor boating is top stop this summer. That includes round-the-bay trips at the seaside. (_Syscom_)

United States Naval Forces Europe is established to plan joint operations with the British; Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley is in command. (_Syscom_)


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## syscom3 (Mar 18, 2007)

*18 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Near convoy SL.119 a Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 120/F) attacked _'U-653'_. During the crash diving one man was lost. (There was a report that the man was saved by a British destroyer.) The boat was seriously damaged and had to limp back to base, reaching Brest, France on 30 April.

German submarines are still active off the coast of North and South Carolina, U.S.A. (1) _'U-124' _torpedoes two unarmed U.S. tankers: the first is torpedoed and sunk 7 miles off the coast of North Carolina north of Cape Hatteras and the second is torpedoed about 40 miles south southeast of Beaufort, South Carolina; this ship is irreparably damaged and sinks on 20 March; (2) _'U-332' _sinks an unarmed tanker about 48 miles south southeast of Beaufort, South Carolina.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches five Wellingtons to bomb Essen but they return due to lack of cloud cover.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The government creates the War Relocation Authority to "Take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war." As a result, 120,000 men, women, and children were rounded up on the West Coast. Three categories of internees were created: Nisei (native U.S. citizens of Japanese immigrant parents), Issei (Japanese immigrants), and Kibei (native U.S. citizens educated largely in Japan). The internees were transported to one of ten relocation centers in California, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming. One Japanese American, Gordon Hirabayashi, fought internment all the way to the Supreme Court. He argued that the Army, responsible for effecting the relocations, had violated his rights as a U.S. citizen. The court ruled against him, citing the nation's right to protect itself against sabotage and invasion as sufficient justification for curtailing his and other Japanese Americans' constitutional rights.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Queen Victoria's grandson, is named Chief of Combined Operations.


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## syscom3 (Mar 19, 2007)

*19 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-332' _torpedoes and sinks an armed U.S. freighter about 17 miles SE of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A.

*EASTERN FRONT*: An offensive by Army Group North cuts off the Soviet 2nd Shock Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Andrei Vlasov, in a salient between Novgorod and Gruzino. The Soviet Army maintains pressure on the Germans on the central and southern fronts.

The Germans launch *Operation Munich*, joined by a new air detachment. German troops attack partisan bases around Yelnya and Dorogubuzh.

*Operation Bamberg* kicks off near Bobruisk, with SS Police troops attacking Soviet villages. The Nazis burn the villages and kill 3,500 people, which only infuriates the survivors more, and make them join the partisans, making the whole exercise very counter-productive. From the Third Panzer Army diaries:


> "There are indications that the partisan movement in the region of Velikye Luki, Vitebsk, Rudnya, Velizh, is now beiing organized on a large scale. The fighting strength of the partisans hitherto active is being bolstered by individual units of regular troops."


In Serbia and Croatia, the Germans face Yugoslav partisans. The Germans issue a directive ordering houses and villages supporting partisans to be leveled.


> "Removal of the population to concentration camps can also be useful," the directive notes. "If it is not possible to apprehend or seize partisans, themselves, reprisal measures of a general nature may be in order, for example, the shooting of male inhabitants in nearby localities."


The directive sets a ratio, 100 Serbs shot for one German killed, 50 Serbs shot for one wounded.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches a Wellington to Essen but the aircraft returns early due to lack of cloud cover.


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## syscom3 (Mar 20, 2007)

*20 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. tanker is shelled by German submarine _'U-71' _about 430 miles east of Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A. and abandoned; _'U-71' _then torpedoes the tanker and shells her until she sinks.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet offensive at Kerch in the Crimea is defeated by the Germans with heavy losses to the Soviets.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 13 Manchesters and six Lancasters on daylight minelaying in the Frisian Islands; only 11 aircraft reached the correct area. Two Wellingtons on a mission to Essen returned because of lack of cloud. There are no losses.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The Second Battle of Sirte. Four merchant ships carrying 26,000 tons of supplies sail from Alexandria at dawn for Malta, to supply food and munitions to the besieged island. Its escort, commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Phillip Vian, consisting of five light cruisers HMS _'Cleopatra'_, _'Dido'_, _'Euryalus' _and _'Penelope'_, the antiaircraft light cruiser HMS _'Carlisle' _and 18 destroyers faces opposition from the entire Italian Mediterranean Fleet. The sailing is reported to Axis forces by spies.

Heavy air attacks on Malta begin as Axis forces hope to eliminate the island as useful British base of operations in the central Mediterranean Sea.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Complying with the request of 8 March for offensive action to divert the enemy's attention from a Malta-bound convoy, the British Eighth Army raids landing grounds in the Derna and Benghazi areas after nightfall.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The "Plan for Initiation of U.S. Army Bombardment Operations in the British Isles" further elaborates previous USAAF plans outlining the intention of launching strategic bombardment from the U.K. against facilities supporting German national, economic, and industrial structure.

The South Dakota Class battleship, USS _'South Dakota' _(BB-57), is commissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A report submitted by Major General Ira C Eaker in compliance with Major General James E Chaney's instructions of 25 February indicates completion of studies of RAF Bomber Command operations and of airfields, training, tactical doctrine, equipment, and methods of conducting air offensive in cooperation with the RAF. The report also indicates much dependence upon the British for the present but emphasizes the apparent compatibility of the tactical doctrines of the US (daylight precision bombing) and RAF (night area bombing), and implies the principle of coordinating these attacks to complement each other.


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## syscom3 (Mar 21, 2007)

*21 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-124' _torpedoes two U.S. merchant tankers off the coast of North Carolina, U.S.A.: (1) The first is an unarmed tanker about 70 miles off Wilmington. The ship breaks in two and the aft end is towed to Morehead City. (2) The second is an armed tanker off the Beaufort Lightship, but little damage is inflicted and the ship reaches Beaufort without further incident.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the northern sector south of Lake Ilmen, four divisions of the German 16th Army entrapped at Demyansk begin attempts to break out. The winter thaw holds them up and it is not until 21 April that the four divisions make contact with German troops.

*GERMANY*: Former merchant ship sailor and early Nazi street fighter Fritz Sauckel gets a new job from Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Reich Plenipotentiary General for Labor Mobilization. His job is to obtain, by whatever force necessary, the labor force required to push the German war economy (which is lagging behind its enemies, despite Teutonic efficiency) to its highest possible productive capacity. Sauckel is empowered to bring labor from all of occupied Europe, even off the streets. Sauckel will round up slave labor very efficiently and for that, he draws a death sentence at Nuremberg, in 1946.

The RAF Bomber Command dispatches a Wellington to Essen during the day but it returns due to lack of cloud cover.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The Second Battle of Sirte. The Axis, now aware of the British supply convoy sailing from Alexandria, Egypt, to Malta, dispatch Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino from Taranto with the battleship _'Littorio' _and four destroyers; Rear-Admiral Angelo Parona also sets sail from Messina with the heavy cruisers _'Gorizia' _and _'Trento'_, the light cruiser _'Bande Nere' _and four destroyers.

In a repeat of Force H's mission on 7 March 1942, 16 more Spitfires are delivered to Malta.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army continues raids on forward landing grounds of Axis forces as a diversion for a convoy to Malta. The raids are partially successful drawing off part of the enemy's aircraft.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The United States agrees to provide US$500 million in aid to China. (With inflation, US$500 million in 1942 is equal to US$5.5 trillion in year 2002 dollars.)


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## syscom3 (Mar 23, 2007)

*23 March 1942

MEDITERRANEAN*: The Second Battle of Sirte. The British convoy consisting of four merchant ships and Royal Navy warships that is enroute from Alexandria, Egypt, to Malta, is approaching the island. The ships come under concentrated air attack and one freighter, MS _'Clan Campbell'_, is sunk 50 miles (80 kilometer) from the island and a second damaged. Two freighters make it safely in to the port of Valleta but air attacks against the docks at Valletta made it very difficult to unload.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In California, the first 1,000 Japanese-Americans arrive at the Manzanar Relocation Camp For Ethnic Japanese. The camp is located in the Owens Valley on the west side of U.S. Highway 395 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Bishop and 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of Lone Pine. Today, this is a National Historic Site.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 23rd/24th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Hampdens, three Stirlings and two Manchesters on a minelaying mission off Lorient without loss. This was the first time that Stirlings of No. 3 Group participated in the minelaying campaign.


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## syscom3 (Mar 24, 2007)

*24 March 1942
WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, 18 RAF Bomber Command Bostons are dispatched on two escorted raids: 12 aircraft hit the Comines power-station and six bomb the marshaling yard at Abbeville. Bombing results were not observed; no aircraft are lost. During the night of the 24th/25th, 35 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command lay mines off Lorient; a Hampden and a Lancaster are lost. These were the first Bomber Command losses for 11 days and nights and the Lancaster lost, from 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, was the first of its type to be lost on operations.


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## syscom3 (Mar 25, 2007)

*25 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The destroyer USS _'Blakely' _(DD-150) is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-156' _off Martinique, French West Indies. The explosion carries away 60 feet (18 meters) of her bow. Six men are killed and 21 wounded, but the ship makes it to Port de France, Martinique, for emergency repairs.

An unarmed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and shelled by German submarine _'U-103' _about 75 miles WNW of Jamaica, and abandoned. _'U-103' _surfaces and her commanding officer asks the Americans for the name and speed of their ship, and if all of her men have been accounted for, before he provides them with cigarettes. The freighter sinks early the following morning, after which time the U-boat departs.

German planes attack convoy PQ 16 as it proceeds toward Murmansk, USSR, from Reykjavik, Iceland; an armed U.S. freighter is damaged by near-misses and she leaves the convoy under tow of British trawler HMS _'Northern Spray'_

*GERMANY*: During the night, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 254 aircraft, 192 Wellingtons, 26 Stirlings, 20 Manchesters, 9 Hampdens, 7 Lancasters, to attack Essen, the largest force sent to one target so far; 190 aircrew claim they hit the target many claiming hits on the Krupps works, but bombing photographs showed that much of the effort was drawn off by the decoy fire site at Rheinberg, 18 miles west of Essen. Essen's report says that only nine high-explosive bombs, 700 incendiaries and 1,627 leaflets were dropped there. One house was destroyed and two seriously damaged. Five people were killed and 11 injured. Nine aircraft, five Manchesters (out of the 20 dispatched), three Wellingtons, and a Hampden, are lost. Other targets bombed include Duisburg (by seven aircraft), Oberhausen (by two aircraft) while individual aircraft bomb Gladbeck and Hamborn.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The 77th Infantry Division of the United States Army is activated at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Grantham: The government has its first by-election defeat since September 1939.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Major Cecil P Lessig becomes the first USAAF pilot to fly a mission over France in World War II. Flying a Spitfire Mk. VB with RAF No. 64 Squadron from Hornchurch, Essex, England, Lessig participates in a 36-aircraft fighter sweep that is recalled when 50 Luftwaffe fighters challenge them.

During the day, nine RAF Bomber Command Bostons, with fighter escort, carry out accurate bombing at Le Trait shipyard. No Bostons are lost. During the night of the 25th/26th, 26 of 27 aircraft dispatched bomb the port area at St. Nazaire, 38 aircraft dispatched lay mines off Lorient, 30 aircraft drop leaflets over France, and one bomber hits Lannion Airfield.

One RAF Bomber Command aircraft dispatched on the night raid on Essen, Germany, bombs Haamstede Airfield.


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## syscom3 (Mar 26, 2007)

*26 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two ships are torpedoed and sunk by German submarines off the coast of the U.S.: (1) _'U-71' _sinks an unarmed U.S. tanker about 45 miles south southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; the
ship breaks in half and sinks; and (2) _'U-160' _sinks a Panamanian freighter about 107 miles east southeast of Norfolk, Virginia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The shipment of Jews to the Auschwitz extermination camp begin. The first Jews come from Slovakia and France.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 26th/27th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 104 Wellingtons and 11 Stirlings to attack Essen using Gee; 10 Wellingtons and a Stirling are lost. The bombing force encountered heavy Flak at the target and many night fighters on the routes. Hits on the Krupps works and fires in Essen were claimed but the raid was actually another failure on this difficult target. Only 22 high-explosive bombs were counted in Essen, with two houses destroyed, six people killed and 14 injured. The bombers had suffered nearly 10 per cent casualties. Additional targets hit include Oberhausen by two aircraft and individual aircraft attacks on Duisburg and Kempin.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Two of the freighters from the recent relief convoy that arrived from Alexandria, Egypt, are sunk in port of Malta by the Luftwaffe. These two ships were still almost fully loaded as damage to the docks at Valletta has prevented their swift unloading. Of the 26,000 tons (23 587 metric tonnes) of supplies that had been sent from Egypt on this latest convoy, only 5,000 tons (4536 metric tons) are eventually unloaded.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Admiral Ernest J. King relieves Admiral Harold R. Stark as Chief of Naval Operations and thus becomes Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations; Vice Admiral Frederick J. Horne (Vice Chief of Naval Operations) and Vice Admiral Russell Willson (COMINCH Chief of Staff) are his principal assistants.

Rear Admiral John Wilcox commanding Task Force 39 with the battleship USS _'Washington' _(BB-56), the aircraft carrier USS _'Wasp' _(CV-7), the heavy cruisers USS _'Wichita' _(CA-45) and _'Tuscaloosa' _(CA-37) and six destroyers, sails from Portland, Maine, for Scapa Flow, the major British fleet base in the Orkney Islands. These ships will protect British home waters for the duration of Operation Ironclad -- the British invasion of Vichy French controlled Madagascar. This is a reflection of the heavy Allied losses in capital ships to Japanese action in the Pacific. Commander of the USN's Eastern Sea Frontier is given operational control of certain USAAF units for antisubmarine patrol duty in the Atlantic. Unity of command over Navy and USAAF units operating over water to protect shipping and conduct antisubmarine warfare is thus vested in the Navy.

The presidents of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) promise to do all they can to curb the rash of strikes that has slowed industrial production. They oppose strikes for the duration.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, 20 of 24 RAF Bomber Command Boston attack the port area at Le Havre with the loss of one aircraft. Hits were reported on ships in the harbor. During the night of the 26th/27th, eight aircraft attack the port area at Le Havre.

During the night of the 26th/27th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Blenheims on an intruder mission; five hit Schipol Airfield (with the loss of two) and individual aircraft hit the port area of Rotterdam and Leeuwarden and Soesterburg Airfields.

The St. Nazaire Raid. At 1500 hours, a small Royal Navy force consisting of three destroyers, a gunboat, and motorboats and motor torpedo boats carrying British Commandoes departs Falmouth Bay, Cornwall, England, for the French port of St. Nazaire located at the mouth of the Loire estuary.


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## syscom3 (Mar 27, 2007)

*27 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Aboard the battleship USS _'Washington' _(BB-56) en route from Portland, Maine, U.S.A., to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands,Commander Task Force Thirty Nine (TF 39), Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, taking an unaccompanied walk on deck of his flagship is washed overboard and disappears in a heavy sea. Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen becomes task force commander upon Wilcox's death.

The USN "Q-ship" USS _'Atik_" (ex SS Carolyn) is torpedoed and sunk with all 141 crewmen by German submarine _'U-123' _about 350 miles east of Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A., after the "Q-ship's" gunfire damages the U-boat in a spirited encounter. _'Atik' _is the only U.S. Navy warship disguised as a merchantman that is lost to enemy action during World War II.

While covering convoy WS17 in the UK approaches, HMS _'Leamington' _sinks _'U-587'_. USS _'Twiggs' _(DD-127), was commissioned as HMS _'Leamington' _(G-19) on 23 Oct. 1940, part of the destroyers-for-bases deal. _'U-587' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 47.21N, 21.39W. Also involved are British escort destroyers HMS _'Grove' _and _'Aldenham'_, and the destroyer HMS _'Volunteer'_. 42 dead (all hands lost).

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 27th/28th, 13 of 15 RAF Bomber Command Hampdens lay mines off the northwest German coast; three aircraft are lost.

*NORTH AMERICA: * The U.S. Army's War Plans Division Issues "Plan for Operations in Northwest Europe," in which a tentative timetable for an invasion of France is offered. The plan calls for (1) a limited cross-Channel attack in the autumn of 1942 (Operation SLEDGEHAMMER) as an emergency measure if Soviet forces show signs of collapsing or (2) the main Anglo-American invasion (Operation ROUNDUP) in the spring of 1943 if SLEDGEHAMMER is not required. The build-up of U.S. forces and supplies in the U.K. for the major cross-Channel attack is coded Operation BOLERO.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Bostons during the day to attack the Ostend power station; there are no losses but their bombs fell into fields short of the target.

The St. Nazaire Raid. RAF Bomber Command dispatches 35 Whitleys and 27 Wellingtons to bomb German positions around St Nazaire in support of the naval and Commando raid to destroy the dry-dock gates in the port. The aircraft were ordered to bomb only if the target had clear visibility. Conditions were bad, however, with 10/10ths cloud and icing, and only 4 aircraft bomb at 2330 hours. One aircraft bombs Lannion Airfield.

During the night of the 27th/28th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches eight Blenheims to attack airfields; two attack Schipol and two attack Soesterburg; one Blenheim attacking the latter target is lost.


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## syscom3 (Mar 28, 2007)

*28 March 1942

GERMANY*: Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop asks Japanese Ambassador to Germany Count Oshima to secure a Japanese attack on Russia simultaneously with Germany's "crushing blow." The Japanese would attack at Vladivostok and Lake Baikal but the Japanese take no action.

During the night of the 28th/29th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 234 aircraft, 146 Wellingtons, 41 Hampdens, 26 Stirlings and 21 Manchesters to attack Lubeck; 204 attack the city. This raid was the first major success for Bomber Command against a German target. The attack was carried out in good visibility, with the help of an almost full moon and, because of the light defenses of this target, from a low level, many crews coming down to 2,000 feet (610 meters). The force is split into three waves, the leading one being composed of experienced crews with Gee-fitted aircraft; although LŸbeck was beyond the range of Gee, the device helped with preliminary navigation. More than 400 tons (363 metric tonnes) of bombs are dropped; two thirds of this tonnage was incendiary; 191 crews claimed successful attacks. German sources show that 1,425 buildings in Lubeck are destroyed, 1,976 are seriously damaged and 8,411 are lightly damaged; these represented 62 per cent of all buildings in Lubeck. The casualties in Lubeck were 312 or 320 people killed (accounts conflict), 136 seriously and 648 slightly injured. The attacking force loses 12 aircraft, seven Wellingtons, three Stirlings, a Hampden and a Manchester. Other targets hit during the night include individual attacks on Emden, Heligoland, Husum and Sylt and two aircraft bomb Kiel.
**
*NORTH AMERICA:* Units of the USAAF I Bomber Command engaged in anti-submarine warfare patrols off the East Coast are placed under operational control of Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier, USN.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 28th/29th, 14 RAF Bomber Command aircraft fly leaflet missions, nine over Paris and five over Lens.

During the night of the 28th/29th, individual RAF Bomber Command Blenheims bomb Schipol and Soesterburg Airfields.

St. Nazaire: *OPERATION CHARIOT*: The "Normandie" dry-dock, the biggest in occupied Europe, vital to enemy warships such as the "_TIRPITZ_", is a flooded ruin after an extraordinary night in which the destroyer HMS _'Campbeltown'_, (ex USS Buchanan DD-191) was converted into a delayed action bomb and rammed onto the dock gates at 20 knots. Commandos then swarmed on shore to sabotage other key parts of the dock. One demolition party had just 90 seconds' start on its own charges, placed 40 feet below ground. At 11.30 this morning, about 12 hours after the start of the operation, when over half of the Combined Operations raiders were dead or captive, the destroyer blew up, killing more than 380 Germans exploring the ship. The base is now only usable by submarines, whose facilities remain untouched. The operation was precisely planned and well-executed. But its success was due in a large part to the heroism of the men involved. Some 611 men went into action (345 Royal Navy; 257 Commando; four doctors; three liaison officers and two journalists) of whom 169 were killed -104 from the navy and 200 captured. The naval forces were commanded by Cdr. Robert Edward Dudley "RED" Ryder, RN, while the Army commandoes were led by Lt-Col. Augustus Charles Newman, the Officer Commanding Number 2 Commando, both on board MGB-314. The plan called the RN force to boldly sail up the Loire estuary at night and penetrate into St. Nazaire harbour, at which point HMS _'Campbeltown'_, modified to carry 9,600 pounds of delayed action high explosives (24 x 400 pound depth charges encased in concrete), and under command of Lt.Cdr. Stephen Halden "Sam" Beattie, RN, would ram the forward caisson of the Normandie dock at high-speed, and scuttle herself. Immediately thereafter the commandos carried on board _'Campbeltown'_, , the MGB, and 12 of the the motor launches, would land at three separate locations, push ashore, and destroy the various harbour installations used in operating the dock. After this was accomplished, the commandoes would re-embark on the small craft and run for home. A flotilla of 17 motor launches and two other small craft joined the trip up the Loire estuary. Only four would return. Surprise was lost and only one launch would put its men ashore. Some local residents thinking it was a full-scale invasion, joined in the fighting against the Germans. In the event, the wooden hulled, petrol engined motor launches proved to be too entirely too vulnerable to German defensive fire - ten being sunk. Of the 12 troop carrying MLs, only three were able to land their commandoes - of the remainder, four were sunk and the other five forced to retire with their commandoes still aboard. Regardless, nine of the craft that remained were able to remain in the harbour long enough to embark the commandoes that did get ashore. Amazingly, however, the commando parties that did get ashore managed to destroy all of the key objectives, the Normandie pump house, and both caisson winding houses. Realizing that there was to be no return to the UK, the commandoes then attempted, in large, unsuccessfully, to fight their way inland and escape into the French countryside. However, it was not until next morning when the delayed action charges on HMS _'Campbeltown'_, belatedly exploded, totally destroying seaward facing caisson and opening the dock to the sea that the raid could be judged a resounding success. Admiral Mountbatten, commanding Combined Operations, sought a second destroyer to retrieve the raiders but was overruled. The force was one destroyer HMS _'Campbeltown'_, ex. USS "_Buchanan_" (DD-191)] , one Fairmile "C" motor gun boat [MGB-314], one motor torpedo boat [MTB-74], five torpedo equipped and eleven non-torpedo equipped Fairmile "B" motor launches [MLs 156, 160, 177, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270, 298, 306, 307, 341 (aborted), 443, 446, 447, 457] carrying 624 personnel (356 RN, 263 Army, 3 foreign, and 2 civilian). This was supported by one submarine beacon ship HMS _'Sturgeon'_, and a support force of two Hunt class destroyers HMS _'Atherstone' _ HMS _'Tynedale'_. Besides the ten MLs and MTB lost in the harbour during the attack, on the return voyage one further ML was, after an epic but one-sided fight, sunk in action with the German torpedo boat Jaguar, and subsequently three more, as well as the MGB, were scuttled after having their crews removed to the British covering force destroyers. Casualties included 169 killed (103 RN, 66 Army and 212 prisoners of war (79 RN, 133 Army). Five of the Army commandoes did manage to evade German forces and eventually returned to the UK via Spain. The epic nature of the raid can be easily seen in the awards granted to the participants, which totalled:
5 Victoria Crosses: Ryder; Beattie; AB William Alfred Savage, RN (MGB-314); Newman; Sgt. Thomas Frank Durrant, RE (1 Commando)
_AB William Alfred Savage (b.1912) fired his unshielded pom-pom gun aboard Cdr Ryder's motor gun boat with great coolness until he was killed. (Victoria Cross)
Sgt. Thomas Frank Durrant (b.1918 ),Royal Engineers, fired his Lewis gun aboard a launch in spite of wounds from which, in captivity, he died. (Victoria Cross)
Lt-Col. Augustus Charles Newman (1904-72), Essex Regt, led the troops on the raid. Ignoring his own safety, he inspired his men until they were surrounded and captured. (Victoria Cross). _
4 Distinguished Service Orders
17 Distinguished Service Crosses
11 Military Crosses
4 Conspicuous Gallantry Medals
5 Distinguished Conduct Medals [DCM viz DSM above]
24 Distinguished Service Medals [DSM correct above]
15 Military Medals
51 Mentioned in Dispatches
The French also awarded 6 Croix de Guerre's (CdeG) and 2 Chevaliers of the Legion d' Honour. (Mark E. Horan)


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## syscom3 (Mar 29, 2007)

*29 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-160 torpedoes a U.S. steamship about 40 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A. Before the ship is torpedoed a second time, the Armed Guard, who man their gun stations promptly, manages to get 12 rounds off at the U-boat's periscope. A second torpedo sinks the ship, with the Armed Guard leaving only when the bridge is awash.

Whilst escorting convoy PQ13 to Russia, cruiser HMS _'Trinidad' _and her accompanying destroyers sink German destroyer Z-26, then _'Trinidad' _is sunk by its own torpedo which circles back on itself.

*GERMANY*: Hitler orders reprisal raids after a RAF air raid on Lubeck. These are known as "Baedeker Raids".

*NORTH AFRICA*: Luftwaffe aircraft bomb Tobruk. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The text of the "Draft Declaration of Discussion, with Indian Leaders," taken to India by Sir Stafford Cripps is published simultaneously in India and Great Britain. The British Government had decided to lay down in clear terms the steps to be taken for the earliest possible realization of self-government in India. "The object is the creation of a new Indian union which shall constitute a Dominion, associated with the United Kingdom and the other Dominions by a common allegiance to the Crown but equal to them in every respect, in no way subordinate in any aspect of its domestic or external affairs"

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 29th/30th, five RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets on Lille. 

During the night of the 29th/30th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 26 aircraft, 18 Hampdens and 8 Manchesters, to lay mines in the Frisians and off Denmark; two Manchesters are lost.


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## syscom3 (Mar 30, 2007)

*30 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-585 (type VIIC) is sunk in the Barents Sea north of Murmansk about 70.00N 34.00E by a German mine which drifted from the "Bantos A" barrage. All 44 of the U-Boat crew are lost.

U.S. freighter SS _'Effingham'_, straggling 90 miles astern of Murmansk-bound convoy PQ 13, is torpedoed and set afire by German submarine _'U-435' _about 107 miles NNE of Murmansk. The ship explodes and sinks.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Inter-American Defense Board holds its first meeting in Washington, D.C. The Board was created to study and recommend measures for the defense of the hemisphere. 

The War Production Board bans the production of certain electric appliances, notably toasters, stoves and razors.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 30th/31st, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 34 Halifaxes to attack the German battleship _'Tirpitz' _in a fjord near Trondheim but the ship is not located; five aircraft bomb flak positions. A total of six aircraft are lost.


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## syscom3 (Mar 31, 2007)

*31 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine U-754 sinks two U.S. merchant ships off the U.S. East Coast near Norfolk, Virginia.
(1) Unarmed tug _'Menominee' _and the barges that she is towing, Allegheny, Barnegat, and Ontario, are shelled by _'U-754' _about 53 miles northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia; the tug and barges Allegheny and Barnegat sink but barge _'Ontario'_, with its dunnage cargo, remains afloat and provides a life preserver for the three men who had been on board each barge. Only two of the 18-man tug boat crew and the nine men on the barges survive.
(2) Later in the day, the sub torpedoes an unarmed tanker as the ship, en route to Norfolk, Virginia, waits to embark a pilot. One crewman dies in the initial explosion.

An unarmed U.S. tanker en route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is shelled, torpedoed, and sunk by Italian submarine _'Pietro Calvi' _about 513 miles east northeast of Cayenne, French Guiana; 2 crewmen on the tanker are lost. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day: Shch-210 Black Sea Fleet off Shabler Cape (sunk by German aircraft off Crimea)

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Hampdens and six Wellingtons on a cloud cover raids to Germany; six aircraft find targets to bomb.

During the night of the 31st/1 April, four RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons, with selected crews using Gee, are dispatched to Essen but only one bombs; a second aircraft bombs Hamborn. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Washington, Major General Carl Spaatz suggests that the now "task-less HQ 8th Air Force" be shipped to the U.K. to assume operational control of the units assigned to Army Air Forces in Britain (AAFIB).


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## syscom3 (Apr 1, 2007)

*1 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: As a result of the immense loss in shipping along the U.S.eastern seaboard, since January 1942, the U.S. authorities institute a partial convoying system, known as the "Bucket Brigade.". This meant that ships will sail in convoy as close to the coast as possible during daylight hours and anchor in protected harbors at night. Due to the shortage of escort vessels, continuous convoying is not possible and the "Bucket Brigade"system did not apply to the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico.

Nineteen merchant ships of Convoy PQ 13 set sail for the Soviet Union. They will lose five ships and one of their escorting light cruisers, HMS _'Trinidad'_, will be crippled by German torpedoes.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A stalemate exists along the entire line. The Germans of Heeresgruppe Nord are largely concerned during the month with extricating 11 Corps of the 16.Armee from a pocket southeast of Staraya Russa.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 1st/2nd, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 35 Wellingtons and 14 Hampdens to carry out low-level attacks on railway targets. Nine aircraft attack the marshalling yard at Hanau but 12 Wellingtons and a Hampden are lost en route. In other attacks, three aircraft attack the city of Darmstadt and one hits Frankfurt-am-Main. No 57 Squadron based at Feltwell, Norfolk, England, lost five of the 12 Wellingtons dispatched while No. 214 Squadron at Stradishall, Suffok, England, lost seven of 14 Wellingtons. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italian light cruiser _'Giovanni Delle Bande Nere' _is sunk near Stromboli Island by British submarine HMS _'Urge'_.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USAAF's Air Corps Proving Ground is redesignated Proving Ground Command, with its main base at Eglin Field, Valpariso, Florida. The command performs operational tests and studies of aircraft and aircraft equipment. 

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Operation *Performance *kicks off as ten Norwegian merchant ships in the port of Gothenberg try to flee through the Skagerrak (the body of water between Norway and Denmark) to Britain. Five are sunk before they clear the Skagerrak, one is too badly damaged to continue, two turn back, only two reach Britain. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Admiral Sir A.B. Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet, is appointed to serve on the Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee in Washington, D.C. relinquishing his command in the Mediterranean.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Bostons to attack a "Q-ship" at Boulogne; clouds are encountered and the dock area is bombed instead. A Boston is lost. During the night, two targets are hit:
(1) 34 Wellingtons and 22 Hampdens are dispatched to attack the port area at Le Havre; 46 bomb and successful bombing is claimed. One Wellington is lost.
(2) Twenty four Whitleys and 17 Wellingtons are dispatched to bomb the Ford Motor Co. factory in the Paris suburb of Poissy; 34 aircraft attack and crews claim accurate bombing but this is not confirmed by a later photographic flight. A Wellington is lost. Other missions during the night are
(1) 11 aircraft laying mines off Lorient and in the mouth of the River Gironde and
(2) five aircraft dropping leaflets.


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## syscom3 (Apr 2, 2007)

*2 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two unarmed U.S. merchant ships are shelled by German submarines off the U.S. East Coast:
(1) _'U-123' _attacks a tanker about 55 miles southeast of Morehead City, North Carolina; a motor torpedo (PT) boat arrives forcing the sub to leave the area and the ship is towed to Morehead City;
(2) _'U-552' _shells a freighter about 30 miles off the coast of Virginia and 60 miles northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia; only three of the 25 crew aboard the freighter survive.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Luftwaffe General Albert Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 commences massive bombing of Malta, to neutralize the British island. The heavy bombing depletes Malta-based bombers and submarines, enabling more supply convoys to reach Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USAAF changes the designation of Observation Aircraft ("O") being delivered to Liaison Aircraft ("L") resulting in the following changes:
Stinson O-49 Vigilant redesignated L-1;
Taylorcraft O-57 Grasshopper redesignated L-2;
Aeronca O-58 Grasshopper redesignated L-3;
Piper O-59 Cub redesignated L-4;
Stinson O-62 Sentinel redesignated L-5;
and Interstate O-63 redesignated L-6.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives a letter from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stating that his foreign affairs advisor, Harry Hopkins, and General George S. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, will be traveling to London. Roosevelt also says that;


> "They will submit to you a plan which I hope will be received with enthusiasm by Russia."


 The plan is for a Second Front in Europe. The plan has been prepared by Major General Dwight D Eisenhower. 

The USN’s Task Force Thirty Nine (TF 39) comprised of the battleship USS _'Washington' _(BB 56), the aircraft carrier USS _'Wasp' _(CV-7), heavy cruisers USS _'Tuscaloosa' _(CA-45) and Wichita and eight destroyers, arrives at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command flies three missions during the night of the 2nd/3rd:
(1) 40 Wellingtons and ten Stirlings are dispatched to bomb an armaments factory in the Paris suburb of Poissy; 44 aircraft bomb the target and one Wellington is lost:
(2) 26 of 49 aircraft dispatched bomb the port area at Le Havre without loss; and
(3) 23 Hampdens and seven Wellingtons lay mines in Quiberon Bay with the loss on a Hampden and a Wellington.


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## syscom3 (Apr 3, 2007)

*3 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two U.S. merchant ships are sunk by German submarines:
(1) a freighter, en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., from Takoradi, Gold Coast, is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-754' _about 250 miles east of Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.A.; and
(2) a freighter en route to Takoradi, Gold Coast, from Marshall, Liberia, is torpedoed by _'U-505' _about 240 miles south southwest of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and abandoned.


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## syscom3 (Apr 4, 2007)

*4 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two U.S. tankers are sunk by German submarines:
(1) _'U-154' _torpedoes and sinks the first about 140 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico and
(2) _'U-552' _torpedoes and sinks the second about 21 miles east of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.A.; the ship's cargo of 91,500 barrels of crude oil catches fire. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: The U.S. grants recognition to Free French administration in Equatorial Africa and appoints a Consul General to Brazzaville.

*SOUTH AFRICA*: Americans are granted permission to use the airfield at Point Noire, Congo in exchange for eight Lockheed Hudson bombers.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Bostons and four Wellingtons, escorted by RAF Fighter Command fighters, to attack the St. Omer railroad yards; 12 aircraft attack but their bombs fall in fields near the town.


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## syscom3 (Apr 5, 2007)

*5 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-154' _sinks a U.S. tanker en route from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, to Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A. about 37 miles off the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Fuhrer Directive 41 is issued and the Wehrmacht has its marching orders for 1942. Leningrad is to finally be captured and contact is to be made with the Finns east of Lake Ladoga, but that is a secondary objective. The big plan is in the South, which involves 2.Armee and 4.Panzerarmee breaking through to Voronezh on the Don River. 6.Armee will break out south of Kharkov and combine with the 4.Panzerarmee to surround the enemy. After that, the 4.Panzerarmee and 6.Armee will drive east under the command of Heeresgruppe B and surround Stalingrad from the North, while Heeresgruppe A's 17.Armee and 1.Panzerarmee will do so from the South. Once Stalingrad is taken, the 6.Armee will hold the flank defense line while Heeresgruppe A drives South into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields and become the northern punch of a grand pincer movement (the southern half being Rommel) to seize Suez, the Nile Delta, the Middle-East and its oilfields. http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/41.html

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 5th/6th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 263 aircraft, 179 Wellingtons, 44 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings and 11 Manchesters, to bomb the Humboldt works in Cologne; 219 bomb the target claiming good results with the use of GEE but the nearest bombing photographs developed were 5 miles from the Humboldt works. The Cologne report lists just one industrial building hit, a mill in the Deutz area, with 90 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and other buildings, including a hospital, hit. Seven people were killed and nine injured in the bombing. There were further casualties among a crowd who were watching a burning bomber which had crashed in the middle of Cologne; the bomb load exploded killing 16 people and injuring 30more. The bomber's crew had been killed in the original crash. Two of the aircraft dispatched bombed Bonn and another bombed Koblenz. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: The port of Port Rupert, British Columbia, is opened to the U.S. for shipment of supplies to the Territory of Alaska, thus avoiding a logistics jam at Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. 

*NORTHERN FRONT*: In Oslo, Norway, 654 of the 699 Lutheran ministers resign their civil service positions in protest of the German occupation of their country.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 5th/6th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 20 Whitleys to bomb the Gnome Rhone aircraft engine factory in the Paris suburb of Gennevilliers; 14 aircraft bomb but the main target is not hit. Local records show one house destroyed and four damaged, with no casualties. In a second mission, 14 aircraft bomb the port area at Le Havre. 

During the night of the 5th/6th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches six Blenheim intruders to attack airfields; individual aircraft hit De Kooy, Leeuwarden, Schipol and Soesterberg Airfields.


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## syscom3 (Apr 6, 2007)

*6 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-160' _torpedoes an unarmed U.S. bound from Corpus Christi, Texas, to New York City, about 75 miles SE of Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S.A. The ship manages to reach Hampton Roads, Virginia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Luftwaffe Transport units at the Demyansk and Kholm pockets flew 360 sorties to and from the Demyansk airfields escorted by elements of JG 51 and JG 53.

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 6th/7th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 157 aircraft, 110 Wellingtons, 19 Stirlings, 18 Hampdens and ten Manchesters, to bomb Essen The crews encountered severe storms and icing and there is complete cloud cover over Essen. Only 50 aircraft claimed to have reached the target area and Essen reports only a few bombs, with light damage; no casualties are recorded. Five aircraft, two Hampdens, a Manchester, a Stirling and a Wellington are lost. Individual aircraft attack Aachen, Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Gladbeck and Koblenz.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British destroyer HMS _'Havock' _is wrecked on the coast of Tunisia.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Axis bombers attack the port of Alexandria. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The First Canadian Army formed in the U.K. under the command of Lieutenant General Andrew McNaughton.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 6th/7th, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft attacks the port area at Ostend. 

During the night of the 6th/7th, one RAF Bomber Command bomber attacks Schipol Airfield.


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## syscom3 (Apr 7, 2007)

*7 April 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet Army troops force a very narrow corridor to Leningrad, opening a tenuous rail link to the city. Trains run into the city with desperately needed supplies and came out with civilians and the wounded, all under heavy artillery fire from the Germans.
*
GERMANY*: Karl Friedrich Stellbrink, an Evangelist minister in Luebeck, is arrested along with three Catholic priests for criticizing Nazi rule. Stellbrink was executed on 10 November 1943 in Hamburg.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The War Department officially states that the 8th Air Force will be established in the UK as an intermediate command between US Army Forces in British Isles (USAFBI) and the AAF commands. General George C Marshall notifies Major General James E Chaney, Commanding General of USAFBI, of this decision.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy lists submarine _'M-176' _Northern Fleet Varangerfjord lost off Norwegian coast, former M-93.


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## syscom3 (Apr 8, 2007)

*8 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Three unarmed U.S. merchant tankers are torpedoed by German submarines off the East Coast of the U.S.:
(1) _'U-160' _attacks a ship bound from Corpus Christi, Texas, to New York City, about 65 miles southeast of Beaufort, South Carolina, but she manages to reach Hampton Roads, Virginia, under her own power. One man of her 33-man crew is lost in the attack.
(2) _'U-123' _sinks the second ship, which is en route from Port Arthur, Texas, to Providence, Rhode Island, about 53 miles east of Brunswick, Georgia.
(3) _'U-123' _then proceeds to sink the third ship about 85 miles east of Brunswick, Georgia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy lists submarine Shch-421 Northern Fleet off Nordkapp Cape (sunk by K-22 after mine damage, former Shch-325).

*GERMANY*: During the night of the 8th/9th, 272 RAF Bomber Command bombers (177 Wellingtons, 41 Hampdens, 22 Stirlings, 13 Manchesters, 12 Halifaxes and seven Lancasters) are dispatched to bomb the Blohm and Voss submarine shipyards at Hamburg. Icing and electrical storms are encountered and only 175 bombers hit the targets with the loss of four Wellingtons and a Manchester. Overall, the raid is a failure; 17 people are killed and 119 injured. Other targets bombed are: three bomb Heligoland, two bomb Emden and individual aircraft attack Cruxhaven, Norden and Bremen. Bremen reports a load of incendiaries dropped very accurately on the Vulkan shipyard where four U-boats and several surrounding buildings are damaged by fire

*MEDITTERRANEAN*: German and Italian a/c bomb Malta in what will be the heaviest raid of the war against this beleaguered outpost in the Mediterranean.

The cruiser, HMS "_Penelope_" made a dash from Malta to Gibraltar. She was chased and attacked by Axis aircraft most of the way. Although heavily attacked including an attack near Sardina, she made Gibraltar on the 10th.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USAAF’s V Air Support Command, which was activated on 1 September 1941 to support the Armored Force, is redesignated 9th Air Force with headquarters at New Orleans AAB, Louisiana. 

The War Production Board accelerated the transformation of the nation's economy by ordering a halt to all production that was not deemed necessary to the war. The War Production Board's mandate quickly took hold; at the peak of the war, the military utilized nearly half of the nation's production and services. Far from causing fiscal woe, World War II proved to be a great boon to the economy: unemployment, which had climbed up to 14 percent in 1940, all but evaporated, while the gross national product doubled by the close of the war. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Harry L Hopkins, Special Assistant to President Franklin D Roosevelt, and General George C Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, arrive in London, England, for talks with British service and supply chiefs concerning the integration of U.S. and British manpower and war production for action in Europe. General Marshall urges an offensive in the west to relieve pressure upon the U.S.S.R. and promises a constant flow of U.S. troops, including many air units, to the U.K. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of the 8th/9th, seven of 13 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons dispatched bomb the port area at Le Havre and one bombs the port area at Cherbourg. 

Three RAF Bomber Command Blenheims attack Eindhaven, Haamstede, Leeuwarden and Schipol Airfields during the night of the 8th/9th.

Four RAF Bomber Command Bostons fly a sweep off the Dutch coast during the day without loss. A ship is bombed but not hit.


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## syscom3 (Apr 9, 2007)

*9 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German submarine _'U-123' _sinks unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'Esparta'_, en route from Honduras to New York, about 14 miles south of Brunswick, Georgia. Two ships are sunk off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina: _'U-160' _sinks the unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'Malchace' _about 50 miles off the coast while _'U-552' _sinks unarmed U.S. tanker SS _'Atlas'_. Later the same day, _'U-552' _torpedoes the tanker SS _'Tamaulipas'_; the tanker, gutted by fires, sinks the following morning. Motor torpedo boat PT-59, on a practice run in upper Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, accidentally torpedoes cargo ship USS _'Capella' _(AK-13); tugs are on the scene immediately and anchor the damaged auxiliary in shoal water. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: The 8th Air Force HQ echelon is relocated to Bolling Field, Washington, DC, to prepare the 8th for a move overseas.


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## Njaco (Apr 10, 2007)

*10 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The US tanker SS _'Gulfamerica' _is sunk by the German submarine _'U-123'_. The tanker had been silhouetted by the lights of Jacksonville, Florida making her an easy target. Seventeen of the 41-man crew die along with two of the seven-man Armed Guard detachment. (_syscom3_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Karl-Gottfiried Nordmann was made a Major and appointed _Geschwaderkommodre _of JG 51.

*GERMANY*: Hptm. Wilhelm 'Wutz' Galland finally reached "ace" status when he shot down his fifth victim, a Spitfire Mk V of RAF No. 340 Sqdn over Etaples.

Essen was bombed again at night. RAF crews were given a forcast of clear skies over Essen but instead found the target covered in cloud. The bombing force of 167 Wellingtons, 43 Hampdens, 18 Stirlings, 10 Manchesters, 8 Halifaxes and 8 Lancasters became scattered and suffered from the Ruhr flak defenses and nightfighters. Bomber Command's first 8,000 lb bomb was dropped during this raid by a Halifax from RAF No. 76 Sqdn. Fourteen aircraft were lost, four being claimed by nightfighters. Credit for kills were given to Oblt. Helmut Lent of II./NJG 2, Hptm. Werner Streib of Stab I./NJG 1 who shot down two Wellingtons within eight minutes and Oblt. Reinhold Knacke of 2./NJG 1.
*
MEDITERRANEAN*: Lt. Herman Neuhoff of III./JG 53 was shot down in error by his wingman, Lt. Schow who mistook him for a Hurricane. He bailed out safely, was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW.

Walther Dahl was appointed _Staffelkapitaen _of Ergänzungsgruppe./JG 3.


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## syscom3 (Apr 11, 2007)

*11 April 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russian landing begin at Eupatoriya, Crimea. The Russians attack the Finnish positions in Aunus (Olonets) north of Lake Ladoga. The offensive is aimed at the dividing line between the Finnish 11th and 17th divisions (which is also the border of the V and VI Corps), and hits a stretch of thinly manned wilderness. After some initial difficulties, the Finnish troops are able to encircle the attacking Russian spearheads, and the last Russian pockets surrender on the 20th April. After the battle, Finns count some 10 000 Russian dead on the battlefield, the Finnish losses are 440 men. (The casualty figures are Finnish and should be used with caution.)


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## syscom3 (Apr 12, 2007)

*12 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarines sink 4 merchant vessels:
- Armed U.S. freighter SS _'Delvalle'_, en route from New Orleans, Louisiana to Buenos Aires, Argentina, via St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-154' _south of Haiti.
- Armed Panamanian motor tanker MT _'Stanvac Melbourne' _is torpedoed by _'U-203' _about 15 miles (24 km) off Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina.
- Unarmed U.S. tanker SS _'Esso Boston'_, en route from Venezuela to Nova Scotia, is torpedoed and shelled by _'U-130' _northeast of Puerto Rico.
- Unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'Leslie' _is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-123' _approximately 3 miles SE of Hetzel Shoals Gas Buoy, Florida.

*GERMANY*: Another RAF raid on Essen during the night. 251 aircraft took part in the raid - 171 Wellingtons, 31 Hampdens, 27 Stirlings, 13 Halifaxes and 9 Manchesters. Five HP and 200 IBs hit the Krupps factory and a large fire was started. 28 private dwellings were destroyed and 50 seriously damaged. 27 people were killed, 36 injured and 9 missing. Ten aircraft - 7 Wellingtons, 2 Hampdens and one Halifax - were lost with 5 of this number shot down by nightfighters. Confirmed kills were awarded to Lt. Herman Mueller and Oblt. Horst Patuschka of Erg./NJG 2, Oblt. Helmut Lent of II./NJG 2, Oblt. Hans-Dieter Frank of 2./NJG 1 and Oblt. Helmut Woltersdorf of 7./NJG 1. This raid concluded a disappointing series of RAF raids on Essen, which was judged to be the heart of the German armaments industry. Essen's records show that industrial damage was caused on only two ocassions - a fire in the Krupps factory and a few bombs on some nearby rail lines -, that sixty-three civilians were killed and that a modest amount of residential property had been hit. There had been eight heavy raids since the first Gee raid on 8/9 March. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, sends air plans for Operation BOLERO, the buildup of US armed forces in the UK for an attack on Europe, to General George C Marshall, Chief of Staff US Army, in London. The plan calls for establishment of the 8th Air Force in the UK.


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## syscom3 (Apr 13, 2007)

*13 April 1942

GERMANY*: The German radio announces the finding of mass graves in Katyn, Poland, filled with the bodies of thousands of Polish officers.
*
NORTH AMERICA*: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates that the minimum program time required of TV stations is cut from 15 hours to four hours a week for the duration of the war.
*
UNITED KINGDOM*: Rear Admiral Lord Mountbatten is appointed Chief of Combined Operations and functions as a member of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. This appointment announced today was effective March 18.

The Luftwaffe conducted a raid on Hull at 00:05 hours and three HBs fell in the Willerby Road, Woodlands Road Springhead Ave. area. Residential damage was reported. Casualties were four killed and five seriously injured.


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## syscom3 (Apr 14, 2007)

*14 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: USS _'Roper' _sinks _'U-85'_, scoring the first submarine sunk by an American ship. Amplifying the above: _'U-85' _was the first U-boat to be sunk off the North American coast after the start of the Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat) on January 13, 1942. On the day that she was sunk, _'U-85' _stayed on the surface through the engagement. After repeated hits on the boat, fatally damaging her, the order to abandon ship was given and maybe half of the crew got into the water and then _'U-85' _started to sink again fast. USS _'Roper' _then dropped 11 depth charges onto the already sinking U-boat and its 2 dozen survivors and in the process killed everyone in the water.

German submarine _'U-203' _torpedoes and sinks the British freighter SS _'Empire Thrush' _approximately 8 miles north of Diamond Shoals, North Carolina. The antisubmarine vessel ("Q-ship") USS _'Asterion' _(AK-100), masquerading as the freighter SS Evelyn (her original mercantile name), picks up entire crew (and the captain's dog). The rescued sailors are enjoined not to reveal the fact that they were rescued by a "Q-ship" and to keep secret Asterion's true identity.

The unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'Margaret' _is sunk by German submarine _'U-571' _off the eastern seaboard while bound for New York City from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Although the Germans see the crew lower a boat and put rafts over the side, none of the 29 sailors from Margaret's complement are ever seen again. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stalin opens a war loan subscription to raise 10,000 million rubles.

*GERMANY*: Following a successful RAF attack on Lubeck on the night of 28 March, German public opinion demanded heavy reprisal attacks against British cities. Although few aircraft could be spared from the Russian Front, a small formation was assembled for which the He-111s of Erg. U. Lehr Kdo 100 were to act as pathfinders. The main bomber force, comprising some 80 aircraft were drawn from II and III./KG 2 and II./KG 40 equipped with Do-217s as well as KuFlGr 106, an anti-shipping unit equipped with Ju-88s while I./KG 2 with around 25 Do-217s joined the battle a little later. The attacks were planned to start during the moonlight period at the end of April, and copying the tactics so successfully employed by the RAF against German towns, were to be concentrated and of a short duration in order to minimize British defensive action. The Luftwaffe Operations Staff issued the following order:


> “_The Fuehrer has ordered that air warfare against England is to be given a more aggressive stamp. Accordingly when targets are being selected, preference is to be given to those where attacks are likely to have the greatest possible effect on civilian life. Besides raids on ports and industry, terror attacks of a retaliatory nature are to be carried out against towns other than London. Minelaying is to be scaled down in favor of these attacks.”_


 The new bombing operation was called the “*Baedecker Raids*”, named after a German Publishing company that printed tourist guidebooks. Hitler announced that the Luftwaffe would destroy every building in Britain to which the guidebooks had awarded three stars of its places of interest.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Ultra Intercepts had placed three Axis convoys at sea enroute from Italian ports to Tripoli. The largest convoy, consisting of the German motor vessel _'Reichenfels' _(7,744 g.r.t.), and three Italian motor vessels: _'Vettor Pisani' _(6,339 g.r.t.), _'Ravello' _(6,142 g.r.t.), and _'Reginaldo Giuliani' _(6,837 g.r.t.). The Italian Navy had provided a strong escort: five destroyers and two torpedo boats including _'Pegaso'_. The recent blitz of Malta having greatly reduced the islands strike capability, the convoy was bolding steaming on a direct course, passing within 100 miles of the island. The Coastal Command's Mediterranean command, 201 Group, had been building up a small force of Beauforts for 39 Squadron. Combining with elements of 22 Squadron, on a delayed passage to Ceylon, a striking force of 10 serviceable Beauforts (three from 22 Squadron, seven from 39 Squadron) as well as four Beaufighters of 272 Squadron is forwarded to the airfield at Bu Amud. As the aircraft do not have the range to strike the convoy and return to their North African base, the plan calls for them to fly on to Malta after the attack, and hope that they can fight their a through to the islands airfields through the ever present patrols of German fighters. Though the convoy is contacted by two Maryland reconnaissance aircraft of 203 Squadron, also operating from Bu Amud, one of 22 Squadron's ASV Beauforts is dispatched 0730 as a contact plane. The main striking force of nine Beauforts and four Beaufighters follows. One Beaufort had to abort early on. The ASV-equipped contact plane found the convoy, transmitted its position, and then headed for Malta. Caught by Bf-109s during the approach to the island, the pilot (FS S. E. Howroyd) was killed, and Beaufort AW-282 crashed short of the runway. While the other three members of the crew survived the crash, the navigator, subsequently died of his wounds in hospital. Unfortunately, Howroyd's position report was never received by the strike leader, FL J. M. Lander DFC (22 Squadron). Flying at sea level, the striking force passed the convoys line of advance without sighting it. Turning Southwest to search for the elusive foe, the escorting Beaufighters of 272 Squadron, led by SL W. Riley, flying about 500 feet higher than their charges, spotted several German Me-110s and Ju-88s providing distant air cover for the convoy. The series of combats bled away their precious combat fuel, and they were forced to turn for Malta. Lander knew the mission was in trouble. The departure of his escort left the Beauforts terribly alone. Several minutes later, when the target was finally sighted, the Beaufort crews were horrified to discover that, besides the strong naval escort, there were some 25 Bf-109s, Bf-110s, and Ju-88s overhead. What followed was reminiscent of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Stripped of their escort, there was little the three sub-flights could do but fling themselves at the convoy and then flee for home. Five of the Beauforts managed to get off good drops, unfortunately without any result (though three hits were claimed). Then began one of the longest air battles of the entire campaign, as the badly outnumbered eight struggled to fight through the 70 miles to safety. Five aircraft, N1100 (PO G. Belfield) of 22 Squadron, N1169 (FL R. G. W. Beveridge), N1186 (FO R. B. Seddon), N1166 (PO B. W. Way), and X8923 (FO D. A. R. Bee), all of 39 Squadron, did not make it, the latter actually lost over the island itself. Of the 20 aircrew, only five (Belfield's crew and FO McGregor of Seddon's crew) were rescued. Of the three that reached Malta, Lander's X8924, whose wing tip had actually hit the sea at one point, would not fly again while N1102 (FO S. W. Gooch) would be under repair for some time. Amazingly, other than sweat from the crew, FL A. T. Leaning's W6505 came through the entire ordeal without so much as a scratch! While the courage and devotion to duty displayed by the Beauforts crews could not have been higher, the aftermath of the mission was to have severe consequences on the campaign against Rommel's supply lines. The combined squadron had operationally, for all intents, been wiped out. Besides the seventeen highly trained aircew lost, only one operational Beaufort remained to return to Egypt. It had taken three months to accumulate 10 operational aircraft prior to this mission. It would take another two to replace them. Until June, the Beaufort Squadron had shot its bolt. There was, however, one other unforseen consequence of the mission. With the loss of Beveridge, 39 Squadron had lost one of the Flight Leaders. The needed replacement had been lingering at Group for several months - one FL Reginald Patrick Mahoney 'Pat' Gibbs, DFC - a man who in the coming months would stamp a huge mark on the course of the war in the Mediterranean.

While flying near the airfield at Luqa, the Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3, Hptm. Karl-Heinz Krahl was shot down by the airfield’s flak guns. He had 24 victories in the air. Major Kurt Brandle was made Gruppenkommandeur in his place.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Operation *Bolero *is provisionally accepted by the British as a basis for the American buildup in Britain.

Purchase tax is to be doubled to 66% on nearly all non-essential goods. Beer is up 2d a pint. A bottle of whisky will cost 22/6 instead of 17/10, and cigarettes go up from 1/6 to 2/- for a pack of 20. These hefty increases in indirect taxation were announced in today's "sacrifices for victory" budget, which keeps the standard rate of income tax at 10/- in the pound (50%). The government denied that tobacco supplies to shops are to be cut. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Laval forms a new government in Vichy, with Marshal Petain as Head of State.


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## syscom3 (Apr 15, 2007)

*15 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine' _U-575' _torpedoes and sinks the unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'Robin Hood'_, en route to Boston, Massachusetts from Trinidad, British West Indies, about 300 miles off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Sobibor, the new camp set deep in the woods near the river Bug, on a former railway siding, is ready to receive its first transports of Polish Jews and Gypsies. Like Chelmo and Belzec, it is a death camp: there will be no forced labour here, just immediate extermination in the gas chamber. SS Staff Sergeant Paul Grot is one of the staff waiting to greet the first arrival. He is especially proud of his enormous dog Barry, trained to rip off the testicles of his master's chosen victim on the command Jude! [Jew]

*UNITED KINGDOM*: London: Lord Louis Mountbatten's dazzling progress through the military hierarchy continues apace. Less than six months after being appointed chief of the tri-service Combined Operations, he has been made a vice- admiral of the Royal Navy, a lieutenant-general in the army, an air- marshal of the RAF and a full member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

At yesterday's meeting in London of the Anglo-American Combined Commanders' Group. it was decided that no major Allied assault on the Nazis in western Europe could be launched this year. The decision puts the onus on Mountbatten at Combined Operations to keep the Germans guessing by delivering a succession of hit-and-run raids. One report, unconfirmed, says that he is planning an assault in strength on one of the French Channel ports. Such an operation, it is said, would provide invaluable experience for a full-scale invasion.

There are to be no more frills and fripperies in Britain as from 1 June. A new order issued by the board of trade bans embroidery, applique work and lace on women's and girl's underwear and also introduces stringent rule designed to minimize the work and material put into clothing. Skirts are to have no more than three buttons, six seams, one pocket and two box pleats or four knife pleats. Double-breasted suits are out, and men will also lose pockets on pyjamas.

King George VI writes to the governor of Malta awarding the island the GC "to honour her brave people" and "to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous."

A few German aircraft were engaged in laying mines at the approaches to Tynemouth. Between 22.15 and 01.20 hours some of these machines flew inland and dropped bombs at points in Berwickshire, Northumberland, Durham and the North Riding. At 00.45 hours, four bombs fell in the grounds of residential property in Westoe. The last one fell on the lawn 10 yards from 'Chapel house'. No casualties were reported but considerable damage was done to a large number of homes, including 40 roofs of houses in Horsley Hill road.

One person was killed and two injured when two HBs fell in Hart lane, West Hartlepool where one house was demolished and the A179 was blocked by a crater. Two HBs were dropped near Ship Inn, High Hesledon, one of which failed to explode. There was slight damage to property. The most serious of the night's raids was a Middleborough, Yorkshire. HBs and IBs fell and 26 people were killed and 52 seriously injured. Five babies were among the dead and in one instance the mother as well. 39 houses were made unihabitable and some 1700 suffered less damage. Public utilities wre affected.


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## syscom3 (Apr 16, 2007)

*16 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'Alcoa Guide' _is shelled by German submarine _'U-123' _(which expended her last torpedo on 12 April) east of North Carolina; _'Alcoa Guide' _tries to ram the U-boat without success. _'U-123' _pauses to allow the crew to abandon ship and then sinks the freighter with gunfire once the merchant sailors (two of whom die of wounds suffered in action) have gotten away safely.

*GERMANY*: Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, the veteran of the invasion of France and the USSR is appointed C-in-C of the Atlantic Wall defences.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: King George VI awards Malta the George Cross for collective heroism isn the face of the Axis air attacks. Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie, read:


> "To honour her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history."


Since Hitler ordered that the island be "neutralized" in preparation for invasion four months ago, it has suffered 1,000 air- raids – an average of seven a day. The Maltese people have gone underground, burrowing deep into the soft limestone to build shelters, communications centres and first aid centres, racing for cover when the alert sounds and emerging into the sunlight to carry on a near normal life - given that many Maltese are on desperately short rations - when they hear the "all clear". The capital, Valetta, is devastated beyond recognition; the Grand Harbour, once the home of the British Mediterranean Fleet, is under such constant bombardment that submarines are forced to remain submerged during daylight. The submarines are an essential part of the island's lifeline. They bring fuel for the few Spitfires and Hurricanes available to defend Malta from airfields which are bombed daily, with ground crews working round the clock to service the aircraft, often "cannibalizing" wrecked planes for spares. HMS '_WELSHMAN_', one of the fastest ships in the navy, makes regular dashes from Gibraltar, bringing in food and ammunition to help the island resist a bombardment which - the Germans say - has become the "most accurate in the world."

*WESTERN FRONT*: Under German pressure, Marshal Petain appoints Pierre Laval head of government and himself becomes a ceremonial head of state. Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Retired), Ambassador to France, receives a cable from Washington with information that his recall "for consultation" will be announced shortly after the formation of a new Vichy government.

School students in France stage a demonstration after their history teacher is arrested.


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## syscom3 (Apr 17, 2007)

*17 April 1942*


*GERMANY*: Konigstein: General Henri Giraud, the French commander captured in 1940, escapes from a German PoW camp. 

Dortmund: The Gestapo reports an increase in anti-Nazi graffiti in this city and other industrial areas of the Rhineland. 

Augsburg, Germany: Sqn-Ldr. John Dering Nettleton (1917-43) led six Lancasters on a daylight raid under heavy attack. Only his plane returned.

The RAF followed up its devastating fire raid on mediaeval Lybeck with a daring raid from 500 feet on the M.A.N. diesel engine factory at Augsburg. The object was to "blood" new Lancaster bombers and crews on an industrial target easily identified by vivid landmarks. Seven out of 12 Lancasters, from 44 and 97 Squadrons, were shot down and five damaged. Only eight reached the target and of 17 bombs on target, just 12 exploded. Only four factory workshops were damaged, but the raid has caught the public imagination because it was in daylight at low-level.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Southampton: Private Nora Caveney becomes the first ATS casualty of the war when she is killed operating a range-finder on an anti-aircraft battery site.


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## syscom3 (Apr 18, 2007)

*18 April 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German General Von Leeb is removed from Command of Army Group South in Russia.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USN orders a blackout of waterfront lights along the eastern seaboard, where German U-boats have been using the illumination to silhouette their targets.


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## syscom3 (Apr 19, 2007)

*19 April 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Armed U.S. freighter _'Steel Maker' _is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-136' _west of Bermuda. "I am sorry to have to sink you and do this to you," one German officer says apologetically after the enemy has questioned the survivors about the ship, its cargo, and destination, "but this is war." He promises to send _'Steel Maker's _position to enable the Americans to be rescued. The last survivor is picked up on 18 May. 

German submarine _'U-130' _uses its deck gun to bombard Royal Dutch Shell refineries at Ballen Bay on Curacao in the Netherlands West Indies.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau asks Americans to spend 10 percent of their income on war savings bonds.

Lt. Ronald Reagan, a reserve Cavalry officer, is called to active duty.


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## syscom3 (Apr 20, 2007)

*20 April 1942*


*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Unarmed U.S. freighter SS _'West Imboden'_, her presence advertised by an accidental fire in her stack, is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-752' _about 200 miles off Nantucket lightship and abandoned as she is being shelled by the U-boat. _'U-752' _nears one of the lifeboats and asks about casualties. "That's good," one German officer responds when told that the American merchant sailors have come through unharmed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation *CALENDAR*. The aircraft carrier USS _'Wasp' _(CV-7), escorted by the battle cruiser HMS _'Renown' _and screened by two US and four RN destroyers, launched 47 RAF Spitfires which landed on Malta; however, 30 are immediately destroyed. Within four days, all but six of the Spitfires are destroyed by Luftwaffe bombings.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Rennes: Resistants attempt to assassinate the leading French fascist Jacques Doriot.

Vichy: The new head of the Vichy France government, Pierre Laval, today fawned on Hitler and attacked Britain that but sought friendship with the United States. Speaking on the very day that the Nazis shot 30 hostages in Rouen in reprisal for an attack on a German troop train, Laval called Hitler "a conqueror who did not abuse his victory". The gigantic battle that Germany was waging against "Bolshevism". he said, had given a new meaning to the war. But Laval took care not to attack the United States, which he hopes to influence.


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## syscom3 (Apr 21, 2007)

*21 April 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two U.S. ships are sunk by German submarines:
- _'U-576' _sinks an armed freighter en route from Trinidad, B.W.I., to Boston, Massachusetts, approximately 455 miles SSE of Atlantic City, New Jersey. All 45 men aboard the ship take to the lifeboats. The submarine crew provisions one of the sunken freighter's four lifeboats after questioning some of the survivors.
- _'U-201' _sinks an unarmed freighter, en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico, approximately 475 miles SE of Wilmington, North Carolina. Five sailors and 9 passengers are killed; 74 crewmen and 95 passengers survive. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The three-month battle to relieve 100,000 Germans trapped in the Demyansk pocket northwest of Moscow ends with the surrounded Germans breaking through the Russian lines. The German troops had been supplied by airlifts only for ten weeks.

*GERMANY*: The Germans request the assistance of the Italian Navy to deal with the ramshackle Soviet flotilla on Lake Ladoga (estimated at 6 gunboats, 2 large and 5 small torpedo boats, 32 armed minesweepers, 9 armed transport ships,17 armed tugboats and 1 submarine, plus another 25 other boats). The Italian Navy promptly agreed and sent the four torpedo boats (MAS 526 to 529) of 12th MAS Flotilla, commanded by Capitano di Corvetta (Lt-Comm) Bianchini, with four officers, 19 NCO's, and 63 other ranks.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Malta is nearly defenseless and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini urges an assault led by German parachute units. Hitler is hesitant, recalling the heavy losses his paratroopers suffered in 1941 when they drove the British from Crete. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: The federal government decides to build the "Big Inch" oil pipeline from Texas to New York so Allied tankers won't have to run the German submarine gauntlet along the East Coast. 

Washington: President Roosevelt orders all patents owned or controlled by enemy nations to be seized in order to forestall German interference in US industry. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Louise Leahy, wife of Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Retired), Ambassador to France, dies of an embolism in Vichy. Her death, on the eve of their departure from Vichy, is a "crushing emotional shock" to the admiral, "beyond the understanding of anyone who has not had an identical experience."

General Giraud reaches Switzerland after escaping from German captivity. He will return to unoccupied France.

The Germans shoot 20 French hostages "for complicity" during the raid on St. Nazaire last month.


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## syscom3 (Apr 22, 2007)

*22 April 1942*

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Office of Price Administration (OPA) announces that motorists in 17 eastern states will be allowed to purchase no more than 21.4 US gallons (17.8 Imperial gallons or 81 liters) of gasoline per week beginning 15 May.

Police and Federal agents raid Hitler birthday parties in Union City, Hoboken and 50 other New Jersey gatherings.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The British win a small victory with a commando raid on Boulogne, a port on the English Channel. The commandos suffer few casualties during a two-hour action.


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## Njaco (Apr 23, 2007)

*23 April 1942*
*
GERMANY*: The RAF made the first of a series of four raids on the Baltic port town of Rostock. These raids had many of the characteristics of the successful raid on nearby Lubeck one month earlier -a concentrated, incendiary area bombing attack of a town with only light defenses. An added feature on each night, however, was the inclusion of a small force of bombers, from RAF 5 Group on the first three nights, to attempt a precision attack on the Heinkel aircraft factory on the southern outskirts of Rostock. On this first night, 143 aircraft were sent to bomb the town and 18 to the Heinkel factory. Bombing conditions were good but the results of the raid were disappointing. The Heinkel factory was not hit and most of the main bombing intended for the Altstadt fell between 2 and 6 miles away. Four bombers - two Wellingtons, 1 Manchester and 1 Whitley - were lost with 1 Wellington claimed by Hptm. Schutze of 4./NJG 2.

A decree issued by Fritz Sauckel, the Reich Plenipotentiary for Labour orders schoolboys aged 14-16 and schoolgirls aged 16-17 to perform agricultural service.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first of the Hitler ordered "Baedecker Raids", the renewed bombing of England was carried out against Exeter by a force of 45 Do 217s of KG 2 and Ju 88s of KG 106 guided by a small force of He 111s of I./KG 100. They caused little damage and the raid was mostly a failure.


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## syscom3 (Apr 24, 2007)

*24 April 1942*

*GERMANY*: Berlin: For as long as many of them can remember, German women have been told that their true vocation is motherhood. No longer is that the case, it seems. Under a new decree by Gauleiter
Fritz Sauckel, the plenipotentiary-general for employment, they are obliged to work in industry. This means that many mothers will be working in factories for the first time - and earning some 20% less than men for doing the same jobs. The women are not happy about that - nor about the extra problems of shopping and bringing up their children.

Jews are barred from using all forms of public transport.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Kenraalimajuri (Major General) K. I. Viljanen, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division, is killed when inspecting the front line near Seesjürvi. Gen. Viljanen and the small party of officers accompanying him get lost and wander into a Finnish minefield. A major steps into a tripwire and is killed instantly, while Gen. Viljanen and two other officers are mortally wounded. Only one officer escapes with lighter wounds.

Soviet submarine "Sch-401" of the Polar fleet and White Sea Flotilla, is accidentally sunk, by torpedoes and depth charges of torpedo-cutters "TKA N13" and "TKA N14", close to Cape Kumagnes Submarine "Sch-411" (uncompleted hull) - sunk by artillery fire at Leningrad (later raised)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Exeter is bombed by the Luftwaffe. This becomes the first of the so-called 'Baedeker Raids'. They are a German response to an RAF raid on Lübeck in late March. 

The Miles Martinet target-tug prototype (LR 241) makes its maiden flight.


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## Njaco (Apr 25, 2007)

*25 April 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Over Leningrad Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of JG 54 bounced a Russian MiG-3 and destroyed the fighter bringing his score to forty victories.

*GERMANY*: The RAF returned to Rostock during the night with 128 aircraft of six types, 110 to the town and 18 to the Heinkel factory. No aircraft were lost although crews reported that Rostock's flak defenses had been strengthened. Heavy bombing of the town and many fires were achieved. Some aircraft also hit the Heinkel factory for the first time, the crews achieving this were flying Manchesters of RAF No. 156 Sqdn, which was commanded by Wing Commander Guy Gibson. Although Oblt. Rudolf Schoenert of 4./NJG 2 was credited with a Wellington during this raid, it may have been a Stirling from another, smaller British raid. Six Stirlings carried out a long-range attack on the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. Cloud covered the target on arrival but at least five Stirlings bombed. One Stirling was lost from the raid.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The ancient city of Bath was the target of the "Baedecker Raids" during the night with all bomber units of Luftflotte 3 being called upon. including for the first time the training crews from the fourth Gruppen of which IV./KG 2, IV./KG 3, IV./KG 4, IV./KG 30, IV./KG 55 and IV./KG 77 were available, flying an assortment of obsolete Do-17s, He-111s and Ju-88s. Once the aircraft arrived over the city, they would be allowed to fly around at will, making extensive use of shallow dive-bombing and machine-gunning the streets, as the city possessed no AA or Balloon Barage protection. The Luftwaffe flew a total of 151 bomber sorties to Bath, with most aircraft making 2 flights, the crews claiming to have dropped 206 tonnes of HE and 3564 IBs on the city in the biggest effort against Britain since July 1941. The pathfinders from Erg.u.Lehr Kdo 100 were operating with Y-Verfahren, successfully leading in the other participating units from II and III./KG 2, II./KG 40, KuFlGr 106 and KuFlGr 506, in addition to the assorted aircraft from the IV Gruppen. The "Red Alert" went out in Bath at 22:29 hrs and shortly after that, the sky, which had been clear with a bright half-moon, was filled with the light from chandelier flares, which were quickly followed by IBs, the first fires developing in the west of the city in the Upper and Lower Bristol Road areas. Then came the HEs, one of the first of which destroyed Number 3 Gasholder at the Gasworks, while others caused serious damage to the Kingsmead area, at the Abbey Church House and Circus Tavern. A serious fire developed at the Midland Railway Goods Yard. Some of the bombers, however, misidentified the target completely and bombs also fell on the Brislington area of Bristol, where 18 were killed and 41 injured. This, the first phase of the attack, ended with the sounding of the "ALL Clear" at 00:11 hrs. The German aircraft then returned to their French bases to refuel and re-arm before taking off again for their second sorties of the night. The first of the bombers crossed the English Coast at 04:20 hrs and in Bath the "Red Alert" was issued at 04:35 hrs. On this occasion the bombing, whilst heavy, was rarely concentrated, although both the Kingsmead and Oldfield park areas again received a fair amount of attention. Other isolated bombings also took place at Southdown and North Bath, while railway traffic was also affected, the main line between Bristol and London being closed by a damaged bridge at Oldfield park, before the "All Clear" sounded at 06:02 hrs. A total of 4 German aircraft failed to return, resulting in the deaths of 14 cewmen and a further 2 being taken prisoner. One Do-17 of IV./KG 2 crashed into the sea on the return flight, IV./KG 3 lost a Ju-88 at Builth Wells, II./KG 40 lost a Do-217 over Dorset and KuFlGr 506 lost a Junkers crashing into the sea.


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## syscom3 (Apr 26, 2007)

*26 April 1942*

*GERMANY*: Hitler tells of "Great Victories" to come this summer while addressing the Reichstag. He calls for a "Supreme Effort" to accomplish this. They confirm his absolute power.


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## syscom3 (Apr 27, 2007)

*27 April 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. Training Ship TS "_Svir_" is sunk by aviation, at Leningrad.

Czechoslovakia: Theresienstadt: 1,000 Jews are deported to their deaths at Belzec and Sobibor. 

*GERMANY*: The RAF bombs Rostock for the fourth night in a row. 70% of the city has now been destroyed and 100,000 are homeless.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Washington: Roosevelt places the US economy on a full war footing.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first operational sortie is made by the de Havilland Mosquito night-fighter. Armed with four 20mm guns it can reach 407 mph.


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## syscom3 (Apr 28, 2007)

*28 April 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The US Navy's Task Force 99, consisting of the battleship USS _'Washington'_, heavy cruisers USS _'Tuscaloosa' _and USS _'Wichita' _and four destroyers, sails from the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. This is Force "Distaff," a joint RN-USN task force that will be positioned northeast of Iceland to protect convoy PQ-15 sailing for Murmansk in the Soviet Union. The RN force consists of the battleship HMS _'King George _V', the aircraft carrier HMS _'Victorious'_, the light cruiser HMS _'Kenya' _and five destroyers.


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## Njaco (Apr 29, 2007)

*29 April 1942*

*GERMANY*: The RAF attacked Kiel for the evening mission. 88 aircraft - 62 Wellingtons, 15 Stirlings, 2 Hampdens and 1 Halifax - were dispatched but only 54 aircraft claimed good bombing results in bright moonlight against strong flak and fighter defenses. Kiel records show that damage was caused at all three shipyards, to the hospital of the Naval Hospital and to the university libraryas well as to private homes. 15 people were killed and 74 injured. 5 Wellingtons and 1 Hampden were lost. Only two bombers were credited to nightfighters with claims going to Ofw. Heinz Struning of Erg./NJG 2 and Oblt. Gunter Koberich of Stab II./NJG 3.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Luftwaffe returned for more of the "Baedecker Raids", this time against the city of Norwich, causing more damage and fires. A Bf-109F-3 of 3(F)/123 succeeded in taking post-raid photographs of Bath, as well as photographing Avonmouth and the Nailsea Munitions store, its long-range drop tank falling at Pill around midday.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Joachim Muncheberg of Stab II./JG 26 shot down a Spitfire near Le Tourquet for his 74th victory. His victim was probably the great Polish ace Major Marian Pisarek, commander of the I Polish Fighter Wing.


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## syscom3 (Apr 30, 2007)

*30 April 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day: Shch-401 Northern Fleet off Fulei Island (sunk by German craft in Tana Fjord, former Shch-313)


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## Njaco (May 1, 2007)

*1 May 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Force "Distaff," the combined US Navy and Royal Navy force that is protecting convoy PQ-15 enroute to Murmansk, is off Iceland when the RN battleship HMS _'King George _V' collides with and sinks the destroyer HMS _'Punjabi'_. The US battleship USS _'Washington' _(BB-56) is unable to maneuver around the wreckage and must sail through it and the depth charges in HMS _'Punjabi' _explode underwater damaging the _'Washington's _fire control systems.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German seige of the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol by 11. Armee (von Manstein) continued with a ceaseless bombardment by batteries of heavy guns (up to 800mm "Big Dora") and hundreds of bombers (up to 1,000 sorties a day) of Luftflotte 7 (von Richtofen). Heavy fighting also continued on the front around beseiged Leningrad whose inhabitants were suffering from bombing, disease and starvation. 4(F)/122 was now to be found at Saki/Crimea under VIII Fliegerkorps and supported the recapture of eastern Crimea and the seige of Sevastopol while maintaining close surveillance of enemy forces in North Crimea and the Black Sea.

At Kholm and Demyansk another large Russian attack was launched. The pocket, which had now shrunk to less than 1km square in size, was almost overrun as Russian forces came within 100m of the eastern bank of the Lovat River. Again German companies swung into action and halted the Russian assault.


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## syscom3 (May 4, 2007)

*4 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In the Caribbean, two U.S. ships are torpedoed by German submarines. An unarmed freighter is sunk while an armed tanker is abandoned but is later reboarded and towed to port. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The North American Mustang Mk. I enters combat for the first time today flying with the RAF's No. 26 Squadron from Gatwick, Surrey, England. The Mustang has excellent low-altitude performance but unsatisfactory high altitude and the RAF has equipped the aircraft with cameras to fly low-level tactical reconnaissance missions.


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## Njaco (May 8, 2007)

*8 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Rested and refitted, the _Gruppen _of SchG 1 arrived at Itshki-Grammatikovo in the Crimea for duty with IV Fliegerkorps of Luftflotte 4 for support of 11 Armee's reconquest of the Kerch penisula (_Operation Trappenjagd_). Outfitted with Bf 109E-7s, I./SchG 1 arrived and was immediately put into action as was the II _Gruppe _with 5. and 6. _staffeln _equipped with Hs 129B-1s and 7./SchG 1 with Hs 123As. After arrival operations started almost immediately with ground attack missions in the eastern Crimea until 15 May and then switching to the Izyum salient southeast of Kharkov at the end of the month. Attacks were carried out against Soviet positions along the front and on troop and supply columns immediately behind the front with such a concentrated effect that the German infrantry assault units were able to break through the forward defenses on the first day of the attack. Over the next several days, 4./SchG 1 attacked various ground targets, shot down an I-16 fighter and destroyed an estimated forty other aircraft during a low-level strafing attack on an enemy airfield in eastern Crimea. Major Siegfried Freytag of Stab II./JG 77 scored his 40th victory.


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## Njaco (May 9, 2007)

*9 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army launched a counter-offensive against Kharkov. An Hs 129B-1 belonging to II./SchG 1 was shot down by Soviet AA fire, possibly over the eastern Crimea. The pilot, Hptm. Max Eck, was listed as missing.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: *Operation Bowery:* - US Navy Carrier "_Wasp_" and Royal Navy carrier HMS "_Eagle_" delivered 64 Spitfires to Malta, four of which failed to make it. The mistakes of Operation "*Calendar*" were ironed out in this operation. Prior to leaving Gibraltar, experienced pilots were flown in by a Hudson (piloted by F/O Matthews) from Malta to train the new pilots in what operations were like over the island and to instruct them in new procedures where each aircraft, on landing, would be met by groundcrew carrying a numbered sign which they would follow to a safety pen, re-fueled and re-armed as fast as possible and get back in the air to meet the Axis aircraft sent over to destroy the new aircraft on the ground. HMS "_Eagle_" returned to Gibraltar and, loaded with another shipment of 16 Spitfires, returned to Malta as Operation "LB".


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## Njaco (May 10, 2007)

*10 May 1942

MEDITERRANEAN*: The Germans and Italians tried to destroy the newly arrived Spitfires and HMS _'Manxman' _which had arrived with spares for the Spifires at Malta. The first raid consisted of 20 Ju 87s and 10 Ju 88s plus heavy escort, the second raid was 10 Ju 88s escorted by approx 35 109's, the third raid was all Italian with Z1007's escorted by 20 MC202 and 10 Re2001 and the fourth raid was 20 Ju 87s plus heavy 109 escort. The defenders were able to put up the following aircraft: First raid - 32 Spits, Second Raid - 20 Spits and 6 Hurricanes, Third Raid / fourth Raid - 42 Spits and 4 Hurricanes (some Spits landed and were replaced by others). These raids were close enougth that some Spits sent up against the Italians, were still on patrol and able to make the initial attacks on the Germans on the fourth raid. It was the first time that the defenders had enough fighters to put up a strong defence and never again, did they send up penny packets in the face of overwhelming odds, As a consequence, although German air raids continued on the island, their intensity was considerably reduced and the RAF was able to regain air superiority over Malta. Moreover, during May, the RAF was able to resume its air offensive against enemy shipping, which led to a sharp drop in Axis supplies reaching North Africa. The Luftwaffe soon ended its air assault on Malta and German air units began to relocate from Sicily to the Western Desert in support of the Afrika Korps or to the Russian Front. ( _contributed by Glider_)

USS _'Ranger' _on a transatlantic ferry trip, reached a position off the African Gold Coast and launched 60 P-40 Warhawks of the Army Air Force to Accra, from which point they were flown in a series of hops to Karachi, India, for operations with the 10th AAF. This was the first of four ferry trips made by the _'Ranger' _to deliver AAF fighters across the Atlantic, the subsequent launches being accomplished on 19 July 1942, 19 January 1943, and 24 February 1943.


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## Njaco (May 11, 2007)

*11 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Two Bf 109E-7s belonging to I./SchG 1 were lost over the eastern tip of the Crimea peninsula, both probably shot down by AA fire.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British destroyers "_Jackal_", "_Jervis_", "_Kipling_" and "_Lively_" left Alexandria to search for reported Axis shipping bound for Benghazi. There was no fighter cover. On being sighted they turned back, but north of Sidi Barrani they were attacked by a specially trained anti-shipping group of German Ju 88s. "_Kipling_" and "_Lively_" were sent to the bottom that evening and "_Jackal_" was scuttled on the 12th May. Only "_Jervis_" with 630 survivors reached Alexandria.

Hptm. Heinz Baer was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 77.


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## syscom3 (May 12, 2007)

*12 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarines sink two U.S. merchant tankers, the first off Louisiana and the second east of Barbados.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: Russian attacks near Kharkov begin. They are attempting to trap German forces against the Sea of Azov.

The Soviet Navy lists submarine K-23 Northern Fleet off Nordkinn Cape (lost off Oske Fjord)

Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 became the 7th pilot in history to reach 100 victories.

The first mass-killing of Jews in Auschwitz Birkenau. The victims are some 1500 Polish Jews.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A formation of fourteen Ju 52s from III./KGzbV 1, escorted by 2 Bf 110s, departed Maleme/Crete for Derna/Cyrenaica, each loaded with some 20 soldiers. The formation was intercepted 80km off the North African coast by 14 RAF Beaufighters and Kittyhawks and in the running battle, nine of the Junkers were shot down and another 2 had to make forced landings on the shore. All 9 Junkers were from 11. Staffel.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first aircraft of the USAAF 8th Army Air Force arrived in Britain.


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## syscom3 (May 13, 2007)

*13 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-506' _attacks three U.S. merchant vessels off the coast of Louisiana sinking a tanker and a freighter; a second tanker is damaged.

In the Atlantic, a U.S. freighter is sunk by _'U-69'_.


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## syscom3 (May 14, 2007)

*14 May 1942

NORTH AMERICA*: The German submarine _'U-213' _sows mines off St. John's, Newfoundland, then lands a German spy near the town of St. Martins, New Brunswick. The spy, Lieutenant M.A. Langbein, has documents identifying him as "Alfred Haskins" of Toronto, Ontario and his task is to monitor convoy traffic leaving Halifax, Nova Scotia. Upon landing, he buried his uniform and supplies, and made his way to Ottawa, Ontario, where he lived on the funds he had been provided. In late 1944, he turned himself into Canadian authorities but was not punished since he had not conducted any spying.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The damaged British escort cruiser "_Trinidad_", returning from Murmansk, was sunk by Luftwaffe dive-bombers off the northern Norwegian coast.


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## syscom3 (May 15, 2007)

*15 May 1942
*
*EASTERN FRONT*: The German 11. Armee (von Manstein) captured Kerch in the eastern Crimea, forcing the Soviet forces to withdraw across the straits to the Taman peninsula. At Kharkov, the German 6. Armee (von Paulus) repulsed heavy Soviet attacks.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Gas rationing begins with the amount set for non essential vehicles at 3 gallons per week. There are 17 states in the US, with rationing in effect, at this point.

The U.S. star insignia applied to aircraft is modified on all military aircraft by eliminating the red disc in the center of the star. The USN also orders that the red and white rudder stripes be eliminated.

U.S. President Roosevelt signs the bill authorizing the formation of the Women's Army Auxillary Corps. (WAAC). By the end of the war, this Corps will become part of the Army as the WAC, utilitzing the skills
of 150,000 women to do non-combat jobs, both in the states and overseas.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Bf 109F belonging to 9./JG 11 made a belly landing in a field 2km from Tarm at 14:50hrs The pilot was unharmed and there was no serious damage to the aircraft. It was soon dismantled and transported back to base by the Luftwaffe.


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## Njaco (May 16, 2007)

*16 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Following a brief attachment to the Stabschwarm of JG 54, Major Gordon Gollob returned to southern Russia as _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 77.


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## Njaco (May 17, 2007)

*17 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The Russian advance on Kharkov grinds to a halt as German resistance stiffens. Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) began a counter-offensive against Soviet forces heading toward Kharkov and the Donbas.
*
MEDITERRANEAN*: 1(F)/122 lost a Ju 88 while on an early morning recon mission to Malta, shot down by Spitfires over Valetta.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Bristol: Sir Stafford Cripps, formerly British ambassador in Moscow and now a member of the war cabinet, told his constituents in Bristol tonight that the government, like the public generally, wanted to see a second front in Western Europe.


> "The only difference between us is that the public can talk freely about it, whereas we cannot, because we have two responsibilities - to organise it at the proper time and place, and secondly not to give the enemy any information of our intentions. Already the Germans are getting uneasy at the militant offensive spirit of the British and Americans in this matter."



*WESTERN FRONT*: 'Ramrod 33' is flown by RAF No. 226 Sqn. against Boulgne Docks. Forty 500-lb bombs fall on shipping, the quayside, nearby railway station and south end of tidal basin. Boston III (W8368 'K') flown by Plt. Off. O'Malley is hit by flak and has to belly-land near RAF Manston. After the bombing, over 15 enemy fighters are spotted near Le Touquet. Kenley Wing giving top cover for the Bostons is vectored to Guines where 602 Sqn. dive upon ten Fw 190s only to be bounced by another fifteen. Sqn. Ldr. Finucane claimed one enemy destroyed while eight RAF fighters were lost. One lost was in the sea of Cap Gris Nez, the pilot Flt. Lt. Major died in the sea before the rescue launch could reach him. (_contributed by plan_D_ )


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## syscom3 (May 18, 2007)

*18 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Three more unarmed U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines. _'U-156' _sinks a freighter east of Barbados while _'U-125' _sinks a tanker and a freighter in the Gulf of Mexico.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A corridor was established into the Demyansk pocket, ending the mission for the Luftwaffe transport units. The Demyansk airlift was a success as the Luftwaffe kept the German army supplied for the past three months with 24,303 tonnes of supplies. Aircraft losses for this period amounted to 265 aircraft, most from the harsh Russian winter. After the ground breakthrough, KGzbV 8 was disbanded and its planes returned to the training schools.

*GERMANY*: The RAF launched a major attack against Mannheim.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After delivering 64 Spitfires on 9 May, the Royal Navy carrier HMS "_Eagle_" returned to Malta with 17 Spitfires in an operation codenamed "*Operation LB*". With a total of 76 Spitfires now available for operations, the island was heavily reinforced and marked a turning point for control of the skies over Malta.

Admiral Harwood assumes command of the British Mediterranean Fleet.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US and Panama sign an agreement concerning the use of Panama defense areas by US forces.


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## syscom3 (May 19, 2007)

*19 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Three more armed U.S. merchant ships are sunk by German submarines. Two freighters are sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, one off Louisiana by _'U-506' _and the second near the Yucatan Channel by _'U-103'_. The third freighter is sunk south of Navassa Island Light in the Caribbean by _'U-751'_.

While at anchor at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, some of the crewmen of the U.S. freighter SS _'Ironclad' _break into a cargo of liquor that is being shipped to the U.S. Ambassador in Moscow resulting in fights among the crew. The officer in command of the Armed Guard reports the incident to the battleship USS _'Washington' _and a detachment of Marines board the ship and restore order.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A strong counterattack at Kharkov in the Ukraine againt the Russians begins.

*NORTH AMERICA*: (6th Air Force): 31st Fighter Squadron, 37th Fighter Group, transfers from Chorrera, Panama to Albrook Field, Canal Zone with P-39's and P-40's.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 168 tonnes of bombs were dropped in a Luftwaffe night attack on Hull. 50 people were killed and 58 seriously injured, with much damage done to the dock area and elsewhere in the city. The Blackburn aircraft factory at Brough (west of Hull) suffered blast damage, with further attacks taking place at Hedon (east of Hull), Hornsea and Withernsea. The attacks cost the Luftwaffe 2 Ju 88s and a Do 217. Heavily attacked areas of the city included Scarborough Street, Westborourne Ave., Sutton, Southcoates Lane and Alexandria dock. 4 IB clusters and 74 HE bombs of varying weights, including one 1,000 kg bomb and one 1,800kg were dropped. Fires were started on the dock and Southcoates lane and there was extensive damge in Scarborough street, a densely populated area near Fish dock, where the 1,800kg bomb fell. Elsewhere in the city, industrial, residential and railway properties suffered damage.


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## syscom3 (May 20, 2007)

*20 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Four U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. In the Gulf of Mexico, an unarmed tanker is sunk 50 miles off Louisiana by _'U-506' _and an armed freighter is sunk by _'U-752' _near the Yucatan Channel. U-103 sinks two armed freighters in the Caribbean; the first is sunk about 40 miles off the south coast of Cuba and the second is sunk north of the first sinking.


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## syscom3 (May 21, 2007)

*21 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-588' _sinks an unarmed U.S. merchant freighter off the coast of New Jersey. The Germans provide the Americans with rum and cigarettes and help righting a capsized lifeboat.

*GERMANY*: Rastenburg: Hitler postpones the planned invasion of Malta until after Egypt has been conquered by the Axis.


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## syscom3 (May 22, 2007)

*22 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-558' _torpedoes an unarmed U.S. tanker south of Jamaica in the Caribbean but the ship makes port under her own power.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Two Soviet armies attacking toward Kharkov were stopped and destroyed by the German 6. Armee (von Paulus); 241,000 prisoners were taken. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: Last year, Ted Williams batted .406. Today, after the Red Sox return to Boston from a road trip, Williams enlists in the U.S. Navy Air Corps to train to become a fighter pilot. He passes the complete physical examination (his eyesight is 20-15) and is sworn into the service, immediately becoming Seaman Williams, second class. Upon his call to active duty, he will automatically become Air Cadet Williams. Behind him are the months of wonder and indecision that followed his deferment from the draft by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February on the grounds that he is the sole support of his mother. The $32,000-a-year ballplayer will become a cadet at the salary of $106 a month. This won't happen for a while, though. Williams won't be called to active duty until after the baseball season ends. He will win the Triple Crown, leading the American League with a .356 average, 36 homers and 137 RBI. He will miss the next three seasons as well as most of the 1952 and 1953 seasons, serving as a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War.

Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan.


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## Njaco (May 23, 2007)

*23 May 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Three Hs 129B-1s belonging to II./SchG 1 were shot down by Russian flak, a severe blow at this relatively early stage of the war for this newly formed unit.

Major Gordon Gollob, _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 77, was awarded the _Schwertern _(Swords to his Knights Cross, No.# 17) for achieving 107 aerial victories.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Two of the twelve Tomahawks and Kittyhawks claimed by II./JG 27 this day were credited to the new _Gruppenkommandure_, Oblt. Gustav Rodel, taking Rodel's total to 41 kills. I./JG 27's Oblt. Marseille was also regularly scoring daily doubles during this period. The two bombers he downed southeast of Tobruk on 23 May - victories 63 and 64, claimed as Douglas DB-7s - were in reality, a pair of No. 223 Sqdn Martin "Baltimores" flying that unit's first operational mission with the new aircraft.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Erg.u.Lehr. Kdo 100 which, was re-designated Erg.u.Lehr. Kdo 17, was still undertaking experimental daylight attacks in addition to its nocturnal duties. Typical of these was the attempt against Avonmouth docks by 7 He 111s, using both _X-_ and _Y-Verfahren_, in poor weather on the afternoon of 23 May. Although the operation was not a great success - one aircraft being lost and the nearest bombs falling at Severn Tunnel Junction, some six miles from the objective - it was the first occassion when the British first definately detected supersonic modulation on the _X-_ signals allowing countermeasures to be immediately put into action.


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## syscom3 (May 23, 2007)

*24 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Another unarmed U.S. merchant tanker is sunk in the Caribbean south of the Yucatan Channel by German submarine _'U-103'_.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russian 6th and 57th Armies are being encircled west of the Donets by the German 6th, 17th and 1st Panzer Armies.


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## Njaco (May 25, 2007)

*25 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German submarine _'U-558' _fires a torpedo at an unarmed U.S. freighter in the Caribbean but it fails to explode and the sub surfaces to sink the ship by gunfire. The crew abandons the freighter but a U.S. Navy PBY Catalina arrives and the sub submerges. The freighter sinks the following morning. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Anton "Toni" Hackl of 5./JG 77 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz_. He has 51 victories at this time. Lt. Gerhard Krems of 2./KG 27 was also awarded the _Ritterkreuz _becoming the first KG 27 pilot so honored.


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## Njaco (May 27, 2007)

*26 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-106' _attacks two U.S. merchant ships in the Gulf of Mexico. The first is an unarmed tanker which is sunk by a torpedo. Later in the day, the sub surfaces and begins shelling an armed freighter but the freighter's Armed Guard drives the sub off with gunfire before much damage is done. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Generaloberst Erwin Rommel launched the offensive that would take his Afrika Korps all the way to El Alamein. But first he had to smash a breach in the Allied lines, which were stretched from Gazala, on the coast, some 40 miles (65km) inland down into the desert to the fortress of Bir Hacheim. From Gazala, Rommel started his advance toward Egypt with a main attack against the British Gazala line (Unternehmen *Theseus*) but was held up at Bir Hacheim, which was defended by Free French forces. Heavy fighting broke out between there and Gazala; around areas that were to be known as the "Cauldron" and "Knightsbridge".

Released from their _Gefechtsverband _"Woldenga" duties, JG 27's fighters -reinforced by Gerlitz's III./JG 53 - played a decisive role in the first six weeks of chaotic fighting that was the battle of Gazala.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The feasibility of jet-assisted takeoff is demonstrated in a successful flight test of a Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo at NAS Anacostia, D.C., using five British antiaircraft solid propellant rocket motors. The reduction in takeoff distance is 49 percent. (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF; Rear Admiral John H Towers, USN, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics; and RAF Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal attend an Anglo-American air conference in London. Topics of discussion include allocation of aircraft and the establishment of US air forces in the UK. The meeting begins at 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Winston S Churchill. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (May 27, 2007)

*27 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German Operation *Drumbeat* continues as _'U-502' _sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter in the Caribbean enroute from Trinidad to Mobile, Alabama.

*GERMANY*: The Nazi Reichsprotektor of Bohemia-Moravia, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich is mortally wounded in an attempted assassination at Prague. He will die on 4 June from infected wounds.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The position at Bir Hacheim came under attack from the Italian "Ariete" armoured division and was engaged in fierce fighting that even reached into the interior of the stronghold. Rommel's panzers defeat the British 3rd Infantry and 7th Motor Brigades. For the first time the British were using the Grant (M3 medium) tank from America with its useful, though limited, 75mm gun. In this battle 21.Panzerdivision nearly succeeded in taking the key "Knightsbridge" box, but lost too many tanks due to the unexpected encounter with the Grants. The British however are better able to sustain the armor losses than the Germans.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Off the northern coast of Norway, Luftwaffe bombers sank 5 ships from Convoy "PQ-16".


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## syscom3 (May 28, 2007)

*28 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-103'_, part of Operation Drumbeat, sinks an armed U.S. merchant tanker southwest of the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean.

*EASTERN FRONT*: I./SchG 1 transferred north to Konstantinovka to stem a Soviet offensive launched from the Izyum Salient and directed at Kharkov. The Gruppe was heavily engaged in ground attacks against Soviet armour, troop concentrations and supply columns until the salient was eliminated on 28 May. 4(Pz)./SchG 1 moved north to Konstantinovka with the rest of II Gruppe and took part in the heavy fighting against Soviet incursions in the Barvenkovo-Izyum-Chuguyev-Kupanysk sector to the south and southeast of Kharkov.

*NORTH AFRICA*: As supplies, especially fuel, run low the German attack is disrupted, but fighting continues on Rigel Ridge, and dear Bir Harmat, North Africa.


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## syscom3 (May 29, 2007)

*29 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans complete encirclement west of the Donnets. 250,000 Russian soldiers are lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British fail to develop a coordinated attack in North Africa today. The German antitank guns are very effective.


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## Njaco (May 30, 2007)

*30 May 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German Operation Drumbeat continues. An unarmed U.S. merchant freighter is sunk by the submarine _'U-404' _in the Atlantic. _Clarification_: Strictly speaking the continued attacks by German submarines on US shipping was no longer "_Operation Paukenschlag_" . Here is a comment from U-Boatweb: "_The Drumbeat boats ended operations of the coast of America on Feb 6 and headed home. They sank 25 ships for a total of 156,939 tons. America operations continued. This may surprise many of you but Operation Drumbeat really was just the inital wave of 5 large U-boats, Paukenschlag was meant to be a fast and surprise attack on the eastern seaboard of the US, and it succeeded as such. Then there were several other "waves" of U-boats that went into American waters but those don't really count as Drumbeaters."_ (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Boris Safonov of 72 SAP and a Hero of the Soviet Union, went missing in action after pursuing a group of II./KG 30 Ju 88s over the convoy PQ-16 off Murmansk. Leonid Ivanovich Rodionov, former Northern Fleet warrant-officer, witnessed the death of Safonov (at that moment he was at his post on the ship's bridge;


> "_We listened to the radio chatter between our planes and convoy HQ. We could clearly hear Safonov reporting: "Got One!" and a bit later "Got another one!". All of the sudden, "Crippled the third, but I am damaged, heading towards the ships". Everyone could see how his plane fell into the sea. A.I. Gurin, the Brigade commander, requested permission of the convoy commanding officer to send one of the vessels to the plane's crash site. That it was Safonov's plane was known not only to the Soviet sailors but to the convoy CO as well, since his radio was always on. Nonetheless, permission never came. In the second request it was mentioned that it was Safanov's plane that had crashed but permission was still refused. As we arrived at the base, the Northern Fleet commander, Admiral Golovko, visited us. A.I. Gurin reported to him the details of Safonov's death and that the convoy CO refused his request to approach the crash site. Golovko couldn't hold his tears. "I wish you would have told that American to go as far as possible," he squeezed the words out of himself, "Even if you couldn't save him you could at least pass the place where he crashed. I would have felt much better."_



*GERMANY*: The Allies mounted the first 1,000 bomber raid in history when 1,046 aircraft were sent to attack the city of Cologne. Over a period of one and a half hours, the bombers dropped 1,455 tons of bombs and incendiaries on the city, causing an enormous firestorm. 3,300 buildings were destroyed and 474 civilians were killed. The Luftwaffe destroyed 41 of the attacking RAF bombers and another 116 were damaged from fighters and flak.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A Bf 109 (F6+YH) of 1(F)./122 crash landed at Catania on return from a recce sortie.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel pulls his panzers into a tight defensive position that becomes known as the "cauldron" and continues to fight. (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: During conferences with RAF Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal, Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, presents "Programme of Arrival of US Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom" providing for 66 combat groups, exclusive of observation squadrons, by March 1943. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (May 31, 2007)

*31 May 1942*
*
GERMANY*: The RAF launched another "1,000 bomber" raid against Essen, but with minimal results. The operational debut of the deHaviland "Mosquito" in Bomber Command, soon to be the scourge of Goering, was made when 4 aircraft of No. 105 Sqdn undertook a combined bombing and recon sortie to Cologne.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: General Kesselring gave his plan for an invasion of Malta to the Italian Commando Supremo.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Lybia, the attack by the Afrika Korps against the British Gazala line was still stalled at Bir Haekim. Despite the most intense artillery fire and aerial bombardment, the Free French 1st Brigade held off every German attack, gave not an inch of ground and inflicted heavy casualties on the Afrika Korps.

Obfw. Erich Krenzke of 6./JG 27 was forced to belly-land after aerial combat in the area of Acroma/El Adem, with his Bf 109F-4 trop. At the time of the loss, the area around El Adem was still in British hands and he was captured.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Although the Luftwaffe "Baedecker Raids" were slowly losing steam due to heavy losses from the improving British defenses, some cities were still hit hard. Tonight's raid was against the ancient city of Canterbury which suffered heavy damage from the fires.


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## Njaco (May 31, 2007)

*1 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation Drumbeat continues with German submarines sinking four merchant ships off the U.S. coast:
- _'U-404' _sinks an armed U.S. freighter off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina by gunfire.
- _'U-172' _torpedoes and sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter off the Bahamas.
- _'U-106' _and _'U-158' _each torpedo and sink an unarmed U.S. freighter in the Yucatan Channel in the Gulf of Mexico.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The seige of the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol by 11. Armee (von Manstein) continued with a round-the-clock bombardment by heavy artillery and Luftwaffe bombers.

During an escort mission for Generaloberst Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen's Fiesler Storch near Sevastopol, II./JG 77's Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt's Bf 109 was hit by Soviet ground fire and Burckhardt had to belly-land close to the Soviet lines. Had he come down only a few hundred yards further to the west, he would have landed in a minefield or behind enemy lines. He survived the crash without injuries, but had to run in order to escape Soviet infantry fire. This resulted in a sharp reproach from his _Geschwaderkommodore _, Major Gordon Gollob, for abandoning his own aircraft.

Oblt. Heinrich Kraft of 8./JG 51 was promoted to _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 51.
*
GERMANY*: The RLM had requested some He 177A-1s to be modified for some special operations by the fixing of 1 or 2 30mm MK101 cannon in the lower nose position. A small series of aircraft were designated "He 177 Zerstroer" and a further change to the configuration followed in Feb 41 with the fitting of 4 semi-fixed MG151/20 cannon. Approval for the project by the RLM came in March 42 and modifications to 12 He 177A-1s at Rostock-Marienehe started in June 1942. Work began on the necessary conversion components with the construction of a standard equipment set comprising two 30mm MK101 cannon on aircraft now designated He 177A-1/U2. To achieve operational readiness, the first four A-1/U2s were supposed to be fitted with modernized power plants before transfer to E-Staffel 177 at Larz, but due to work overload there, it was decided to entrust the fitting of the new weapon conversion sets to I./FKG 50.

The RAF launched another "1,000 bomber" night raid against Essen in the Ruhr, but with minimal effect. 956 aircraft were dispatched, of which 767 claimed to have attacked. Subsequent recon revealed that the results of the raid were disappointing. Lt. Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer of NJG 1 and soon to be known as "The Night Ghost of St. Trond", scored his first night victory.


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## syscom3 (Jun 2, 2007)

*2 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Continuing Operation *Drumbeat*, the German submarine _'U-159' _sinks an unarmed U.S. merchant freighter about 400 miles (741 km) northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces renew the bombing of Sevastopol.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: _'U-652' _(Type VIIC). Badly damaged by depth charges from a British Swordfish aircraft and scuttled on 2 June, 1942 in the Mediterranean in the Gulf of Solum, at position 31.55N, 25.113E, by torpedoes from _'U-81'_.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel's 90th Light and Trieste Divisions move to Bir Hacheim to cover his flank. The Free French hold against the 15th Panzer Division.


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## syscom3 (Jun 3, 2007)

*3 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German Operation *Drumbeat *continues off the U.S. east coast:
- _'U-502' _sinks an unarmed U.S. tanker off the Florida keys. The Germans take two survivors aboard for interrogation but have to dive when a USN patrol bomber appears. The sub later surfaces and the U.S. sailors are released and provided with a life raft and provisions. The sailors are rescued on 8 June.
- _'U-432' _sinks two armed U.S. fishing boats enroute from Gloucester, Massachusetts to Sea Island, Nova Scotia with gunfire after allowing the crews to abandon ship and board lifeboats.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Siegfreid Freytag of 6./JG 77 scored his 50th victory.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In the Gazala area, Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles of 3./JG 27, shot down 6 Tomahawks of SAAF No. 5 Sqdn. and badly damaged 2 others which belly-landed during a dogfight that lasted all of 12 minutes. Remarkably, he achieved this feat using just his 2 MGs as his cannons jammed after firing only 10 rounds. Among the destroyed aircraft was Capt. Botha, an ace with 5 victories, 3 of which were claimed against Ju 87s in the same combat. Because of this action, the Luftwaffe was able to send more Stukas to attack the British line at Bir Hacheim. These 6 Tomahawks raised Marseille's score to 75, for which he was awarded the Eichenlaub on 6 June. Afterward, his mate, Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt wrote in a letter home; "_Marseille is able to shoot like a young God. Above all, he is able to do what only a few can - to shoot with perfection while turning." _

Three claims by III./JG 53 were made in combat over the sea just near to the El Alamein coast area.


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## Njaco (Jun 3, 2007)

*4 June 1942

UNITED KINGDOM*: There was some scattered Luftwaffe bombing in parts of Durham and Yorkshire. Most of the bombers were engaged in mine-laying and in anti-shipping activities off North-East England. At Sunderland, 2 delayed-action bombs damaged a ship when they exploded on the following day and another interferred with the loading of 2 coaling vessels.

In Durham County, a number of IBs were dropped in fields west of Ryhope and at Tunstall. About 1 ton of potatoes was damaged. 4 HEs fell in a cornfield near White Mare Pool causing damage to crops. A large number of IBs were dropped near the Golf course at Seaton Carew and along the foreshore between Seaton Carew and Seaton Snooks. The only fire was to grassland. 6 HEs were dropped between high and low watermark, 400 yards south of Seaton Carew. They were discovered and exploded between 07.30 and 19.55 hours the next day. No damage or casualties was caused.

4 HEs dropped in the riverside area of Sunderland without exploding. One exploded at 08.05 hours and one at 08.25 hours in the river west of Wearmouth Bridge, damaging the SS "_Zealous_" which was beached. Another HE exploded at 11.28 hours, seriously injuring 2 RNVR men and slightly injuring police and ARP personnel. One UXB remained and was holding up the loading of 2 coaling ships.

IBs fell in the vincinity of the Tunstall Poultry Farm, Tunstall Burdon District and at Carr's Poultry farm, Ryhope.


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## syscom3 (Jun 5, 2007)

*5 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German Operation *Drumbeat *continues as U-boats sink two U.S. merchant vessels in the Atlantic and Caribbean:
- _'U-68' _sinks an armed tanker in the Caribbean. All hands are lost.
- _'U-172' _sinks an unarmed freighter in the Atlantic.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Fw. Anton "Toni" Hafner of 8./JG 51 downed 7 Russian planes to bring his score to 43 victories.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In The Gazala Line battles, the Germans counter-attacked; a pincer movement with 21.Panzerdivision and Ariete in the North and 15.Panzer from the south. In the evening, Major General Messervy's HQ was overrun again, and the Indian units' command and control broke down completely; 22nd Armoured Brigade was unable to provide any support, having already been withdrawn into leaguer for the night. It too had been severly handled, losing 60 tanks.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The U.S. declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

In Canada, HM MTB 315, 15th MTB Flotilla is commissioned, and Minesweepers HMCS _'Digby' _and _'Truro' _are launched.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Operation *HARPOON *commences as convoy WS 19Z (Force "X") sails from the River Clyde enroute to Malta.


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## syscom3 (Jun 6, 2007)

*6 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German auxiliary cruiser (Q-ship) KMS _'Stier' _(Schiffe 23), - 'Raider J' to the British - sinks the 10,170-ton armed Panamanian tanker _'Stanvac Calcutta' _about 500 miles (805 km) off Brazil. The USN Armed Guard aboard the tanker returned fire with a 3-inch (76.2 mm) bow gun and 4-inch (101.6 mm) after gun and the tanker was taken only after _'Stier' _had expended 148 rounds of 5.9-inch (149.9 mm) ammunition and a torpedo, killing the tanker's captain and 15 of her crew. Fortunately for the Germans, they destroyed the _'Stanvac Calcutta's _radio and killed her radio officer with their first salvo before a distress call could be sent. The Germans transfer 26 merchant sailors and nine USN Armed Guards to the _'Stier'_; one would die of his wounds later and one died in Japanese captivity. This was the second ship sunk by _'Stier'_; the first was the 4,986-ton British _'Gemstone' _in the Atlantic narrows 175 miles (281.6 km) east of Brazil's St. Paul Rocks on 4 June. _'Gemstone' _had been carrying a load of iron ore from Cape Town, South Africa to Baltimore, Maryland, when she was sunk. The Germans transferred 33-members of her crew to the _'Stier'_. On 10 and 15 June, _'Stier' _rendezvoused with the supply ship _'Charlotte Schliemann'_, one of the blockade-running tankers delegated to sustain her at sea. She also took the opportunity to transfer the 68 prisoners to the supply vessel. On 27 July, _'Stier' _put the last of her prisoners aboard _'Charlotte Schliemann'_. _'Stier' _again rendezvoused with _'Charlotte Schliemann' _on 27 August and transferred 37 prisoners from the British merchantman _'Dalhousie' _sunk 250 miles (402.3 km) east of Trinidad. The _'Charlotte Schliemann' _then set sail for Yokohama, Japan, where all of the civilian and military prisoners were transferred to the Japanese.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles of 3./JG 27 was awarded the _Eichenlaub _for achieving 75 victories.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Helmut Lent, _Gruppenkommanduer _of II./NJG 2, was awarded the _Eichenlaub _(No. Ninety-eight) after 34 night victories and 8 by day.


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## syscom3 (Jun 7, 2007)

*7 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as German submarines sink two more unarmed U.S. merchant vessels in the Caribbean. _'U-159' _sinks a freighter north of Columbia while _'U-107' _sinks a freighter southeast of the Yucatan Channel.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 11. Armee (von Manstein) began the final assault on the Soviet fortress of Sevastopol in the Crimea. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet is involved in suppling the Russian defenders.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Johannes Seifert of I./JG 26 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for 36 victories.


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## syscom3 (Jun 8, 2007)

*8 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German Operation *Drumbeat *continues as _'U-302' _torpedoes and sinks an armed merchant tanker approximately 35 miles (56 km) NE of Cape Blanco, Venezuela.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In severe dogfights with the veterans of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet Aviation over Sevastopol, Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 downed 2 of the Soviet fighters. Oblt. Anton Hackl of 5./JG 77 destroyed three Russian planes to bring his score to 57 victories and Hptm. Kurt Ubben of Stab III./JG 77 brought his score to 70 victories after he downed a Russian fighter during the day.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The European Theater of Operations US Army (ETOUSA) is established by presidential directive. Major General James E. Chaney is designated commander of all US forces in ETOUSA.


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## Njaco (Jun 9, 2007)

*9 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues with German submarine sinking an armed U.S. freighter in the Caribbean, 60 miles (96.6 km) off the Honduran coast. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: 6. Armee (von Paulus) launched a counterattack against advancing Soviet forces in the Kharkov area. Uffz. Wilhelm Crinius of 3./JG 53 and operating near Kursk, shot down two Russian Il-2 ground attack aircraft for his first victories.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Canada, Lt Denis James Patrick RCNVR awarded Bar to George Medal.

Harbor craft HMC HC 181, 161, 155, 162, 170 177 are ordered from SG Mason Tancoak in Nova Scotia. Harbor craft HMC HC 151, 152, 153, 197, 154 169 are ordered from Palmer Williams Summerside in Prince Edward Island. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The loss of 14 Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers during attacks against the British Gazala line in the past week, forced Field Marshall Albert Kesselring to plan a very large air attack against the British stronghold of Bir Hacheim. The first wave of aircraft in the morning were turned back because of heavy smoke and dust over the target area. At noon, a second formation containing 124 Ju 87s and 76 Ju 88s escorted by 168 Bf 109s attacked the Allied positions. Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles of 3./JG 27 destroyed 4 British aircraft during the day's heavy combats.


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## Njaco (Jun 9, 2007)

*10 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues off the U.S. coast as German submarines sink three merchant vessels:
- _'U-157' _sinks a U.S. armed tanker and a U.S. unarmed freighter off Cuba
- _'U-68' _sinks a British motor vessel in the Caribbean. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: 6. Armee forced the withdrawl of Soviet forces from the Kharkov area and the German forces captured Volchansk and Kupyansk.

*GERMANY*: The entire town of Lidice in the (then) Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia was destroyed by the Germans . This was one of many reprisal actions for the recent assassination of Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich in Prague on May 27. The entire population was rounded up, and all men over sixteen years of age were put in a barn. They were shot the next day. Another nineteen men, who were working in a mine, along with seven women, were sent to Prague, where they were also shot. The remaining women were shipped to the Ravensbruck concentration camp, where about a quarter of them died in the gas chambers or from overwork. The children were taken to the Gneisenau concentration camp, where they were sorted by racial criteria, and those deemed suitable for Aryanization were shipped to Germany. The village itself was razed and bulldozed. All together, about 250 people died in the Nazi reprisal in Lidice. The death toll for all victims in the effort to avenge the death of Heydrich is estimated at 1,300. Lidice became an international symbol for Nazi tyranny - although hundreds of similar villages were likewise destroyed in Belarus and other German occupied territory. May all the victims rest in peace and may the murderers not be forgotten. (_Syscom_)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Operation *Harpoon *involves a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta, under Admiral Curteis. His escort forces include 1 battleship, 2 carriers, 4 cruisers, and 17 destroyers and 6 merchant ships. There are also several merchant ships sailing independently. Admiral Vian leaves Alexandria with another convoy for Malta under Operation *Vigorous*. The 11 merchant ships are escorted by 8 cruisers and 26 destroyers. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: German forces in North Africa fight their way out of their defensive position, known as the "Cauldron".

The _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 27, Oblt. Bernhard Woldenga was promoted to the first of the staff postings which would eventually elevate him to the position of _Jafu Balkan_. He had not added to his score since 4 victories achieved in Russia. In fact, ill health had prevented him from leading the _Geschwader _on operations over the desert. He did, however, leave one tangible memento of his time as CO of the _Geschwader _- a Stab emblem based on the shield he had earlier designed for I./JG 1. The main difference was that the three small Bf 109 silhouettes were now pointing upwards. Critics of the original badge had expressed the view that the nose-down attitude of its three fighters suggested that they were fleeing!

Oblt. Woldenga's departure set in train a whole string of new appointments. Major Eduard Neumann replaced him as _Geschwaderkommodore_, Hptm. Gerhard Homuth became _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 27 and Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles took over as _Staffelkapitaen _of 3./JG 27.

*NORTH AMERICA*: An additional Lend-Lease Agreement is signed in Washingon, DC. Secretary of State Hull signs for the US and Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov signs for the USSR. (_Syscom_)

The USN establishes Project Sail at NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for the airborne testing and associated work on Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) equipment. (_Syscom_)

Minesweeper HMCS _'Port Arthur' _arrived Halifax from Montreal.


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## Njaco (Jun 11, 2007)

*11 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarines mine areas off the U.S. east coast. _'U-87' _mines waters off Boston, Massachusetts, and _'U-373' _mines the waters off Delaware Bay between New Jersey and Delaware. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AMERICA*: The United States and the Soviet Union sign a lend-lease agreement to aid the Soviet war effort. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British stronghold at Bir Hacheim finally fell under the weight of Luftwaffe air attacks, securing the German rear area and allowing Rommel to concentrate against the British retreating towards Egypt. After more than 2 weeks of fierce attack and counter-attack, British forces pulled out of the "Knightsbridge" box.


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## Njaco (Jun 12, 2007)

*
12 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues off the coast of the U.S. as German submarines sink two more armed U.S. merchant vessels. A tanker bound for Portland, Maine, is sunk by _'U-158' _in the Gulf of Mexico 20 miles east of Trinity Shoals Gas Buoy while a steamship is sunk by _'U-159' _in the Caribbean off the coast of Panama. (_Syscom_)

German submarine _'U-701' _mines the waters off Cape Henry, Virginia. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Egon Albrecht was appointed _Staffelkapitaen _of 1./ZG 1.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: By mid-June 1942, Malta's supply situation had deteriorated. The Luftwaffe had joined the Regia Aeronautica to isolate and starve the island and it had become untenable as a offensive base. Axis armies had advanced into Egypt and Crete, thereby aquiring their own advance bases and denying the British safety over much of the eastern Med.

The British Meditteranean Fleet was reinforced with forces available from the Indian Ocean, for the passage of two 2 simultaneaous Malta convoys - one from Gibraltar (Operation *Harpoon*), the other from Egypt (Operation *Vigorous*). Ships were sent from Kilindini, Kenya to Haifa to cover the eastern convoy, including the 4 Australian N Class destroyers, HMAS "_Norman_", HMAS "_Napier_", HMAS "_Nestor_", and HMAS "_Nizam_". These formed the 7th Destroyer Flotilla. The Operation *Harpoon* force of 6 escorted merchantmen passed through the Strait of Gibraltar covered by the battleship "_Malaya_", carriers "_Argus_" and "_Eagle_", cruisers "_Kenya_", "_Charybdis_", "_Liverpool_" and destroyers. The Luftwaffe took notice of the convoys. A merchant ship was damaged by air attacks and had to divert to Tobruk. Another merchant ship, sent to Tobruk due to engine trouble, was sunk by further air attacks.

Thirteen USAAF B-24s of the HALPRO detachment (the bombing detachment for the China-Burma- India Theater) under command of Colonel Harry A Halverson enroute from US to China take off during the night of 11/12 June from Fayid, Egypt to bomb oil fields at Ploesti, Rumania. Only 12 attack at dawn; four of the 13 land at a base in Iraq which was designated for recovery of the flight, three land at other Iraq fields, two land in Syria, and four are interned in Turkey. Though damage to the target is negligible, the raid is significant because it is the first USAAF combat mission in the European- African-Middle East (EAME) Theater in World War II, and the first strike at a target which later will be famous. (_Syscom_)

After escorting convoy AT.49 to Tobruk destroyer HMS _'Grove' _with only one screw operating runs aground near Raz Azzaz. Despite being able to refloat she is reduced to 8 knots and is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-77'_. There are 110 casualties and 80 survivors. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel's breakout continues. The British Guards Brigade maintains heavy pressure on the Germans. The British have lost 100 tanks. German tank losses are also severe but the Germans are better at tank repair. British General Neil Ritchie faced facts and ordered the 8th Army to abandon the remains of the Gazala line before Rommel could destroy his army. The 1st South African and 50th Division pulled out. The question was whether or not to hold Tobruk. General Sir Claude Auchinleck, theatre commander, insisted on holding the port. Meanwhile, Rommel's weary Afrika Korps tried to cut the coast road, but was stopped by point-blank fire from 25 pounder guns. Rommel signaled; "_It is my intention to take Tobruk in a coup de main."_


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## Njaco (Jun 13, 2007)

*13 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as the German submarine _'U-159' _sinks an armed U.S. merchant freighter in the Caribbean east of the Panama Canal. (_Syscom_)

_'U-157' _(Type IXC) is sunk at 1600hrs northeast of Havana, Cuba, in position 24.13N, 82.03W, by depth charges from the US Coast Guard cutter USS _'Thetis'_. 52 dead (all crew lost). (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy lists submarine Shch-405 Baltic Fleet off Seskar Island (mined off Someri Island). (_Syscom_)

*GERMANY*: At Peenemunde Albert Speer, General Adolf Galland, and General Milch watched a demonstration flight of the Me 163A with 3 aircraft in a formation take-off.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Operation *Vigorous* convoy force of 11 ships and their escorts sailed from Haifa and Port Said, and were met off Tobruk by Rear-Admiral Philip Vian's Med Fleet cruiser Force A with 7 light cruisers and 17 destroyers. The total escorting force now comprised 8 cruisers and 26 destroyers supported by corvettes and minesweepers, along with the old battleship "_Centurion_" which, disarmed between the wars, had been refitted with AA guns. Two British battleships had been sunk in Alexandria harbour in Dec. 1941 (HMS "_Queen Elizabeth_" and HMS "_Valiant_") so no battleship was available to provide cover except for "_Centurion_". 9 submarines were deployed as a screen at Taranto. The convoy sailed through "Bomb Alley", between German-occupied Crete and North Africa and came under intense bomb, torpedo and surface attacks almost as soon as the convoy had left Alexandria. Early Axis attacks were concentrated on the cruisers and the 11 ships of the convoy but later the destroyers became the principle targets.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In the battle for Tobruk, German tanks and AA batteries (88mm) of the Afrika Korps destroyed 138 Allied tanks, leaving the British 8th Army with only 75 armoured vehicles operational. British and South African troops pull out of the Gazala Line.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The German submarine _'U-584' _lands four agents at Amagansett, Long Island, New York, but they are seen by a young U.S. Coastguardsman who reports the incident which alerts U.S. officials. _(Syscom)_

US Army - First issue of "Yank" is published. (_Syscom_)

Long Range Navigation (LORAN) equipment is given its first airborne test by the USN. The receiver is mounted in the nonrigid airship K-2 and, in a flight from NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, accurately determines position when the airship was over various identifiable objects. The test culminated with the first LORAN homing from a distance 50 to 75 miles (80.5 to 120.7 km) offshore during which the LORAN operator gave instructions to the airship's pilot which brought them over the shoreline near Lakehurst on a course that caused the pilot to remark, "We weren't just heading for the hanger. We were headed for the middle of the hanger." The success of these tests lead to immediate action to obtain operational LORAN equipment. (_Syscom_)


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## syscom3 (Jun 14, 2007)

*14 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as German U-boats sink two unarmed U.S. merchant vessels in the Caribbean. A bulk carrier is sunk by _'U-172' _about 200 miles (321.9 km) north of Cristobal, Canal Zone and _'U-161' _sinks a freighter east of Nicaragua.


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## syscom3 (Jun 15, 2007)

*15 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as German submarines sink three more U.S. merchant vessels in the Atlantic and Caribbean. _'U-502' _sinks two ships, an unarmed freighter northwest of Trinidad and an armed freighter 150 miles (241.4 km) east-southeast of Punta Herrero, Mexico; and _'U-126' _sinks an unarmed freighter west of Grenada.

Two armed U.S. tankers in convoy KN-109 strike mines laid by _'U-701'_. One ship strikes a mine off Virginia Beach, Virginia, while the second strikes a mine in the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy lists submarine M-95 Baltic Fleet off Gogland Island (mined off Suuraari Island).

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Tribal class destroyer HMS _'Bedouin' _is damaged by surface gunfire and an aircraft launched torpedo, which hits the engine room and blows the ship in two. There are 28 casualties, but 213 survivors rescued by an Italian hospital ship become POW's. Location SW of Pantellaria 36 12N 11 38E.

Whilst escorting convoy *Vigourous*, HMS _'Hasty' _is attacked by a force of S-Boats from Crete: and takes a (torpedo?) hit from S-55 which damages her so seriously that she had to be sunk. Location SE of Crete at 34 10N 22 00E.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The 15.Panzerdivision blocks the road east of Tobruk, but are too late to catch the South Africian Division. The 21.Panzer reaches Sidi Rezegh by evening.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Major General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General of the USAAF's 8th Air Force, arrives in the UK. The VIII Bomber Command takes a significant step toward development of the organization for control of combat operations by establishing the 1st Bombardment Wing (Provisional) at Brampton Grange, England.


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## syscom3 (Jun 16, 2007)

*16 June 1942*
*
MEDITTERANEAN*: Whilst escorting the *Vigourous *convoy, cruiser HMS _'Hermione' _is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-205' _South of Crete at 33 30N 26 10E ,and destroyer HMS _'Nestor' _which had also been operating with the *Vigourous *convoy was disabled in an attack by Ju 87s and had to be taken in tow. After the tow had broken twice and after receiving warnings of S-boat activity, it was decided to scuttle _'Nestor' _S of Crete at 33 36N 24 27E.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British retreat from El Adam conceding any chance of moving west of Tobruk.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The U.S. Congress authorizes an increase in the USN's airship strength to 200 airships.


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## Njaco (Jun 17, 2007)

*17 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German Operation *Drumbeat *continues with _'U-129' _sinking an armed U.S. freighter off the north coast of Cuba. Off Virginia Beach, Virginia, a U.S. collier in a convoy is sunk by a mine laid by _'U-701'_. (_Syscom_)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: After parting company with convoy HG.74, destroyer HMS _'Wild Swan' _is damaged in an air attack by Ju 87s and sinks after colliding with a Spanish fishing vessel (three of which also sank after being hit by the aircraft) S of Bantry Bay at lat.49 52N long. 10 44W. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British 4th Armored Brigade loses 30% of its tanks in an attack on Sidi Rezegh. (_Syscom_)

At dawn over the desert, a brace each of Tomahawks and Hurricanes, claimed near Gambut attacking German panzers in the Lybian desert, took the _Staffelkapitaen _of 3./JG 27, Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles' score to 99. He was exhausted and ready to call it a day but encouraged by the other three members of his _schwarm_; "_Come on, Joachim, now for the hundreth_!", he felt honorbound to oblige. A lone hurricane shot down into an AA emplacement south of Gambut airfield made Oblt. Marseilles only the 11th LW fighter pilot to reach the century mark -but the first to achieve this total solely against the western Allies. He even found time to go into a steep climb 3 minutes after dispatching the low-level Hurricane in order to add number 101 (a high flying Photo-recon Spitfire, which, if identified correctly, was the first for the Geschwader since the Battle of Britain), before returning to Ain-el-Gazala, which I./JG 27 had re-occuppied just 24 hours earlier. The "Star of Afrika" destroyed the 6 Allied aircraft, all within the space of 10 minutes. Returning to base, Oblt. Marseilles was so tired and weary looking that his commander, Major Neumann, ordered him,


> "_You are going on leave, at once!" _


Marseilles objected, stating the need for fighters against the British retreat, but Major Neumann responded,


> "_You're off! You've been summoned to the Fuerher's HQ_."


He immediately went on a 2 month leave. That evening 21.Panzerdivision swung north to face the coast road and the coast. Rommel himself led the drive, which reached the RAF Gambut base by 22.00 hours, catching 15 servicable aircraft and their fuel on the ground. Half an hour after midnight, Rommel's tanks reached the coast. Tobruk was cut off. Leaving behind a garrison of some 30,000 troops, the British 8th Army withdrew from Tobruk.

*NORTH AMERICA*: German submarine _'U-202' _lands four agents on Ponte Verdra Beach south of Jacksonville, Florida. These agents are part of the team that landed on Long Island on 13 June. (_Syscom_)

YANK, the weekly magazine for the U.S. armed services, begins publication. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Jun 17, 2007)

*18 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation Drumbeat continues with the submarine _'U-124' _sinking an armed U.S. merchant freighter in the Atlantic east of Newfoundland. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Infantry units of 11. Armee (von Manstein) broke into the outer defenses of the fortress of Sevastopol in the Crimea. 7./JG 54 was shifted to Kotly and assigned with the task of providing German minesweepers in the Gulf of Finland with fighter cover.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: On 15 June 1942, a Do 24T-2 of Seenotstaffel 7 took off from Suda on a rescue mission of a downed Bf 109 in the ocean. Chancing upon an Allied convoy, the plane was attacked by escorting RAF fighters. After taking hits, the Dornier managed to elude the fighters and locate the Bf 109 whose pilot, Lt. Heinrich Hesse of 7./JG 53, had been lying in a lifeboat for 24 hours after being shot down by a SAAF fighter. While trying to take off with the rescued pilot, the Dornier lost its tail when it was slammed onto the sea by rough waves. Although the tail section was missing the plane was still able to float and the crew were unharmed. After 8 hours afloat, they were sighted by a He 111 who directed the submarine _'U-83' _to the diabled seaplane. The crew were rescued and the plane sunk with cannon fire. On 18 June the _'U-83' _docked in the harbour at Messina, Italy with its rescued cargo. The submarine commander recieved the _Ritterkreuz _for his part in the rescue of the 2 aircrews. The crews were surprised when they emerged from the sub to see another boat with the crew of Do 24T-2 'CH+EW' that had also had trouble and had to leave their aircraft behind.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Before he left for Berlin and rest, Oblt. Marseille of 3./JG 27 was informed that he had been awarded the _Schwerter _to his _Ritterkreuz_, only 2 weeks after being awarded the _Eichenlaub _and the reason for his being summoned to Hitler's HQ. Marseille departed in a Ju 52/3m for Berlin. Before he left, word was reached at the JG 27 base that the RAF base at Gambut had fallen. Now Rommel could use the Luftwaffe for his final assault on Tobruk. Rommel's troops spent the day clearing out pockets of resistance outside the Tobruk perimeter. Rommel moved his 2 German and 1 Italian armoured divisions up to attack the seaside fortress.

*NORTH AMERICA*: British PM Churchill arrives in Washington, DC for a US-UK summit meeting. Discussions concern the 2nd Front in 1942. Churchill raises the idea of invading French North Africa when it becomes obvious that "Sledgehammer" will not be possible during 1942. The future of Atomic Research is also discussed. Decisions are made for both the US and UK to share the research. (_Syscom_)

The U.S. Navy commissions its first black officer, Harvard University medical student Bernard Whitfield Robinson. (_Syscom_)


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## syscom3 (Jun 19, 2007)

*19 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues. German submarine _'U-1_61' shells a U.S. schooner 8 miles (12.9 km) southeast of Puerto Rico. A U.S. patrol plane flies over and the sub submerges but the vessel sinks. _'U-701' _sinks USN district patrol vessel YP-389 off a Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, mine area.


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## syscom3 (Jun 20, 2007)

*20 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues in the Atlantic. German submarine _'U-128' _sinks an armed U.S. merchant freighter 120 miles (193.1 km) southeast of Barbados.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans reach Sevastopol Harbor after heavy fighting.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel begins his attack of Tobruk with heavy dive-bomber attacks. The ground forces advance quickly and will breach the main positions by afternoon. Evening finds German forces at the harbor.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Major General James E. Chaney, Commanding General European Theater of Operations U.S. Army (ETOUSA), is recalled from the UK and will be replaced by Brigadier General Dwight D. Eisenhower. General George C. Marshall's letter of instruction to Eisenhower reveals a plan to integrate all US air units in the UK into the 8th Air Force. The broad objective of the USAAF in the ETO is to attain "air supremacy over Western Continental Europe" in preparation for a future invasion of the Continent.


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## syscom3 (Jun 21, 2007)

*21 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Ex-USA R.19 submarine now RN P.514 is rammed by mistake by Canadian minesweeper _'Georgian'_. The minesweeper had not been warned of the presence of P.514, but had been notified that two German U-Boats were in the area. There were no survivors. Location off East coast of Canada at 43 33N 53 40W.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British forces holding the captured Italian fortress of Tobruk surrender to Rommel.


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## syscom3 (Jun 24, 2007)

*24 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues. A U.S. armed freighter is attacked by the German submarine _'U-404' _in the Atlantic off North Carolina. The crew abandons ship and the freighter sinks tomorrow while being towed to shore.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Minesweeper HMS _'Gossamer' _is bombed by Ju 87 bombers operating against shipping in the Kola Inlet, and sinks within 8 minutes of being hit. There are 23 casualties. Location: Arctic 68 59N 33 03E.


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## Njaco (Jun 25, 2007)

*25 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as the German submarine _'U-701' _torpedoes a Norwegian freighter off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The ship is beached and later salvaged. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russians retreat from Kupyansk on the Oskol River east of Kharkov. (_Syscom_)

With the entire Crimea now firmly in German hands, excluding the fortress of Sevastopol, I./SchG 1 transferred to Kharkov for its next assignment which was to support the 6. Armee during the drive to the Don and later Stalingrad. Operations in the Stalingrad area were continuious but at a reduced level throughout the autumn. II./SchG 1's main effort shifted to the Kursk area and east towards Voronezh at the end of June and into the first half of July. The _Gruppe _was temporarily split up during this period with the _Staffeln _operating independantly from Volchansk, Kharkov, Shatalovka, Orel and Kursk on the central front. The Stab./SchG 1 later moved to Tatsinkaya in July and Tusov in August to support the advance on Stalingrad.

The bombers of I./KG 51 were given the task of destroying a seige raft in Sevenaya Bay outside Sevastopol containg 164 AA guns. Two Ju 88s, piloted by Hptm. Fuhrhop, _Staffelkapitaen _of 2./KG 51, and Oblt. Hinrichs were assigned the task of attacking the raft. The plan was for Oblt. Hinrichs to supress the flak while Hptm. Fuhrhop destroyed the raft. But Oblt. Hinrichs' bombs succeeded in demolishing the raft on the first pass and Hptm. Fuhrhop did not need to attack. Oblt. Hinrichs was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for this action.

Axis naval action begins today on Lake Ladoga, against naval forces of the USSR. The 12th Flotilla, part of the Naval Detachment "K" under Finnish operational control, together with the German 31st Kuestminenboot Flotilla with four small KM boats (numbers 3, 4, 8, and 22) and the German Einsatzabt Fahre Ost with 7 heavy and 6 light armed motor pontoons, 8transport pontoons, and 7 small infantry transport boats. The only Finnish boat was the torpedo boat _'Sisu'_. The German pontoons were supported by an air detachment of 15 fighters and 7 recon planes, and the Finnish Air Force allocated their 3rd Air Regiment (with Fokker and Fiat planes). The Italian Navy sent four torpedo boats (MAS 526 to 529) of 12th MAS Flotilla, commanded by Capitano di Corvetta (Lt-Comm) Bianchini, with four officers, 19 NCO's, and 63 other ranks. The target of the 12th Flotilla is the ramshackle Soviet flotilla on Lake Ladoga (estimated at 6 gunboats, 2 large and 5 small torpedo boats, 32 armed minesweepers, 9 armed transport ships, 17 armed tugboats and 1 submarine, plus another 25 other boats). The first day of operations, MAS 526 is rammed by the _'Sisu' _and then run aground on Mokerikki islet. MAS 526 will be out of commission until October. (_Syscom_)

*GERMANY:* The RAF launched a 1,000 bomber raid on Bremen which caused heavy damage to the Focke-Wulf plant and devastated 27 acres of the inner city. During the raid Luftwaffe fighters destroyed 49 British bombers from a force of 1,006. Hptm. Georg-Hermann Greiner of 4./NJG 2 scored his first victory over the Allied bombers. Hans-Joachim Jabs of 9./NJG 3, claimed his 20th, a Stering shot down over Bremen.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: There is a heavy Allied bombardment of Messina, Sicily. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Afrika Korps captures Sidi Barani, Sollum and Halfaya Pass in Lybia.

General Ritchie is removed from command of the British 8th Army by Auchinleck. He assumes control of the battle himself. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AMERICA*: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill conclude their conference in Washington, D.C. One of the agreements is to conduct joint U.S.-British research and development of an atomic bomb. (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The agreement signed on 21 June by Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, USAAF; Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal, RAF; and Rear Admiral John H Towers, USN dealing with US air commitments and provisions for a strong air force for Operation BOLERO (the buildup of US armed forces in the UK for an attack on Europe) is approved by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. (_Syscom_)

General Dwight David Eisenhower arrives in the UK. He will soon command US Land Forces in Europe. (_Syscom_)


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## syscom3 (Jun 26, 2007)

*26 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German government announces unrestricted submarine warfare off the U.S. east coast.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy records 3 submarine losses today: S-32 Black Sea Fleet off mys Aitodor (sunk by German aircraft south of Feodosiya) D-6 Black Sea Fleet Sevastopol (destroyed by German aircraft at Sevastopol). A-1 Black Sea Fleet Sevastopol (scuttled)

*GERMANY*: The RAF's third 1,000-bomber raid caused widespread devastation in Bremen last night. The Focke-Wulf aircraft works were badly hit and 27 acres of the business district were destroyed. It was also the most costly of these raids so far for the RAF. A total of 48 aircraft out of 1,067 despatched failed to return. This 5% loss, combined with damage to many other machines, leads some observers to conclude that the price of saturation bombing is too high. That view is not shared by Bomber Command's freshly-knighted boss, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris. On earlier raids (Cologne 1,047 aircraft and Essen 956) training and conversion units were needed to make up numbers, while Coastal Command was absent, thanks to naval opposition. Tonight, because Bremen is a submarine base, Coastal Command gave 102 bombers. Dense cloud over the target area hindered accurate identification after a 500-mile flight, although the "Gee" blind-bombing equipment had its first major success and lead crews started accurate guiding fires. Moonlight reflecting off the clouds offered ideal conditions for enemy fighters, however.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Generaloberst Erwin Rommel, commander-in-chief of the Afrika Korps, is promoted to Generalfeldmarschall.

Despite the imbalance of forces in North Africa, the Germans maintain their advance. The British have approximately 200 operational tanks compared to approximately 60 German and 40 Italian tanks.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The first Grumman XF6F-1 Hellcat prototype, BuNo 02981, makes its first flight at Bethpage, Long Island, New York.

*UNITED KINGDOM *: An independent candidate, Tom Driberg, wins the Maldon by-election following a drop in public esteem for Churchill after the fall of Tobruk.


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## Njaco (Jun 27, 2007)

*27 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation Drumbeat continues as German submarines sink two U.S. merchant vessels in the Atlantic. U-128 sinks and unarmed freighter east of Trinidad while U-153 sinks an armed freighter east of Puerto Rico.

*EASTERN FRONT*: I./JG 77 was ordered to move from Russia/Krim to Sicily, together with 2 _Gruppen _of KG 77. Oblt. Seigfried Freytag was appointed _Staffelkapitaen _of 1./JG 77 and moved with the unit to the Med.

*GERMANY*: Marshal Mannerheim returns Hitler's visit to his 75th birthday, arriving today for a two-day visit to Germany. He meets Hitler and attends a Wehrmacht situation conference. Later Mannerheim meets his old friend Reichmarschall Goering, in whose manor he spends the night.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Mersa Matruh: Pte. Adam Herbert Wakenshaw (b.1914), Durham Light Infantry had an arm blown off but fired his anti-tank gun until killed by a direct hit. (Victoria Cross)

*NORTH AMERICA*: In the U.S, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announces the capture of eight the German saboteurs who had been put ashore from submarines. The first group of four had landed at Amagansett, Long Island, New York, on the night of 13 June; the second group of four had landed on Ponte Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville, Florida, on 17 June. Two of the spies had turned themselves in to the FBI resulting in the roundup of the other six. They were to be charged as enemy soldiers and tried by military court martial but the US Army-appointed lawyer, Colonel Kenneth Royall, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus. The Supreme Court met on 29 July, the first special session since 1920, to decide if President Roosevelt had the authority to deny the eight German spies a civil trial; on 31 July, the court ruled against the Germans and the military tribunal resumed on 3 August. The six spies who had not reported to the FBI were found guilty and sentenced to death and they were executed in the electric chair at the District of Columbia jail on 8 August.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Weston-super-Mare was attacked by the Luftwaffe resulting in the deaths of 102 people, with a further 400 injured. Although not strictly part of the "Baedecker Raid" series, it was chosen as a reprisal for the British 1,000 Bomber raid on Bremen on the night of June 25/26, because German intel understood that Churchill was to stay in the town on his return from a visit to the US. 53 aircraft of I, II and III./KG 2, II./KG 40 and KuFlGr 106 claimed to have attacked Weston with a total of 28.6 tonnes of HE bombs and 18,332 IEs while 2 Ju 88s of 1(F)./123 kept a look-out for British fighters. The raid began in brilliant weather with a full moon and the first bombs were dropped just before the siren warning at 01.22 hours. A total of 62 HE incidents involving casualties were reported from many locations, but the main concentration was in the residential and shipping centre of the town. The attack, which was of a short duration, ended at 02.00 hours, the majority of the damage having been confined to residential property. From the attacking bomber force, only 1 aircraft was lost, this having crashed in France returning to base injuring 4 crewmen.


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## syscom3 (Jun 28, 2007)

*28 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as five U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines in the Atlantic. _'U-332' _sinks an unarmed freighter off Florida; the sub crew provides medical assistance and supplies to the survivors. _'U-201' _sinks a freighter east of Puerto Rico; _'U-701' _sinks an armed tanker off North Carolina; _'U-505' _sinks an armed freighter off Puerto Rico; and _'U-153' _sinks an armed freighter 100 miles (161 km) off Cuba; the sub crew rescues one survivor and places him in a lifeboat with three shipmates. These are the only survivors of the 38 men aboard.

The British Home Fleet sails from Scapa Flow as part of the cover for PQ-17 which sailed yesterday from Iceland. HMS _'Duke of York'_, USS _'Washington' _are accompanied by carrier _'Victorious' _and an assortment of cruisers and destroyers.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Bock's Heeresgruppe Sud drives east from Kursk toward Voronezh as the main German Eastern Front summer offensive. The Germans have attacked on both sides of Kursk in the ideal tank country of the rolling Ukrainian plain. The assault, codenamed *Fall Blau* [Plan Blue], was opened by fire from artillery and _Stukas_, hurried north from the siege of Sevastopol, followed by a tank assault. General Hermann Hoth's 4.Panzerarmee, has already shattered the Russian 40th Army, and the Germans are heading for their first objective, the city of Voronezh which controls crossings of the Don and is a vital communications link. The plan of Fall Blau, one of Hitler's military visions, calls for an advance along the whole of the German front in south Russia, from the coast near Taganrog along the river Donets towards Kharkov and Kursk. The units around Kursk are to make the first move, taking Voronezh and then heading down the river Don towards the city of Stalingrad. The second phase is then to come into operation with an advance into the Caucasus. The next stage envisages another double drive, one to take the oilfields of Baku and the other to reach the Turkish border at Batumi; the lack of oil is a major strategic worry for the German general staff. To accomplish this grand vision of conquest, reinforcements have been poured into Field Marshal von Bock's Heeresgruppe Sud, and it now contains almost half of the Wehrmacht's strength in the east. Those troops are now driving forward. Yet it could all have ended in disaster. Nine days ago, on 19 June, a German light aircraft carrying Major Reichel, a staff officer, was forced down over the lines. He had with him detailed orders for Fall Blau. They were rushed to Stalin. But the Soviet premier brushed them aside, dismissing them as "planted evidence."

While flying from Volchansk, Kharkov, Shatalovka, Orel and Kursk on the central sector of the front, 6./SchG 1 lost 2 Hs 129B-1s to AA fire. Fifteen Bf 109Fs of Detachment Philipp (Kommando I./JG 54) transferred to the Petajarvi Base on the Karelian Isthmus. The first Ju 52s carrying the ground echelon began to arrive in the evening.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Egypt, Major General Lewis H Brereton arrives at Cairo, where HQ U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East (USAFIME) issues orders placing him in command of US Army, Middle East Air Forces(USAMEAF), which is activated immediately. USAMEAF is comprised of the Halverson Detachment (HALPRO), Brereton's detachment [9th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) and other personnel which Brereton brought from India], and the Air Section of US Military North African Mission.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Weston-super-Mare was attacked again by the Luftwaffe. As on the previous night a similar number of bombers from the same units delivered 27 tonnes of HE and 20,096 IBs, the Weston AA guns engaging them between 01.59 and 02.24 hours. During this raid it was the main shipping centre that was chiefly affected with many shops and commercial premises being destroyed as a result of the large fires which took hold in the Regent Street, High Street, South Parade, Waterloo Station and Boulevard areas. Railway services in and out of Weston were also suspended, and at the station the waiting room and goods shed were destroyed by fire as were 12 passenger coaches. Once again German losses were small, and from the 3 aircraft which crashed in France on the return only 3 men were killed and 1 injured.

Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower assumes command of European Theater of Operations U.S. Army (ETOUSA), succeeding Major General James E Chaney.


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## syscom3 (Jun 29, 2007)

*29 June 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-505' _sinks an armed U.S. merchant freighter in the Atlantic northeast of Puerto Rico. The sub crew provides medical attention to wounded crewmen before departing the scene.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Three Hs 123As from 7./SchG 1 failed to return from the Shehigry area northeast of Kursk.

Ofw. Otto Wessling of 3./JG 3 claimed his 40th victory when he shot down a IL-2 Strumovik but was then shot down by Russian ground fire neccesitating an emergency landing in his Bf 109F-4 behind enemy lines south of Belayev. Despite being wounded, Wessling succeeded evading capture, returning to German lines several days later.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Afrika Korps captured Mersa Matruh in Egypt.

Mussolini arrives in Tripoli, anticipating a triumphal entry in Cairo.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first pilot fatality of the 8th Air Force in the European Theater of Operations is suffered when First Lieutenant Alfred W Giacomini of the 31st Fighter Group crashes a Spitfire while landing at Atcham, Shropshire, England.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Captain Charles C. Kegelman [Commanding Officer, 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light)], flying on a mission with 12 RAF Bostons against Hazebrouck marshalling yard, France, becomes the first member of the USAAF's 8th Air Force to drop bombs on enemy-occupied Europe.


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## syscom3 (Jun 30, 2007)

*30 June 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The armed transport SS _'City of Birmingham' _with a crew of 113 and carrying 263 passengers is sunk by _'U-202' _about 250 miles (402 km) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

_'U-158' _(Type IXC) is sunk west of the Bermudas, at position 32.50N, 67.28W, by depth charges from a US Mariner aircraft (USN VP-74). 54 dead (all crew lost). This last patrol of _'U-158' _was one of the most successful in the entire war with 62,536 tons sunk. This U-boat was, however, sunk the day after claiming its last victim.

The close cover escort for convoy PQ-17 sails from Iceland. The convoy sailed from Iceland on the 27th. The Home Fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to also provide cover on the 28th.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Evacuation of Sevastopol is ordered by the Russian High Command. The Soviet Black Sea fleet will attempt to comply with little success. The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day: D-3 Northern Fleet Tanafjord (mined off Norwegian coast). German 6. Armee (von Paulus) begins an offensive from the area of Belgorod toward the Don. Some 100,000 partisans are now operating against the Germans.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Submarine depot ship HMS _'Medway' _which was evacuating Alexandria is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-372' _NE of Alexandria at 31 03N 30 35E. There were 30 casualties but 1105 survivors rescued by HMS _'Zulu' _and _'Hero'_. The U-boat commander kaptleut Hans-Joachim Neumann was not aware of the nature of his target, believing it to be a 15 000 ton freighter, and the Germans did not learn about the loss of HMS _'Medway' _for some months.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel reaches El Alamein. Today Rommel writes to his wife:


> "Only 100 more miles to Alexandria!"


 By nightfall, such was the speed of the German advance, the distance was down to 60 miles.

Derna: Resting Afrika Korps soldiers watched with amazement today as two Italian aircraft landed on the airport here. One disgorged the immaculate, bemedalled Benito Mussolini, Il Duce himself. The other carried a white Arab charger upon which the Italian leader proposes to lead his victorious army through the streets of Cairo in the next few days. Such is the confidence of the Axis as Rommel's army nears the fleshpots of Egypt.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Navy now has 5,612 ships and district craft and 843,096 personnel consisting of 640,570 sailors; 143,528 Marines; and 58,998 Coastguardsmen.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: London: The Daily Telegraph reports that the Nazis have killed over a million Jews in occupied Europe.

A campaign to save fuel in the home has been launched by the new ministry of fuel and power. It urges householders to turn off all unnecessary lights, use less water - five inches of bathwater is suggested as a maximum - and stop taps dripping. Coal supplies will be restricted, but not rationed. Housewives are urged to sift the ashes of fires for burnable lumps and share their fires with neighbours.

Lt. John Stuart Mould (1910-57), RANVR, was awarded the George Cross for his successful handling of dangerous bomb mine disposal problems from 14 November 1941 to this date.


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## Njaco (Jul 1, 2007)

*1 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as German submarines attack three U.S. merchant vessels in the Atlantic:
- _'U-215' _sinks an armed freighter sailing in Convoy BA 2 about 202 nm (375 km) east of Boston, Massachusetts
- _'U-575' _sinks an unarmed freighter 158 nm (292 km) west-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The sub surfaces and the commander gives the survivors a bottle of brandy.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Infantry and combat engineers of 11. Armee (von Manstein) completed the capture of the fortress of Sevastopol in the Crimea.

Around Stalingrad, the initial advance of 6. Armee was so successful that Hitler intervened and ordered the 4.Panzerarmee to join Heeresgrupe Sud. A massive traffic jam resulted when the 4.Armee and 6. Armee both required the few roads in the area. Both armies were stopped dead while they attempted to clear the resulting mess of thousands of vehicles. The delay was long and it is thought that the delay cost the advance at least one week. With the advance now slowed, Hitler changed his mind and re-assigned the 4.Panzerarmee back to the attack on Stalingrad. Meanwhile the 2nd Hungarian Army and the 4.Panzerarmee had launched an attack on Voronezh, capturing the city on 5 July.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Armoured units of the Afrika Korps approached the defensive lines of the British 8th Army at El Alamein on the road to Alexandria.The 15. and 21. Panzerdivisions are fighting at the west end of Ruweisat Ridge. There attacks will continue through July 4, making little progress.

_Sonderkommando Dora_ was formed in July at Oase Hon, 500km southeast of Tripoli to assist with the guarding of the German southern flank in North Africa. In the summer of 1942, combat detachments had been placed at Oase um el Araneb, Oase el Gatrun and Oase Bir Musciuru, all in southern Libya. These three detachments were supported and supplied by _Sonderkommando Dora_ from Oase Hon. Aircraft used by the unit were He 111s, Hs 126s, Fi 156s, Fw 58s, DFS 230s, Go 242s and Go 244s. In late December it was withdrawn to Tunis and then disbanded in January 1943.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Hptm. Friedrich-Wilhelm Strakeljahn was appointed _Staffelkapitaen _of 12./JG 5.

Unternehmen *Rosselsprung :* The ferocity of German warfare reached a new high in the tragic destruction of convoy PQ-17. In no other convoy to Northern Russia were Allied losses so high. PQ-17 was the largest and most valuable convoy to date with military equipment valued at over $700 million at the time. The Germans were prompted by the Allied success with PQ-16 to reinforce their efforts to break the convoy route to Archangelsk and Murmansk and Unternehmen *Rosselsprung *was the assembling of naval forces to achieve this. The 35 merchant ships and escorts had assembled at Hvalfjordur, Iceland and were bound for Murmansk. The convoy left Iceland on 27 June. The close escort was the First Escort Group (EG1) under Commander Jack Broome and included 4 destroyers, 10 corvettes or armed trawlers and 2 AA auxilliaries. In a more distant covering role was the First Cruiser Squadron (CS1) under Rear Admiral Hamilton, of 4 cruisers and 4 destroyers. As further protection the convoy was to be tracked at about 200 miles by the Home Fleet battleships HMS "_Duke of York_" and USS "_Washington_", 2 cruisers, 8 destroyers and the aircraft carrier HMS "_Victorious_" until it was past North Cape. The route took the convoy close to Svalbard, north of Bjornoya and skirted the edge of the ice pack before turning south and following the coast of Novaya Zemlya before turning southwest across the Barents sea and entering the White Sea. Convoy PQ-17 from Iceland to Murmansk is spotted by _'U-255' _and _'U-408'_. This alert brings 8 other U-boats to join the operation. The convoy was sighted and tracked by _'U-456' _shortly after it entered the open sea. This was augmented by Luftwaffe Bv 138s on 1 July.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first B-17 Flying Fortress, assigned to the USAAF 8th Air Force's 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy), lands at Prestwick, Scotland. This is the first aircraft of the BOLERO air movement across the North Atlantic route to reach the UK.

In July the Luftwaffe's activities were mainly directed against ports and targets of the British armaments industry, starting with an unsuccessful attempt on the harbour installations at Bristol during the night in which I, II and III./KG 2 and II./KG 40 took part. Over the target it was a moon-lit night, but there was thick haze and cloud at 1200 metres. 46 German aircrew claimed to have successfully attacked with 20 tonnes of HE, but due to the poor visibility, no bombs whatsoever fell on the docks, although widespread bombing occurred in the South and Southwest coasts in South Wales. In fact, the nearest any bombs came to Bristol that night were those reported falling at Brean Down at 02.10 hours. One raider subsequently landed back in France with 1 crewman killed and 1 injured, the result of a RAF night-fighter attack.

*WESTERN FRONT*: KG 50 was formed in Brandenburg-Briest from parts of 10./KG 40. The _Kampfgeschwader _was equipped with He 177A bombers and was charged with the evaluation of this new bomber - this taking place at Brandenburg-Briest and Vaerlose in Denmark.


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## syscom3 (Jul 2, 2007)

*2 July 1942

MEDITTERANEAN*: British forces occupy Mayotte, an island off the north-east coast of Mozambique.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Government seeks the death penalty in Florida case. The German intelligence organization, the Abwehr, had recruited eight German citizens who had lived in the U.S., spoke fluent English, and had enthusiastically quit the U.S. for Germany prior to Pearl Harbor. The eight were trained at the Abwehr's spy school to attack strategic bridges, railways, factories and especially aluminum plants in the U.S. In June 1942, the eight were split into two groups of four and placed in U-boats for transport to Florida and Long Island, New York. They carried nearly US $200,000 and enough fuses and explosives to keep them busy for two years. Their saga is reminiscent of Jimmy Breslin's book 'THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT'; the book describing them could be titled THE SPIES WHO COULDN'T SPY. Herbert Haupt, Edward Kerling, Hermann Neubauer, and Werner Thiel were the four landed in Florida.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *Convoys PQ-17, eastbound, and QP-13, westbound, pass each other. Faulty reports cause the Germans some problems in finding these convoys. Aircraft and U-Boats are unsuccessful in their attacks today. The German battleship _'Tirpitz'_, heavy cruiser _'Admiral Hipper' _and 6 German destroyers sail from Trondheim for the convoys.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A motion of censure on the direction of the war is defeated 425 - 25 in the British House of Commons. Churchill speaks to the criticisms, the PM has too heavy a burden with both the conduct of government and the war being his direct responsibility. He says that Parliament should either change the government or support it, but should not meddle with its composition.

The British Board of Trade announces an agreement to control the supply of wheat involving the USA, UK, Argentina, Australia and Canada.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Tony Brooks, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, parachutes down in France to set up a resistance movement among railway workers.


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## syscom3 (Jul 3, 2007)

*3 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as German submarines attack three U.S. merchant vessels in the Atlantic:
- _'U-126' _torpedoes an armed tanker about 18 nm (33.8 km) north of Tobago and then surfaces to shell her. The 8-man Armed Guard remains aboard and opens fire on the submarine which then submerges and departs the area. The tanker is towed to Trinidad for repair.
- _'U-215' _sinks an armed freighter sailing in Convoy BA 2 about 202 nm (375 km) east of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- _'U-575' _sinks an unarmed freighter 158 nm (292 km) west-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The sub surfaces and the commander gives the survivors a bottle of brandy.

German Type VIID submarine _'U-215' _is sunk about 200 nm (370 km) east of Boston, Massachusetts, USA at position 41.48N, 66.38W by depth charges from the British trawler _'Le Tigre'_. All hands on the U-boat (48 men) are lost. The trawler was a French one seized by the Royal Navy in 1940 after the fall of France in June.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Major Seigfried Freytag of I./JG 77 was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 57 victories including 12 planes destroyed on the ground.

After a ten day period of inactivity during which the Malta based Beaufort Squadrons, 39 and 217, were basically restructured into a single entity under 217's soon to be tour expired OC, WC W. A. L. Davis. Even after the partial success of the June convoy's, fuel was again becoming critical on the island, keeping both reconnaissance flights and strike missions to a minimum. During the prior evening, Malta had copied a submarine sighting of a large supply convoy departing Taranto for North Africa. Three torpedo carrying ASV equipped Wellington VIIIs had been dispatched and located the target just south of Corfu, but had been unable to score. This left the job to the Beauforts. The convoy in question was composed of three cargo ships, the German MV _'Ankara' _(4,786 BRT), and the Italian MVs _'Nino Bixio' _(7,137 BRT) and _'Monvisio' _(5,322 BRT), with an extremely strong escort: DD _'Verrazano'_, DD _'Turbine'_, DD _'Euro'_, TB _'Antares'_, TB _'Polluce'_, TB _'Castore'_, TB _'San Martino'_, and DE _'Pegaso'_. A full scale strike was sent off at 0645, consisting of twelve Beauforts and six Beaufighter escorts, but they returned at midday empty handed, having been unable to locate the quarry. Two of 69 Squadron's PR aircraft, a Spitfire and a Maryland, were dispatched to regain contact, locating it just south of Zante island. Even though the day's activity had greatly depleted Malta's fuel reserves, the target could not be ignored, and another strike was planned. After the morning flight only nine Beauforts were reported serviceable. Worse, as only three spare crews were available, six crews were going to have to make their second operation of the day. With SL R. P. M. Gibbs, DFC in the lead, the strike began takeoff at 1830. Almost immediately things began to fall apart. Three Beauforts were unable to get off the ground, and two more (along with one Beaufighter) were forced to return almost immediately with engine problems. This left only four Beauforts [Gibbs (39), FO W. J. Stevens (217), Sgt. R. G. Mercer (217), and Sgt. J. Hutcheson (217)] and five Beaufighters. The target was located at dusk, hugging the Greek coast with the escorts deployed in an arc to seaward. Realizing a head on assault was suicidal, Gibbs led his small band inland then turned and attacked from the darkened East with the Beaufighters in the lead, intent on performing a new role of "flak busting". Amidst a hail of flak that knocked down Mercer (AW240) and Hutcheson (L9893) [both crews were killed], and plastered Gibbs (flying DavisÕ DD993), the later managed to plunk _'Nino Bixio'_, forcing the convoy to put into port for repairs and reorganization. The rest of the exhausted strike force returned near midnight, Gibbs bellying in his wrecked aircraft.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Egypt, due to exhaustion and lack of supplies, especially fuel for the armoured divisions, German and Italian forces suspended all offensive operations before El Alamein and began constructing defensive positions. The 2nd New Zealand Division, with artillery support, destroys the Italian Ariete Division. The Italains had attacked toward Alam Nayil when they came up against the 2nd New Zealand Divion.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In the first successful firing of an American rocket from a plane in flight, Lieutenant Commander J. H. Hean, USN, Gunnery Officer of Transition Training Squadron, Pacific Fleet, fired a retro-rocket from a PBY-5A in flight at Goldstone Lake, Calif. The rocket, designed to be fired aft with a velocity equal to the forward velocity of the airplane, and thus to fall vertically, was designed at the California Institute of Technology. Following successful tests, the retro-rocket became a weapon complementary to the magnetic airborne detector with Patrol Squadron Sixty Three (VP-63), at NAS Alemeda, California, receiving the first service installation in February 1943.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *The weather worsened over the convoy PQ-17 although German aircraft were over the ships and at least one bomb was dropped. Several He 115s from I./KuFlGr 406 began the first air attacks with torpedo runs. The Gruppe lost its Staffelkapitaen Oblt. Herbert Vater when his plane was shot down but he and his crew were rescued when another He 115 landed on the water amid gunfire and plucked the crewmen from the sea. The Luftwaffe then lost contact with the convoy. _'Lutzow' _and _'Admiral Scheer' _leave Narvik with a destoryer escort heading for _'Tirpitz'_. _'Lutzow' _and 3 of the destroyers run aground.


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## Njaco (Jul 4, 2007)

*4 July 1942*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: The German 11. Armee (von Manstein) completed the occupation of the Crimea, taking 97,000 Soviet prisoners against losses of 24,000 in the siege of Sevastopol. The Russian death toll is impossible to estimate. I./SchG 1 lost 2 Bf 109E-7s - one shot down over Voronezh and the other along the Don south of the city. The rapid advance of the German forces resulted in the _Gruppe _being transferred to Tatinskaya then to Frolov-West, a small airstrip a few kilometers from Oblivskaya, near the end of the month.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Following the success of the Afrika Korps in capturing the British stronghold of Tobruk on 21 June, the Luftwaffe resumed its assault on Malta. During July, Axis air units flew 2,851 sorties against the island, during which they dropped 695 tonnes of bombs and 2,300 IBs. Luftwaffe attacks were concentrated on Malta's airfields in an attempt to destroy its air defense fighters on the ground and wrest air superiority from the RAF. During the attacks, 37 Luftwaffe aircraft and 36 Spitfires of the RAF were shot down. Attacks slacked off around 14 July but resumed their former intensity during 23-27 July.

*NORTH AFRICA*: 2./JG 27's Lt. Friedrich Koerner, a 36 victory _Experte_, was shot down in combat near El Alamein. He became a POW and was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _on 6 September.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *Around 05.00 hours, He 115s of I./KuFlGr 906, led by Oberst Eberhard Peukert, finally located PQ-17 and attacked. The American Liberty ship "_Christopher Newport_" was hit and sunk, becoming the first casualty of the convoy. Patrick Hugh Wright, an Armed Guard on the ship, fired his .30 cal machine gun at the approaching torpedo until it struck the ship. At 19.30 hours, Ju 88s of KG 30, based at Banak, attacked the convoy but no hits were scored. At 20.30 hours, 25 He 111s of I./KG 26, led by Oberst Bernot Eicke and carrying torpedoes, attacked the convoy. Lt. Konrad Hennemann was able to score a hit on the freighter "_Navarino_" but he in turn was hit by defending AA fire and crashed. The Heinkel of Lt. Georg Kanmayr was then hit and crashed but all 4 crewmen were rescued by a British ship. Oberst Eicke torpedoed the freighter "_William Hopper_" and the British ship was soon abandoned. Another 2 ships were sunk by the time KG 26 left the convoy. Two U.S. freighters in Convoy PQ-17 are sunk by German submarines about 115 nm (209 km) southeast of Spitsbergen Island; the first is sunk by _'U-457' _in the morning, after it had been damaged by a Luftwaffe He 115, and the second by _'U-334' _is sunk before midnight after if had been damaged by Luftwaffe He 111s. British Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord, orders the convoy to scatter believing the German capital ships will attack sooner or later. He believes that the Home Fleet cannot protect it since it is in range of land based German aircraft. The truth is that ALL Russian convoys are going to be within range of land based German aircraft at some point. The significant feature of PQ-17 being ordered to scatter, and its RN escort ordered away, was that Admiral Pound believed that the German battleship _'Tirpitz'_, in company with the heavy cruiser _'Admiral Hipper'_, might have put to sea, and that they would been able to destroy the entire naval escort and the merchant convoy before the Home Fleet could reach the scene. It was only on the evening of the 4th July that Bletchley Park cracked the German Naval messages for the 24 hour period ending at midday, and knew that _'Tirpitz' _and _'Admiral Hipper' _had been due to enter Altenfjord, Norway, located about 400 nm (740 km) south southeast of Spitsbergen Island, that same morning, and their accompanying destroyers ordered to refuel immediately. Admiral Pound calculated that if the German fleet sailed out within a few hours of their arrival, and made 28 knots, they would be able to reach the convoy within six hours, that is by 0200 hours on 5 July. However, the issue depended on whether _'Tirpitz' _and her support had sailed or not. British Naval Intelligence maintained that _'Tirpitz' _had not sailed because of absence of any messages or reports to the contrary. The merchant ships fanned outwards to scatter, whilst the RN escort withdrew at high speed to the west, under the impression that the _'Tirpitz' _was about to appear over the horizon, although in fact, the German fleet was impatiently awaiting the order to sail. _'Tirpitz' _had won a victory, without firing a shot. (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The second 8th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress arrives in the UK via the North Atlantic ferry route. (_Syscom_)

*WESTERN FRONT*: US air operations over Europe began when the 15th (Light) Bombardment Sqdn, flying 4 American-built A-20 havocs belonging to RAF No. 226 Sqdn, were sent to attack airfields in Holland in coordination with other British raids. The aircraft attacked De Koog, Bergen/Alkamaar, Haanstede and Valkenberg airfields. They went in low and unescorted to surprise the Germans. Three of the four aircraft were shot down, 2 by flak and 1 by an Fw 190 over the Channel. One of the planes hit by flak went down over the airfield it was attacking and the other as it was lining up on the bomb run. Uffz. Johannes Rathenow of 10./JG 1 claimed a "Boston" over Den Helder for his first victory. The aircraft flown by Captain Charles C Kegelman, Squadron Commander, is severely damaged, but Kegelman succeeds in bringing it back to base at Swanton Morley, Norfolk. (_Syscom_)


__________________


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## Njaco (Jul 5, 2007)

*5 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Westbound Convoy QP-13 sails into an Allied minefield in the Denmark Strait and loses 4 ships. These two convoys had passed on July 2. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Armoured units of 4. Panzerarmee (Hoth) reached the Don at Voronezh.

*GERMANY*: Hptm. Heinz-Gunther Amelung of 5./StG 77 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for victories in Poland, France The Balkans and Russia.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *Fifteen merchant ships of convoy PQ-17 (Iceland to Murmansk, USSR), eight American, five British, one Dutch and one Panamanian, are sunk by German submarines _'U-88' _(1 ship), _'U-251' _(1 ship) _'U-255' _(4 ships), _'U-334' _(1 ship), _'U-355' _(1 ship), _'U-376' _(1 ship), _'U-456' _(1 ship), _'U-457' _(2 ships) and _'U-703' _(3 ships). Seven of the ships had been previously damaged by Luftwaffe He 111s and Ju 88s. All are sunk between 144 nm (267 km) southeast of Spitsbergen Island and 161 nm (298 km)east of Murmansk. (_Syscom_) The German Naval force was ordered to sea, but following reports of the successes of the Luftwaffe and U-Boats, it was soon ordered back to port. Meanwhile, with the majority of the escorts ordered to return to Scapa Flow, leaving only the AA auxillary and a few armed trawlers, the scattered merchant ships became easy prey for both U-Boat and aircraft. With no fighter cover for the stricken ships, the attacks on PQ-17 became a free-for-all. All 3 _Gruppen _of KG 30 under the command of Konrad Kahl, Erich Stoffregen and Hajo Hermann attacked the convoy all day. First to sink was the freighter SS "_Peter Kerr_" with bombs from a Ju 88 flown by Lt. Clausener. By the end of the day five more ships were sunk and many others damaged. 12 vessels were lost - 6 sunk by the Luftwaffe, including SS "_Fairfeild City_" and SS "_David Morgan_" and 4 different U-boats sunk the remaining six. Five German planes bombed the SS "_David Morgan_". Her Armed Guard shot down 2 planes, but the ship was so damaged by bombs that she sunk. Among the losses that day were US merchant ships SS"_Pan Kraft_", SS"_Washington_", SS"_Carlton_" and SS"_Honomu_". The men of the "_Washington_" spent almost 10 days before being rescued. After 7 days in the bitter cold weather, they went ashore at Novya Zemlya and made seagull soup. The _U-334_ had sunk the SS"_Earlston_" and had taken its captain aboard. As it moved away on the surface it was attacked by a Ju 88 from III./KG 30. 2 bombs came close the submarine damaging the steering and making it impossible to submerge. It was then escorted back to Neidenfjord by _U-456_ arriving on 7 July. _U-334_ was later sunk with all hands on 14 June 1943 by HMS "_Pelican_" and HMS "_Jed_" off Iceland.


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## Njaco (Jul 7, 2007)

*6 July 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: An Hs 129 belonging to 4.(Pz)./SchG 1 was reported lost in the Koblya-Sterya area.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Afrika Korps was holding on to its positions before El Alamein against continuous attacks by the British 8th Army.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *Two more ships were sunk from convoy PQ-17; SS"_Pan Atlantic_" by the Luftwaffe with the loss of 25 men, and SS"_John Witherspoon_" by _U-255_. Part of the Armed Guard and "_John Witherspoon's_" crew were in a boat for 53 hours before being rescued by the "_El Capitain_". The remainder were in an open lifeboat even longer before a British warship picked them up.


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## Njaco (Jul 7, 2007)

*7 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) captured Voronezh on the Don.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The "Gladiator" claimed by 2./JG 27's Lt. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt near El Daba on 7 July appears more likely to have been an Italian CR 42.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *Five more ships were sunk from convoy PQ-17 - two by _U-255_ - including SS"_Olapana_" and SS"_Alcoa Ranger_". The SS"_Bellingham_" took a torpedo, but this failed to explode and she was able to reach Archangel by 10 July. The remaining escort vessels withdrew into the Artic Ocean but the merchant ships suffered no more that day.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A series of small Luftwaffe raids took place at Billingham, Middleborough, West Hartlepool, Gateshead and Seaton Carew, in addition bombs also fell near Scarborough. Oil storage tanks at Billingham Reach Wharf were hit by HE bombs and set on fire. 49 houses were destroyed or demolished and 45 were seriously damaged. A Do 217E-4 from 9./KG 2 was shot down by a Beaufighter from RAF No. 406 Sqdn and crashed in the sea off Middleborough. Oblt. G. Lanz, Fw. E. Loers, Uffz. A. Engler and Fw. J. Klatt were all missing. A Do 217 from 4./KG 2 crashed off the Dutch coast on its return from the raid.


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## Njaco (Jul 8, 2007)

*8 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) at Voronezh began an offensive southeast along the west bank of the Don to meet up with 6.Armee (von Paulus) advancing east toward the Don from Kharkov with the objective of establishing bridgeheads across the river in the Kalach area and continuing on to capture Stalingrad on the Volga. Uffz. Crinius of I./JG 53 shot down 2 Russian Boston twin-engined bombers attacking a bridge west of Voronezh. But he was hit by AA fire and crash-landed his Bf 109F between the frontlines where a German patrol eventually found him. Another Hs 129 belonging to 4.(Pz)./SchG 1 was shot down by Russian fighters at Voronezh.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Axis bombers carried out more raids on harbour facilities at Malta.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Lt. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt of 2./JG 27 brought down a trio of Hurricanes, taking his score to 30.


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## Njaco (Jul 10, 2007)

*9 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Ofw. Heinrich-Wilhelm Ahnert of 3./JG 52 scored his 50th enemy aircraft destroyed.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Renewed attacks by the Afrika Korps against British defenses at El Alamein were bogged down in the face of stubborn British resistance. One of the 6 US aircraft sent to attack an Axis convoy, B-24D "_Eager Beaver_", went down into the sea in flames. The bomber was victory number 34 for Fw. Gunther Steinhausen of 1./JG 27, who was credited with JG 27's second Liberator.


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## Njaco (Jul 10, 2007)

*10 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Armoured units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) and 6.Armee (von Paulus) of Heersgruppe B (von Weichs) joined up north of Kalach, while 17.Armee (Ruoff) and 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) of Heersgruppe A (List) continued their advance towards Rostov.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *What was left of convoy PQ-17 reached the entrance to the White Sea where the remaining ships were continuously attacked by 5. and 6./ KG 30. The Luftwaffe attacks sank 2 more Allied ships, the last losses being SS"_Hoosier_" and SS"_El Capitain_". Two surviving ships made port at Archangel. Another 9 arrived there or at Murmansk over the following week. The Luftwaffe had flown 202 sorties against the convoy. PQ-17 lost 13 ships (of 35 that began the journey) sunk from air attack (the Luftwaffe lost 6 aircraft in the exchange) and a further 10 sunk by U-Boats. Thus for a loss of 3% of its force, the Luftwaffe claimed fully 37% of PQ-17 with U-Boats claiming another 29% of the convoy for no loss of their own crews. The sunken ships carried, among other cargo, 430 tanks, 210 aircraft and 3,350 vehicles and 93,316 tonnes of other cargo. Two of the surviving ships were sunk on the return journey, SS"_Silver Sword_" and SS"_Bellingham_". One of them became the 5th victim of _U-255_. Without firing a gun, without even getting within 480km (300 miles) of the convoy, "_Tirpitz_" had achieved one of the outstanding naval successes of the war. The convoy was virtually wiped out.


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## Njaco (Jul 11, 2007)

*11 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Fw. Anton "Toni" Hafner of 8./JG 51 shot down his 50th enemy aircraft.

The longest range daylight raid to date was carried out by aircraft of RAF Bomber Command, when they attacked the shipyards at Danzig in Poland. 44 Lancasters were dispatched on another experimental raid. The plan called for the Lancasters to fly at low level and in formation over the North Sea, but then to split up and fly independently in cloud which was forecast to be present over Denmark and that part of the Baltic leading to Danzig (now Gdansk). The target was expected to be clear of cloud and the Lancasters were to bomb U-boat yards from normal bombing heights just before dusk and return to England during darkness. With a round trip of 1,500 miles, it was the most distant target Bomber Command had yet attempted to reach. It was also another attempt to utilize Lancasters in a semi-daylight role. The plan worked well except that some of the Lancasters were late in identifying Danzig and had to bomb the general town area in the dark. 24 aircraft bombed at Danzig and returned; 2 more were shot down by Flak at the target. They were the only losses; the novel tactics and routeing prevented any German fighters making contact.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In a fierce engagement, fighters of I and II./JG 27 reported meeting a total of 40 to 45 British fighters. They were actually engaged by 12 Kittyhawks of 2 SAAF Sqdn and 12 Tomahawks of 5 SAAF Sqdn. Uffz. Josef Vavra of 5./JG 27 claimed a Spitfire at 16.03 hours east of El Alamein. Fw. Heinrich Stein of 4./JG 27 claimed a Hurricane south of El Alamein at 16.05 hours. At the same time, Lt. Werner Schroer of 8./JG 27 claimed one Spitfire 10km south-east of El Alamein. Oblt. Ernst Borngen of 5./JG 27 claimed a Spitfire south-west of El Alamein and 4 P-40s were claimed at 16.10 hours by Lt. Werner Schroer, Uffz. Walter Timmermann, Lt. Hans -Arnold Stahlschmidt, and Fw. Heinrich Stein. In total they claimed to have shot down 3 Spitfires, a Hurricane and 4 P-40s. British losses that day amounted to 2 Tomahawks of 5 SAAF Sqdn and 1 Kittyhawk destroyed with 2 more Kittyhawks being damaged.


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## Njaco (Jul 12, 2007)

*12 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation Drumbeat continues as German submarines sink two armed U.S. merchant vessels. _'U-84_' sinks a freighter 20 miles (32.2 km) off Cardenas, Cuba and _'U-129' _sinks a tanker in the Caribbean. In the latter sinking, the survivors are interrogated and then provided medical assistance and directions to the nearest land. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Stavka (Red Army High Command) established a Stalingrad Front under Marschal Timoshenko. On the Leningrad front, troops of Heeresgruppe Nord completed the reduction of the Volchov pocket, taking 30,000 prisoners, including General Vlasov, commanding officer of the Second Guards Army and later to become Commander-in-Chief of the anti-Bolshevik Russian Liberation Army.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Rosselsprung: *Colonel-General Stumpf, Commander-in-Chief of Luftflotte 5, reported to Reichsmarschall Goering the;


> "_...annihilation of the major convoy PQ-17. On 10 July, reconnaissance of the White Sea, the western channel of the Kola coast and the sea area to the north, found no further merchant vessels left afloat....I claim for Luftflotte 5 the sinking of 22 merchant vessels, together comprising 142,216 tonnes..."_


*WESTERN FRONT*: Six Bostons of the US 15th Bombardment Sqdn, borrowed from the RAF, hit Abbeville/Drucat airfield in France. 2 aircraft were damaged.


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## Graeme (Jul 13, 2007)

*13 July 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation Drumbeat continues as German submarines sink two U.S. merchant vessels. _'U-166' _sinks an unarmed freighter about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Cape Maysi, Cuba. _'U-67' _sinks an armed tanker about 80 miles (130 km) from Southwest Passage, Louisiana. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler decides to make Stalingrad the major objective of Heeresgruppe B. Von Bock is dismissed from the command of Heeresgruppe B and replaced by von Weich. (_Syscom_)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: There was considerable relief for Britain on July 13, with the announcement that, in the previous six weeks, a total of 693 German and Italian aircraft had been destroyed by British aircraft based at Malta.

*NORTH AFRICA*: JG 27's _Geschwader-Adjutant_ Hptm. Ernst Dullberg continued a tradition which had been started back in the campaigns of the Battle of Britain and the Balkans by claiming the _Geschwaderstab's_ one and only kill for the entire North African campaign - a Hurricane southwest of El Alamein in the early evening. (_Njaco_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In an attempt to to give the Russians information that would enable them to anticipate future moves, material culled from the German's own Enigma messages were sent to Moscow. These messages included on July 13, details of the precise defensive line which the Germans intended to hold in the Voronezh region, while pushing their armoured forces forward between the Donetz and the Don. On the following day, London sent Moscow further details of the objectives that had been laid down for three of the German armies then about to go into action.


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## Graeme (Jul 13, 2007)

*14 July 1942*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: The 4.Panzerarmee joined in the German drive toward Rostov, while other Axis forces continued smashing toward Stalingrad. The advance by Heeresgruppe A (List) and Heeresgruppe B (von Weichs) toward the Don bend at Kalach and Rostov continued against minimal Soviet resistance. (_Njaco_)

The Nazis murder 700 people in reprisal for the murder of the local Gestapo chief SS Major Helm.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British forces now began to turn the tide of Rommel's advance, not gaining very much ground, but inflicting heavy losses on German forces, which attacked the Ruweisat Ridge, and thereby ending once and for all Rommel's hopes of entering Cairo and Alexandria.


> 'My expectations for yesterdays attack were bitterly disappointed,' Rommel wrote to his wife on July 14,. 'It achieved no success whatsoever.'


The battle on the Eastern Front, he added,


> 'is going splendidly, which gives us courage to hang on'.


*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Free French are officially renamed the "Fighting French" today at the request of General De Gaulle.


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## Graeme (Jul 14, 2007)

*15 July 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Operation *Drumbeat *continues as German submarines torpedo four merchant vessels off the U.S. coast.

_'U-571' _sinks the armed U.S. tanker about 125 miles (201 km) west of Key West, Florida.

_'U-576' _attacks convoy KS 520 about 20 miles (32 km) east of Okracoke Inlet, North Carolina and torpedoes three ships. A U.S. armed freighter is torpedoed and sails into a mine field and hits two mines; she is taken under tow but later capsizes. A Panamanian freighter is also torpedoed but is towed to safety; the third ship is a Nicaraguan merchant freighter. _'U-576' _is sunk by depth charges from two USN Scouting Squadron Nine (VS-9) OS2U Kingfishers and ramming by the U.S. motor vessel MS _'Unico'i_; all 45-hands on the sub are lost. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army was forced to abandon Millerovo, on the Voronezh-Rostov railway, and Kamensk, where the railway line crossed the River Donetz. Units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) captured Kamensk on the Donetz.

British cryptographers widened their mastery of the Eastern Front Enigma by breaking the cypher used by the German anti-aircraft units for their most secret messages; it was given the code name "Weasel" and was to continue to be broken until the end of the war. The importance of 'Weasel' Enigmas was considerable. The anti-aircraft units which used it served the dual purpose of engaging both aircraft and tanks; their 88 mm dual-purpose gun proved to be one of Germany's most powerful anti-tank guns.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Auchinleck's forces routed the Italian Brescia and Pavia divisions south of El Alamein. As a result, Rommel was forced to send German troops to stabilize the front and upset plans for Axis offensive actions. The German Afrika Korps regains some ground around Ruweisat Ridge, but take heavy losses from British Artillery. Because of the crisis at the El Alamein front, two _gruppen _of KG 77 went to Kreta and 22 planes of II./JG 53 transferred to Fuka, North Africa.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Brendan ("Paddy") Finucane, at 21 the RAF's youngest wing-commander, was shot down over the English Channel and drowned today. He joins the other 122 fighter pilots said to be "missing" since 1 June. A quiet Dubliner, Finucane had been awarded several decorations after 32 kills. His end was freakishly unlucky. Finucane was flying just above ground level when his engine was hit by a light-calibre _Wermacht_ machine gun set up temporarily on the dunes near Le Tuoquet. As he approached the sea he told his comrades, by radio: "This is it chaps." His Spitfire plunged underwater taking him down. 

Unknown to British Intelligence, July 15 saw the despatch from Holland of the first 2,000 Dutch Jews deported to Auschwitz. Their departure was known, but not their destination, nor their fate. They had been told by the Germans that they were going for 'labour service in Germany'.


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## Graeme (Jul 16, 2007)

*16 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: An unarmed U.S. fishing boat is sunk by gunfire or demolition charges by the German submarine _'U-166' _about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Havana, Cuba. (_Syscom_)
*
EASTERN FRONT*: In the western world beset by gloom, at least one anti-nazi is winning victory after victory-but few know about it. Gathering strength every day as it fights its way into Croatia, Tito's partisan army has succeeed in capturing several major towns and hundreds of villages in this country ruled by the pro-German _Ustachi_ under their leader Ante Pavelich. The fighting has been savage, with countless atrocities-particularly by the fanatical, long-haired, bearded Ustachi as they retreat before Tito's disciplined partisans. Captured Ustachi and their collaborators can expect no mercy from Tito's People's Courts. Mass executions are commonplace. Tito is wasting no time in turning "liberated" Croatia into a soviet state with its own newspaper, postal service, schools and health services. Volunteers are cleaning up and repairing desecrated Orthodox churches. A counter service-mostly of young girls on cycles or horseback-is plating a vital role in partisan communications.

Russian resistance to the Germans stiffens as the Germans near Rostov. (_Syscom_)

*GERMANY*: RAF bombers swooped through cloud to bomb the Rhur and other targets in north-west Europe at dusk tonight. They were relatively minor raids, using cloud cover as a new tactic to thwart the Kammhuber Line of ground-controlled interception "boxes" in which _Luftwaffe_ fighters patrol. First introduced in 1940, the system now has fewer than 250 fighters. The RAF has been attempting to detour the boxes, but they are being extended to stretch from northern Denmark to south of Paris.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British 8th Army (Montgomery) attacked the Afrika Korps' positions at El Alamein, gaining some ground near a railway station.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Nine thousand French police combed the city today, snatching every foreign-born Jew they could find. They have arrested nearly half or the 28,000 registered "stateless" Jews in Paris. About 6,000 have been sent to Drancy, the first stop in the long journey to Auschwitz. Three thousand children are among nearly 7,000 Jews gathered inthe huge sports stadium called the _Velodrome d'Hiver_, waiting for their turn to go. The weather is very hot. They have a single water tap and ten latrines between them. Some of those arrested last night have no clothes at all. The guards are brutal, the squalor unimaginable.


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## Graeme (Jul 16, 2007)

*17 July 1942
*
*EASTERN FRONT*: *The Battle of Stalingrad *- one of the biggest struggles of the Second World War - began. It had two stages: the first - the Stalingrad strategic defensive operation - started on 17 July and lasted until 18 November, 1942. It was carried out by troops of the Stalingrad and southeastern fronts, assisted by the Volga military flotilla. In the course of the operation, additional forces were commited; units of the Southeastern Front, 5 combined arms armies, 2 tank armies, 56 divisions and 33 brigades. The Battle of Stalingrad lasted exactly 200 days and nights and marked a turning point in the war. The battle began with a change of plans by Hitler on this date. Units of Heeresgruppe A (List) captured Voroshilovgrad in the Donetz industrial region while 6.Armee (von Paulus) and 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) continued their advance toward Kalach on the Don. Hitler, fearing that Heeresgruppe A would not be able to cross the Don River against growing Soviet opposition and wanting to capture the oil-rich Caucasus, reassigned 4.Panzerarmee to the southern drive on the oil fields instead of Stalingrad. Without 4.Panzerarmee, Heeresgrupp B's drive to Stalingrad was slowed. The city was subjected to a heavy bombing by the Luftwaffe. The spreading metropolis became a graveyard. Many died once the battle began and the city became a shell of what it once was. Still many buildings survived and Soviet patriotism shone through. Many factory workers joined in the fighting. (_Njaco_)

Despite the "swarming flies and mosquitoes" which so upset him, Hitler has now moved his headquarters from the 'Wolf's Lair' at Rastenburg to 'Werewolf' at Vinnista. This move is based on the eminent forthcoming victory over Russia.

*GERMANY*: Himmler flew to East Upper Silesia, and to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. There, the first 2,000 Dutch Jewish deportees had just arrived. Himmler was in time to watch the unloading of the Jews from the trains, the selection of 1,551 to be tattooed on the forearm and sent to the barracks at Birkenau, and the gassing of the remaining 449, mostly old people, children and and the sick. He then watched while corpses were thrown into pits, and the gas chamber cleaned, ready for the next group of deportees.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel's supply situation continued to deteriorate, but German and Italian troops were still able to halt a British advance near Miterirya Ridge. Rommel suggested a retreat to the Italian and German commanders, Cavallero and Kesselring. (_Njaco_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Top U.S. military officials arrived in London to press the British for a limited cross-Channel invasion in 1942.

Churchill informed Stalin the British would no longer sail convoys along the northern route to Murmansk and Archangel because of the heavy losses suffered by PQ-17. Churchill told the Soviet leader a continuation of the shipping effort "would bring no benefit to you and would only involve dead loss to the common cause." (Stalin protested the cancellation of the shipping).


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## Sgt. Sniper (Jul 17, 2007)

*18 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The advance by 6.Armee and 4.Panzerarmee toward the Don bend at Kalach continued. (_Syscom_)
*
GERMANY*: The maiden flight of a fully functional Me 262 with two Jumo 004 turbojet engines was made. Messerschmitt Test pilot _Flugkapitain _Fritz Wendel took prototype V-3 of the twin-engined jet down the runway at Leipheim, outside of Augsburg and throttled up to 112mph. But the jet refused to lift-off. After stopping the aircraft just feet from the end of the runway, Wendel taxiied back and conferred with engineers. It was believed that because the Me 262 was designed with a tailwheel and 2 maingear, this forced the jet to nose into the air with the jet exhaust blowing off the ground and over the tail, disrupting the airflow. The jet would not fly without a smooth flow of air over the control surfaces. Wendel got an idea and climbed back into the jet for another run down the track. At the point of lift-off, Wendel tapped the brakes. The aircraft bucked and kicked the tail up, allowing a smooth airflow and taking the jet into the air. Before it lifted off, it had used the entire runway. Within seconds, Wendel was circling the airfield. He stayed aloft for 12 minutes and returned with a glowing report about the abilities of the new jet. After 6 more flights, it was decided to let the Luftwaffe know about the Me 262. Those in charge thought the technique to tap the brakes when the Me 262 gained sufficent speed was too much for the average Luftwaffe pilot to handle, so a nosewheel was added. The Me 262 was changed from a taildragger to a tricycle configuration. The new nosewheel version still needed an entire runway to take-off. The plane was powered by the new Jumo 004A-0 turbojet. The Jumo 004 would prove to be the source of the Me 262's greatest weakness. The turbojet was, at this time, still in its infancy and many technological hurdles had to be overcome. This resulted in a lengthy period of development which led to continued delays in the development and production of the Me 262. One of the problems was that the materials neccessary for proper heat proofing were extremely rare in war-torn Germany. Alternate materials had to be used which resulted in engines that were less than reliable. In some cases, a brand new engine would suffer catastrophic failure during intial run-up. Even engines that worked right had a very short operational life. Most would only last for 10 hours of operation. On many occasions, pilots were forced to land with one or both engines out.

The Generalfeldmarschall of _Oberfehlshaber Sud_, Albert Kesselring, was awarded the _Schwerten_, or Swords to his Knight's Cross, the 15th soldier to be honored with the medal.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In London, England, U.S. presidential advisor Harry Hopkins, General George C. Marshall, Admiral Ernest V. King, Prime Minister Winston S Churchill and the British Chiefs of Staff begin a conference in London on the proposed invasion of North Africa (Operation *TORCH*). (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Jul 19, 2007)

*19 July 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The final 2 U-Boats operating off the East Coast of the US are moved to other areas because of improving defenses using convoys. The German's *Operation Drumbeat* ends as the last two U-boats operating off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, are ordered back to the North Atlantic. This was a result of the USN finally beginning to run convoys off the U.S. east coast in May 1942. The operation began on 11 January 1942 and during the next six months, German U-boats sank 397 vessels off the U.S. east coast while losing seven submarines. The operation shifted to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean in May 1942; it took the USN until July to begin convoys in these areas and even then, it required the assistance of RN and RCN warships to implement the convoy system. The last ship was sunk in the Gulf of Mexico on 4 September 1942. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The two-pronged German advance toward the Don bend and to Stalingrad beyond (6.Armee and 4.Panzerarmee) and toward Rostov (1.Panzerarmee) continued in the face of stiffening Soviet resistance. Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn, _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 52, downed 6 Soviet aircraft during the day to bring his score to 51 kills.

Five aircraft from 6./JG 5 flew an escort mission for Ju 88 bombers, the target being Rosta. About 15 km north of Murmansk, the Bf 109F-4/trop "Yellow 3" of Fw. Leopold Knier was crippled in aerial combat with multiple Soviet fighters and he bailed out. He was shot down by a Yak-1 of 20 IAP VVS SF (Lt. Nuzhin) near Lake Retinskoe, on the western side of Kola Bay. After being captured by the Soviets, he was returned to the German lines and came back to his unit on 27 July 1942.

Himmler orders the "total cleansing" of Jews from the General Government area of Poland by the end of this year. (_Graeme_)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Over the past five days Malta has been resupplied by submarine and fast transport; the carrier HMS _'Eagle' _has ferried in 31 Spitfires. (_Graeme_)

*WESTERN FRONT*: SS Chief Oberg issued "The Family Hostage Law" in occupied France. If any identified French "terrorist" did not surrender within ten days of his crime, all his adult male relatives would be executed, females would be sent to "work camps", and children under 17 would be sent to reform schools. (_Syscom_)


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## Graeme (Jul 20, 2007)

*20 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans launched yet another anti-partisan operation in White Russia, Operation Eagle, against Soviet partisans in the Chechivichi region. In the village of Kletsk, several hundred Jews who were about to be murdered set their ghetto on fire and ran. A few, reaching the forests, joined the partisans, where their leader Moshe Fish, was killed in a battle with the Germans six months later. On the day after the revolt in Kletsk, the Jews in nearby Nieswiez also fought back against their fate. They too were almost all shot down, though one of their leaders, Shalom Cholawski, reaching the forests, set up a 'family camp' of Jews who had managed to escape the daily slaughter, protected the camp against German manhunts, and set up a Jewish partisan unit to harass the German lines of communication.

Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn, _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 52, downed 4 Russian warplanes during one sortie. (_Njaco_)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Mussolini returned to Rome from Libya after giving up his plan for a triumphal entry into Cairo.


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## syscom3 (Jul 21, 2007)

*21 July 1942*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: In air battles over Voronezh, Oblt. Anton "Toni" Hackl of JG 77 shot down 6 Russian aircraft. (_Njaco_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British decide to mount a major attack against the Afrika Korps in North Africa. They are aware of the logistics problems detailed by Rommel to the OKW, through their reading of ULTRA.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In England, Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower assigns to the USAAF's 8th Air Force the mission of carrying out, in collaboration with the RAF, the degree of air operations with the view of attaining air domination over western France by 1 April 1943.


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## syscom3 (Jul 22, 2007)

*22 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Units of 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) were fighting their way into the southern outskirts of Rostov-on-Don which was fiercely defended by the Red Army. (_Njaco_)

A Bf 109F-4/trop of Stab II./JG 5 had to undertake an emergency landing due to engine trouble, at Murowshij. This was Hptm. Horst Carganico's first crash-landing behind enemy lines with II./JG 5. He was missing overnight but on the 23 July, Hptm. Carganico was picked up and returned to his unit. (_Njaco_)

In Poland, the Germans begin the systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka concentration camp.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British forces, including the 23rd Armored Brigade, south of Ruweisat have taken heavy losses. Robbel however, decides that the drain on his strength has been too much. Both sides pause to regroup. The British are better situated to receive reinforcements. And Malta is recovering.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Roosevelt agrees with the British that "Sledgehammer" is not possible in 1942. He instructs his planners in London to find another place for US troops to fight in 1942


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## Njaco (Jul 23, 2007)

*23 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Rostov-On-Don was captured by the 1.Panzerarmee, thus clearing the way for the advance of Heeresgruppe A toward the Caucasus and Kuban region. Again, over the Voronezh front, JG 77's Oblt. Anton "Toni" Hackl downed another 6 Russian aircraft bringing his score to 84 kills.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Fighting continued on the El Alamein front.


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## Njaco (Jul 24, 2007)

*24 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-90' _(Type VIIC) is sunk in the Northern Atlantic , in position 48.12N, 40.56W by the Canadian destroyer HMCS _'St. Croix'_. 44 dead (all crew lost) (_Syscom_)
*
EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet city of Rostov is captured by German troops. Large numbers of Russian troops were liquidated in and around Rostov after German troops captured the city. 83,000 Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner.

Hitler issued Directive 45 for the continuation of Unternehmen *Blau*. Part of the Directive ordered the 6. Armee to take and occupy Stalingrad before driving down the line of the Volga and capturing Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea. http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/45.html

*NORTH AMERICA*: Alabama Gov. Frank Dixon refuses to accept a US prison work defense supply contract because it bars discrimination. Dixon fulminates against Federal agencies trying to;


> "break down the principle of race segregation. "


 Gov. Eugene Talmadge of Georgia, another fire-eater, writes that he will enforce Jim Crow laws and warns any blacks opposing segregation to;


> "stay out of Georgia."


(_Syscom_)

The British and Americans finally agree that an invasion of Europe, "Sledgehammer, " is out of the question for 1942. But they do agree to action in North Africa, in the form of an American-led invasion of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, all controlled by the pro-Axis Vichy French. The Allies believe that an American-led invasion of French North Africa could shift wavering French generals towards the Allied side, thus putting powerful Vichy French holdings, if not the country, into the war on the Allied side, and trapping Rommel's Afrika Korps in Libya in a giant vise. The U.S.,Joint Chiefs of Staff issue a statement that USAAF heavy and medium bomber groups will he shifted from Operation BOLERO assignments, the invasion of Europe, to Africa for Operation *TORCH*, the invasion of North Africa. BOLERO resources are further depleted by a decision to send 15 combat groups to the Pacific theater. (_Syscom_)

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Do 217E-4 belonging to II./KG 40 crashed in the North Sea on an operational flight and was a total loss. The crew of 4 - Pilot Oblt. Edgar Benscheidt, Navigator Fw. Ernst Klaus and Engineer Uffz. Georg Senft died immediately. Wireless operator Ofw. Rudolf Gruner was found washed ashore between the villiages of Lokken and Blokhus on 14 October, 1942.


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## Njaco (Jul 25, 2007)

*25 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe A broke out of its bridgeheads on the lower Don, along with 4.Panzerarmee, which held the eastern most of these. Heeresgruppe A drove south while 4.Panzerarmee attacked east and then north-east to link up with the rest of Heeresgruppe B as it advanced towards Stalingrad. The South Front under General Malinovsky was being quickly shattered and the remnants were absorbed in the North Caucasus Front, which was commanded by Marshal Budenny. Despite the lack of supplies and the intense heat, the Germans made rapid progress. Further north, the 6.Armee attempted to bounce its way across the River Don, but was initially repulsed and so waited for 4.Panzerarmee to arrive.

JG 52's Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn was badly wounded flying Bf 109F "Weiss 5".

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Obfw. Kurt Goerbing of 2./JG 77 was shot down off the Sicilian coast. He did not have to take to his parachute but was able to ditch his aircraft close to the beach and waded to the shore.


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## Njaco (Jul 26, 2007)

*26 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe A launched an offensive from Rostov and the lower Don toward the Caucasus region. A Bf 109E-7 belonging to 8(Pz)./SchG 1 returned to Morosovskaya-West badly damaged after being shot-up by a Russian fighter.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Auchinleck suspened offensive operations at El Alamein after 3 days of heavy fighting which bagged 7,000 Axis prisoners. Exhausted by the efforts, the British 8th Army began to dig in. This concluded the First battle of El Alamein.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Lt. Colonel Albert P. Clark, Executive Officer of the 31 FG, was shot down while flying an RAF fighter in a sweep over France, thus becoming the first US 8th AF fighter pilot to be shot down in the ETO. He survived and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Lt. Colonel Clark was one of 7 Spitfires claimed shot down by Luftwaffe fighters. Ofw. Walter Meyer of 6./JG 26 and Oblt. Rudolf Pflanz of 1./JG 2 claimed 2 Spitfires apiece. But lost during the battles were Ofw. Erwin Leibold of 3./JG 26 who was killed and Lt. Horst-Benno Kruger of 5./JG 2 who survived.


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## Njaco (Jul 27, 2007)

*27 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-166' _completes mining operations off the Mississippi River Delta south of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans crossed the Don River at Rostov and occupied Bataysk. 6.Armee launched an attack to destroy a bridgehead west of Stalingrad at Kalach. Heeresgruppe B, including the German 6.Armee of General Paulus, meets heavy Russian resistance in their battle to clear the elbow of the Don River. (_Syscom_)

*GERMANY*: British Bomber Command launched an "all out effort", sending 403 bombers against Hamburg. Heavy damage was reported as 337 civilians were killed, and 14,000 were homeless after the bombs and fires destroyed 823 homes. British losses in the raid were heavy - 29 planes (7.2%).

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Siegfreid Freytag, _Staffelkapitaen _of 3./JG 77, was shot down by a Spitfire over Malta and ditched into the sea off Valetta. As 3 British rescue launches approached, a Do 24 flying boat landed and rescued Freytag. Another fighter of 3./JG 77 was damaged in a dog-fight with Spitfire over La Valetta and made it back to Cosimo where it crashed in an emergency landing.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Rudolf Scheffel, _Staffelkapitaen _of 1./ZG 1, was wounded on a combat mission and removed from operations. Oblt. Eduard Tratt was appointed as _Staffelkapitaen_.


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## Njaco (Jul 29, 2007)

*28 July 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces began withdrawing from the lower Don, as the fall of Rostov had unhinged the defensive position. The effect of the fall of Rostov spread panic and terror in the Soviet Union, prompting harsh counter-measures by the Soviet High Command.


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## Njaco (Jul 29, 2007)

*29 July 1942*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe A continues to attack south of the Don, making good progress. German troops took Proletarskaya and established a bridgehead over the Manych River in the Caucasus Region. Hitler is not satisfied and returns the 4.Panzerarmy to Heeresgruppe B. These changes by Hitler have caused much wasted time and effort moving this army from front to front. This leaves Heeresgruppe A, facing Stalingrad, with a strategically vital task and inadequate resources.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A combined British and US Production Resources Board is established in London. The goal is to control allocations of material and industrial priorities. Averill Harriman for the US and Oliver Lyttelton for the UK are to be the senior members. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Jul 30, 2007)

*30 July 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: After laying mines off New Orleans, Louisiana, on 27 July, the German submarine _'U-166' _attacks convoy TAW 7 about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and sinks the US ship SS _'Robert E Lee'_. The ship, headed for New Orleans, Louisiana, had more than 400 passengers and crew onboard. Ten crewmembers and 15 passengers were killed, with the remainder rescued by US Navy ships PC-566, SC-519 and the tugboat _'Underwriter'_. (_Syscom_)
*
EASTERN FRONT*: A Soviet counter-offensive at Rzhev led to the temporary encirclement of 6 German divisions which were supplied by massive air drops of the Luftwaffe. Heeresgruppe A consolidated its bridgehead over the Manych River, while Heeresgruppe B struggled to reduce the Soviet bridgehead at Kalach west of Stalingrad. German forces capture Bataisk on the Don River.

The Germans intiated Unternehmen *'Klabautermann' *- the _Siebelfahren _operations against Soviet supply shipping on Lake Lagoda. Intitially led by Hptm. Hans Philipp, the 15 Bf 109s of 1. and 2. Staffeln of JG 54 (known as _Detachment Philipp_ or Kommando I./JG 54) were assigned with the task of providing these _Siebel _ferries with fighter cover and were shifted to Petajarvi.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: During the night of 30/31 July, the US Army, Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) dispatches B-24s to bomb a convoy in Pylos Bay, Greece, claiming hits on 2 merchant ships, and B-17s to hit the harbor at Tobruk, Libya. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Auchinleck suspended offensive operations against Rommel's forces at El Alamein. Although Churchill was displeased with the halt, Auchinleck did manage to save Egypt and the North African campaign by stopping Rommel during the combat actions of the last month.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Navy establishes the Women's Naval Reserve or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: England was attacked by the Luftwaffe during the night. The target was Birmingham and a total of 76 bombers flew the mission. However the majority of the 58 1/2 tons of HE and IBs dropped fell on Wolverhampton, northwest of Birmingham, the heaviest damage being made on Samuel Parker Co. Ltd. Three Do 217E-4s of KG 2 were lost. Of the 3, Do 217E-4 "U5+ET" came down at Glatton near Peterborough. It was brought down by AA fire at 02.00 hours. Of the other 2 Dorniers, "U5+FP" was shot down by AA fire at 03.08 hours and crashed at Cheveley near Newmarket. The crew bailed out and were taken prisoner. "U5+IR" was shot down into the sea near Lowenstoft by RAF No. 68 Sqdn Beaufighter (3 killed and 1 missing). All 3 of the aircraft were from 6./KG 2 based in Eindhoven. III./KG 26 lost 4 aircraft out of 16 bombers that took off from Rennes, including one crashing in Belgium, a Ju 88A-4 of 7./KG 26 that crashed near Peterborough and another from 9./KG 26 that came down off Hemsby. A Ju 88A-4 of 7./KG 26 flew into power cables and as the pilot tried to regain control, he was hit by Bren gunfire from an Army NCO of a searchlight unit. The Junkers then crashed at Thorney, 6 miles northeast of Peterborough at 02.08 hours with the crew all killed. 5./KG 54 also lost 1 aircraft in this attack, with the aircraft crashing over Malmedy with 3 dead and 1 missing. A Ju 88 of 12./KG 77 crashed at Oakington and an He 111 of IV./KG 55 was shot down near Weymouth with 2 POWS and 3 killed. One Ju 88 was lost from 12./KG 40 and one from 7./KG 53 along with a Ju 88 of KuFlGr/106 shot down at Malvern (crew POW) and another Junkers of the same unit shot down off St. Albans Head with 2 missing and 2 bodies recovered.


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## Njaco (Jul 31, 2007)

*31 July 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-588' _(Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, at position 49.59N, 36.36W, by depth charges from the Canadian corvette HMCS _'Wetaskiwin' _and the destroyer _'Skeena'_. 46 dead (all crew lost). (_Syscom_)

_'U-754' _(Type VIIC) is sunk in North Atlantic north of Boston, USA at position 43.02N, 64.52W, by a Royal Canadian Air Force Hudson Mk. III, s/n BW625, piloted by Squadron Leader N.E. Small of No. 113 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. All hands, 43-men, on the U-boat are lost. This was the first submarine sunk by the RCAF's Eastern Air Command. 43 dead. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces of the West Front launches a major attack against Heeresgruppe Mitt in the Rzhev area. The German advance into the northern Caucasus continued. 4.Panzerarmee launched attacks aimed at breaking the Russian hold on the middle Don River.

*GERMANY*: The new Daimler-Benz built Do 217N night-fighter flew for the first time. These warplanes had the bomb bays removed and the FuG 202 Lichtenstein BC radar installed. Only 364 aircraft of the type were delivered and by mid-1944 had been replaced or removed from the Nachtjagdgeschwader.

For the first time over 100 Lancaster bombers from a force of 600 RAF bombers attacked Dusseldorf. 453 homes were destroyed, 1500 damaged and 279 civilians were killed. The British losses were heavy at 29 aircraft (nearly 5%).

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The Soviet Navy lists submarine Shch-317 Baltic Fleet Gulf of Finland (mined off Suuraari Island) (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In a Luftwaffe night raid on Hull, 25 people were killed. A 500kg HE and a 1800kg HE fell on the Grindell and Victoria Dock areas. There was extensive domestic damage and some railway damage.

Franciscus Winter, claiming Belgian refugee status, arrived at Gourock on board a ship from Gibraltar. He was interrogated at RVPS, found to have a large amount of money on him, and eventually confessed to being a spy. Found guilty of treachery at the Old Bailey on 4 December 1942, he was hanged at Wandsworth on 26 January 1943. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Aug 1, 2007)

*1 August 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-166' _(Type IXC) was sunk on 30 July, 1942 in the Gulf of Mexico, in position 28.5N, 89W, by depth charges from the USN submarine chaser, USS PC-566. All 52 crewman on the U-boat were lost. This boat was finally discovered and documented in late May 2001 after years and years of unsuccessful research and wreck-hunting. The wreck was located some 45 miles (72.4 km) south of the mouth of Mississippi River, by C C Technologies with their AUV during oil-survey work for BP Amoco and Shell. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe A in the south continued to fan out into the Caucasus region, while 1.Panzerarmee reached the Kuban River. Heeresgruppe A advancef through Salsk and reached the Kuban River near Kropotkin. Heeresgruppe B continued to fight to cut off the Soviet defenders near Kalach in the Don bend near Stalingrad. German forces captured Salsk, severing an important Stalingrad-Novorossisk rail-line. (_Syscom_)

Uffz. Crinius of I./JG 53 claimed his 50th victory in the southern sector while Gerhard Krause, also from JG 53, went missing in action. He had 12 victories. The I _Gruppe _of JG 53 also recieved a new commander when Hptm. Walter Spies, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 53 was appointed to the position left empty when Major Herbert Kaminski left on 24 July. Hptm. Gerhard Michalski took over duties as _Gruppenkommander _of II./JG 53.

Ofw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of III./JG 51 claimed 9 Russian fighters in one day. Lt. Wolfgang Gendelmeyer of _Stab _I./JG 3 with 10 victories was killed in a flying accident. Hptm. Gunther Hoffmann-Loerzer was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./KG 1.

Major Ernst Kupfer's II./StG 2 moved from Tazinskaya to Obliwskaya while Major Gustav Pressler's II./StG 2 transferred to Wjasma. The _Stab_./SchG 1, I./SchG 1 and II./SchG 1 moved to Tusov in August to support the advance on Stalingrad. Toward the end of the month, 5./SchG 1 was sent back to Orel and temporarily attached to JG 51.

III./ZG 2 withdrew from Russia to Pandorf near Vienna to re-equip with the latest version of the new Fw 190 _Jabo _version, giving up their Bf 109Es.

*GERMANY*: Hptm. Herbert Bonsch, a night-fighter with Erg./NJG 2 with 11 victories, was killed in action.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Germans, unable to make headway on the ground in Egypt, launched a major air raid against Cairo.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Fresh from their success over PQ-17, the Luftwaffe was ready for PQ-18. Today began the first of several false alarms of large convoys from Iceland for Luftflotte 5. Every recon squadron was flown sorties for the following 2 weeks, searching for the next Allied convoy. 10./JG 5 transferred from Aalborg to Oerlandet.


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## syscom3 (Aug 2, 2007)

*2 August 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: SS _'Treminnard' _sunk by _'U-160' _at 10.40N, 57.07W. At 0927, the unescorted _'Flora II' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-254' _60 miles SE of Vestmannaoerne, Iceland. The master, 24 crewmembers, four gunners and one passenger were picked up by the Icelandic trawler Juni and landed at Reykjavik. At 0612, the unescorted _'Maldonado' _was stopped by _'U-510' _with gunfire and sunk by a coup de grace.

Destroyer HMCS _'Hamilton' _sighted and attacked a U-Boat; forcing it to submerge.

Between 0048 and 0109 on 20 Jul 1942, _'U-66' _laid one CGC, two MRB and three TMB mines in the entrance of Port Castries, St Lucia. On 29 July, a USCG cutter was damaged by a mine detonation and on 2 August the HM MTB-339 and MTB-342 were also damaged by mine detonations.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Unaware of their destiny, lured by German promises of extra bread and jam, many Jewish families are volunteering for deportation "to the east" from the Warsaw Ghetto rail terminus. Others are rounded up by brutal Ukrainian and German SS guards. Resistance is punished by death. Only those working for German factories in the ghetto are spared the transports. Crammed 200 to a goods van, 60 wagons to each train, many suffocate in the airless heat as the train trundles the 50 miles to Treblinka station. There it waits for Polish rail workers to uncouple the wagons. Franciszek Zabecki, a railman, alleges some appalling atrocities: "One mother threw a small child wrapped up in a pillow from the wagon, shouting "_Take it, there's some money to look after it"_. An SS man ran up, unwrapped the pillow, seized the child by its feet and smashed its head against a wagon wheel. This took place in full view of the mother, who howled with pain ..." The wagons are shunted into the death camp 20 at a time. Whip-wielding Nazi guards sort the human cargo into men, women and children. Forced to strip, the deportees walk naked down a lane to camp's three gas chambers. Twenty minutes later, they are all dead. The empty wagons go back to Warsaw to pick up another load. It is estimated that the Treblinka camp is murdering 40,000 Jews a week.

Ofw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of III./JG 51 brought his score to 102 victories after shooting down 9 Russian planes. He became the first pilot of JG 51 to surpass General Werner Moelders score of 100 victories. The _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 51, Hptm. Richard Leppla, was severley wounded in combat, losing the vision in one eye as a result. Oblt. Herbert Wehnelt was made _Gruppenkommandeur _in his place.

Promoted to the rank of Hauptmann, Wolf-Dietrich Huy, _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 77 returned to combat duty with the staffel - now based in the Leningrad area - from Oblt. Walter Lucke. Hptm. Hans Philipp scored a victory over Leningrad, farther to the south and in connection with another operation other than Unternehmen *Klabautermann*.

Hptm. Helmut Bennemann's I./JG 52 moved from Rostov IV to Kertsch IV. Major Hubertus von Bonin's II./JG 52 moved from Malaja Orlowka to Jegorlyk.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Allied aircraft in North Africa began concentrated attacks on Rommel's extended supply lines.


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## syscom3 (Aug 3, 2007)

*3 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe B continues the attack on Kletskaya, Russia. The 4.Panzerarmee has crossed the Don and is advancing east around Kotelnikovo. The 1.Panzerarmee attacks from the Kuban east toward Stavropol and south toward Maykop.

JG 77's Oblt. Anton "Toni" Hackl of 5./JG 77 shot down 3 Russian aircraft to bring his score to 100 victories. But Oblt. Gottfreid Schlitzer of 9./JG 51 was wounded in action against Soviet fighters. Ofw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of III./JG 51 was awarded the _Eichenlaub _for his 102 victories.

In the morning over the Black Sea, 10 Heinkels of 6./KG 26 flew torpedo attacks through very heavy defensive fire from several cruisers and their destroyer escort in the largest torpedo attack against Soviet warships. Two or three torpedo hits were observed, some on the cruisers, including the cruiser "_Molotov_" (put out of action until 1944) and some on the destroyers. Nothing more could be achieved because the defensive fire put up by the Soviet warships was too intense for a textbook torpedo attack. 2 Heinkels and their crews were lost during the attack.

The first victory attained by JG 54's Petajarvi unit, Detachment Philipp, was achieved by 1. Staffel's Uffz. Heinrich Bruhn against a Pe-2 near the island of Yalamo in the northern part of Lake Ladoga

*NORTH AFRICA*: British PM Churchill and General Brooke arrive in Cairo. They are on an inspection trip which includes the 8th Army. Churchill is disappointed with the results the 8th has so far achieved given the resources furnished.


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## Njaco (Aug 4, 2007)

*4 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Advance units of 4.Panzerarmee (von Hoth) crossed the Aksai River in their drive toward Stalingrad. Having completed the crossing of the Don, 48.Panzerkorps turned northwest, driving toward Stalingrad.

Lt. Walter Nowotny of 1./JG 54 described his day's action over Leningrad:


> "_It was a clear, blue sky and it was filled with Soviet fighters attempting to attack our bombers. I picked an I-18(MiG 1) and made a sharp turn, putting my Bf 109 in a good position. A few bursts sent him burning to the ground. The remaining fighters tried to escape, but my Messerschmitt was faster. Flying above the docks on the Neva mouth, I got the backboard plane in a finger-four formation into my gunsight. Two bursts of fire and the Rata blew up. Fuselage and wings tumbled down on fire. The flak fired fiercely from below. I made a 180 degree and spotted 4 I-18s attacking our bombers from behind. Pulling up the nose of my plane, I made one of the Soviet fighters pass through my bullet tracers. The success stunned me. He immediately went into a steep dive, started spinning and left a thick, black trail of smoke. This was my 6th victory today. Number 7 didn't last long. I was just about to return home, as suddenly a Rata pulled up underneath me. I pushed my stick forward and seconds later the enemy went down in spirals." _


Lt. Nowotny scored 7 victories over Russian aircraft near Leningrad to bring his total to 54 kills.

I./JG 52 moved from Tuleblja to Dugino. After a stay of 2 days, Major Hubertus von Bonin's II./JG 52 moved from Jegorlyk to Bjelaja-Glina. Hptm. Walter Spies I./JG 53 left Frolow for Bereska.


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## Njaco (Aug 5, 2007)

*5 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-Boats return to large scale operations on the main north Atlantic routes with attacks beginning on convoy SC-94 today. These attacks will continue through the 13th. The convoy loses 11 ships and 2 U-Boats are sunk, 4 are damaged. (_Syscom_)
*
EASTERN FRONT*: 1.Panzerarmee captured Voroshilovsk over 200 miles to the southeast of Rostov, threatening the oil fields at Maikop. Soviet forces deployed newly raised formations of the 57th and 64th Armies west of Stalingrad in an attempt to stem the advance of 4.Panzerarmee. The German spearhead, moving northeast, ran straight into the new Soviet armies. Heavy fighting resulted in serious losses to the green Russian formations and the important road center of Kotelnikovo, 100 miles northeast of Stalingrad, was captured by the Germans.

Oblt. Egger's _Panzerjaegerstaffel_./JG 51 (also known as 13(Pz)./JG 51) moved from Deblin-Irena to Vitebsk. The unit used Hs 129s for operations. _Stab_./JG 52 and Major Alfons Orthofer's StG 77 moved from Rostow to Bjelaja-Glina. Major Hans-Joachim Ritter's I./KG 51 and Major Ernst Freiherr von Bibra's III./KG 51 moved from Stalino to Kertsch.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Hptm. Georg Christl's III./ZG 26 transferred from Fuka to Kastelli while 8./ZG 26 went to Derna joining 10./ZG 26. Churchill visited the British 8th Army at El Alamein and decided to replace Auchinleck.

In Egypt, Major General Lewis H. Brereton, Commanding General U.S. Army Middle East Air Force, in his first strategic estimate of the Middle Eastern war, indicates that the 3 major objectives for the Allied Air Forces are to assist in the destruction of General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps by support to ground troops, secure sea and air communications on and over the Mediterranean, and carry out a sustained air offensive against Italy and against oil installations at Ploesti, Rumania and in the Caucasus, if the latter should fall under Axis control. (_Syscom_)

*WESTERN FRONT*: US VIII Fighter Command dispatched its first mission -11 Spitfire Mk Vs of the 31st FG on a practice run over France.


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## Njaco (Aug 7, 2007)

*6 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Units of 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) crossed the Kuban River at Armavir.

Oblt. Anton Hackl of 5./JG 77 was awarded the _Eichenlaub _for achieving 106 victories. Benno Gantz of 7./JG 51 with 16 victories was killed in action and Oblt. Gottfreid Schlitzer of 9./JG 51 died of his wounds suffered on 3 August 1942.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Allied B-24s hit the harbour at Tobruk, Libya.


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## Njaco (Aug 7, 2007)

*7 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Units of the 6.Armee (von Paulus) crossed the Don River at Kalach in their advance toward Stalingrad. The _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 51, Hptm. Richard Leppla, was injured again in a collision with a loading Ju 52 that put him out of action for several days.

I./JG 4 was formed in Mizil (Rumania) from Oblt. Gunther Hannak's _Olschutzstaffel_./JG 77. Obstlt. Franjo Dzal's 15(kroat.)./JG 52 moved from Rostow to Bjelaja-Glina and began recieving Bf 109Gs to replace their outdated Bf 109Es.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Submarine HMS _'Thorn' _is sunk by a depth charge attack from Italian destroyer _'Emmanuale Pessagno'_, east of Gevdo Island, Crete. There are no survivors. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: A _schwarm _from 5./JG 27, led by Ofw. Emil Clade, chanced upon another of the occasional Bombay transports of No. 216 Sqdn. But this machine was not carrying SAS troops (who had long since taken to using jeeps for their forays behind Axis lines). It was instead on the daily flight from Heliopolis to pick up wounded from the front for transport back to hospital in Cairo. At one forward landing ground, the Bombay's 18 yr old pilot, Sgt H.E.James was ordered to wait for a special passenger. This turned out to be Lt. Gen. W.H.E. Gott, who, only hours previously, had been appointed Commander of the British 8th Army and who now needed to get back to Cairo for an urgent meeting. Rather than fly at the stipulated 50 ft to escape the attention of Axis fighters, the pilot elected to climb to 500 ft on account of an overheating engine. It was his undoing. Clade's first pass forced the lumbering Bombay to crash-land in the desert to the southeast of Alexandria. Some of the crew and passengers attempted to escape from the still moving machine. All but one of those remaining inside, including Lt. Gen. Gott, were killed when Uffz. Bernd Schneider carried out a strafing run to finish off the stricken machine. Lt. Gen. Gott was the highest ranked British officer to be killed by enemy fire in World War II. His death led to the hurried appointment of a replacement commander for the 8th Army - a relative unknown named Bernard Law Montgomery. The Luftwaffe had quite possibly caused its own defeat in the desert.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The creation of the Palestine Regiment, of the British Army, is announced by Sir John Grigg. It will consist of separate Jewish and Arab battalions. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Aug 8, 2007)

*8 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German submarine _'U-379' _is sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 57.11N, 30.57W, by ramming and depth charges from the RN corvette HMS _'Dianthus'_. 5 of the 45 man U-boat crew survive. (_Syscom_)

German submarine _'U-98' _sows mines off the waters of Jacksonville, Florida. (_Syscom_)
*
EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe A continues to advance south from the Kuban. Heeresgruppe B captures Surovniko.

Hptm. Karl-Heinz Schnell was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 51 when Hptm. Richard Leppla, despite his injuries of the day before, was posted to JG 105.

Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 and his wingman, Uffz. Robert Wolter, attacked a formation of LaGG-3s and shot down 2 aircraft each.

Hptm. Gunther Hoffmann-Loerzer's IV./KG 1 was transferred from Stara-Bychow to Riga-Spilve. 11./KG 1 left Brjansk and joined the _Gruppe _at Riga-Spilve.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In the U.S., six of the eight German spies that landed on Long Island, New York, and Florida in June are executed in the electric chair in Washington, D.C. The other two spies, who turned themselves in to the FBI, were sentenced to 30-years and life imprisonment respectively. Both are released in 1948 by order President Harry S. Truman and returned to Germany. (_Syscom_)

Roosevelt and Churchill agree that command of "Operation *Torch*" will be vested in General Eisenhower. (_Syscom_)

*WESTERN FRONT*: 11(Hoh.)./JG 2 was formed at Liegescourt.


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## Njaco (Aug 9, 2007)

*9 August 1942
*
*EASTERN FRONT*: Units of 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) captured the first Soviet oilfield at Maikop, near the Black Sea. The Red Army blew up the wellheads and the oilfields were left burning furiously, so little refined fuel was found and the Germans were denied the main prize of the summer campaign. Krasnodar and Yeysk, a port of the Sea of Azov, were captured by the German 17.Armee which was advancing behind the 1.Panzerarmee.

Oblt. Max-Helmuth Ostermann, the _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 54, was shot down and killed over Lake Illmen in combat with 9 Soviet fighters. Oblt. Ostermann had 102 victories at the time of his death.

Pilots of JG 3 and I./JG 53 claimed 50 enemy planes around Kalach and Stalingrad. In fact, 8 VA and 102 IAD PVO lost only 19 planes.

Stab./JG 52 moved forward from Bjelaja to Armavir.


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## Njaco (Aug 11, 2007)

*10 August 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces capture Soviet positions at Kalach on the west bank of the Don. (_Syscom_)

Lt. Walter Nowotny of 1./JG 54 crash-landed his Bf 109G-2 after shooting down 2 Soviet MiGs. The next victory attained by JG 54's Petajarvi unit, _Detachment Philipp_,was made by Uffz. Bruhn against a Curtiss P-40 over Lake Ladoga.

Rolf Diergaardt, a 29 kill _Experte _with JG 3, went missing in action as did Werner Schow of JG 53. Schow had 15 victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation *PEDESTAL*, a convoy bringing supplies from the U.K. to Malta, passes through the Straits of Gibraltar during the night of 10/11 August. The convoy of 14 merchant ships is escorted by two battleships, HMS _'Nelson' _and _'Rodney'_; four aircraft carriers, HMS _'Eagle'_, _'Furious'_, _'Indomitable' _and _'Victorious'_; seven light cruisers, HMS _'Cairo'_, _'Charybdis'_, _'Kenya'_, _'Manchester'_, _'Nigeria'_, _'Phoebe' _and _'Sirius'_; 33 destroyers; two tugs; four corvettes; four minesweepers; and seven motor launches from Malta. The Germans and Italians begins attack the convoy and In the late morning, the German submarine _'U-73' _maneuvers past four destroyers, and from a distance of 500 yards (457 meters), fires four torpedoes at HMS _'Eagle'_which strike the carrier on the port side. The ship sinks within six minutes about 80 nautical miles (148 kilometers) north of Algiers, Algeria (38.05N, 03.02E). Two officers and 158 ratings (enlisted men) are lost but 927 crewmen survive and are picked up by two destroyers and a tug. Before HMS "_Eagle_" sank during Operation 'Pedestal', the British carrier delivered 37 Spitfires to the island of Malta during Operation *'Bellows'*. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Aug 12, 2007)

*11 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: In their advance south toward the Grozny oilfields, units of Heeresgruppe A (List) captured Elista near the Caspsian Sea. Soviet attacks against German positions at Rzhev stalled. Heavy losses were reported on both sides, with little territory changing hands. Chuguyev in the Kharkov sector falls to the Soviets. The advance on Poltava threatens to cut off the German units at Kharkov and further south. Therefore the III Panzerkorps is brought north from Taganrog. The use of Panzer forces as a mobile reserve is indicative of the weakness of the German Army on the Eastern Front.

On one of Hptm. Horst Carganico's missions over the Liza front and Murmansk, Hptm. Carganico of Stab II./JG 5 in his Bf 109F-4 trop, was involved in air combat with Russian fighters. His aircraft was hit from the rear starboard quarter with bullets passing through the fuselage and wings, and significantly, through the radiator - one bullet even crashing through a propellor blade - sufficent damage to cause an emergency landing but not enough to bail out. He was trying to get back to his own lines when the engine seized. Force landing, wheels up, in an area called Motowka (Motovskj Fjord) behind enemy lines and, again went missing overnight (it was nearly full daylight at that time of the year) and was again picked up by a Storch on the 13 August, returning to his unit.

Lt. Freidrich-Karl Mueller of I./JG 53 shot down 5 Russian aircraft while Uffz. Crinius of I./JG 53 downed 3 Russian aircraft. Hptm. Walter Spies' I./JG 53 then left Bereska for Tusow. Lt. Walther Hagenah of 2./JG 3 began his scoring by destroying a LaGG-3.

The fighters of JG 77 lost several pilots when Uffz. Hans Hoger of 6./JG 77 was shot down and captured while Fw. Franz Schulte of 6./JG 77, with 46 kills and Werner Steddin with 9 kills, went missing in action.

Major Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke was officially posted as _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 3, taking the place of Oblt. Gunther Lutzow.

The Bf 109s of III./JG 52 were shifted from Armawir in the southeast to Plastunovskaya, providing cover for the crossing of the Kuban River, which constituted a natural obstacle in the advance toward the large Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

British PM Churchill arrives in Moscow to meet with Stalin. The major reason for this trip is to inform Stalin there will be no 2nd Front in western Europe in 1942. (_Syscom_)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The attacks on the Operation *PEDESTAL *convoy continued. At 09.15 hours, 20 Luftwaffe aircraft attacked the fleet. 2 cruisers, a destroyer and 2 merchants are sunk. One tanker and HMS _'Indomitable' _are damaged. Then at 12.15 hours, the _'Deucalion' _was damaged and sunk by a combined force of Italian and Luftwaffe aircraft totaling 70 planes. At 18.00 hours, 100 warplanes managed to sink the _'Foresight' _and damaged the carrier _'Indomitable'_. HMS _'Foresight' _was attacked by Ju 87 and Ju 88 bombers and Italian S.79 torpedo bombers. _'Foresight' _is disabled by a torpedo hit and taken in tow by _'Tartar' _towards Gibraltar. Later it is decided to scuttle _'Foresight' _by torpedo from Tartar rather than risk both destroyers being sunk. There were 4 casualties but 140 survivors. Location: 13 miles SW of Galita Island at 37 40N 10 00E. But at 20.00 hours the Luftwaffe had its most success. 20 German aircraft along with 2 submarines were able to sink the _'Cairo'_, _'Clan Ferguson' _and _'Empress Hope'_. The _'Nigeria'_, _'Brisbane Star'_, _'Kenya' _and _'Ohio' _were damaged. Cruiser HMS _'Cairo' _is attacked by the Italian submarine _'Axum' _which fired four torpedoes. _'Axum' _claimed hits on a cruiser and a destroyer, but in fact he had hit cruiser HMS _'Nigeria' _which had to return to Gibraltar, another torpedo hit the tanker _'Ohio'_, and the other two hit HMS _'Cairo' _and blew off her stern: and made it necessary to scuttle her the next day, thus taking away the only two ships fitted for fighter direction. _'Axum's _achievement of one cruiser sunk, another damaged, and a tanker damaged with a single salvo is unique in submarine history. Location: NE of Bizerta at 37 40N 10 06E. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US light cruiser USS _'Cleveland' _(CL-55), operating in the Chesapeake Bay, demonstrated the effectiveness of the radio-proximity fuze against aircraft by destroying 3 radio-controlled drones with 4 proximity bursts fired from her 5-inch (127 mm) guns. This successful demonstration led to mass production of the fuze. (_Syscom_)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Oberst Hans Wolter was appointed Chef des Stabes of IX. Fliegerkorps.


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## Njaco (Aug 12, 2007)

*12 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Three U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines off the U.S. coast. 1) _'U-171' _sinks an armed tanker by torpedo and shells in the Gulf of Mexico in position 28.37N, 90.48W while the ship is en route to Port Arthur, Texas. 2) Later in the day, an unarmed freighter is sunk in the Atlantic in position 4.55N, 18.30W. 3) _'U-600' _sinks an armed freighter in convoy TAW-12 in the Windward Passage in position 19.55N, 73.49W. The survivors are rescued by RN destroyer HMS _'Churchill' _[ex USN destroyer Herndon (DD-198 ).] (_Syscom_)
*
EASTERN FRONT*: German advances in the Caucasus reached Mineralniye Wody. _Stab_./JG 52 moved from Armawir to Mineralniye Wody and began converting to the Bf 109G. Major Hubertus von Bonin's II./JG 52 followed the _Stab _to Mineralniye Wody.

Lt. Ernst Weissmann of 12./JG 51 with 69 victories, went missing in action. Gefr. Karl Schnorrer of I./JG 54 claimed a Pe-2 between Yalamo and Lake Ladoga's northwestern shore.

*GERMANY*: The RLM suddenly gave orders to immediately halt construction of the He 177A-1/U2 and not to produce any more standard weapons equipment. This order followed a report by 1./FKG 50 that as a result of trials, the additional armament was responsible for a loss of speed around 100kmh (62mph). These results were subsequently proved incorrect with flight trials at E-Stelle Rechlin.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation *PEDESTAL *made port at Valetta but not before the Luftwaffe sent another 12 aircraft to attack the convoy. They succeeded in sinking the SS _'Wainarama' _and further damaging the _'Ohio'_. The _'Wainarama' _was sunk by German Ju 88 dive-bombers off Cape Bon. Direct hits by 4 bombs ignited aviation fuel stored in cans on her deck. The ship exploded in a sheet of flames and smoke. In less than 5 minutes the ship was gone. Of her crew of 107, only 27 men survived. Later at 19.00 hours, the Luftwaffe sank a merchant straggler. The Operation *PEDESTAL *convoy was the most bombarded convoy in the entire war. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Aug 14, 2007)

*14 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: German forces crossed the upper Kuban River at Krasnodar in the Caucasus. The German 6.Armee has almost finished clearing the elbow of the Don River in Russia. Because of a lack of mobile forces the Germans consider that too many potential prisoners have escaped to the east.

Fw. Richard Quante, a 49 victory Experte of 6./JG 51 was killed in action as was Oblt. Heinrich Kraft of 8./JG 51 who was killed by Russian AA fire.

Uffz. Otto Durkop of 1./JG 54 claimed a Pe-2 between Yalamo and Lake Ladoga's northwestern shore.

The Italian torpedo boat MAS 527 engages three Soviet gunboats on Lake Ladoga, sinking an 800-ton Bira-class gunboat. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Two Ju 52s of III./KGzbV 1 were shot down into the sea by fighters over the Gulf of Sollum in northwest Egypt. 6 were killed and 2 were wounded.

US Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) B-24s bomb the harbor at Tobruk during the night of 14/15 August. (_Syscom_)

*WESTERN FRONT*: US 2d Lieutenants Joseph D Shaffer (33d Fighter Squadron) and Elza E Shahan (27th Fighter Squadron) jointly shoot down an Fw 200 Condor off the coast of Iceland. This is the first aerial victory of the USAAF in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). (_Syscom_)

Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower, Commanding General, European Theater of Operations US Army (ETOUSA), is appointed Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary Forces. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Aug 15, 2007)

*15 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Units of Heeresgruppe A reached the foothills of the Caucasus. 6.Armee (von Paulus) started its final drive from its Don bridgeheads toward Stalingrad.

Walther Dahl was appointed _Geschwaderadjutant _of JG 3, which was now based on the Russian Front. But the _Geschwader _lost Erich Schopper when he was killed in action. He had 7 kills to his credit.

Hptm. Philipp was instructed to transfer his _Detachment Philipp_ I./JG 54 to Vyazma-North, but a couple of I./JG 54's aircraft and pilots remained at Petajarvi. Five Bf 109s of 3./JG 54 were tasked to perform fighter-bomber missions against Soviet naval vessels in Lake Ladoga. Hptm. Philipp was transferred to Vyazma-North but shortly afterward he became sick and was sent to hospital in Konigsberg. He would return to combat status only in early October 1942.

Major Hans Keppler of III./KG 1 was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of KG 1 in place of Oblt. Peter Schemmel. Hptm. Werner Kanther was appointed to command III./KG 1 in Keppler's place.

Hptm. Helmut Bennemann's I./JG 52 moved from Kertsch IV to Orel-Nord.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Lockheed P-38 Lightning made its operational combat debut against the Luftwaffe when a pair of P-38Fs flying out of Iceland, shot down a Fw 200, assisted by a P-40.


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## Njaco (Aug 16, 2007)

*16 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The former _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 51, Hptm. Richard Leppla was again seriously wounded in combat and was put out of combat operations for several months. In battles with Soviet aircraft, III./JG 51 lost 3 _Staffelkapitaene _along with Hptm. Leppla.

Major Johannes Steinhoff's II./JG 52 moved from Mariupol to Kertsch IV with their brand-new Bf 109Gs and replaced I./JG 52. Hptm. Otto Kohnke's II./JG 54 was ordered to the Eastern Front and began moving from Beauvais to Chatalowka.

*GERMANY*: The _Geschwaderkommodore _of KG 30, Hptm. Werner Baumbach was awarded the _Schwerten_, becoming the first bomber pilot to be honored with the award.

*NORTH AFRICA*: For the first time in the war, US Army Air Corps planes, operating out of Egypt, provided tactical air support for the British 8th Army.


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## Njaco (Aug 17, 2007)

*17 August 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-108' _torpedoes and sinks an armed U.S. merchant tanker about 150 nautical miles (277 kilometers) north of Cayenne, French Guiana, in position 07.24N, 52.33W. Although the U-boat crew sees three men escape from the burning ship, they are never found. There are no survivors from the 41 merchant sailors and the 8-man Armed Guard. (_Syscom_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces in the Caucasus met their first serious opposition since crossing the Don at Rostov. The Germans capture Russian positions in Pyatigorsk and Yessentuki in the Caucasus.

*GERMANY*: Luftwaffe Test pilot, Heinrich Beauvais arrived at Augsburg to test fly the Me 262. Messerschmitt test pilot Wendel explained the unique characteristics of the jet including how to get airbourne by tapping the brakes. On the 3rd try to get aloft, Beauvais tapped the brakes but was not traveling fast enough and the jet crashed into a nearby field. The test pilot was unhurt but shaken and the jet was badly damaged.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British submarine HMS/M _'Turbulent' _fires two torpedoes that strike the Italian motor transport MV _'Nino Bixio'_. One of the torpedoes explodes in a hold full of Allied POWs and 336 of them, including 120 New Zealanders, are killed. The ship does not sink and is taken under tow by an escorting Italian destroyer and twoed to Navarino, Greece. The survivors are shipped to a POW camp near Bari, Italy. (_Syscom_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: B-25s of the 81st Bombardment Sqdn. (Medium) hit stores, depot and tank repair shops at Matruh, Egypt. This marked the debut of the B-25s of the 12th Bombardment Group in the Middle East.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The recon flights of Luftflotte 5 were halted after 2 weeks of fruitless searching for an enemy that wasn't there. No Allied convoys to Russia were launched in August as all forces were occupied with Operation *PEDESTAL *in the Mediterranean.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission 1. Twelve B-17E Flying Fortresses of the 97th Bombardment Group based at Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, takeoff at 1527 hours. The lead aircraft of the first flight of six is named "Butcher Shop" and is piloted by Colonel Frank A. Armstrong, the group commander; the co-pilot is Major Paul W. Tibbets, (the pilot of the B-29 "Enola Gay" which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945.)The lead aircraft of the second group is "Yankee Doodle" and this aircraft carries Major General Ira C. Eaker, Commanding General, VIII Bomber Command. The B-17s rendezvous with four squadrons of RAF Spitfire Mk. IXs and proceed to the target, the Sotteville marshalling yard at Rouen France. A second diversion force of six B-17s took off at 1512 hours from Polebrook, Northamptonshire, headed for France but then turned around and returned to base. All 12 aircraft bomb at 1739-1746 hours; the bombing was reasonably accurate with about half the bombs falling in the general target area. The escorts kept Luftwaffe fighters at bay but one Bf 109 got within range and was claimed as damaged by a ball turret gunner. The main force returns to base shortly after 1900 hours. (_Syscom_)


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## Njaco (Aug 18, 2007)

*18 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Detachment Philipp./JG 54 reported only one aerial victory, a Pe-2 claimed by the Petajarvi unit's Uffz. Mayer near the island of Yalamo in the northern part of Lake Ladoga. 7./JG 54 was transferring from Relbitsy to Siverskaya and reported no victories.


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## Njaco (Aug 19, 2007)

*19 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The German 6.Armee was ordered to attack Stalingrad by General von Paulus. His 6.Armee began to take the city itself, although von Paulus had still not been joined by Hoth's 4.Panzerarmee. Major Hans-Joachim Ritter's I./KG 51 moved from Kertsch to Tazinskaja.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Obfw. Erwin Sawallisch of II./JG 27 was killed in a flying accident. He had 33 victories.

Between 4 and 19 August, all that 6./JG 27 had managed to bring down was a pair of Kittyhawks and 5./JG 27's only claim during the same period was the Bombay carrying Lt. Gen. Gott on 7 August. But 4./JG 27 - or to be more precise, just one _schwarm _of the _Staffel _- submitted claims during that time for no fewer than 59 Allied fighters destroyed. This huge discrepancy in numbers, and the lack of any witnesses other than the _schwarm _members themselves, gave rise to grave suspicions. But rathet than take the matter to higher authority, and possibly throw doubt and disrepute on the whole _Gruppe_, it was decided simply to break up the offending _schwarm_. It should be noted that a full 2 months were to pass before the erstwhile _Schwarmfurhrer _claimed his next victory and that one of his NCo pilots disappeared over the Med on 19 August for "reasons unknown" (some suggested he chose deliberately to dive into the sea rather than face accusations of making false claims and possible court-martial). The other 2 members however, went on to attain legitimate and respectable scores.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: F/O Bryan, flying Whirlwind P7046 and Sgt. Roberts in Whirlwind P7121 of RAF No. 137 Sqdn, were scrambled from Matlaske at 10.10 hours an directed towards a 'bandit'. While flying at an altitude of 4,000 ft off Happisburgh, they sighted a Do 217 about 1,000 feet below them. they dived on the Dornier together and opened fire. the German gunners returned fire. Bryan opened fire with a 3 sec burst and saw pieces flying off the Do 217. He then used up his remaining ammunition in 2 short bursts. Roberts moved in closer astern of the Dornier and fired 3 bursts. the 4 man crew of the Do 217E-4, belonging to 5./KG 40 were seen to bail out. The aircraft, by this time on fire, pulled up sharply before stalling and crashing into the sea.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: THE DIEPPE RAID - The Dieppe Raid or Operation *JUBILEE *was an Allied attack on the German occupied port of Dieppe, Seine-Maritime on the northern coast of France. Over 6,000 infrantrymen, predominately Canadian were supported by large British naval and air contingents. Intended to seize and hold a major port for a short period, both to prove it was possible and to gather intelligence from prisoners and captured materials while assessing the German responses, the raid was also intended to use air power to draw the Luftwaffe into a large planned encounter. Operation *JUBILEE *relied on the 2nd Canadian Infrantry Division under major General J.H. Roberts to attack Dieppe, Puys and Pourville, while the paratroop assaulted the flank gun batteries by an amphibious assault by Commandos. The massive Allied air support amounted to about 70 squadrons, with the overwhelming majority coming from RAF Fighter Command including 48 squadrons of Spitfires including all 3 famed Eagle squadrons, 4 squadrons of recon Mustangs and 7 squadrons of Blenheim and Boston light bombers, The opposing Luftwaffe forces were JG 2 and JG 26 comprised of about 200 fighters, mostly the new Fw 190, and about 100 bombers from II./KG 40 with Do 217E-2s, KG 2 with Do 217E-4s and 1(F)./123 with a variety of single and twin-engined recon types (including a single Fw 190A-3). On paper, at least, the Allies had a manifold numerical advantage. The flanking assaults failed for the most part. The ships carrying No. 3 Commando, approaching from the east and due to the _ad hoc _nature of the operation, not warned of its known schedule, ran into a Germany convoy. German S-Boats torpedoed some of the LCTs, coastal defenses were alerted and 80% of the attacking force was destroyed. Only a handful of the scattered Allied craft landed and from these only 18 Commandos reached and engaged their targets. Unable to destroy any of the guns, they were able to snipe on gun crews and prevent them from firing on the main assault. No. 4 Commandos landed in force and destroyed their targets, providing the only success of the operation. Most of No. 4 safely returned to England. This portion of the raid was considered a model for future commando raids. The Canadians in the center suffered greatly, at least in part due to the inexperience of Roberts, who unwisely committed the reserve force to the main beaches. The landing at Puys by the Royal Regiment of Canada was delayed and the potential advantages of surprise and darkness were lost. The well-placed German forces held the Canadians that did not land on the beach with little difficulty. 225 men were killed, 264 murdered and 33 made it back to England. The beach was defended by just 60 Germans, who at no time felt the need to reinforce their position. The main attack was at 3 points: The 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment (Calgary Tanks) in the middle with the Essex Scottish to the east and the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry to the west. Attacking 30 minutes after the flanking assaults and onto a steep pebble beach, all the groups were met with intense fire. The eastern assault was held at the beach. The western assault gained a hold in a shorefront casino but few soldiers made it across the road and they were soon stopped. The tanks arrived a little late, only to discover their landing point was difficult. 29 tanks disembarked but only 15 managed to climb the beach and cross the sea-wall onto the esplanade under unrelenting fire. However they were completely stopped by anti-tank blocks, were immobilized or returned to the beach. The engineers whose job it was to clear such obstacles were unable to do so because of heavy fire which the tanks could not suppress. Back on the beach, the tanks provided fire support as best they could and covered the retreat. The supporting naval bombardment was supplied by destroyers, which did not have sufficent weight of broadside or range to destroy the German strongpoints without themselves coming under heavy fire. They were not able to communicate directly with those on the beach to make their bombardment effective. At 10.50 hours, a general order to retreat was issued. In the air over the landings, the RAF, USAAF and RCAF tried their best to support the operation. Air lossses consisted of 64 Spitfires (including 6 USAAF aircraft), 20 Hurricane fighter-bombers, 6 Boston bombers and 10 US P-51 Mk I 'Mustang' rmy cooperation aircraft - for 62 killed, 30 wounded and 17 POW. The P-51 'Mustang' made its combat debut over the skies of Dieppe. One of the Mustang-flying RAF pilots was credited with a German fighter kill. Luftwaffe losses were 23 Fw 190 fighters - 16 from JG 2 and 7 from JG 26 - and 25 Dornier Do 217s, mostly from KG 2. 14 pilots were killed - 8 from JG 2 and 6 from JG 26. The raid was generally considered to be an unmitigated tactical disaster, with no major objectives accomplished. 4,384 of 6,086 men who made it ashore were either killed, wounded or catured. The RAF and RCAF failed to lure the Luftwaffe into open battle and lost 119 planes, whilst the Royal Navy suffered 555 casualties. The very inexperienced American pilots had performed reasonably well but they were clearly outclassed by the JG 2 and JG 26 Focke-Wulfs. Despite the inevitable overclaiming, this was clearly a victory for the Germans. The catastrophe at Dieppe later influenced Allied preparation for Operation TORCH and Operation OVERLORD.


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## pbfoot (Aug 19, 2007)

I'd like to add a few things missing about Dieppe. Firstly you can't blame Roberts - most of the blame should be pointed at Mountbatten, it was his baby and plan. Now the Canadians asked to do something as the troops were getting pissed at sitting in the UK for 3 years away from home doing nothing but training so we got picked for Dieppe. The original plan called for thr RN to bombard the beaches with heavy naval units but the RN vetoed this as they feared losses of the capital ships leaving only destroyers to provide fire, also Bomber Command was reluctant to use the heavy bombers for the same reason. 

The attack on the right flank at Varengeville and Pourville was a surprise but the South Saskatchewn Regt was landed on the wrong side of the of the Scie river and to perform their task had to take a bridge which by the time they got there was well defended. (I assume the 60 germans at the bridge) On the left flank The Royal Regiment of Canada, plus three Black Watch platoons and one artillery detachment, experienced unbelievable bad luck on the Puys beach. Their task was to neutralize machine-gun and artillery batteries protecting the Dieppe beach. Problems started during the crossing of the Channel and the barges arrived in disorganized waves, the first ones already twenty minutes behind schedule. By then, the darkness and smoke screens that should have concealed their arrival had been lifted and German defences were on high alert. As soon as they reached the shore, the men found themselves pinned against the seawall and unable to advance otherwise than in full view of the enemy. Since no ship could get close without being targeted and probably sunk, the survivors of the Royals and Black Watch were forced to surrender. Of the 556 men and officers of the Royal Regiment of Canada who sailed for Dieppe, over 200 lost their lives in action and 264 were captured, among them several wounded.

In the centre the same thing occured when the troops arrived before the tanks and therefore without artillery. Could you imagine Tarawa without artillery

_"Almost all concerned believed that a raid on Dieppe was now out of the question; however, though Montgomery wanted it cancelled indefinitely, Mountbatten did not. He began reorganising the raid from 11 July as Operation Jubilee. Despite not receiving Combined Chiefs of Staff authorisation, Mountbatten instructed his staff to proceed in late July. This lack of top-level go-ahead resulted in certain dislocations in the planning. For example, the failure to inform the Joint Intelligence Committee or the Inter-Service Security Board meant none of the intelligence agencies were involved, consequently the operation was mounted on information that was months out of date."_

'Dieppe,' the miniseries - The Contentious Legacy of Dieppe - CBC Archives interesting clip with a couple of historians discussing Dieppe. They do not care for Mountbatten


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## Njaco (Aug 20, 2007)

*20 August 1942*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: The Russians counter-attacked to the north of Stalingrad, but elsewhere German troops reached the Volga. The German 48.Panzerkorps attacked northeast from Abganerovo, but could not break clear of the Russian defenses in the hills of Tundutovo. On their northern flank, 4.Korps was also facing resolute Russian resistance. The titanic struggle for Stalingrad had begun.

Major Hans-Joachim Blechschmidt was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./ZG 1 in place of Hptm. Wolfgang Schneck who was transferred to _Schnellkampfgeschwader _(SKG) 210. Major Johannes Steinhoff's II./JG 52 moved from Kertsch IV to Tusow. Major Ernst Freiherr von Bibra's III./KG 51 moved from Kertsch to Tazinskaja and joined the I _Gruppe_.

*NORTH AMERICA*: HQ US Twelfth Air Force is activated at Bolling Field, Washington, DC. This unit is tasked with supporting the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942. _(Syscom)_

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In England, the principle of coordinated day and night bombing receives its first formal definition in the "Joint British/American Directive on Day Bomber Operations involving Fighter Cooperation. " The emphasis is placed on achieving continuity in the bombing offensive from the UK. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Two Spitfires were claimed shot down near Caen by Ofw. Josef Wurmheller of 1./JG 2. Over the Bay of Biscay, 2 RAF Halifaxes were claimed by aircraft from 13./KG 40, southwest of La Coruna.

The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 3; 11 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Longeau marshalling yard at Amiens, France at 1801 hours without loss. _(Syscom)_


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## Njaco (Aug 21, 2007)

*21 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Advancing along the east coast of the Black Sea, elements of the German 17.Armee (Ruoff) took Krymsk. Uffz. Gustav Horn of 4./JG 77 went missing in action and presumed dead as was Waldemar Semelka, an experte of JG 52 with 75 victories.

Major Kurt Ubben's III./JG 77 flew to Jesau from Charkow and gave up their Bf 109Fs for brand new Bf 109Gs.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: B-24s from 2 US squadrons hit a convoy southwest of Crete, claiming 2 ships probably sunk. Luftwaffe fighters attacked a straggling B-24 and forced it to crash-land at sea, Uffz. Hans Lauff of 7./ZG 26 making the claim.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Oblt. Hans-Joachim Hartwein of Stab I./JG 5 with 16 victories, went missing in action.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF attacked the Wilton shipyards at Rotterdam with 12 B-17s from the 97th BG. As 25 Bf 109s along with Fw 190s from II./JG 1, led by Oblt. Detlev Rohwer, attacked the formation, the bombers were recalled because of a lack of fighter escort. Despite the bombers turning around, the Focke-Wulfs pressed home their attack and succeeded in inflicting the first combat fatality of the war upon the US 8th AF, although the damaged B-17 made it back to England with 1 airman killed and 5 wounded. The fighters of II./JG 1 suffered 2 aircraft damaged as a result of the battle.


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## Njaco (Aug 22, 2007)

*22 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The advance of 17.Armee (Ruoff) towards the Black Sea port of Suchum, west of the Caucasus, bogged down. A platoon of 1 Gebirgs-Division hoisted the German war flag on the top of Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in the Caucasus. Fw. Anton 'Toni' Hackl of 8./JG 51 destroyed his 60th Russian aircraft. Uffz. Durkop of I./JG 54 reportedly shot down another Pe-2 between Yalamo and Lake Ladoga.

*NORTH AFRICA*: B-25s hit tank and motor repair shops and storage dumps at Matruh, Egypt. A B-25 was mistakenly shot down by an RAF Beaufighter.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Helmut Powolny's IV./KG 2 moved from Achmer to Melun-Villaroche. Uffz. Herbert Grumprecht of 8./JG 2 got his first kill when he claimed a Whitley V over the Bay of Biscay.


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## Njaco (Aug 23, 2007)

*23 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The German 6.Armee punched a hole in Soviet 62nd Army's defenses as the 14.Panzerkorps crossed the Don River at Vertyachiv and reached the Volga. An 8km wide gap was torn between Vertyachiv and Peskovatka that allowed a battle group pf 16.Panzerdivsion, 3. and 60.Infantrydivision(motorized) to rapidly advance from the Don, reaching the west bank of the Volga at Rynok, north of Stalingrad. At 04.30 hours in the morning, General von Richtohfen's Luftflotte 4 began a 48 hours long air raid on Stalingrad with a 1000 tons of bombs laid down ahead of the panzers and on the north side of the city that involved over 4000 sorties. Supporting the tanks and infantry throughout the day, the Luftwaffe assisted in wiping out a regiment of the Russian 87th Rifle Division and the right flank of the 35th Guards Rifle Division north of Rossoshka Malaya.

Stalingrad lay under a pall of smoke as the city became the focus of the massive onslaught by the whole of Luftflotte 4. In the afternoon, 200 Ju 87 dive-bombers and Ju 88 bombers escorted by 50 Bf 109s, attacked in _Vee _formations, with the peak of operations coming at 19.00 hours. On the approach, the German formations were attacked by Yak-3 fighters of the 102nd Air Division, tasked with the defense of Stalingrad. Fierce air battles developed. Although the Soviet fighters were unable to prevent the majority of the bombers from reaching their destinations, the fighters and heavy flak took a toll on the Luftwaffe, claiming the destruction of 90 German aircarft for the loss of 30 Soviet warplanes. The bulk of the bombs dropped were incendiary and the wooden section of the city burned. By the end of the day, nearly every wooden building was in flames or destroyed and 40,000 people were killed. Oil storage tanks were hit with the flaming contents flowing into the Volga and burning the docks and ships moored to them. The flames of the burning city made it possible to read a newspaper 40 miles away. With the coming of the night, the bombing continued as the planes heading for the center of the fires, from a height of 2500 to 5000 meters. The massive air bombardment caused a firestorm, killing thousands and turning Stalingrad into a vast landscape of rubble and burnt ruins. 80% of the living space in the city was destroyed. The Russians tried to use searchlights for their AA batteries but the smoke deflected the lights, making it near impossible to find the bombers.

Hoth's 4.Panzerarmee was held up by stiff resistance south of Stalingrad at Tinguta. The Germans made further progress on the Kuban penisula on the Black Sea. At Izbushensky, in the bend of the Don River, the Italian Savoia Cavalry, made up of 600 mounted men, counter-attacked Soviet Army units comprised of 2000 men with mortar and artillery support. One cavalry dquadron attacked head on, while the other, possesing only sabers, rode behind the enemy lines on horseback. The caught the Soviets completely by surprise and overran the Russian position. This last cavalry attack of WWII resulted in the destruction of 2 Soviet battalions, another battalion forced to withdraw and the capture of 500 POWs, 4 large artillery pieces, 10 mortars and 50 machine guns.

In the northern sector, after a year-long seige of the city, Hitler ordered the final attack on Leningrad (Operation NORDLICHT). Heeresgruppe Nord did not have sufficent forces to storm and take the well-defended Oranienbaum pocket. On reciept of Fuhrer Directive No. 41 (5 April, 1942) Heeresgruppe Nord had developed in coordination with OKH, plans for 4 operations: NORDLICHT (the taking of Leningrad), SCHLINGPFLANZE (to widen the corridor to the Demyansk pocket), MOORBRAND (elimination of the Volkhov bridgehead) and BETTELSTAB (the capture of the Oranienbaum pocket by AOK Eighteen). All of these wonderous plans fell apart during the next 2 months. The reinforcements were slow in arriving and this caused Heeresgruppe Nord to cancel MOORBRAND. This was followed by the cancellation of BETTELSTAB. But Hitler was fixated on NORDLICHT because he wanted to punish the defiant Leningraders and effect a link-up with the Finns.

A III./JG 54 detachment commanded by 7./JG 54's Oblt. "Hein" Wubke, with 3 Bf 109G-2s and 3 Bf 109F-4 _jabos _was shifted to Petajarvi. The _Gruppenkommanduer _of I./JG 52, Major Helmut Bennemann destroyed a Russian Pe-2 for the _Geschwader's _600th victory since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. JG 52's Ofw. Heinrich-Wilhelm Ahnert was killed in combat with a Pe-2 near Koptewo and later posthumously awarded the _Ritterkreuz_. Along with Ofw. Ahnert, several surviving pilots of JG 52 were also awarded the _Ritterkreuz_. Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn, _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 52 for 59 victories, Lt. Heinz Schmidt of II./JG 52 for 51 victories and Fw. Hans Dammers of III./JG 52 for 51 victories, were all awarded the _Ritterkreuz_. Other Eastern Front pilots recieving the honor were Fw. Anton 'Toni' Hafner of 8./JG 51 for reaching 60 victories the day before. He was then granted a leave. Lt. Hans Fuss of III./JG 3 recieved the award for reaching 60 victories.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles returned from his vacation in Berlin to his airfield in North Africa.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Luftwaffe Ju 88 and an RAF Spitfire Mk V crashed after they shot each other down. The Spitfire, assigned to No. 315 (Polish) Sqdn, based at Ballyhalbert, County Down, Ireland, crashed at Ratoath, County Meath: the pilot, Sgt. Sawiak was taken to hospital but died from his injuries. The Ju 88 crashed at Touger, County Waterford; one of the 4 man crew was injured. The 4 Germans were interned for the rest of the war.


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## Njaco (Aug 24, 2007)

*24 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Stalin ordered that the city of Stalingrad was to be held at all costs and sent Marshall Zhukov to supervise its defenses. Another attack on the city began at 04.30 hours with _Stuka _dive-bombers supporting Group Drumpen of the 16.Panzerdivision as they attacked Spartakovka, the northern most industrial suburb of the city. But the Russians were ready this time and eventually the Germans went on the defensive and by the end of the day were pushed back about a mile. The Luftwaffe changed tactics and began dropping ammunition and food to the beleaguered 16.Panzerdivision.

The Russians launched a new offensive in the Leningrad area. The slowing German offensive in the Caucasus crept to within 85 miles of the Grozny oil complex.

Several aerial events occurred within the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front. Gustav Perl of JG 53 with 12 kills to his credit, went missing in action. Four 7./JG 54 pilots took part in combat with a Soviet formation over Lake Ladoga together with Finnish LeLv 26 Fiats. 7./JG 54's Uffz. Raimann and Uffz. Wurtz each claimed one I-180 during the escort mission for fighter-bombers against Ladoskoye. With completion of the conversion to the 'Gustav' model of the Bf 109, Stab./JG 52 moved from Mineralnyie Wody to Gonschtakowka. Hptm. Helmut Bennemann's I./JG 52 moved from Orel-Nord to Dedjurewo/Rshew.

*NORTH AFRICA*: A specially stripped-down Spitfire Mk Ve, operating from Alexandria in Egypt, was able to intercept and shoot down a Junkers Ju 86R, a high-altitude bomber of 2(F)./AufklGr 123, above Cairo. This was the first success against these very high flying aircraft. The combat took place at 42,000 feet, even though the British fighter pilot had no pressurized protection against operating at that extreme height.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: During the summer of 1942, the strength of the units involved in operations over Britain had eroded steadily as the ever strengthening British defenses took their toll, a total of 40 aircraft having been lost. There was, however, still pressure on the Luftwaffe to increase its effort as the RAF attacks on Germany had become progressively heavier, culminating in the 1000 Bomber raids on Cologne, Essen and Bremen. One of the few possibilities open to the Germans at this time was to employ their new and experimental Ju 86R high-altitude bombers over Britain, and so the trials unit, _Hohenkampfkommando der Versuchsstelle fur Hohenfluge_, later redesignated 14./KG 6, moved to Beauvais, France to commence operations.

The Ju 86R was not particularly fast nor did it carry any armament, but for its survival, relied upon the fact that it could attack from altitudes of over 12,000 meters, out of reach of British fighters then in service. Its offensive load, however, was limited to a single 250kg bomb. Operations by _Hohenkampfkommando der Versuchsstelle fur Hohenfluge _started with an attack on Camberly on the morning of 24 August, followed by sorties to Southampton and Stanstead.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 8th AF flew Mission #5: 12 B-17s bombed the shipyard of Ateleirs et Chanteirs Maritime de la Seine at Le Trait, France. 3 B-17s were damaged and 5 airmen were wounded.


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## Njaco (Aug 25, 2007)

*25 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: 6.Armee launched attacks toward the central part of Stalingrad but were beaten back by elements of the Russian 169th Tank Brigade and 35th Guards Rifle Division. To the south, 4.Panzerarmee suspended offensive operations until 6.Armee was successful in taking the city. To the north, the Russian 63rd Army attacked along the Don and established several bridgeheads over the river. JG 77 lost several pilots when Uffz. Hans Klein of 6./JG 77 with 5 victories and Uffz. Manfred Ludicke of 4./JG 77 with 7 victories, were killed in action. With the bridges over the Volga within artillery and motar range, the Russian's problems of supply and reinforcemnet seemed insurmountable. Rather than commit the army to costly street fighting, however, the Luftwaffe had been called in to deliver the coup de grace to the beseiged city. For the last 2 nights, von Richthofen's Luftflotte 4 mounted the heaviest strikes since the first day of Barbarossa. He 111 and even Ju 52 transports were brought in to add their weight with the _Stukas_. Stalingrad had been blitzed, with 40,000 people killed.

Oberst Hans-Detlev Herhudt von Rohden was appointed _Chef des Stabes _of Luftflotte 4, headquartered at Maripol. At this time Luftflotte 4 controlled I Fliegerkorps, Luftwaffenkommando Don, IV Fliegerkorps, Kgl. Rumanischen Fliegerkorps, Fliegerfuhrer Sud, Seefliegerfuhrer Schwarzes Meer, Luftwaffen-Feld-Division 15 and Flak-Brigade VI.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: GenMaj. Paul Deichmann was appointed _Chef des Stabes _of Luftflotte 2, headquartered at Frascati (Rome). At this time Luftflotte 2 controlled Kommando General der Deutschen Luftwaffe in Italian, II Fliegerkorps, X Fliegerkorps, 19 Flak-Division and Flak-Brigade VII.


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## Njaco (Aug 26, 2007)

*26 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: On the Stalingrad front, elements of the Soviet 63rd Army continued to attack German positions along the Don River north of the city. The Germans moved supporting forces against the attacks and the Soviets were bloodily repulsed. Meanwhile 62nd Army launched attacks against the German spearheads probing the northern part of the city, stopping those movements.

The fighting near Rzeh that started 2 weeks ago, continued to rage. German forces grudgingly retreated about 20 miles in the area. Heavy losses were inflicted on both sides. The Russians then announced that thier offensive along the Moscow front had pushed the Germans back 20 miles in a fortnight. German successes continued in the Caucasus.

The new Soviet offensive to the east of Leningrad forced 7./JG 54 (Detachment Philipp) to return to Siverskaya. In total, 7./JG 54 performed 104 sorties from Petajarvi, including 42 fighter-bomber sorties, during which 52 250kg bombs and 40 50kg bombs were dropped.

Hptm. Georg Jakob was appointed Gruppenkommanduer of III./StG 77.


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## syscom3 (Aug 27, 2007)

*27 August 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN: *The German ship "_Sachsen_" anchors in Hansa Bay, Sabine Island, Northeast Greenland, and a landing party sets up a weather station, code name "Holzauge."
*
EASTERN FRONT*: The offensive at Leningrad expanded to an attack by the Leningrad Front in the city and the Volkov Front outside the seige. Both fronts were aimed at the German positions at Schluessleburg on Lake Ladoga. The Red Army's offensive on the Moscow Front continued. South of the perimiter the Germans crossed the River Terek and captured Prochladrii.

German Heeresegruppe B continues the battle for Stalingrad. Meanwhile, Heeresgruppe B presses closer to the oil prize of Grozny, seizing Prokhladny and raching the Terek River.

In Siberia, the German Kriegsmarine attacks the Arctic Russian town and port of Dikson, named after the Swedish Baron Oscar Dickson. The German pocket battleship _'Admiral Scheer'_, accompanied by two U-boats, destroys Dikson and a large icebreaker by shelling. The attack is part of Unternehmen *WUNDERLAND*, aiming to stop Soviet convoys sent from Asian ports to support the Soviet Northern Fleet. Dikson is a strategic link on this route. No Soviet attempts to retaliate are known but as a result of *WUNDERLAND *the Soviet High Command orders an initiative to reinforce the Arctic coast. Therefore the NKVD, in charge of traffic and exploitation in Siberia, starts to plan a railway along the coast to make army operations possible in the area.

Uffz. Crinius of I./JG 53 claimed his 49th victory and the _Gruppe's _1000th kill over Russian aircraft. Hptm. Kurt Brandle, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 3 shot down 2 LaGG-3s, bringing his score to 102 kills and earning him the _Eichenlaub_.

Nine Lancasters of RAF 106 Sqdn were dispatched on a dangerous long-range raid against Gdynia in occupied Poland, where the German aircraft carrier _'Graf Zeppelin' _was being fitted out. The Lancasters were equipped with special "Capital Ship" bombs, designed to attack the target below the waterline. 7 of the Lancasters managed to find Gdynia after a 950 mile flight but heavy haze prevented them from locating the carrier and they were forced to bomb targets of opportunity in the dockyard. All 9 aircraft returned safely.

Major Hubertus von Bonin's II./JG 52 moved from Mineralnyie Wody to Gonschtakowka but not before Lt. Otto Decker, a 40 victory _experte _with 8./JG 52 was killed in action. Oblt. Dr. Ernst Kuhl took over command of KG 55 as _Geschwaderkommandore _from Oblt. Benno Kosch.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb a convoy, hitting a merchant ship which is reported sinking.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service is established.

The Cuban Navy and Air Force join the Allied anti-submarine campaign.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Dr. Erich Mix was appointed _Geschwaderkommandore _of JG 1 in place of Major Erich von Selle, who was posted to the _Zestorergeschwader _ZG 1. Dr. Mix's place as _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 1 was taken by Oblt. Paul Stolte.

The USAAF 8th Air Force in England flies Mission 6: Seven B-17s bomb the shipyards at Rotterdam at 1740 hours without loss.

5./JG 26 intercepted the Allied raid, "Circus 208", consisting of 12 Bostons escorted by Spitfires of RAF No. 350 Sqdn (Belgian) and Oblt. Wilhelm Galland shot down the Spitfire of H. Picard (POW), for his 15th kill.


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## Njaco (Aug 27, 2007)

*28 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans broke through southwest of Stalingrad but were held to the north. Elements of 17.Armee attacked Soviet positions at Novorossiysk, a large Soviet Naval base on the Black Sea coast. Oblt. Gunther Rall returned to his unit as _Staffelkapitaen _of 8./JG 52, exactly 9 months after being severely injured. He began his second stint on the frontline with a total of 36 victories.

The Red Army initiated small unit actions around Leningrad. Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of JG 54 destroyed a Russian fighter near Leningrad. Italian Navy 12th Flotilla MAS 528 attacked 2 Soviet armed tugboats on Lake Ladoga towing a very large (over 70 meters long and 1300 tons) supply barge, escorted by another tugboat and succeeded in sinking the barge.

A detachment of Hptm. Gerhard Michalski's II./JG 53 was sent to Bir-el-Abd in North Africa.

*GERMANY*: The first heavy raid on Kassel by 306 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command was undertaken during the night. There was widespread damage, particulary in the southwestern part of the city. 144 buildings were destroyed and 317 seriously damaged. 28 soldiers were killed and 64 injured. 15 civilians were killed and 187 injured. Several of the RAF aircraft were lost, mainly to German night-fighters. Kassel was considered a strategic target for Arthur Harris' Bomber Command because it was home to the Henschel locomotive, engine and vehicle plants, the Fieseler aircraft plant and several other important industries. The Henschel Railway works were considered to be the largest in Europe. The city was the important transportation and communication center for Central Europe with north-south traffic (Hannover-Frankfurt) and east-west traffic (Ruhr-Thuringia-Saxony) intersecting there. 31 bombers were lost with many of the night-fighter pilots gaining double victories including Hptm. Thimming of Stab III./NJG 1, Hptm. Werner Streib of Stab I./NJG 1, Oblt. Martin Bauer of 7./NJG 1, Lt. Hermann Muller of Stab III./NJG 2 and Oblt. Becker of 6./NJG 2.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British codebreaking efforts to crack Italian cipher C38M paid off when Malta-based RAF aircraft sank the Italian tanker '_Dielpi_', bound for Libya with 2000 tons of aircraft fuel. The British now know the exact times of sailing, routes and cargoes of every ship bringing Rommel munitions and fuel.

*NORTH AFRICA*: 2 B-24 squadrons bombed docks, shipping and jetties in the Tobruk, Libya harbor.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Bristol was targeted by the _Hohenkampfkommando der Versuchsstelle fur Hohenfluge_. The lone aircraft, a Ju 88P commanded by Lt. erich Sommer and piloted by Fw. Horst Gotz, appeared over the city at about 09.20 hours, its bomb impacting on a Ford Ten car in Bristol's Broad Weir. As a result of the subsequent explosion, one of 3 nearby buses were seriously damaged by the blast, while petrol from the car's fuel tank was sprayed in a more or less atomized state over the other 2 buses which immediately burst into flames. The death toll was horrific with 45 people being killed - many burnt to death in the blazing buses - with a further 45 injured. In terms of loss of life, this was the single most serious incident to occur in Bristol during WWII.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 11 B-17s bombed the Avions Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte at 13.37 hours. 3 B-17s were damaged with 1 airman killed. Fighter units from JG 1, JG 2 and JG 26 met the escorting Spitfires and claimed 7 British fighters. Oblt. Wilhelm Galland of 5./JG 26 claimed his 16th kill and Ofw. Rudolf Taschner of 11./JG 2 made his 12th kill.


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## Njaco (Aug 27, 2007)

*29 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: At Stalingrad, 4.Panzerarmee, after completing its regrouping outside the city, launched a vicious attack against the 126 Rifle Division (64th Army). The initial attacks by the 24.Panzerdivision succeeded in rupturing the front and by the end of the day, the right wing of the 64th Army and all of the 62nd Army was threatened with being cut off from the Volga. The Germans had intended on turning east and taking out a wing of the 64th Army but the unexpected opportunity to the north made them pause to consider this option. Thousands of Russians surrendered, but 20,000 escaped and joined Stalingrad's garrison.

The _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 77 and acting _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 52, Major Gordon Gollob, became the first pilot to reach 150 victories. He became the Luftwaffe's highest scoring fighter pilot at this time and was awarded and recieved the _Brillanten _(No. 3) from Adolf Hitler personnally. The 3 Russian planes he shot down this day would be his final victories of the war.

*GERMANY*: Moscow Radio reported today that Soviet aircraft bombed Berlin for the second time in 4 nights. Danzig, Konigsberg and Stettin were also hit. In its report the radio said that while over Berlin, one of the Russian pilots sent a message to Stalin, telling him,


> "_Our task has been carried out!"_


 Berlin admitted that Russian aircraft reached the city, but said that; "*Only a few bombs were dropped."* After the previous raid, the Germans said that,"_*Only single aircraft succeeded in reaching the outskirts.*_*"* The Russians insisted, however, that 48 fires were started in the German capital and that there were 9 big explosions. They gave similarly detailed accounts of fires started and damage caused in the other cities. The resumption of raids on Berlin after nearly a year meant that the Russians had now succeeded in forming a long-range force, capable of flying over 2000 miles.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Major Erich Gerlitz's III./JG 53 moved from Haqqaq-el-Quasaba to Quotaifiya.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 97 BG attacked the Luftwaffe fighter base at Coutrai-Wevelghem in Belgium at 11.36 hours with 11 B-17s and lost no bombers to AA fire or fighters. A single B-17 hit the Steene airfield at 11.37 hours. 3 B-17s were damaged in the attack at Coutrai. The escorting British fighters were intercepted near Cap Gris Nez by JG 26. 5 Spitfires were claimed by JG 26 including 2 for Lt. Paul Galland from 8./JG 26.


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## Njaco (Aug 28, 2007)

*30 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: With the Punishment Battalions as rear guards, the Soviet 62nd Army and parts of 64th Army escaped encirclement by the 48.Panzerkorps and withdrew across the Chervlennaya River. At Stalingrad, with the unexpected collapse of the center of 64th Army, German commanders comtemplated and finally ordered the attack to wheel left (north) and combine with a drive south by 6.Armee. However the pressure Yeremenko's attacks on against von Paulus' forces was so great that the Germans in the north were unable to move quickly. In the meantime, Yeremenko, anticipating the move by the Germans, withdrew from the trap and placed units in strong positions within the city. Over 800 German troops were killed and 13 tanks destroyed by the 154th(Naval) Brigade under the command of Colonel A.I. Malchevskiy, on the Stalingrad front.

Lt. Heinrich Graf von Einsiedel of Stab III./JG 3 and the great-grandson of the famous Prussian statesman, Bismarck, was shot down and captured by the Russians. He had 35 victories by the time of his capture.

*GERMANY*: On the night of August 29, 5 Pe-8s, piloted by Major Pusep and Capt. Vladmir V. Ponomarenko of 746 BAP and Capt. Boris A. Kybyschko, Mikhail V. Rodnykh and Pavel M. Archarov of 890 BAP, took off for Berlin, while 7 other Pe-8s set off on a diversionary raid on Konigsberg. At the same time, 100 Il-4s and Yer-2s took off from various airfields near the frontlines. At 01.23 hours on the morning of August 30, the first Russian bombs fell on Berlin. It was the largest Soviet raid ever to be mounted against the German capital, but damage was minimal. The Soviet bombing raids on Berlin were never seriously expected to do more than pay the Germans back for their equally ineffective attacks on Moscow and provide a much-needed boost to moral on the home front.

*NORTH AFRICA*: At El Alamein, Rommel, anticipating his 2nd attempt to take El Alamein, launched diversionary attacks by Italian forces against entrenched lines of the 9th Australian, 1st South African and 5th Indian Divisions. At 2300 hours local, the Germans launch attacks along the whole El Alamein front using the German 21.Panzerdivision, the 90th Light Africa Division, the 3d Reconnaissance Unit and two Italian armored divisions. The main attack is against the British XIII Corps on the south while conducting two unsuccessful diversionary thrusts against XXX Corps. Meanwhile, Rommel's tanks and motorized troops hit the southern end of the line north of the Qattara Depression.

US Army Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb docks and jetties in Tobruk harbor.

*WESTERN FRONT*: An Fw 190A-2, belonging to 12./JG 5 was on a transfer flight from Fliegerplatz Vaerlose to Fliegerplatz Aalborg when it hit a windmill at Ulstrup shortly before 21.00 hours. It crashed in a field and exploded, killing pilot Lt. Heinz Edward Loffler.

Luxembourg is incorporated into the German Reich as the district of Gau Mosselleland. Gustav Simon, the German appointed civil administrator of Luxembourg, orders the call up of Luxembourgers in the classes of 1920-1924 resulting in a General Strike in Wiltz and Ettelbruck. The strike quickly spreads across the Duchy and Simon declares Martial Law. Industrial workers return to work under threat of execution, 25 leaders are executed, and high school students participating in the strike are deported to Germany for a year.


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## Njaco (Aug 28, 2007)

*31 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT*: Although Soviet resistance along the Terek River has stiffened considerably, the German Heeresegruppe A secures a foothold across it in the Mozdok area. German units are now within 16 miles of Stalingrad.

Ofw. Wilhelm Schilling of 9./JG 54 scored his own 35th and the _Staffel's _200th victory while Hptm. Johannes Steinhoff, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 52 gained his 100th victory. In the southern sector, Josef Kronschnaubel of JG 53 was shot down and captured. He had 14 total victories. A Bf 109G-2 of 3./JG 54 crashed at Petajarvi.

A change of command at JG 3. Hptm. Georg Michalek gave up his position as _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 3 to Major Klaus Quaet-Faslem. Obstlt. Walter Storp was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of KG 6 in place of Obstlt. Hahn.

*NORTH AFRICA*: On the El Alamein front, Feldmarschall Rommel opened an offensive against the Allied lines at Alam el Halfa, intending to clear the British from Egypt. Rommel's initial plan of a wide sweep around the British positions was abandoned in favor of an attack toward the Alam Halfa Ridge, the key terrain feature behind the British lines. The lack of supplies forced Rommel into switching to the offensive at Alam el Halfa when tactically he would have waited longer, and this was made possible by the British sacrifice made sending supplies to Malta. It is also important to note that Rommel was able to launch his counter-offensive at Gazala because he had recieved a significant number of tanks from supply convoys that successfully reached North Africa, because Force K at Malta had been neitralized by the Luftwaffe and also due to the extensive mining of the water surrounding Malta. The fact that Rommel's Afrika Korps contained equipment which was far more advanced and effective than the 8th Army's equivilent, meant that the campaign lasted much longer than it may have done otherwise, whilst at the same time there were not sufficent numbers of them to become a decisive factor in the campaign. British forces in Africa could do little to rectify the German's continuing superiority in quality of armour and armament before the end of the battle of Alam el halfa. The advance was made in a blinding sandstorm. The British preparations were extensive; formations were reconstituted, intelligence had been improved, minefields layed effectively. Defending strong positions behind thick minefields, the weak British screening force was able to hold the German tanks at bay long enough for other formations to start reacting. Rommel's advancing forces hit the lines of the 7th Motorized and 4th Light Armoured Brigades. However the 15.Panzerdivision failed to break through the 8th Army's lines and advance towards Alexandria, 75 miles away and sustained heavy casualties, losing about 30 tanks. At 08.00 hours, Rommel questioned calling off the attack. He was a sick man, ill with jaundice. One of his generals had been killed; his korps commander, Major-General Walther Nehring, was wounded. The Afrika Korps was also desperately short of fuel, despite the assurance of a petrol lift by Feldmarschall Kesselring. Rommel's tanks were bogged down in the soft sands to the north of the Alam Halfa Ridge, 10 miles south of El Alamein. This allowed the 8th and 22nd Armoured Brigades to pound the German forces who were also attacked from the air. The movements in the soft sand were so hard on fuel supplies that the attack was called off in the afternoon.

B-25s attacked Luftwaffe aircraft on a landing ground and B-24s raided the harbor at Tobruk. P-40s of the 66 FS, 57 FG escorted RAF bombers during a raid on Maryut, Egypt. B-25s in conjuction with RAF Bostons, attacked troop concentrations and military vehicles as the battle of Alam el halfa began. The fighters of JG 27, supporting Rommel's offensive, lost Oblt. Hermann Tangerding, _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 27 who took a direct AA hit during a _Stuka _escort mission south of El Alamein.

Wearing his _Schwerten_, the _Staffelkapitaen _of 3./JG 27, Hans-Joachim Marseilles, was back in Africa and back in business. He had claimed a couple of RAF Hurricanes in the morning, likewise while escorting _Stukas _southeast of El Alamein, plus a single Spitfire in the early evening.

10(Jabo)./JG 27, which had carried out fighter-bomber raids, was withdrawn from III _Gruppe's _control altogether, to become part of the autonomous _JaboGruppe Afrika_. 10(Jabo)./JG 53 also joined this new unit as 1./Jabogruppe Afrika.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Secretary of Agriculture, Claude Wickard, warns of possible meat rationing in the US.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The USAAF HQ XII Bomber Command arrives at Daws Hill Lodge, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, and is assigned to HQ Twelfth Air Force. This unit will support the Allied invasion of Northwestern Africa in November.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Communist spy network Red Orchestra is broken up by the Germans in Brussels.


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## syscom3 (Sep 1, 2007)

*1 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: While tracking Convoy SC-97 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada to the U.K.), German submarine U-756 is sunk about 477 nautical miles SW of Reykjavik, Iceland, in position 57.41N, 31.30W, by the Canadian corvette HMCS Morden (K 170). All 43-men on the U-boat are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: By the end of August, Heeresgruppe B had finally reached the Volga to the north of Stalingrad. There is heavy fighting in Stalingrad, where German units have reached the suburbs in some areas. The Soviets could only reinforce and supply their forces in Stalingrad by perilous crossings of the Volga, under constant bombardment by German artillery and planes. Troops from the Russian 11th Army land on the Taman Peninsula from Kerch. Units of 1.Panzerarmee (General Ewald von Kleist) form a bridgehead across the Terek river at Mozdok in the Caucasus.

The Russian ship SKR "_Purga_" was sunk by the Luftwaffe, close to Osinovets Island, at Ladoga Lake.

Uffz. Crinius of I./JG 53 claimed his fifty-fifth enemy aircraft destroyed and was promoted to the rank of Feldwebel. Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of JG 54 downed two Russian aircraft.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 231 aircraft of five types to bomb Saarbrucken. The Pathfinders illuminate and marked town which they believed to be Saarbrucken and the Main Force bombed accurately. A total of 205 aircraft claimed good bombing results. But the town bombed is Saarlouis, 13 miles (21 kilometers) to the northwest and situated in a similar bend of the River Saar. The small, non-industrial town of Saarlouis and the villages immediately surrounding are heavily damaged. The exact extent of this damage is not recorded but 52 civilians are killed. No bombs fell in Saarbrucken. Four bombers are lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators attack the harbor at Candia, scoring several direct hits on a vessel and hitting others.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The forces of General Erwin Rommel, commander Panzer Army Africa, suffer from a lack of supplies. One Panzer Division is out of fuel. The 15.Panzerdivision makes no progress. The British 8th Armored Division learns an expensive lesson with German anti-tank guns.

Oblt. Hans Joachim Marseille of 3./JG 27, the “Star of Africa”, lived up to his name when on this date he performed a feat never achieved by any fighter pilot before. Together with his wingman, Marseille attacked the Hurricanes of 238 and 1 SAAF Sqn. He started with 1 SAAF Sqn and shot down two, at 08.26 and 08.28 hours. These were flown by Lt Bailey and Major Metelerkamp (an ace with 5 victories). Next, Marseille attacked 238 Sqn and shot down F/O Matthews (238 Sqn) at 08.35 hours. Following this, Marseille and his wingman were attacked by six Spitfires from 601 Sqn. Marseille allowed the Spitfires to approach from behind until the distance was 150 metres. Then he banked sharply to the left, which caused the Spitfires to overshoot him, and attacked from behind - shooting down the Spitfire piloted by P/O Bradley-Smith at 08.39 hours. When Marseille landed, it was established that he had used 80 cannon shells and 240 machine gun bullets for those four victories. These were Marseille's victories Numbers 105 - 108. Marseille's second mission that day ended with eight enemy fighters ("P-40s") claimed shot down between 1155 and 1205 hours. This British loss was equal to a whole squadron, shot down in only ten minutes, most of the downed aircraft being Curtiss P-40s and Spitfires. In addition to Marseille's claims, Lt Hans Remmer of 1./JG 27 claimed one P-40 on the same mission. The British fighters were shot down during an escort mission for bombers. Marseille's third mission that day found five enemy fighters claimed shot down, the last at 18.53 hours. In addition to Marseille's claims, four enemy fighters were claimed shot down by other German pilots on the same mission including two for Lt. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt of 2./JG 27 who wrote of the battles;


> "In our first combat we were up against forty Hurricane and Curtiss fighters. Then twenty Spitfires, orbiting at higher altitude, dove down on us. We were eight Messerschmitts caught up in an incredible whirling tangle of enemy fighters. I was flying for my life but despite the enemy's overwhelming superiority I didn't duck out of the fight. I couldn't. The others needed all the help they could manage. I threw my kite around in a series of steeply banked turns until there was spittle all around my mouth and I was on the verge of exhaustion. Every time one enemy fighter was evaded, there was quickly another on my tail. Three or four times I tried to get out of there by diving away but had to pull back up into the mêlée. On one occasion, having flown my Messerschmitt to it limits, I saw a Spitfire closing in for the kill. At the last moment Marseille appeared and shot him off my tail. I dove away and then pulled back up. Above me I saw a Spitfire sitting just fifty meters behind Marseille's 109. I took careful aim and squeezed the firing button. Flames erupted from the Spitfire's engine and he went down ablaze, crashing into the desert. At that instant I took hits as well and dove away. By then there was just Marseille and myself left in the battle.... In terms of aerial combat we had put on an exemplary performance. Both of us claimed three victories. Marseille had already claimed three enemy aircraft shot down that morning. We climbed down from our 109s completely exhausted. Marseille's kite had taken cannon hits, while eleven machine-gun impacts were counted on my machine. We hugged each other in silence, unable to speak. There were no words to describe what we had just done for each other. Without Marseille's timely intervention I would almost certainly have been shot down. He likewise. For both of us, it was an unforgettable moment of comradeship…."


Five Hurricanes of 213 Sqd and one Hurricane of 208 Sqd that were shot down approximately at the same time probably are identical with at least some of the German claims on that mission. By the end of the day over the Battle of Alam-el-Halfa and Imaid, also known as the “Stalingrad of the Desert”, Oblt. Marseille was credited with no less than seventeen RAF aircraft destroyed. In fact, one of the seventeen aircraft that he claimed as shot down landed fairly safely - the badly shot up Hurricane which was piloted by five-victory ace Major Metelerkamp. The official Allied losses in North Africa on 1 September 1942 amounted to twenty-two aircraft (nine Hurricanes, four Kittyhawks, four Tomahawks, two Spitfires, one U.S. Warhawk, and two Beaufighters). Although possibly two, and maybe even as many as four, of Marseille’s opponents were not actually destroyed, the victories he did amass during his three sorties east of El Alamein on that 1 September make it without doubt the most successful day of his career. The month of September would be one of Oblt. Marseille’s greatest achievements but would also end as one of the Luftwaffe’s saddest.

Two U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) squadrons of the US Army, Middle East Air Force fly escort missions and sweeps with RAF. USAAF B-25 Mitchells, in conjunction with RAF light bombers, hit trucks and tanks in the battle area of Alam-el-Halfa.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 16./KG 6 was formed in Soesterberg from Erprobungskommando Me 210. The staffel tested the Me 210A and was renamed 11./ZG 1 in October 1942.


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## syscom3 (Sep 2, 2007)

*2 September 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine 'U-222' was sunk about 23 nautical miles (42 kilometers) southwest of Pillau, East Prussia, after a collision with 'U-626'. Three of the 45 crewmen survive. The sub had never been on a combat patrol.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: German Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) continues to press toward Novorossisk and Grozny. The Russian 11th and 17th Armies advanced near Novorossiysk. The German 1.Panzerarmee was advancing slowly toward Grozny. The threat to Novorossisk increases and German and Romanian forces from the Crimea cross the Kerch Strait and join other Axis forces in the area.

Near Leningrad a formation of Bf 109s from III./JG 54 and Ju 87s of III./StG 1 were bounced by eight Russian Hurricanes from GIAP / KBF 3. The Soviets lost five Hurricanes shot down, including that of Starshiy Leytenant Aleksey Yevgrafov who was killed. The German units lost four aircraft shot down. Ofw. Wilhelm Schilling of JG 54 claimed his fortieth victory in this action and Obstlt. Bob of 9 Staffel claimed another two of the Russian planes.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 200 aircraft of five types to attack Karlsruhe; 177 bomb the target and eight aircraft were lost. The Pathfinders were accurate and this was a successful raid with an estimated 200 fires burning at the same time. Reconnaissance photographs showed much residential and some industrial damage. A very short report from Karlsruhe says only that 73 people were killed and that three public buildings in the city centre were hit. Five Mosquitos hit targets of opportunity in five cities.

*NORTH AFRICA*: By dawn, German General Erwin Rommel realizes that his drive on Alam Halfa Ridge was failing. He himself suffers stomach trouble, nausea, and blocked nasal passages, adding to his misery. As he drives to the front, he sees tanks unable to move from lack of fuel and men unwilling to leave foxholes for fear of air attack. At one point, Rommel had to dive into a foxhole and a shell splinter rips through the blade of a shovel lying on the lip of a trench, and a piece of red hot metal falls beside him. Rommel needs more supplies to advance and a 300-truck convoy was sent to him. It gets caught by the British 7 Armoured Division's light tanks, which destroy 57 vehicles. The Germans were down to one day's petrol (gasoline). Rommel returns to his HQ, to discuss things with Luftwaffe General Kesselring. The latter promises more airstrikes, but says the 500 tons of petrol (gasoline) promised per day was "consuming itself" on the way up in the tanks of vehicles bringing it up over the appalling roads and tracks. Of the 5,000 tons of petrol (gasoline) Italian Marshal Ugo Cavallero, Chief of the Supreme General Staff, had promised, 2,600 tons had been sunk, 1,500 tons was stuck in Italy, and the prospect of the remaining 1,000 tons arriving was slim. That night, Rommel scratches out a report to Berlin saying that he had decided to call off the offensive and retreat to his start line. As soon as Rommel's radiomen begin to send the message, the RAF arrives to hammer the place. The desert floors shakes from 4,000-pound (1 814 kilogram) bombs that fling lumps of stone into the air, adding to the death and destruction.

In the air, U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb aircraft and a landing ground and, with the RAF, attack troops and vehicles in the battle area around Alamel-Halfa ridge; and P-40s fly escort and sweep missions over the battle area in conjunction with the RAF. U.S. Army Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators hit docks and jetties at Tobruk.

Oblt. Marseille continued his incredible score by downing five more warplanes. The five claims took Oblt. Marseille’s score to 126, which won him the Diamonds. On this occasion there was to be no immediate summons to Berlin.

*NORTH AMERICA*: It was announced that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, at the request of the Brazilian Government, had appointed an American technical mission of industrial engineers to visit Brazil to assist in the expansion of the Brazilian industrial war machine.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Flying at 24,000 feet over the Channel off Shoreham, Sussex, an 18-year-old Canadian Spitfire pilot shot a raider into the sea. Then he helped rescue the wounded German pilot.


> "I saw him inflate his dinghy," said the Canadian sergeant, "but he was too badly wounded to get into it. I circled over him until he was rescued by a naval launch which my companion and I in the Spitfire guided to the spot."


*WESTERN FRONT*: Three RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

Six RAF Bostons attack the Terneuzen oil refinery at Ghent without loss.

An He 177A-1 belonging to 2./KG 50 was visiting the Schiesschule Værløse when it crashed into the sea of Skagerak off Melby due to pilot error killing the crew. A search for the crew was launched by Flugsicherungsschiff “Phoenix” but it did not find any crew members or wreckage.


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## syscom3 (Sep 3, 2007)

*3 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The pincers of 6.Armee (von Paulus) and 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) advancing from the south, finally meet up to the west of Stalingrad at Pitomnik. The Germans now attempted to break into Stalingrad from the west, but were unable to do so because of limited Red Army counter-attacks against their flanks, which diverted a significant proportion of German forces. Luftflotte 4 (von Richthofen) continued round-the-clock air attacks against Stalingrad.

Oblt. Günther Rall of III./JG 52, barely a month since returning from serious injuries suffered in November 1941, scored his sixty-fifth kill and was awarded the 'Ritterkreuz'.

The defenders of Leningrad launched an attack in a vain attempt to meet the relief forces.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 3/4 September, the RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 aircraft, seven Wellingtons, three Stirlings and a Halifax, to bomb Emden. Eight could only bomb through cloud on dead-reckoning positions; two Wellingtons are lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces B-24 Liberators attack a convoy at sea.

*NORTH AFRICA*: At El Alamein, Operation BERESFORD was initiated by the 2d New Zealand Division and the British 132d Brigade; the objective was German General Erwin Rommel's weakest point, Munassib. 132d Brigade runs into the determined paratroopers of the German Ramcke Brigade and the Italian Folgore Division, both eager to prove their abilities. The advance turns into a mess of confused communications, burning trucks, and disintegration when the brigade commander was wounded. The New Zealand, 21st and 28th Battalions, do better, with the force charging through their depression. The New Zealanders take 50 POWs, both take their objectives, but run into heavy German resistance. The Germans suffer another 2,450 casualties, lose 50 guns and 400 armored fighting vehicles and 10,000 tons of fuel was used up. Because of his loses, Rommel adopts the "Capisaldi" (strong points) defense Marshall Rodolfo Graziani, Commander of the Italian Forces in Libya, This defense was used in 1940 for the very same reasons, i.e., too weak to attack, no resources for a mobile defense and an order not to retreat. A final stand was set for El Alamein. As Rommel's Panzers retreat, badly savaged and harassed all the way by the British infantry and the Desert Air Force, it was the turn of the Allies to capture the booty of war. The Germans and Italians were facing a serious fuel shortage when they attacked, and now the desert was littered with abandoned Axis vehicles. British engineers were assigned the task of disabling these tanks. One engineer, Sapper Irvine Adam of Paisley, near Glasgow, told how he was ordered to blow up a slightly damaged German tank,


> "I had just a minute to get away before it blew,"


he said. The RAF made a record number of sorties in North Africa as the desert battle raged. U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells hit troop concentrations, vehicles, and airfield installations in the battle area of Alam-el-Halfa, Egypt and behind enemy lines; P-40s, mostly operating with the RAF, escort bombers and engage fighters in combat, claiming at least one shot down.

Eight Hurricanes of 7 SAAF squadron, while escorting bombers of RAF 274 Sqd, were attacked by three Bf 109Fs flown by Oblt. Marseille of 3./JG 27, Lt. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt of 3./JG 27 and Remmer of 1./JG 27. They shot down three and damaged a fourth. Oblt. Marseille scored three more kills, bringing his tally to 132 victories.

*WESTERN FRONT*: General Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator, ousts the Cabinet members, and achieves full control of the government.

Ofw. Karl Haisch of 4./NJG 3 emergency landed a Do 217J-1 near Vilslev about 7 kilometres northwest of Ribe due to engine failure at approximately 1700 hours. The aircraft skidded along and broke through two small dikes before Engineer Obergefreiter Adam Gerhardt was thrown out of the aircraft and ended up underneath it when it came to a halt. When the aircraft was moved it was found that Gerhardt was dead. The aircraft was seriously damaged and Ofw. Haisch and wireless operator Uffz. Erwin Bormann were both lightly injured.

On the morning of 3 September the Danish salvage vessel S/S '_Sigyn_' arrived to assist Flugsicherungsschiff “_Phoenix_” and together the two ships pulled their anchors over the sea bed to locate the wreck of the He 177A-1 belonging to 2./KG 50 that crashed the day before. At 1100 hours they both got hold of something heavy and a German diver was send down to investigate. He reported back that they had found the wreckage that was spread widely over the sea bed. At 1500 hours both ships and a German and a Danish diver started to salvage parts of the aircraft but did not find any of the crew. By 2100 hours it had become windy and the work stopped. The next day it was to windy for “_Phoenix_” to work and “Sigyn” set course for Helsingør for coal. As it could not get any coal in Helsingør it diverted to København where it could get coal from Marineausrüstungsstelle. Hptm Scharff of Kriegsmarinestelle called and announced that “Sigyn” would not be needed any more as “_Phoenix_” would be able to do the job on its own. On Saturday 12 September “_Phoenix_” had finished the job.


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## syscom3 (Sep 4, 2007)

*4 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In the Atlantic, an unidentified German U-boat comes across a lifeboat containing 19 survivors of U.S. freighter SS ''_California_', sunk by Italian submarine '_Reginaldo Giuliani'_ on 13 August and provides rations and navigational assistance before departing.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans attack at Stalingrad, splitting Soviet 64th Army and driving to the Volga at Krasnoarmeisk. The city has been under continuous bombardment by over 1000 Luftwaffe aircraft for 24hours.

RAF 144 Squadron and RAAF 455 Squadron, equipped with 32 Hampden Mk. Is, flies from Britain to Afrikanda, Russia, to provide protection for Arctic convoys. Nine of the Hampdens are lost, either running out of fuel and being forced to crash land in Sweden, or, in one case, being accidentally shot down by Soviet aircraft as they approach the Russian coast. Even in the water, the Soviets keep firing on the crew, until their shouts of "Angliski!" over the radio are recognized. One Hampden is forced to land in Norway and the crew is captured before they can burn the plane which contains secret documents about the imminent convoy PQ 18.

In Hungary, Soviet planes bomb Budapest in the war's first air raid on the Hungarian capital.

Lt. Walter Nowotny of 1./JG 54 scored his fifty-sixth kill while Oblt. Hermann Graf of III./JG 52 became the second pilot to reach 150 kills. Another Eastern Front pilot, Obfw. Heinz Klöpper of 11./JG 51, was awarded the Ritterkreuz for achieving sixty-five kills along with Lt. Nowotny for his fifty-six kills.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, in conjunction with the RAF and the RN, attack a convoy at sea; two merchant ships are reported sunk and one left burning.

The Italian torpedo boat '_Polluce_' is sunk off Tobruk by British bombers.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Operation Beresford ends with the New Zealanders withdrawing, being overextended. 13 Brigade has lost 700 men while 6 Brigade, in a diversionary attack, has lost 159 men, including Brigadier George Clifton, who is taken POW. He makes nine escape attempts, succeeding the final time.

U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and RAF Bostons, repelling counterattacks during the Alam-el-Halfa battle, hit troop concentrations and vehicles, while P-40s, operating with the RAF, escort bombers and engage in combat over the battle area, claiming 1 fighter destroyed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: An FW 190A-3 belonging to 9./JG 1 crashed vertically to the ground at Fliegerplatz Esbjerg at noon and exploded on impact. Pilot Uffz. Karl Dietmayer died and was laid to rest in Fovrfelt cemetery in Esbjerg.


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## syscom3 (Sep 5, 2007)

*5 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Fighting was now taking place in the suburbs of Stalingrad. General Friedrich Paulus delayed his attempt to seize Stalingrad quickly in order to mop up the considerable Russian forces which he had bypassed and which he now considered a threat to the northern flank of his salient. At the same time Russia's Marshal Zhukov, newly arrived to take command, was energetically preparing an attack on the Germans. His orders were for the "troop commanders north and north-west of Stalingrad to strike the enemy quickly ... No procrastination will be tolerated. Delay now is regarded as criminal." At Stalingrad, the Soviet 24th and 66th Armies attack, but fail to gain any ground however, they take pressure off 62nd and 64th Armies, giving them time to lay barbed wire, dig trenches, plant mines, and infuse manpower. The Soviet 87th Division is down to 180 men, the 112th has 150, and the 99th Tank Brigade has 120 men and no tanks.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces B-24 Liberators strike shipping and the dock area in Candia Bay, Crete.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Germans and Italians complete their withdrawal from Alam Halfa, and dig in. British General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, issues an Order of the Day, congratulating Eighth Army on its;


> "devotion to duty and good fighting qualities which have resulted in such a heavy defeat of the enemy and which will have far-reaching results."


In the air, U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces P-40s escort Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers over the battle area southeast of Alam-el-Halfa Ridge near Rayil Dayr Ar Depression as the enemy offensive falters and is pushed back.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Office of Price Administration (OPA) imposes rent controls to prevent price-gouging.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: President Ramon S. Castillo reaffirms Argentina's intention to abide by its neutrality policy.


> "We are believers in justice and right, and can solve all our controversies by arbitration without any thought of having recourse to war."


*UNITED KINGDOM*: The convincing protests of Major General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General USAAF (USAAF) 8th Air Force, makes Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower, Commander in Chief US Forces in Europe, change his mind concerning his recent orders to suspend 8th Air Force operations from the U.K. in order to devote total air effort to support of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force and the forthcoming African campaign; General Eisenhower informs General George C Marshall, Chief of Staff U.S. Army, that he considers air operations from the U.K. and in Africa mutually complementary. The final details of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French Northwest Africa, are decided by British and American planners. The initial landings will be made by Americans because it's believed the French won't fight hard against Yanks but might against British troops. Nearly 60,000 American troops commanded by Major General George S. Patton, Commanding General Western Task Force, will sail from Norfolk, Virginia, U.S., land in Morocco and take Casablanca. Another 45,000 Americans under Major General Lloyd Fredendall, Commanding General Central Task Force, will sail from Scotland and storm Oran, Algeria. Americans will make up the first wave of a third landing near Algiers, where British troops will follow them ashore.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Vichy police round up the last of 9,872 Jews for loading on trains to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland.

The USAAF VIII Bomber Command based in the U.K. flies Mission 9: 42 bombers and 24 fighters, in two forces, attack targets without loss;
(1) 11 DB-7 Bostons, escorted by 24 Spitfires, attack the port area at Le Havre at 0932 hours.
(2) 31 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Sotteville marshalling yard at Rouen; 30 hit the Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte; 11 bomb Longuenesse Airfield at St. Omer; and two bomb Ft Rouge Airfield at St. Omer. This is largest force of 8th Air Force heavy bombers to attack to date; almost 20% of the high explosive bombs burst within the marshalling yard.


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## syscom3 (Sep 6, 2007)

*6 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German 4.Mountain Division (Gebirgsdivision) of 17.Army captures the leading Black Sea port of Novorossisk. In Stalingrad, heavy house-to-house fighting continues in the center of the city while both sides bring up reinforcements.

Major Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, Kommodore of JG 3, brought his victory total to 100 with the destruction of a Soviet aircraft.

*GERMANY*: During the day, five RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos flew to Germany but only Bremerhaven is bombed. One Mosquito is lost.

During the night of 6/7 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 207 aircraft of six types to bomb Duisburg; 187 actually bomb the city. Cloud and haze are present and the bombing is not concentrated. But Duisburg reports its heaviest raid to date, with 114 buildings destroyed and 316 seriously damaged; 86 people are killed. Eight aircraft, five Wellingtons, two Halifaxes and a Stirling are lost, 3.9 per cent of the force. A mining mission is flown by three aircraft off Heligoland Bight.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British XIII Corps continues on the offensive making slow progress southward against firm German opposition. The supply position of the British Eighth Army makes the difference in this battle. Rommel was back to the positions held on the 31 August, having lost 51 tanks (out of 515), 70 guns, 400 trucks and 2,865 men. The 8th Army losses were 1,640 men and 68 tanks.

British Eighth Army commander General Bernard Montgomery tells visiting U. S. envoy Wendell Wilkie that 300 U. S.-built M4 Sherman tanks have arrived in Port Said and will be in the forefront of his attack on Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. Montgomery says the climactic battle near El Alamein will begin next month.

In the air, U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces P-40s fly an offensive sweep over the battle area near the Rayil Dayr Ar Depression, claiming three Ju 87 Stukas shot down; P-40s also escort RAF bombers and fly two interceptor missions.

1./JG 27's Fw. Günther Steinhausen's total was standing at forty when he crashed to his death during a dogfight south-east of El Alamein. Promotion to Leutnant and award of the Ritterkreuz were both posthumous. Coincidentally, one other Ritterkreuz had been awarded on 6 September. It went to 2./JG 27’s Leutnant Friedrich Körner, a 36-victory Experte who had also been shot down in combat near El Alamein two months earlier on 4 July, but who had survived to become a PoW.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Messerschmitt Me 210 was first used over Britain. Erpr Kdo 210 was re-designated 16./KG 6 and continued to carry out experimental sorties against Britain with an attack on Middlesbrough. Two were shot down by Hawker Typhoons over the North Yorkshire coast. An Me 210A-1 from 16./KG 6 was shot down by a Typhoon Mk 1B of RAF No 1 Squadron and crashed at Fell Briggs Farm, New Marske, near Redcar, Yorkshire at 11.43 hours. Fw H. Mösgen and Obergefr E. Czerny baled out but both killed when their parachutes failed. Another 16./KG 6 Messerschmitt was shot down by a Typhoon Mk 1B of No 1 Squadron and crashed at Sunnyside Farm, Fylingthorpe, Yorkshire at 11.50 hours. Oberlt W. Maurer, the Staffelkapitän of 16./KG 6 and Fw R. Jansen baled out and were taken prisoner.

Six civilians at Middlesbrough and one at Haverton Hill during the attack which damaged houses and utilities. Anti-aircraft rockets caused damage to houses at East Boldon and Heworth.

*WESTERN FRONT*: B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) 8th Air Force's VIII Bomber Command fly Mission 10 bombing three targets:Twenty-two B-17s from the 97th BG raided the Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte at 1740-1748 hours and the 301st BG flew a diversion raid on the St. Omer airfield; eleven bombers hit St Omer/Longuenesse Airfield and two bombers attacked St Omer/Ft Rouge Airfield without loss. For the first time, fourteen B-17s from the 92nd BG and twelve DB-7 Bostons attacked the Abbeville/Drucat Airfield at 1702 hours, escorted by four squadrons of RAF Spitfires, who were flying too high and away from the formation to effectively intercept the attacking fighters from JG 26. The bomber formation was continuously attacked from the coast to the target by forty-five to fifty Focke-Wulfs and a few Bf 109s from above and behind. The B-17s and suffered its first heavy bomber losses in combat. At 1855 hours a B-17 from the 340 BS 97th BG flown by 2/Lt Clarence C. Lipsky went down near Amiens, shot down by the Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 26, Hptm. “Conny” Meyers who became the first Luftwaffe pilot to fully destroy an American four-engined bomber (this was the VIII Bomber Command’s first loss of aircraft in combat). 2/Lt. Lipsky and five of his crew successfully baled out and became prisoners of war. Ten minutes later another B-17 “Baby Doll” from the 327 BS 92nd BG was attacked by six Fw 190s from 4./JG 26 and crashed into the sea near Le Treport, the claim being given to Obfw. Willi Roth of 4./JG 26. Over Cayeaux a Fortress from the 92nd BG was attacked by six Fw 190s. When the escorting Spitfires of RAF No 133 ‘Eagle’ Squadron were able to catch up to the battle, they were bounced by Fw 190s from JG 26. Three Spitfires were shot down and an additional seven bombers damaged.

During the day, ten of 12 RAF Bomber Command Bostons bombed ships in Boulogne harbour but scored no hits.

Six RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Sep 7, 2007)

*7 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German submarine U-517 torpedoes and sinks three merchant vessels, two Greek and one Canadian totalling over 10,500 tons, sailing in convoy QS-33 at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River near Cap Chat, Quebec, Canada, in position 48.50N, 63.46W.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 6.Armee began a four-mile advance through Stalingrad to the Volga.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: B-24s bomb convoys at sea, hit other shipping, and in Crete, attack Maleme Airfield and Suda Bay.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army stabilized its line at Alam el Haifa, after Montgomery suspended the battle. Hptm. Marseille continued to increase his score of downed enemy aircraft by destroying two more British planes during the day.

Twenty-four hours after Fw. Steinhausen was posted missing, Lt. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, Staffelkapitän of 2./JG 27, would be lost in similar circumstances, when he crashed to his death during a dogfight south-east of El Alamein. He, too, would be honored posthumously, being awarded the Eichenlaub for his final total of fifty-nine desert victories.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Navy and the Maritime Commission celebrate Labor Day by launching 174 ships at 60 shipyards.

*WESTERN FRONT*: USAAF (8th Air Force) Bomber Command flies Mission 11: 9 of 29 bombers dispatched attack targets in the Netherlands:
(1) 4 of 15 B-17s ineffectively raid the Wilton shipyards at Rotterdam in bad weather and claim 8-4-7 Luftwaffe aircraft.
(2) 5 of 14 B-17s seek targets of opportunity in the vicinity of Utrecht and claim 4-6-5 Luftwaffe aircraft.

Fighters from JG 1 and JG 26 intercepted the bombers and lost two Fw 190s – one to a Spitfire and another to return fire from the B-17s. Only seven bombers were able to drop their load on the target. Five out of fourteen B-17s looked for targets of opportunity in the vicinity of Utrecht and two of the bombers hit the Utrecht railway station. Uffz. Niese of 9./JG 26 claimed his first Spitfire near Dunkirk.


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## syscom3 (Sep 8, 2007)

*8 September 1942*

*GERMANY*: During the night of 8/9 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 249 aircraft of five types to bomb Frankfurt-am- Main; 200 aircraft crews claimed to have “bombed” the target with the loss of ten aircraft. The truth is that the Pathfinders are unable to locate Frankfurt accurately and most of the bombs fell southwest of the city and in the town of Rüsselsheim, 15 miles (24 kilometers) away. Frankfurt reports only a few bombs, approximately six aircraft loads. with minor damage, one person dead and 30 injured. Bomber Command documents state that the Opel tank factory and the Michelin tire factory are damaged and that five aircraft bombed Mainz; two bombed Darmstadt; and individual aircraft bombed Duisburg, Hochst, Russelheim and Wiesbaden.

RAF Bomber Command bombed Dusseldorf in the Ruhr, dropping 4,000 pound (1814 kilogram) bombs. Bomber crews called these bombs "Cookies" while the press called them "Blockbusters."

The prototype of a new fighter, the Me 209 V-1 was badly damaged in a crash-landing.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces B-24 Liberators attack shipping and the harbor at Suda Bay, Crete.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The State Department announces that the U.S. chargé d'affaires in Vichy has been instructed to inform the Vichy Government that bombs have only been dropped in France on military plants in the employ of Germany, and that the Americans have no desire to see the French suffer any more than could be avoided. The Government is to be informed, further, that military plants in France, useful to the Germans, would be;


> "bombed at every opportunity. "


The Third War Loan drive begins.

Domestically, all gold mines in the U.S. are shut down and the industry's workers are sent to war production jobs.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The "Joint British American Directive on Day Bomber Operations Involving Fighter Cooperation" is issued; worked out between Major General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General USAAF, and the RAF, it consigns night bombing to the RAF and day bombing to the 8th Air Force. The purpose is to achieve continuity in the bombing offensive and secure RAF fighter support for US bombers. General Spaatz orders all tactical operations to give way to activity in support of Operation TORCH (plan for Allied landings in North and Northwestern Africa in November 1942); processing of units of the newly created USAAF Twelfth Air Force destined for North Africa takes priority over combat operations for the present.

Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill announces that the British heavy cruiser HMS '_Shropshire_' will be transferred to the Royal Australian Navy as a replacement for the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS '_Canberra_' lost in the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942.

*WESTERN FRONT*: General de St. Vincent, military governor of Lyons, is dismissed by the Vichy government for failure to arrest Jews in his area.

During the day, 12 RAF Bomber Command Bostons bomb Cherbourg and Le Havre docks without loss.

A Ju 88A-5 belonging to 12./KG 30 was training on night landings at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West when it attempted an emergency landing in a field near Nørholm west of Aalborg shortly after 2200 hours. It touched down east of a country road and crossed it before finally exploding, killing the crew of four. Pilot Uffz Franz Puspischil, Navigator Ogfr. Kurt Schlummer, wireless operator Uffz. Helmut Pfeffer and Air gunner Ogfr. Otto Nittmann were all laid to rest in Friedrichshaven cemetery.


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## syscom3 (Sep 9, 2007)

*9 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The last radio message from the U.S. Coast Guard weather ship USCGC '_Muskeget_' is received. It is believed that she is sunk by the German submarine U-755 somewhere in the North Atlantic while en route from Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A., to Weather Station Number 2 located about 509 nautical miles NE of Saint John’s, Newfoundland. All 121 men aboard are lost.

In the North Atlantic, Convoy ON 127 (U.K. to North America) is sighted by German submarine U-584. The convoy consists of 32 merchant ships escorted by two Canadian destroyers, HMCS '_Ottawa_' and '_St. Croix_' [I-81, ex USS '_McCook_' (DD-252)], three Canadian corvettes, HMCS '_Amherst_', '_Arvida_' and '_Sherbrooke_', and the British corvette HMS '_Celandine_'. U-584 loses contact during the night.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler takes over direct command of Heeresgruppe A on the Eastern Front, which having been foiled by the Red Army in the western Caucasus, was meeting increased resistance in its drive towards Astrakhan and Baku. General List is sacked.

Lt. Müller of I./JG 53 downed six Russian IL-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft.

Lt. Otto Leicher of 4./JG 52 attained his 15th and last aerial victory against a LaGG-3 at 1405 hours, south of the Terek River in the Caucasus. 862 IAP's Batalyonnyy Komissar Aleksey Shapovalov shot down a Messerschmitt 109 in the Voznesenskaya area. The German pilot was captured, and proved to be an ace. A few minutes later, Shapovalov's LaGG-3 was shot down by another Messerschmitt 109 and Shapovalov bailed out with injuries in the Mozdok area. At 1408 hours, Lt. Gustav Denk of Stab II./JG 52 claimed a LaGG-3, but that was at an altitude of only 200 meters, which hardly would allow the pilot to bail out. Thus, it is plausible to assume that Shapovalov was shot down by Uffz. Hans Waldmann (Stab II./JG 52), who claimed a LaGG-3 in 1,400 meters altitude at 1409 hours. It was recorded as Waldmann's second victory.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches six Mosquitos to attack three cities without loss: three bomb Osnabruck and one each bomb Bielefeld and Munster.

During the night of 9/10 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to lay mines: five each mine Gironde Estuary, Heligoland Bight and Kattegat. One Lancaster is lost.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: British troops renew their offensive in order to ensure the safety of military objectives and gain air and sea control of the Mozambique Channel. The 29th Brigade makes a surprise landing on the west coast in the vicinity of Majunga during the night of 9/10 September and seizes the town virtually unopposed.

*MIDDLE EAST*: The Iranian government declares war on Germany.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24's attack Tobruk harbor and shipping.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, submits to the Chief of Staff a plan (AWPD-42) estimating the size of the air force necessary to attain air ascendancy over the enemy and outlining suggestions for the use of these forces in the several theaters; this plan, which by 17 November 1942 has been approved by the War Department and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, includes the buildup of the depleted 8th Air Force in the U.K. and contains the seeds of the Combined Bomber Offensive.

The War Canadian Cabinet closes the St. Lawrence River to all Allied shipping except coasters due to the German U-Boat submarine danger.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The bodies of two German airmen whose machines were shot down were picked up near Marske, one in a field and the other in a reservoir, and were this day buried at Thornaby, Yorkshire with military honours.

The last of twelve high altitude bombing missions over Britain was flown by Ju 86s of 2(F)./ AufklGr 123.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 9/10 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to lay mines in two areas: seven lay mines in the Frisian Islands and three lay mines off Texel Island.

Hptm. Fritz Hobein was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./ZG 1 in place of Major Roland Bohrt.


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## syscom3 (Sep 10, 2007)

*10 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Convoy ON-127 (U.K. to North America), consisting of 32 merchant ships escorted by the Canadian destroyers HMCS '_St. Croix_' and '_Ottawa_', three Canadian corvettes, HMCS '_Amherst_', '_Arvida_' and '_Sherbrooke_' and the British corvette HMS '_Celandine_', are tracked by the 12 U-boats of wolfpack Vorwarts and the Germans begin their attacks.

At 1435 hours GMT, a 4,241 ton Belgian freighter and a 6,313 ton Norwegian tanker are struck by torpedoes fired by U-96 and sink. At about 2300 hours GMT, a 8,029 ton British tanker is hit by torpedoes fired by U-584 and sinks.

The 7,240 ton U.S. freighter SS '_American Leader_' is sunk by the German auxiliary cruiser '_Michel_' about 815 nautical miles (1509 kilometers) west of Cape Town, South Africa, in position 34.26S, 02.00E. Forty seven of the 58 crewmen aboard survive and are taken aboard the German vessel and are later turned over to the Japanese in Singapore; 14 of the men die in Japanese prison camps.

The German submarine U-69 lays mines at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in the U.S.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces attacking from besieged Leningrad failed to break the German lines.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 10/11 September RAF Bomber Command dispatches 479 aircraft, 242 Wellingtons, 89 Lancasters, 59 Halifaxes, 47 Stirlings, 28 Hampdens and 14 Whitleys, to bomb Dusseldorf; 365 bomb the target with the loss of 33 aircraft, 20 Wellingtons, five Lancasters, four Stirlings, three Halifaxes and a Hampden, 7.1 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders successfully marked the target, using 'Pink Pansies' in converted 4,000 pound (1 814 kilogram) bomb casings for the first time. All parts of Dusseldorf except the north of the city are hit as well as the neighbouring town of Neuss. Thirty nine industrial firms in Dusseldorf and 13 in Neuss are damaged so much that all production ceased for various periods. Eight public buildings are destroyed and 67 damaged. 911 houses are destroyed and 1,506 seriously and 8,340 lightly damaged. One hundred thirty two people are killed, 120 in Dusseldorf and 12 in Neuss; 116 further people are still classed as missing two days later and 19,427 people are bombed out. Individual aircraft bomb Gladbeck and Krefeld as targets if opportunity.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: The British end negotiations with Vichy Governor General Annet after five months of talks fail to win guarantees of noncooperation with the Japanese. The British 29th Brigade lands at Majunga and begins a campaign to occupy the entire island. The Free French are promised that the administration of the colony will be turned over to them once operation is completed.

The Australian destroyer HMAS '_Napier_' (G 97) enters the port of Morandava on the west coast and lands 50 commandoes. The Vichy French defenders fire a few rounds and then surrender.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Baruch Commission, tasked with investigating the availability of rubber, warns of military and civilian collapse due to a shortage of rubber in the U.S. As a result, the government mandates gasoline rationing in the U.S. to limit the amount of driving thus saving rubber required for tires.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Individual RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb Haamstede and Venlo Airfields.

A Do 217J belonging to 7./ NJG 2 was hit by return fire at 0409 hours when it claimed a Lancaster over the North Sea 10 kilometres southwest of Thyborön. Pilot Uffz. Fritz Hobusch set course towards Fliegerhorst Grove but only managed to keep the Do 217 flying for another 12 minutes. Just when it had crossed Venø Bay it was necessary for the crew to leave by parachute. The aircraft crashed in a field near Vinderup and was a total loss. One flyer landed near Hasselholt and borrowed a telephone. He called the local police and asked to be picked up as he had hurt his back upon landing. Constable Karlov picked him up in a car and took him to Doctor Helms in Vinderup who ordered the flyer taken to the hospital. The flyer however wanted to be taken to the crash site, and taken from there by German ambulance to Grove. Soon after, Doctor Helms received a call from Farmer Christian Mortensen of Hasselholt who asked the doctor to treat a German flyer that had landed nearby and had damaged a leg during landing. The doctor picked the flyer up and took him to the crash site after examining the leg. The third flyer landed near the farm of Farmer Johannes Nielsen of Hasselholt. He was unhurt and was taken by horse carriage to the police station by the farmer’s son.


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## syscom3 (Sep 11, 2007)

*11 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: During the night of 10/11 September, there are several submarine attacks: first U-659 damages a 8,029 ton British tanker. A few hours later U-404 and U-218 damage each a 7,417 ton and a 7,361 ton Norwegian tankers. U-584 finishes off the 8,029 ton British tanker previously damaged by U-659. All of these attacks occur about 737 nautical miles west of Cork, County Cork, Eire, in position 51.26N, 28.19W.

At 1158 hours GMT, Canadian corvette HMCS '_Charlottetown_' (K 244) is struck by a torpedo fired by German submarine U-517 and sinks in the St. Lawrence River about 33 nautical miles (61 kilometers) northeast of Matone, Quebec, in position 49.10N, 66.50W. '_Charlottetown_' has just escorted the convoy SQ 30 to Rimouski, Quebec, and is returning to Gaspe, Quebec; nine of the crew went down with the ship.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The ruined city of Stalingrad was in immediate danger of falling to the Germans. German 6.Armee commander General Friedrich Paulus had fought off Zhukov's hastily-prepared counter-attack and was working his way towards the heart of the city against stubborn resistance. Russians guns, safe on the eastern bank of the Volga, were pounding the Germans, whose latest communique said that the;


> "fortified belt of steel" around Stalingrad had to be taken "piece by piece" from the Russians, "who resist fiercely and desperately to the end."


German 6.Armee commander General Friedrich Paulus is summoned to Chancellor Adolf Hitler's headquarters ("Werewolf") to explain why 6.Armee hasn't taken Stalingrad. Paulus tells Hitler that an attack will go in with 11 divisions, three of them panzer, on 13 September. The Russians have only three infantry divisions, parts of four others, and two tanks brigades against him. Stalingrad should crack, he says and Hitler is pleased.

*NORTH AFRICA*: New Zealand raiders of the Long Range Desert Group attack the Italian air base at Barce and destroy 23 Italian aircraft on the ground.

After several days of no contact, Oblt. Marseille only gets to destroy two RAF warplanes during his daily fighter sweeps.

*NORTH AMERICA*: With so many young men involved in the war effort, there is a critical shortage of labor across Canada and the government announces that all women, single and married, born between 1918 and 1922, are required to register with the Unemployment Insurance Commission. The Calgary, Alberta, manager of the Commission explains that the women would not necessarily be given employment immediately, but that their experience and skills would be classified in case they are required for necessary war work. Across the Canadian prairies, hundreds of people, including teachers, bankers, lawyers, clergymen and schoolchildren, volunteer to assist with bringing in the harvest. In Drumheller, Alberta, as in towns all across the prairies, the local Board of Trade organizes busses and cars to take the volunteers to farms where they work with local farmers to harvest the grain and build granaries to store it.


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## syscom3 (Sep 12, 2007)

*12 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: At 2107 hours Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the 19,695 ton former Cunard White Star passenger liner SS '_Laconia_' is struck by torpedoes fired by German submarine U-156 in the South Atlantic about 976 nautical miles (1 808 kilometers) southwest of Monrovia, Liberia. '_Lanconia_' sinks at 2323 hours. The ship is sailing to England with 136 crewmen, 80 civilians, military material and personnel (268 men) and approximately 1,800 Italian prisoners of war with 160 Polish soldiers on guard. Shortly after the ship sinks, the crew of the surfaced U-156 hear Italian voices in the sea and in the lifeboats. The U-boat captain begins a rescue operation and sends a radio message in the clear asking for assistance from any vessel in the area stating that;


> "if any ship will assist the ship-wrecked '_Laconia_'-crew, I will not attack providing I am not being attacked by ship or air forces."


During the next three days, U-156 rescues 400 survivors with 200 on the deck of the sub and 200 in lifeboats. On 15 September, U-506 arrives at 1130 hours followed by U-507 and the Italian submarine '_Cappellini_' a few hours later. The subs head for Africa towing the lifeboats behind them. The following day, 16 September, a USAAF B-24 Liberator based on Ascension Island flies over the scene and the pilot notifies his headquarters. Even though the submarines are flying the Red Cross flag, the pilot is ordered to attack them which he does at 1232 hours. The submarines cut the lines to the lifeboats and submerge leaving hundred of people who are on the decks now in the water. Shortly thereafter, French warships arrive from Dakar and pick up about 1,500 survivors. Admiral Karl Doenitz, Commander of the German U-boat fleet, subsequently forbids U-boats to help ships' survivors. He is indicted for the 'Laconia order' at the Nurnberg trials.

Convoy PQ 18 left Hvalfjord, Iceland, en route to Archangel, U.S.S.R., on 8 September. The convoy consists of 40 merchant ships escorted by the escort aircraft carrier HMS '_Avenger_', the light cruiser HMS '_Scylla_', 20 destroyers, two submarines, four corvettes, three minesweepers and four trawlers. The covering force of the heavy cruisers HMS '_London_', '_Norfolk_' and '_Suffolk_' with the battleships HMS '_Anson_' and '_Duke of York_' on stand by close by. The Luftwaffe provided a formidable opponent with forty-two Heinkel He-111 torpedo bombers of KG 26 and thirty-five Junkers Ju-88 dive bombers. Tactics consisted of simultaneous attack by torpedo bombers and dive bombers swamping the defenders. U-Boats began shadowing the convoy and one of them, the 'U-88' was sunk by HMS '_Faulknor_' about 241 nautical miles (446 kilometers) southwest of Longyearbyen, Sptizbergan Island, Norway. All 46 aboard are lost. The convoy was sighted by a BV 138 recon flying boat near Jan Mayen island. At this time the BV 138 reported seeing thirty-nine freighters and a tanker, two fleet tankers and a rescue ship along with escort destroyers. Later recon planes discovered the aircraft carrier, HMS ‘_Avenger_’, with a protecting flight of Hawker Hurricanes. The recon planes started to shadow the convoy until bombers could be alerted and assembled.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The perimeter held by the Soviet Army at Stalingrad is closed to 30 miles (48 kilometers). Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov is appointed to command the Soviet 62nd Army at Stalingrad and immediately orders close-quarter fighting to prevent the Germans from using their Ju87 Stuka dive bombers. Chuikov tells his 55,000 haggard men,


> "We shall hold the city or die here."


Lt. Wilhelm Lemke of III./JG 3 brought his victory total to fifty kills with the destruction of a Russian aircraft.

*GERMANY*: In an effort to reverse previous orders restricting creation of new designs that could improve the Luftwaffe, Reichsmarschall Göring removed the orders of 2 February, 1940 and allowed development to proceed. But this served to hinder the Luftwaffe even more as previous aircraft that had not been tried were put into production, wasting more time and material as numerous poor designs were worked on and proven unsuitable.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Twenty-five He 111H-6s of Sonderkommando Koch arrived at Athens / Kalamaki, along with three He 111 H-6 and one Ju 88 D-5 of Kommando Fritzel.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: Brazilian naval forces are placed under the operational control of the USN.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower officially announces assumption of command as Commander-in- Chief Allied Expeditionary Force for Operation TORCH (the Allied invasion of northwest Africa), and Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) is activated in London.

The USAAF 4th Fighter Group is activated at Bushey Hall, England, to furnish the first U.S. fighter escorts for Eighth Air Force heavy bombers on missions over occupied Europe. Former members of the Eagle Squadrons, U.S. fighter pilots who had voluntarily served in the RAF before U.S. entry into the war, formed the nucleus of the new group.

Bristol was once again the target by the Höhenkampfkommando der Versuchsstelle für Höhenflüeg but on this occasion the lone Ju 86R, again flown by Fw. Horst Götz and Lt. Erich Sommer, was intercepted en-route by a specially modified Spitfire flown by Pilot Officer Prince Emanuel Galitzine, from the RAF's newly formed 'SS' Flight at Northolt. For the first time a Ju 86R was engaged in combat, and the crew, who hastily jettisoned their bomb near Salisbury, were lucky to return to France with only one cannon hole through the port wing. So ended the highest air battle ever fought over Britain, and soon after the high altitude bombing experiment ceased.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Ten British Commandoes raid Port-en-Bessin in Normandy and kill seven Germans. The gunfire alerts the garrison which attacks and kills nine of the commandoes; one, Private Hayes, swims along the coast and aided by a French family, escapes to Spain. However, the Spanish police arrest Hayes and send him back to France where he is interrogated by the Gestapo. Acting under the notorious "Kugel" Order, signed by German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief Armed Forces High Command, that orders execution for all captured British commandos, Hayes is executed by the Gestapo.


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## syscom3 (Sep 13, 2007)

*13 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Convoy PQ 18:The day began with an attack by Ju 88s from KG 30 on the Allied convoy PQ 18. Later in the day twenty-four He 111s of I./KG 26 took off from Bardufoss followed by sixteen He 111s from III./KG 26 at Banak and headed towards PQ 18, flying low over the water under the radar. Northwest of Bear Island, the He 111 bombers, each armed with two torpedoes, executed a massive line-abreast attack at low altitude, simultaneously dropping all their "torps" and sinking no less than eight freighters virtually immediately. Flying in three waves, 150 feet above the water, the torpedo-armed bombers targeted the aircraft carrier HMS ‘_Avenger_’ and the rest of the convoy while the covering fighter force of Hurricanes were away chasing the Ju 88s. All the Luftwaffe aircraft returned though some were so badly damaged from the defending flak that six were written off. Three Hurricanes were also shot down by friendly fire but their pilots were rescued. 'U-589' rescued four Luftwaffe airmen in the Arctic. She did not have the chance to bring them to shore as she was herself sunk the very next day.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 6.Armee began its final effort to take Stalingrad. The perimeter held by the Red Army was closed to 30 miles. General Chuikov was appointed to command the Soviet 62nd Army at Stalingrad. Lt. Josef Menapace, Staffelkapitän of 7./SchG 1 was wounded when his Hs 123 was shot up by a Soviet fighter over Stalingrad. Female Soviet fighter pilot Lidya Litvyak shot down two German aircraft on her third mission, including one piloted by a decorated German ace.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 13/14 September, the most bombed city in Europe, Bremen in northern Germany, suffers its 1,000th air raid. RAF Bomber Command dispatches 446 aircraft to attack Bremen; 374 bomb the target with the loss of 21 aircraft, 15 Wellingtons, two Lancasters, a Halifax, a Hampden, a Stirling and a Whitley, 41 percent of the force are lost. The Lloyd dynamo factory is put out of action for two weeks and various parts of the Focke-Wulf factory for from two to eight days. Five nearly completed aircraft are destroyed and three more damaged. The report also lists seven cultural and historical buildings hit in the center of the town as well as six schools and two hospitals. Seventy people are killed and 371 injured. Two aircraft bomb Oldenburg as a target of opportunity.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: British General Sir William Platt, Commander-in- Chief East Africa Command, establishes his headquarters ashore at Majunga. The East African 22nd Brigade continues toward Tananarive, hampered chiefly by roadblocks.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit landing grounds southeast of Matruh.

OPERATION AGREEMENT:To help relieve the pressure on Eighth Army in the Alamein area, a combined operations raid was planned on Tobruk to destroy installations and shipping. An attack would be launched from the landward side by the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), while simultaneously the destroyers 'Sikh' and 'Zulu' together with coastal forces craft would land Royal Marine and Army units from the sea. AA cruisers 'Coventry' and 'Hunts' provided cover. During the night of the 13th/14th, a few troops got ashore but 'Sikh' was soon disabled by shore batteries. Hit repeatedly by the shore guns, the 'Sikh' was disabled and taken in tow by her sister ship, HMS 'Zulu'. When the tow cable was parted by a shell hit, she drifted into the line of fire once more. On top of this, seven German dive-bombers attacked the stricken vessel which had to be abandoned. Loss of life amounted to 15 officers and over 100 ratings. The few survivors were taken prisoner when they reached the shore. British desert raids also reached Benghazi and Barer.

Major David Stirling of the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and the Special Air Service (SAS) Unit lost a quarter of his men after his modest plan for the raid is inflated into a full scale assault. The plan went against everything that Stirling believed is essential for a successful raid. He is forced to swell his ranks with newcomers, all of whom are not SAS trained; the element of surprise could not be achieved because a large force is being used and, finally, the use of a pre-arranged time table clamped the SAS's mobility resulting in the inability to strike as and when the opportunity presented itself.

During the night of 13/14 September, US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s attack Tobruk, in Libya, and shipping in Bengasi harbor.


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## syscom3 (Sep 14, 2007)

*14 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Convoy PQ 18: German torpedo planes continued attacks upon Archangel-bound convoy PQ 18, sinking U.S. freighter SS '_Mary Luckenbach'_ about 600 miles (966 kilometres) west of North Cape, Norway; she was lost with all hands. The violent explosion of SS '_Mary Luckenbach's'_ ammunition cargo rained debris on nearby freighter SS '_Nathaniel Greene_' injuring 11 men (five of whom were transferred to British destroyer HMS '_Onslaught_' for medical attention), but the merchantman made port under her own power. Concussion from the explosion also disabled U.S. freighter SS '_Wacosta_', which was later torpedoed and sunk about 400 miles (644 kilometres) northeast of Jan Mayen Island; she suffered no casualties. German U-boat U-457 torpedoes a British Royal Fleet Auxiliary motor tanker early in the day and the ship is later sunk by torpedoes from U-408 about 127 nautical miles (235 kilometers) south-southeast of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen Island. Twelve of the 40 merchant ships (30-percent) that left Iceland on 8 September have been sunk. KG 26 was sent again to attack PQ 18 but the convoy, forewarned, was ready and waiting. With twenty-two He 111s armed with torpedoes, Major Klumper, Gruppenkommandeur of I Gruppe, found the convoy and led the flight to attack the leading ship, thinking it was the aircraft carrier. The escort aircraft carrier HMS '_Avenger_' is carrying 12 Sea Hurricanes Mk IIBs and three Swordfish M IIs. The Sea Hurricanes intercept the Luftwaffe aircraft attacking PQ 18 and with fire from the convoy, destroyed five Heinkels. The flight abandoned the mission and returned with nine aircraft so badly damaged they too were written off. This left the Gruppe after two missions with only eight serviceable aircraft. The weather worsened and PQ 18 was allowed to continue to Archangel unmolested. Though the attacks started successfully, Reichsmarschall Göring’s ambition to finally redeem himself over the failure of destroying the ‘_Ark Royal_’ pushed the Luftwaffe to overextend itself in operations. The result was too few planes to stem the tide of material now making its way to Russia. Towards the end of the war the material significance of the supplies was probably not as great as the symbolic value hence the continuation - at Stalin's insistence - of these convoys long after the Soviets had turned the German land offensive. While tracking Convoy PQ 18, German submarine U-589 is sunk about 169 miles (313 kilometers) south-southeast of Longyearbyen, Sptizbergan Island, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS '_Onslow_', and depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft of No. 825 Squadron in the escort carrier HMS '_Avenger_'; all 44 crewmen on the U-boat are lost. The boat had rescued four Luftwaffe airmen yesterday and they also went down with the ship. This is the sub's eighth patrol and she is credited with sinking two ships for a total of 3.264 tons.

While escorting Convoy ON 127 (U.K. to North America), Canadian destroyer HMCS '_Ottawa_' (H 60), is hit by two torpedoes from German submarine U-91 and sinks about 373 nautical miles (690 kilometers) east of Saint John's, Newfoundland; 141 men of the 208 aboard are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Thunderous attacks by 200,000 Germans stagger the Soviets at Stalingrad. In coordinated offensives, the German 6.Armee and 4.Panzerarmee storm into the heart of the wrecked city and nearly reach the main ferry landing where Soviet reinforcements land after crossing the Volga River. The Soviet 62nd Army was hemmed into a narrow strip of land no more than 10 miles at its widest and 4 miles as its narrowest. However, a shortage of troops meant that the 6.Armee could only attack on very narrow frontages. Couple this to the fact that the 6.Armee was fighting in built-up areas, meant that progress was slow and losses high. Even so, the LI. Armeekorps (von Seydlitz) advanced toward the inner city and the Central Station. Realizing the Germans have nearly conquered the city, Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov, Commanding General 64th Army, calls for, and gets, reinforcements. The first of them, the 13th Guards Division, is brought across the Volga and immediately counterattacks. Several other divisions will bolster Stalingrad's defenses during the next few days.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bombed ports in Northern Germany. Individual aircraft bombed Cuxhaven , Emden , Kiel, Lubeck and Wilhelmshaven without loss. Wilhelmshaven reports four bombs falling in the town centre, with an old folks' home and several houses hit and ten people injured. Kiel reports four bombs on a nearby village with no particular damage and no casualties.

During the night of 14/15 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 220 aircraft of five types to Wilhelmshaven; 185 bomb the city. A Wellington is the only aircraft lost. The four aircraft of 408 (Canadian) Squadron on this raid represent the last operational effort by Hampdens with front-line squadrons. The Pathfinder marking is accurate and Wilhelmshaven reports its worst raid to date. Housing and city-centre type buildings are listed as being hit hardest. Seventy seven people are killed and more than 50 injured.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators attack shipping at Suda Bay setting a vessel afire.

The Italian submarine '_Alabastro_' is sunk by a British Sunderland Mk. II, aircraft "R" of No. 202 Squadron based at Gibraltar, northwest of Algiers, Algeria. The sub is caught on the surface and the captain elects to fight it out with guns but the Sunderland, piloted by an Australian, drops a depth charge and '_Alabastro_' stops dead in the water and sinks after 30 minutes, leaving 40 survivors in the water.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Tobruk and P-40s fly a sweep with the RAF over the frontlines.

In addition to the land forces attacking Tobruk, Libya, last night (OPERATION AGREEMENT) a second force attacks by sea. British destroyers HMS '_Sikh_' and '_Zulu_' together with coastal forces craft will land Royal Marine and army units from the sea. Antiaircraft cruiser HMS '_Coventry_' and '_Calcutta_' provide cover. Tribal class destroyer HMS '_Sikh_' is illuminated by a searchlight associated with a Luftwaffe 88 mm (3.5-inch) antiaircraft battery and receives heavy, well-directed fire. The gearing room and the turbine lubrication system are destroyed and ready use 4.7-inch (11,9 centimeter) ammunition along side A turret is exploded, as are the demolition charges set around Y turret. HMS '_Zulu_' attempts to tow '_Sikh_' away but is herself hit and is ordered away. '_Sikh_' is scuttled at 0708 hours and the crew abandon the ship. There are 275 casualties. British antiaircraft cruiser HMS '_Coventry_' is attacked by a force of German Ju.87 dive bombers and is so badly damaged that she has to be sunk by the destroyer HMS '_Zulu_' about 136 nautical miles (404 kilomters) east of Tobruk, Libya. Then HMS '_Zulu_' is attacked by a force of six German Ju87 Stuka divebombers and 12 Ju88s. A bomb enters the engine room and brings the ship to a stop. The British destroyer HMS '_Croome_' takes off all crew except for a towing party, whilst the destroyer HMS '_Hursley_' takes her in tow. When it became clear that HMS '_Zulu_' is sinking, the tow is cast off, but before HMS '_Croome_' can come alongside to take off the towing party, '_Zulu_' rolls over and sinks about 255 nautical miles (472 kilometers) east of Tobruk, Libya. There are 40 casualties.

*WESTERN FRONT*: To meet German demands for labor collaboration between Vichy France and Germany, the Vichy French government establishes compulsory labor for men between the ages of 18 and 65, and for unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 35.


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## syscom3 (Sep 15, 2007)

*15 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-261 is sunk about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) northwest of Stornoway, Hebrides Islands, U.K., by depth charges from an RAF Whitley of No. 58 Squadron based at RAF Stornoway; all 43 hands on the U-boat are lost. The is the boats first patrol.

*EASTERN FRONT*: There is fierce fighting between German and Soviet forces for possession of Mamayev Kurgan, the strategic hill overlooking Stalingrad.

Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of 9./JG 54 shot down two more Russian planes to bring his score to forty-eight victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A lone US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberator drops one bomb on a tanker in Suda Bay.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb behind the Axis lines while P-40s, along with the RAF, fly escort and carry out a scramble missions over the area west of El Alamein.

Another dry spell ended when Oblt. Marseille returned to his high scoring ways by destroying seven enemy aircraft over the desert. JG 27 escorting Stukas intercepted attacking RAF fighters and were awarded 19 Victories. The P-40s intercepting this Stuka raid were put up by 239 Wing, thirty-six Kittyhawks from 250 Sqn, 3 RAAF, 450 RAAF, 112 Sqns. Only six Kittyhawks failed to return, one which was claimed to be shot down by friendly AA Fire. The sixth of the seven enemy fighters credited to Marseille (all identified as ‘P-46s’, JG 27’s erroneous designation for the Kittyhawk) gave him his 150th. He was only the third Luftwaffe pilot to reach this figure at this time. Although Marseille’s 150 brought no further decorations (at the time there was nothing higher than the Diamonds), it did result in his immediate promotion to Hauptmann. Still three months short of his 23rd birthday, Hans-Joachim Marseille had become the youngest Hauptmann in the Luftwaffe. He was also by far the highest scorer against the western Allies.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, 12 RAF Bomber Command Bostons bombed the whaling factory ship Solglint in Cherbourg harbor; the ship is set on fire and gutted. No Bostons are lost. During the night of 15/16 September, nine aircraft laid mines in the Gironde Estuary.

During the night of 15/16 September, 26 RAF Bomber Command aircraft laid mines in the Frisian Islands.

An Fw 190A-2 was seen over Sdr. Bindslev at 1220 hours when Staffelkapitän Oblt. Herbert Huppertz of 10./JG 5 dropped the aircraft's canopy and it fell in the fields of Farmer Gunner Sørensen, Aasen. About three minutes later Oblt. Huppertz made an emergency belly landing in a farm field near St. Mogensbæk due to engine failure. It touched down in a turnip field and skidded on to the next field where the aircraft came to a halt. Oblt. Huppertz had damaged his left leg and was bleeding from wounds on his head and was unconscious when Søren Sørensen along with his employees ran over to the aircraft. The Oberleutnant's left leg was stuck in the cockpit but they managed to free him and brought him to the farmhouse and called for Doctor Greisen of Bindslev. Dr. Greisen arrived and dressed the wounds of the Staffelkapitän who had now regained consciousness. It appeared that Huppertz also suffered from a concussion. The Wehrmacht in Friedrichshaven was called and at 1330 hours a party arrived with an ambulance and took Huppertz to the German hospital in Friedrichshaven. A number of soldiers from the German garrison in Sindal arrived to guard the FW 190 and billeted at the St. Mogensbæk farm. When darkness fell one soldier was guarding the aircraft when Jens Sørensen walked over towards him with a warm cup of coffee. The guard became nervous and warning shots were fired. Only when his comrades joined him from the house did he calm down. It took several days to dismantle and remove the aircraft.


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## syscom3 (Sep 16, 2007)

*16 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Convoy PQ-18: While tracking Convoy PQ-18 (Iceland to Northern U.S.S.R.), German submarine U-457 is sunk about 412 nautical miles NNE of Murmansk, U.S.S.R., by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS '_Impulsive_' (D 11); all 45 hands on the U-boat are lost. This is the boats third patrol and she had been credited with sinking an American freighter and a British tanker in July 1942 for a total of 15.593 tons and damaging another for a total of 8.939 tons.

The German submarines U-156, U-506 and U-507 and the Italian submarine '_Capellini_' are engaged in rescuing survivors of the sinking of the British transport '_Lanconia_' on 12 September, when they are attacked by a USAAF B-24 Liberator based on Ascension Island.

*EASTERN FRONT*: At dawn in Stalingrad, the Soviet 42nd Regiment attacks into a hurricane of mortar fire, seeking the top of Mamayev Kurgan, a hill which is almost in the center of the city and its heights hold a commanding position over the whole city, the Volga River and the area across the river.

Ofw. Wilhelm Schilling of 9./JG 54 shot down a Russian IL-2 Sturmovik for his forty-sixth victory but himself was then shot down by anti-aircraft fire and seriously injured. Lt. Heinz Schmidt of II./JG 52 scored his 102nd kill.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sent six Mosquitos to Wiesbaden to bomb the Biebrich chemical factory. Five bombed the target without loss.

During the night of 16/17 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 369 aircraft to bomb Essen; 244 aircraft bombed the target and 39 are lost, 21 Wellingtons, nine Lancasters, five Stirlings, three Halifaxes and a Whitley, 10.6 per cent of the force. Although much of the bombing is scattered, this is probably the most successful attack on this difficult target. There are 33 large and 80 "medium" fires. Eight industrial and six transport premises are hit. The Krupps works are hit by 15 high-explosive bombs and by a crashing bomber loaded with incendiaries. There is much housing damage. In Essen and its immediate surroundings, 47 people are killed and 92 injured. Other town hit are Duisburg by two aircraft and individual aircraft bombed Hamborn, Kempin and Oberhausen without loss.

*NORTH AFRICA*: U.S. Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General US Army Middle East Air Force in Egypt, is officially assigned to the Middle East as a result of pressure from Major General Clayton L Bissell, new Commanding General 10th Air Force in India, for clarification of the status of Brereton and other key staff officers and combat crews who had gone from India to the Middle East in June and July 1942.

During the night of 16/17 September, US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Bengasi, Libya, harbor.

*NORTH AMERICA*: A training program for the Women's Auxiliary Flying Squadron (WAFS), under Jacqueline Cochran's direction, is approved as the 319th Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment (Women), or more simply Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD), at Howard Hughes Field, Houston, Texas.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, nine RAF Bomber Command Bostons are dispatched to Den Helder but are turned back. Two of them bomb Bergen Airfield at Alkmaar.


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## syscom3 (Sep 17, 2007)

*17 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The Vichy French ships light cruiser FR '_Gloire_', the colonial sloop '_Dumont d'Urville_' and the minesweeper '_Annamite_' rescue 1,041 survivors of the sinking of the SS '_Laconia_' on 12 September.

*EASTERN FRONT*: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meets with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Moscow as the German Army rams into Stalingrad.

Bitter street fighting erupted in the north west suburbs of Stalingrad. Lt. Andrei Khoyzyanov and a platoon of Soviet marines dressed in striped shirts and navy hats, reinforced the troops holding the huge grain elevator just south of the Tsaritsa Gorge.

Oblt. Müller of I./JG 53 downed five Russian aircraft.

*GERMANY*: As a result of the USAAF B-24 Liberator attack on German and Italian submarines rescuing survivors of the torpedoed British transport SS 'Laconia' on 12 September, Admiral Karl Doenitz, Commander-in- Chief of the German Navy, orders his U-boats not to pick up survivors of ships they sink.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: The Vichy Governor-General of Madagascar receives and rejects the proposed armistice terms from the British.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British submarine HMS/M '_Talisman_' sailed from Gibraltar on 10 September, and last reported on 15 September. She is lost in the Mediterranean south of Sicily. There are no survivors or any Axis claims for her loss. It is likely that she is mined in the Sicilian Channel on or around 16/17 September.

US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb shipping in Pylos Bay and shipping and piers near Sphakia, and in Khalones and Pylos Islands.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s make an offensive sweep with the RAF over the front lines.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Army Brigadier General Leslie Groves is put in command of the Manhattan Engineer Project. This project is the cover name for the atomic bomb project and, under his direction, the basic research is carried out, mainly at Columbia University in New York, New York, and the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Due to overstated concern for security and simple chauvinism, he is strongly opposed to sharing any information with the British.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 17/18 September, four RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes dropped leaflet in France without loss.


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## syscom3 (Sep 18, 2007)

*18 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The Vichy French sloop 'Dumon D'Urville' takes off 42 survivors of the sunken British passenger ship from the Italian submarine 'Capellini'.

Convoy PQ-18 reached the safety of the White Sea today with 27 of its original 40 ships intact. Despite the losses, it was the biggest convoy yet to reach Russia. It sailed for Russia on 2 September, after a month in which convoys to the USSR were halted. Following the disastrous July convoy PQ-17, when only 11 out of 36 merchantmen arrived in Russia, Churchill wrote to Stalin suggesting that convoys should be suspended until the longer nights of autumn. Reluctantly, the Soviet leader agreed. PQ-18 was the most heavily protected convoy so far, with around 50 naval vessels deployed in either the escort or covering forces, including 20 destroyers and the carrier HMS '_Avenger_.' The German navy had difficulty getting close to the convoy, and air attacks account for most of the 13 convoy ships lost. The worst day was 13 September. Forty German torpedo-bombers sank eight ships in as many minutes in a stunning assault. The day before, U-boats sank two of the ships in the starboard column. Five torpedo-bombers were shot down and the destroyer HMS '_Faulknor_' sank U- 88 with a blitz of depth charges. In all, the Germans lost 20 aircraft and two U-boats. The escort will return with surviving ships of earlier convoys, including PQ-17.

The German submarine 'U-455' lays mines off Charleston, South Carolina

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stalingrad: Soviet marines fend off ten German attacks from their positions in the city grain silo. The Germans, fighting their way yard by bloody yard through the piles of rubble which were once Stalingrad in a war of grenades, bayonets and rifle butts, have been thrown off the Mamaev Kurgan, the raised Scythian burial ground which dominates the river crossings of this bridgeless city. It was General Rodimitsev's 13th Guards Division, ferried across the Volga by night, which stormed the burial ground. Everything now depends on the ferries and other small boats which cross the river at night, lit up by the glow of burning buildings and illuminating shells, with the river erupting in waterspouts as the shells and bombs whistle around them. They bring in ammunition and reinforcements and carry out the wounded to the safety of the east bank. Many are sunk or riddled with machine-gun fire as they head into the inferno. But they keep on coming, providing the only lifeline to Stalingrad's defenders. The city is so shattered that the fighting is concentrated around individual buildings. The central station has changed hands four times in three days. General Vasily Chuikov, the abrasive new commander of the battered 62nd Army has set up his HQ in the Krasny Oktyabr factory.

The Germans have command of the air, and some of the bravest people in this battle are the pilots of the flimsy Polikarpov P-2 biplanes which stagger through the shell-rent night sky to bomb the Germans. One squadron is crewed exclusively by women pilots. Oblt. Müller of I./JG 53 downed seven Russian aircraft.

The Russians launched an offensive on the Voronezh front, 250 miles North west of Stalingrad. The blanket of Luftwaffe aircraft over Stalingrad suddenly disappeared as they were used to support the German forces fighting against the attack in the northwest by the Russian 1st Guards Army to relieve the pressure on Stalingrad. By the afternoon the Russian attack failed and the Luftwaffe reappeared over the city to continue it’s bombing and strafing.

*GERMANY*: Berlin: Himmler today agreed that Germany's "asocials" should be handed over to forced labour without proper sustenance or medical help - in effect, worked to death. In the concentration camps, "asocials" wear coloured triangular badges to identify the different categories of outcast: homosexuals (pink), pacifists (purple), political offenders (red), criminals (green), anti-socials (black) and Jews (yellow Star of David). Poles, Russians, Czechs and gypsies have been added to the list since 1939. A policy for dealing with undesirables was introduced soon after Hitler came to power, when it was decided that, in the interests of racial purity, the mentally deficient should be sterilized. Then at a Nuremburg party rally a speaker suggested that Jews should be sterilized also. Hitler promised that, in the event of war, euthanasia not sterilization would be introduced; at such a time the church would be unable to speak against it. In the first two years of the war, up to 80,000 Germans identified as "useless elements" were exterminated. This took place without the publication of a formal decree. When the justice ministry pressed for the text of the Fuhrers decree, all it received was a photocopy of a handwritten note from Hitler to the head of the Reich chancellery. The note ordered chancellery officials to give "duly appointed physicians" powers to "order the mercy killing of incurables". On the basis of this note, euthanasia institutes were set up. These were later to provide the models for the extermination camps for Jews. Though camp warders initially were ex-soldiers, ex-criminals and the generally unemployable who had joined the SS, intellectuals now serve in the camps, carrying out "scientific" experiments. Prostitutes have been sent to Dachau for tests on reviving frozen human guinea-pigs by the body heat of others.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: Tamatave, the main port of the French colony of Madagascar, has been taken by the British - a day after the island's Vichy governor, M. Annet, rejected General Sir William Platt's surrender terms. The British fleet arrived off Tamatave at dawn. When the Vichy authorities refused to surrender, it bombarded the port. Three minutes later the white flag was raised. By the time that the 29 Brigade had landed most of the Vichy troops had withdrawn. With the taking of Tamatave - a week after landing at Majunga, on the west coast - Allied forces are pressing on to the capital Tananarive from east and west, against mainly Malgache and Senegalese troops, through an inhospitable terrain where malaria knocks down more troops than bullets.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The designation of all USAAF Air Forces is changed from a number to a name, e.g., 1st Air Force to First Air Force, 2d Air Force to Second Air Force, etc.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Paris: 116 people are executed in retaliation for recent attacks on German soldiers.


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## syscom3 (Sep 19, 2007)

*19 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Müller of I./JG 53 downed his 100th and 101st victories, both Russian aircraft. Oblt. Anton “Toni” Hackl of JG 77 downed his 118th victory, a LaGG-3.

*GERMANY*: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attempted the first daylight bombing raid on Berlin; two aircraft had to turn back with mechanical trouble, two aircraft bombed Hamburg and one aircraft bombed the Berlin area through thick cloud. The remaining Mosquito is lost, believed shot down by a German fighter. Fw. Rudolf Piffer from 11./JG 1 claimed the Mosquito for his first kill over Osnabrück.

During the night of 19/20 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 118 aircraft, 72 Wellingtons, 41 Halifaxes and five Stirlings, to bomb Saarbrucken; 95 bombed the target with the loss of five aircraft, three Wellingtons and two Halifaxes lost, 4.2 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders had to mark two targets on this night and the Pathfinder crews allocated to this raid experienced difficulties with ground haze. Bombing is scattered to the west of the target. Saarbrucken reports on 13 houses destroyed, 27 seriously damaged and one man killed. A second force of 68 Lancasters and 21 Stirlings is sent to Munich; 84 bombed the target with the loss of five aircraft. Approximately 40 percent of the crews dropped bombs within 3 miles (4,8 kilometers) of the center of Munich but most of the bombs fell in the western, southern and eastern suburbs of the city. It has not been possible to obtain a report from Munich.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night of 19/20 September, US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Pylos Bay area, Pylos Island and Khalones.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Finnish Legation in Washington, D.C., issues a statement asserting that Finland;


> "..wants to cease fighting as soon as the threat to her existence has been averted and guarantees have been obtained for her lasting security."


 It is stated, however, that no Peace proposals have been made to Finland, nor any promise of the restitution of the territories belonging to her, nor any guarantee of lasting security.

The auxiliary aircraft carrier USS '_Chenango_' is commissioned. She is the tenth ACV in commission.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Northeast of England was attacked during the night by the Luftwaffe. Dwellings in the streets were damaged and a water and gas main fractured. At South Shields eight bombs and about 600 incendiaries were dropped on the Bents Park, Erskine Road and Simonside respectively. A Dornier Do 217E, shot down by a Beaufighter, crashed into the sea off Tynemouth at 22.04 hours. The body of Oberfw. H. Ahrendholz, a crew member was found in the sea off Tynemouth on the 20 September. There were no other survivors. Another Beaufighter attacked a Dornier Do 217 but missed as the Dornier returned the fire and damaged the night fighter's undercarriage and starboard wing so badly that a crash landing had to be made.


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## syscom3 (Sep 20, 2007)

*20 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two British warships escorting Convoy QP-14 (northern Russia to Iceland) are torpedoed and sunk by German submarines: Whilst astern of the convoy minesweeper HMS '_Leda_' is sunk by U-435 in the Greenland Sea, about 203 nautical miles (377 kilometers) southwest of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Tribal class destroyer HMS '_Somali_' is sunk by U-703 about 282 nautical miles (522 kilometers) west-southwest of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The midships section of the port side is blown away and the ship held together only by the starboard side and the keel. The port turbine fell through the bottom of the ship. All non-essential crew members are taken off and British destroyer HMS '_Ashanti_' takes HMS '_Somali_' in tow. When the weather worsens, and a violent storm broke, HMS '_Somali_' folded into two, and the stern section sank quickly. Survivors are rescued HMS '_Ashanti_' and antisubmarine warfare trawler '_Lord Middleton_'. HMS '_Somali_' sinks about 338 nautical miles (626 kilometers) north-northeast of Reykjavik, Iceland.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stubborn street fighting is in progress in Stalingrad. The Soviet marines and soldiers holding the grain silos were almost out of ammunition and they had no water. In a frantic search for something to drink, Lt. Khoyzyanov led his men out of the tower door, across the field, the main road and into a gully, where they stumbled upon an enemy mortar battery. In the resulting melee, the startled Germans fled, leaving gallons of ice-cold drinking water that the marines gulped down gratefully. Completely dehydrated, Khoyzyanov suddenly felt faint from the water, and collapsed on the ground. When he woke up, he was in a dark celler and standing over him was a soldier from the German 14.Panzerdivision. The grain elevator he had defended so heroically had passed into enemy hands. The Germans quickly put out the fires and saved most of the wheat, which would be significant in the weeks to come. Paulus declared that the 6.Armee need substantial reinforcements if it was to continue its assault in Stalingrad. Paulus and von Weichs were also very concerned about their flank defense which consisted of Italian, Hungarian and Romanian troops. However, Hitler was determined to capture Stalingrad before reorganizing the flanks. Over Stalingrad, the Luftwaffe concentrated on destroying the main railroad station in the center of the city.

The town of Terek, in the Caucasus, falls to German Heresgruppe A.

A strength return for II./SchG 1 reported a total of forty-six Hs 129s and Hs 123s on hand with twenty-eight serviceable. Losses that autumn for the Gruppe in the Stalingrad area were very light.

*GERMANY*: A bomber force consisting of 68 Lancasters and 21 Stirlings mounts a raid on Munich, Germany; three Lancasters and three Stirlings are lost. Approximately 40 per cent of the crews dropped bombs within 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) of the center of Munich but most of the bombs fell in the western, southern and eastern suburbs of the city.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The outline plan for Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa, is issued; D Day is set for 8 November.


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## syscom3 (Sep 21, 2007)

*21 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German submarine U-446 (Type VIIC), allocated to the Danzig (training) flotilla 8, is sunk by a mine near Kahlberg in the Gulf of Danzig; 23 crewmen die. Raised 8 November 1942, the submarine is not recommissioned and is scuttled at Kiel, Germany, on 3 May 1945, before finally being broken up in 1947.

Most of southern Stalingrad is now in German hands, except for the vast grain elevator, held by 30 Guards and 18 Sailors. Soviet Sailors used as infantry win a tremendous reputation with friend and foe alike for their tenacity, as those at Stalingrad are Arctic Fleet veterans. After three days of continuous fighting the Soviet 92nd Naval Rifle Brigade captured an important strongpoint - an elevator. Having removed their peacoats and wearing only their striped undershirts, subunits of naval infantrymen rose to the counterattack 10 to12 times a day fighting with fire and bayonet. There were but 20 to 30 persons left in the companies, and there were 17 in 1st Company, 4th battalion (CO,Senior Lieutenant G.S. Filimonov). In just two days 17 seamen repelled 14 attacks, destroyed eight tanks and over 150 Germans. Senior Lieutenant F.S.Zhukov, the communist battalion commander, killed 18 Germans. Petty Officer 2nd Class V.V. Borisoglebskiy hit three tanks with an anti-tank rifle, and Red Navy Seaman V.N.Balatsin, a Komsomol member, annihilated two tanks. Communist Red Navy Seaman A.L. Kudrevatyy,who allowed the Germans to get within 25 to 30 meters of his position, cut down 26 of them with fire from his machinegun. Machinegunner I.V. Repin destroyed an enemy tank and killed 10 Germans with an anti-tank rifle he picked up from the battlefield. The brigade's military commissar, S.N.Shapin, was mortally wounded in the fighting.

In Stalingrad's center, German troops try to break through to the left flank of the Tsaritsa River, but are slowed by heavy Soviet artillery fire.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 21/22 September, two RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons laid mines off Kiel.

*NORTH AFRICA*: German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel hands over command of Italian-German Panzer Army to General Georg Stumme and proceeds to Germany.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The prototype Boeing XB-29-BO Superfortress, USAAF s/n 41-002, msn 2482, makes its first flight at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 21/22 September, nine RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons laid mines in the Great Belt, the strait between the main Danish islands of Zealand and Funen.

The national elections in Sweden show the pro-Nazi candidates doing very poorly.


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## syscom3 (Sep 22, 2007)

*22 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Units of the German 6.Armee (General Friedrich von Paulus) and 4.Panzerarmee (General Hermann Hoth) split the Soviet 62nd Army (Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov) in two and capture nearly the entire southern part of the Stalingrad, including the huge grain elevator defended by Soviet soldiers and sailors. What began as a Blitzkrieg had become urban warfare, as the Russians defended the city street by street, building by building. Alongside the regular Red Army were workers' units, determined to make the Germans battle for every factory and exploiting to the full the defensive capabilities of their shattered home town. 

Fw. Crinius of I./JG 53 finally got his 100th victory.

*CENTRAL AFRICA*: In Chad, French Brigadier General Charles DeGaulle, leader of the Free French, meets with General Jacques- Philippe LeClerc, commander of French Equatorial Africa, at Fort Lamy and gives orders to begin the march into Libya with the objective of seizing the Fezzan region for France and pressing on to Tripoli to join the British Eighth Army for a move into Tunisia.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: British East African troops close in on Tananarive, the island's capital. Vichy French troops offer little resistance.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb shipping in Bengazi harbor; direct hits are made on a large vessel while a smaller vessel and other targets receive lesser hits.

General Galland inspected the facilities of JG 27, commanded by Major Eduard Neumann.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Combined Chiefs of Staff approve a plan drawn up in Washington by the U.S. Army's Services of Supply, "The Plan for the Operation of Certain Iranian Communication Facilities between Persian Gulf Ports and Tehran by U.S. Army Forces." The plan gives the U.S. direct responsibility for moving supplies through Persian Corridor to the USSR.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sent 18 Boston in low-level pairs to attack power stations: three bombed the power station at Mazingarbe, two each attacked Choques and Comines, and one each bombed Lille and Pont a Vendin. Two aircraft is lost.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets: four bomb a steel factory at Ijmuiden and two hit a gas works at Haarlem.


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## syscom3 (Sep 23, 2007)

*23 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German Heeresgruppe B continued to make slow progress in Stalingrad against bitter opposition. Heeresgruppe A assembled an assault force for a drive on the Black Sea port of Tuapse. The Soviets began a counterattack in the Orlovka district of northwestern Stalingrad. Stiff resistance by the Germans allowed this 3 day attack to make slight gains.

Oblt. Müller of I./JG 53 was awarded the Ritterkreuz for his 101 victories and promoted to Hauptmann and Fw. Wilhelm Crinius of 3./JG 53 was awarded the Eichenlaub and promoted to Leutnant.

*GERMANY*: During this prolonged period of bad weather, RAF Bomber Command sent out three small raids without Pathfinders on the night of 23/24 September. The first is to Wismar with 83 Lancasters dispatched; 54 bombed the target. This is judged to be a successful attack on the Baltic coastal town and the nearby Dornier aircraft factory. Many crews came down to less than 2,000 feet (610 meters). Numerous fires are seen including a large one in what is believed to be the aircraft factory. Wismar reports 32 houses and eight industrial buildings seriously damaged, 67 people killed and 109 injured. Four Lancasters are lost. The second raid is to the U-boat shipyards at Flensburg with 28 Halifaxes dispatched; 21 bombed the target. Five aircraft are lost. The third target is Vegesack with 24 Stirlings dispatched; five bombed the target with the loss of one. Other targets bombed by one or two aircraft are Ardorf Airfield, Bremen, Kiel, Lubeck, Oldenburg and Wihelmshaven. Three other RAF aircraft laid mines in the Heligoland Bight with the loss of one aircraft.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: The East African 22nd Brigade enters Tananarive, the capital of Madagascar, which has been declared an open city.

*NORTH AFRICA*: A German He-111 leaves North Africa for Germany, with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Commanding General German-Italian Panzer Forces in Africa aboard; he is going home for medical treatment. General Georg Stumme takes command in Africa. General Wilhelm von Thoma is in command of the Armor. The newer high ranking brass brought in as replacements for causalities of the Afrika Korps do not fit in very well with the older hands.

*NORTH AMERICA*: First Mosquito leaves production line in Canada. (pbfoot)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Major General James H Doolittle assumes command of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force.

In a Luftwaffe attack on York, twelve small fires were started and two people were reported killed. Some damage was also reported at Scarborough.

*WESTERN FRONT*: One RAF Bomber Command aircraft laid mines in the Little Belt, the strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.

RAF Bomber Command aircraft laid mines off three ports: five aircraft laid mines off St. Nazaire, three off Lorient and two off La Pallice.

Three RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Sep 24, 2007)

*24 September 1942*


*EASTERN FRONT*: During the night of 24/25 September, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Gdynia, Poland.

Units of the German Heeresgruppe A launch an attack against the Black Sea port of Tuapse.

Six hundred Soviet partisans, some dressed in German uniforms and using heavy artillery, burn down the town of Ryabchichi, on the Smolensk-Bryansk railway and highway.

At Stalingrad Olga Yamschchikova became the first women fighter pilot to "kill" an enemy aircraft when she shot down a German Junkers Ju 88 dive-bomber.

Theo Weissenberger's 24th victory was scored with 6./JG 5 on this date.

*GERMANY*: General Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff, is sacked by the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler after many arguments during the summer. General Kurt Zeitzler is appointed in his place with responsibility for the Russian front.

During the night of 24/25 September, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in six areas: five aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight, three off Danzig, two each off Pillau and Swinemunde and individual aircraft off the Fehmarn Channel and Sassnitz.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Due to his quickly rising victory score Hptm. Marseille was promoted to Oberst.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 24/25 September, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in two areas: 18 aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands and four off Texel Island.


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## syscom3 (Sep 25, 2007)

*25 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine 'U-253' (Type VIIC) reported for the last time on 24 September in the Denmark Strait in the approximate position 67.30N, 21.00W while operating against convoy OP.14 (Northern Russia to Iceland). She is ordered into the Atlantic Ocean today. There is a strong possibility that the boat is lost today to a mine in the submarine minefields SN 11 or SN 71A off the Icelandic coast. These fields are laid on 1 June and 21 August 1942 and crossed 'U-253's' route to the Atlantic. This is the first patrol for this boat and she had no victories.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: The East Africa 22d Brigade establishes contact with the 29th Independent Brigade, giving the British control of the central part of the island.

The British Foreign Office announced that Madagascar had been placed temporarily under military jurisdiction;


> "in order to ensure law and order and to provide for the administration [in Madagascar] pending the establishment of a friendly regime."


*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s fail to locate a shipping convoy south of Crete and return without bombing.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s bomb Bengasi.

Pte. Percival Eric Gratwick (b.1902), Australian Military Forces, at Miteiriya Ridge, alone wiped out a machine-gun post and a mortar and died charging a second post. (Victoria Cross)

*NORTH AMERICA*: The US Maritime Commission announces that 488 cargo ships have been built in the past year.

The US War Labor Board orders equal pay to women as recognition of role in war.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 25/26 September, RAF Bomber Command sends ten Wellingtons on a minelaying mission in the Frisian Islands without loss.

Four RAF Bomber Command Mosquito Mk. IVs of No. 105 Squadron set off from Leuchars, Scotland, to attack Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo. This raid is intended to be a morale raiser for the Norwegian people and is timed to coincide with a rally of Norwegians who supported the Germans. Vidkun Quisling, the Nazi puppet ruler of occupied Norway, was to give a rally at the Gestapo headquarters in Oslo. Four Mosquito B.IVs of RAF No. 105 Squadron were assigned to break up the party. The four aircraft are intercepted by Fw 190s on their low-level bombing run and one Mosquito is shot down. Four bombs hit the Gestapo headquarters but three passed right through the building without exploding and the fourth, which remained inside the building, also failed to explode. The mission was successful, if expensive. Uffz. R. Fenten and Uffz. E. Klein from 2./JG 5 both made claims for a Mosquito destroyed.


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## syscom3 (Sep 26, 2007)

*26 September 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The British destroyer HMS '_Veteran_' (D 72) is struck by the first of two torpedoes at 0736 hours GMT fired by German submarine U-404. The destroyer sinks about 596 nautical miles (1 103 kilometers) west of Galway, County Galway, Eire. HMS '_Veteran_' is escorting eight shallow-draft passenger vessels in Convoy RB-1 (St. John's, Newfoundland to Londonderry, County Derry, Northern Ireland). The convoy is attacked by three German wolf packs totaling 17 U-boats. The destroyer is struck while rescuing survivors from the U.S. passenger ship SS '_Boston_' and the British ship SS '_Yorktown_.' All crewmen on the destroyer and 78 suvivors of the merchant ships are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German 6.Armee launched its "final" attack at Stalingrad with 100,000 fresh troops. After bitter fighting, they took the main ferry landing making it difficult for the Soviets to move reinforcements across the Volga River. 

Lt. Hans Beissenger of II./JG 54 reached the 100 kill mark.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 26/27 September, RAF Bomber Command sent 28 Halifaxes to bomb the U-boat yards at Flensburg. A recall is made but two aircraft went on to bomb the target area; one is lost. Two mining missions are also flown: six aircraft laid mines off Kattegat and two laid mines in Kiel Harbor; one aircraft is lost.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: British Lieutenant General Sir William Platt, Commander in Chief East Africa Command, moves his headquarters from Majunga to Tananarive.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Three squadrons of US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators are sent on shipping strikes fail to locate targets.

*NORTH AFRICA*: As if to celebrate his new promotion, Oberst Marseille again destroyed seven more aircraft, the 158th, and last of all – a Spitfire – going down near El Hamman, another halt on the coastal railway two stops to the east of El Alamein. But Nemesis was already at hand. The two missions of 26 September had both been flown in new Bf 109G-2/trops. The first six of these machines, which were to replace the Gruppe’s trusty 'Friedrichs', had just been delivered, and all had been allocated to Oberst Marseille’s 3. Staffel. One of them, Wk-Nr. 14256, was to bring about the unthinkable, and something which 158 aerial opponents had failed to accomplish.

The US Army Middle East Air Force dispatched B-24 Liberators of 3 squadrons on shipping strikes but they failed to locate targets.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 12 merchant ships reached the safety of Loch Ewe, Scotland after a week of battles with U-boats and German aircraft. They were the survivors of convoy QP-14 which left the Russian port of Archangel on 13 September. Three merchant ships were lost as were three escort vessels. Three ships were sunk in a matter of minutes on 22 September, after a U-boat penetrated the convoy's defensive screen at a time when it lacked air support.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 26/27 September, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Little Belt, a strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.

During the night of 26/27 September, 25 RAF Bomber Command aircraft laid mines in the Frisian Islands.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 12: 75 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 36 P-38 Lightnings are dispatched to attack Maupertus Airfield in Cherbourg and Porjeau Airfield in Morlaix; 16 execute diversionary missions but the remainder are recalled due to adverse weather.


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## syscom3 (Sep 27, 2007)

*27 September 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German submarine U-165 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay about 5 nautical miles (9 kilometers) north of Lorient, France, probably by air-laid mines. All 51 hands on the U-boat are lost.

The U.S. Liberty Ship SS '_Stephen Hopkins'_ sinks the German auxiliary cruiser HK '_Stier_' (Schiffe 23 or Raider "J"). '_Stephen Hopkins_' engages HK '_Stier_' (Schiffe 23) and supply ship '_Tannenfels_' in a surface gunnery action in the central South Atlantic on the shipping lane between Capetown, South Africa, and Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. 'Stier', with six 5.9-inch (15 centimeter) guns, opened fire at 0854 hours and quickly reduced the lumbering American ship to a hulk. But '_Hopkins_' hit back with her single 4-inch (10,2 centimeter) gun and hit '_Stier_' 15 times, including two shots that knocked out her steering gear and started a fire in the engine room at 0905 hours. '_Stier_' ceased fire at 0918, and 'Hopkins' sank at 1000 about 1,294 nautical miles (2 396 kilometers) east-southeast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the loss of 42 crew. With his own ship ablaze, the '_Stier's' _captain gave the order to abandon ship and '_Stier' _sank at about 1140. '_Tannenfels_' returned to La Verdon, France, with the 320 survivors of the battle. The 19 survivors of the '_Stephen Hopkins_' gathered in one lifeboat, which had little food and water, and began a 2,200 nautical mile (4 074 kilometer) 31-day journey to Brazil. Fifteen men, ten crewmen and five Armed Guards, survived.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Units of the German 6.Armee succeed in capturing most of the strategic Mamayev Kurgan Hill at Stalingrad, and penetrating the heavily defended Red October and Barricades housing estates. The survivors of the 92nd Naval Infantry Brigade crossed to the island of Golodnyy. Here a composite battalion was formed out of the survivors.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Dewoitine D-342, msn 01, registered F-ARIZ by the French airline Air France, crashes during takeoff from Ameur el Ain; all 25 aboard are killed.

US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators are dispatched to attack an 8,000-ton vessel at Bengasi. No bombs hit the target but several straddle a jetty in the harbor.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The last engagement of bandleader Glenn Miller and his Orchestra was performed at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey. They did some of their most popular songs, including "In the Mood," "Moonlight Cocktail," and "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo." And when they played their "Moonlight Serenade" theme for the last time, Glenn Miller's civilian orchestra disappeared into musical history.


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## syscom3 (Sep 28, 2007)

*28 September 1942*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: Russian forces cross the Volga River near Rzhev in the central sector.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Lieutenant General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, gives the highest priority to the development of two exceptional aircraft, the Northrop B-35 Flying Wing and the Consolidated Vultee B-36 Peacemaker, intended for bombing runs from bases in the United States to targets in Europe.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Joachim Helbig, the Gruppenkommandeur of I./LG 1 was awarded the Schwertern, the twentieth German soldier so honored.


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## syscom3 (Sep 29, 2007)

*29 September 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German pressure in Stalingrad was again stepped up as the 6.Armee struggled desperately to clear Stalingrad. Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of 9./JG 54 shot down a Russian LaGG-3 to bring his score to fifty kills.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 29/30 September, RAF Bomber Command Lancasters on minelaying missions in the Baltic Sea: six lay mines off Sassnitz and two lay mines off Swinemünde. One aircraft was lost.

Berlin: Hitler ordered five "flak towers" to be built in Germany to boost defenses against Allied air attacks.

I*NDIAN OCEAN*: Continuing south from Tananarive on Madagascar, British forces occupy Fianarantsoa. Two companies of the Pretoria Regiment and a few armoured cars from Diego Suarez land on the southwest coast at Tulear in order to secure the port, airfield, and seaplane base site for patrolling the Mozambique Channel.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators hit harbor installations at Suda Bay.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s fly an offensive sweep over the battle area, and carry out an interception mission against Luftwaffe Ju 87 Stukas over the frontline near El Alamein, Egypt.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In England, U.S. pilots who had been members of the three RAF Eagle Squadrons (Numbers 71, 121 and 133 Squadrons) are taken over by the USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Fighter Command and organized into the 4th Fighter Group as the 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons respectively; the group HQ and all squadrons move from Bushy Park, Hertfordshire, to Debden, Essex, with Spitfires Mk. Vs.

A lone German raider dived out of the cloud at Petworth, Sussex and dropped its bombs from near-rooftop height on a council school, which was completely demolished with 85 boys inside it. Thirty-one children were dead, with two of their teachers. Parents in this town of 2,500 inhabitants in south-east England came running to the school and began digging in the wreckage with their bare hands. Rescuers dug out 28 boys alive but injured.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 29/30 September, three RAF Bomber Command Lancasters laid mines off the Bornholm Islands.


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## syscom3 (Sep 30, 2007)

*30 September 1942*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-596 was attacked by an aircraft in the North Atlantic and suffered heavy damage. She managed to reach base at St. Nazaire on 3 October. 

U-125 sank SS '_Empire Avocet_' and '_Kumsang_'. The master and a machinist from '_Empire Avocet_' were captured.

U-506 sank SS '_Siam II'_.

U-516 sank SS '_Alipore_'.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russians crossed the Volga to the North west of Moscow and recaptured 25 villages.

The Soviet 92nd Naval Rifle Brigade was sent to the vicinity of the Barrikady Plant at Stalingrad. After heavy fighting the battalion, which had 147 men left, was moved to the city center to reinforce the 37th Rifle Division. All day the seamen fended off the savage attacks by the Germans. During the night seamen crossed to the left bank of the Volga, to the settlement of Rybachiy. Here, replenished by Pacific Fleet seamen, the battalion once again became a brigade, which returned to combat in early November. The fighting was especially fierce in the vicinity of the Krasnyy Oktyabr', Barrikady,and Traktornyy plant, in the defense of which the 92nd Brigade and the 308th Rifle Division participated. Repulsion of the numerous attacks and the daily bomb runs and artillery bombardment thinned the ranks of the 92nd Brigade.

Major Joachim Muncheberg of JG 51 was posted as Kommodore of JG 77 when Major Gordon Gollob left to take a staff position in Berlin. Major Muncheberg’s position at JG 51 was as a ‘Kommodore in training’ or acting Gruppenkommandeur of the crews of JG 51.

*GERMANY*: Berlin: Josef Goebbels, the German minister for propaganda, today launched the country's fourth wartime winter appeal by announcing that last year the population donated some 1.2billion Reichsmark [£100 million] for needy families. A growing proportion of the money is now being used to finance official welfare bodies such as the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV). Money is raised in house-to-house collections made by members of the NSV and other organizations, for example the Hitler Youth, the SA and the SS, who remind reluctant donors of their public "duty".

In a major speech at the Sportspalast, Hitler ridicules the Allied leadership as;


> "military idiots ... mentally sick or perpetually drunk."



*NORTH AFRICA*: While thousands of British troops were undergoing training in desert warfare in the rear lines, watched by their new chief, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, the British Eighth Army set out to probe the defences of the Afrika Korps, also - while Rommel is in Germany for medical treatment - under a new chief, General Georg Stumme. The 44th Division - just two brigades - then mounted a very small action to assess the strength of German positions in the Munassib Depression. Today's battle took place to the south of the Alamein line, with heavy casualties on both sides.

The top-scoring Luftwaffe ace Hans-Joachim Marseille (158 British aircraft) who was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds on 3 September is killed. He was flying a new Messerschmitt Bf-109G-2 fighter, W.Nr. 14256, "Gelb 14" on a mission escorting Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers. While returning to base at 1135 hours, Marseille indicated that he had smoke pouring into his cockpit and it was becoming difficult to either breathe or see. Other members in the flight urged Marseille to remain with his aircraft for another couple minutes since they were still over enemy-held territory. By 1139 hours, smoke in the cockpit was now unbearable and Marseille was forced to leave his airplane. Marseille's last radio transmission was;


> "I've got to get out now. I can't stand it any more".


Now over German territory, at approximately 10000 feet (3,048 meters), Marseille rolled his aircraft inverted in a standard manoeuvre to prepare for bailout. Suffering from probable spatial disorientation, possible toxic hypoxia, as well as being blinded by the smoke in the cockpit, Marseille's aircraft entered an inverted dive with an approximate dive angle of 70 to 80 degrees. At a speed of approximately 400 knots (460.3 mph or 740.8 km/h), Marseille jumped out of his damaged aircraft. Unfortunately, the left side of Marseille's chest struck the tail of his airplane, either killing him instantly or incapacitating him to the point where he was unable to open his parachute. As the other members of Marseille's squadron watched in horror, Marseille's body landed face down 7 km (4.3 miles) south of Sidi Abd el Rahman, an unfitting end to the "African Eagle." His final score was 158 enemy aircraft destroyed, all Western front flown warplanes. He was buried where he fell, at a white tomb used as a landmark by airmen, seven kilometers south of Sidi Abd el Rahman. Marseille shot down more Western front Allied aircraft than any other German fighter pilot, alive or dead. Geschwaderkommodore Major Eduard Neumann, who had once prophesied that he would make a fighter pilot out of the precocious young Berliner, issued an Order of the Day. It ended with these sentences;


> " His successes against our toughest aerial opponents, the English, are unique. We can be happy and proud to have counted him as one of us. There are no words eloquent enough to convey what his loss means to us. He leaves behind an obligation for us to follow his lead, both as a human being and as a soldier. His spirit will remain an example to the Geschwader for ever."


 The pilots of 3. Staffel had their own way of mourning the loss of their ‘Jochen’. They shared a fig cake and listened to his favorite tune, ‘Rumba Azul’, on the wind-up gramophone.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Everyone from the First Lady downwards had made it clear that the American war effort demands that women play dramatically different roles. Not only women themselves are being educated into new ways; so, too, are employers, labour leaders, store owners, men in uniform and legislators. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, for instance, called for easing the burden of housework for those women working to win the war. She suggested that restaurants should prepare meals which working women could pick up and take home for quick service. More child care is needed, she said, as is transportation to and from schools. Training started this month to teach women such trades as welding, armature winding and burning. Mrs. Elinore M. Herrick, the newly-appointed director of personnel for Todd Shipyards, which as 12 yards on three coasts, said training for more difficult jobs will start soon, since Selective Service has given semi-skilled males but six months' deferment. At Republic Steel, 1,000 women have been hired in its 27 plants to make and assemble aircraft parts and accessories. They are given uniforms, hairnets and pay equal to men's. But the company says that it will draw the line on women in open-hearth areas because of the 100-degree Fahrenheit heat. Asked if more women would be hired, one Republic vice-president growled:


> "There are too many women here now."


However, he was in the midst of 25 women reporters.

Production jobs are not the only ones open to women. Columbia University has begun a course to train women to be engineering aides for Grumman Aircraft Corporation, and the Red Cross wants more nurses' aides, targeting "leisure-class" women. Women are joining up in record numbers, according to the WAACS and WAVES. The chief of the WAVES (the US equivalent of Wrens), Mildred McAfee, says that she doesn't mind at all being called "the old man".

*WESTERN FRONT*: This month, 14,000 Jews from France, 6,000 from the Netherlands and 5,000 from Belgium have been deported to Auschwitz. 20,000 Polish Jews perished at Belzec, and at least 6,000 Jews from Theresienstadt camp, in Czechoslovakia, were slaughtered at Maly Trostenets.


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## syscom3 (Oct 1, 2007)

*1 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Bitter fighting continues within and near Stalingrad throughout October, German Heeresgruppe B making limited progress against determined resistance. Soviet Army efforts to relieve the besieged city, which is under severe air and artillery bombardment, prove futile. The drives of German Heresgrupe A are virtually halted by Soviet resistance and the Soviet Army contains attacks toward the Grozny oil fields. In the northwest sector of this front, fierce battles occur in the Novorossisk- Tuapse area along the Black Sea coast. The German offensive is steadily losing momentum because of fuel shortage, heavy losses in manpower, difficult terrain, and firm opposition.

Heavy actions against Russian aircraft in the morning found several pilots of JG 3 increasing their scores. Uffz. Gruber of 2./JG 3 claimed three Soviet planes while Lt. Friedrich Lorentzen of 1./JG 3 and Lt. Kurt Roisch from the Stab I./JG 3 each claimed two Russians downed before 0700 hours. By 1000 hours in the morning planes from JG 54 joined the fight and several Russian warplanes fell to German guns including a pair for Uffz. Kurt Stöber of 7./JG 54.

Major Gordon Gollob, Kommodore of JG 77, was transferred to the Stab of Jagdfliegerführer 3 on the Channel front. Hptm. Joachim Müncheberg received command of JG 77, soon to be battling in Sicily and Tunisia. Hptm. Dietrich Hrabak of II./JG 54 was promoted to major and took over command of JG 52 in the southern region.

The German government formally annexes northern Slovenia into the German Reich and declares all of the inhabitants of the region as German citizens.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 1/2 October, RAF Bomber Command initiates three small raids in difficult weather conditions and without Pathfinders:
(1) 62 of 78 Lancasters dispatched to bomb Wismar hit the target with the loss of two aircraft:
(2) 23 of 27 Halifaxes bomb Flensburg with the loss of 12 aircraft; and
(3) 20 of 25 Stirlings bomb Lubeck with the loss of three aircraft.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb shipping in Pylos Bay, Greece, claiming two direct hits and several near misses on a large vessel; other B-24s dispatched to bomb a convoy at sea fail to find the target.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army forces the Axis from positions in region of El Alamein.

Lt. Erich Schöfböck of 7./JG 27 downed his first enemy aircraft when he shot down a RAF Spitfire.

*NORTH AMERICA*: A Douglas (Model DC-2-243) C-39, msn 2081, USAAF s/n 38-524, crashes near Coamo, Puerto Rico at 0930 hours local killing all 22 aboard. The aircraft made a wide descending turn with engines running roughly and crashed into a hill.

Fuel oil is now rationed in most areas of the United States.

The first American turbojet aircraft, the Bell Model 27 XP-59A-BE Airacomet, msn 27-1, USAAF s/n 42-108784, makes its first flight at Muroc Army Air Base, Muroc, California. The flight was made with the landing gear in the down position and at 25 feet (7,62 meters) off the ground. Three more flights were made today in this aircraft.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt ends two-week trip to war plants across U.S.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Helmut Lent, Gruppenkommandeur of II./NJG 2, was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of IV./NJG 1. The night-fighters of 4./NJG 2 were redesignated as 10./NJG 1. 3./NJG 1 was redesignated 1./NJG 5.


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## syscom3 (Oct 2, 2007)

*2 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The British antiaircraft cruiser HMS '_Curacoa_' is engaged in convoy escort duties with the passenger liner RMS '_Queen Mary_'. While both ships are zigzagging, the '_Curacoa_' crossed the _'Queen Mary's_' bow with insufficient clearance. The '_Queen Mary_' knifed into her at a speed of 28 knots, cutting the '_Curacoa_' in two. Separated by about 100 yards 991 meters), she sank instantly about 56 nautical miles (104 kilometers) north-northwest of Londonderry, County Derry, Northern Ireland, with 338 casualties. The '_Queen Mary_' did not falter or slow down, despite the fact of a 40 foot (12 meter) gash in her bow, for fear of German submarines. The convoy behind picked up 26 survivors. The '_Queen Mary_' is transporting some of the subordinate units of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division including the 116th Infantry Regiment and 111th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm Howitzer, Truck-Drawn) from the US to Britain. (Ric Pelvin, Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)

German submarine U-512 is sunk about 114 nautical miles (211 kilometers) north of Cayenne, French Guinea, by depth charges from a USAAF B-18A Bolo of the 99th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) based at Zandery Field, Dutch Guinea; only one of the 52 crewmen on the U-boat survived.

*GERMANY*: The Oberkommando der Wehrmach (OKW or High Command of the German Armed Forces) issues a decree which in one fell swoop "rehabilitated" c. 28,000 or so German citizens formerly unworthy of bearing arms" (unwehrwurdig) , and established the formation of the "999" Bewaehrungstruppe" at Tr.Ub.plz. Heuberg/Swaebisch Alb, (WK.V) south of Stuttgart. These men are a rather heterogenous grouping of dissidents who have previously spent time before the war in KL (konzentrationslager) "protective custody" detention or civil "zuchthaus" (prison) for both political and criminal reasons, and so are nominally exempted from military service. Their crimes ranged from having either Socialist or KPD backgrounds, to having exhibited overtly critical behaviour toward the NS regime; some are even German volunteers who have fought on the Republican side in the Communist Brigades during the Spanish Civil War who have the misfortune to have come under German jurisdiction again. Among them, though in smaller numbers, are rapists, murderers, thieves, and what, according to the Gestapo's all inclusive category of enemy of the State, are the ubiquitous grumblers and anti-social elements.

The Me 262V-2 prototype, also powered by Jumo-004As, was delivered. Despite all the delays and problems, the RLM had already ordered fifteen preproduction Me-262s in May 1942, and added thirty more to the order in October 1942. The He 280 was inferior in performance and the Me 262 was clearly the better option, but there was still no commitment to put the Me 262 into full production. The RLM was waffling between production of the Me 262 and the "Me 209", an improved version of the piston-powered Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter. The head of the RLM, Erhard Milch, was conservative and favored the Me 209 over the much more radical Me 262.

During the night of 2/3 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 188 aircraft, 95 Wellingtons, 39 Halifaxes, 31 Lancasters and 23 Stirlings, to bomb Krefeld; seven aircraft, three Halifaxes, two Wellingtons, a Lancaster and a Stirling, are lost, 3.1 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders encountered dense haze and their marking is late. The raid which developed is dispersed and not expected to cause much damage. Only three streets in the northern part of the town are mentioned as being hit.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: British forces take Antsirabe in the center of the island of Madagascar.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Whether at the instigation of a particularly understanding member of the Higher Command, or simply as a result of operational expediency, I./JG 27 was offered a complete change of scenery. Staging via the heel of Italy, where it converted fully on to the Bf 109G-2/trop, the Gruppe transferred to Sicily to take part in the renewed air offensive against Malta. By this time III./JG 27 had moved forward from Quasaba to Turbiya, closer to the Alamein front. But the Gruppe’s morale was at a low ebb. Successes were still hard to come by, and its pilots were fed up of being treated as the Geschwader’s ‘poor relations’. This had only been heightened when they were handed II./JG 27’s war-weary 'Friedrichs', which they would continue to fly while the other two Gruppen converted to the Bf 109G.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Roosevelt is granted power to control wages, salaries and agricultural prices as of 1 November by the Stabilization of the Cost of Living Act which becomes law today.

The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, by amendment to a USN design study contract, is authorized to construct two 19A axial flow turbojet powerplants. Thereby, fabrication is initiated of the first jet engine of wholly American design.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attacked a steelworks at Liege without loss.

Former Fench prime minister and president of the chamber of deputies Edouard Herriot is arrested by the Vichy police. He challenged the legality of the 1940 parliamentary vote establishing the Vichy regime. Herriot is deported to German in 1944 but survived and re-entered French politics in 1945.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 13: 61 bombers and 54 fighters are dispatched to attack three targets in France; one fighter is lost:
(1) 32 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Avions Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte; they claim 4-9-5 aircraft; escort is provided by 31 P-38 Lightnings; a P-38 is lost.
(2) Six B-17s fly a diversionary missions to Longuenesse Airfield at St Omer; they claim 5-4-4 aircraft. Escort is provided by 23 Spitfires; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft.
(3) Eleven unescorted DB-7 Bostons attack a ship in a dock at Le Havre without loss.

Intercepted by fighters from JG 2 and JG 26, the fighters of JG 26 lost their first Fw 190 to the four-engined bombers when a Focke-Wulf from 4./JG 26 was hit by fire from the bombers and force-landed at base. The pilot died later at hospital. The bombers returned to England without loss although six B-17s were damaged. Several escorting fighters were shot down including the twenty-eighth victory for Oblt. Fulbert Zink of 2./JG 26, who claimed what he called an Airacobra downed north-west of Cap Blanc Nez. First victories went to Uffz. Hans-Joachim Stoller of 2./JG 26, a P-38 near Calais and a Spitfire for Lt. Helmut Hoppe of 6./JG 26 destroyed over Sommemündung. A Spitfire was also credited to Obgefr. Vikto Hager of 7./JG 26 for his third victory. Ofw. Josef Wurmheller and Fw. Willi Morzinek from 1./JG 2 each claimed a Spitfire.

During the night of 2/3 October, RAF Bomber Command sent three Wellingtons to lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Oct 3, 2007)

*3 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Premier Joseph Stalin stated, in a personal letter to the representative of the Associated Press in Russia, that Allied aid has so far been of little effect compared with the aid the Soviet Union as giving by drawing upon itself the main German forces.

Units of the German 6.Armee continue to push the decimated Soviet 62nd Army further back toward the Volga River in the center of Stalingrad with heavy losses on both sides. On the Caucasian front, German Heeresgruppe A captures Elkhotovo, within 7 miles (11 kilometers) of Darg Kokh.

*GERMANY*: The A-4 (V-2) rocket is launched for the first time at Peenemunde and reaches an altitude of 53 miles (85 kilometers) and crashes in the Baltic 118 miles (190 kilometers) away. The brainchild of the brilliant young scientist Wernher von Braun and General Walter Dornberger, the station head, who have been working on rocketry since 1932, the A-4 was 46 feet in height and weighed 13 tons. Dornberger and von Braun had to convince the armaments minister, Albert Speer, that it warranted full-scale production.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US Army Middle East Air Force dispatches B-24 Liberators to attack shipping in Pylos Bay during the night of 3/4 October; they claim two fighters shot down.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Office of Economic Stabilization is established and authorized to establish controls on farm prices, rents, wages and salaries.


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## syscom3 (Oct 4, 2007)

*4 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The fourth major offensive of the German forces at Stalingrad begins. The 14.Panzerkorps launched an attack in force to capture the Tractor Factory in the northern part of the city. Their street fighting capabilities have been strengthened with the addition of police and combat-engineer units. This will be the longest of the German offensives and will result in the fiercest fighting. The Soviets have prepared the ground better, attempting to funnel the German drives into specially prepared "killing fields." The end result of this offensive will be to seriously deplete the Germans in both morale and reserves.

*GERMANY*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler states that occupied countries must make up the food shortage caused by the Allied blockade.

Reichsmarschall Göring* stated:


> "This war is not the Second World War: this is the War of the Races. Whether we, the Germanic and Aryan men, or the Jew rule the world - that is the final issue."


*WESTERN FRONT*: A small British party raids the Isle of Sark in the English Channel.


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## syscom3 (Oct 5, 2007)

*5 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two German submarines are sunk by Allied aircraft in the North Atlantic south of Reykjavik, Iceland.

A PBY-5A Catalina of USN Patrol Squadron Seventy Three (VP-73) based at NAF Reykjavik, depth charges and sinks U-582 about 317 nautical miles (588 kilometers) south of Reykjavik. All 46 hands on the sub are lost.

U-619 (Type VIIC) is sunk about 330 nautical miles (610 kilometers) south of Reykjavik, by four depth charges from an RAF Hudson Mk. II or III of No. 269 Squadron based at Kaldadarnes, Iceland. All hands on the U-boat, 44 men, are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet submarine "Sch-320" of the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas is sunk in Finland Gulf. This sinking is made by Finnish submarine 'Vetehinen' (Kapteeniluutnantti Antti Leino) by ramming. 'Vetehinen' is also damaged, but manages to get back to base for repairs.

Josef Stalin, premier and dictator of the Soviet Union, fires off a telegram to the German/Soviet front at Stalingrad, exhorting his forces to victory.


> "That part of Stalingrad which has been captured must be liberated.


*GERMANY*: During the night of 5/6 October, RAF Bomber Commands sends 257 aircraft, 101 Wellingtons, 74 Lancasters, 59 Halifaxes and 23 Stirlings, to bomb Aachen; 184 aircraft bomb the target with a loss of ten bombers, five Halifaxes, two Stirlings, two Wellingtons and a Lancaster, 3.9 per cent of the force. A further six aircraft crash in England, possibly in thunderstorms. The weather continues to be bad over Germany. There is little Pathfinder marking at Aachen and most of the bombing falls in other areas. Aachen reports that the raid is carried out by an estimated ten aircraft and that the centre of the attack appears to be in the southern suburb of Burtscheid. Five people are killed and 39 injured. Many of the bombs intended for Aachen fall in the small Dutch town of Lutterade, 17 miles (27 kilometers) away from Aachen, and it seems that most of the Pathfinder marking are over this place. More than 800 houses are seriously damaged; 83 people are killed, 22 are injured and 3,000 are made homeless.


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## syscom3 (Oct 6, 2007)

*6 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-116 sends its last message when the boat is located about 1,125 nautical miles (2 084 kilometers) west of Brest, France. The sub is never heard from again; all 56 crewmen are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German III. Panzerkorps (Armored Corps) captures the oil city of Malgobek in the bend of the Terek River in the Caucasus Mountains while units of Heeresgruppe Mitte (Army Group Center) capture Brjansk on the road to Moscow.

*GERMANY*: During the day, two RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Bremen and one each bombs Munster and Saarbrucken.

During the night of 6/7 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 237 aircraft, 101 Wellingtons, 68 Lancasters, 38 Stirlings and 30 Halifaxes, to bomb Osnabrück; 216 bomb the target. Six aircraft, two Halifaxes, two Lancasters and two Stirlings, are lost, 2.5 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders succeeded in illuminating the Dummer See, a large lake northeast of the target which is used as a run-in point. The town of Osnabrück is then found and marked. The bombing is well concentrated, with most of the attack falling in the center and the southern parts of the target. Osnabrück's report shows that 149 houses are destroyed, 530 are seriously damaged and 2,784 lightly damaged. Six industrial premises are destroyed and 14 damaged. Sixty five people are killed, 45 civilians, 16 policemen or servicemen and four foreign workers, and 151 are injured.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British General Bernard Law Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, issues instructions for the El ‘Alamein offensive in the Western Desert.

US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators hit Bengasi harbor, scoring a large number of near misses but no direct hits; a B-24 bombs Bardia during the return flight. Antiaircraft is heavy and accurate and fighters attack six B-24s over the target; two B-24s are lost.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Second Protocol for U.S. aid to the U.S.S.R., covering the period to 1 July 1943, is signed in Washington, D.C. A total of 4.4 million tons (4 million metric tonnes) are to be sent to the Soviet Union, 3.3 million tons (3 million metric tonnes) by the northern Soviet ports and 1.1 million tons (1 million metric tonnes) by the Persian Gulf route.

Chester Floyd Carlson obtains a patent on the xerography process for making electrostatic copies. Carlson worked in the patent department of an electronics firm and is frustrated at the difficulty of making copies of patent drawings. He investigated various processes and developed xerography after four years of experimenting. He made the first Xerox copy on 22 October 1938. Although he received a patent in 1942, he failed to interest companies in producing copy machines until 1947, when the Haloid Company of Rochester, New York, licensed the process. The company, which later changes its name to Xerox, introduces its first copy machine in 1958.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, three RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attack the Stork diesel-engine works at Hengelo.


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## syscom3 (Oct 7, 2007)

*7 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Tractor Factory at Stalingrad is the scene of fierce fighting.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s score 7 direct hits on a tanker and 8 on fuel installations at Suda Bay.

*NORTH AFRICA*: 66 P-40s escort bombers over the battle area west of El Alamein.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The British and US governments announce a United Nations Commission to investigate Axis war crimes. It will be a condition of any armistice that accused war criminals will be handed over for prosecution. Roosevelt says that a commission will be set up after the war to judge those guilty of atrocities and mass murder.


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## syscom3 (Oct 8, 2007)

*8 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-179 (Type IX D2) is sunk in the South Atlantic near Cape Town, South Africa, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS '_Active_'. 61 dead (all crew lost).

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s fail to reach the target at Bengasi, Libya because of bad weather. The Hal Bombardment Squadron manages to attack shipping at Bengasi.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Major General Ira C Eaker, Commanding General Eighth Air Force sends a letter to Major General George E Stratemeyer, Chief of the Air Staff in Washington, indicating plans for the development of a highly-skilled intruder force capable of using bad weather as a cloak for small blind- bombing operations. These missions are also to serve the purpose of keeping the enemy from resting during periods of bad weather when big strategic missions cannot be flown.

*WESTERN FRONT*: German decrees are issued in Belguim, ordering registration for war work. These effect all males between 18 and 50 and females between 21 and 35. These decrees indicate that Germany's manpower needs are approaching a crisis situation.


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## Njaco (Oct 8, 2007)

*9 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-171 (Type IXC) is sunk at 1300 hours Berlin time in the Bay of Biscay about 10 nautical miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Lorient, France, by mines. Thirty of the 52 crewmen survive. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Premier Joseph Stalin takes away the command authority of Soviet commissars in the Red Army. They are still to have an important role in morale and propaganda, but responsibility for military decisions now rests entirely with the commanding officers. (Syscom)

*GERMANY*: Five RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos are dispatched to hit scattered targets; one bombs Koblenz. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s fly escort and strafe a landing ground west of El Daba and emplacements in the battle area west of El Alamein. During the latter mission, First Lieutenant William J. Mount, a P-40 pilot with the 57th Fighter Group, scores the first USAAF aerial victory in North Africa against a Luftwaffe Bf 109 fighter in the vicinity of El Alamein. (Syscom)

B-24s hit shipping and harbor facilities at Bengazi, Libya. P-40s flew escort and strafed a landing ground west of El daba, Egypt and emplacements in the battle area west of El Alamein. major air battles erupted over the front all day. During the the latter Allied mission, 1st Lt. William J. Mount, a P-40 pilot with the 57 FG, scored the first USAAF aerial victory in North Africa against a German Bf 109 in the vicinity of El Alamein. Over El Daba in the morning, elements of JG 27 engaged the Allied fighters and bombers. Oblt. Gustav Rodel of Stab II./JG 27, brought down 3 Airacobras while Lt. Werner Schroer of 8./JG 27 claimed a Boston, a Spitfire and a Hurricane. Double scores were awarded to Fw. Heinrich Steis of 4./JG 27, Ofw. Fritz Luer of 5./JG 27 and Lt. Erich Schofbock of 7./JG 27. In the afternoon it was JG 53's turn to defend against the Allied warplanes. Lt. Jurgen Harder from 7./JG 53 brought down 4 P-40s while Lt. Klippgen of 9./JG 53 claimed 2 Kittyhawks.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USN opens the first three schools for enlisted WAVES (Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) at Stillwater, Oklahoma, (Yeoman), Bloomington, Indiana, (Storekeepers) , and Madison, Wisconsin (Radiomen). (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the largest raid to date from the Americans, 108 B-17s and for the first time B-24 bombers from the USAAF 93rd BG, attacked the steel and engineering works of the Compagnie de Fives and the locomotive and freight car works of Ateliers d'Hellemmes at Lille and airfield targets in northern France. Also flying for the first time were 24 B-17s from the USAAF 306th BG. Most of the bombers were flying with only 9 crewmembers as it was thought that a second waist gunner was not needed because of close defensive fire from other bombers. 59 B-17s and 10 B-24s hit the primary targets while 2 B-17s hit the secondary target, Coutrai Airfield. Other targets hit were Longuensse Airfield and Roubaix. The first mission-related midair collision sustained by the USAAF 8th AF heavy bombers occurred during the flight when a pair of 92nd BG (Heavy) B-17s collided. Both were able to return to base. A B-17 of the 301 BG that had been damaged by German fire became the first USAAF 8th AF bomber ever to ditch at sea when 1st Lt Donald Swenson landed the plane in 15-20 foot high seas. All the crewmen survived. The fighters of III./JG 26, led by Gruppenkommanduer Hptm. "Pips" Priller - on his first atack of 4-engined bombers -took off at 0900 hours and attacked from the rear of the bomber formation on their return flight. He misjudged the altitude of the bombers and had to try 3 times before successfully engaging the bomber formation. To Lt. Otto Stammberger of 9./JG 26, the bombers reminded him of a large cloud of bumblebees;


> "The Staffel had just landed under my command at Wevelghem, when around 0830 hours we were scrambled. We should climb in the direction of St. Omer. However we didn't gather systematically as when we were flying at a height of 3500 to 4000 meters, we already spotted quite a large pile of formidable fat bluebottles, approaching from the direction of St. Omer. They were American bombers of the Boeing B-17 type. They were not flying in a tight formation, as they flew in 3 rows and all 'vics' obviously flew higgledy-piggledy... Approached from the rear. Full throttle. The things just grew bigger and bigger. Opened fire much too early and broke away for fear of ramming the 'barn doors'. I was puzzled not to have scored any hits until I remembered the size of the beasts - wingspan 40 meters! Right, get in much closer, things won't start to happen too soon. Concentrate on the engines of the left wing. Third pass and both port engines are burning. Then a good burst into the starboard outer as she starts to slide left, losing altitude in wide spirals. At about 2000 meters 4 or 5 men manage to bail out before the crate hits the ground east of Vendeville."


Lt. Stammberger's B-17 was from the 327BS/92BG flown by Lt. Francis Chorak. 4 of the crewmen bailed out of the falling bomber and survived. Now out of ammunition, Lt. Stammberger returned to his base at Wevelghem. Along with Lt. Stammberger's B-17, Hptm. Priller claimed a Fortress from the 306 BG that crashed south of Lille. Hptm. Klaus Mietusch, Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 26 first destroyed a B-24 - mistaken as a RAF Stirling - from the 93 BG that also crashed near Lille, then focused on a B-17 from the 419 BS 301 BG. His first pass caused little damage but return fire from the bomber hit his wingman, Uffz. Viktor Hager who was badly wounded and bailed out of his plane. His parachute failed to open and he fell to his death - the only casualty for JG 26 on this day. Hptm. Mietusch's second pass succeeded in damaging the bomber and Oblt. Kurt Ruppert of 9./JG 26 continued to attack the bomber, watching it crash into the Channel when he ran out of ammunition. Although the USAAF lost 4 bombers to fighters with a further 2 damaged beyond repair and another 46 damaged, only 69 bombers hit their target and many of the bombs failed to explode. In dogfights, Polish pilots claimed 3 kills and the RAF 2 kills.

Fourteen RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Oct 9, 2007)

*10 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: After a refit in the U.K. British submarine HMS/M '_Unique_' (N 95) left Holy Loch, Scotland, on 7 October. She is ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay while en route from Britain to Gibraltar. She left her escorts off Lands End on the 9 October and is not heard from again. HMS/M '_Ursula_' (N 59) on patrol off the coast of Spain reports hearing the sounds of explosions like depth charges, but no Axis claims have been made for this loss, and it seems likely that she is the victim of a drifting mine or an accident. She is reported overdue on 24 October when she fails to arrive at Gibraltar.

The German submarine U-172 torpedoes the 23,456 ton British troop transport SS '_Orcades_' about 124 nautical miles (230 kilometers) north of Cape Town, South Africa. The U-boat has to fire five more torpedoes before the ship sinks. Of the 1,065 aboard the ship, 1,017 survive.

In the South Atlantic, the German submarine U-178 torpedoes and sinks the unescorted 20,119 ton British passenger ship SS '_Duchess of Atholl'_ about 622 nautical miles (1 152 kilometers) north-northwest of Ascension Island. After being hit by three torpedoes, the ship sinks. Only five of the 832 aboard are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Ofw. Wilhelm Schilling of JG 54 was awarded the Ritterkreuz for his 46 air victories. Erich Hartmann arrived at 7./JG 52 in the Caucasus.

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued a decree establishing a single command and abolishing political commissars in the army. The commissars have gained military experience and their former status has become superfluous. The decree is issued to free responsible military commanders from any hindrances in carrying out their duties and to add to their ranks.

*GERMANY*: Eva-Marie Buch, a bookseller who also works for the Schutze-Boysen- Harnack resistance group (The Red Orchestra), is arrested today for passing messages to French slave workers in factories. She is sentenced to death by the People's Court on 3 February and hanged in Platzensee Prison, Berlin, on 5 August 1943.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The Axis commences a massive assault on Malta. Italian and German bombers hammer the island, flying between 200 and 270 sorties daily until 19 October. The Axis runs into considerable trouble, however, as Malta is now well-guarded by squadrons of Spitfire Mk Vs and Beaufighters, which are more than a match for the German Ju 88 and Italian SM 79 bombers. The RAF knows the attacks are coming from breaking the German Enigma messages allowing Spitfires to intercept the Germans over the sea sparing Malta a good deal of bombs.

*NORTH AFRICA:* US Middle East Air Force B-24s bombed shipping and the dock area at Benghazi while B-25s hit landing grounds. The air war over the desert became increasingly more active as the Luftwaffe and US air forces began to clash. Claiming multiple kills this day were Oblt. Gustav Rodel of StabII./JG 27 who downed 3 Airacobras to bring his score to 60 kills, Lt. werner Schroer of 8./JG 27 who claimed 3 Allied aircraft to reach 48 kills and Lt. Jurgen Harder from 7./JG 53 who destroyed 4 P-40s to get to 22 kills. Those with double claims were Fw. Heinrich Steis of 4./JG 27, Ofw. Fritz Luer of 5./JG 27, Lt. Erich Schofbock of 7./JG 27 and Lt. Klippgen from 9./JG 53.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The U.S. Senate approves the largest tax bill in history. Americans will pay US$8.5 billion (US$95.96 billion in year 2005 dollars) in corporate and income taxes during 1943.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 10/11 October, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Biscay Bay ports: nine lay mines off Gironde, six off St. Nazaire, five off La Pallace and four each off Brest and Lorient.

During the night of 10/11 October, ten RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Island and five lay mines off Texel Island.


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## Njaco (Oct 10, 2007)

*11 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: A lull in the fighting around Stalingrad was the first in almost 2 months, as both sides sought reinforcements. III./JG 77 was transferred from Russia (Demyansk) to North Africa.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets: three bomb Hannover with the loss of two aircraft and one bombs Emden. (Syscom)

During the night of 11/12 October, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off four areas: 14 aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight, six in the Kattegat, five in the Kiel Area and three off Swinemunde. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German and Italian bomber forces began another offensive against the island of Malta. During this period, Axis forces flew 2400 sorties against the island. However, none of the airfields were put out of action for more than 30 minutes and onlt 2 aircraft were destroyed on the ground. The Luftwaffe lost 46 aircraft shot down and the RAF lost 30 Spitfires.

US Army Middle East Air Force B-24s attacked a convoy, hitting one vessel and claiming 1 fighter shot down.

Heinrich Himmler, Reichsfuhrer- SS, head of the Gestapo, flies to Rome to visit Italian dictator BenitoMussolini. The German government is very worried about the health of Mussolini. Himmler's visit is to assess Mussolini's health and the state of Fascism in Italy. Himmler later reports back to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler that if Mussolini remains alive, then so will the Fascist state. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: When III./JG 27's Hptm. Erhard 'Jack' Braune departed to the staff of XI Fliegerkorps, his replacement was ex-Geschwader-Adjutant Hptm. Ernst Dullberg.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A heavy Luftwaffe raid on the northeast of England caused some damage during the night. A Morrison shelter was buried, but the occupant was uninjured when a 1000kg bomb fell at Monkseaton. 10 houses were wrecked, 70 were badly damaged, 20 irreparably. At Cullercoats, 7 houses were demolished, 10 severely damaged, 6 people killed and 17 seriously injured. At South Shields, 16 buildings were damaged by fire and 28 pumps were employed to extinquish the flames. Severe damage was done to both industrial and residential premises.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 11/12 October, five each RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Lorient and St. Nazaire. (Syscom)

During the day, one RAF Bomber Command Mosquito bombs a chemical plant at Sluiskil. (Syscom)

During the night of 11/12 October, nine RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Oct 11, 2007)

*12 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-597 is sunk about 475 nautical miles SSW of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from an RAF (B-24) Liberator Mk. III, of No. 120 Squadron based at Reykjavik; all 49 crewmen are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet submarine "Sch-302" of the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas was mined and then finished off by the Luftwaffe north of Bolshoi Tuters Island.

Deportations from Upper Silesia commence. Fifteen thousand Jews are transported to various murder sites.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 12/13 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 59 Lancasters to bomb Wismar. They encounter bad weather conditions but 51 claim to have started a large fire at the target. Two aircraft are lost and one bombs Lubeck.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army Middle East Air Force B-17s hit shipping in Tobruk harbour.

The U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force, is organized at Cairo with Colonel Patrick W Timberlake as Commanding Officer; this step comes about as part of a move to preserve the Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold-Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal-Admiral John H Towers, USN, agreement that US combat units in theaters of British strategic responsibility are to be organized in homogeneous "American formations" and under strategic control only of a British Commander-in- Chief.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Washington during a radio "fireside chat," President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that 18- and 19-year-olds will be drafted into the military services. In Washington, Attorney General Francis Biddle says 600,000 first-generation Italian-Americans, including some who have lived in the United States for decades, no longer will be classified as enemy aliens due to the result of the "splendid showing the Italians of America have made in meeting this test [loyalty to U. S.]."


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## Njaco (Oct 12, 2007)

*13 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: One Corps of 4.Panzerarmee reached the Volga River in the southern part of Stalingrad, but to the north many of the large factory buildings are still stubbornly held. There are several Soviet counterattacks in the factory areas.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 13/14 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 288 aircraft, 100 Wellingtons, 82 Lancasters, 78 Halifaxes and 28 Stirlings, to bomb Kiel; 246 aircraft bomb the target. Eight aircraft, five Wellingtons and one each of the other types are lost. A decoy fire site is operating and at least half of the bombing are drawn away into open countryside, but the rest of the attack falls on Kiel and its immediate surroundings. Casualties are 41 killed and 101 injured. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s fly a fighter sweep, patrol, and interception missions west of El Alamein, Egypt; fighters claim 2 Bf 109s destroyed and 1 damaged. (Syscom)

George Beurling of RAF No. 249 Squadron claimed and was credited with 2 Bf 109's, a Ju 88 and a Ju 88 damaged over Malta. (pbfoot)

While leading I./JG 77, Hptm. Heinz "Pritzl" Bar downed several British fighters over Malta. His victims were 2 Spitfires from RAF No. 185 Sqdn and 1 Spitfire from RAF 1435 Sqdn. Also claiming Spitfires around Malta were Oblt. Fritz Geisshardt of 3./JG 77, Oblt. Siegfried Freytag of 1./JG 77 and Oblt. Gerhard Michalski of Stab II./JG 53.

*NORTH AFRICA*: P-40s flew a fighter sweep and intercept mission west of El Alamein. The Curtiss fighters claimed 2 Bf 109s destroyed and 1 damaged. Lt. Erich Schofbock of 7./JG 27 was killed. Oblt. Gustav Rodel of Stab II./JG 27 brought down an Airacobra southwest of El Alamein. Ofw. Werner Stumpf of 9./JG 53 destroyed 3 Allied fighters before being shot down and killed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The German authorities declare all Jewish property confiscated in the Baltic States. (Syscom)


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## Njaco (Oct 13, 2007)

*14 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia, Canada and Newfoundland, the 2,200-ton steel hulled Newfoundland Railway Fleet SS '_Caribou_' is struck by a torpedo at 0330 hours local fired by the German submarine U-69. The ferry was en route from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, and escorted by the Canadian minesweeper HMCS '_Grandmère_', is sailing in a zig-zag course. HMCS '_Grandmère_' is equipped with ASDIC (sonar) but not radar and she does not "see" U-69 which had surfaced to recharge her batteries. The sub crew spotted the two ships and fired one torpedo that strikes the ferry and she immediately starts sinking about 21 nautical miles southwest of Port aux Basques. There are 237 people aboard the ferry, 46 crewmen, 73 civilians and 118 military personnel; 136 people lost their lives. (Syscom)

In the English Channel, the German Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser) HK '_Komet_' (Raider B) attempts to pass down the Channel on the way out for a second cruise. A force of British escort destroyers and motor torpedo boats (MTBs) attack off Cherbourg, France, and in spite of a strong escort, she is torpedoed and sunk by MTB-236. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Stalingrad, General von Paulus declared "the final offensive" and sent 3 infantry divisions and 2 panzer divisions, deployed on a 3 mile front. The Luftwaffe flew 3000 sorties against the entrenched Russians in the factories using every aircraft at its disposal. The sky was full of German aircraft, bombing and strafing almost constantly. In the city, the German's main objectives were the Dzerzhinsky tractor factory, which fell, and the Barrikady gun factory. The ground outside these buildings was littered with German dead, caught by an artillery and katyusha barrage as they prepared to attack. Fighting was going on inside the battered, burning buildings. Workshops became battlefields. The enemies were so close that they could hear each other's breathing. The slaughter was terrible. Some divisions of the Russian 62nd Army were wiped out. The 13th Guards existed in name only. Units formed from poorly trained civilians took appaling casualties, but the survivors became expert street fighters.

On another sector of the Eastern front, Lt. Walter Hagenah of 2./JG 3 destroyed 2 IL-2 Sturmoviks for his 5th and 6th victories before his Gruppe was withdrawn from the front and transferred to Germany for Reichsverteidigung duties in January 1943. Oblt. Detlev Rohwer, acting Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 1 was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 2./JG 3 and relinquished command to Hptm. Robert Kijewski.

Newly arrived Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 flew his 3rd sortie;


> "When we leveled off I saw 2 dark green aircraft in front and a little higher than us at about 3000 metres distance. Thoughts of achieving my first kill immediately flashed through my mind and I slammed open the throttle and powered after them, forgetting all notion of protecting my Schwarmfuhrer..."


Not only did he manage to lose his flight leader, he became disoriented in clouds, took a number of hits and was forced to belly in. The result was an uncomfortable de-briefing and 2 weeks of ground duties.

*GERMANY*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler orders the suspension of all activity on the eastern front except for Stalingrad and the Terek river in the Caucasus. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the skies over Malta, Canada's top scoring pilot, George Beurling of RAF No. 249 Sqdn, nicknamed "Screwball" by the popular press but known as "Buzz" or George to his mates, shot down 2 Bf 109s and a Ju 88 before he was wounded in the heel by return fire from the Ju 88 gunner and crash landed. With his score at 26 and 1/3, he was awarded the DFC and spent a fortnight in hospital before an eventful trip back to England. It would be the last time he would fly over Malta to defend the island. (pbfoot)

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army Middle East Air Force B-17s hit shipping at Tobruk, scoring 2 direct hits on a large vessel and demolishing a smaller ship moored alongside. P-40s flew patrols, reconn and interception missions between El Alamein and Burg el Arab, Egypt.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Two of the five RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons dispatched lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Oct 15, 2007)

*15 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Stalingrad, German attacks continue to move slowly forward in the areas of the Tractor Factory and reach the Volga River just north of the main complex.

The Northwest Staging route began operation. The route was established to ferry aircraft to Russia and allowed movement of aircraft to Alaska to meet a possible Japanese threat . In 1943 up to 450 aircraft a month were heading up the route to Russia, mostly P39s. This route was not an easy route to fly with up to hundreds of miles between small settlements and very harsh weather. One of the airports in Snag Yukon still holds the record for the coldest recorded N American temp at -81f or -63 c. (pbfoot)

The Staffelkapitaen of 3./SchG 1, Oblt. Heinz Frank, was severely injured in a crash-landing at Tusov.

Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 was awarded the Ritterkreuz after 53 victories in the East and was then transferred to North Africa with his unit. (Njaco)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 15/16 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 289 aircraft, 109 Wellingtons, 74 Halifaxes, 62 Lancasters and 44 Stirlings, to bomb Cologne; 258 aircraft bomb the city. Eighteen aircraft, six Wellingtons, five Halifaxes, five Lancasters and two Stirlings, are lost, 6.2 per cent of the force. This is not a successful raid. Winds are different from those forecast and the Pathfinders have difficulty in establishing their position and marking the target sufficiently to attract the Main Force away from a large decoy fire site which received most of the bombs. Cologne reports one "Luftmine" out of seventy one 4,000 pound (1 814 kilogram) bombs carried by the bombing force), three other high-explosive bombs (out of 231) and 210 incendiary bombs (out of 68,590). Two hundred twenty sixes are damaged but only two of these receive what is classed as "serious damage;" four people are injured.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command is activated at New York, New York, assigned directly to HQ USAAF. The new unit takes over antisubmarine operations of the First Air Force's I Bomber Command, which is inactivated; most observation squadrons that have been flying antisubmarine warfare patrols cease and are inactivated; 12 squadrons on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico are assigned to the new command.

The light cruiser USS '_Denver_' (CL-58 ) is commissioned. The USN now has 27 light cruisers in commission.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, 23 Douglas (A-20) Bostons of RAF Bomber Command, attempt to bomb a large German merchant ship in Le Havre docks. The intended target has moved from its berth but a 5,000 ton ship nearby is bombed instead and so badly damaged that she is later seen aground and later still seen in dry dock. No Bostons are lost. The Bostons are escorted by the two squadrons of the USAAF 14th Fighter Group, flying P-38F Lightnings from RAF Ford and RAF Tangmere, Sussex, England. This is their first combat mission with the USAAF Eighth Air Force.

During the day, four Mosquitos of RAF Bomber Command bomb the Storch diesel engine factory at Hengelo and one Mosquito bombs the port area Den Helder, all without loss.

Major Gordon Gollob with the Stab of Jagdfliegerfuhrer 3, was appointed Jagdfuhrer 5 at Deauville, France, being responsible for the tactical fighter command of northwestern France. (Njaco)


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## syscom3 (Oct 16, 2007)

*16 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: While tracking Convoy SC-104 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, to U.K.), German submarine U-353 (Type VIIC) is sunk about 657 nautical miles (1 217 kilometers) south-southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS '_Fame_'. Thirty nine of the 45 men aboard the sub survive. This is the second U-boat to be sunk around convoy SC-104 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, to the U.K.); U-661 was sunk yesterday with all hands.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army Middle East Air Force B-24s bombed shipping in Benghazi harbour but other B-17s and B-24s, dispatched to attack Tobruk and Benghazi were forced to abort by bad weather. (Njaco)

*NORTH AMERICA*: In the arena of US public opinion, an article in The New York Times newspaper on 16 October states,


> "The shadows of a great conflict lie heavily over the Solomons-all that can be perceived is the magnitude of the stakes at issue. ... Guadalcanal. The name will not die out of the memories of the generation. It will endure in honor."


US Navy Secretary Knox responds to a question of holding Guadalcanal:


> "I certainly hope so and expect so ... I will not make any predictions, but every man will give good account of himself. What I am trying to say is that there is a good stiff fight going on. Everybody hopes we can hold on."


*UNITED KINGDOM*: Another major Luftwaffe raid on the northeast of England was heavier than of late. The Education Architect's Offices at Sunderland were demolished and houses either demolished or damaged. Aircraft dropped 8 combination HE and firepot type IBs, 7 of which fell on the Air Ministry site at Seal Sands, Haverton Hill, setting fire to 30 square yards of grass. (Njaco)

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches six (A-20) Bostons to attack Le Havre but they are turned back by bad weather.

During the night of 16/17 October, 23 Wellingtons and 11 Stirlings of RAF Bomber Command 16/17 October are dispatched to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: five each lay mines off La Pallice, Lorient and St. Nazaire, four each off the Gironde Estuary and Nantes, and three off St. Jean de Luz. Three aircraft are lost.

During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the Stork diesel engine factory at Hengelo without loss.

During the night of 16/17 October, four RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands; one aircraft is lost.


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## Njaco (Oct 17, 2007)

*17 October 1942*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A convoy that will carry American and British troops to French North Africa begins assembling in the Firth of Clyde the estuary of the River Clyde in Scotland. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: 94 Avro Lancasters of RAF Bomber Command were dispatched in a daylight raid on the Schneider munitions and heavy engineering factory and the associated electricity transformer at Le Creusot, over 300 miles inside France and 170 miles southeast of Paris. The Schneider factory at Le Creusot is regarded as the French equivalent to Krupps and produces heavy guns, railway engines and, it is believed, tanks and armoured cars. A large workers' housing estate is situated at one end of the factory. RAF Bomber Command has been given this as the highest priority target in France for a night attack but only in the most favourable of conditions. Air Marshal Arthur Harris, Air Officer Commanding RAF Bomber Command, decides to attack by day, at low level. The task is given to Air Vice-Marshal Coryton's 5 Group and its nine Lancaster squadrons carry out a series of low-level practice flights over England. After a favourable weather report, 94 Lancasters set out on the afternoon of 17 October. The force is led by Wing Commander L. C. Slee of 49 Squadron. Eighty eight aircraft are to bomb the Schneider factory; the other six are to attack a nearby transformer station which supplies the factory with electricity. The Lancasters fly in a loose formation over the sea around Brittany, and cross the coast of France between La Rochelle and St Nazaire without any fighter escort. For 300 miles (483 kilometers) the Lancasters fly at tree-top level across France. No German fighters attack the bombers during this flight. The greatest danger is from birds; four aircraft are damaged and two men injured in bird strikes. After a fine piece of work by Wing Commander Slee's navigator, Pilot Officer A. S. Grant, the force reaches its last turning-point near Nevers and gains height for bombing. There is practically no Flak at the target and bombing takes place in clear conditions at heights of between 2,500 and 7,500 feet (762 and 2 296 meters).The attackers dropped 140 tons of bombs on the target. The Lancasters return home safely as darkness closes in. One airman, describing the daylight flight without fighter cover, said,


> "It was like the Grand National, except that no one fell!"


That was not quite accurate - one of the Lancasters (61 Squadron ) was lost when it flew into a building during its bombing run. The 5 Group crews claimed a successful attack on the Schneider factory but photographs taken later show that much of the bombing had fallen short and had struck the workers' housing estate near the factory. Some bombs had fallen into the factory area but damage there is not extensive. It has not been possible to obtain a report from France on the casualties suffered by the local people in this raid.

Eleven RAF Bomber Command Douglas (A-20) Bostons sent to Le Havre have to turn back but six other Bostons carry out a sweep to create a diversion for the Le Creusot force. No Bostons are lost. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Oct 18, 2007)

*18 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U.S. freighter SS '_Steel Navigator_', straggling from convoy ON 137 (U.K. to North America), takes on a 40-degree list as her sand ballast shifts. USN Armed Guard volunteers shovel ballast for 30 hours without relief reducing the list to 12-degrees until a financial bonus offered by the ship's master induces reluctant merchant sailors to lend a hand in the arduous work.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Renewed German attacks in the Krasnye Oktyabr area make gains against the Soviet defenses which have held over the past two days. In the Caucasus, the advance by Heeresgruppe A (Army Group A) toward the Black Sea port of Tuapse is halted due to difficult terrain and stubborn Soviet resistance.

*GERMANY*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler issues his "Commando Order" decreeing that all prisoners taken from Commando units shall be handed over to the SD (Sicherheltsdienst or security service of the SS) or Gestapo and summarily shot.


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## syscom3 (Oct 19, 2007)

*19 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The U.S. freighter SS '_Steel Navigator_', straggling from convoy ON 137, is attacked by German submarine U-610; '_Steel Navigator_' briefly drives off the shadower with 5-inch (12.7 centimeter) gunfire, but the U-boat returns and torpedoes and sinks the freighter about 828 nautical miles ENE of St. John's, Newfoundland. A hastily launched motor boat swamps in heavy seas; No.3 lifeboat swamps as the ship plunges and spills its 35 occupants into the sea. 'U-610' surfaces and approaches the survivors' boats and rafts; when questions shouted by the submarine's commander fail to get answers, the Germans threaten to cut a raft in two. After answers are given in the brief interrogation, the Germans refuse to provide a course to the nearest land and depart. Subsequently, survivors right No.3 boat and redistribute themselves; the boats become separated.

U-116 (Type XB) is listed as missing in the North Atlantic, details and position not known; all hands, 55 men, are lost. The last radio message was sent on 6 October when the boat was about 423 nautical miles NNW of Lagens Field, Azores Islands.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: British East African troops press southward from Tananarive to clear the southern part of island and in two- pronged attack overcome opposition at Andriamanalina. The King's African Rifles capture 800 Vichy troops near Ivato.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British submarine HMS/M '_Unbending_' torpedoes and sinks the Italian destroyer '_Giovanni da Verazzano_' and a 4,459 ton merchant vessel south of Pantelleria Island.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Over El Daba, elements of JG 27 and JG 53 met Allied fighters. Lt. Jurgen Harder of 6./JG 53, Oblt. Willi Althof of 7./JG 27 and Uffz. Erich Krainik of 8./JG 27 each claimed a fighter.

The air offensive preliminary to the British Eighth Army ground attack west of El Alamein, Egypt begins as RAF aircraft and US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit a landing ground and B-24 Liberators claim a direct hit on vessel at Tobruk, Libya.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The initial installation and deployment of the AN/ASB-3 airborne search radar is reported. This radar, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory for carrier based aircraft, has been installed in five TBF-1 Avengers by NAS New York, New York, and five SBD-3 Dauntlesses by NAS San Pedro, California. One aircraft of each type is assigned to Carrier Air Group Eleven in USS 'Saratoga' and the others shipped to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The remaining sets on the initial contract for 25 are to be used for spare parts and training.


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## syscom3 (Oct 20, 2007)

*20 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-216 is sunk about 491 nautical miles WSW of Cork, County Cork, Eire, by six depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. II, aircraft of No. 224 Squadron based at Beaulieu, Hampshire, England; all 45 crewmen are lost.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends six Mosquitos to individual German targets; two aircraft bombed Bremen and one each hit Minden and Varel Hafen. One Mosquito is lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Air action by the US Army, Middle East Air Force is intensified with the aim of attaining strong air superiority preceding General Bernard L Montgomery, General Officer Commanding British Eighth Army, El Alamein offensive.

US Army, Middle East Air Force Libya, B-17's and B-24's sent to attack shipping at Tobruk fail to locate the target due to bad weather and poor visibility; three of the B-17s bomb a coastal road near Bardia during the return trip. Meanwhile, B-25 Mitchells, in conjunction with the Royal Air Force (RAF), attack landing grounds.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The largest tax bill in history, US$6.8 billion (US$79 billion in 2004 dollars), is approved by Congress.

The Government orders the seizure of Nazi German banking operations in New York being conducted by Prescott Bush. The U.S. Alien Property Custodian takes over the Union Banking Corporation and its stock shares, all of which are owned by E. Roland "Bunny" Harriman, Prescott Bush, two other Bush associates, and three Nazi executives.

The trial of Gordon K. Hirabayashi, who violated Seattle, Washington's curfew and exclusion restrictions on 16 May 1942, starts in Seattle with Judge Lloyd L. Black presiding.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower, Commanding General, European Theater, issues a directive reflecting the immediate urgency of Operation TORCH (plan for the Allied landings in North and Northwest Africa in November 1942) as the currently important item of Allied strategy and requiring the Eighth Air Force, as a matter of first priority, to protect the movement of men and supplies from the U.K. to North Africa by attacking German submarine bases on the west coast of France, with shipping docks on the French west coast as a secondary targets for these missions and with German aircraft factories and depots in France as second priority.


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## syscom3 (Oct 21, 2007)

*21 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In the North Sea, the 3,974 ton cargo/passenger ship SS '_Palatia_' departs Kristiansand, Norway. On board are 999 Russian POWs and 135 ships crew and guards, a total of 1,134 men. About an hour after sailing, the ship is torpedoed by a Hampden Mk. I torpedo bomber from No. 489 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, based at Wick, Caithness, Scotland. The '_Palatia_' sinks near the Sangnvaar Lighthouse, with the loss of 954 men.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A combined German, Finnish and Italian force launched an unsuccessful attack on Suho Island on Lake Ladoga to break the Soviet supply route to Leningrad. 12 'Seibel' ferries were dispatched on this operation. If it had succeeded, it would have posed a major threat against the Soviet sea-line to Leningrad. But the attack was beaten back by the island's Russian garrison.

German street fighters make gains in the Red October area of Stalingrad and over the next two days more than half of the Barrikady Factory and housing project in the north are taken in a series of vicious attacks.

The first FW 190 claimed shot down by Soviet fighters appears to have been a case of mistaken aircraft idenity. When six I-16s of the Soviet naval Guards fighter aviation regiment, 4 GvIAP/VVS-KBF, led by 1st Eskadrilya's ace Kapitain Ovchinnikov, attempted to intercept a formation of Ju 88s over the Gulf of Finland, the Soviets came under attack by "two finger-four groups" of "air-cooled-engined fighters" - identified as FW 190s. Ovchinnikov was hit and barely managed to withdraw from combat with severe wounds. Two of the German fighters immediately pursued his Ishak. Kapitain Petr Kozhanov and his wingman immediately turned to Ovchinnikov's assisstance. Kozhanov aimed carefully and fired all his six RS rockets at the German plane. The explosion threw the leading"FW 190" into a spin and the triumphant Soviet pilot saw it crash into the water. The confusion among the surviving Axis fighters enabled the I-16s - including Ovchinnikov - to withdraw and return to base. No such loss can be found in the German records for this date. One possibility is that the aircraft downed by Kapitain Kozhanov in fact was a Finnish Brewster Buffalo.

After a seven-day action, 20,000 Jews have been sent from the Piotrkow ghetto to Treblinka for gassing. Treblinka, established in 1941 as a forced labor camp for those accused of crimes by the occupation authorities, is located 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Warsaw, Poland.

*MEDITERRANEAN *: German submarine U-431 is sunk about 75 nautical miles (139 kilometers) east of Cartagena, Spain, by depth charges from an RAF Wellington Mk. XIV, of No. 179 Squadron based at Gibraltar; all 53 crewmen are lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In advance of the Allied North African landings, U.S. Major General Mark W. Clark, Deputy Commander in Chief Allied Expeditionary Force; Brigadier General Lyman M. Lemnitzer, Assistant Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean; two additional Army officers; and Navy Captain Jerauld Wright are landed at Cherchel, about 49 miles (79 kilometers) west of Algiers, from British submarine HMS/M 'Seraph' to meet with a French military delegation to ascertain French attitudes toward impending Allied operations. Among issues discussed is the French request for an American submarine to evacuate General Henri-Honere Giraud, a POW in occupied France. Since none is available for that mission, a British submarine under temporary U.S. command will be substituted. The meeting comes to an abrupt halt after a servant tips off police who happen to belong to the resistance. Clark's party gets a good soaking when their boat capsizes on return to HMS/M 'Seraph'.

US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators dispatched against shipping at Bengasi fail to locate target because of bad weather; during the return flight, several B-24s bomb tent areas along the coast and also hit landing grounds; B-25 Mitchells, cooperating with the RAF, bomb a landing ground and tent area.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: In the Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden, the Soviet submarine S-7 surfaces in the open sea at 1926 hours and is located by the Finnish submarine 'Vesihiisi' 8 000 meters (4.3 nautical miles) away. A single torpedo is fired from 2 000 meters (1.1 nautical miles), hitting the Soviet boat in the stern and sinking it. Only the four men standing in the bridge, including the captain survive, and are made POWs.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 15 against two targets; three B-17 Flying Fortresses are lost: 83 B-17s from the USAAF 97th, 301st and 306th BG along with 24 B-24s from the 93rd BG, were dispatched to attack the U-Boat pens at Keroman and an airfield in France. 17 B-17s from the 11th CCRC were sent to bomb Cherbourg. Heavy cloud cover forced a recall of the bombers but 15 Fortresses from the 97th BG continued to its target. After bombing the target, the formation was bounced by 36 FW 190s over the French coast. 3 B-17s were shot down and another 6 badly damaged. 5 bombers were claimed as destroyed by fighters from JG 2. The bombers claimed have shot down 10 Luftwaffe fighters. The second mission consisting of eight of 17 B-17s bomb Cherbourg Airfield; they claim 10-4-3 aircraft without loss.

During the day, three RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos are dispatched to Germany but only two are able to bomb targets, the Stork diesel engine factory at Hengelo and the airfield at Leeuwarden. No losses.

During the night of 21/22 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches seven Stirlings and seven Wellingtons to lay mines off Denmark and in the Frisian Islands of the Netherlands but the Wellingtons are recalled. Six of the seven Stirlings lay their mines in the Frisian Islands with the loss of one aircraft.


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## Njaco (Oct 22, 2007)

*22 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-412 (Type VIIC) is sunk about 231 nautical miles north of Lerwick, Shetland Islands, U.K., by depth charges from an RAF Wellington Mk. VIII, aircraft of No. 179 Squadron based at Skitton, Caithness, Scotland; all 47 crewmen are lost. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The first snow of the winter fell at Stalingrad. At Stalingrad, against fierce Soviet resistance, units of the German 6.Armee capture most of the Red October and Barricades factories in the northern part of the city. (Syscom)

Oblt. Gunther Rall of III./JG 52 reached the 100 kill mark and was awarded the Eichenlaub.

The retreating ferries from the small Lake Ladoga island of Sukho came under repeated attacks from Soviet aircraft. Throughout the day, the ferries were harrassed by Russian aircraft and torpedo and gunboats, who pursued them back to their own base. I./JG 54 largely failed to provide the German vessels with air cover. Although the Gruppe claimed 7 Soviet airctaft shot down (actual Soviet losses were 3 IL-2s and 2 I-15s) four ferries were sunk and one infantry boat was captured by the Russians. 3 of the ferries were lost because they ran aground near the island during the German attack. 1. and 3./LeLv 26 claimed 4 Soviet aircraft during the retreat. Soviet 3 GIAP/VVS-KBF's Kapitain Georgiy Kostylev, who commanded the Soviet fighters that participated during the operation, was appointed Hero of the Soviet Union. All 3 Italian 12th Naval flotilla MASs co-operated with German pontoons in the attack on the Sukho islet.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 22 Wellingtons on cloud-cover raids to Essen, the Ruhr and the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Lingen. Thirteen aircraft bombed estimated positions through cloud, nine at Essen and four at Lingen . One of the Wellington's came down low and machine-gunned a train near Lingen, setting some of the carriages on fire. No aircraft are lost. (Syscom)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses sent to bomb Candia, Crete abort because of weather. (Syscom)

During the night of 22/23 October, 112 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters and the Pathfinders are dispatched to Genoa to recommence the campaign against Italy to coincide with the opening of the Eighth Army offensive at El Alamein, Egypt; 100 aircraft bomb the city. It is a perfectly clear moonlight night and the Pathfinder marking is described as "prompt and accurate." The bombing by this comparatively small force of aircraft, carrying only 180 tons (163 metric tonnes) of bombs, could hardly have been carried out under more ideal conditions. No Lancasters are lost. Details from Genoa are not precise but very heavy damage is caused in the city centre and in the eastern districts. Provisional estimates of casualties are 39 dead and 200 injured but the actual figures may have been higher. Local reports mention the severe effect on the morale of the people of Genoa. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: B-25s bombed dispersal aircraft. In Egypt, P-40s escorted bombers, attacked tent areas and motor transport along the coastal road near El Hammam and made fighter sweeps west of El Daba, and bombed artillery positions. P-40s claimed two German fighters destroyed.

The British Eighth Army moves secretly into assault positions during the night of 22/23 October.

Advance U.S. Air headquarters of the US Army, Middle East Air Force, previously attached to the RAF Advanced Air HQ, Western Desert, to gain field experience, becomes Headquarters, Desert Air Task Force (DATF), located at Burg el Arab, Egypt, with Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton as Commanding General.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, by amendment to a USN design study contract, is authorized to construct two 19A axial flow turbojet powerplants. Thereby, fabrication is initiated of the first jet engine of wholly American design. (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first echelon of Headquarters, USAAF Twelfth Air Force begins a movement from the U.K. to North Africa. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Vichy Radio, quoting a Stockholm, Sweden, telegram, states that Germany and her allies are planning to denounce the Geneva Convention of 1864, re the Red Cross and prisoners of war. According to the telegram, the Axis declares that "England, by her methods of war, has been the first to cast off the obligations arising from this Convention." (Syscom)

During the night of 22/23 October, 11 RAF Bomber Command Stirlings laid mines off the southern Biscay coast without loss. Five laid mines in the Gironde Estuary, four off Bayonne and two off St. Jean de Luz. (Syscom)

Douglas DC-3-268, msn 2132, registered SE-BAG by the Swedish airline ABA (AB Aerotransport or Swedish Air Lines), is shot down by a Luftwaffe Ju-88 near Hallo. Thirteen of the 15 people aboard are
killed in the ensuing crash. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Oct 23, 2007)

*23 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The invasion transports are bound from the U.S. and U.K. for North Africa and the "Torch" landings. There are 21 German U-Boats operating in the Gibraltar area but due to their pre-occupation with convoy SL-125 (Sierra Leone to the U.K.), they do not sight the invasion ships.

*GERMANY*: Berlin radio states that Britain would be excluded from the post-war "European Charter" because;


> "....she has estranged herself from Europe more and more under Churchill's regime."



During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 26 Wellingtons to bomb two targets in the Ruhr: seven bomb Essen and four bomb Krefeld. These aircraft bombed estimated positions through cloud without loss.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force bombers sent to attack Candia turn back short of the target due to bad weather.

During the night of 23/24 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 122 aircraft, 53 Halifaxes, 51 Stirlings and 18 Wellingtons, to bomb Genoa; 92 bomb the target with the loss of two Halifaxes and a Stirling. The target area is found to be almost completely cloud-covered and it is later discovered that the raid has actually fallen on the town of Savona, 30 miles (48 kilometers) along the coast from Genoa. Four aircraft bomb Turin where two people are killed and ten injured.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Operation LIGHTFOOT/Second Battle of El Alamein: General Montgomery, British Eighth Army, started the last and decisive campaign against Axis forces in the desert. At 21.40 hours precisely the assault opened with an artillery barrage by 1,000+ guns aimed at Axis batteries; the desert silence was rent by the crash of 1,000 heavy guns, so powerful that the ground shook under the feet of the engineers who moved forward into the "Devil's Garden" - Rommel's 5 mile deep minefields - clearing lanes and marking them with white tape. The first barrage lasted for 15 minutes. At 2200 hours, the barrage switches to the forward positions as British troops move forward. For a few seconds before 22.00 hours, the skirl of bagpipes could be heard down the lines before an even more intensive bombardment opened up. This was the cue for the infantry to begin its advance with the 51st Highland, 1st South African and New Zealand Divisions, their bayonets fixed, going forward at a steady 75 strides a minute to clear the way for the waiting armoured divisions. The speed of the Highlander's advance brought them under fire from their own artillery as well as the German's. Casualties were high but they managed to storm their first objective, the heavily-defended Miteiriya Ridge. Everything depended on the tanks of XXX Corps, - new Grants and Shermans -breaking through. But so many tanks were trying to get through that a massive traffic snarl-up was blocking the lanes, a perfect target for German artillery. Monty intervened and soon the tanks were moving again. The 12 Italian and German divisions amounted to 80,000 men (53,000 of which are Italian). The Commonwealth forces amount to 230,000 men divided among ten divisions. As far as the tanks are concerned, only the German Panzer IV (35 total) are equal to the Commonwealth' s American M4 Sherman (252 total) and M3 Grant (170 total) tanks. The British attack the sector defended by the Italian Folgore Parachute Division. The Italian forces include 3,500 paratroopers, 1,000 Guastatori d'Africa, 80 artillery pieces and five tanks of German origin. The Folgore prepare their defenses among a 15 kilometer (9.3 mile) barrier and realize they are the last defense before the rear of the Italo-German Army. The British are thrown back after every attempt with a considerable loss of life and are ordered a stop any further initiatives on that front. Total dead, wounded or missing amount to 1,100 for the Folgore. Progress was slow at first and the battle became a straight slogging match. Australian troops played an important part with a thrust in the north near the sea. In the build-up to the battle, Royal Navy submarines and RAF aircraft, especially those based in Malta, were sinking more than a third of Axis supplies setting out for North Africa. As the offensive got underway, the Inshore Squadron continued to support and supply Eighth Army along its right, seaward flank. Heavy fighting continued during the night of 23/24 October with XXX Corps on the north making the main effort and XIII Corps conducting diversionary actions on the south.

At 1500 hours Oblt. Paul Sommer, a Dane serving in 4./JG 27 flying a Bf 109F west of El Daba, shot down a Kittyhawk for his first score. In the morning, a pair of "P-46s" brought down east of El Alamein, took the Staffelkapitaen of 8./JG 27, Lt. Werner Schroer's tally to 51.

US Army, Middle East Air Force bombers sent to attack and Bengasi turn back short of the target due to bad weather. RAF and USAAF fighter aircraft maintain constant air patrols over Axis airfields after a four-day bombing campaign wipes out most of the opposing forces.

Admiral Francois Darlan, Commander in Chief of the Armistice (Vichy) Army, arrives in Rabat to rally Vichy colonies.

*UNITED STATES*: Forces from the U.S. begin a movement to North Africa in preparation for Operation TORCH, the invasion of northwest Africa. The first detachment of the Western Naval Task Force, under Rear Admiral Henry K. Hewitt, sails from Hampton Roads, Virginia.

A commercial airliner and a USAAF bomber collide in the air over Mount Jacinto, Palm Springs, California, at 1715 hours local killing all 12 aboard the airliner. The commercial airliner is Douglas DC-3-178, msn 1555, registered NC16017 by the U.S. airline American Airlines; the bomber is a Lockheed (Model 137-27-02) B-34-VE Lexington. The midair collision at 9,000 feet (2 743 meters) destroys the rudder of the DC-3 causing it to crash, the B-34 lands safely with minor damage. The accident report blames the reckless and irresponsible conduct of the bomber pilot in deliberately maneuvering a bomber in dangerous proximity to an airliner in an unjustifiable attempt to attract the attention of the first officer, his friend aboard the airliner. Composer and song writer Ralph Rainger, 41, is among the dead . Rainger's compositions include "Thanks for the Memory," "June in January," "Blue Hawaii" and "Ebbtide."

*WESTERN FRONT*: Eight RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off La Pallice.

During the day, three RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit the Stork diesel engine factory at Hengelo with the loss of one aircraft.

During the night of 23/24 October, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Stavanger; one aircraft is lost.


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## Njaco (Oct 24, 2007)

*24 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-599 is sunk about 500 nautical miles (927 kilometers) southwest of Cork, County Cork, Eire, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. II, aircraft of No. 224 Squadron based at RAF Bealieu, Hampshire, England; all 44 crewmen are lost.(Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Cafe Club (a German Army recreation center in Warsaw) is bombed by members of the Communist Gwardia Ludowa (People's Guard) in retaliation for the public execution of 50 of its members.(Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The first daylight attack on Italy was mounted by British-based RAF Lancaster Bombers (Whitley's first bombed Italy, staging through the Channel Islands in 1940), when bombers of RAF No. 5 Group were dispatched to attack Milan. During the previous night, 100 Lancasters attacked Genoa and today a total of 112 machines flew below barrage balloons to hit Milan in broad daylight. The aircraft proceed independently by a direct route across France, using partial cloud cover, to a rendezvous at Lake Annecy, France. The Alps are then crossed and Milan bombed in broad daylight. Defences are weak and accurate bombing takes place. The raid came as a complete surprise in Milan. One hundred thirty five tons (122 metric tonnes) of bombs fall in 18 minutes and 30 large fires are started; 441 houses are destroyed or damaged. R.A.F. reconnaissance photographs later discover that a number of commercial and industrial buildings are also hit, including the Caproni aircraft factory. At least 171 people are killed. Three Lancasters were lost enroute, 1 near the target and 2 over northern France. Another crashed in the UK. A Lancaster pilot said later;


> "We crossed the Channel at almost zero altitiude and over France in one enormous mass at 50 feet. The French waved to us."


They flew over the Alps below the summit of Mont Blanc, found Italy under cloud and emerged through this at 4,000 feet over Milan railway station. Another crew flew over the football stadium at half-time, the ball clearly visible in the net. When they released their 4,000 lb "cookies", there was panic below them. One pilot described hitting a facory;


> "That's a factory, that was!"


 The sun was setting over the Alps as they began the 750 mile flight home. Fw. Gerhard Schmalenberg and Uffz. Walter Leber from 3./JG 2 claimed 2 of the Lancasters. This raid formed part of a series aimed at Italian targets, timed to coincide with the opening of Eighth Army's El Alamein offensive.

During the night of 24/25 October, Milan is again hit; 71 aircraft, 25 Halifaxes, 23 Stirlings and 23 Wellingtons, are dispatched; 43 bomb the city. Four Wellingtons and two Stirlings are lost, 8.5 per cent of the force. Storms en route disperse the bomber force; some aircraft fly over Switzerland and are "warned" by anti-aircraft fire. Local reports say that little further damage is caused.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Around midnight last night, General Montgomery and 195,000 Allied troops of the British Eighth Army began their long awaited attack against German positions and Feldmarschall Rommel. The British hold a 2:1 advantage in tanks, men, guns and air support. The XXX Corps will push its infantry through the minefields; X Corps with the 2nd Armoured Divisions will follow and hold off counterattacks while the infantry widens the hole in the German line. British forces make progress but do not keep to the timetable. The intial British attack was by 4 infrantry divisions of XXX Corps (2 NZ, 51 Highland, ( Aust., and 3 South African) abreast on a narrow front. But they encountered very thick minefields and well prepared Axis positions. The German 164 Division and Italian Trento Division with support from 15.Panzerdivision and Littorio Division recieved the main attack. The German armor is grouped in two areas due to lack of fuel. German and Italian units have been mixed on the line by Rommel to provide reliable German contingents everywhere. British forces did not achieve their objectives but were not far short. Rommel was in Germany and General Stumme was in command. During a visit to the front, Stumme died of a heart attack. The German reaction to the attack was delayed and inconsistant. XXX Corps secured the 2 corridors through the German minefields on the northern flank while XIII Corps on the southern flank broke through minefield north of Himeimat and established a small bridgehead. By 0700 hours, Freyburg (GOC 2 NZ Division) felt that the armoured breakout was still possible, but only if;


> "....a supreme and immediate effort were made."


He recced the routes and made the plan himself - X Corps' 8th Armoured brigade would open the way. X Corps and its division commanders dithered, then decided that more support was needed for such an attack to be assured of success. The opportunity slipped away.

B-25s supported the British offensive west of El Alamein between the Med Sea and the Qattara Depression. The B-25s hit troop concentrations, tent areas, gun emplacements and vehicles. P-40s, working with the RAF and SAAF, escorted medium and light bombers and hit motor transports and tanks.

A trio of P-40s downed over the battlefield on the opening morning of the offensive were numbers 63, 64 and 65 for Hptm. Gustav Rodel, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 27. Three Boston bombers were brought down by Fw. Alfred Heidel of 4./JG 27, Uffz. Erich Krainik of 8./JG 27 and Ofw. Johannes Scheit of 9./JG 27.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The final detachment of the Western Naval Task Force sails from Hampton Roads, Virginia for North Africa. The covering group of warships sails from Casco Bay, Maine.(Syscom)

Spike Jones and his City Slickers' record of "Der Fuehrer's Face" with vocal by Carl Grayson makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The song is from the Walt Disney animated short "In Nutzi Land.." This is the first of his records to make the charts and it stays there for ten weeks and rises to Number 3. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 24/25 October, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three ports and drop leaflets over three cities. Five each aircraft lay mines off La Pallice (two aircraft lost) and Lorient and three off St. Nazaire. Leaflet drops are made by five aircraft over Paris, four over Lille and two over Lens.(Syscom)

During the night of 24/25 October, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Stavanger without loss.(Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Oct 25, 2007)

*25 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German III.Panzerkorps begins their attack south of the Terek River in the Caucasus.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Battle of El Alamein continues as General Bernard L Montgomery, General Officer Commanding British Eighth Army, decides to make the main effort on the northern flank of XXX Corps; the Australian 9th Division drives north toward the coastal road to Rahman; It makes impressive gains which attract Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's attention when he returns from Germany. By the end of the day the British X Corps has lost about 250 tanks, but the German 15.Panzerdivision has only 40 tanks left. The British 1st Armoured Division, attempting to push west in the Kidney Ridge area, is unable to advance. A series of determined Axis counterattacks with strong tank support is repulsed. In the XIII Corps sector, the 50th Division attempts to improve their positions in the Munassib area with little success.

U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-25's disperse motor transport and other targets in support of ground forces; P-40s on escort attack vehicles and other targets; fighters claim several airplanes destroyed in combat.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAF Bomber Command forms No. 6 (Royal Canadian Air Force) Group, Bomber Command. All squadrons in the Group are manned by Canadian airmen. (Jack McKillop)

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 A-20 Bostons to Le Havre to attack the large merchant ship there but they have to turn back because of lack of cloud cover.


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## syscom3 (Oct 26, 2007)

*26 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Nalchik in the Caucasus falls to the German Heeresgruppe A. Again, the Romanian 2nd Mountain Division plays a central role in these operations, taking 3,000 Soviet prisoners (and helping the Germans to trap an even larger Soviet force) while suffering 820 casualties. The 2nd Mountain Division also fought off a rather understrength Soviet offensive in the Nalchik area in January '43.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Over 30 U.S. Army Middle East Air Force B-17's and B-24's attack shipping off the coast of Libya.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The momentum of the British Eighth Army's drive decreases in the El Alamein battle; XXX Corps takes Kidney Ridge, and General Bernard L Montgomery, commander of the Eighth Army, decides to regroup for a breakout assault. British General Montgomery halts most of his forces to regroup, after making little headway during the second day of his offensive at El Alamein. Most of the action has revolved around Rommel's reactions and German counterattacks, as Rommel moves his forces north.

Allied aircraft continue strong support to ground forces and disperse enemy concentrations preparing for an attack. U.S. Army Middle East Air Force B-25's hit transport, troop concentrations, and tanks while P-40s fly sweeps over the El Daba area and attack motor transport and other targets. German air action increases and considerable aerial combat ensues and USAAF fighters claim four airplanes shot down.

Captain Thomas W. Clark, a P-40 pilot with the 65th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group, USAAF, shoots down two Italian Macchi MC.202 Folgores (Lightnings) and becomes the first USAAF fighter pilot in the European Theater of Operations or North Africa to score a double victory.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 26/27 October, 39 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off French ports: 12 in the Gironde Estuary, six each off Brest and Lorient and St. Nazaire, five off Bayonne, and four off St. Jean de Luz.

During the night of 26/27 October, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Oct 29, 2007)

*27 October 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The 11,330 ton passenger/cargo liner MS '_Abasso_' is sunk while on its way from Cape Town, South Africa, to Liverpool, England, by the German submarine U-575 about 589 nautical miles (1 091 kilometers) north of Lagens Field, Azores Islands. There are only 31 survivors; a total of 168 crew and 83 passengers are lost. Among the passengers are 44 newly trained pilots from a training school in Southern Rhodesia; only one, a Canadian, survives. Survivors are picked up from the freezing Atlantic on 1 November by the sloop HMS '_Bideford_'.

Late in the evening, the 5,620 ton U.S. freighter SS '_West Kehar_' is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-129 about 367 nautical miles (680 kilometers) east-northeast of Bridgetown, Barbados, while en route from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Three merchant seamen are killed; the survivors take to two lifeboats and one raft.

*GERMANY*: During the day, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb the city and airfield on Wangerooge Island.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: East African troops capture Fianarantsoa, the most important town in the south of the island of Madagascar. They continue their advance towards the remaining pockets of Vichy French resistance.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators strike Maleme Airfield, Crete.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Australians withstand a determined Axis attacks against their wedge in the northern sector of XXX Corps and the British Eighth Army front. In view of the strong German reinforcements on his northern flank near the coast, General Bernard L Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, alters the breakout plan; instead of pushing west along coast, he decides to shift the point of advance south in order to attack against Italian troops. US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb landing grounds, motor transports, and tanks; P-40s fly escort, then bomb and strafe road east of El Daba, and attack troop concentration and vehicles.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Franklin D. Roosevelt offers to send an American division from the Territory of Hawaii to the Southwest Pacific Area. Roosevelt claims that the "common cause" would best be served by the retention of the Australian 9th Division in the Mid East.

A 1943 production objective of 107,000 aircraft is given top priority by President Roosevelt in his instructions to Donald M Nelson, Chairman of the War Production Board.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, one each RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attack the Den Helder port area and Langeoog Airfield.



*28 October 1942
MEDITERRANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17's, dispatched to attack a convoy at sea, fail to locate the target but attack cruisers in Pylos Bay.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Robert Murphy, US Consul in Northwest Africa, tells French Major General Charles Mast, Deputy Commander of the French XIX Corps stationed in Algiers, that the invasion will occur in November. Mast insists that he does not have enough time to organize the Allied sympathizers and to arrange for General Henri Giraud to be accepted as commander of French forces in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia after the invasion of North Africa.

After probing British positions in the Kidney Ridge area, Axis forces begin forming for an attack but are forced by Allied aircraft to abandon it. During the night of 28/29 October, the Australian 9th Division of XXX Corps, British Eighth Army, begins a northward attack toward the sea in an effort to eliminate German's coastal salient and secure the coastal road and railroad. A narrow wedge is driven almost to the road despite stubborn opposition from Thompson's Post, a key point in the German's coastal positions.

US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack tanks, motor transports, and landing grounds; P-40's fly medium and light bomber escort, bomb and strafe landing grounds and other targets, and engage aircraft in combat, mostly in the area between El Alamein and El Daba, claiming three Bf 109s destroyed.

*NORTH AMERICA*: After completing Officer Candidate School, former Hollywood actor Clark Gable is commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Procurement of the expendable radio sonobuoy for use in antisubmarine warfare is initiated as the Commander-in- Chief, U.S. Fleet, Admiral Ernest J. King, directs the Bureau of Ships to procure 1,000 sonobuoys and 100 associated receivers.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 28/29 October, three RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off St. Nazaire; one aircraft is lost.

During the night of 28/29 October, two RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Stavanger without loss.



*29 October 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-627 is sunk about 296 nautical miles (549 kilometers) south of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from an RAF Fortress Mk. II, aircraft of No. 206 Squadron based at Benbecula, Outer Hebrides Islands, U.K.: all 44 crewmen are lost.

German submarine U-117 lays some mines off Iceland, but no sinkings result from this field.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces continue to gain ground between the Red October and Barrikady Factories in Stalingrad. Those parts of Stalingrad still held by Soviet forces are strongly held and fortified. The Soviet policy at Stalingrad has been to feed new divisions in slowly, gaining experience. In the Moscow area new divisions are committed as a unit. Faulty intelligence allows the Germans to assume the northern policy is followed in Stalingrad. They therefore overestimate losses and underestimate remaining strength.

*GERMANY*: During the day, two RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the U-boat yards at Flensburg. 

*NORTH AFRICA*: Generalfeldmarschal l Erwin Rommel, Commander of German-Italian Panzer Forces in Africa, mounts an intended major counterattack by the 21.Panzerdivision to push the attacking British forces back into the German minefields. They are held off by a small British force at Kidney Ridge and lose 50 Panzers. This leaves the axis forces with just 81 operational tanks.

U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells, with fighter escorts, bomb Matruh and attack motor transports, tanks, and other ground targets. Axis reinforcements brought up from the south, counterattack Kidney Ridge and are repulsed; the British Eighth Army continues regrouping for an assault.

USAAF First Lieutenant Lyman Middleditch Jr., 64th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group, becomes the first USAAF fighter pilot in the U.K. or North Africa to score a triple victory when he downs three Bf 109s. Middleditch will end the war as an ace with five victories.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) is established at Orlando, Florida, tasked with testing and demonstrating tactical unit organization, equipment and techniques; training of select USAAF, Army and Navy personnel in air tactics and doctrine; and training of air intelligence officers and air inspectors.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to Australian Prime Minister John Curtin commenting on the opening of the "great battle in Egypt" noting that;


> "...you will have observed with pride and pleasure the distinguished part which the 9th Australian Division are playing in what may be an event of the first magnitude."



*WESTERN FRONT*: Two RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

In the North Sea during the night of 27/28 October, five RAF Bomber Command lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.


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## syscom3 (Oct 30, 2007)

*30 October 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-604 torpedoes and sinks the 11,898 ton troopship, SS '_President Doumer_', an ex-French passenger liner now a Ministry of War Transport, about 151 nautical miles (280 kilometers) north of Portugal's Madeira Islands; 260 people aboard are lost. The ship is sailing in Convoy SL-125 from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to the U.K.

Two German submarines are sunk east of Newfoundland by Canadian aircraft:
- U-520 is sunk about 116 nautical miles (214 kilometers) east of Saint John's by four 250-pound (113 kilogram) depth charges from a Douglas B-18 Digby, aircraft of No. 10 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Gander, Newfoundland. The aircraft is returning from a patrol of convoy ON 140 (U.K. to North America). All 53 crewmen are lost.
- U-658 is sunk about 301 nautical miles (557 kilometers) northeast of Saint John's by depth charges from a Hudson Mk. III, aircraft "784" of No. 145 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Torbay, Newfoundland; all 48 crewmen are lost.

*GERMANY*: During the day, one RAF Bomber Command Mosquito bombs Lingen .

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Thirteen US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Maleme Airfield and a B-24 bombs the main jetty in Suda Bay.

German submarine U-559 is sunk about 83 nautical miles (153 kilometers) NNE of Port Said, Egypt, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS '_Pakenham_', '_Petard_', '_Hero_', the escort destroyers HMS '_Dulverton_' and '_Hurworth_', and an RAF Wellesley Mk. I of No. 47 Squadron based at Shandur, Egypt; 38 of the 45 crewmen survive. The U-boat is boarded by three RN men who have swum over to the sinking wreck. They went into the boat and captured several vital secret documents which greatly helped (some say, enabled) breaking the German coded messages. Two of the three man boarding party drowned inside the boat while still handling out files. The two men are Lieutenant Francis Anthony Blair Fasson (b.1913) and Able Seaman Colin Grazier (b.1920), both of HMS '_Petard_', who are posthumously awarded the George Cross.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army renews the assault on the north flank of XXX Corps during the night of 30/31 October. The Australian 9th Division drives north to the sea, then pushes east, trapping a large Axis force. Allied planes provide excellent tactical support, attacking accurately in small area to neutralize Thompson's Post. Most of the pocketed Axis force subsequently succeeds in escaping when tanks from the west break through to assist. US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack landing grounds at Fuka-Bagush and El Daba while P-40s fly escort.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, three RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets with the loss of one aircraft: two bomb Leeuwarden Airfield, 2.2 miles (3,5 kilometers) south of the town, and one bombs the port area at Den Helder.

During the night of 30/31 October, three RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2007)

*31 October 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: After 35,000 persons have been executed in Riga, SS General Eirch Bach-Zelewski wrote: "_Today, there are no more Jews in Estonia_."

The Luftwaffe launches 45 separate attacks on Moscow.

In Leningrad, the air evacuation of 17,614 factory specialists and 8,590 wounded Sovet Army soldiers is completed.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches eight Wellingtons to Emden, seven bomb, and six to Essen, two bomb. Two aircraft are lost over Essen.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators sent to bomb the Maleme dispersal area fail to locate the target because of overcast.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The German 90th Light Division continues to slog it out with the Australians north and east of Tell el Eisa in the Battle of El Alamein. US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit a landing ground and claim one fighter shot down while P-40s flying escort claim three.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The auxiliary aircraft carrier, ex-'_Altamaha_' ( ACV-6, ex-Maritime Commission Hull 160 ) is completed and purchased by the USN and immediately transferred to the British Royal Navy under Lend-Lease. She is renamed HMS '_Battler_' (D 18 ) and is returned to the USN on 5 January 1946. This is the sixth ACV transferred to the Royal Navy.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Waves of German bombers blast the cathedral city of Canterbury in the biggest daylight raid since the Battle of Britain.

USAAF Eighth Air Force: Major General Spaatz, Commanding General Eighth Air Force, informs Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, that operations against submarine pens may prove too costly for results obtained; believing the pens impervious to normal high-altitude bombing, Spaatz plans to operate as low as 4,000 feet (1219 meters) and accept higher casualty rates.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 (A-20) Bostons in low-level cloud-cover raids on power stations. Cover is sparse and four aircraft attack mostly minor targets with three aircraft bombing the power station at Pont a Vendin and one hitting a power station at Mazingarbe.

During the night of 31 October/1 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 22 Wellingtons and Stirlings to mine the waters off Biscay Bay ports; one Wellington is lost. Nine aircraft mine the waters off La Pallice, four off St. Nazaire, three off Lorient and one in the Gironde Estuary.


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## Njaco (Nov 1, 2007)

*1 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: At Stalingrad, in November, after 3 months of carnage and slow and costly advance, the Germans finally reached the river banks, capturing 90% of the ruined city and splitting the remaning Soviet forces into 2 narrow pockets. Close combat between the Soviet garrison of Stalingrad (62d and 64th Armies) and the German 6. and 4. Panzerarmee of Heeresgruppe B continues, but the garrison has proved itself capable of weathering maximum effort of the Germans. In addition, ice floes on the Volga now prevented boats and tugs from supplying the Soviet defenders scross the river. Nevertheless, the fighting - especially on the slopes of Mamayev Kurgan and inside the factory area in the northern part of the city - continued as fiercely as ever. The battles for the Red October steel factory, the Dzerzhinsky tractor factory and the Barrikady gun factory became world famous. While Soviet soldiers defended their positions and took the Germans under fire, factory workers repaired damaged Soviet tanks and other weapons close to the battlefield, sometimes on the battlefield itself.

In their advance toward Ordshonikidse in the Caucasus, units of 3.Panzerkorps (von Mackensen) captured Alagir on the upper Terek river. The Red Army has frustrated every German effort to reach Grozny and is containing attacks toward Tuapse, but German Heeresgruppe A captures Alagir, blocking the Ossetian Highway, which extends from Alagir to Kutais.

Dietrich Hrabak left JG 54 to become Geschwaderkommodore of JG 52 located in the southern sector of the Russian front. Major Hans "Assi" hahn of III./JG 2 took Hrabak's place as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 54. Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Muller was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 53 and readied the unit for a transfer to Tunisia, North Africa.

I*NDIAN OCEAN*: SS '_Mendoza_', an 8,234 ton British Ministry of War Transport which sailed from Mombasa, East Africa, is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-178 about 70 nautical miles ENE of its destination, Durban, South Africa. This ex-Vichy French ship is carrying 153 crew and some 250 passengers when it blew up taking the lives of 28 of her crew and 122 service personnel. (Syscom)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Eight US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators strike the airfield and dispersal areas at Maleme. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s escort RAF bombers and hit ground targets in the battle area around El Alamein. (Syscom)

III./KGzbV 1 reported 27 Ju 52s on strength. Following the British Eighth Army counterattack at El Alamein, the Gruppe departed Tobruk and moved back to Maleme, Crete.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Six RAF Bomber Command (A-20) Bostons bomb Ft. Rouge Airfield at St. Omer; three others bomb the docks at Calais as an alternative target. One Boston is lost.


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## syscom3 (Nov 2, 2007)

*2 November 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Pre-war, the 10,909 ton Dutch cargo-passer liner MV '_Zaandam_' had sailed from Java, Netherlands East Indies, to New York; the vessel escaped from the Southwest Pacific in March 1942. Today, she is sailing from Capetown, South Africa, to New York when she is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-174 about 334 nautical miles (618 kilometers) NNE of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. Her cargo includes 8,600 tons (7 802 metric tonnes) of chrome and copper ore. Also on board are 299 persons including 112 crew members and 18 U.S. Naval Armed Guards plus 169 passengers, most of them survivors from five Allied ships previously sunk off Capetown. Ten minutes after the first torpedo hit, another slams into the port side sinking the '_Zaandam_' in less than two minutes. A total of 134 men lose their lives, leaving 165 survivors. A U.S. tanker picks up 106 survivors from two lifeboats on 7 November. A third lifeboat, containing around 60 persons, makes landfall near the town of Barreirinhas, Brazil, some days later. Two men from this lifeboat died.

German submarine U-518 attacks targets off Bell Island in Conception Bay, Newfoundland. The sub's first torpedo is fired at a coal boat tied up at the Scotia Pier. It misses its original target, but strikes the pier causing heavy damage. The sub then fires three torpedoes at the 7,803 ton Canadian freighter SS '_Rose Castle_' which is fully loaded with iron ore and waiting for a convoy; the ship sinks with the loss of 28-crewmen. The next target is the 5,633 ton Free French freighter P.L.M. 27 which is struck by one torpedo and sinks with the loss of 12 crewmen.

*EASTERN FRONT*: One of the most carefully organized and intensive Jewish roundups takes place in the Bialystok region when 110,000 Jews, who had been strictly confined to their villages, are now seized and eventually transported to Treblinka and Auschwitz concentration camps.

In the Caucasus, the German 13.Panzerdivision of 3.Panzerkorps approaches the outskirts of Ordshonikidse, the southeastern- most point ever reached by the Wehrmacht on the entire Eastern front.

Bitter street fighting continued in Stalingrad with neither side making much progress.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army's XXX Corps opens a breakout assault, called Operation SUPERCHARGE, at 0100 hours. During the opening moves for Operation Surcharge, the movement by Montgomery's forces drew the last of the German armour into a counterattack, which was then countered by attacks by 1st Armoured Division. The New Zealand 2nd Division, in the lead, advances west under cover of an artillery barrage and secures a new corridor through the Axis mine fields. The 9th Armoured Brigade passes through the corridor in the mine field and establishes a bridgehead across the track extending south from Rahrnan. At daybreak, the armoured brigade meets furious opposition from an Axis antitank screen and sustains over 75% casualties, but maintains the bridgehead. X Corps armor begins debouching through the bridgehead, and the 1st Armoured Division becomes strongly engaged near Tel el Aqqaqir. By evening Rommel was down to 35 tanks and signalled Hitler that he could no longer prevent a breakthrough. Rommel decided to begin his retreat from El Alamein. More than 200 British tanks were put out of action. But at the end of the day, the Allies still had over 600 servicable tanks against the barely 30 available for the Germans. With fuel for even these tanks desperately short, Rommel ordered a retreat, leaving the way open for the British Eighth Army.

At 06.30 hours, on a coastal road between El Alamein and Mersa Matruh, a RAF No. 260 sqdn Kittyhawk II collided with a Bf 109G-2/trop, cutting the fuselage in half. The Kittyhawk lost a left wing and the pilot was badly hurt in the thigh from the antenna while bailing out. Fw. Horst Schlick of 1./JG 77 in the Bf 109, survived after a parachute landing. The Kittyhawk was claimed as his 9th victory. Another pilot from JG 77, Uffz. Heinrich Stockmann of 9./JG 77, was captured and made a prisoner after combat with a Spitfire near El Alamein.

U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-25's bomb a track extending south from Rahman as the British 9 Armoured Brigade establishes bridgeheads across the track; other B-25 Mitchells attack tanks and other targets in support of the assault; P-40s fly escort and strafing missions in the battle area.

U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-17's bomb shipping and jetties in Tobruk harbor.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Brigadier General Robert C Candee, Commanding General USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command, states that the effort expended and personnel lost in organizing the Twelfth Air Force and preparing for its move from the U.K. to North Africa has severely retarded organization of his headquarters and staff.


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## syscom3 (Nov 3, 2007)

*3 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Premier Joseph Stalin describes U.S. military aid as of little effect.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches three Stirlings to Lingen to bomb a factory.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The 1st Armoured Division of X Corps, British Eighth Army, is unable to penetrate the Axis' antitank screen. Since the Axis is obviously withdrawing, General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, orders an attack to outflank the screen. During the night of 3/4 November, the 51st Infantry Division and a brigade of the Indian 4th Division drive quickly to the Rahman track south of Tel ci Aqqaqir, breaking through the screen in the southern sector and forcing the Axis to turn it. Allied aircraft fly over 400 sorties against enemy retreating along coastal road. Rejecting out of hand Field Marshal Rommel's proposal to withdraw the Afrika korps, now down to about 40 tanks, to the Fuka line, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler orders him to stand and fight.

Five US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the port area at Tobruk.

US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25's bomb tanks, motor transport, landing ground, ammunition dumps, mainly in the Rahman Track area and on the road between Fuka and El Daba, and also hit town of Fuka and Ghazal station; P-40s fly several escort and fighter-bomber missions, attacking ground targets in support of the British Eighth Army. Allied aircraft fly 400+ sorties against Axis troops retreating along the coastal road.

Because of the Allied advances at El Alamein, I./JG 27 was rushed back from Sicily, but even this most experienced of the desert Jagdgruppen could do nothing to influence events on the ground. It had claimed its final 13 victories over Egypt this day, 2 of which were credited to Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Gerhard Homuth, raising his total to 61.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 3/4 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 29 Wellingtons to mine Biscay ports; one aircraft is lost. Nine aircraft lay mines off La Pallice and five each off Brest, Lorient and St. Nazaire.

The Lockheed (PV-1) Ventura Mk. I flies its first mission with RAF Bomber Command. Three aircraft are unable to find their primary target, a factory at Hengelo, and bomb railways instead. No aircraft lost on this day.


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## Njaco (Nov 4, 2007)

*4 November 1942*

*INDIAN OCEAN*: On Madagascar, the Vichy French Governor General again seeks peace terms from the British and accepts those rejected on 17 September. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: II./JG 51 was ordered from the middle sector of the Eastern Front to Sicily. 3./JG 1 was ordered to Sicily and later to Africa.

USN submarines USS '_Shad_', '_Gunnel_', '_Herring_', '_Barb_', and '_Blackfish_' are deployed to reconnoiter French North African waters off Rabat, Fedala, Casablanca and Safi, French Morocco, and Dakar, French West Africa, in advance of Operation TORCH (the invasion of Northwest Africa). (Syscom)

Following up on shipping concentrations at Gibraltar, there are ten German and 21 Italian submarines on patrol in the western Mediterranean. They will have some success during the next two weeks. Italian torpedo boat '_Centauro_' is sunk off Benghazi, Libya, by British bombers. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: 4 November was the day British and Commonwealth forces broke through the Axis front at El Alamein. Rommel's great retreat had begun. British X Corps reached open ground. The fighting caused heavy loses of the Axis Ariete, 90th Light and HQ units before they broke off the action and retreated. The Axis forces retreated toward Fuka.The Afrika Korps was forced from the Fuka Line in the face of massive attacks by the British Eighth Army. Despite Eighth Army commander General Bernard Montgomery's orders, the British fail to advance. The Italian 20th Motorized Corps was destroyed. Rommel re-issued his orders for retreat with only 12 tanks left. 10,724 Axis prisoners were taken by the British, including 9 generals. German General Von Thoma, acting commander of Panzerkorps Africa, is captured. As Panzerarmee Afrika was being ground into dust and bones, General von Thoma rode a tank of his headquarters unit directly into the fire of the British lines and after having it shot out from under him, he climbed out of the burning hilk and waited for capture. He dined with Montgomery that same night. British Commonwealth Forces lose 13,500 troops, but win in a decisive victory over the Axis Forces.

B-25s and P-40s attacked motor transports and troops retreating west from the El Alamein battleline with the British in pursuit. Further to the west of the battle, one of a pair of B-24s claimed by III./JG 27 provided the now Oberleutnant Werner Schroer with his 60th score. 9 B-24s bombed Benghazi harbour, hitting 3 ships and claiming one German fighter shot down. 12 Kittyhawks from RAF No. 260 Sqdn, while escorting bombers, met 4 Bf 109s, one of which F/O Gilboe collided with. Both fighters crashed.

Lieutenant General Frank M Andrews replaces Brigadier General Russell L Maxwell as Commanding General USAFIME. (Syscom)

Twenty five US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24's bomb Bengasi harbor, hitting three ships and claiming one Axis fighter shot down. (Syscom)

French Admiral Jean Darlan, Head of the French Armed Forces and High Commissioner in North Africa, is told that his son has been hospitalized with polio in Algiers. The situation is so serious that a coffin has been ordered and the admiral rushes from Vichy France to Algiers to be with him. (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill takes the chair of the Cabinet Anti-U-Boat Warfare Committee. Including the service chiefs, some government ministers and scientists in radar and operational research, this type of committee is unmatched by the Axis powers. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Ju-88A-14 belonging to I./KG 60 on a transfer flight made an emergency landing at 11.40 hours just west of Hjorring due to engine failure. It touched down in a field and skidded along until it ended up in a garden next to the Hjorring Electricity Works. On the way it destroyed several trees, some fences and a field of green cabbage. It carried a 5 man crew and four of these were unharmed while one suffered from a broken leg according to Danish police.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2007)

*5 November 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-408 is sunk about 121 nautical miles (223 kilometers) north of Akureyri, Iceland. The sub is caught on the surface by a USN PBY-5A Catalina of Patrol Squadron VP-84 based at Fleet Air Base Reykjavik, Iceland; the aircraft dropped four depth charges which land aft of the conning tower while the sub is submerging. All 45 hands were lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German attacks begin to lose steam south of Terek in the Causasus, but nevertheless continue already nearing Ordzhonikidze.

The scoring career of the greatest of all fighter pilots began well but ended badly. Shortly after noon, 10 Russian LaGG-3 fighters and 18 IL-2 fighter-bombers were spotted flying over Digora. A schwarm from 7./ JG 52 was sent to intercept with Erich Hartmann flying as wingman to Fw. Eduard "Paulie" Rossmann. Hartmann's first shots on a IL-2 of Soviet GAP 7 did little damage so he broke away and returned from underneath the Russian plane. As he fired on the Sturmovik, the Russian exploded. Hartmann was slow in breaking away and debris damaged Hartmann's Bf 109. He was forced to make a belly-landing in a field where Werhmacht personnel picked him up. Hartmann recounted the adventure;


> "That was a day I will never forget, 5 November 1942, a Sturmovik IL-2, which ws the toughest aircraft to bring down because of the heavy armour plate. You had to shoot out the oil cooler underneath, otherwise it would not go down. That was also the day of my second forced landing since I had flown into the debris of my kill. I learned two things that day: get in close and shoot and break away immediately after scoring the kill..."


His luck was to hold unlike that of other young pilots assigned to 7./JG 52 at the same time as Hartmann.

5./SchG 1 at Jessau in East Prussia, departed for North Africa.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: Troops of the British East African Command complete their occupation of the French colony island of Madagascar. Fearing that Vichy might hand over the island to the Japanese in case Ceylon fell, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered Operation IRONCLAD to proceed on 5 May when the naval base at Diego Suarez was secured. Hostilities against French Vichy forces on the island ceased at 1400 hours.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Lieutenant General Dwight Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief Allied Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrives at Gibraltar in a B-17 piloted by Major Paul Tibbets who piloted the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb. His headquarters includes Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Naval Commander-in- Chief, AEF; Major General James H. Doolittle, Commanding General USAAF Twelfth Air Force; Air Marshal Sir William Welsh, Air Officer Commanding British Eastern Air Command; and Lieutenant General Sir Kenneth General Officer Commanding, British First Army, the main ground formation.

British submarine HMS '_Seraph_', under the temporary command of U.S. Navy Captain Jerauld Wright, embarks General Henri Giraud and a party of French officers in the Gulf of Lyons. The general will transfer to a (PBY) Catalina on the 7 November for further transportation to Gibraltar.

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Bernard L Montgomery, General Officer Commanding British Eighth Army, announces that the British have won a complete and absolute victory in Egypt and General Erwin Rommel's armies are in full retreat. The Eighth Army regroups and continues pursuit of the Axis forces. X Corps, now consisting of the 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions and the New Zealand 2d Division, pushes rapidly west, overcoming rear guard resistance near Fuka. XXX Corps takes up positions between El Alamein and Matruh while XIII Corps is given the task of mopping up battle zone. While the Italian Infantry takes heavy losses, the main British pursuit is held up by a shortage of fuel and a minefield. The minefield is a dummy field laid out previously by the British themselves.

US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s bomb targets on the Fuka road and patrol the Sidi Hanaish area while B-25 Mitchells also bomb motor transport.


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## Njaco (Nov 6, 2007)

*6 November 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-68 Commander Karl-Friedrich Merten torpedoes and sinks the 8.034 ton British passenger ship SS '_City of Cairo_' about 453 nautical miles (840 kilometers) south of the British island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean or 1,401 nautical miles (2 595 kilometers) west-northwest of Cape Town, South Africa. About 100 of the 300 passengers and crew survive. Merten believed the ship was a cargo vessel and after the sinking, the U-boat commander helps rescue survivors still in the water and has them placed in the lifeboats. He then departs the scene with an apology for the sinking but not before he provides the survivors with precise details of how to reach St. Helena. However, one lifeboat drifts for 51 days before reaching the coast of Brazil; only two of its original 18 occupants survive. Some years later the British survivors hold a reunion in London and Merten is invited to attend having previously published his own account of the sinking. At the reunion, one of the survivors is heard to remark; "


> We couldn't have been sunk by a nicer man.


" Merten died of cancer in May, 1993. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Halted before Ordshonikidse in the Caucasus, 13.Panzerdivision was fighting to prevent being cut off by superior Soviet forces attacking its flanks and rear.

In a speech to the Congress of Soviet Deputies, Premier Joseph Stalin warns the U.K. and U.S. that the absence of a second front against Fascist Germany may end badly for all freedom-loving countries, including the Allies themselves. He declares that the aim of the coalition is to save mankind from reversion to savagery and mediaeval brutality. (Syscom)

Fighting continues in Stalingrad area but on a diminishing scale. (Syscom)

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 14 Wellingtons and five Lancasters on cloud-cover raids: four each bomb Osnabruck and Wilhelmshaven and one each hits Emden and Norden.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: During the night of 6/7 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 72 Lancasters to bomb Genoa; 67 bomb the target with the loss of two Lancasters. The attack is concentrated but most bombs fall in residential areas. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: B-24s hit the harbours of Tobruk and Benghazi, scoring hits on 2 vessels. Heavy rains delayed the British pursuit of the retreating Germans in the Matruh area although further progress was made by the British Eighth Army with 20,000 further Axis prisoners being claimed. The confusion around El Alamein continued to delay fuel supplies to the British front-line units. What was left of German 21.Panzerdivision was out of fuel and thus stranded. It was caught by the British 7th Armoured Division and destroyed. The Eighth Army's X Corps, continues close pursuit of the Axis forces, advance elements approaching Matruh bottleneck as heavy rains begin.

Lt. Col. McGoldrick of the newly arrived 79th FG leads six P-40Fs against German convoys near Charing Cross, Eygpt. McGoldrick's second pass ended in disaster as he met intense ground fire, he kept control of the aircraft for a forced landing only to hit a land mine which exploded and took his life. Lead of 79th FG passed to Lt. Col. Earl E. Bates. (Plan D)

57th FG flew 34 sorties against German transport this day. (Plan D)

Twenty six US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the harbors of Tobruk and Bengasi scoring hits on two vessels. (Syscom)

*NORTH AMERICA*: First USN officer and enlisted women from training schools report for shore duty around the country. (Syscom)

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Finland expels eight Jewish refugees to Tallinn, Estonia, where they are handed over to Gestapo. Ultimately they all end in concentration camps, and only one survives the war. To this day it is not known why these particular Jews are chosen, and whether the Chief of the State Police acted on his own initiative or did the Minister of Interior sanction the act (these men naturally had all the reasons to obfuscate their part after the war). The Jews are officially suspected of crimes, but apparently on very weak grounds. However, this act causes an uproar in Finland, and the government steps in to prevent any further expulsions. It is thought that Finland's reputation as a civilized country is at stake. These unfortunate eight are the only Jews Finland handed to the Germans. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, ten RAF Bomber Command (PV-1) Venturas in fours and twos carry out low-level raids including hitting a steel mill at Ijmuiden and the port area at Rotterdam; three aircraft are lost. 21 Sqdn. RAF dispatches four Venturas in an attack against shipping at Maasluis. The weather was misty and they made landfall in the wrong area. The leader, Wg. Cdr. Werfield, chose to bomb a ship in Rotterdam while another bombed barges in Maasluis, one abandoned the mission and Ventura YH-X disappeared. (Plan D)

During the day, 12 (A-20) Bostons bomb Carpiquet Airfield, 3.5 miles (5,6 kilometers) west of Caen. During the night of 6/7 November, RAF Bomber Command sends bombers to mine areas off three seaports: 11 mine the Gironde Estuary, ten lay mines off La Pallice and five lay mines off Lorient. Two Stirlings are lost.

During the night of 6/7 November, ten RAF Bomber Command lay mines in the Frisian Islands. One Stirling is lost. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Nov 7, 2007)

*7 November 1942*

*GERMANY*: During the day, one each RAF Bomber Command medium bombers attack Duisburg and Gelden.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: The 5,642 ton U.S. freighter SS '_La Salle_' is torpedoed and sunk with all hands (including 13 Armed Guard) by German submarine U-159 about 394 nautical miles (730 kilometers) SSE of the Cape Town, South Africa. When the merchantman, which is carrying ammunition, explodes, the cataclysmic blast rains debris on her U-boat's decks nearby, wounding three German submariners.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: French General Henri-Honer Giraud arrives at Gibraltar for a conference with Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, having traveled from France by submarine and airplane. Giraud assumes he will be placed in command of all Allied forces and that in addition to the invasion of Algeria and Morocco, the Allied forces will land in southern France. Eisenhower tells Giraud that he has been chosen by the Allies to minimize French resistance to the Allied invasion of Northwest Africa and he is offended and angry. After hours of discussions, Giraud demands to be taken back to France and is made painfully aware that he is not going anywhere.

During the night of 7/8 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 175 aircraft, 85 Lancasters, 45 Halifaxes, 39 Stirlings and six Wellingtons, to bomb Genoa; 147 aircraft hit the city with the loss of six aircraft, four Halifaxes, a Lancaster and a Wellington. Returning crews claim a very successful and concentrated raid and this is confirmed by photographs. One aircraft bombs Turin as a target of opportunity.

The Operation TORCH invasion armada from U.S. and U.K. closes in along the northern African coast. The U.S. transport USS '_Thomas Stone_' is torpedoed about 150 miles from Algiers and disabled; troops aboard are transferred to landing boats but do not reach Algiers until after its surrender.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army's pursuit of Axis forces is delayed in the Matruh area as heavy rainfall immobilizes supporting vehicles. The Axis forces seize the opportunity to withdraw some forces. Allied troops entered Mersa Matruh, which had been deserted by the Germans. By this time, four German and eight Italian divisions are ineffective as fighting units. The British have taken 30,000 prisoners, among them nine generals.

Two Ju 52s from 10. and 12./KGzbV 1 were shot down by RAF Kittyhawks between Sollum and Sidi Barrani. Both were totally destroyed with 1 crewman killed and 2 crew wounded. In a seperate incident, a He 111H-6 supposedly belonging to the Gruppe ditched in Suda Bay, Crete and another He 111H-6 was severely damaged in a crash landing at Tobruk. The Gruppe was not shown in official documents as having any Heinkels so these may have been "borrowed" from another unit. (Njaco)

II./JG 77 was moved from Russia / HG Sud(Stary Oskol) to North Africa. (Njaco)

Italian submarine 'R. Smg Antonio Sciesa' is sunk by USAAF aircraft off Tobruk.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The Swedish Foreign Minister declares in the Riksdag (Parliament) that Sweden is determined to maintain her neutrality, meeting force with force if necessary, and that a free Finland and a free Norway are indispensable for the survival of Sweden as a free State. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The air movement of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force from the U.K. to North Africa begins. Other elements of the Twelfth Air Force moving from the U.K. and U.S. are aboard Allied ships approaching the Algerian and Moroccan coasts.

RCAF Squadrons 427, 428, 429 are formed with the Wellington III in the UK. (pbfoot)

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF 2 Group dispatches Ventura pairs against Ghent and Terneuzen. The aircraft were to approach to the enemy coast at low-level and attack a low or medium altitudes. Flt. Sgt. Hoggarty attacked Flushing airfield, Sqn. Ldr. Ray Chance attacked a 'large' ship in the Scheldt Estuary scoring a near miss and Ventura # AE734 YH-P (W. Off. V. R. Henry) failed to return. (Plan D)

107 Sqdn. of RAF 2 Group dispatches nine Boston IIIs against several targets in Europe St.Omer/ Longuenesse Airfield, Courtrai Marshalling Yards, Werlchuseck coke ovens and Swimmelden power station. (Plan D)

During the day, two RAF Bomber Command medium bombers attack the marshalling yard at Courtrai with the loss of one aircraft.

During the night of 7/8 November, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines in the Little Belt, the 30-mile (48 kilometer) strait between Fyn Island and the Danish mainland, without loss.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 16: 23 B-17's and 11 B-24's attack the U- boat pens at Brest; they claim 4-3-7 Luftwaffe aircraft. Seven B-24 Liberators fly a diversion. 68 B-17s and B-24s of the USAAF 91st BG made their first raid into German Occupied Europe with a raid on the U-Boat pens at Brest. Only 8 of the B-17s dropped their loads and all the bombers returned to bases in England without loss. 7 B-24s flew a diversion raid. One B-17 was damaged beyond repair and 12 damaged. Oblt. Bruno Stolle from 8./JG 2 claimed a B-24 at 17.02 hours. (Njaco)

Major General Spaatz, Commanding General, 8th AF, informed Lieutenant General Henry "Hap" Arnold, that operations against submarine pens may prove too costly for the results obtained. Believing the pens impervious to normal high-altitude bombing, Spaatz planned to operate as low as 4,000 feet and accept higher casualty rates.

During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos carry out a successful low-level attack on the 5,000 ton German ship SS 'Elsa Essberger' in the mouth of the River Gironde. The merchant ship is escorted by an armed naval vessel. The Mosquitos claim to have hit both ships but one Mosquito is shot down.

During the night of 7/8 November, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three ports without loss: six aircraft lay mines off Brest, five off St. Nazaire and two off Lorient.


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## Njaco (Nov 7, 2007)

*8 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces began an attack on the Terek front in the Caucasus. This threatened to cut off some units in the German III Panzer Corps.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Operation TORCH - The Allies launched Operation Torch with amphibian landings at Algiers, Oran and French Morocco. At Casablanca, US troops landed at three points along a 200 mile stretch of Atlantic coastline. Within the Mediterranean, the landings to the west and east of Oran were followed by an attempt to smash through the harbour boom and land troops directly from ex-US Coast Guard cutters. US troops fought their way into Oran. A similar opening attack was mounted at Algiers by the old destroyers "_Broke_" and "_Malcolm_". The latter was badly damaged but "_Broke_" eventually broke through the boom to land her troops. Algiers was soon in Allied hands. Four carriers provided air cover over the invasion area while reinforcements swelled the lodgements. The spearheads quickly thrust inland despite resistance by a handful of forts and coastal defense batteries. At 11.00 hours, RAF Hurricanes from Gibraltar flew into Maison Blanche airfield after its capture by the Americans. The Algiers landings made good progress capturing the town of Algiers and French Admiral Darlan, Commander-in-Chief Vichy French forces. The Oran landings were not so successful but by nightfall the landing was well established and the Tafaraiu airfield was in Allied hands and operational following a military combat parachute jump by the US 509th Parachute Infantry Brigade. The French battleship, "_Jean Bart_", armed and anchored, fought a gunnery duel with the USS "_Massachusetts_". "_Jean Bart_" had some near misses but no hits. The American battleship hit her 5 times in return and damaged her, followed by an attack by American dive-bombers. The landings at Safi went well while those at Port Lyautey were resisted.

The ground echelon of the USAAF 31st FG landed at the Arzeu beach in Algeria and the pilots flew their aircraft to Tafaraiu airfield to join the 52nd. One 309th FS Spitfire was shot down in the landing pattern by Vichy French fighters and its pilot killed. The survivours of the squadron shot down three of the four DeWoitine D.520 fighters.

The Germans were forced to send fighter units from Western Europe to defend this new front. The first of these transfers were the two Bf 109 equipped Staffeln of 11(Hoehen)./JG 2 and 11(Hoehen)./JG 26 and the FW 190 equipped II./JG 2, ordered to new bases in Tunisia. On the flight from Sicily, 3 of the 4 Ju 52 transports carrying the ground crew of 11(Hoehen)./JG 26 were shot down. Led by Hptm. Helmut-Felix Bolze, the Focke-Wulfs of II./JG 2 flew to Beaumont-Le-Roger airfield in preparation of the transfer to North Africa.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 53 USAAF B-17s attacked Abbeville and Lille. 11 of 15 B-17s bombed the Abbeville/drucat airfield and 31 of 38 B-17s bombed the Atclier d'Hellemmes locomotive works at Lille. Although attacked by Fw 190s from JG 2 and JG 26 (who claimed 2 B-17s) only one bomber was actually shot down. 5 bombers from the 369th BS were badly damaged in the heavy attacks by 30 Luftwaffe fighters but returned to England. 9 of the escorting Spitfires were claimed by defending German fighters. Given credit for kills were Oblt. Siegfried Schnell and Lt. Gunther Behrendt of 9./JG 2 and Lt. Heinz Hoppe and Uffz. Gerhard Vogt from 6./JG 26. 2 bombers were claimed by Lt. Gerhard Seifert of 9./JG 26 and the JG 26 Geschwaderkommodore, Major Gerhard Schopfel for his 43rd kill.


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## Njaco (Nov 8, 2007)

*9 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: In air combat with numerically superior Russian fighters over Welish, Ofw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of 10./JG 51 downed 3 Russian fighters (victories 115 to 117), but his Bf 109F-2 "Weiss 12" recieved a hit in the radiator and he went down over Russian-held territory. After an emergency landing he was captured and made a POW. A few days later, the Russian fighter units in the area suddenly started using the very same tactics as Beerenbrock had used with such success. Beerenbrock's old friends in JG 51 were certain that Beerenbrock, who had a Russian mother, had gone over to the Russian side. The truth may never be known. But it is a fact that while in Russian captivity, Beerenbrock was one of the founders - together with General von Seydlitz and others - of a well-known pro-Soviet German prisoner's organization "Bund Deutscher Offiziere" or BDO.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 213 aircraft, 74 Wellingtons, 72 Lancasters, 48 Halifaxes and 19 Stirlings, to bomb Hamburg; 155 aircraft hit the target. Fifteen aircraft, five Lancasters, four Stirlings, four Wellingtons and two Halifaxes, are lost, 7.0 per cent of the force. The bombers encounter cloud and icing and winds which had not been forecast. No clear identification or marking of Hamburg is made. Hamburg reports thick cloud and heavy rain and says that many bombs fall in the Elbe River or in open country. There are 26 fires in Hamburg of which three are large ones. Casualties are three people killed and 16 injured. Four other aircraft bomb Bremen and one each attack Husum and Sylt Island. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN *: In the Tyrrhenian Sea, the British submarine HMS/M '_Saracen_' sinks the Italian submarine '_R.Smg Granito'_ about 63 nautical miles (117 kilometers) west-northwest of Palermo, Sicily. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: US troops advanced on both sides of Oran, taking 20,000 French prisoners after stiff resistance. A flanking attack on Oran continues to meet resistance as it reaches the outskirts of the city, but La Senia Airport, located 4.6 miles (7,4 kilometers) south of Oran, is captured and French resistance at St Cloud is bypassed and contained. French General Henri Honer Giraud arrives in Algiers. Since Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner in Vichy French North Africa, is in Algiers, U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, is pressing him to declare for the Allies. Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, Head of the Vichy French Government, is secretly giving Darlan some encouragement to negotiate. General K. A. N. Anderson takes command of the British First Army at Algiers and prepares to move light forces as rapidly as possible to Tunis and Bizerte, Tunisia, in order to forestall the German seizure of these important objectives. The Western Task Force establishes headquarters at Fedala, where Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, USN, transfers to Major General George S. Patton, Jr., USA, command of troops ashore. The beachheads were secured at Casabalanca. Heavy fighting continued at Port Lyautey. The 3d Infantry Division delays their advance on Casablanca to await unloading of heavy equipment and artillery. Regimental Combat Team 47, 9th Infantry Division, organizes the Safi beachhead. (Syscom)

On news of the 'Torch' landings, the first German troops were flown across from Sicily to Tunisia on the 9th and within two days started a large buildup. After Montgomery's Eighth Army chased Rommel's Afrika Korps across the Lybian desert into Tunisia, the Axis was in a better position than the newly arrived Allied forces. Troops and supplies were being rushed into Tunis and Bizerte from Sicily and Sardinia. Feldmarschall Kesselring was able to bring 3 German divisions; the 10.Panzerdivision, the Herman Goring and the 334th Infantry and 2 Italian divisions into Tunisia as reinforcements. By the end of the month, a total of 1,867 troops and officers, 12,549 tons of supplies and 1,256 tanks, armoured cars and vehicles were amassed due to airlifts.

Vichy French Admiral Platon arrives in Tunis with orders for the Resident General, Admiral Esteva and the Port Director of Bizerte, Admiral Derrien, to permit German troop landings. The Germans invade Tunisia without opposition from the French, initial elements landing on El Aouina airport in Tunis. (Syscom)

In Algeria, Spitfires of the 31st FG attacked and halted an armoured column moving north toward Tafaraoui and also attacked artillery and flak batteries southeast of Tafaraoui and along the coastal road. major Joachim Muncheburg, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77, downed a Spitfire for his 117th victory. Major General James H Doolittle, Commanding General USAAF Twelfth Air Force, arrives in Algeria from Gibraltar by B-17 Flying Fortress, escorted by 12 Spitfires of the 52d Fighter Group. (Syscom)

The USN transport '_Leedstown_' (AP-73), bombed and torpedoed by German planes yesterday, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-173 about 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) off Algiers. (Syscom) The British corvette HMS '_Gardenia_' is sunk off Oran, Algeria, in a collision with the minesweeping trawler HMS '_Fluellen_'. (Syscom)

The British Eighth Army resumes the pursuit of Axis forces as the weather improves. The New Zealand 2d Division reduces opposition at Sidi Barrani and continues west.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The first German agent, Werner Alfred von Janowski, a trained German saboteur, comes ashore from German submarine U-518 off the Gaspo town of New Carlisle, Quebec. (New Carlisle is located on the north coast of Chaleur Bay between the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick.) His strong accent and out-of-place possessions lead to his capture within twelve hours. Once the counter-spy section of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) takes him into custody, they decide to "turn" him and so produce their first double agent, code-named "Watchdog." (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Bomber Command authorizes planning for the bombing of the Philips radio and valve works at Eindhoven named Operation Oyster. The works were the largest in Europe and provided over one-third of German valves and certain radio equipment. 2 Group were ordered to begin the planning for the precision daylight raid. (Plan D)

Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General USAAF Eighth Air Force, in a memo to Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, agrees that any increase in air commitments to Northwest Africa must necessarily be made at the expense of U.S. forces in the U.K. as U.S. forces in other theaters are considered irreducible. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: 31 of 33 B-17s and 12 of 14 B-24s attacked the U-Boat base at Saint Nazaire, France from a reduced altitude. New orders requiring the bombers to fly at a lower level - 7,000 to 8,000 feet - allowed the defending AA guns to score hits on the oncoming formations. Ony one of the 12 Liberators bombing from 17,500 to 18,300 feet suffered AA damage, but the 31 B-17s at the lower altitude lost 3 of the bombers and had 22 damaged by AA fire. This ended the experiment with low-level attacks of heavy bombers against submarine bases.

More transfers were ordered for I./JG 2, led by Hptm. Erich Leie, and 10(Jabo)./JG 2 and 10(Jabo)./JG 26. The formations flew to Marsellies to support the German occupation of Vichy France and to guard against an Allied invasion on southern France. The aerial defense of the Channel coast was now left to I./JG 26, II./JG 26, III./JG 26 and III./JG 2.

In Vichy France, Prime Minister Pierre Laval agrees to allow the German use of airfields in Tunisia. (Syscom)

Allen Dulles arrives in Bern on the last train from Vichy France, only hours before the Germans occupy southern France and cut the rail link. Ostensibly taking up a post as assistant to the American minister in Bern, Dulles's real job is to organize the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Mission in Switzerland. He soon begins setting up a professional intelligence outpost on Germany's southern border. (Syscom)

During the day, 12 RAF Bomber Command (A-20) Bostons bomb Le Havre and score a hit on the large German merchant ship which has been the objective of recent raids. The ship is put out of action for several months. No Bostons are lost. (Syscom)

During the night of 9/10 November, 15 RAF Bomber Command Stirlings drop leaflets over France without loss. (Syscom)


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## Njaco (Nov 9, 2007)

*10 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Units of XLVIII Panzer Corps were sent north from around Stalingrad to reinforce reserves in the area of the 3rd Rumanian Army. This action came in response to reports of a Soviet build-up in the area.

*GERMANY*: German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Pierre Laval, Chief of Government in the French State, and Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano meet in Munich to discuss the situation in Africa. Hitler decides to hold on. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN *: French submarine '_Le Tonnant'_ unsuccessfully attacks USN aircraft carrier USS '_Ranger_' and submarines '_Meduse_' and '_Antiope_' conduct similarly fruitless attacks against battleship USS '_Massachusetts_' and heavy cruiser USS '_Tuscaloosa_'. (Syscom)

Six US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the port area at Candia, Crete. (Syscom)

British destroyer HMS '_Martin_' is struck by three torpedoes fired by German submarine U-431 and sinks about 88 nautical miles NNE of Algiers, Algeria. Only 63 of the 224 crewmen on the destroyer survive. (Syscom)

Italian submarine R.Smg '_Emo_' is scuttled after an attack by antisubmarine trawler HMS '_Lord Nuffield_' (FY 221). (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Americans captured Oran after heavy fighting. Heavy fighting was also reported at Port Lyautey in Morocco. Further landings were made to the east of Algiers along the coast, where there was little air cover. Attacks by German aircraft on these and other Algierian targets, sank or damaged a number of ships. The sloop "_Ibis_" was hit by an aerial torpedo and went down off Algiers. At this point Allied forces in Tunisia were outnumbered. Due to prolonged negotiations with the Vichy French, they were unable to cross the Tunisian border quick enough. Almost two thirds of the over 107,000 Allied force was still in French Morocco. Vichy French airfields remained open to Axis forces because its government was in disarray. It was being pressured by both the Allies and the Germans to come to terms. In some instances both Allied resistance and Axis resistance and at other times there was neutraility towards both. The neutraility and resistance helped the Axis more than it helped the Allies. French Admiral Francois Darlan, commander of the Vichy French military, acting on the advice of General Alphonse Pierre Juin, Commander-in- Chief French Morocco, orders a general cease fire of Vichy troops throughout French North Africa. U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, on receiving news of Darlan’s cease fire order, announces that;


> "all civil and military authorities will be maintained in their present functions."


French General Henri Honeré Giraud arrives at Dar Mahidine and is received by Darlan who offers to turn command over to him. Giraud agrees to accept Darlan’s leadership with the proviso that Giraud be named commander of the troops. Darlan orders Lieutenant General Georges Barré, commander of French forces in Tunisia, to group his forces in the vicinity of Medjez el Bab, Tunisia, and prepare to engage the Germans. Troops of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division and of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, converge on Oran; Regimental Combat Team 16 has leading elements within the city by 0830 hours; Combat Command B columns enter Oran from the before French surrender at 1230 hours. French resistance in the Port Lyautey area ends. U.S. forces from Fedala close in on Casablanca and prepare for concerted assault at dawn tomorrow. Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, breaks off their drive toward Marrakech from the Safi area and marches toward Mazagan in order to conserve strength for the attack on Casablanca. (Syscom)

Off French North Africa, aircraft escort vessel USS '_Chenango_' flies off 76 USAAF P-40Fs into Port Lyautey and they are landing on the airfield by 1200 hours.(Syscom)

The British Eighth Army clears the Halfaya Pass. The British Eighth Army takes Sidi Barrani recently evacuated by Panzerarmee Afrika. (Syscom)

Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the port area at Bengasi. (Syscom)

USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires escort a convoy, fly reconnaissance, and attack tanks and other vehicles in the Oran area. (Syscom)

*NORTH AMERICA*: German submarine U-608 lays mines off New York City, east of Ambrose Light. Ambrose Light is located about 10 nautical miles (18 kilometers) east-northeast of Highlands, New Jersey. (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill describes the landings in Africa as "the end of the beginning" for the Allies. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Eighteen RAF Bomber Command Bostons are dispatched to continue attacks on the large German ship at Le Havre but it had been moved. Sixteen aircraft bomb the dock area. Two Bostons crash in the sea. (Syscom)

During the night of 10/11 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off three Biscay ports: five lay mines in the Gironde Estuary and one each off Bayonne and St. Jean de Luz. (Syscom)

Pilot Ofw. Rudolf Blutbarsch of 10./NJG 3 experienced an engine failure during a test flight and emergency landed his Do 217J-1 at Fliergerhorst Grove at 16.16 hours. The Dornier was 60% damaged while Ofw. Blutbarsch, wireless operator Fw. Gerhardt Bohm, Gunner Uffz. Adolf Fleschner and Uffz. Theodor Kramer were all wounded and taken to Hald Lazarett. A civilian died from the crash, but it was not known if he was onboard the aircraft or if he was hit by it. On 13 November, Ofw. Blutbarsch passed away due to broken ribs.

During the night of 10/11 November, 30 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Nov 11, 2007)

*11 November 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Construction of a LORAN (long range aids to navigation) station begins at Fredericksdaal on the southwest coast of Greenland.

*EASTERN FRONT*: At Stalingrad, German 6.Armee (von Paulus) launches its last major attack to capture the city and succeeds in reaching the Volga River near the Red October factory on a frontage of 600 yards (549 meters). The heavy attacks in the factory district resulted in the capture of the Red October factory and cutting off the Barrikady factory. The Germans also captured another 500 yards of precious ground along the Volga River. Ice was beginning to form on the Volga and the floating chunks brought shipping to a standstill. The Soviets fragment the German effort and within two days the offensive degenerates into a series of unconnected actions. Both sides suffer heavy casualties. While some German units penetrate to the Volga River, others are cut off. Floating blocks of ice in the Volga cause problems with Soviet resupply efforts. 

In the Caucasus, 13.Panzer-Division (von der Chevallerie) of III.Panzerkorps (von Mackensen) begins to disengage its units halted before Ordshonikidse to avoid being cut off by heavy Soviet attacks against its rear communications.

*GERMANY*: The German armored ship '_Admiral Scheer_' returns to Kiel from Norway.

*MEDITERRANEAN *: German submarine U-515 torpedoes and sinks the 10,850 ton British destroyer depot ship HMS '_Hecla_' about 182 nautical miles NW of Rabat, French Morocco. A total of 279 crewmen went down with the ship and 568 men are rescued by escorting destroyers.

German submarine U-173 torpedoes and sinks transport USS '_Joseph Hewes_' and torpedoes destroyer USS '_Hambleton_' and oiler USS '_Winooski_' off Fedala Roads, French Morocco.

German submarine U-407 torpedoes and sinks the 19,627 ton British merchant freighter SS '_Viceroy of India_' about 47 nautical miles NNE of Oran, Algeria.

The British minelayer HMS '_Manxman_' makes a dash from Alexandria, Egypt, to Malta delivering vitally needed supplies.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Vichy French representative for North Africa, Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, arranges an armistice with the Allies which ends the fighting in French Morocco and Algeria effective at 0700 hours local. Admiral Darlan also helps the Allied governments to gain control over French West Africa, which eliminates the threat to Allied convoys operating along the African coast. The U.S. Western Task Force canceled an attack on Casablanca because of the armistice and the 3d Infantry Division entered the city at 0730 hours. Combat Command B of the 2d Armored Division received the surrender of Mazagan and established a bridgehead at Azemmour without opposition. The British First Army lands elements of the 36th Brigade, 78th Division, at Bougie, 110 miles (177 kilometers) east of Algiers, without opposition. The Hart Force, a mobile task force based on the 11th Brigade of the 78th Division, moves out of Algiers toward Bône, traveling overland.

The last German and Italian troops had been chased out of Egypt and Libya. In Libya the X Corps, British Eighth Army retook Sollum and Bardia while Panzerarmee Afika continued its withdrawl towards Tripoli.

Fifteen US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24's bomb shipping north of Bengasi, claiming four direct hits and several near misses on a vessel. P-40s fly a sweep over the Gambut area, claiming three Luftwaffe Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers destroyed.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters fly reconnaissance over the Oran-Tafaraoui area and escort C-47 Skytrains carrying paratroops from Gibraltar to Algiers.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Henry J. Kaiser readies the launch of a Liberty ship in San Francisco Bay. The ship's keel was laid in Richmond at midnight 7 November and completed in 4 days, 15 hours, 26 minutes.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RCAF No.431 Sqn is formed on Wellingtons. (pbfoot)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Bay of Biscay, the British submarine HMS/M '_Unbeaten_', en route from the U.K. to Gibraltar, is sunk about 132 nautical miles SW of Brest, France, by an RAF Wellington Mk. VIII of No. 172 Squadron based at RAF Chivenor, Devonshire, England. All hands on the submarine are lost.

German troops occupy Vichy France, which had previously been free of an Axis military presence. Since July 1940 the autonomous French state has been split into two regions. One is occupied by German troops, and the other was unoccupied, governed by a more or less puppet regime centered in Vichy, a spa region about 200 miles SE of Paris, and led by Marshal of France Henri Philippe Pétain, a World War I hero. Publicly, Petain declares that Germany and France have a common goal, "the defeat of England." Privately, Pétain hoped that by playing mediator between the Axis power and his fellow countrymen, he could keep German troops out of Vichy while surreptitiously aiding the antifascist Resistance movement. However, Pétain receives a letter from German Chancellor Adolf Hitler informing him that all the German efforts to preserve the armistice and to improve relations with France proved futile. According to Hitler;


> "When information had been received that the next objectives of Anglo-American invasion were to be Corsica and the south of France, Germany and Italy were forced to take all measures to "arrest the continuation of the Anglo-American aggression."


Pétain protested against the German invasion of occupied France as a;


> "decision incompatible with the armistice agreement."


Italian troops land on Corsica and move into mainland France.

During the night of 11/12 November, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: ten lay mines off St. Nazaire; nine off Lorient; six off La Pallice; and four off Brest.

Lt. Erich Rudorffer was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 6./JG 2.


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## Njaco (Nov 11, 2007)

*12 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans extracated their 13.Panzerdivision after it was encircled south of Terek in the Caucasus. General Richthofen's Luftflotte 4 attacked the Russian bridgeheads at Kletskaya and Serafimovich on the Don River outside Stalingrad. After several pontoon bridges were destroyed, the Russians built new ones, constructed just below the surface of the water so they were invisible from the air.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine U-660 is scuttled about 32 nautical miles (58 kilometers) northwest of Oran, Algeria, after damages by depth charges from the British corvettes HMS '_Lotus_' and '_Starwort_'; 45 of the 47 crewmen survive. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Libya the British Eighth Army retook Sollum and Bardia while Panzerarmee Afika continued its withdrawl towards Tripoli. Bone was occupied in a joint operation by the British 3rd Parachute Battalion and the 6th Commando from 2 destroyers. The British First Army took Bone, 150 miles (241 kilometers) east of Bougie, without opposition, but German planes make damaging attacks later in day. The British No. 6 Commando lands by sea and secure the port. Allied fighters flew patrols over a wide area around Oran and escorted C-47s which dropped the 3d Parachute Battalion at Duzerville Airfield, southeast of Bone. The airfield was later bombed by Axis aircraft during the night. For the British, the "Third Benghazi Stakes" were off and running. And at this time it was to be a one-way race. The Germans were not only able to build up forces in Tunis and Bizerte but were allowed to take control of the unoccupied French areas in North Africa. General Walther Nehring was assigned to take over a new unit to be formed in Tunisia.

Units of the British 1st and 7th Armored Division enter Tobruk. (Syscom)

Major 'Edu' Neumann's JG 27 was to spared this final ignominy. After retiring to fields in western Cyrenaica, and having been forced to abandon many of their machines along the way, Stab, I and III Gruppen handed over most of their remaining Bf 109s to JG 77. they were then evacuated from North Africa. Newly arrived in North Africa, Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 was apponited Staffelkapitaen of 4./JG 77. By this time the Luftwaffe in Tunsia had reached a total of 81 fighters and 28 dive-bombers and there were a handful of parachute troops and panzergrenadiers on the ground. Ju 52s began landing troops at a rate of 750 a day and at sea armaments poured in, including the formidable Tiger tanks, the dreaded 88 AA gun, field artillery and transport, despite interference from Maltese based British aircraft and submarines.

The Paratroop Task Force (USAAF 60th Troop Carrier Group and the 2d Battalion of the U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment) is placed under operational control of the British First Army at Algiers. In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters fly patrols over a wide area around Oran. (Syscom)

The US Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) is dissolved and replaced by Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Ninth Air Force, commanded by Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton. The major components of this unit are: IX Bomber Command (Brigadier General Patrick W Timberlake) at Ismailia, IX Fighter Command (Colonel John C Kilborn) en route to Egypt, and IX Air Service Command (Brigadier General Elmer E Adler). (Syscom)

The Ninth Air Force begins combat operations in Egypt, providing tactical air support to the British in the drive westward across North Africa. (Syscom)

German submarine U-130 slips in among the ships anchored in Fedhala Roads and fires three torpedoes at three USN transports. All three transports, USS '_Edward Rutledge_', '_Hugh L. Scott'_ and '_Tasker H. Bliss_', are hit and burst into flames and are abandoned. The first two ships sink shortly but USS '_Tasker H. Bliss_' burns until 0230 hours tomorrow before sinking. (Syscom)

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Air Corps Board, which had been established before World War II to develop and determine military requirements, is redesignated the Army Air Forces Board. (Syscom)

*NORTHERN FRONT*: German submarine U-272 is sunk about 8 nautical miles (15 kilometers) north-northeast of Hela, Poland, after a collision with U-664; 19 of the 48 crewmen are lost. (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In London, Free French Brigadier General Charles DeGaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, informs Admiral Harold Stark, Commander, U.S. Forces in Europe, that there is no chance of the Free French coming to an agreement with Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, the civil and military chief of French North Africa. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2007)

*13 November 1942*

*GERMANY*: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are sent to bomb Emden but only one aircraft drops bombs, which hit fields.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine U-411 is sunk about 185 nautical miles (343 kilometers) northwest of Casablanca, French Morocco, by four depth charges from an RAF Hudson Mk. V, aircraft "D" of No. 500 Squadron based at Tafaraoui, Algeria; all 46 crewmen are lost.

During the night of 13/14 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 67 Lancasters and nine Stirlings to bomb Genoa, Italy; 70 aircraft bomb the city and docks.

*NORTH AFRICA*: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, Commander in Chief of the Vichy French Army, and U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander in Chief Allied Force, sign a formal agreement recognizing Darlan as head of the French civil government in North Africa. U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Allied Force and French Generals Charles-Auguste Nogues, high commissioner of Morocco, and Alphonse-Pierre Juin, commander of Vichy forces in North Africa, will ratify it later. General Henri-Honer Giraud will command the French armed services. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, flies to Algiers to conclude the agreement with Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan.

Allied convoy arrives at B6ne and unloads 17/21 Lancers Regimental Group (later called Blade Force), 1st Parachute Brigade (-), transport of the 78th Division (-), and Advance Headquarters of the British First Army.

The main body of the 36th Brigade, 78th Division, advances to Djidjelli, 40 miles (64kilometers) east of Bougie.

Tobruk falls to the British Eighth Army's X Corps.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains, with P-38 Lightning escort, fly antiaircraft guns and aviation gasoline (petrol) to Duzerville Airfield. USAAF Spitfires patrol the Oran-Tafaraoui area.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 13/14 November, 12 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are dispatched to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: five lay mines off St. Nazaire and four off Lorient.

During the day, two RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos set out to Flushing to attack a damaged merchant ship but do not return. It is believed, however, that they did hit the ship again. Two more Mosquitos and six Bostons then take off to carry out a sea search for the crews of the two lost Mosquitos. These are not found and one of the Bostons is then lost.


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## syscom3 (Nov 14, 2007)

*14 November 1942*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Two German submarines are sunk by RAF Hudsons:
- U-595 is sunk about 57 nautical miles (106 kilometers) north of Oran, Algeria, by depth charges from two Hudson Mk. IIIs of No. 608 Squadron based at Gibraltar; all 45 crewmen are lost.
- U-605 is sunk about 43 nautical miles (80 kilometers) north-northeast of Oran, Algeria, by depth charges from a Hudson Mk. III, aircraft "B" of No. 233 Squadron based at Gibraltar; all 46 crewmen are lost.

At 1947 hours, the Italian cargo/passenger ship SS '_Scillin_' is torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS/M '_Sahib_' (P 212) in the Tyrrhenian Sea 10 nautical miles (18,5 kilometers) north of Cape Milazzo, in northern Sicily. The ship is carrying about 815 Commonwealth POWs from Tunisia to Sicily. '_Sahib_' rescues 27 POWs from the water (26 British and one South African) plus the 'Scillin's' captain and 45 Italian crew members. Only then, when the sub captain hears the survivors speaking English, does he realize that he has sunk a ship carrying Allied POWs and some Italian soldiers and has drowned 783 men. At a subsequent inquiry into this "friendly fire" tragedy, the captain is cleared of any wrong doing as the ship was unmarked and at the time he firmly believed that it was carrying Italian troops. The Ministry of Defence keeps this incident a closely guarded secret for 54-years, telling relatives a pack of lies, maintaining that they had died while POWs in Italian camps or simply "lost at sea." It is not until 1996, after repeated requests for information from the families of the drowned men, that the truth came out.

*NORTH AFRICA*: USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires fly routine patrols in the Oran-Tafaraoui area and escort C-53 Skytroopers carrying paratroops from Gibraltar to Algiers.

Six USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to attack the harbor at Bengasi but only one locates the target and drops its bombs.

French Lieutenant General Georges-Edmond Barré, Commander-in- Chief Tunisia, prepares to go over to the Allies, by moving his troops away from the coastal towns in Tunisia.

*NORTH AMERICA*: At the Colorado River Relocation Camp for Japanese-Americans near Poston, Arizona, two popular inmates are arrested accused of attacking a man widely perceived as an informer. This incident soon mushrooms into a mass strike.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The 20,107 ton British troop transport SS '_Warwick Castle_' in convoy MKF-1X (Mediterranean to U.K.) had landed troops for the North Africa landings and is empty on her return voyage. The ship is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-413 about 203 nautical miles (376 kilometers) west of Lisbon, Portugal. Of the 428 men aboard, 314 survive. This is one of the largest ships sunk by U-boats in World War II.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 19: 34 bombers are dispatched to hit U-boats pens at La Pallice but the target is covered by 10/10 clouds and 15 of 21 B-17 Flying Fortresses and nine of 13 B-24 Liberators hit the secondary, the port area at St Nazaire; one B-24 is damaged. Six B-24 Liberators fly a diversion for this mission.


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## syscom3 (Nov 15, 2007)

*15 November 1942*

*GERMANY*: The He 219V-1 prototype flew with test pilot Peter at the controls, only 11 months after the design request. The He 219 was concieved by Ernst Heinkel in the summer of 1940 as Project P.1060, a private venture multi-role aircraft. The design was rejected as too radical by the RLM, where Heinkel had a few enemies. By late 1941, night-bombing by the RAF had reached such serious proportions that the existing Ju 88 and Bf 110 night-fighters were unable to counter it. At the urging of Major General Josef Kammhuber, the RLM asked Heinkel to redesign the P.1060 as a radar equipped night-fighter. The Germans first used aerial intercept radar in early 1942 and the radar antennas, which looked like an array of toasting forks, slowed the Ju 88 night-fighter by some 40 kph (25mph). More speed was needed. The 'Uhu' was found to have excellent handling and performance qualities. The Uhu was the only piston-engined night fighter capable of meeting the British de Havilland Mosquito on equal terms.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation Stonehenge; A convoy from Alexandria, code-named 'MW 13' - consisting of 4 merchantmen, 5 cruisers including HMS '_Euryalus_' and 16 destroyers - set out to deliver 35,000 tons of supplies to Malta. Although the cruiser '_Arethusa_' was badly damaged by German torpedo aircraft on the 18 November and had to return with over 150 casualties, the convoy got through. HMS '_Penelope_' was damaged in this convoy but all the ships otherwise made Malta despite passing through a November gale. 3 Spitfires based on Malta were lost due to the severe weather. The convoy's arrival effectively marked the end of the long and bloody seige of the island. Since Operation Excess in January 1941, 2 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, 16 destroyers and 5 submarines had been lost in the many attempts to supply and reinforce the island, and in the heavy air attacks launched against the island. 

During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 78 aircraft, 40 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters and 11 Stirlings, to continue the raids on Genoa with further accurate bombing; 68 bomb the target without loss.

German submarine U-259 is sunk about 35 nautical miles (65 kilometers) north of Algiers, Algeria, by depth charges from an RAF Hudson Mk. V, aircraft "S" of No. 500 Squadron based at Tafaraoui, Algeria; all 48 crewmen are lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan assumes the position of High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa, appointing General Henri-Honer Giraud as commander in chief of French armed forces in North Africa.

The British First Army's 36th Brigade, 78th Division, captures Taberka on the coast road to Bizerte 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Tunis. The Germans have rapidly built up their forces in Tunisia and now count over 10,000 troops and over 100combat aircraft based on French fields. The Allied aircraft are flying from temporary fields which are not as close to the front. The British Eighth Army's X Corps captures Martuba Airfield which is soon occupied by the USAAF 57th Fighter Group.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators from two groups are sent to bomb Tripoli, but unfavorable weather prevents them from reaching the target. However, one group bombs a motor convoy, as well as an airfield and crowded roads in the Bengasi area. P-40s fly sweeps and fighter-bomber missions against the retreating enemy west of Martuba.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains transport the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment to Youk-les-Bains, near Tobessa and 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Bone.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Church bells across Britain, silent since June 1940, pealed out this Sunday morning to celebrate victory at El Alamein. The bells of Westminster Abbey were broadcast by the BBC to occupied Europe and Germany. The bells of Coventry Catheral's only surviving bell-tower were heard with the 0900hour news on the second anniversary of the city's great Luftwaffe raid. Many bellringers had to be "lent" from the services.

*WESTERN FRONT*: British escort aircraft carrier HMS '_Avenger_' is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-155 about 47 nautical miles (87 kilometers) south of Faro, Portugal. The ship had participated in the Operation TORCH landings of North Africa and departed Gibraltar with convoy MKF-1 (Mediterranean to U.K.) yesterday. Early in the morning, U-155 fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy and one of the torpedoes hit the port side amidships, which in turn ignited her bomb room, blowing out the centre section of the ship. Her bow and stern sections rose in the air and sunk within two minutes, leaving only 12 survivors of the 526 crewmen aboard. Later in the day, German submarine U-98 is sunk about 72 nautical miles (134 kilometers) WSW of Ca¡diz, Spain, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS '_Wrestler_' which is escorting convoy MKF-1; all 46 crewmen are lost.

During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off thee French ports in the Bay of Biscay: seven aircraft lay mines off La Pallice, three of Lorient and two off St. Nazaire. One aircraft is lost.

The Regent of Iceland, at the opening session of the newly elected Althing, speaks of Iceland's excellent relations with Britain and America. (The British troops had, now left Iceland, and have been replaced by Americans. The British had come against the will of the Icelanders but quickly gained their respect and sympathy; the Americans came at their request and according to their free agreement, and Iceland's respect and sympathy for the United States had increased on closer acquaintance. )


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## syscom3 (Nov 16, 2007)

*16 November 1942*

*GERMANY*: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb marshalling yard in three small towns: two each bomb Emmerich and Julich and one bombs Lingen.

During the night of 16/17 November, RAF Bomb Command aircraft lay mines off port cities: four lay mines in the Heligoland Bight south and east of the island of Helgoland with the loss of one aircraft; three mine the Elbe River Estuary; and one lays mines off Swinemunde. Twenty seven RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. Two RAF Bomb Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the strait between Sweden and Denmark.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine U-173 is sunk about 5 nautical miles (9 kilometers) north of Casablanca, French Morocco, by depth charges from the USN destroyers USS '_Woolsey_', '_Swanson_' and '_Quick_'; all 57 crewmen are lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander-in- Chief Free French Forces, announces that the Free French will not accept French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlana's authority; Darlan assumed the position of protector of French interests in North Africa yesterday. To the U.S. the arrangement is useful, while the British share the French apprehensions.

The British First Army continues their movement into Tunisia. The 1st Parachute Battalion lands at Souk el Arba, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tabarka. Several thousand Germans form a bridgehead in the Bizerte-Tunis area. The French XIX Corps reports contact with a German patrol on the Badja-Djebel Abiod highway. French forces at Oued Zarga and Mateur drive off Axis patrols. General Nehring arrived to command the Axis defenses in Tunisia. While the Vichy French in Northwest Africa came to terms with the Allies, Nehring was trying to get Vichy leaders in Tunisia away from possible neutrality and into active collaboration. Instead it was decided they would be made to remove their troops from positions or they would be seen as the enemy.

The newly arrived Jabo unit, III./ZG 2 began operations with low-level attacks on Allied shipping, harbours and airfields. The Gruppe flew their new Fw 190 jabos, having converted onto them in August and undergoing anti-shipping training at Cognac. III./ZG 2 (to be re-named III./SKG 10 in December 1942) was particularly succesful with the Focke-Wulf. The unit operated throughout the Tunisian campaign and attacked a variety of Allied targets including airfields, harbours, tanks, AA positions and on one occasion, a British submarine.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains drop British paratroops at Souk el Arba. Six B-17's, of the 97th BGroup based at Maison Blanche, Algeria, raid Sidi Ahmed Airfield at Bizerte; thus the 97th which flew the first USAAF heavy bomber mission from the U.K., on 17 August, becomes the first Twelfth Air Force bombardment group to fly a combat mission in Africa.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Germiston area.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In London, Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander-in- Chief Free French Forces, meets with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Minister Anthony Eden to protest the continuation of the regime of Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa. Churchill assures him that he understands his concerns and that the measure is only a temporary expedient aimed at facilitating the ouster of the Axis forces from North Africa.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 16/17 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off five ports: eight aircraft mine the Gironde Estuary; three each lay mines of Bayonne and Lorient; and two each lay mines off St Jean de Luz and St. Nazaire; two aircraft are lost. Four other aircraft drop leaflets over the country.


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## Njaco (Nov 17, 2007)

*17 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: During the night of 17/18 November, an RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off the port of Gdynia. (Syscom)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 17/18 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines: five lay mines off the Heligoland Bight the body of water south and east of Heligoland Island, three lay mines off the port of Danzig and two off Pillan. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Convoy MW 13 - consisting of four merchant vessels escorted by the light cruisers HMS '_Euryalus_', '_Dido_' and '_Arethusa_' and ten destroyers, and known as Operation Stonehenge - passed Gibraltar bound for Malta.

German submarine U-331 is sunk about 35 nautical miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Algiers, Algeria. The sub had been badly damaged by depth charges from an RAF Hudson Mk. III or V of No. 500 Squadron based at Tafaraoui, Algeria, and the crew signaled surrender to a seaplane but is attacked and sunk by a torpedo-equipped Fleet Air Arm Albacore Mk. I from the British aircraft carrier HMS '_Formidable_'; 17 of the 49 crewmen survived. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The advance of the British Eighth Army reaches Derna on the coast and Mechili, inland. British troops at Djebel Abiod and French troops at Medjez el Bab repelled simultaneous German Attacks. The General Officer Commanding British First Army orders the 78th Division to concentrate for an advance on Tunis. The 36th Brigade, 78th Division makes contact with the Germans west of Djehel Abiod, 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Tunis. To the south, the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, occupies Gafsa Airfield. Elements of the British 78th Infantry Division tangled with German paratroops 70 miles west of Tunis, the first combat action in Tunisia, while the first clashes occurred between the newly landed US and German forces.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force air action is limited to routine patrols in the Tafaraoui area. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over Tobruk and the Derna road.(Syscom)

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Franklin D. Roosevelt makes the following statement regarding the U.S. political arrangements in North and West Africa:


> "The present temporary arrangement in North and West Africa is only a temporary expedient, justified solely by the stress of battle. . . . Temporary arrangements made with (French) Admiral (Jean-Francois) Darlan apply, without exception, to the current local situation only."



*WESTERN FRONT*: Two locations in France were targeted by the US 8th AF. 65 B-17s and B-24s - including the Fortresses of the 303st BG flying its maiden mission - attacked the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire. 15 Fw 190s attacked the last formation of the group -the 306th BG - and badly damaged several bombers, a total of 9 B-17s and 7 B-24s. 6 B-24s were dispatched to hit Maupertus Airfield at Cherbourg but aborted due to the cloud cover. 10 B-17s flew a diversion to cover the mission.

The Fw 190s of II./JG 2 began their transfer from Beaumont-le-Roger in France to Sicily and finally to Tunisia in North Africa.

During the night of 17/18 November, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off the Danish island of Bornholm. (Syscom)

In Vichy France, Marshal Henri-Phillipe Petain appoints Pierre Laval his successor, which reflects increasing German control over the Vichy French government. After the Germans invaded Vichy on 11 November, Petain had become nothing more than a figurehead. Laval, President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, receives the power to make laws and issue decrees. (Syscom)

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's flies Mission 20: 2 locations are targeted: Twenty three B-17's and 12 14 B-24's bomb the U-boats pens at St Nazaire but six B-24s dispatched to hit Maupertus Airfield at Cherbourg abort due to cloud cover. (Syscom)

During the night of 17/18 November, 14 RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country with the loss of one Halifax. Eleven other aircraft lay mines off two Bay of Biscay ports: six lay mines off Lorient and five lay mines off St. Nazaire. During the night of 17/18 November, 14 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. (Syscom)


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## Njaco (Nov 17, 2007)

*18 November 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The Spanish tanker SS '_Campares_' rescues nine survivors (including six Armed Guard sailors) from the U.S. freighter SS '_West Kebar_', sunk on 29 October. This is the third group of survivors to be rescued. The first group of 34 was rescued on 8 November and the second group of eight on 10 November. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Three Finnish motor torpedo boats sink enemy gunboat '_Krasnoye Znamya_'. The ship was raised on 13 November 1943 and recommissioned on 17 September 1944. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British convoy of 4 merchant ships, code-named MW 13 Operation Stonehenge and escorted by the 15th Cruiser Squadron under Rear Admiral Power, proceeded from Alexandria to Malta. The convoy, comprising '_Arethusa_', '_Dido_' and '_Euryalus_' and 10 destroyers, was attacked by 6 He 111s of 6./KG 26, 150 miles to the northeast of Benghazi. The escort cruiser '_Arethusa_' was damaged by a torpedo north of Derna with over 150 casualties and was towed back to Alexandria, remaining out of service for 12 months.

Twelve RAF Spitfire fighter-bombers from Malta each slung with two 500 pound (227 kilogram) bombs attack a chemical factory at Pachino, Sicily. During the night of 18/19 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 77 aircraft to bomb Turin; 71 hit the target. Many fires are started in the city center area and hits are also achieved on the Fiat motor factory. Turin records show that 42 people were killed and 72 injured. (Syscom)

The British minelayer HMS '_Welshman_' arrives at Malta with more essential supplies. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British First Army's 36th Brigade, 78th Division, repels a German attack at Djebel Abiod, but the Hart Force (11th Brigade), spearheading the drive, becomes isolated in the region east of Djebel Abiod. Simultaneously, French forces of the XIX Corps at Medjez el Bab, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Tunis and 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Mateur also repelled an attack. General Louis Barre, C-in-C of the French XIX Corps , rejected a German ultimatum to evacuate, signalling a switch from Vichy to the Allies.

Several USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-38's are damaged in an enemy air raid on Maison Blanche Airfield. (Syscom)

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17's bomb the marshalling yard and docks at Bengasi. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's flies Mission 21 and returned to raid the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire. 65 bombers were dispatched to hit targets against bases in France and lost 2 B-17s from AA fire and defending fighters. One bomber from the 367th BS 306th BG crashed in the Bay of Biscay and another from the 328th Bs 93rd BG crashed upon returning to England. Fw. Walter Ebert and Uffz. Herbert Gumprecht from 8./JG 2 claimed the 2 Fortresses. 21 of 34 B-17s hit La Pallice and 20 B-17s and 6 B-24s flew diversions for the missions.

In Vichy France, Pierre Laval, President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, is granted, by Marshal Henri-Phillipe Petain, the Head of the Vichy State, the authority to issue decrees solely on his own authority. This move underscores the decreasing practical importance of Petain. (Syscom)

During the night of 18/19 November, four RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country. (Syscom)

A little before 11.00 hours a Ju 88A-5 belonging to IV./KG 30 was observed circling Sejlflod, Denmark when one engine burst into flames and the bomber crashed into Kirkebakken hill. Only the wireless operator managed to bail out and landed safely. Navigator Gefr. Alfred Weber was thrown out of the aircraft when the Junkers hit the ground and was found next to the burning wreckage while the remains of pilot Uffz. Johann Freese and air gunner Uffz. Ernst Stock were found in the wreckage when the fire died down.


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## Njaco (Nov 19, 2007)

*19 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army unleashed Operation Uranus, a counter-attack on the German Forces at Stalingrad causing total surprise and mayhem. The attack was planned in strict secrecy by Zhukov and was aimed initially at the weakest links in the Axis positions - The Rumanian forces north and south of the city. The attacking Soviet units under the command of General Nikolai Vatutin consisted of 3 complete companies, the 1st Guards Army, 5th Tank Army and 21st Army, including a total of 18 infantry divisions, 8 tank brigades, 2 motorized brigades, 6 cavalry divisions and 1 anti-tank brigade. The preparations for the attack could be heard by the Rumanians who continued to push for reinforcements, only to be refused. The offensive, along 250 miles involved the forces of 3 Russian fronts, the south-west under General Vatutin, the Don under General Rokossovsky and the Stalingrad under General Eremenko. They were supported by 1,100 aircraft, one quarter of all of the Red Air Force. Equipped with the new La-5 and Yak-9 fighters, a new version of the Sturmovik battlefield bomber and US supplied Boston bombers, they were facing a worn-down Luftwaffe, depleted by the need to reinforce North Africa. At 07.30 hours, on a foggy, dank morning, 3,500 guns of Vatutin's Southwest Front opened fire on the positions of the 3rd Rumanian Army along the Don, 70 miles northwest of Stalingrad. The barrage lasted 80 mintes and was followed up by an immediate infantry assault. Elements of the Soviet 5th Tank Army overran the Rumanian left wing. Soviet 21st Army, spearheaded by the new 4th Tank Corps, struck the right wing. The Rumaninans held briefly, but they were soon routed. Thinly spread, outnumbered and poorly equipped, the 3rd Rumanian Army, which held the northern flank of the German 6.Armee, was shattered after an almost miraculous one-day defense. It was in a difficult position. Its 8 divisions were each holding at least twice the normal divisional frontage. Four of those divsions had every battalion of footsoldiers - even the engineers - actually in the frontline. The other 4 divisions each had one battalion in reserve, instead of the recommended two. Shortages of mines and barbed-wire left much of 3rd Army's extended front inadequately fortified (3rd Army was also short of every type of munitions except grenades, 60mm mortars and anti-tank ammo.). The Rumanians were largely situated on open terrain - perfect for tank attacks. Since late August, the Russians had established 2 bridgeheads across the now frozen Don river, the only natural barrier in the 3rd Army sector. Although some Rumanian units resisted staunchly, the powerful concentrations of Russian forces quickly achieved breakthroughs (in part because the 47mm and captured Soviet 45mm anti-tank guns used by most Rumanian units could not stop the heavier Russian tanks). The intact lines of the Rumanian 6th Division - under Mihai Lascar, one of the best Rumaninan commanders - formed a rallying point for other Rumaninan units driven back by the onslaught. The 13th Division resisted stubbornly, knocking out 25 Soviet tanks before its right flank was overwhelmed by 3 Russian infantry divisions. Part of the division managed to fall back into the pocket forming around 6th Divison. Mazarini's 5th Divsion (Rumania) was overrun by Soviet tanks, but most of this unit also fell back into the 3rd Army pocket. Sion's 15th Division, on the shoulder of the breakthrough area, defeated an attack by 35 Soviet tanks supported by infantry, knocking out 5 tanks and taking 45 prisoners. Later a significant portion of 15th Divsion would break out and reach Axis lines, but Sion would be killed during the attempt. Despite the tough Rumanian resistance in most places, the Soviets achieved their planned breakthroughs in both sectors. The central portion of the Rumanian 3rd Army's front - consisting of all or part of 5th, 6th 13th and 15th Divisions - was bypassed and soon completely encircled, while the Soviet spearheads raced on deep into the Axis rear, making for Kalach, where the road and rail lines supporting the Germans in Stalingrad crossed the Don. An Axis armoured corps stationed in reserve behind 3rd Army and consisting of the German 22.Panzerdivision and Rumanian 1st Armoured Division, attempted to counter-attack to seal off the breach, but found themselves attacked and seperated instead and were quickly forced over to defensive fighting. The surrounded 3rd Army pocket would hold out for 5 days before surrendering, the Rumanian Army Chief-of-Staff Steflea's pleas to Hitler for an early breakout attempt denied. Losses to the 3rd Army would reach 75,000 men and 34,000 horses in less than 5 days. Aside from parts of 15th Division, only one detatched battalion of 6th Division - which held a rear-area airfield with Luftwaffe help until early December - would manage to breakout and regain Axis lines. The 6.Armee and 4.Panzerarmee's hurriedly dispatched mobile units to bolster the unprepared and crumbling Rumanian defensed west and south of the Don. In the Rumanian 4th Army sector, the Russians took 10,000 prisoners. The Germans were desperately trying to stem the tide, but they faced 10 new Russian armies spearheaded by 900 T-34 tanks backed by 13,500 heavy guns. Soviet 1st Tank Corps was advancing southeast to the Don river in a deep flanking move. Soviet 26th Tank Corps was heading to the important supply center and major Don crossing point at Kalach. Meanwhile, Soviet 4th Tank Corps was aimed at Golobinsky, to hit the immediate area behind Stalingrad. All the Germans had to halt the attack was the much depleted 48.Panzerkorps. In the midst of all this, Hitler relinquished his command of Heeresgruppe A to von Kleist. The Battle of Stalingrad had entered a new phase.

Romanian chief-of-staff, Lieutenant General Ilie Steflea, urges Antonescu to authorize a break-out of the trapped units in the 3rd Army pocket at once. But the Romanians are operating under German command. Chancellor Adolf Hitler refuses a withdrawal plan by General Kurt Zeitzler, who had replaced General Franz Halder as Army Chief of Staff, that would have allowed General Friedrich Paulus, commander of 6.Armee, to pull out of Stalingrad and strike the Soviet forces from the rear, crippling their offensive.

*GERMANY*: In order to test the new ejection seat to be used in He 219 'Uhu' night-fighters, GenLt. Josef Kammhuber, Kommandeur XII. Fliegerkorps, allowed himself to be shot to a height of 4 meters at 6g acceleration on a ground rig.

John Amery, son of Leopold Amery, Churchill's Secretary of State for India and Burma, makes his first broadcast from Berlin, attacking the British government for its alliance with the U.S.S.R. and "the Jews." Amery himself is, possibly unwittingly, half-Jewish, but his actions are enough to ensure his execution as a traitor a little more than three years later.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army recaptured the key Libyan port of Benghazi as Rommel's Africakorps continued to retreat westwards, but that was the only good news for the Allies in North Africa. Elsewhere their armies were meeting tough resistance from German forces, now being reinforced by an airlift into Tunisia. Already the Germans had forced the British back to Djebel Abiod. The Germans launched limited attacks at Djebel Aboid and Medjez el Bab but were stopped by British and Free French forces. The French garrison withdrew from Medjez el Bab to Oued Zarga after repulsing German attacks that utilized tanks and infantry under General Nehring. The British engaged a German tank column only 30 miles from Tunis while the British Army occupied Cyrenne in Lybia. B-17s, escorted by p-38s, bombed El Aouina airfield, Tunisia.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, escorted by P-38 Lightnings, bomb Carthage Airfield, 1.6 miles (2,6 kilometers) west of El Aouina.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Wellingtons to lay mines off two Bay of Biscay ports: five aircraft lay mines off St. Nazaire with the loss of one and four lay mines off Lorient.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2007)

*20 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The second half of the Soviet offensive designed to encircle the German 6.Armee at Stalingrad is launched, this time striking the Romanian 4th Army, holding positions south and east of the city. Most of the blow falls on the depleted Romanian 1st and 2nd Divisions. The main Soviet attacks target an 18-mile (29 kilometer) stretch of front held by five battalions of the 1st Division, and an 11-mile (18 kilometer) sector defended by four battalions of 2nd Division. The Soviets have almost 400 tanks available to support these efforts, while the Romanians have no tanks at all (the only Romanian armored division in existence was supporting the Romanian 3rd Army north and west of Stalingrad). The Red Army's assault achieves a stunning success almost at once (and much more easily than in the previous day's attack on 3rd Army). More than two Soviet divisions overwhelm the four battalions of the Romanian 2nd Division, and that afternoon a full mechanized corps is pushed into the breech in the lines created. Part of this force then swings north and smashes into the right flank of the Romanian 20th Division. This unit's 84th Infantry Regiment is virtually wiped out after resisting six Russian tank attacks, and its engineer battalion suffers a similar fate. Nonetheless, the division commander, Major General Nicolae Tataranu, manages to retreat with the remnants of his unit into the Stalingrad pocket, where his men will be trapped along with the Germans (for this he was awarded the German Knight's Cross). Tataranu himself, however, will later fly out of the pocket, feeling it his duty to report personally to the high command on the appalling conditions inside the Stalingrad perimeter, and on what he feels is the shabby treatment accorded to the Romanians there. Prime Minister Ion Antonescu, the Romanian military dictator and commander-in- chief, sees it differently, and Tataranu narrowly escapes a court-martial and potential firing squad for deserting his post. The Red Army takes 10,000 prisoners from the 4th Army on the first day of the assault, and make a complete breakthrough. Probably their biggest setback during the day comes when the three tank brigades of the Soviet 4th Mechanized Corps run into one of the few Romanian minefields, leading to the disabling of 50 vehicles. The Romanian motorized 6th Rosiori (cavalry) Regiment is hurled into a counterattack, but quickly find themselves surrounded. They will eventually fight their way back to Axis lines, but only after losing 65% of their men, including the regimental commander Lieutenant Colonel Harconitza, killed while leading an attack with a rifle in his hands. The Soviet spearheads race toward Kalach in the German rear, where they will soon link up with the forces that broke through the Romanian 3rd Army front the previous day, thereby trapping more than a 250,000 Germans in Stalingrad. Although the 18th Division will subsequently prove helpful in limited offensive operations to assist the Germans, the bulk of the Romanian 4th Army is virtually finished as a fighting force, its officers and men demoralized at all levels. The malaise includes the commanders of the VI and VII Corps, as well as the 4th Army commander General Constantin Constantinescu- Claps. These two corps will virtually melt away before a renewed Soviet offensive against their new positions just before Christmas, and the Germans will find it necessary to withdraw what is left of the 4th Army from the front by the end of December.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night of 20/21 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 232 aircraft, 86 Lancasters, 54 Wellingtons, 47 Halifaxes and 45 Stirlings, to bomb Turin; 200 aircraft bomb the target, the largest raid to Italy during this period. Three aircraft, a Halifax, a Stirling and a Wellington, are lost. This is another successful attack, with large fires being started. Dense smoke prevents further observations of the effects of the bombing but the casualty roll in Turin, 117 dead and 120 injured, confirms that many bombs fall in the city.

Convoy MW-13 (Egypt to Malta) consisting of four merchant vessels escorted by the light cruisers HMS '_Euryalus_' and '_Dido_' and ten destroyers, arrives at Malta with 35,000 metric tonnes (38,581 tons) of supplies. The Maltese people have been surviving on 1,500 calories per day and are close to starvation. This effectively ends the siege of Malta.

*NORTH AFRICA*: During the night of 20/21 November, Axis aircraft bomb the harbor and Maison Blanche Airfield at Algiers, destroying several aircraft.

Benghazi falls to X Corps, British Eighth Army. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the battle area near Bengasi.

French XIX Corps units, together with British and attached U.S. forces, withdraw from Medjez el Bab to Oued Zarga, 10 miles (16 kilometers) west, where forward elements of Blade Force (former 17/21 Lancers Regimental Group), British First Army, are located. The main body of Blade Force is concentrated in the Souk el Arba area. The British 1st Parachute Battalion is holding Badja.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USAAF Antisubmarine Command activates HQ 25th and 26th Antisubmarine Wings at New York, New York, and Miami, Florida, respectively. These two wings will have administrative and operational control of all USAAF antisubmarine squadrons based in the eastern U.S.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In Essex, Mr. Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin (b.1912), assistant works manager, helps put out a fire after a massive blast at a munitions factory, preventing further explosions and deaths. He is awarded the Empire Medal. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Vichy France, Pierre Laval, President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, broadcasts a message to the. nation stating that he intended to collaborate even more closely with Germany than in the past. He states that the United States and England are now;


> "tearing France limb from limb. . . . It is in the interests of France and in the interests of the peace to come that we are attempting reconciliation with Germany.... The entente with Germany is the sole guarantee of peace in Europe."


During the night of 20/21 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft fly two missions: four Stirlings lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary and eight drop leaflets over the country.


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## syscom3 (Nov 21, 2007)

*21 November 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: USN destroyer USS '_Somers_' intercepts German blockade runner SS '_Anneliese Essberger_' in the South Atlantic. The German ship was spotted by aircraft on 7 November when the ship was outward bound through the Bay of Biscay. The ship is scuttled by her crew about 720 nautical miles (1 334 kilometers) southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

A German submarine is listed as missing and one is sunk:
- U-184, with 50 crewmen, is listed as missing about 318 nautical miles (590 kilometers) ENE of Saint John's, Newfoundland; there is no explanation of her loss.
- U-517 is sunk about 479 nautical miles (888 kilometers) southwest of Cork, County Cork, Eire, by depth charges from a Fleet Air Arm Albacore Mk. I, aircraft "I" of No. 817 Squadron in the British aircraft carrier HMS '_Victorious_'; 52 of the 53 crewmen survive.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviets have 34 divisions advancing on a 50 mile (80 kilometer) front opposite the Rumanian Third Army. At Stalingrad, the situation in the rear of 6.Armee is deteriorating fast, not least owing to the fact that Army HQ is being relocated which leads to serious disruptions in communications with the troops in and outside the city.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Axis enemy aircraft again hit Algiers, damaging several aircraft and destroying a B-17.

Fourteen USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24's bomb Tripoli harbor, scoring a direct hit on a warehouse and during the night of 21/22 November, RAF bombers follow the U.S. raids with staggered attacks. P-40s patrol the battle area south of Bengasi.

Elements of the British Hart Force (mobile task force based on the 11th Brigade, 78th Division), succeed in rejoining the 36th Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army. The Axis forces withdraw to the east bank of the river at Medjez, but the 78th Division is too weak to follow up and is ordered to await reinforcements. The 2d Battalion of U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment withdraws from Gafsa to Fariana, 40 miles (64 kilometers) north.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17's bomb Carthage Airfield west of El Aouina.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 21/22 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 30 bombers to lay mines off five ports in the Bay of Biscay: eight lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary, six each lay mines off Bayonne and Lorient, five lay mines off St. Nazaire and two lay mines off St. Jean de Luz.


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## syscom3 (Nov 22, 2007)

*22 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Nazis liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Dunilowicze, Poland by herding the Jews into a large barn and then murder all 888 men, women, and children.

A Soviet counteroffensive against the German armies pays off as the Red Army traps about a quarter-million German soldiers south of Kalach, on the Don River, within Stalingrad. As the Soviets' circle tightened, German General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6.Armee, requests permission from Berlin to withdraw. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler will not allow a withdrawal and it is then only a matter of time before the Germans will be forced to surrender.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 22/23 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 222 aircraft, 97 Lancasters, 59 Wellingtons, 39 Halifaxes and 27 Stirlings, to bomb Stuttgart; 191 aircraft bomb and ten, five Lancasters, three Wellingtons and two Halifaxes are lost, 4.5 per cent of the force. A thin layer of cloud and some ground haze conceals Stuttgart and the Pathfinders are not able to identify the centre of the city. Heavy bombing develops to the southwest and south and the outlying residential districts of Vaihingen, Rohr, Mohringen and Plieningen, all about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the centre, are hit. Eighty eight houses are destroyed and 334 seriously damaged; 28 people are killed and 71 injured.

*NORTH AFRICA*: U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander in Chief Allied Force, acting on orders from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, agrees to recognize French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan as High Commissioner for French North Africa providing he acts in accordance with American wishes.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Derna area.

The 36th Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army, repels an attack at Djebel Ahiod. The 11th Brigade of the 78th Division completes concentration at Badja. French and U.S. troops reoccupy Gafsa.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 22: 68 B-17's and eight B-24's are dispatched to hit the Keroma U-boat pens at Lorient; only 11 B-17's find a gap in the 10/10 cloud cover and bomb at 1410 hours local without loss.

During the night of 22/23 November, an RAF Bomber Command aircraft drops leaflets over Paris.


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## syscom3 (Nov 25, 2007)

*23 November 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-172 torpedoes and sinks the 6,630 ton British freighter SS '_Benlomond_' about 254 nautical miles (470 kilometers) north of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. The ship is en route from Port Said, Egypt, via Cape Town, South Africa, to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. The only survivor of the 47-man crew is Poon Lim, the 49-year-old chief steward, who climbs into an empty raft and spends the next 133 days floating in the Atlantic Keeping alive with fish he catches with a crude fishing line and hook, he eventually is rescued by a Brazilian fishing boat which takes him to Belim Para, Brazil, 595 nautical miles (1 101 kilometers) west of where the ship sank. There, the British consul arranges for him to return to the U.K. where he is awarded the British Empire Medal and the Ben Line Shipping Company presents him with a gold watch. Poon Lim now holds the world's record as the longest lifeboat survivor.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces capture the bridge over the Don River at Kalach in a surprise attack. Linking up with the tank forces of the Soviet 51st Army the encirclement of Stalingrad begins. The priority is to methodically destroy the Germans at Stalingrad. They believe there are 85,000 that will be cut off. The German forces actually number some 300,000.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with P-38 Lightning escort, sent to bomb the airfield at Elmas abort due to bad weather.

*NORTH AFRICA*: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner for French North Africa, announces that French West Africa now accepts his authority.

Retreating before the British Eighth Army, Panzerarmee Afrika reaches El Agheila, the starting-point of its great counter-offensive that began on 21 January 1942.

Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) is moved from Gibraltar to Algiers. A verbal agreement is reached that all troops north of the Le Kef Zaghouan Line are to be under command of the British First Army and those south of it under French command.

Dakar, Senegal, falls to Allied forces without a shot.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Bill authorizing the Women's Reserve, U.S. Coast Guard (SPARS) is signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Secretary of State Cordell Hull announces that a satisfactory agreement had been reached between the American negotiators and local authorities in French Martinique, Windward Islands, West Indies. He states that it will be unnecessary for American troops to occupy Martinique or other French possessions in the West Indies, and that the new agreement covered all French Caribbean possessions and French Guiana.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, First Lord of the Admiralty, writes to Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker, Commanding USAAF General Eighth Air Force, praising the effects of the US bomber attacks on disorganizing the servicing schedule of the German U-boat bases on the French west coast.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 23: 50 B-17s and eight B-24s are dispatched to hit the St Nazaire submarine base for the fifth time in two weeks; the cumulative effect of the operation on the base is large though the sub shelter shows little permanent damage. Twenty eight B-17 and eight B-24s hit the target with the loss of four B-17 Flying Fortresses; the USAAF crews report a change in fighter tactics from rear to head-on attack as the Luftwaffe learns that the B-17 and B-24 are weak in forward firepower.

During the night of 23/24 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off five Bay of Biscay ports: four lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary; three each lay mines off Bayonne, Lorient and St. Nazaire; and two lay mines off St. Jean de Luz.

During the night of 23/24 November, 15 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.







*24 November 1942*:
*EASTERN FRONT*: German General Erich von Manstein, commanding 11.Armee, is ordered south to restore the situation with the German Army Group Don. He finds nonexistent resources. Other than the surrounded 6.Armee at Stalingrad and two remaining divisions of the Rumanian 3rd Army he has one division holding positions at Elista. Other commanders reluctantly hand over some reserves resulting in a slow buildup of his forces. Much of his problem is created by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's order to hold on at Stalingrad. He issues this order after the wild claim by the commander of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Hermann Goering, that Stalingrad could be held by resupply by air. Goering's Luftwaffe will lose about 500 aircraft in the process of failing to resupply 6.Armee. He will evacuate 42,000 wounded and some specialists. Soviet forces of the Stalingrad Front are exploiting their breakthroughs; on central front, are attacking in vicinity of Veliki Luki and Rzhev.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British submarine HMS/M '_Utmost_' is sunk NW of Sicily by depth charges from the Italian torpedo boat '_R.N. Groppo_'.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The presidents of the General Councils of Oran, Algiers and Constantine denounce French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner for French North Africa, for acting under the authority of Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain, Head of the Vichy French State. The Presidents express their opinion that in doing so the Admiral has shown that he has fulfilled none of the conditions which would allow him to assume the powers of an independent and legal government.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters patrol the Oran-Nouvion-Tafaraoui area, and fly sea patrol off Oran and destroy several aircraft and attack ground targets in the vicinity of Gabes, Tunisia. USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with P-38 Lightning escort, are dispatched against the harbor at Bizerte but must abort because of bad weather. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Bengasi and Derna areas.

The front is quiet generally as General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, plans an assault on the El Agheila bottleneck. The British army forces must be regrouped and supplies and reinforcements amassed. The British First Army is ordered to advance on Tunis, with Tebourba and Mateur as first objectives. The main body of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, begins a move from Tafaraoui, Algeria, to Tunisia; forward elements (1st Battalion of 1st Armored Regiment) arrive at Bédja and are attached to Blade Force.







*25 November 1942
MEDITERRANEAN*: A British Special Operations Executive (SOE) team uses 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of plastic explosives to blow up the Gorgopotamos Railway Bridge over the river of the same name. Up to 50 trains a day carrying supplies to support the Axis forces in North Africa rumble over the bridge in central Greece bound for the port of Piraeus. The bridge is located on the Salonika-Athens rail line about 130 miles (209 kilometers) from Athens. Protective cover is provided by two mutually suspicious Greek guerrilla detachments, one made up of E.D.E.S. nationalists and the other of E.L.A.S. Communists. In reprisal, 14 Greek hostages are executed by the Italian occupation forces. Ever since, Communists and rightists have argued about whose guerrillas deserved the greater glory at the bridge and in the war generally.

*NORTH AFRICA*: USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires and P-38 Lightnings fly widespread reconnaissance missions over coastal regions. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s escort minesweepers in the vicinity of Bengasi harbor. During the night of 25/26 November, RAF bombers bomb Tripoli harbor.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Five hundred thirty one Jewish women and children are seized and deported from Oslo to Auschwitz concentration camp in the suburbs of Oswiecim, Poland . Of the 740 Jews deported from Norway, only 12 survive the war. As many as 930 Norwegian Jews escape into Sweden.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 25/26 November, RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: three aircraft lay mines off Brest, two off Lorient and one off St. Nazaire.

Five RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands during the night of 25/26 November.


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## Njaco (Nov 27, 2007)

*26 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces closed the Don River, capturing Krasnoye, Generalov and Selo. The Russians noted the increased number of Luftwaffe supply missions over Stalingrad and changed tactics in order to destroy the German air force and starve the Germans in the city. It became the primary mission of the Soviet Air Force. At most of the airfields expected to assist in the Stalingrad airlift, the Russians were starting to press attacks on the ground. At the airbase at Oblivskaya, a motley crew of defenders led by Flak officer Eduard Obergehtmann repulsed a Soviet attack. The group was supplied by anti-tank Hs 129s and even a squadron of Hs 123 biplanes belonging to SchG 1. After moving from Millerovo to Frolov and Oblivskaya, II./SchG 1 began a maximum effort around Stalingrad at the cost of at least 8 Hs 129Bs, Hs 123As and Bf 109Es lost in ground attack missions or blown up to prevent capture by the on-coming Russians. Stab./SchG 1 was forced to abandon its base at Oblivskaya and withdrew to the west. 4 (Pz)./SchG 1 was deployed along the Chir front, west of Stalingrad. The airfield was used as the HQ for VIII Fliegerkorps and in the middle of the battle, General von Richthofen landed and asked for his Chief-of-Staff, General Fiebig. When told he was manning a machine gun, von Richthofen ordered General Fiebig and his staff back to Tazinskaya. Almost no supplies were dropped on Stalingrad during the day. As General Fiebig noted in his diary;


> "Weather atrocious. We are trying to fly but its impossible. Here at 'Tazi' one snowstorm succeeds another. Situation desperate."


 Despite the weather 12 aircraft did take off and brought only 24 cubic meters of fuel to Pitomnik airfield. Because of this poor showing by the Ju 52 units, General von Richthofen began gathering all available He 111 units to the area to drop supplies. Colonel Ernst Kuhl was given command of the situation and he ordered 2 Gruppen from his own KG 55 along with planes from I./KG 100, KGzbV 5, KGzbV 20 and KG 27, totaling about 190 Heinkels, to assist in the supply problem. For cover of the bombers-turned-transport he was given JG 3 and a Gruppe each of Stukas and anti-tank planes.

Operation 'Mars' continued as Konev (West Front) committed his second echelon and mobile forces to the breakthrough operations. Casualties in the lead 20th and 31st Armies were devestatingly high and little headway was made against the German defenders. The Soviet follow-up forces were being jammed into a desperately small bridgehead and German artillery played havoc with their approach march. The Germans countered by releasing 9.Panzerdivision to shore up their defense. On the western face, the Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps was committed. This attack was very successful tearing a hole in the German lines 20 km wide and 30 deep. The Germans countered by committing the 1.Panzerdivision and the elite Grossedeutschland division.

In the first 3 months after returning to operational duty, Oblt. Gunther Rall, Staffelkapitaen of 8./JG 52, raised his score to over 100 victories, being awarded the Eichenlaub by Hitler.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British First Army continues to advance. Blade Force engages in its first armored battle on the plain south of Mateur.The British 78th Division re-took Medjex el bab while US tank forces raided the airfield at Djedeida. Caught by surprise, the Luftwaffe suffered many losses on the ground, yet surprisingly the raid did not badly disrupt German air operations. The offensive began in the morning with a spearhead of more than 100 tanks from the 1st Battalion, US 1st Armoured Regiment. In the afternoon, 17 M3 tanks of Co. 'C' (Major Rudolph Barlow) on a recon mission pushed through German forces at Tebourba and El Bathan and arrived at Djedeida airfield. When the Americans realized the oppourtunity that they had, they quickly moved onto the airfield and began crushing or shooting up the many Axis aircraft located there. The tank crews claimed 20 or more aircraft destroyed and shot up buildings, supplies and the defending German troops. After the attack, the tanks fell back to join the rest of Blade Force, which bivouacked near Chouigui overnight. The Luftwaffe units based at Djedeida were I. and III./JG 53 with Bf 109Gs and II./StG 3 with Ju 87Ds. Most of II./StG 3 had moved to Djedeida on the afternoon of 20 November, although some of the unit's Ju 87s were still at El Aouina airfield near Tunis. II./StG 3 flew 4 successful missions earlier in the day and 48 sorties against vehicles and tanks. I. and III./JG 53 flew scrambles, sweeps and provided escort for the Stukas. Lt. Munzert of 2./JG 53 made the only claim by Djedeida-based fighters, claiming a Spitfire west of the airfield. Shortly afterwards the tanks appeared. There was great activity as the fighter pilots ran to their aircraft to take off. Arndt-Richard Hupfeld of 1./JG 53 recalled;


> "There was a mad scramble when British tanks reached out base. Messerschmitts took off in every direction. All of a sudden I saw a '109' coming straight toward me - a head-on collision would have been unavoidable had the other aircraft's cowling not flown off just as it was about to lift off, wherupon the other pilot closed the throttle and did not take off. I just cleared the other aircraft and thus avoided a catastrophe."


 Some fighter pilots got into the air and began to stafe the tanks, including Ofw. Hans Kornatz of 2./JG 53. The JG 53 pilots claimed to have set 8 tanks on fire. Lt. Jurgen Harder of 7./JG 53 wrote in a letter home;


> "We were at a rather exposed forward airfield, and at about 16.30 a big surprise raid by tanks hit our base. Suddenly there was shooting; 800m away there were 20 tanks rolling toward us. I just made it to my machine and took off 200m in front of the leading tank. To make a long story short, the fellows drove over the field firing wildly, setting the aircraft on fire and shooting up everything. And how! Several aircraft got airbourne and it happened that 6 were already in the air going after Spitfires that had made earlier strafing attacks. Now we set upon the tanks. Me's dove from all sides. It was a terrific scene, and machines burned on the ground below. We succeeded in setting 5 tanks on fire - 2 of them by me. Our men crouched down in their slit trenches and let the monsters roll past. Everything went according to plan; the servicable trucks fled the field overloaded and all reached Tunis by the next day. One could still call this good luck in bad - no aircraft lost and no men. Its a good thing we were in the air and were able to beat off the attack; otherwise it would have gone badly for the Gruppe. All this happened 30km from Tunis and we all figured that our encirclement would be completed during the night."


Although there are some inaccuracies in Lt. Harder's account, it gives a good idea of the chaos caused by the American tanks. I. and III./JG 53 were not seriously affected by the raid and both flew many missions during the last 5 days of November. II./StG 3 lost 24 Ju 87s. I./JG 53 flew at least 4 missions from Djedeida before transferring to Sidi Ahmed. III./JG 53 moved to El Aouina. One of these units escorted 2 Ju 87s from II./StG 3 to attack tank concentrations. II./StG 3 flew just 2 sorties then transferred to El Aouina.

Twelve USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly three missions against the port area at Tripoli, scoring direct hits on two vessels, one B-24 bombs a ship at Homs harbor while P-40s patrol over the Bengasi and Derna area. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 26/27 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off two Biscay Bay ports: two each lay mines off Lorient and St. Nazaire. (Syscom)

During the night of 26/27 November, 19 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. (Syscom)


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## Njaco (Nov 27, 2007)

*27 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe Don (von Manstein) was formed to relieve Stalingrad. Manstein was tasked with holding the line between Heeresgruppe Sud and Heeresgruppe A as well as conduct a relief attack to Stalingrad. Meanwhile, Red Army infantry and artillery poured across the Don River as new lines facing Stalingrad and facing outward against the expected relief attempt began to form. On the eastern end of the Rzhev salient, after regrouping from the disorganized appraoch march and river crossing against constant artillery attack, Konev and Zhukov launched their reserves against the German 39.Panzerkorps. Soviet casualties were appalingly high, but the bulk of 6th Tank Corps and some elements of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corp slipped between German strongpoints into the rear of the German lines. To the west, German resistance in the city of Belyi had been fierce. Russian reserves were being bled white in futile attacks against the city. Meanwhile the breakthrough south of the city went unexploited for lack of troops.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Lancasters and Stirlings to bomb Stettin but they are recalled and jettison their bombs in the North Sea.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Six USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Portolago Bay, Leros Island, hitting two vessels.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British troops were only 22 miles from Tunis. Tebourba, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Tunis, falls to the 11h Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army. A German counterattack on the town, supported by tanks and dive bombers, is thrown back. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, is attached to the British First Army.

Pilots of II./JG 2 scored several victories against the RAF. Oblt. Buhligen claimed 2 kills and one each went to Oblt. Dickfeld and Ofw. Goltzsch for a total of 4. Over Tunsia, II./JG 51 attacked a formation of Spitfires and claimed 7 shot down for no losses. Hptm. Hartmann Grasser claimed 2 Spitfires as did Fw. Anton Hafner of 4./JG 51. RAF 324 Wing recorded that of 5 sweeps made, two were badly bounced from cloud cover, but no details of the actual losses were recorded. Fw. Rudolf Beck of 9./JG 51 was killed in a flying accident.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Under a Fuhrerbefehl (Hitler Order) that vengeance attacks on southern England were to be carried out by fighter units, 2 Fw 190s from 5./JG 26 made the first attack on a railroad train on the Dungeness peninsula. The locomotive exploded and the flying debris damaged one of the Focke-Wulfs and it crashed, killing the pilot.

French Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, broadcasts from London a message to the French people stating that the Toulon fleet had scuttled itself to be spared;


> "...the supreme shame of seeing French ships become the ships of the enemy."


"Patriotic instincts" had swayed the spirits of the crews and their commanders.

*WESTERN FRONT*: To bolster the defenses around Paris, 9./JG 26, led by Lt. Otto Stammberger, flew to Beaumont-le-Roger airfield, south of Le Harve and became subordinated to III./JG 2.

The port of Toulon is occupied by the German 7.Panzerdivision, supported by the SS 'Battalion Langemarck' (from the "Das Reich" division) and the 10.Panzerdivision. Forewarned, Admiral Jean de Laborde, commander of the high seas fleet, orders his fleet scuttled and three battleships, seven cruisers 16 submarines and 50 other craft lie on the bottom of the harbor. He ensures that all ships scuttled will rest on even keels in the hope that some day they can be salvaged to sail for France again. It is not the French, but Italian engineers who are the first to salvage the ships. In nine months, Italian engineers are able to salvage 30 ships. They then confiscated the 30 vessels along with
everything that is salvageable above the waterline. Some items confiscated are the aircraft catapult and turret armor of the Battle Cruiser '_Strasbourg_', and the interior fittings of the battleship '_Dunkerque_'. Seven French destroyers and a submarine are either towed or sail on their own power to ports in Italy.

During the night of 27/28 November, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines in the River Gironde Estuary.

During the day, two RAF Bomber Command A-20's bomb a steel factory at Ijmuiden. During the night of 27/28 November, five RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines off Texel Island.


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## syscom3 (Nov 27, 2007)

*28 November 1942*

*EASTERN AFRICA*: Nearly one third of the Vichy-controlled garrison of Djibouti crosses into British Somaliland and declares its adherence to the Allies.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the Rzhev battles along the eastern face, local German counterattacks slowed the Soviet advance. The advanced elements of Konev's forces (6th Tank and 2nd Guard Cavalry Corps) were isolated from the rest of the front.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: The 6,796 ton troop transport HMT '_Nova Scotia_' en route from Aden to Durban, South Africa, is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-177 about 132 nautical miles (244 kilometers) northeast of Durban, South Africa. The ship is carrying 780 Italian POWs and 130 South African troops acting as guards plus 127 crewmen. Of the 1,037 aboard, 863 are lost.

Free French destroyer FFL '_Leopard_' enters the harbor at St. Denis, Reunion Island. A battery on the Galets peninsula opens fire but is quickly silenced and Vichy Governor Pierre Emile Aubert agrees to yield without further resistance. This 969 square mile (2 510 square kilometer) island is located about 425 miles (684 kilometers) east of Madagascar and about 110 miles (177 kilometers) west-southwest of Mauritius.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: For the third time this month, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack Turin. During the night of 28/29 November, 228 aircraft, 117 Lancasters, 47 Stirlings, 45 Halifaxes and 19 Wellingtons are dispatched: 195 bomb the target with the loss of three aircraft, two Stirlings and a Wellington. Part of the force bombs before the Pathfinders are ready but the remainder carry out very accurate bombing, some of it around the Royal Arsenal. Turin records 67 people killed and 83 injured. 

The Italian submarine R. Smg. '_Dessie_' is sunk by the British destroyer HMS '_Quentin_' and the Australian destroyer HMAS '_Quiberon_', now part of cruiser Force Q operating out of Bone, off the Tunisian coast northwest of Bone.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British First Army's 11th Brigade of the 78th Division and elements of Combat Command B (2d Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment), U.S. 1st Armored Division, reach the outskirts of Djedeida, 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Tunis. This is the point nearest Tunis to be reached until the final phase of the campaign. To the south, the Germans evacuate Pont-du-Fahs, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Tunis. At Gafsa, elements of the U.S. 1Ist Infantry Division (3d Battalion of Regimental Combat Team 26) are attached to the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

The British destroyer HMS '_Ithuriel_' is badly damaged in bombing attacks on the port area of Bone and not repaired.

Reinforcements for II./StG 3 were brought over from Sicily and on the 28th the unit was able to fly 5 missions and 24 sorties. II./StG 3 lost 27 Ju 87D-3/Trops and 4 Ju 87D-1/Trops to enemy action in November. Records of the Fliegerfuhrer Tunis indicated 8 Ju 87s lost to enemy action, and if the 24 were added from the Djedeida tank raid, the figures match almost perfectly.

In Tunisia, 35 B-17s of the US 97th BG (Heavy) and the newly-arrived 301st BG (Heavy) bombed Bizerte airfield and dock area and killed Lt. Theodore Eichler of II./JG 2 and his aircraft, an FW 190A-4, was damaged. Because of mud, no P-38 escort was provided. Two B-17s were lost to fighter attacks. B-26s of the newly-arrived 319th BG (Medium) bombed oil tanks, warehouses and rail yards at Sfax, marking the debut of US 12th AF medium bombers in North Africa.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The first production Ford-built B-24 Liberator rolls off the assembly line at Ford's massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In February 1942, the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war, and soon afterward the Willow Run plant was completed. Built specifically for Ford's war production, Willow Run is the largest factory in the world. Using the type of assembly line production that has made Ford an industrial giant, Ford hopes to produce 500 B-24s a month. After a gradual start, that figure is reached in time for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, and by July 1944, the Willow Plant is producing one B-24 every hour. By the end of the war, the 43,000 men and women who work at Ford's Willow Run plant have produced over 8,500 bombers, which unquestionably has a significant impact on the course of the war. 

The Air Forces Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Valpariso, Florida, is redesignated Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Vichy admiralty issues a statement on the scuttling of the fleet at Toulon. The action was taken;


> "...in accordance with the standing instruction dating from the time of the Franco-German armistice, which had ordered the fleet to scuttle rather than be taken over by a foreign power. When the Vichy Ministers for the Navy, Army, and Air Force were informed of the German Government's decision to occupy Toulon, Admiral Jean-Charles Abrial, Minister of Marine and Minister of Industrial Production in the Pierre Laval government, tried immediately to get in touch with the local authorities at Toulon, but could not do so."


During the night of 28/29 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 19 aircraft minelaying off Bay of Biscay ports: six lay mines off St. Nazaire; five off Lorient; four off Brest; and one in the River Gronde Estuary. Five other aircraft drop leaflets over French cities.


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## Njaco (Nov 28, 2007)

*29 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Konev's tank and cavalry force, cut off in the Rzhev battle, began breakout operations, moving west in an attempt to meet up with the 1st Mechanized Corp still advancing on that front. The carnage was incredible but large portions of the trapped forces escaped.

Oblt. Detlev Rowher, Staffelkapitaen of 2./JG 3, was badly wounded by flak during a low-level attack near Chir. He managed to bring his Bf 109G-2/R1 to friendly territory where he landed safely. His recovery period was a lengthy one.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Lancaster bombers demonstrated their unique lethality by dropping a new 8,000 lb bomb on Italian soil for the first time. There were 11 raids on Turin in the last 8 days and now, as well as the new Blockbuster bomb, the RAF hit the city with 100,000 IBs and other HE bombs. Two Stirlings and a Wellington went missing during the raids.

Following a raid on the Fiat works at Turin, F/S Rawdon Hume Middleton, RAAF, flew his aircraft back to England then ordered his crew out of his badly shot-up Stirling, and died when he crashed into the sea to avoid civilian casualties. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, the British First Army, after taking Tebourba on 27 Nov., was stalled at Djedeida. A Ju 87D-3/trop of II./StG 3 was badly shot up by AA fire and crashed on its return to Djedeida, killing the crew. In an effort to rejuvenate the drive on Tunis, elements of the British 1st Parachute Brigade were dropped at Depienne by US 12th AF C-47s, but the objective of capturing Oudna airfield and threatening Tunis failed because of an overwhelming defense of the airfield. The German infantry put up a heavy resistance. Over 300 casualties were suffered by the paratroopers.

P-38s and DB-7s attacked Gabes airfield while other US fighters operated with the RAF out of Bone, Algeria, furnishing air cover for ground units in the battle area.. Fw. Fritz Karch downed a Spitfire of RAF No. 152 Sqdrn on patrol over Bone airfield. Oblt. Buhligen and Ofw. Goltzsch from II./JG 2 also had kills this day. But with the victories came the damage. Fw. Ernst Bossecket of 5./JG 2 was wounded in a collision with a Bf 109 from 5./JG 53 at Bizerte airfield. And Fw. Alois Schnoll was wounded when he crash-landed at Bizerte following combat.

5./StG 1 arrived at Tunis / El Aouina after being delayed enroute by bad weather.


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## Njaco (Nov 29, 2007)

*30 November 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces began to probe German positions along the lower Chir River. Von Manstein managed to form up a scratch defense that was able to hold against the limited attacks.

The moment for withdrawing 6.Armee had passed. Vatutin, Rokkosovsky and Yeremenko had pushed well past the rear areas of von Paulus' forces, bringing 'Uranus' and 'Saturn' to a halt at the banks of the Don and Chir rivers. The 6.Armee was now over 40 miles from the front lines. Hitler felt that a fighting withdraw through the consolidated Russian positions without adequate armour or transport could only have a "Napoleonic ending". Unable to do anything meaningful about relieving the predictament of 6.Armee, Hitler resorted to propaganda. Now that the beseigers had been turned into the beseiged, Hitler proclaimed von Paulus' forces as 'Fortress Stalingrad'.

The first of Colonel Ernst Kuhl's combination transports and bombers was flown when 40 He 111 bombers flew with the few Ju 52s left available airlifting supplies to Stalingrad. After trying for almost an hour, the bombers finally landed at Pitomnik airfield, bringing - for the first time - 100 tons of supplies.

As the attacks by the 20th and 31st Armies against the Rzhev salient faltered, Zhukov reinforced failure by committing the 29th Army and 5th Tank Corps to the area.

Deportations of Polish Jews approach completion. Since the concentration camps opened, 600,000 Jews have been murdered at Belzec located on the Lublin-Lvov railroad line near Zamosc; 360,000 at Chelmno near Chelmno; 250,000 at Sobibor near Wlodawa; and 840,000 at Treblinka near the small town of the same name. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: As the 11th Brigade, British 78th Division, continues a losing battle at Djedeida, the British First Army prepares for an attack on Tunis by Blade Force and Combat Command B of the U.S. 1st Armored Division on 2 December. Combat Command B is concentrated in the Medjez el Bab area and Blade Force in the vicinity of Chouigui. By this time, Axis forces have about 15,500 fighting troops in Tunisia. (Syscom)

In Tunisia, B-17s bombed the north quay at Bizerte. B-26s hit the airfield and railroad at Gabes and DB-7s attacked a bridge and railway station at Djedeida. P-38s escorted all 3 missions. Other P-38s strafed Gabes airfield and shot down a Bf 109 in an aerial battle near Tunis. Lt. Horst Wunderlich of 6./JG 51 went missing after combat. Fw. Anton Hafner of 4./JG 51 claimed a P-38 southwest of Tunis. Elements of the British 1st Army remained hard pressed at Djedeida.

5./SchG 1 at Tunis - El Aouina flew its first combat mission against British tanks and vehicle columns near Tebourba.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The New York Times runs one of the first articles on the unfolding story of the Holocaust. That article, under the headline: "1,000,000 Jews Slain by the Nazis, Report Says" is only six paragraphs long and buried on page 7. (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In a meeting between RAF and USAAF officers at the Air Ministry, a joint decision is made on the allocation of responsibility, with the RAF to provide aerial defense of sectors in which U.S. airfields are located while the USAAF Eighth Air Forces VIII Fighter Command operates principally as escort for bomber strikes against the Continent. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Luftflotte 2 listed 89 Ju 87s on strength with 50 of them servicable. 3./JG 1 was renamed 6./JG 51. A new 3./JG 1 was formed at Wangerooge on the same date.

During the night of 30 November/1 December, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off La Pallice without loss. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Nov 30, 2007)

*1 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In the English Channel, the British antisubmarine warfare trawler HMS '_Jasper_' is torpedoed and sunk by the German motor torpedo boat S-81.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russian 8th and 16th Air Forces were assigned the destruction of the Stalingrad Airlift. A heavy snow brought down the tonnage of supplies delivered by the Luftwaffe from the high of 100 tons from the day before. The full impact of the harsh Russian winter set in. The Volga froze solid, allowing the Soviets to supply their forces in the city more easily. The trapped Germans rapidly ran out of heating fuel and medical supplies, and thousands started dying of frostbite, malnutrition and disease.

In early December KG 50 was transferred to Zaporozhye in south Russia for winter trials with 20 He 177As. Due to the worsening situation at Stalingrad, the unit was promptly applied to the transport role, although only 7 aircraft were servicable. On the first operation, the Gruppenkommanduer, Major Kurt Scheede was lost and the Heinkels were found to be totally unsuited for the transport role. The unit quickly reverted to bombing missions in support of the Army. I./KG 50 flew 13 missions and lost most of its aircraft.

2./JG 4 was formed in Mizil (Rumania) and joined 1./JG 4.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Germans launched a counter-offensive at Chouigni, Djedeida and Tebourba with air support including 23 Fw 190s of III./ZG 2. Later in the day, Fw 190s from II./JG 2 shot down a P-38 of the US 49th FS . I./KG 54 was employed to support the Wehrmacht south of Tebourba. The Axis forces forestalled an offensive, intended for 2 December, counterattacking strongly toward Tebourba with tanks and infantry supported by aircraft. Blade Force falls back with heavy tank losses. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, is attached to the British 78th Division to help hold the Tebourba area and moves forward to the vicinity of Tebourba. The concentration of the 78th Division, the first full division of the V Corps, British First Army, on the Tunisian front, is now complete.

From December 1942 onwards, the Luftwaffe attacked Tebessa and the nearby 12th AF airfields reguarly. The Luftwaffe bombed the railyards and trains traveling to the front. The US Air Force members in Eisenhower's Anti-Aircraft Artillery and Coast Defense Committee routinely screamed for more protection for the forward air bases.

The Allies began attacking Axis air bases in the Tunis / El Aouina areas. DB-7s and later B-17s, bombed El Aouina with P-38s escorting both forces. The first attack occurred at 09.00 hours and destroyed 30 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. A Bf 109 was shot down out of the sky by a 14th FG P-38 over the airfield. In the afternoon another Allied attack destroyed a further 15 airplanes on the ground. In the Djedeida area, P-38s on a sweep attack tanks northwest of the town.

With the support of the American and British governments, Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan assumes authority as the Chief of State in French North Africa.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The U.S. government imposes gasoline quotas to conserve fuel. The armed forces overseas have fuel aplenty, but in the U.S., gasoline becomes costly and hard to get. People start using bicycles and their own two feet to get around.

At major league baseball meetings in Chicago, Illinois, travel restrictions are the order of the day. Owners decide to restrict travel to a three-trip schedule rather than the customary four. Spring training in 1943 will be limited to locations north of the Potomac or Ohio Rivers and east of the Mississippi River.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Major General Ira C. Eaker replaces Major General Carl Spaatz as Commanding General USAAF Eighth Air Force. Spaatz flies to Algeria to serve as air adviser to Lieutenant General Eisenhower, Commanding General European Theater of Operations and Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force.


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## Njaco (Dec 1, 2007)

*2 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Stalingrad and Don Fronts launched massive attacks against the Germans encircled in Stalingrad. Fighting was very heavy and losses were high on both sides although little progress was made in reducing the perimeter. Further north, at Rzhev, the German 41.Panzerkorps began a counter-attack on the west face of the salient. That attack succeeded in destroying the Soviet 47th Mechanized Brigade.

Heavy snows and ice prevented the Luftwaffe from flying many missions over Stalingrad. It took hours to thaw out the airplanes and machines because there was no cover for repairs and aircraft were serviced in the open. Consequently the availablity rate fell to 25%.

*GERMANY*: A Canadian bomber crew gets key data on German airborne radar in a prelude to a big bomber offensive. They return badly shot up. During the night of 2/3 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 112 aircraft, 48 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 22 Stirlings and 15 Wellingtons to bomb Frankfurt;84 bomb the target and six aircraft, three Halifaxes and one each of the other types, are lost, 5.4 per cent of the force. There is thick haze and the Pathfinders are unable to establish the location of Frankfurt. Most of the bombing falls in country areas southwest of the city; it is possible that a decoy fire site is operating. Two aircraft bomb Mainz and one attacks Hochst.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: At 17.05 hours on 1 December HMS '_Quentin_' left Bone harbor with four other units of Force 'Q', - the British light cruisers HMS '_Aurora_' (Capt. W. G. Agnew, flying the flag of Vice Admiral C. H. J. Harcourt), HMS '_Argonaut_', HMS '_Sirius_' and "_Quentin's_" sistership, the Australian destroyer HMAS '_Quiberon_'. The purpose of the sortie was intercepting an Italian / German convoy in the Sicilian Narrows carrying tanks and 2,000 troops to North Africa. This convoy, designated 'H', sailing from Palermo and heading towards Bizerte, consisted of the Italian freighters "_Aventin_', '_Puccini_', '_Aspromonte_' and the German 'KT 1' and was escorted by Italian destroyers '_Nicoloso da Recco'_, '_Camicia Nera'_, '_Folgore_' and the Italian torpedo boats '_Procione_' and '_Clio_'. Force 'Q', proceeding at high speed, attacked the convoy on the night of 2 December, destroying it completely. The British naval squadron was guided to its target by RAF aircraft dropping flares. All 4 freighters and the '_Folgore_' were sunk, while '_Nicoloso da Recco_' and '_Procione_' sustained severe damage. Nearly 2,000 Italian soldiers and important supply goods for the German units in Tunisia were lost. The British suffered no damage, demonstrating once more their mastery of night attacks. As soon as the attack on the convoy became known, II Fliegerkorps received orders to intercept. The following morning, while returning to Bone, the ships of Force 'Q' were 50 nautical miles from Cap de Guarde (Algeria) when they came under air attack, first from German torpedo bombers of KG 26 then by a formation of 13 Ju 88s. At 03.15 hours, 12 He 111 torpedo bombers of I./KG 26 and 4 Ju 88 torpedo bombers of III./KG 26 took off from Sardinian airfields. These were followed shortly by aircraft from Sicily, who could put in the air 13 Ju 88 bombers of KG 54 in 3 groups of 3, 4 and 6 planes respectively. The first to attack the British ships were the torpedo bombers but due to poor weather, they reported attacking a convoy off La Galite island. The majority of the aircraft failed to find Force 'Q'. At 06.36 hours, in the uncertain predawn light, HMS '_Quentin_' was then attacked by 3 Ju 88s of I./KG 54 and the crews reported one 500 kg bomb hit in the side of the destroyer, leaving her dead in the water. The 2nd wave, of 4 more Ju 88s, dropped their bombs on 'Quentin' while the 3rd wave - 6 Ju 88s of III./KG 54 - bombed 'Quiberon', which was seen to stop and started trailing a large oil slick. The bombers then proceeded to Bone to attack harbor targets. '_Quentin's_' condition appeared to be desperate and the crew was removed by HMAS '_Quiberon_' while under attack. '_Quentin_' sank within 4 minutes, at 06.40 hours with 20 dead. At 08.55 hours - well over 2 hours after HMS '_Quentin_' had been hit - 8 S.79 torpedo bombers took off from Elmas airfield to search for and attack what remained of Force 'Q'. Five planes belonged to the 238th Squadriglia (Major Franco Melley) and 3 to the 280th Squadriligia (Capt. Guiseppe Cimicchi). Once in the air, Major Melley's plane had engine trouble and aborted the mission, while the remaining 7 planes carried on in single formation. Approaching the British ships, they were attacked by Spitfires. North of Bizerte, P/Os Hamblin and Lindsay, of RAF No. 242 Sqdrn, attacked first followed by Wing Cmdr Hugo, CO of RAF 322 Wing. Between them they shot down 4 of the torpedo bombers. The remaining 3 dropped their loads and reported overly optimistically to have hit a cruiser and a freighter. P/O Hamblin was shot down by defensive fire from the bombers and bailed out, never to be seen again.

*NORTH AFRICA*:The Allies continued attacks on German airfields with raids on the Tunis/El Aouina, Bizerte/Sidi Ahmed and Gabes airfields along with the harbor at Bizerte. Allied troops beat off an attack on Tebourba but lost 40 tanks. U.S. forces (2d Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment with the 3d Battalion of Regimental Combat Team 26, U.S.1st Infantry Division) in conjunction with French troops attack Faid Pass, 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Gafsa. B-17s hit the Bizerte/Sidi Ahmed area and B-25s attacked AA guns near the Gabes airfield. OB Sud reported bringing 174 aircraft into action this day: 53 bombers, 55 fighters, 13 fighter-bombers and 28 recon aircraft. The Luftwaffe lost 9 fighters shot down by the Allies during the day.

III./ZG 2 lost its Gruppenkommandeur when Hptm. Wilhelm Hachfeld - known as "Bomben Willi" because of his success with the Fw 190 Jabo - was killed when he collided with a landing Bf 109 as he was taking off. Hptm. Hans-Jobst Hauenschild of the 8th Staffel replaced him as Gruppenkommandeur. Oblt. Buhligen of II./JG 2 destroyed a Spitfire from RAF No. 72 Sqdrn over the German counter-offensive.

A Ju 87D-3/trop of II./StG 3 was shot down by a British fighter over Tebourka on the coast near the Tunisian-Algerian border. The Staffelkapitaen, Major Hans Einwachter and one other was killed. II./StG 3 and its Stukas then moved to Protville northwest of Tunis.

*NORTH AMERICA*: At the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, the first manmade, self-sustaining atomic chain reaction is achieved. In a squash court under the university (American) football stadium a group of scientists led by the Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, allows the "pile" of uranium, insulated by graphite rods, to run for 4.5 minutes, which produces just one half-watt of power, but proves man can control atomic power. Scientists wait in awe as the neutron counter clicked faster. Then Fermi raises his hand.


> "The pile has gone critical,"


he said. Someone telephoned Dr. James Conant, the head of defense science in Washington.


> "Jim," he said, "the Italian navigator has just landed in the new world."


*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 2/3 December, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets.


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## Njaco (Dec 2, 2007)

*3 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In the English Channel, the British escort destroyer HMS '_Penylan_' is sunk by a torpedo from the German Motor Torpedo Boat S-115, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of Start Point, Devon, England. She is escorting coastal convoy PW-257 at the time.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the past two days, the Russian Air force had destroyed 28 Luftwaffe aircraft over Stalingrad. From this date onwards, Luftwaffe losses increased from 30 to 40 aircraft demolished per day.

Several German divisions, previously stationed in France, began arriving in Heeresgruppe Sud, southwest of Stalingrad, in preparation of Operation "Winter Tempest" (Unternehmen Wintergewitter), the relief of the encircled 6.Armee.

*NORTH AFRICA*: 10.Panzerdivision launched limited attacks, capturing Djedeida and Terbourba. Major Herbert Wallace Le Patourel, Hampshire Regt., led 4 men at Terbourba, who after silencing several guns, all became casualties. He fought on alone until his capture. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

The British 1st Army finally withdrew from Terbourba as the German forces, through continous attacks, occupied the city during the night. The air battle intensified over Terbourba and Djedeida. Oblt. Buhligen, Oblt. von Bulow and Lt. Bansch of II./JG 2 each downed a Spitfire of RAF No. 152 Sqdrn but the Gruppe lost 2 pilots wounded against Spitfires from RAF No. 72 Sqdrn.

B-17s of the 97 BG (Heavy) hit the docks and shipping at Bizerte harbor. DB-7s, with P-38 escort, bombed El Aouina airfield. Six pilots of 11./JG 26 - half the strength of the Gruppe - were killed on the ground during another bombing raid by B-17s of the US 12 AF on the JG 26 airbase outside of Tunis. The B-17s were attacked by Bf 109s who were alerted to the raid by radar and were in the skies early. But the Messerschmitts were bounced by the escorting P-38s of the US 1st FG. Five P-38s were shot down for a loss of 3 Bf 109s. But the aerial losses combined with the loss of pilots on the ground forced the personnel of 11./JG 26 to disband and the remaining components to be incorporated within II./JG 51. Three additional Bf 109s were lost to fighters of the US 14th and 52nd FGs during the bombing attacks. II./KG 26 reported the loss of one Heinkel.

Bad weather and the ferocity of German dive-bombing attacks slowed the two-pronged Allied offensive, with American officers complaining to Lt.-General Eisenhower during a visit to the front-line. One officer asked him,


> "Why do we see nothing but Heinies?"


Allied troops advancing towards Tunis came face-to-face with a monster new weapon - 56 ton "Tiger" tanks mounting 88mm guns. Hitler had sent 5 of these giants to Tunisia as an "experiment". Two of these tanks played a significant part in the defeat at Terbourba.

French and American troops captured the Faid Pass in southern Tunisia. General Nehring reacted quickly to the Allied advance. Small detachments, mostly paratroopers, raced to take the vital towns of Sousse, Sfax and Gabes from the bewildered French garrision. The main Allied thrust along the hilly coastal road was checked by a German ambush at Djefria. British and American commandos landed on the coast to the east of this battle and blocked the road, but a fresh assault failed to relieve them and they were forced to withdraw.


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## Njaco (Dec 4, 2007)

*4 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russians attack Heeresgruppe Don along the Chir, tying up the German troops needed to open a relief corridor to 6.Armee. A new formation; Army Detachment Hollidt, is attached to 3rd Romanian Army. This theoretically consists of the ubiquitous 48.Panzerkorps, now made up of the 11. and 22.Panzerdivisions, the 3rd Mountain, and 7th and 8th Luftwaffe Field Divisions. Most of the 3rd Mountain never arrives; elements are shifted here and there to meet local demands from Heeresgruppe Mitte and Heeresgruppe A, and 22.Panzerdivision is in serious need of a refit. The Luftwaffe Field divisions are incapable of conducting offensive action, and the 15th such division, due to join the 57.Panzerkorps hasn’t even been formed yet. With all this working against him, Von Manstein’s troops are subjected to a blistering attack by 5th Tank Army, all along the Chir river. Army Detachment Hollidt, instead of launching a secondary thrust north towards the pocket, is forced to spread its forces thin and confront the new Russian offensive. The Russians are attacking from the north and northwest against the 44th Division. The 14.Panzerdivision is rushing in from reserve to help stop the attack. One German regiment lost 500 men. Suddenly the Russians are gone. Again it seems the attack is nothing serious. The Russians are following Zhukov's orders, more or less.

In Warsaw, a group of Polish Christians put their own lives at risk when they set up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews led by two women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz. The fates of Kossak and Filipowicz are unclear so it is uncertain whether their mission is successful, but the very fact that they established the Council is evidence that some brave souls are willing to risk everything to help persecuted Jews. Kossak and Filipowicz are not alone in their struggle to help; in fact, only two days after the Council is established, the SS rounds up 23 men, women, and children, and locked some in a cottage and some in a barn-then burned them alive. Their crime: suspicion of harboring Jews.

During the night of 4/5 December, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines off Gdynia.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the first raid on Italy's mainland, 20 B-24s of the 98th and 376th BG (Heavy) of the US 9th AF, attacked the Italian fleet and docks at Naples, sinking the light cruiser "_Muzio Attendolo_". The cruiser "_Montecuccoli_" was badly damaged and the cruiser "_Eugenio di Savoia_" and 4 destroyers were less seriously damaged. Some 159 people died and 358 were injured. Hits were also scored on numerous harbor installations and a railroad yard. The raid by long-range Liberators changed the Mediterranean scene. Naples had been free of raids since Rommel took Allied coastal airfields in North Africa 6 months ago. Now it was back in range of Allied bombers.

*NORTH AFRICA*: German forces capture Tebourba.

RAF Nos. 18 and 614 Sqdrns lost a whole flight of eleven Bisley (Blenheim V) bombers by some 50 to 60 German fighters from JG 53 and II./JG 2 during an attack on Sidi Ahmed. Lt. Karch of II./JG 2 claimed 1 of the bombers and Oblt. Meimberg of Stab II./JG 53 was credited with 3 of the bombers destroyed. Acting Wing-Cdr Hugh Gordon Malcolm was shot down and killed while leading the bombers of RAF No. 18 Sqdrn. He led his bomber squadron with great daring in previous weeks and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

B-17s bombed shipping and docks at Bizerte while B-26s, with fighter escort, attacked the same target a half hour later. During the attack, the Luftwaffe lost 5 Bf 109s and one Bf 110 while escorting Ju 88 bombers to fighters of the US 1st, 14th and 52nd FG. The 52nd lFG ost Lt. Walter A. Kari who became the 52nd's first combat casuality, shot down over Tunisia. Lt. Stephen Freel was shot up by an attacking Bf 109 over Terbourba, but managed to make it back to Bone, only to die when his aircraft crashed on landing. Multiple kills were claimed by several Luftwaffe fighters including Ofw. Otto Schultz of 4./JG 51 (2 Spitfires), Fw. Erich Paczia from 6./JG 53 (3 bombers and 1 fighter), Lt. Fritz Dinger of 4./JG 53 (2 bombers and 1 fighter) and Oblt. Julius Meimberg of Stab II./JG 53 (3 bombers).

*NORTH AMERICA*: Two hundred forty four US Congressmen present a petition for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

FDR orders dismantling of Works Progress Administration.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: During the night of 4/5 December, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off the Danish island of Bornholm off the southeastern tip of Sweden.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 4/5 December, 22 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Dec 5, 2007)

*5 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The USN gunboat USS '_Erie_', damaged on 12 November was moved to Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands West Indies to facilitate salvage on 28 November. Before the repairs could be completed, she begins to take on a starboard list, and when counterflooded, capsizes to port and sinks.

*CENTRAL AFRICA*: Three British antisubmarine warfare trawlers, HMS '_Canna_', '_Bengali_' and '_Spaniard_', are berthed in the harbor at Lagos when a petrol (gasoline) spill catches fire engulfing the three ships. One by one they explode and in the process kill around 200 people. Fishing trawlers are used extensively during the war on escort duties and mine sweeping.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 7./JG 52's Ofw. Alfred Grislawski's 72nd victory was possibly a I-16 piloted by Starshina Anton Nasonov of 84 IAP - reported shot down by a Bf 109 4 to 5km north of Belorechenskaya at around 12.20 hours Russian time. That area is PQ 44721, where Grislawski's victory was claimed. Belorechenskaya is situated between Ordzhonikidze and Nalchik in the Caucasus. No other German fighter pilot claimed an I-16 in that area on that day.

Uffz. Herbert Bachnick was posted to 9./JG 52.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A USAAF Twelfth Air Force F-4 Lightning flies photographic reconnaissance over southern Sardinia.

*NORTH AFRICA*: B-17s bombed the docks and shipping at Tunis while B-25s hit the Sidi Ahmed airfield followed by a raid by DB-7s as another force of DB-7s hit Faid. Each raid was escorted by P-38s.

The Allied attacks on Luftwaffe airfields were forcing the Germans to move their bases from the front. The Luftwaffe began abandoning all the airfields within 90 miles of the battle front at El Alhelia. In addition to the airfields, the Allies began to target shipping facilities to hamper the flow of German troops and arms. The port facilities at Tunis along with the airfield at Bizerte were heavily targeted. The Allies shot down 2 Bf 109s over the Bizerte airbase.

The Combined Chiefs of Staff approve Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower's plan to attack on 9 December. Eisenhower is the Supreme Commander Allied Force. The British First Army is handicapped by lack of advanced airfields, overextended supply lines, and lack of reserves. While preparations are being made for the attack, Allied aircraft are conducting strikes against ports to limit the Aixs build-up.

P-38s fly reconnaissance over wide areas of Tunisia, a B-17 photographs the Sousse-Sfax- Gabes area.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Headquarters USAAF inactivates the I Concentration Command. This unit was tasked for the final preparation for unit movements overseas and this task is now assigned to the First through Fourth Air Forces and the Air Transport Command.

The Selective Service System is placed under the War Manpower Commission by Presidential executive order.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A USAAF B-17 en route from North America to the United Kingdom crash lands on the beach at Mullaghmore, County Sligo. After interrogation at the local pub, the five man crew is taken to the border with Northern Ireland and released.

During the night of 5/6 December, six RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.


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## Njaco (Dec 6, 2007)

*6 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The 18,713 ton troop ship SS '_Ceramic_' is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-515 about 620 nautical miles WNW of Lagens Field, Azores Islands. The ship had departed Liverpool, England, on 23 November and steaming independently to Australia carrying 633 crewmen, troops and nurses. There is only one survivor, Royal Engineer sapper, Eric Munday, who is taken on board the U-boat to spend the rest of the war in a German POW camp. The rest of the crew and passengers are left to perish in the stormy seas. Allied propaganda claims that the '_Ceramic's _survivors are machine-gunned in the water; this is a big lie. It is many months before the British Admiralty learns what happened to the '_Ceramic_' as she sank before any distress signal could be sent. (_*In April 1944, American warships caught up with and sank U-515. Captain Werner Henke, who had already sunk 26 ships, was shot two months later trying to escape from a prison camp in Virginia, though from the way he calmly started to climb the fence in broad daylight in full view of the guards and refuses an order to stop suggests that he was committing suicide to avoid being tried as a war criminal over the 'Ceramic' disaster. Royal Engineer Eric Monday, the only passenger rescued from the sinking would survive the war. - submitted by Hobilar)*_.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Gruppenstab of II./SchG 1 and 6./SchG 1 were operating from Rossosh, just west of the Don River and to the northwest of Kharkov, shooting up Russian tanks that were driving deep into the Rumanian 3rd Army and Italian 8th Army, while 7./SchG 1 remained in the Stalingrad area with its Hs 123s, flying from Morosovskaya with 8(Pz)./SchG 1.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 6/7 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 272 aircraft, 101 Lancasters, 65 Halifaxes, 57 Wellingtons and 49 Stirlings, to Mannehim; 229 bomb the city and one bombs Karlsruhe. Ten aircraft Mannheim, five Wellingtons, three Halifaxes, a Lancaster and a Stirling, are lost, 3.1 per cent of the force. Four more aircraft crash in England. The target area is found to be completely cloud-covered. Most of the Pathfinders withhold their flares and many of the 220 crews who bomb do so on dead-reckoning positions. Mannheim reports only 500 or so incendiary bombs and some leaflets. There are no casualties in Mannheim.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Italian submarine R.N. '_Porfido_' is torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS/M '_Tigris_' about 80 nautical miles NNE of Bone, Algeria.

*NORTH AFRICA*: A German attack penetrates the positions of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, on the El Guessa heights.

Twelfth Air Force DB-7s, with fighter escort, bomb the bridge over the Medjerda River at El Bathan. F-4 and P-38 Lightnings fly patrols and reconnaissance missions over parts of Algeria and Tunisia. Ninth Air Force B-24s sent to attack shipping at Tobruk fail to locate the target due to bad weather, but a few bombers manage to bomb Misurata and two Aix airfields. Meanwhile, P-40s fly top cover for RAF aircraft attacking Marble Arch.

II./JG 27 was to remain nearly a month longer than the rest of the Geschwader before it, too, passed its aircraft over to JG 77 and finally departed. During that time - based at Merduma, just across the provincial border in Tripolitania - it lost 3 pilots killed but claimed 6 Allied fighters destroyed. The last one of all, fittingly a Kittyhawk, went to a pilot of 6 Staffel (Lt. Hans Lewes - it was his first victory) during the Gruppe's final sortie in the morning. Then JG 27's 20 month African odyssey was over.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The war in the air reached a stage where German bombers hardly ventured into British skies, while Bomber Command pounded German cities every night. It was, however, a time of some concern for the RAF. Bomber losses during the year were high with 1,453 aircraft lost and 2,724 damaged in action. There were still only 200 Lancasters in service and the Germans had learned how to jam 'Gee', the navigational device. In other areas, Fighter Command continued its often costly sweeps across France; Coastal Command - the 'Cinderella Command' - was at last getting the aircraft it needed. And in the Middle East the RAF had learned how to support an army in the field.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 24: 103 heavy bombers are dispatched with 19 attacking Drucat Airfield at Abbeville; six bomb the target with one aircraft lost; 66 are dispatched against the Atelier d'Hellemmes locomotive works at Lille; 36 bomb the target with the loss of one aircraft. Eighteen other aircraft fly a diversion.

RAF Bomber Command flies Operation OYSTER, a special raid carried out by all of the operational day-bomber squadrons in No. 2 Group. Their targets are the Philips radio and valve (electron tube) factories in the town of Eindhoven. Ninety three aircraft take part in the raid, 47 (PV-1) Venturas Mk. Is of RAF No. 21, RAAF No. 464 and RNZAF No. 487 Squadrons, 36 (A-20) Boston IIIs of Nos. 88, 107, and 226 Squadrons and ten Mosquito Mk. IVs of No.105 and No.139 Squadrons; 83 aircraft actually bomb. One of the Mosquitos is a photographic aircraft. Eindhoven is well beyond the range of any available fighter escort thus the raid is flown at low level and in clear weather conditions. Bombing is accurate and severe damage is caused to two factories in the complex, which is situated in the middle of the town. Because the raid is deliberately carried out on a Sunday, there are few casualties in the factory but several bombs fall in nearby streets and 148 Dutch people and seven German soldiers are killed. Full production at the factory is not reached again until six months after the raid. The bomber casualties are heavy: nine Venturas, four Bostons and a Mosquito are lost over the Netherlands or the sea. This is a loss rate of 15 percent for the whole force; the Venturas, the aircraft with the poorest performance, suffer 19 per cent casualties. Three more aircraft crashed or force-land in England and most of the other aircraft are damaged, 23 by bird strikes! In addition to the force engaged in Operation 'Oyster' 22 B-17s from the 11th CCRC and 306th BG conducted a diversionary raid but the 11th CCRC turned back after an abort signal was given as Luftwaffe fighters were tracked approaching the bomber formations. 6 B-24s of the 68th BS did not recieve the recall signal and continued to the target. Fighters from JG 26 attacked, joined by more fighters from 6./JG 1. Oblt. Leonhardt of 6./JG 1 destroyed a B-17 to become the first 4-engined bomber shot down by JG 1. Uffz. Heinrich Schnell of 3./JG 26 destroyed a 4-engined bomber west of Etaples. Fighter squadrons from 7 Allied countries took part in protecting the bombers part of the way. Among them were 2 from the Royal Norwegian Air Force, a famous Free French squadron and 3 from the USAAF. Crack Polish squadrons flew alongside others from Canada and New Zealand and this truly Allied effort was completed by battle-hardened RAF units. They made independant sweeps to draw off enemy fighters and provided cover for the British light bombers. As the RAF bombers crossed over II./JG 1's airbase at Woendrecht, a Ventura was shot down by the AA fire of the field defenses. The fighters of II./JG 1 were already in the air and began attacking the B-17 force over Lille. Ofw. Hans Ehlers and Uffz. Wloschinski each claimed a bomber shot down - Ehler's 17th and Wloschinski's first kill.

During the night of 6/7 December, 13 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters and Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.


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## syscom3 (Dec 7, 2007)

*7 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: After 5 days of heavy fighting and suffering serious losses, the Soviets suspended attacks by the Don and Stalingrad Fronts in the Stalingrad pocket. Outside the pocket, the Soviets launched probing attacks against the Germans along the Chir River which were repulsed by counterattacks from the 11.Panzerdivision. Their goal had been the airfields that were supplying Stalingrad.

Further north, German attacks on the west face of the Rzhev salient intensified as 30. and 41.Panzerkorps ( 5 Panzer divisions in all) hit the Soviet 41st Army near Belyi. Fighting was intense.

*GERMANY*: The Gestapo arrests over 700 young people, alleged members of a group called "Edelweiss Pirates".

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Jabos of III./ZG 2 attacked the airfield at Souk el Arba and destroyed a number of RAF aircraft on the ground. But the Allies continued their bombing of port facilities. B-17s, escorted by P-38s, attacked docks and shipping at Bizerte. Escorted DB-7s attacked tanks in the Terbourba / El bathan area where elements of the British First Army continued to be hard pressed. Other DB-7s sent to bomb La Hencha and Sousse aborted because of bad weather. Over Sfax airfield, a pair of Ju 52 transports were shot down by P-38s of the US 14th FG.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USS '_New Jersey_' BB-62 is launched from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. This battleship is one of the Iowa class. One year after the "day of infamy" at Pearl Harbor, the US Navy today launched 15 ships, including the biggest battleship ever built. The huge USS '_New Jersey_' slid down the ways at the Philadelphia Navy Yard almost on the hour of last December's attack.

Elsewhere in America, an aircraft carrier, two destroyers, a submarine, six minesweepers, two escort craft, a destroyer tender and what the navy called a "special" ship were launched. All this was a tangible demonstration of Franklin D. Roosevelt's message to the people: that the day of surprise was a year ago, the period of defence is over and the offensive is under way.


> "Coral Sea, Midway, the Solomons, New Guinea and North Africa are shining examples of [our] power,"


 the president said. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the chief of the Pacific Fleet, said that victory has been assured over the Japanese because the "sea lane across the greatest of oceans has been made safe. The optimism is tempered by official statistics: 58,307 casualties in the year, a massive 35,822 of which occurred in the Pacific theatre. Many are classified as missing and presumed to be prisoners of war. More than one million US servicemen are now in action.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Halifax bomber based at Rufforth airfield near York, after a bombing run to Genoa, ran short of fuel after 11 hours in the air and was forced to ditch into the river Humber. 3 of the crew were killed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Fw 190A-3 of 12./JG 5 crashed at Bodo. Uffz. Engelbrecht Kahlert was killed.


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## Njaco (Dec 7, 2007)

*8 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two German submarines are sunk:
- U-254 (Type VIIC) collides with U-221 and sinks about 652 nautical miles NE of St. John's, Newfoundland. Only six of the 47 crewmen survived.
- U-611'(Type VIIC) is sunk about 561 nautical miles SW of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from a British Liberator Mk. III, aircraft "B" of a detachment of No.120 Squadron based at Reykjavik. All 45 crewmen are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 7./JG 52's Ofw. Alfred Grislawski's 75th victory - noted as a MiG-1 - was possibly a misidentification for the LaGG-3 piloted by 862 IAP's Leytenant Amosov, which crashed burning southeast of Urukh. Other German fighter pilots claimed several Soviet fighters in the Caucasus area, but none of them in the vicinity where Amosov's LaGG-3 was shot down.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command lay mines off four areas: four aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight off Heligoland Island, two each lay mines in the River Elbe Estuary and Kiel Harbor, and one lays mines in the Fehmarn Channel in the western Baltic.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 133 aircraft, 108 Lancasters, nine Halifaxes, nine Wellingtons and seven Stirlings, to bomb Turin; 119 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of one Lancaster. The Pathfinders illuminate the target well and bombing is very accurate. Residential and industrial areas are both extensively damaged. Turin reports 212 dead and 111 injured. Fires from this raid are still burning the following night.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, German counter-attacks hit the American forces at El Guettrar. In the first major contact between the Germans and Americans, US forces fought with great confusion and retreated in disorder. General Gause led the German forces in capturing Bizerte, taking 4 French destroyers, 9 submarines and 3 other warships.

U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Force, gives British Lieutenant General K. A. N. Anderson permission to withdraw the British First Army from areas west of Tebourba and east of Medjez el Bab to more favorable positions slightly to the west from which to prepare for the move on Tunis.

In Libya, P-40s flew fighter-bomber missions in the battle area east of El Aghelia. In the morning battle with US 57th FG P-40s, 7 Bf 109s were lost over the Marble Arch airfield. Weather prevented operations of all bomber and fighter units in eastern Algeria.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters patrol in the Oran-La Senia- Tafaraoui area. Weather prevents operations of all bomber and fighter units in eastern Algeria. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly fighter-bomber missions in the battle area east of El Agheila; the American claim seven enemy aircraft shot down.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The British Parliament lowers the conscription age, by six months, to 18-years-old. The manpower shortage in Britain is becoming severe.

A USAAF Eighth Air Force VIII Bomber Command study of air attacks on submarine pens in France indicates that available U.S. bombs are incapable of penetrating roofs of the pens from any bombing level low enough to maintain accuracy.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 8/9 December, 19 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.

During the night of 8/9 December, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines off Copenhagen while four lay mines in the Great Belt, the strait between Sjaelland and Fyn Island.

During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off three areas: 19 lay mines in the Frisian Islands with the loss of one; and five each lay mines in the Cadet Channel, with the loss of one, and The Sound.


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## syscom3 (Dec 9, 2007)

*9 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The U.S. 7,057 ton armed freighter SS '_Coamo_' is en route from Gibralter to New York when she disappears without a trace. There are 186 persons aboard, 133 crew, 37 Armed Guards and 16 Army personnel and all are lost, the greatest tragedy to befall a single crew on a US Merchant Marine ship in WWII. It is later learned that the German submarine U-604 torpedoed and sunk a single-funneled freighter off Bermuda today and the ship sunk by the submarine is probably SS '_Coamo_.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Two British ships are torpedoed: Destroyer HMS '_Porcupine_' is escorting submarine depot ship HMS '_Maidstone_' from Gibraltar to Algiers, Algeria, when she is torpedoed by German submarine U-602 about 65 nautical miles NNE of Oran, Algeria. The destroyer is declared a total loss and is scrapped in England on 6 May 1946.

Three Italian S79 torpedo bombers of the 254^ Squadron of Group 105 attacked the ships of convoy 'MKS 31' to the west of Algiers, sinking the British corvette '_Marigold_'. Six He 111s of II./KG 26 sank the French steamboat "_Mascot_' off the east coast of Carbon Head (Bougie).

RAF Bomber Command dispatches 227 aircraft, 115 Lancasters, 47 Halifaxes, 40 Wellingtons and 25 Stirlings to bomb Turin; 200 bomb the city with the loss of two Wellingtons and a Lancaster lost. This is a disappointing raid with the Pathfinders not able to perform as efficiently as on the previous night. Smoke from old fires partially obscures the target area. Turin records 73 more people killed and 99 injured.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Heavy rains stop most Twelfth Air Force air operations in eastern Algeria and Tunisia; a few P-38s fly reconnaissance south of Gafsa. In Algeria, P-40s flew an intercept mission over Youks-les-Bains. A Ju 88 bomber was shot down by the newly arrived US 33rd FG. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly a fighter sweep over the El Agheila region.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The U.S. Army is reorganized into three autonomous forces: Army Air Forces, Ground Forces and Services of Supply.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, one each RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the marshalling yard at Creil and a railroad tunnel at Vierzy. During the night of 9/10 December, 11 RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

During the day, an RAF Bomber Command Mosquito bombs the power station at Hengelo. During the night of 9/10 December, two RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Dec 10, 2007)

*10 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German's counterattack at Belyi succeeded in cutting off the Soviet's 41st Army, destroying the only success Zhukov had enjoyed in Operation 'Mars'. Little ground is gained at Rzhev by the small German counterattack. Despite the failure of his operation, he doggedly ordered fresh formations thrown into the meat grinder ay Rhzev.

*GERMANY*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler replaces Colonel General Franz Halder with Colonel General Kurt Zeitzler as chief of staff of the Oberkommando des Heeres (high command of the German Army or OKH).

*NORTH AFRICA*: German tank-infantry columns attack Medjez el Bab from the northeast and east and are repulsed. The Medjez garrison of four French battalions has been reinforced by the British 1st Guards Brigade. During the night of 10/11 December, the 11th Brigade of the British 78th Division and Combat Command B of the U.S. 1st Armored Division begin a withdrawal to the Bdja area to refit, Combat Command B sustaining heavy loss of equipment as it withdraws.

Due to heavy rains and waterlogged airfields, aerial activity in the Algiers-Tunisia area practically ceased. Major Joachim Muncheberg, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77 had to force land after his Bf 109G-2 sustained battle damage after combat with British P-40 Kittyhawks. A Bf 109 was lost over Marble Arch aitfield, shot down by P-40s of the US 57th FG.


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## Njaco (Dec 11, 2007)

*11 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army retains the initiative, making progress in the Stalingrad sector and in the Caucasus Mountains; sharp thrusts are continued against the Germans on the central and northern fronts without materially changing the situation. The German 6.Armee, isolated between the Don and Volga Rivers on the Stalingrad front, is under strong pressure. German Heeresgruppe A withdraws their main line of resistance in the vicinity of the Terek River in the Caucasus. The Germans finally realized that their attempt to take Baku and the rich oil fields of the Caucasus had failed and began to withdraw from Elista and Mozdok. Zhukov launched fresh attacks from the Vazusa River bridgehead as the Soviet 20th and 29th Armies supported by 350 tanks from the 5th and 6th Tank Corps. Despite the amount of men and material thrown into the attack, the Germans held and inflicted losses on the Russians. General Fiebig and Quartermaster Kurt Stollberger flew into the Stalingrad pocket to discuss the situation with General von Paulus. Paulus berated Fiebig on the complete failure of the airlift and stated he needed 600 tons of supplies a day, not the less than 100 he was getting. Paulus asked if the airlift could be stepped up in order to effect a breakout that was being planned. He ordered that the priority of supplies be fuel and ammunition.

The Soviet submarine SC-212 is lost after 11 Dec near Fiodonisi Island due to a Romanian minefield. All 44 crewmen are lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Eighteen USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbor and surrounding areas at Naples with good results; one B-24 is lost.

During the night of 11/12 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 82 aircraft and the Pathfinders, 48 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, eight Stirlings and six Wellingtons, to bomb Turin but more than half of the force turns back before attempting to cross the Alps, because of severe icing conditions; 28 crews claim to have bombed Turin but the city reports only three high-explosive bombs and a few incendiaries, with no casualties. Three Halifaxes and a Stirling are lost.

German submarine U-443 torpedoes and sinks the British escort destroyer HMS '_Blean_' about 60 nautical miles WNW of Oran, Algeria; 89 crewmen are lost. The destroyer is escorting the fast convoy KMF-4 (U.K. to Gibraltar to Alexandria, Egypt).

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Montogomery resumed Eighth Army's advance. Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, issues orders for an attack on El Agheila on 14 December. Another German attack on Medjez el Bab from the north and east is repulsed. The British 6th Armoured Division begins arriving in the forward area. Combat Command B, U.S.1st Armored Division, is relieved in the Bedja area by the 11th Brigade, British 78th Division, and is placed in V Corps reserve. Under direct and flanking attacks, Rommel abandoned El Aghelia and withdrew to defenive lines at Beurat on the approaches to Triploi. By now he had decided to make his main stand on the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia.

Air action is stepped up in preparation for the offensive. USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s with fighter escort, attack the rail bridge at La Hencha while P-38s fly sea patrol off the north coast and over the Gulf of Tunis and reconnaissance over the Sousse region. USAAF Spitfires sweep over Medjez el Bab and Bone. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly several fighter-bomber missions and sweeps over the battle area in preparation for the ground assault on El Agheila.

One of the Allied fighter sweeps in the afternoon was intercepted by units of JG 77. Hptm. Heinz Baer, Lt Heinz-Edgar Berres and Hptm. Kurt Ubben all added to their scores while Lt. Horst Marotzke of 9./JG 77 went missing after a scramble near Arco Philaenrum.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A nighttime Luftwaffe raid on England caused some damage. Two bombs fell in Princess Street, Murton demolishing 4 houses, partly demolishing 2 others and damaging 58 houses and 1 butcher shop. At 05.10 hours a parachute flare fell in Murton Colliery Yard, about 30 yards from an explosive store and stacked lumber. The flare failed to ignite. About the same time 2 delayed action bombs exploded in the sea off Seaham. 2 IBs also fell in Seaham without causing any damage. An IB dropped at Dawdon set fire to a house, bringing down an electric cable and damaging a gas main. One person was killed. The roof of a house on Embelton Street, Dawson was damaged by shrapnel. 2 HEs fell at Littlethorpe, Easington and failed to explode. 200 to 250 IBs fell near Hart, causing no damage or casualties. One HE fell in a field at Hart causing a large crater, damaging a number of houses, greenhouses, hen houses and piggery by the blast. The Germans stated that,


> "extensive fires and destruction" was wrought by "waves of bombers"


at Sunderland. The total force overland was in fact less than 10 aircraft and although flares were dropped in Sunderland, it was not bombed at all.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Cockleshell Heroes Raid. Ten British commandos in five two-man canoes launched from a submarine carry out an attack on enemy shipping in the port of Bordeaux, Three canoes are lost but the remaining two paddle 70 miles up river to plant limpet mines on ships in the harbour. Six vessels are disabled. Two commandos are drowned on route, six are captured and executed, and two make it back to England.

During the night of 11/12 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three Bay of Biscay ports: Six aircraft lay mines off La Pallice, five off Lorient and four off St. Nazaire. Three other aircraft drop leaflets in the Rouen area.

During the night of 11/12 December, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Dec 12, 2007)

*12 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Unternehmen Wintergewitter - German morale recieved a boost when word spread that Hitler had ordered von Manstein to mount a relief operation and open a supply corridor to von Paulus at Stalingrad. Von Manstein would launch Unternehmen Wintergewitter (Operation Winter Storm) from the southeast under the most improbable of circumstances. A relief column consisting of elements from 14.Panzerkorps would attempt to punch a hole in th encirclement and link up with a 6.Armee detachment driving from the southeast of the city. Von Manstein's relief column was as hopeless an effort as the airlift. General von Manstein commenced Wintergewitter by sending Battle Group Hoth ( a hastily assembled force of 13 divisions, including 3 panzer divisions with about 230 tanks) forward in the area around Kotelnikovo. Initial attacks hit the Soviet 51st Army which gave ground but remained intact. The German panzers did penetrate the outer ring of Soviet forces in spite of a severe blizzard. But Russian resistance stiffened while German supply problems mounted the further they pushed into territory held by the Red Army. Von Manstein must have known his Division-sized force had no hope of accomplishing what the combined efforts of 4.Panzerarmee and 6.Armee had been unable to do - punch through the ring of Red artillery and armour.

Ofw. Alfred Grislawski of 7./JG 52's 82nd victory - shot down south of Bechoy-Urt - was possibly the I-16 of Leytenant Viktor Sukhov (Zveno commander in 84 IAP). No other German fighter pilot claimed to have shot down an I-16 in that area. Actually, Sukhov was the next 84 IAP pilot to get killed after the loss of Starshina Nasonov - also shot down by Grislawski on 5 December.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: While attacking a convoy in the Gulf of Naples the British submarine HMS/M P-222 is sunk by depth chargers from the Italian torpedo boat R.N. '_Fortunale_'.

British submarine HMS/M '_Traveller_' left Malta on 28 November for a patrol in the Gulf of Taranto. She also had to reconnoitre Taranto harbour on the Italian "heel" for a Chariot human torpedo attack (Operation PORTCULLIS). She is reported overdue today and is presumed lost on Italian mines in her patrol area.

RAF (B-24) Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group, under operational control of the USAAF IX Bomber Command, attack the dock area at Naples.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Blade Force, British First Army, is dissolved, component elements reverting to parent units. The British 6th Armoured Division is in contact with the Germans east and southeast of Medjez el Bab.

Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with P-38 escort, bomb the rail facilities and harbor area at Tunis; B-26s on a mission to bomb at Sousse or La Hencha abort due to very bad weather; and P-38s and P-40s fly widespread reconnaissance operations.

Italian midget submarines sink four ships in the harbor at Algiers.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly sweeps and attack ground forces in the El Agheila and Brega areas.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the US 8th AF's Mission 25, 90 bombers were dispatched to bomb 2 targets in France with 78 B-17s dispatched to the Rouen-Sotteville Marshalling Yard. But heavy cloud cover forced all but 17 of the bombers to abort the raid. The remaining bombers dropped their loads on the rail station and lost 2 bombers. A diversion was flown against the Abbeville/Drucat airfield by 12 aircraft but the target was overcast and the planes returned without attacking.

Four merchant ships, one tanker and a naval auxiliary moored in Bourdeaux, 60 miles (97 kilometers) from the sea, erupt in the morning as limpet mines stuck to their hulls by British canoe commandos blow up. This was known as Operation FRANKTON. Royal Marine raiders had paddled 81 miles (130 kilometers) through Europe's most dangerous estuary in icy conditions, for five nights, to reach their target. There is no plan to recover survivors. Initially five heavily-laden canoes carrying ten men left the submarine HMS/M '_Tuna_' 10 miles south of the Gironde estuary. They had to paddle north, round Pointe de Grave and then south down the Gironde River, through tidal races. The first casualties were swept away in heavy seas offshore and taken prisoner and executed. Near the Pointe, 5-foot (1,5 meter) waves capsize a second two-man canoe. The men clung to other cockles, but had to be ordered to let go, a death sentence in such cold water. One whispered:


> "That's all right sir, I understand;"


One man was never found and the second drowned. In the river mouth a third canoe was swept off course; the two men were captured and executed. Two cockles and four men survived to attack the fast merchant-men vital to Bordeaux's supply line. The men were Major Hasler, aged 28, his partner Marine Sparks, and Corporal Laver with Marine Mills. Hidden in riverside reeds by day, they moved with the floodtide by night. In conditions likely to cause hypothermia they slipped alongside their targets, with nine hours to escape. Major Hasler and Marine Sparks escaped through Spain but Corporal Laver and Marine Mills were captured and executed.

The first B-17 Fortress captured by the Germans was B-17F-27-BO "Wulf Hound" (41-24585) from the 360 BS 303 BG ("Hell's Angels"). Damaged by German fighters during a bombing run and heavily damaged during the return flight by Bf 110s from NJG 1, the pilot, Lt. Flickinger was forced to land on Leeuwarden airfield in the Netherlands. "Wulf Hound" ws eventually repaired and used by KG 200 for operations.

During the night of 12/13 November, 14 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Dec 13, 2007)

*13 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Battle Group Hoth's tanks continued to make headway against the Soviet 51st Army as the German drive to relieve Stalingrad continued.

*GERMANY*: Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels records in his journal his contempt for the Italians' treatment of Jews in Italian-occupied territories.


> "The Italians are extremely lax in their treatment of Jews. They protect Italian Jews both in Tunis and in occupied France and won't permit their being drafted for work or compelled to wear the Star of David."


But in the earliest days of fascism, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had denied any truth to the idea of a "pure" race and had counted Jews among his close colleagues-and was even a Zionist! But with Italy's failing fortunes militarily, Mussolini needed to stress the Italians' "superiority" in some sense, and so began to mimic many of the racial and anti-Jewish legislation of the Nazis. Nevertheless, Mussolini never had the stomach-or the conviction-for the extremes of Goebbels, Goering, and Hitler. And certainly the majority of the Italian people never subscribed to the growing anti-Semitic rhetoric of the regime. In fact, the Italians refused to deport Jews from Italy-or from Italian-occupied Croatia or France-to Auschwitz.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British sloop HMS '_Enchantress_' rams and sinks the Italian submarine R.Smg. '_Corallo_' about 165 nautical miles NE of Algiers, Algeria. HMS '_Enchantress_' was escorting the slow convoy KMS-4 (Gibraltar to Algiers, Algeria). The submarine was depth charged and forced to the surface and then rammed by HMS '_Enchantress_'. All crewmen on the submarine are lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Germans begin withdrawing from El Agheila positions early in morning, leaving rear guards and numerous mines to delay British pursuit. The 51st Division, British Eighth Army, penetrates the eastern sector of the defenses. V Corps, British First Army, is ordered to be prepared to renew the drive on Tunis. The lull ensues as preparations are made for attack.

In Libya, aircraft of the Western Desert Air Force, including more than 100 RAF aircraft and P-40s of the USAAF Ninth Air Force, flew strafing and bombing missions against German ground forces which began withdrawing from El Aghelia during the early morning. The Luftwaffe attempted to cover the withdrawl and lost 2 Bf 109s to US 57th FG P-40s over the battle lines. JG 77 claimed 7 P-40s shot down along with 6 Spitfires. 

Fifteen USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb the harbor and docks at Tunis. Over Bizerte, ten B-17s bomb the harbor and docks; they are followed shortly by 19 B-24s which are detached from the USAAF Eighth Air Force in England, that attack the same targets. Meanwhile, six B-25s bomb the harbor area at Sousse while B-26s blast a bridge north of Sfax; P-38s escort both missions. Other P-38s attack several targets including vehicles north of Gabes and a schooner off Cape Dimasse. In other action, P-38s, P-40s and USAAF Spitfires fly reconnaissance and patrols over much of Northwest Africa and C-47 Skytrains fly 17 transport missions between various points in Northwest Africa.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first German wartime naval Enigma machine (M3) was identical to the model used by the German Army and Air Force, but it was issued with additional rotors, VI, VII and VIII, which were reserved for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy). However, the Kriegsmarine also employed codebooks to shorten signals as a precaution against shore high-frequency direction-finding, and some manual ciphers. The most important codebooks were the Kurzsignalheft (short signal book) for reports such as sighting convoys, and the Wetterkurzschlesel (weather short signal book) for weather reports. Naval Enigma signals used different ciphers, each with its own daily key (rotor order, ring settings, plugboard connections and ground setting). The principal cipher was Heimisch (Heimische GewÃ¤sser - known to Bletchley Park as Dolphin) for U-boats and surface ships in Home Waters, including the Atlantic. At least 14 other naval Enigma ciphers were used later in the war. The British codebreakers at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, England, received an Enigma machine and rotors I to V from the Polish Cipher Bureau in August 1939. Marian Rejewski, an outstanding Polish cryptanalyst, had reconstructed the wiring of rotors I to III at the end of 1932 using mathematical techniques, and the wiring of rotors IV and V before the war began. The British recovered rotors VI and VII from the crew of U-33 on 12 February 1940, while rotor VIII was captured in August 1940. The British broke Dolphin cryptanalytically from August 1941 onwards. A massive reverse was encountered on 1 February 1942 when a new Enigma machine (M4) came into service on Triton (codenamed Shark by the British), a special cipher for the Atlantic and Mediterranean U-boats. The combination of M4 and Shark proved devastating. Bletchley Park became blind against Shark for over ten months. Fortunately, M4's fourth rotor (beta) was not interchangeable with rotors I to VIII. Beta increased M4's power by a factor of 26, but rotors could still only be mixed in 336 (8x7x6) different ways - not 3,024 (9x8x7x6). At one setting of beta, M4 emulated M3, which was M4's undoing. Three members of the British destroyer HMS '_Petard_' (G 56) seized the second edition of the Wetterkurzschlessel from 'U-559' on 30 October 1942, before it sank near Port Said, Egypt. The U-boats were using M4 in M3 mode when enciphering the short weather reports. On 13 December 1942, Bletchley teleprinted the OIC the positions of over 12 Atlantic U-boats, on dates from 5 to 7 December, as established from Shark weather signals. M4 had been penetrated with the help of the weather broadcasts broken at Bletchley Park. Intelligence from Shark, although sometimes badly delayed, played a critical part in the Battle of the Atlantic, perhaps saving from 500,000 to 750,000 tons of shipping in December 1942 and January 1943 alone.

British Jews observe a day of mourning for their European brethren persecuted by the Nazis.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Vichy France, Pierre Laval, Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, holds a press conference and again predicts that Germany will win the war, saying that the only alternative is to be ruled by;


> "Jews and Communists." He concludes by announcing, "I must say without any ambiguity that I want Germany's victory."



It is announced that Anton Mussert, head of the Dutch Nazis, had been appointed Fuhrer for Holland following a visit to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's headquarters in the Soviet Union. Dr. Arthur von Seyss-Inquart remained the supreme authority. In the nature of a probationary leader to see if, he can bring the Netherlands people nearer to Naziism. Reluctance to make Mussert a full-fledged Premier is thought to be an indication that the Nazis had learned their lesson in Norway. Mussert is one of the founders of the Dutch Fascist Party and he also founded the all-Dutch volunteer SS unit, the SS-Freiwilligen- Legion Niederlande, in 1941.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Bostons and four Mosquitos on railway marshalling yard attacks in France and Belgium but only two Mosquitos bomb, one each at Laon and Criel.

During the night of 13/14 December, one each RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Lorient and St. Nazaire on the Bay of Biscay.


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## syscom3 (Dec 14, 2007)

*14 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Luftwaffe airlift to Stalingrad brings in 180 tons. This is the largest effort to date and will not be exceeded. The German relief column is making progress in their advance.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British light cruiser HMS '_Argonaut_' is torpedoed by the Italian submarine R.Smg. '_Mocenigo_' about 43 nautical miles NNE of Bone, Algeria. Two torpedoes strike the ship, and blow off both stern and bow. Amazingly, only three crewmen lost their lives in the explosions. HMS '_Argonaut_' manages to get to Gibraltar. Provisional repairs prove to be precarious, and on 4 April 1943 she sets sail to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., escorted by the destroyer HMS '_Hero_'. After a brief stay in the Azores, '_Hero_' has engine problems and has to leave '_Argonaut_' on her own on 9 April. On 13 April the cruiser is sighted by the USN destroyer USS '_Butler_', that escorts her to Bermuda, where some additional repairs are made. Escorted by the American minesweepers USS '_Tumult_' and USS '_Pioneer_', she reaches Philadelphia on 27 April.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The "Desert Rats" of the British 7th Armoured Division hit the German rearguards at El Aghelia while elements of the New Zealand Division 2d Division attempted a flank move to cut them off. P-40s continued to pound the retreating Germans east of El Aghelia. The 57th FG claimed 1 enemy aircraft destroyed but the Luftwaffe forces actually lost 2 Bf 109s while the Allies lost 1 P-40.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbor and shipping at Bizerte while B-17s hit similar targets at Tunis. DB-7s made two attacks on the marshaling yard at Sfax escorted by P-38s and P-40s. P-38s attack vessels off the northern Tunisian coast, the road between Tunis and Bizerte, a train near Kerker, trucks near Chaaba, and El Djem, and a train near La Hencha. P-40s fly sweeps; F-4 Lightnings carry out photographic reconnaissance over areas of Tunisia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Another nighttime Luftwaffe raid on England. In Northumberland 6 HEs and 3 IBs fell on or beside the Broadway between Kennersdene Farm, Tynemouth and the northern boundary of the Borough of Cullercoats. At Whitley Bay 3 houses were damaged and electric power failed. Near Durham, 2 HEs fell south of Blackhall Colliery causing neither damage nor casualties. Another 2 HEs exploded about 21.10 hours at Blackhall Colliery causing slight damage to houses. 2 HEs were dropped in a field at Horden Colliery and an object fell into the River Tyne near a ship lying off Palmer's Shipyard, Hebburn. A single HE made a direct hit on a deflated gas tank at Seaham. The tank was seriously damaged but there was no fire.

An agreement is concluded in London between the British Government and the French National Committee to restore Madagascar, the Comoro Islands and the uninhabited peri-Antarctic islands of Crozet, Kerguelen, Saint Paul and Amsterdam to French sovereignty. The provisional military administration set up by the British authorities after the occupation of Madagascar is to come to an end upon the arrival there of General Paul-Louis Legentilhomme , the newly appointed High Commissioner, when the necessary provisions had been made for the reestablishment of the exercise of French sovereignty over the island.

A USAAF Inspector General report states that the drain of supplies from the USAAF Eighth Air Force for the purpose of equipping the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in Northwest Africa is hindering greatly the training and combat program of the Eighth Air Force.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Mosquitos to attack railways in Belgium and the Netherlands but only one aircraft bombs a marshalling yard at Ghent, Belgium.

During the night of 14/15 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 68 aircraft, 27 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters and 18 Wellingtons to lay mines. The Lancasters are recalled but most of Halifaxes and Wellingtons complete their mission: 27 lay mines in the Frisian Islands and six lay mines off Texel Island.


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## Njaco (Dec 15, 2007)

*15 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-626 is sunk about 469 nautical miles SSW of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC '_Ingham_'; all 47 crewmen are lost. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 2nd Guards Army moved into positions along the Myshkova River, backstopping the 51st Army, still retreating before the German relief attacks on the Stalingrad pocket. Zhukov and Konev abandoned the attacks on the eastern side of the Rzhev salient as the 20th and 29th Armies simply burnt themselves out. On the other side of the bulge, the 40,000 men of the Soviet 41st Army attempted to break-out of their encirclement. The force lost all of its tanks and heavy weapons and only about half of the men escaped. Operation "Mars" was over, an inglorious defeat for Zhukov.

*GERMANY*: Stab and I./JG 101 was formed at Werneuchen from I Jagdfliegerschule 1 (JFS 1) with Obslt. Erich von Selle appointed as Geschwaderkommodore and Hptm. Max Dobislav made Gruppenkommanduer.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Royal Air Force Liberators of No. 205 Group, operationally controlled by the USAAF IX Bomber Command, hit Naples harbor during the night of 15/16 December. (Syscom)

The British destroyer HMS '_Petard_' and the Greek destroyer RHS '_Vasillisa Olga_' capture the Italian submarine R. Smg. '_Uarsciek_' south of Malta - however she sinks while in tow. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: While the 7th Armoured Division, British Eighth Army, engages the Axis rear guards from the east, the New Zealand 2d Division drives rapidly to the coast in the Merduma area to block Axis’ escape on the west. (Syscom)

The Allies continued to attack ground targets and ports in Libya and Tunisia. Nine B-24s of the 376th BG (Heavy) opening the US Ninth Air Force offensive against Tunisian ports, hit the rairoad yard, repair shop and roundhouse at Sfax dropping 75 500lb bombs. B-26s attacked El Aouina airfield while B-17s bombed the harbour area and other B-17s hit the harbour at Bizerte. Over Libya, B-25s and P-40s struck at retreating troops and vehicles between El Aghelia and Merduma. A Bf 109 was shot down by a 79th FG P-40, the first for the American fighter group. A Ju-87D-1 and a Ju 87D-3 of II./StG 3 were blown up by German troops at Nofilia-North to avoid capture by the Allies.

Twelfth Air Force F-4s fly several photographic reconnaissance missions over coastal Tunisia covering the area from Bizerte to Gabes. (Syscom)

The British First Army is slowly building up strength. The 6th Armoured Division completes concentration in Tunisia and is followed early in February 1943 by the 46th Division. Tanks and selected personnel of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 1st Armored Regiment, are sent back to Oran, Algeria, to rejoin the 1st Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division. (Syscom)

*NORTH AMERICA*: Beginning of RCAF transatlantic transport operations as W/C R.B. Middleton left Rockcliffe for Prestwick in a RCAF No.168 squadron B-17 mail plane. (pbfoot)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs Australian Prime Minister John Curtin that shipping will be available at the end of January 1943 to transport the Australian 9th Division with minimal equipment from North Africa to Australia. Churchill says,


> "the 9th Australian Division would carry with them from the African desert a splendid reputation, and the honour of having played a leading part in a memorable victory for the Empire and the common cause."



*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 15/16 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off French ports on the Bay of Biscay: three lay mines off St. Nazaire and two lay mines off Lorient. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Dec 16, 2007)

*16 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The British destroyer HMS '_Firedrake_' is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-211 about 631 nautical miles W of Galway, County Galway, Ireland. The destroyer is escorting the 43-ship convoy ON-153 (U.K. to Canada). The bow section, including the bridge, sinks immediately leaving 35 men stranded on the stern section. Another escort ploughed through 60 foot (18 meter) waves to rescue the men who had jumped into the water. Twenty-seven crewmen are saved, one died later. In all, 168 of the '_Firedrake's _crew are lost, plus three survivors who had been picked up earlier from another ship sunk that same night.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army's Operation "Little Saturn" began as the Soviet Voronezh and Southwest Fronts attacked the Italian 8th Army and elements of the Rumanian 3rd Army. The Italians were utterly destroyed in the initial attacks along with much of the Rumanian army. The 8th Army's precarious position on the Don threatened the Stalingrad relief attempt. At Stalingrad, Operation "Ring" began as a new set of attacks to reduce the German pocket began. Further complicating the rescue effort was the fact that communications between von Paulus and von Manstein had been reduced to a single teletype. Verbal communication between the two might have cleared up misunderstandings about how von Paulus was to proceed once the Donnerschlag order had been issued. Von Manstein was of the belief that Donnerschlag implied evacuation of the pocket and the only possible option, considering the difficulties in maintaining the supply corridor for any length of time. But it is unlikely that a face to face meeting between the two Generals could have resolved von Paulus' predicament. Von Paulus was in no position to comply any way. The 6.Armee's fuel and ammunition situation had deteriorated to the extent that most heavy equipment, trucks and armour would have had to be abandoned. Von Paulus was not about to proceed with an evacuation without Hitler's permission. Hitler steadfastly refused to consider the withdraw of 6.Armee from Stalingrad, saying that without their heavy guns and armour such a retreat could only have a "Napoleonic ending." In other places the offensive falls against Army Detachment Hollidt along the Chir river. The Red Army begins an offensive in the direction of Rostov-on-Don to cut off the German forces of Heeresgruppe A in the Caucasus.

*GERMANY*: Reichsfuehrer- SS Heinrich Himmler, commander of the SS, orders that everyone of gypsy or mixed gypsy blood be sent to Auschwitz.

During the night of 16/17 December, eight RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons attempt to bomb a German aircraft depot at Diepholz; three aircraft bomb the general area of the target but "with no evidence of success" and one Wellington is lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini realizes that a two front war is unwinnable. He sends Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano to meet with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to discuss a possible peace settlement with the Soviet Union. Hitler discounts this proposal and claims that the Axis can win a two front war. 

*NORTH AFRICA*: German forces, by breaking into small detachments, are able to withdraw from El Agheila positions after hard fighting with the New Zealand 2nd Division, but loses about 20 tanks and some 500 captured.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force DB-7s bomb the rail junction east of Mateur and hit the town area of Massicault and the nearby vehicle dispersal area. P-38s attack ships off the north coast scoring a hit on one vessel while other P-38s fly reconnaissance mission, exchanging ineffective fire with Axis forces.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 5./JG 26 led by Uffz. Crump conducted another Fuhrerbefehl raid on England. The unit succeeded in strafing hotels, beachfront and anything that moved including livestock and vehicles.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 16/17 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to lay mines in the Bay of Biscay off French ports: nine lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary and two lay mines off Brest.


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## syscom3 (Dec 16, 2007)

*17 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The U.S. Coast Guard district patrol vessel USCGC '_Natsek_', part of the Greenland Patrol, disappears in Belle Isle Strait, the 90 mile long, 10 to 17 miles wide, strait lying between Newfoundland on the east and Labrador on the west. All 24 crewmen are lost without a trace. The most probable cause is that she capsized due to severe icing.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Volga River froze, allowing the Soviets to resupply the depleted 62nd Army in Stalingrad as Operation 'Wintergewitter' continued to inch closer to the trapped 6.Armee. Soviet 292 ShAD made more than 100 combat flight to support the 3rd Assault Army. This cost them 6 combat losses. The Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3, Major Wilcke passed the 150 victory score, becoming the 4th pilot to reach that number. By this time, more and more Il-2s equipped with rear gunners began to appear.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 17/18 December, small numbers of RAF Bomber Command aircraft fly minor missions. Sixteen Stirlings and six Wellingtons are sent to bomb the Opel factory at Fallersleben but only 13 bomb the target and eight are lost. Twenty seven Lancasters are sent on raids to eight small German towns with the loss of six aircraft.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British submarine HMS/M '_Splendid_' torpedoes and sinks the Italian destroyer R.N. '_Geniere Aviere'_ about 45 nautical miles NNE of Bizerte, Tunisia. '_Geniere Aviere_' and her sister ship '_Camicia Nera_' are escorting the German transport SS '_Ankara_'.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Germans leave a rearguard to cover Rommel's retreat to Buerat. A lull continues on the British First Army front. The 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and 3d Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 26, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, raid Maknassy, 30 miles northeast of Tobessa.

The port facilities at Tunis and Bizerta and the airfields at Gabes and Sidi Tabet were again targets for Allied bombers. 36 B-17s hit the harbours and docks at Tunis and Bizerte, claiming damage to both targets and the destruction of 1 vessel and 3 aircraft at Tunis. DB-7s and A-20s hit military installations north and west of Gabes airfield and the landing ground near Sidi Tabet. P-38s on a sea mission off the northern Tunisian coast engaged German aircraft in combat. The Luftwaffe lost 2 Bf 109s and a Ju 88 to P-38 fighters of the US 1st FG. Fw. Siegfried Ott of 1./JG 77 was shot down and captured.

B-25s and B-26s sent on a shipping raid in the Gulf of Tunis fail to find the target; and P-38s and USAAF Spitfires escort all bombing missions. P-38s and F-4s fly reconnaissance missions.

Lt. Erich Rudorffer rejoined II./JG 2 after recovering from wounds and flew his first combat missions, attacking A-20s over Cape Serrat.

French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, the civil and military chief of French North Africa, announces that French Fleet units at Alexandria, Egypt; Dakar, French West Africa; and North African ports are joining the Allies.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: There were attacks at several points in Northeastern England. Most of them were of small account, but at York 2 gasholders were set alight and a school extensively damaged. A Dornier Do 217E-4 from 7./KG 2 flew into a hillside at Crow Nest, near Helmsley, Yorkshire at 22.15 hours. The Staffelkapitaen, Oblt. R. Haussner, Uffz. Erd, Ofw. Hupe and Ofw. Weiderer were all killed. Owing to the remote nature of the crash site, the wreckage was not found for 2 days. Another Do 217E-4 from 2./KG 2 also flew into a hillside at Ravenstones, Wheeldale Moor, near Pickering, Yorkshire at 22.00 hours. Fw. Stoll. Obergefr. Roschner, Obergefr. Wicht and Obergefr. Armann were all killed.

Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, in a written reply in the House of Commons, states that the British Government wishes to see Albania freed from the Italian yoke and restored to her independence.

A powerful declaration is issued simultaneously from London, Moscow and Washington, personally approved by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This public declaration denounces;


> "the systematic mass murder of millions of Jews," which it calls "this bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination."


Churchill is also vigilant in trying to help Jewish refugees from Nazidom. When he learns of the rescue of 4,500 Jewish children from the Balkans, via a plan he had himself approved, Mr Churchill says simply,


> "Bravo."



*WESTERN FRONT*: In the North Sea during the night of 17/18 December, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in two locations: four aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight, the arm of the North Sea extending south and east of the island of Helgoland, Germany; and three lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.

During the night of 17/18 December, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Cadet Channel, the strait between Storstrom Island, Denmark, and Germany. Five RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Bayonne and three others lay mines off St. Jean de Luz. In a separate mission, five aircraft drop leaflets over the country. Five RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command aircraft hit two marshalling yards (M/Ys): two hit a M/y at Ghent and one bombs a M/Y at Courtrai. Five RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack the marshalling yard at Roosendaal and one hits a target of opportunity at Vlieland.


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## Njaco (Dec 18, 2007)

*18 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Battle of Velikiye Luki - Fighting soon became concentrated around Velikiye Luki, a small town on German Heeresgruppe Center's left (northern) flank, where the Soviets had succeeded in enveloping a German Army garrison in a "samll-scale second Stalingrad". Commanded by Oberst Wilke, a Gruppen of mainly He 111s flew in supplies to the surrounded troops at Velikiye Luki.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Continuing the pursuit of the Axis forces, the New Zealand 2d Division, British Eighth Army, clashes sharply with rear guards at Nofihia. After the action, the pursuit is largely abandoned for administrative reasons.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly reconnaissance and patrol as the British Eighth Army's lead division. USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17s hit shipping and harbor installations at Sousse while RAF Liberators, under the control of IX Bomber Command, follow with a raid on the same target during the night of 18/19 December. Thirty six USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s with 16 P-38s as escort, hit Bizerte harbor and shipping offshore; a direct hit is scored on one vessel. Antiaircraft and attacks by Axis fighters result in the loss of one B-17 and four P-38s; three Axis fighters are destroyed and others damaged. B-26s with P-38 escort attack the marshaling yard at Sousse, hitting the station, roundhouse and other buildings, tracks, and a train; heavy antiaircraft accounts for the loss of two B-26s. DB-7s with fighter escort hit the landing ground and dispersal area near Mateur and attack the railroad yards in the town. P-38s and P-40s fly reconnaissance missions and sweeps and attack ground targets, including a train north of Sfax and trucks near Sainte-Marie- du-Zit.

Lt. Eric Rudorffer of 6./JG 2 scored his first victory in North Africa when he destroyed a Spitfire from RAF No. 72 Sqdn over Mateur. Other pilots of II./JG 2 including Oblt. Buhligen, downed 3 RAF PRU Spitfires. The Luftwaffe lost a Ju 88 and a Fw 190 to US 33rd FG P-40s.


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## Njaco (Dec 19, 2007)

*19 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stalled for several days a mere 30 miles from the pocket, Hoth's troops attacked in an all-out effort to relieve Stalingrad. They succeeded in reaching the Myshkova. General von Manstein, knowing the relief attack would not succeed, ordered von Paulus to breakout. However, von Paulus took the advice of his Chief of Staff, General Schmidt - a sycophant of Hitler's - and stayed in Stalingrad. Meanwhile the Soviets captured Kontemirovka and continued to grind the Italian 8th Army to a bloody pulp. At Stalingrad the airlift was increased in order to assist with von Paulus' possible breakout from the besieged city. Despite a massive effort to supply the surrounded defenders from the air, it failed. This day saw the Luftwaffe fly 250 tons to von Paulus' army, less than half the minimum required simply to sustain his forces. Even this inadequate level was never met again.

During the Luftwaffe's attempts to support the 4.Panzerarmee's breakthrough to the Caucasus, the Staffelkapitaen of 4./JG 54, Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn gained his 100th kill. But the Luftwaffe continued to lose aircraft. Four Bf 109E-7s of I./SchG 1 were lost between 30 November and 19 December, at least 2 of these to Soviet fighters, as the Gruppe was forced back to Millerovo.

*GERMANY*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler receives French Prime Minister Pierre Laval at his headquarters in the presence of Italian Foreign Minister Count Gian Ciano, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, head of the German Air Force; and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, to discuss;


> "the existing problems of France."



*MEDITERRANEAN*: While escorting a convoy to Benghazi, Libya, the British corvette HMS '_Snapdragon_' is bombed and sunk off Bizerte, Tunisia, by German aircraft.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rain curtailed most aerial operations in Tunisia, although A-20s and DB-7s, with fighter escort, hit the marshalling yards at Sfax. A Ju 88 was destroyed by US 33rd FG P-40s near Sfax. Escorting a convoy to Benghazi, the corvette 'Snapdragon' was bombed and sunk off the port by German aircraft.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night of 19/20 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three ports on the Bay of Biscay: six lay mines off Lorient, five off St. Nazaire and four off Brest.


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## Njaco (Dec 20, 2007)

*20 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 4.Panzerarmee's relief column has been making smaller gains and is now at the Myshkova River. Hoth's Battle Group was within 16 miles of Stalingrad and completely spent. They could not break through the Soviet defenses. Von Manstein proposed that von Paulus break out and link up with Hoth. Citing fuel shortages, German General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6.Armee, refuses to breakout from Stalingrad. Von Paulus was unwilling to do anything without Hitler's authorization. The 6.Armee Chief of Staff, General Schmidt, a committed Nazi Party member, is an important figure in the decision. It would never come. The Germans at Stalingrad were doomed. 

Meanwhile, the Caucasus Front opened its offensive to drive the Germans from that region as the Soviets continued to probe the German defenses along the Chir River and Millerovo area. Soviet forces continue to gain ground in a broad offensive. Assault forces from the middle Don River reach Kantemirovka, on the Voronezh-Rostov railroad north of Millerovo.

*GERMANY*: After 5,000 flying hours instructing at the flying school at Kaufbeuren and the fighter pilot school at Bad Aibiling, Lt. Wilhelm "Willi" Batz was transferred to 2./Erganzung-Jagdgruppe Ost to undergo operation training.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, operations were severley curtailed as a result of heavy rains. The Zerstorer unit, III./ZG 2 was re-designated as III./SKG 10.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: From the RAAF No. 467/463 Squadron Record: By the 20th December, at Bottesford, 19 aircraft were available and the Squadron strength was 611 personnel including all ground staff, cooks, and WAAFs. Only training flights are recorded for December. (Heinz)

*WESTERN FRONT*: 101 B-17s and B-24s of the USAAF were sent to bomb the Luftwaffe servicing base at Romilly-sur-Seine near Paris, 100 miles further inland than any other target attacked by the Allies. 12 Squadrons of RAF and USAAF Spitfires escorted the bombers but turned back near Rouen. After the escorts left, the bomber formations were intercepted by nearly 200 Fw 190s from the 3 Gruppen of JG 26 and III./JG 2 who attacked head-on. The US 91st BG endured nearly one hour of attacks from III./JG 26 and lost 2 B-17s. Lt. Stammberger of 9./JG 26, attacking with Hptm. Egon Mayer's III./JG 2, watched as a B-17's rear section broke off and flipped end over end to the ground. Lt. Stammberger then attacked a B-17 from the 397th BS and destroyed it ;


> "I managed to shoot down a Boeing in a head-on attack, the machine turning over on its back and diving down with a jerk, and me being able to just pull up and over it. I felt certain that I must have hit the pilots; a burst of 4 2cm cannons and the 2 machine guns from our Focke-Wulf into the cockpit (which was only built with sheets of glass or plastic) was guaranteed to be deadly, if we managed to score a hit!"


Another B-17 from the 397th BS also crashed in flames. Uffz. Herbert Swoboda of 11./JG 1 attacked a B-17 formation alone and was hit with return fire. With his guns jammed and escorting P-47s arriving, he decided to ram the bombers and hit the B-17 "Green Fury" of the 338th BS 96th BG in the rudder, sending it crashing on Nordeney Island. Uffz. Swoboda successfully baled out, uninjured. Altogether the Allies lost 6 B-17s shot down and 31 damaged while the Luftwaffe lost 6 Fw 190s in the combat. The Allies claim of 53 fighters destroyed was reduced to 21 and then to the actual 6 when it was learned that many Focke-Wulf pilots ran out of fuel during the lengthy battle and disengaged to head back to bases. This was the worst loss of US bombers in a single day so far in the war for the US Eighth Air Force.

Fw. Heinz-Gunther Adam of 2./JG 26 was killed in a flying accident.

The 'Oboe' ground-controlled blind bombing system was first tested by RAF Bomber Command in a raid on a power station at Lutterade in the Netherlands by 6 de Havilland Mosquitoes of No. 109 Squadron.


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## syscom3 (Dec 21, 2007)

*21 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Chancellor Adolf Hitler uses the report by General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6.Armee, of fuel shortages to refuse a request by Field Marshall Erich von Manstein, commander of Heeresgruppe Don, to order the 6.Armee to withdraw from Stalingrad.

The increase in the airlift over Stalingrad brought 700 tons of supplies since 19 December.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 21/22 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 137 aircraft, 119 Lancasters, nine Stirlings and nine Wellingtons, to bomb Munich with the loss of 12 aircraft, eight Lancasters, three Stirlings and a Wellington, 8.8 per cent of the force. One hundred ten aircraft claimed to have bombed Munich and started fires but their photographs show that all or most of the bombs fell in open country, possibly attracted by a decoy site.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: HMAS '_QUIBERON_' assisted in rescuing survivors from the liner '_STRATHALLAN_', torpedoed off the Algerian coast by U-562, later landing them at Algiers. (Heinz)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Light forces of the British Eighth Army overtake the Axis rearguard at Sirte and are halted temporarily.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s abort a mission against Sousse harbor due to weather. Six RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, attack the harbor but; results are not observed.

Weather prevents USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s from bombing Sfax or the secondary target, Gabes. P-40s destroy a tank and several cars and trucks with trailers in the Kairouan area while F-4 Lightnings fly three photographic reconnaissance missions over the area between Bizerte and Gabes.

In Algeria, during a raid on their airbase at Youk-les-Bains by German Ju 88s, defending P-38s of US 14th FG destroyed 3 of the raiding bombers.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The auxiliary aircraft carrier '_Hamlin_' (ACV-15 ) is transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend Lease and commissioned as HMS '_Stalker_'. This is the seventh ACV to be transferred to the British. The ship is reclassified escort aircraft carrier (CVE-15 ) on 15 July 1943 and is returned to the USN on 29 December 1945.

In Ottawa, Ontario, the Wartime Prices and Trade Board mandates butter rationing.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, nine RAF Bomber Command Venturas and six Bostons are dispatched to attack railway targets in France, Belgium and Holland but only two Venturas found targets, at Monceau and Valenciennes. No aircraft are lost.


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## syscom3 (Dec 21, 2007)

*22 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the Caucasus, Soviet forces begin strong attacks southeast of Naichik as the Germans start a withdrawal of the spearhead in the area. The Red Army offensive continues to gain ground on the Stalingrad front and in the middle Don sector. Sharp Soviet thrusts toward Velikie Luki, on the central front, are gaining ground. The Soviet winter offensive continued to roll forward as Morozovsk, Fydorovka and Kikolkoe were taken from the Germans.

Heavy fog descended on the airfields around Stalingrad, bringing a halt to airlift operations. What was left of II./SchG 1 at Stalingrad pulled back to Voroshilovgrad. While the rest of II./SchG 1 pulled back, 4(Pz)./SchG 1 remained forward at Tatsinskaya until Russian tanks approached the airfield then the unit moved to Stalino. In a summary of the year's operations II./SchG 1 reported flying a total of 3128 Hs 129 sorties, 1532 Hs 123 sorties and 1938 Bf 109 sorties since its formation and claimed 107 aircraft shot down or destroyed, while losing 20 Hs 129s, 16 Bf 109s and 5 Hs 123s due to enemy action. While operating from Voroshilovgrad, the Gruppe claimed 13 tanks destroyed.

*GERMANY*: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are dispatched on a cloud-cover raid to Emden; four aircraft bomb the estimated positions through cloud. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: On 21 December U-565 reported a hit on a "2 Chimney' ship, possibly the '_Cameronia_' within convoy KMF 5 on an eastern route. It was then reported to the Luftwaffe. On the night of 21-22 December, torpedo aircraft from KG 26, based in Grosetto, Italy, were launched against the convoy. KG 26 was the main anti-shipping torpedo Kampfgeschwader of the Luftwaffe in the Med and the favored attack used by its aircrews and probably carried out against the '_Cameronia_' was known as the "Golden Comb". This involved aircraft attacking all at once in 'line-abreast formation' at low altitude and preferably at dusk. The 14 He 111H-6 torpedo bombers were initially launched against the convoy and 8 attacked the ships. At 06.35 hours, the convoy was attacked again by 2 Ju 88s armed with bombs and 1 Ju 88 armed with torpedos from III./KG 26 and a hit was claimed by the torpedo aircraft on a 12000 BRT steamer northeast of Bougie. Two hits were claimed on the passenger ship, '_Cameronia_'. After these hits the ship burned.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British First Army's V Corps renews their drive on Tunis, during the night of 22/23 December. The 2d Coldstream Guards of the 1st Guards Brigade attacks Djebel el Ahmera hill (later known as Longstop Hill), 6 miles northeast of Medjez el Bab, and partially occupies it.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators and RAF Liberators are dispatched to bomb the harbor at Sousse; only two bombers reach the target, the others are forced to return to base due to weather, but a few manage to bomb Monastir and the railroads at Mahdia.

A solid overcast prevents USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s from bombing Bizerte or alternate targets of Sousse and Sfax. P-40s shoot up a train in Kairouan and destroy trucks on the Sfax-Faid road. F-4 Lightnings continue reconnaissance between Bizerte and the Gabes-Medenine area.

The Luftwaffe lost 2 bombers during a mid-day mission against P-40 fighters of the US 33rd FG. These may have been 2 He 111s from 3./KG 26 that failed to return from a mission. The entire crew of one of the Heinkels were rescued and captured and captured by the Allies.

2/17 Battalion: The last tee shaped colour patch was a unique "honours award" to 9 Division, after its sustained gallantry in the Battle of El Alamein (Oct/Nov 1942) which added another fine tradition to the Australian Army's ANZAC spirit. The tee shape is said to symbolize Tobruk and Tel el Eisa which featured in 9 Division's operational successes in Libya and Egypt during the years 1941 and 1942 respectively. Inside the grey border, white was the third battalion colour central to green, the latter being the colour of 20 Brigade, the first brigade in 9 Division. The General Officer Commanding 9 Division in the Middle East, Lieutenant General Moreshead, stated the introduction of the tee patch throughout all units of the Division was for uniformity , as the formation of the Division outside of Australia had brought together a mixture of colour patches of various shapes from the other three AlF Divisions. Thus 9 Division found a special identity and the 2/17 Battalion overcame early reluctance to change and wore with great pride the white over green with a grey border in the regular shape of a tee. It was first universally worn on a divisional parade on 22 December 1942 on the Gaza airstrip, which was inspected and addressed by the British Commander in the Middle East, General Alexander. Thereafter it was worn for the remainder of the Second World War, until the unit's cadre was disbanded on 8th February 1946 after it had returned to the Battalion's first training campsite at Ingleburn and 5 years, 9 months and 13 days service to Australia. (Heinz)


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## Njaco (Dec 23, 2007)

*23 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Operation 'Wintergewitter" was abandoned as the 3 exhausted Panzer divisions that made up the fist of the attack were withdrawn to the startline at Kotelnikovo.

Outside Stalingrad, the airbase at Tatsinskaya -known as 'Tazi' - came under fire from Russian forces moving on the city. General Martin Fiebig pleaded to get his 180 Ju 52s off the airfield but he did not get his order to leave and waited with his aircrews. At Morosovkaya, the 'sister' airfield suppying Stalingrad and also known as 'Moro', the Russians were attacking but were not so close. After communications were cut with 'Tazi', Colonel Ernst Kuhl ordered his Gruppen of He 111s and Stukas to fly to Novocherkassk airfield while he remained behind.

Oblt. Joachim Kirschner, Staffelkapitaen of 5./JG 3, was awarded the Ritterkreuz for achieving 51 kills in combat.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 23/24 December, five RAF Bomber Command Oboe Mosquitos are dispatched to bomb steel mills; two bomb the Krupps steel mill at Essen, one bombs a steel mill at Hamborn and one bombs the Krupps steel works at Rheinhausen No results could be observed, because of haze, and later daylight photographs could not distinguish craters caused by these attacks from those of other raids but a map from Essen shows accurate bomb bursts in the middle of the main Krupps factory on this night.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Ninth Air Force B-24s attack the harbor at Naples during the night of 23/24 December; one aircraft bombs Taranto.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Americans inform General Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie, political affairs commissioner of the French resistance, that Admiral Francois Darlan, French High Commissioner for North Africa, has decided to resign and leave North Africa and they have consented.

A three day period of torrential rain begins. Heavy rains turned the Tunisian battlefield into a sea of mud and combat actions came to an abrupt halt. Elements of Regimental Combat Team 18, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, relieve the 2nd Coldstream Guards on Djebel el Ahmera hill and are forced to withdraw under a German counterattack. Total cloud cover causes Twelfth Air Force B-17s, escorted by P-38s, to abort the bombing mission against Tunis and Bizerte Airfields.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Bob Hope agrees to entertain U.S. airmen in the Territory of Alaska. It is the first of his many famous Christmas shows for American armed forces around the world. The tradition continued for more than 30 years.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Over the Bay of Biscay during a transfer flight, P-38s of the US 82nd FG attacked and destroyed 2 Ju 88 bombers.

During the day, 18 RAF Bomber Command Bostons bomb the docks at St-Malo.

Six RAF Bomber Command Venturas bomb naval installations at Den Helder. The Den Helder bombing is particularly accurate and serious damage is caused to a torpedo workshop and other buildings.


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## Njaco (Dec 23, 2007)

*24 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Von Manstein was forced to withdraw Battlegroup Hoth as new Soviet attacks from the Stalingrad Front broke through the 4th Rumanian Army, threatening the German forces from the south as well as from the north. Soviet offensives continued with new vigor on the Don Front as well with the apparent end of Operation "Wintergewitter".

As Christmas of 1942 approached, the situation of 6.Armee was becoming increasingly desperate. Von Manstein's relief column had been forced to retreat, supplies arriving by air were diminshing and starvation began to cull the ranks of the men inside the pocket. With no fodder available for the horses, the Germans had started slaughtering the animals for food shortly after the Red Army closed the ring around Stalingrad. On Christmas eve, von Paulus ordered that the last of the beasts be killed to provide a makeshift Christmas dinner for his men. But on the following day, he ordered another cut in the soldiers rations. The daily food allotment for each man was now a bowl of thin soup and 100 grams of bread per day. At Tatsinskaya airfield outside Stalingrad, Russian tanks began to bombard the field. With his Ju 52s waiting for liftoff with engines running, General Fiebig gave the order to leave the airbase. Several transports were hit and destroyed before Fiebig's order. At 05.30 hours, chaos ensued on the airfield. Flying laden with supplies for Stalingrad instead of vital ground crew and equipment, the Ju 52s took off in all directions through tank fire and ground fog that limited visibility to about 50 yards. Two Ju 52s taking off in different directions, collided at mid-field and exploded. As General Fiebig watched from the control tower - with a waiting Junkers nearby - Russian tanks entered the airfield. At 06.15 hours, the last transport took off with General Fiebig and his staff onboard and Fw. Ruppert at the controls. Only 108 Ju 52s and 16 Ju 86s managed to escape the destruction of 'Tazi'. One transport was flown to Novocherkassk airfield by Hptm. Lorenz of Signals Regiment 38, who was not a pilot and had never flown before. That night he was given an honorary pilot's badge by General von Richthofen. The loss of the airfield directly affected the outcome of 6.Armee in Stalingrad. At Morosovskaya - or 'Moro' - airfield, Colonel Ernst Kuhl recieved word that the weather would break, creating good flying conditions. He ordered the Stuka and bomber crews at Novocherkassk to return to 'Moro' and begin operations. Just after the fog lifted, the Luftwaffe attacked. Aircraft from Major Dr. Kupfer's StG 2, Oblt. Hitschold's anti-tank unit, Major Wilcke's JG 3 and bombers from KG 27, KG 55 and I./KG 100 struck the spearhead of the Russian tank attacks. The Russians, caught in the open, were decimated. Along with shortages of food and ammunition, doctors at Stalingrad were forced to cope with an increasing number of wounded men and diminishing stocks of medicine. Although the wounded were given priority for evacuation on the outbound transport planes, Wehrmacht doctors were now forced to give first choice to wounded soldiers who stood the best chance of recovering and being returned to battle. A triage was set up at the airport to sort out the hopless cases and to remove any cases of self-inflicted wounds, which were becoming more prevalent with each passing day. As the seige wore on, Army aid stations became overwhelmed with wounded soldiers who might have stood a chance of survival under normal conditions. But with the lack of supplies and the sheer weight of their numbers, many of these men died and manpower for proper disposal of the bodies was inadequate. As a result, many of these aid stations were swamped with corpses which remained in place for lack of enough able-bodied men to transfer them to graves registration units.

*GERMANY*: The first Fieseler Fi 103 (V1 "Buzz Bomb") is catapulted from Peenemunde West and makes a flight of 1,000 meters (3,281 feet).

During the night of 24/25 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches three Oboe Mosquitos to attack German targets. One bombs Dusseldorf and one each bomb steel factories at Essen and Meiderich. The Essen bombs fell on the northern parts of the Krupps factory.

*MEDITERRANEAN *: Pope Pius XII makes another of his many calls for the more humane conduct of hostilities during a lengthy Christmas message over Vatican Radio. Humanity, he says, owed the resolution of a better world to;


> "the hundreds of thousands who, without personal guilt, sometimes for no other reason than their nationality or descent, were doomed to death or exposed to a progressive deterioration of their condition."



*NORTH AFRICA*: Fighting on Longstop Hill continued in Tunisia. The British occupied the position at the end of the day's fight. The British First Army regains positions on Djebel el Ahmera hill. Four Twelfth Air Force P-40s attack a bridge north of Gabes.

French Admiral Jean Darlan, High Commissioner for North Africa, is assassinated in his Algiers office by Bonnier de la Chappelle, a Charles de Gaulle follower who was training to be a British agent. Due to his ties with the Vichy French government, Admiral Darlan was not a popular appointment with the Free French and his death avoids political controversy in the Allied camp. "Darlan's murder, however criminal, relieved the Allies of their embarrassment at working with him," admitted British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The nature and background of this act will be debated over the years. de la Chapelle is tried by a secret military court and summarily executed.

A decision is made at conference between U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Force, and Lieutenant General Kenneth A. N. Anderson, General Officer Commanding British First Army, to abandon the attack on Tunis, Tunisia, until after the rainy season.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Canadian National Defence says there are now 681,615 volunteers and conscripts in the Canadian forces.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first P-47 Thunderbolts arrive in England for the USAAF Eighth Air Force however, because of VHF radio and engine difficulties, the P-47s are not sent into combat until April 1943.


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## Njaco (Dec 24, 2007)

*25 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Good weather over Stalingrad meant that the Luftwaffe attacks on the Russian tank columns could continue. Soviet troops around Stalingrad launched attacks against the German perimeter. The fighting was very heavy and casualties were high on both sides. 6.Armee slaughtered 12,000 horses in the pocket and distributed the horse-meat as regular rations began to run out.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The see-saw battle for Longstop Hill continued. This time, the Germans retook the position from the British along with Djebel el Ahmera. Captured by the Allies the day before yesterday, this spot continues to be fought over by both sides, despite the supply difficulties of each. Axis forces evacuate their outflanked garrison at Sirte. Fw 190 jabos of III./SKG 10 attacked the Allied airfield at Bone and destroyed 2 Hurricanes, a Spitfire, a Douglas C-47 and 4 other aircraft. Later Fw 190s from II./JG 2 attacked a B-17 bomber formation over Bizerte but didn't score a victory.


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## Njaco (Dec 25, 2007)

*26 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-357 is sunk about 308 nautical miles WNW of Londonderry, County Derry, Northern Ireland, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS '_Hesperus_' and '_Vanessa_'; six of the 42 crewmen survive.

USN submarine USS '_Barb_' mistakenly torpedoes and damages the 6,276 ton neutral Spanish tanker MV '_Campomanes_' off Cape Finisterre, Spain. Cape Finisterre is a rocky promontory in extreme northwestern Spain.

*CENTRAL AFRICA*: A Free French force from British Somaliland moves into French Somaliland to seize two rail bridges and thus insure the safety of the rail line from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The action is accomplished without bloodshed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: At the 'Moro' airfield, fog and ice storms returned, halting attacks on Russian armour. With this break, the Russians resumed their advance on the airfield. Lt. Schwientek of Jg 52 downed 2 IL-2s and a YaK near Rossosch.

The Soviets penetrated into Velikiye Luki and cut the German garrison in 2 halves - each so small that henceforth supplies to the surviving Germans could only be air-dropped. The Russians also continued their advance in the middle Don region. The spearheads were 100 miles from Rostov, threatening to surround the German forces in the Caucasus and claim 56,000 prisoners since the offensive began. German forces south of the Don River are in full retreat as the Soviet advance nears Kotelnikovo. The Soviets capture Radomyshl in the Kiev sector.

Fw. Josef Kaiser of 8./JG 5 was shot down by AA over the Murmansk frontline. He then voluteered as a Soviet agent for agent training.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, B-17s with fighter escort, hit the harbour and shipping at Bizerte. Heavy flak and fighter attacks accounted for 2 B-17s and 2 P-38s shot down. The Lightnings claimed 2 Fw 190s destroyed but the Luftwaffe actually lost 3 fighters to P-38s of the US 1st FG 94th FS. Lt. Crinius of I./JG 53 downed one of the four-engined bombers near Tunis. Other B-17s with P-40 escort, bombed the harbour and shipping at Sfax; 3 German vessels were claimed sunk. P-38s on recon, attacked locomotives and motor vehicles south of Tunis and west of Sousse.

During the night of 26/27 December, C-47 Skytrains drop a detachment of U.S. paratroopers at a bridge north of El Djem.

The French Imperial Council names General Henri-Honeré Giraud as French High Commissioner for North Africa after the assassination of Admiral Jean Darlan on 24 December. The assassin, Bonnier de la Chappelle, is executed today.


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## syscom3 (Dec 26, 2007)

*27 December 1942*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-356 is sunk about 291 nautical miles NNE of Lagens Field, Azores Islands, by depth charges from the Canadian destroyer HMCS '_St. Laurent_' and the Canadian corvettes HMCS '_Battleford_', '_Chilliwack_' and '_Napanee_'; all 46 crewmen on the submarine are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler allowed Heeresgruppen Don to retreat to a line 150 miles west of Stalingrad. In addition to action in the Stalingrad sector, the Soviets begin attacks in the Caucasus. Six armies near Nalchik begin an attack. The Germans begin to withdraw as the advance of the Soviet armies in the Stalingrad sector reaches Rostov to his north.

The German military begins enlisting Soviet POWs in the battle against the Soviet Union. Soviet Lieutenant General Andrei Vlasov, former commander of the 2nd Shock Army, is made commander of the renegade Soviet troops. Vlasov had fought at Leningrad and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin would not allow him to withdraw his troops to more favorable positions. His army was battered, and he was taken prisoner by the Germans along with many of his men. Back in Germany, Vlasov became disillusioned with Stalin and communist ideology, which he had come to believe was a more sinister threat to the world than Nazism. He began broadcasting anti-Soviet propaganda and formed, with Nazi permission, of course, the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. Its goal: to overthrow Joseph Stalin and defeat communism. The German "Smolensk Committee" began persuading more and more captured Russians, Ukrainians, Cossacks, and other Soviet anti-Stalinists to join the German war effort. These now-pro-German Soviets were finally formed into a 50,000-man army, the Russian Liberation division, and fought toward the end of the war, with Vlasov at their command. Tens of thousands ending up turning back against the Germans, then finally surrendering to the Americans-rather than the advancing Soviets-when the German cause was lost. The Americans, under secret terms of the Yalta Agreement signed in February 1945, repatriated all captured Soviet soldiers-even against their will. Vlasov was among those returned to Stalin. He was hanged, along with his comrades in arms.

*MEDITERRANEAN *: During the night of 27/28 December, one Ninth Air Force B-24 bombs the shipyard at Taranto. 

*NORTH AFRICA*: British Eighth Army patrols cross Wadi Tamet. The British First Army repels an Axis attack in the Medjez el Bab area.

Thirty Twelfth Air Force B-17s, escorted by P-38s, bomb the shipping and dock facilities at Sousse, damaging docks and warehouses and claiming direct hits on four vessels while P-38s and P-40s fly several reconnaissance missions.

In Tunisia, B-17s escorted by P-38s, bombed the shipping and dock facilities at Sousse, damaging the docks and warehouses and claiming direct hits on 4 vessels.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The auxiliary aircraft carrier USS '_Santee_', the first of 11 aircraft carriers assigned to Hunter-Killer duty, and the destroyer USS '_Eberle_' sortie Norfolk, Virginia, with Escort Carrier Air Group Twenty Nine on board for free-roving antisubmarine and anti-raider operations in the South Atlantic. All auxiliary aircraft carriers (ACVs ) are redesignated escort aircraft carriers (CVEs ) on 15 July 1943.

A troop train with 13 coaches plows into the rear of a Canadian Pacific Railroad train near Almonte, Ontario, killing 36 and injuring 155 persons. The crash was caused by lack of automatic signals. Almonte is located about 27 miles (43 kilometers) west-southwest of Ottawa, Ontario.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAAF 466 Squadron relocated to Leconfield. Equipped with Vickers Wellington medium bombers, and forming part of 4 Group, Bomber Command, it flew its first operational mission on 13 January 1943. This mission involved laying mines along Germany’s North Sea coast, an activity that would become one of the mainstays of the squadron’s activities in ensuing months. The squadron’s primary operational focus, however, was the strategic bombing of Germany. (Heinz)


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## syscom3 (Dec 28, 2007)

*28 December 1942*

*CENTRAL AFRICA*: General Dupont, the Vichy French Governor of French Somaliland, surrenders the colony to the Free French.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the face of the continuing Soviet offensive toward Rostov-on-Don that threatens to cut it off, German Heeresgruppe A is ordered to withdraw its forces from the Caucasus.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British rescue tug HMS '_St. Issey'_ is torpedoed and sunk about 31 nautical miles NNE of Benghazi, Libya, by German submarine U-617.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British Eighth Army patrols reach positions overlooking Wadi el Chebir without German opposition.

Twenty two USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s, including RAF Liberators under USAAF IX Bomber Command operational control, bomb the harbor at Sousse, hitting vessels and dock installations.

Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb the dock and harbor installations at Sousse. while P-38s fly escort; P-38s and P-40s on patrol and reconnaissance missions claim four Axis aircraft downed in combat and several vehicles destroyed at various points. F-4 Lightnings fly reconnaissance over the Tunis, Sousse and Sfax areas.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Concerned about sharing the secrets of atomic research, President Franklin D. Roosevelt confirms the policy of noncooperation with the British that his advisers have been recommending. He orders that no information should be given to the British unless it happens to be in an area in which British scientists are directly involved.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In a worldwide radio broadcast from France, Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, Head of the Vichy French State, accuses the Free French leaders of having betrayed French Africa to the British and Americans.

During the night of 28/29 December, RAF Bomber Command sends five Wellingtons and a Stirling to lay mines in the Frisian Islands.


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## syscom3 (Dec 29, 2007)

*29 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Two German Army divisions started a relief thrust to Velkiye Liki. Covering the advance, 9./JG 54's Ofw. Eugen-Lugwig Zweigart attained his 50th to 53rd victories by claiming 2 La-5s and 2 Yak-1s. The La-5s encountered probably belonged to 169 IAP, which claimed to have shot down 21 German aircraft - including 12 in a single combat - on 29 December. Leytenant Pavel Grazhdaninov reportedly destroyed 2 Ju 87s - of which he rammed one, surviving the feat with injuries. These IAP claims are 3x higher than the actual Luftwaffe losses in that area on that day.

Kotelnikov, southwest of Stalingrad, falls to the Red Army.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 29/30 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches three Oboe Mosquitos to attack steel plants at Essen and Meiderich in 10/10th cloud conditions. Two bomb Meiderich and one bombs Essen; in the latter case, the bombs fall 500 meters (547 yards) east of the Krupps factory.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Advance elements of the British Eighth Army (armoured cars of the 4th Light Armoured Brigade) come to a halt just west of the Germans’s Buerat position. Buerat and Bu Ngern are found to be free of Germans. A lull follows as the British prepare to attack.

Eleven Ninth Air Force B-24s sent to bomb Tunis harbor during the night of 29/30 December find the target obscured by clouds and attack Sousse instead.

Eighteen Twelfth Air Force B-17s attack Sousse docks and harbor; P-38s provide escort. DB-7s and A-20s hit bridges at La Hencha while escorting P-40s strafe flatcars and a locomotive at Sainte-Juliette. P-38s attack a tank depot southeast of Pont-du-Fahs; DB-7s and A-20s follow with an attack on the same target. P-38s and P-40s fly reconnaissance missions and patrols over wide areas of Algeria and Tunisia.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb three marshalling yards: two each bomb the M/Y at Amiens and Tergnier and one hits the M/Y at Laon.

During the night of 29/30 December, 14 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters lay mines in the River Gironde.


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## Njaco (Dec 30, 2007)

*30 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Remontnoe, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Elista falls to the Red Army.

With clear skies, the Soviet Air Forces' 3 VA and 6 VA (operating immediately to the north and mainly responsible for air operations against Demyansk) made a combined all-out effort against German airfields and troop positions between Lake Ilmen and Vitebsk. This time JG 54 took the brunt of the air fighting on the German side. On this date, I./JG 54's 9-victory experte Fw. Heinrich Bruhn and his wingman, Uffz. Paul Grothoff were bounced by 5 Airacobras from 28 GIAP, south of Lake Ilmen. Kapitan Anatoliy Kislyakov, leading the Soviet formation, shot down the two Bf 109s in quick succession. Both pilots survived and were captured by the Russians. Meanwhile, 7./JG 54's Lt. Friedich Rupp attained his 48th through 50th victories.

Oblt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob's 9./JG 54 chalked up 6 victories - including 2 each by Oblt. Bob and Oblt. Franz Eisenach and the Staffel's 300th victory through Lt. Rudolf Klemm. But all of this was superceded by the Geschwader's I. and II. Gruppen, which fought against 6 VA formations. Hptm. Hans Philipp, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54 and the units leading ace, claimed 8 victories while II./JG 54's Lt. Max Stotz almost placed himself alongside Hptm. Philipp by shooting down 10 Russian aircraft, reaching a victory tally of 129. Major Hans 'Assi' Hahn, Lt. Stotz' Gruppenkommandeur, contributed with another 5 kills to JG 54's total score for the day of 45 victories. The Luftwaffe's own losses in the area between Lake Ilmen and Vitebsk were at least 10 planes.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Regimental Combat Team 18, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, moves to Medjez el Bab.

In Tunisia, B-17s with P-38 escort, attacked docks and the marshalling yard at Sfax. B-25s escorted by P-38s followed with an attack on the same marshaling yard. DB-7s hit a troop concentration near Gabes, this attack being followed by an A-20 raid on the airfield. A-20s hit a fuel dump at El Aouina; on the return flight, escorting P-38s strafed near El Guettar.

Six B-26s of the newly arrived US 17th MBG, with P-38 and P-40 escort, again attacked the airfield at Gabes in the afternoon. Defending Bf 109s destroyed 5 of the medium bombers but lost a Messerschmitt to an escort P-38. One of the P-38s shot down over Gabes was the aircraft of First Lt. Virgil Smith who had achieved ace status on 11 December 1942.

Eleven Fw 200s of KG 40 raided Casablanca.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During Mission #27, 77 US bombers were dispatched to the submarine base at Lorient, France. 40 aircraft attacked with the loss of 3 of the B-17s and a further 22 damaged. In an example of overclaiming, 10 B-17s were claimed destroyed by fighters from III./JG 2.

The submarine base was beginning to show the cumulative effect of repeated bombardment. A US 8th Bomber Command study of air attacks on submarine pens indicated that available US bombs were incapable of penetrating the roofs of the pens from any bombing level low enough to maintain accuracy.


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## Njaco (Dec 31, 2007)

*31 December 1942*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The airlift to Stalingrad was able to deliver over 200 tons of supplies this day to the beseiged city. Operations were now being flown from Novocherkassk and Ssalsk airfields, some 60 miles further from Stalingrad. 3./SchG 1 lost its new Staffelkapitaen, Oblt. Josef Graf von und zu Hoensbrock, who was killed by ground fire.


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## syscom3 (Dec 31, 2007)

Well, its been a full year of posting the events of the war in Europe war. 365 of them.

And to think that I still have 2 years and 5 months to go!

If anything, I hope the readers of this thread appreciate the scale of events. Its easy to say "it took 11 months for a bomber unit to begin operations". But then when you think of it being 330 days... you begin to realize the time scale of it all.

Thanks Njaco ...... a thread like this needs all the help I can get. 

"keep 'em coming!"

1943 will be a busy year with the upcoming allied invasions of Italy and the widening airwar over Germany.


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## Njaco (Jan 1, 2008)

*1 January 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: After an 8-hour search, an Australian Sunderland of No. 10 Squadron, RAAF, based in England, sights the 6,753 ton German blockade runner SS '_Rhakotis_'. The aircraft crew guides the British light cruiser HMS '_Scylla_' to the ship but when the cruiser opens fire, the Germans scuttle their ship NW of La Coruna, Comunidad Autonoma de Galicia, Spain.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The New Year opened badly for the Germans at Stalingrad. The encircled German 6.Armee on the Stalingrad front, now compressed into an area some 25 by 40 miles remains under attack from all sides. Efforts to supply it by air meet with little success and are costly in aircraft. Soviet troops of the Kalinin Front capture Velikie Luki, an important rail center, which has been under attack for some time. Elista, south of Stalingrad in the Kalmyk steppes, falls to other Red Army forces. Deteriorating weather conditions hampered German flight activities with Gefechtsverband Wilke lossing 7 He 111s - including 6 from KG 53 - during missions to Velikiye Luki on New Year's Day. Out of 45 air-dropped supply containers, only 7 reached the surrounded German garrison. By that time, these troops were;


> "...so weak from losses that they could no longer be described as a unified combat formation",


in the words of historian Werner Haupt. German LIX Army Corps' "Gruppe Wohler" prepared a new relief operation. The airfields at 'Moro' and 'Tazi' were finally decided to be given up by the Luftwaffe to the approaching Russians. But airlift aircraft from Novocherkassk were able to again deliver over 200 tons of supplies to Stalingrad.

German troops of 1.Panzerarmee (von Kliest) in the Caucasus began withdrawing from the Terek front to avoid being cut-off by Soviet forces attacking from the northeast toward Rostov-On-Don.

In mid-January, the surviving personnel of II./SchG 1 left for Deblin-Irena in Poland to rest and convert to the Fw 190, except for 7./SchG 1 which continued to fly the Hs 123. A few Hs 129s and crews from other Staffeln were also left behind in southern Russia.

*GERMANY*: The Me 410A-1 high-altitude aircraft entered production at Augsburg.

The new II./JG 11 was based at Husum on the north German coast. 70km north of the harbor town, the tiny island of Heligoland juts out into the North Sea. A small Staffel-sized unit of Bf 109T 'Toni' fighters were stationed on the island's airstrip. Designated 'Jasta Helgoland', the 'Tonis' - a Bf 109 sub-type developed for the ill-fated aircraft carrier 'Graf Zeppelin' - were commanded by Oblt. Hermann Hentzen and subordinated to JG 11.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Gruppenkommandeur Major Werner Klumper of I./KG 26 took a leave of absence and was replaced by Hptm. Herbert Vater. The unit then took its He 111s from Grosseto to Decimonanu in Sardinia. II./KG 26 also left Grosseto and moved to Villacidro in Sardinia.

Luftwaffenkommado Sudost was formed in Greece from parts of X. Fliegerkorps and placed under the control of GenFeldm. Albert kesselring's Luftflotte 2. General Otto Hoffmann von Waldau was appointed Befehlshaber of Luftwaffenkommando Sudost and GenLt. Alexander Holle was appointed Kommandierender General of X. Fliegerkorps. One of the units controlled by X. Fliegerkorps was 'Fliegerfuhrer Kreta'.

The 7,176 ton U.S. Liberty Ship SS '_Arthur Middleton_' is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-73 NW of Oran, Algeria. The subsequent explosion sends steel plates, flame and smoke soaring 1,000 feet into the air and breaks the ship in two. Her sinking takes less than two minutes. Her complement consisted of 44 crew members, 27 Naval Armed Guards and 12 U.S. Army personnel. Three members of the Naval Armed Guards are the only survivors.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, 15 B-24s of the 98th HBG struck the harbor at Tunis hitting the turning basin, the area just southwest of the basin and a nearby railroad junction. A few of the aircraft bombed the south of Sicily. B-17s hit the harbor at Tunis while B-26s hit the narshaling yard. B-25s on a mission against shipping near La Goulette aborted due to weather. Fighters escorted the bomber missions and C-47 transport carried out routine patrols.

Fw 190A Jabos of III./SKG 10 along with JU 87s and Bf 109s attacked the harbor and airfield at Bone, hitting the light cruiser HMS ' _Ajax_'. The ship makes her way to a New York Navy Yard for repairs and is out of action until October 1943. Oblt. Wolfgang Tonne and Lt. Wilhelm Crinius of the escorting 3./JG 53 each destroyed a RAF Spitfire over Bone along with Ofw. Stefan Litjens of 4./Jg 53. It was Lt. Crinius' 108th kill, Oblt. Tonne's 104th victory and Ofw. Litjen's 30th victory. III./SKG 10 flew fighter-bomber missions throughout January without losing more than a single aircraft to Allied fighter interception. II./StG 3 and III./StG 3 flew successful operations against the Allied positions throughout January with no more than 2 Ju 87s being registered as lost to enemy fighters (another 4 Ju 87s were registered lost due to 'Feindbeschuss' or unknown reasons). Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Heinrich Heine then took his II./StG 3 from La Sebala to El Aouina. Gruppenkommandeur Major Bernhard Hamester moved his III./StG 3 from Bir Durfan to Gabes-West.

Again over the Bone area at 15.00 hours, Lt. Crinius and Oblt. Tonne destroyed 2 more RAF Spitfires to bring the number of enemy aircraft destroyed by Lt. Crinius to 109 and Oblt. Tonne's score to 105 kills. Hptm. Gerhard Michalski of the Geschwaderstab of II./JG 53 downed a Spitfire to bring his score to 50 enemy aircraft destroyed.

The fighters of JG 77 engaged Allied P-40s during the day and destroyed 3 of the American aircraft with victories going to Ofw. Kurt Niederhagen of the Geschwaderstab of II./JG 77 for his 2nd kill, Oblt. Siegfried Freytag of 1./JG 77 for his 84th kill and Ofw. Robert Helmer of 8./JG 77 for his 33rd victory. Out of 32 German fighters shot down and destroyed in the Med in January 1943, a total of 22 were from II./JG 51 and JG 77.

Lt.General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Force, places Major General Lloyd Fredendall in command of the U.S. II Corps, which is planning for Operation SATIN, the capture of Sfax, Tunisia, to prevent the junction of Axis armies. Task Force SATIN is to consist of the 1st Armored Division and Regimental Combat Team 26 of the 1st Infantry Division.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In January, the remnants of KG 50 returned to Brandenburg-Briest and were retrained in the anti-shipping role with Hs 293 missiles. The unit moved to Burg-Magdeburg later in the year. The new Gruppenkommandeur was Major Heinrich Schlosser, appointed in place of Major Kurt Scheede who was killed over Stalingrad in December 1942.

Hptm. Hans "Gockel" von Hahn was transferred from JG 5 to the staff of the General der Jagdflieger. At XII. Fliegerkorps, Generalleutnant Josef Kammhuber was promoted to General der Flieger. Hptm. Manfred Meuer of 9./NJG 1 was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 3./NJG 1. Hptm. Helmut Lent recieved promotion to the rank of Major.

IV./NJG 4 was formed at Mainz-Finthen with a new Stab and 10./NJG 4 from 8./NJG 4 and 11./NJG 4 from 6./NJG 4. Major Heinrich Wohlers was appointed Gruppenkommandeur. The Gruppe used Bf 110s for operations. 12./JG 2 was formed in Evreux. V./KG 40 with Major Alfred Hemm acting as Gruppenkommandeur, was formed at Kerlin-Bastard, joining 13./KG 40 which was formed in August 1942 at Nantes with JU 88C aircraft. The Gruppe remained at Kerlin-Bastard during its existance, with detachments at Bordeaux-Merignac and Cognac. A Nachtjagdstaffel./KG 40 also existed in 1943 at Bordeaux-Merignac ('Kommando Kunkel') and also used Ju 88C fighters.

Major Horst von Riesen's II./KG 1 was transferred ffrom Urasoff to Neuhausen. Hptm. Werner Kanther's II./KG 1 was transferred from Neuhausen to Dno. Major Paul Breu's IV./KG 3 was transferred from Chievres to Istres.


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## Njaco (Jan 1, 2008)

*2 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: At Stalingrad, heavy fog completely stopped all flying operations but not transfers of units. Oberst Hans-Henning Frhr. von Beust moved his Stab./KG 27 from Novocherkassk to Stalino. Major Erich Theil's III./KG 27 followed the Stab to Stalino. Hptm. Joachim Petzold's I./KG 27 took the Stab's place at Novocherkassk, coming from Urasoff. Major Karl August Petersen replaced Hptm. Reinhard Gunzel as Gruppenkommandeur of II./KG 27 and also moved from Urasoff to Novocherkassk. 14.(Eis)/KG 27 was formed in Charkow-Woitschenko and used the He 111H for operations. Hptm. Siegfreid Jungklaus' III./KG 3 moved from Starobelsk to Tschugujew.

German Heeresgruppe A begins withdrawing the 1.Panzerarmee northward toward Rostov to prevent it from becoming encircled. (Syscom)

*GERMANY*: Romanian dictator Marshal Ion Antonescu meets with Chancellor Adolf Hitler and reconciles their differences concerning the Romanian failures and the disaster at Stalingrad. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: On Crete, B-25s of the US 12th MBG bombed the airfield at Heraklion while B-24s of the 376th HBG hit the airfield at Kasteli / Pediada. 20 Axis fighters and a few bombers were destroyed on the ground.

In Sicily, British frogmen sink the Italian light cruiser '_Ulpio Traiano_', which is under construction in Palermo, with explosive charges. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, B-17s bombed the harbor and shipping at La Goulette. The 27th FS / 1st FG dispatched 8 P-38s to escort the B-17s but were bounced by 12 Bf 109s from II./JG 51 belonging to Kommando Roth. Capt. Glenn and Lt. H. K. Smith were 2 of 5 Lightnings claimed shot down - one for Fw. Anton Hafner and Ofw. Otto Schulz of 4./JG 51 and two by Oblt. Hans Heidrich of 6./JG 51 - without German losses.

US 12th AF A-20s and DB-7s, with fighter escorts, consecutively raided Sousse harbor. B-26s with fighter escort bombed the bridge north of El Djem.

III./SKG 10 continued its attacks in the morning and afternoon on the installations at Bone. The minesweeper HMS '_Alarm_' was damaged beyond repair in the raid on Bone, then beached and abandoned. Her 4 in gun was given to the Army who used it to fire starshell for coastal defense purposes.

Fighters from II./JG 51 - again from Kommando Roth - bounced a flight of Hurricanes and Spitfires. Fw. Anton Hafner of 4./JG 51 was hit by Robert Oxspring of RAF No. 72 Sqdrn and was forced to bail out. But as he did, he hit the rudder of his Bf 109G and fractured his hand. Upon landing he spent 6 months in a German hospital, his score standing at 20 kills.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAAF 467 Heavy Bomber Squadron commenced operation when 5 aircraft took off for the squadron's first raid. (Heinz)

Headquarters 2d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) with B-24s is established at St. Eval, Cornwall, England, upon arrival from the U.S. This unit is assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command (attached to VIII Bomber Command) and is tasked to assist the RAF in attacking German U-boats. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Four radar equipped B-24s of the US 329th BS 93rd BG flew a 'moling' or intruder mission aimed at harrassing the Luftwaffe in weather unsuitable for large missions by alerting air-raid crews in the area north of the Ruhr. The 329th had been training for these missions since 14 Dec. 1942. This mission and 2 subsequent missions in January were foiled by clear weather over the target area. 20 Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th FG were dispatched on fighter patrols.

In the Bay of Biscay during the night of 2/3 January, RAF Bomber Command sends 42 Wellingtons and Lancasters to lay mines: ten off the Gironde Estuary, five each off La Pallice and St. Nazaire; four off Bayonne, three off Lorient and two each off Brest, Limoges and St. Jean de Laz. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Jan 3, 2008)

*3 January 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-337 (Type VIIC), with 47 crewmen, is listed as missing in the North Atlantic; there is no explanation for its loss. U-337 reported for the last time today when the boat was about 150 nautical miles WNW of the Faeroe Islands (63.00N, 12.00W).

*EASTERN FRONT*: Exploiting the German withdrawal in the Caucasus, the Red Army occupies Mozdok and Malgobek. Soviet forces from the 44th and 58th Armies captured Malgobek in the Caucasus as Heeresgruppe A began a general withdrawl from the region. Uffz. Kurt Hofrath of 2./JG 3 was shot down and killed. His final score was 21 aircraft destroyed. Heinz Obst, also from JG 3, went missing in action. Obstlt. Walter Lehwess-Litzmann replaced Major Jobst-Hinrich von Heydebreck as Geschwaderkommodore of KG 3.

Obstlt. Paul-Werner Hozzel's Stab./StG 2 - known as Gefechtsverband Hozzel - moved from Makejewka to Nikolayev. Gefechtsverband Hozzel controlled parts of StG 1, StG 2 and StG 77. Major Ernst Kupfer's II./StG 2 followed the Gefechtsverband to Nikolayev from Tachinskaya. (Njaco)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 3/4 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches three Pathfinder Mosquitos and 19 Lancasters to continue the Oboe-marking experimental raids on Essen. Three Lancasters are lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: RAF Baltimores operating under the USAAF IX Bomber Command, bomb Suda Bay and Timbakion Airfield on the southern coast of Cete. A few of the aircraft also bomb Kapistri in eastern Crete.

Ludwig Berger of JG 77, who was shot down and captured on 12 May 1942, died of his wounds while in Allied custody. He had 16 kills to his credit.(Njaco)

*NORTH AFRICA*: An Axis tank-infantry force, with artillery and air support, overruns the French 19th Corps troops at Fondouk. The British First Army's V Corps, employing the 36th Brigade of the 78th Division,begins limited attacks to improve positions on Djebel Azag and Djebel Ajred, west of Mateur. The British 6th Armoured Division conducts a reconnaissance in force on the Goubellat plain.
All USAAF XII Fighter Command units, i.e., fighters and light bombers (A-20s and DB-7s), attack Axis tanks at Fondouk el Aouareb. The fighters and light bombers attack the tanks as they move west from Fondouk; several tanks are reported destroyed or aflame and numerous other tanks and vehicles are damaged.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A new Yugoslav Government is formed in London by former Prime Minister Yovanovitch. King Peter had been handed the resignation of the former government on 29 December 1942.

A Dornier Do 217E was hit by heavy AA fire and brought down to a safe forced landing at Skeffling near Hull at 21.30 hours. The aircraft was set on fire by its crew and destroyed before they were taken prisoner. (Njaco)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 28: The primary target is the St Nazaire U-Boat base, the first attack on this installation since 23 November 1942 and the heaviest attack to date against U-Boat bases to date. The command dispatches 85 B-17s and 13 B-24s; 60 B-17s and eight B-24s hit the target dropping 171 tons of bombs between 1130 and 1140 hours local. Formation (instead of individual) precision bombing is used for the first time by the VIII Bomber Command, and considerable damage is done to the dock area. The mission to the St Nazaire U-Boat base was intercepted by fighters from III./JG 2 and 7 bombers were shot and another 47 badly damaged making for the highest losses for the American bomb groups in Europe thus far. The Allies claimed 14 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down, 18 probables and 4 damaged. 17 Bombers were claimed by pilots of JG 2 including 2 bombers for Oblt. Egon Mayer from Stab III./JG 2. Other notable pilots claiming kills were Lt. Georg-Peter Eder and Oblt. Erich Hohagen from 7./JG 2 and Oblt. Siegfreid Schnell of 9./JG 2.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Bostons to Cherbourg but they are recalled. Three each Mosquitos attack railway targets in the Amiens and Tergnier areas. No aircraft are lost.

During the night of 3/4 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 45 Wellingtons and Lancasters to lay mines off the Bay of Biscay coast: 15 off the Gironde Estuary; 7 off Lorient, six off St. Nazaire, three each off Amiens, Bayonne and Tergnier, and two each off La Pallice, Limoges and St. Jean de Luz.

During the night of 3/4 January, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Texel Island. First Bomber Command 6 Group ops as (RCAF)427 Squadron Wellingtons laid mines in the Frisians. The various RCAF squadrons were almalgamated into their own group. (pbfoot)

Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann and was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 26 in place of Hptm. Conny Meyer who had transferred out of the Geschwader. (Njaco)

Uffz. Kurt Landrock of IV./KG 30 attempted an emergency landing a couple of hundred meters north of the railway station at Stovring. As the Ju 88 skidded across the fields, it broke through a hedge and burst into flames. The crew of four was thrown clear of the wreck and were found lying dead in the field. Pilot Uffz. Landrock, Navigator Obgefr. Gerhard Schon, radio operator Uffz. Karl Piatz and gunner Uffz. Sonke Sonnichsen were all laid to rest in Fredrichshaven cemetary. (Njaco)


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## syscom3 (Jan 4, 2008)

*4 January 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In the Bay of Biscay, USN submarine USS '_Shad_' sinks German minesweeper M 4242 (ex-French trawler Odet II) about 45 nautical miles NNE of Bilbao, Spain. in position 43.55N, 02.42W.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Nalchik in the Caucasus and Chernyshkovskiy on the River Chir fall to the Soviet Army. However, the under strength Soviet frontal offensive at Nalchik is defeated in the course of the month, primarily by the efforts of the Romanian 2nd Mountain Division defending the area.

The Soviet Navy lists submarine M-36 Black Sea Fleet, Kobuleti area lost off Sevastopol.

The airlift at Stalingrad was again able to deliver 200 tons of supplies to the city.

Following a period of thick fog and low clouds, the weather forecast for 4 January looked promising and that date was chosen for the relief operation of Velikiye Luki. Due to thick snow that hampered the supply columns, the operational strength Gefechtsverband Wilke's fighter units - Stab, I. and III./JG 51 - had been radically reduced, so Oblt. Bob shifted part of his III./JG 54 from Smolensk to Izotscha, 20 miles southwest of Velikiye Luki. While the German He 111s and Ju 87s were dispatched against the Soviet troop positions, 3 VA sent in the entire 292 ShAD and 1 ShAK against 'Gruppe Wohler". III./JG 54's Izotscha detachment was scrambled just after noon and caught a formation of 292 ShAD Il-2s that attacked German positions southwest of Velikiye Luki. Six Il-2s were shot down, including 2 as Fw. Alfred Dettke's 31st and 32nd victories. In the middle of this combat, the Il-2 pilot B. Lopatin had his Il-2 severely hit by 20mm shells which killed his gunner. Lopatin prepared himself to recieve the Coup de Grace when suddenly a Bf 109 appeared in front of him. Lopatin immediately pressed the firing button to his guns and the German fighter caught the full burst and started burning. He saw the German pilot bail out and hit his plane's tailfin, where he became stuck, following the descending Bf 109 down to impact. Thus died 9./JG 54's Uffz. Alfred Bleck, victor in 5 air combats. Another III./JG 54 Bf 109 crashed upon return to Izotscha.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 4/5 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Pathfinder Mosquitos and 29 Lancasters to bomb Essen. Two Lancasters are lost. 'Skymarker' flares are dropped on Oboe and city records report concentrated bombing in the Borbeck suburb, north of the city center.

*NORTH AFRICA*: A severe 2-day storm begins, sharply decreasing the capacity of Benghazi port and forcing the British Eighth Army to make greater use of the more distant port of Tobruk. Because of this, General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, alters the plan of attack, scheduled for 15 January, on the Buerat position, from which the Italians are already withdrawing. X Corps, which was to have advanced, is to remain in place while all its vehicles are used to move supplies forward from Tobruk. The size of the the assault force, drawn from XXX Corps, is reduced by one infantry division.

Twelfth Air Force B-17s sent, in two forces, to bomb Bizerte are forced to abort by heavy clouds over the target; one B-17 manages to bomb shipping at La Goulette. B-25s hit the railroad yards at Kairouan while A-20s attack Cherichera. Fighters provide escort for the bombers and for C-47 Skytrain transport runs, and fly reconnaissance and patrol missions. The Luftwaffe sends six Ju 88s with Bf 109 cover to attack Thelepte Airfield; they are intercepted by five P-40s which shoot down one Ju 88 and one Bf 109.


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## syscom3 (Jan 5, 2008)

*5 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces take Tsimlyansk and Morozovsk, the main airfield used by the Luftwaffe to supply Stalingrad. In the Caucasus, the Red Army is pushing down from Stalingrad towards Rostov-on-Don with the intention of trapping General Ewald von Kleist's Heeresgruppe A in the Caucasus. They have only 60 miles (97 kilometers) to go, while von Kleist's front is stuck in the Caucasus mountains some 400 miles (644 kilometers) away. That front has been bloodied in the past few days with the Soviets recapturing the important towns of Mozdok and Nalchik. Another Soviet drive is developing towards Elista, on the Kalmyk steppe, threatening Armavir, a key link in von Kleist's communications with Rostov. If the Soviets cut him off they will win a great victory, and German Chancellor Adolf Hitler at first seemed to make that possible by refusing to allow von Kleist to withdraw. Hitler has now changed his mind and von Kleist is conducting a fighting retreat while General Erich von Manstein, commander of Heeresgruppe Don, struggles to hold Rostov open for him to escape. It will not be easy. Der Montag reports:


> "Russian tanks come on in solid masses. Between them go units of long-distance ski and snowshoe runners. They carry with them even in the deepest snow, mortar batteries and anti-tank rifles."



The air fighting became intensified on 5 January with Soviet 3 VA launching an increasing number of Il-2s against 'Gruppe Wohler'. III./JG 54 claimed nine and IV./JG 51 four Soviet aircraft shot down - all Il-2s. In return Soviet fighters shot down and killed 7./JG 54's ace Fw. Alfred Dettke, shortly after he had scored his 33rd and last victory.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In an organizational change, the Allied Air Force is activated to have operational control of Allied air units in Northwest Africa under the command of USAAF Major General Carl Spaatz. The new unit includes the USAAF Twelfth Air Force, the RAF Eastern Air Command and such French air units as might be assigned or attached to it. The command serves under the direction of Lt. General Dwight Eisenhower, Commander-in- Chief, Allied Forces.

The US Fifth Army is activated under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, with headquarters at Oujda.

The V Corps, British First Army, breaks off action on Djebel Azag and Djebel Ajred after hard fighting in heavy rain, withdrawing the assault force (36th Brigade, 78th Division) to their original positions.

Ten Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb Sousse harbor (clouds obscure the primary target at Tunis). Eighteen USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with a large P-38 escort, attack the Sfax power station while fighter-escorted B-26s hit the Kairouan Airfield. One B-17 is lost. Other fighters fly patrols, reconnaissance and C-47 Skytrain escort.

During the night of 5/6 January, RAF Liberators of No. 160 Squadron hit the harbors at Tunis and Sousse.

III./SKG suffered the month's first Fw 190 casualty when Uffz. Egon Mareck failed to return from an attack on Allied batteries in the Mateur area. II./JG 53 transferred from Bizerte to El Aouina airfield and Major Anoton Mader's II./JG 77 moved from Zarzur to El Asabaa.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Supreme Court of Canada upholds the War Measures Act, passed in 1914, which gives the federal Cabinet emergency powers to govern by decree when it perceives the existence of "war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended. "

The conviction of Gordon K. Hirabayashi, who violated Seattle, Washington's curfew and exclusion restrictions on 16 May 1942, is reaffirmed by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California.

The US Army forms the 122nd Infantry Battalion (Separate), composed of personnel of Greek ancestry, at Camp Carson, Colorado Springs, Colorado. In baseball, the teams agree to start the season later than usual and prepare to train in northern areas because of the war. Resorts, armories, and university facilities are chosen for training sites. The Brooklyn Dodgers will train at Bear Mountain, New York; the St. Louis Cardinals in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; and the New York Yankees at Atlantic City, New Jersey.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: It is announced that the Government, together with 16 other governments of the United Nations and the French National Committee have signed a formal declaration to combat and defeat Axis plundering of occupied Europe. A Foreign Office statement claims that the robberies have "taken every form from open looting to the most cunningly camouflaged financial penetration" and include works of art, bullion, banknotes, shares and commodities. Neutral countries used as hideaways by Axis agents will have to surrender all stolen property. The warning is issued jointly by Britain and its allies.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Lt. Walter Forst of 13 (Z)./JG 5 was killed in a crash of his Bf 110 west of Kemijarvi. Major Georg Michalek succeeded Major Jurgen Roth as Gruppenkommandeur of Jagdgruppe West based at Cazaux.


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## syscom3 (Jan 6, 2008)

*6 January 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine U-164 is sunk in the South Atlantic about 117 nautical miles NNW of Fortaleza, Brazil, by depth charges from a USN PBY-5A, aircraft "2" of VP-83 based at NAF Natal, Brazil; two of the 56 crewmen survive. U-164 is credited with sinking three ships totaling 8,133 tons.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Conflicting reports are filtering out from Bucharest speaking of arrests and executions following an attempted rising by the disbanded fascists, the Iron Guard, against the pro-Nazi regime of Marshal Ion Antonescu, which took place on the second anniversary of the "civil war" of January 1941. In Budapest, the Hungarian newspapers have been reporting telephone conversations with Romanians who state that 80 have been executed; others that 56 leaders of the Iron Guard are in prison. The coup was to have coincided with the return of the head of the Iron Guard, Horia Sima, who escaped from Germany but was arrested en route by the Italian police.

During furious air fighting, German fighter pilots claimed 34 victories in the Velikiye Luki area - including 4 each by IV./JG 54's Lt. Wolfgang Bowing-Treuding and Fw. Kurt Tanzer. In return Soviet 32 GIAP alone claimed 17 victories., one of them probably against 7./JG 54's 28-victory ace Fw. Josef Brechtl. Fw. Kurt Stober paid them back by shooting down 5 Soviet aircraft (his victories 29 through 33) on 3 sorties this day. With one of his victims, erroneously reported as a LaGG-3, he killed 32 GIAP's Eskadrilya commander Starshiy Leytenant Aleksandr Koshelev. Gruppenkommandeur Major Hans 'Assi' Hahn of II./JG 54 had his best day of the war when he downed 7 Russian fighters.

Oblt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of 9./JG 54 spoke of the battle of Velikiye Luki;


> "Our task was to keep German fighters airbourne over Velikiye Luki all the time. We took off in Rotten or Schwarm formations, one group overlapping the other. We got involved in many air combats and noticed that the Russian fighters had grown stronger. It was here during the battle of Velikiye Luki that we for the first time learned that our recon Stafflen had been equipped with Bf 109s and that they even needed escort. We regarded this as a sign of greater danger from Russian fighters."


The first Nahaufklarungsstaffel to bring the Bf 109 into service in the East, 2(H)./21 also lost a Bf 109F-2 during the operations.

*GERMANY*: Grand-Admiral Raeder resigns as Commander in Chief of the German Navy.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: One USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the port area at Piraeus.

1(F)./122 was now established at Elmas (Sardinia) under II. Fliegerkorps. From Elmas, 1(F)./122 flew daily maritime recon along the North African coast in search of convoy targets for torpedo attacks by II. Fliegerkorps units. Operating from Trapani, 2(F)./122 was engaged in shadowing Allied convoys off the North African coast with Ju 88s fitted with maritime search radar, after the convoys had been initially located by 1(F)./122. A few hours before the convoy would be attacked by aircraft from KG 26, KG 30 and I./KG 60, the shadow aircraft would begin transmitting a homing signal. Between January and April, 2(F)./122 flew a number of operational evaluation flight with the Me 210. (Njaco)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Free French capture the Axis base at Oum-el-Araneb.

Twelfth Air Force A-20s, in two forces, hit a military camp south of Kairouan while B-25s hit the Kairouan railroad yards. Fighters escort bombers, carry out patrols and reconnaissance flights, and accompany C-47s on transport
missions.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A House of Commons select committee today listened to the heads of the women's services and a Trades Union Congress official putting the case for women to receive war injury compensation on a par with that received by men. The women said that they had heard justifications for differences in pay, but none for the gap in compensation. At present a female officer received less than a male private for total disablement.


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## syscom3 (Jan 7, 2008)

*7 January 1943*

*GERMANY*: During the night of 7/8 January, three Pathfinder Mosquitos and 19 Lancasters are dispatched to bomb Essen; 17 bomb but it is an ineffective raid.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A Ninth Air Force B-24 on a special mission bombs Maiouli Quay at Piraeus.

Twenty five USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s are dispatched to hit the shipping in Palermo, Sicily, harbor; weather reduces the force and only ten bomb the target through broken clouds.

Two steamboats of KMS 6 were sunk, the British SS '_Benalbanach_' and the Norwegian '_Akabahara_', and the American '_William Wirt_' was damaged. The 7,152 ton British passenger/cargo ship SS '_Benalbanach_' is sunk about 150 nautical miles NW of Algiers, Algeria, when the convoy she was part of was attacked by a single German aircraft. She is carrying 389 men of a motor transport unit and a crew of 74 and is en route from the U.K. to Bone, Algeria. The '_Benalbanach_' is hit by two torpedoes launched from the aircraft. The ship catches fire, blows up and sinks almost immediately taking the lives of 57 crew members and 353 service personnel. Her captain, dies in the water just as he is about to be rescued.

Two British minesweeping trawlers are sunk in the western Mediterranean:
- HMS '_Jura_' is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-371 about 38 nautical miles ENE of Algiers, Algeria, in position 36.58N, 03.48E.
- HMS '_Horatio_' is torpedoed and sunk by the German motor torpedo boat S-58 in the western Mediterranean.

Major Wilhelm von Friedeburg succeeded Oberst Ernst Bormann as Geschwaderkommodore of KG 76. (Njaco)

*MIDDLE EAST*: The Americans take exclusive jurisdiction over port of Khorramshahr, where the first U.S. troops arrived in December 1942.

*NORTH AFRICA*: An Allied Air Force General Order makes the USAAF Twelfth Air Force responsible for air support of U.S. ground forces in North Africa and the RAF Eastern Air Command responsible for support of the British First Army. However, units are to be placed under operational control of the other as the situation might dictate.

Twelfth Air Force B-26s bomb the airfield and barracks at Gabes while A-20s attack troop concentrations at Kairouan. Fighters escort both raids and also carry out several reconnaissance missions.

The Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 2, Hptm. Adolf Dickfeld, was severley injured in a take-off accident. His aircraft, Fw 190A-4 WN 0140750, somersaulted at Kairouan after colliding with an obstacle and Dickfeld's Tunisian campaign came to a premature end. Hptm. Dickfeld had 18 victories while flying in North Africa. Lt. Rudorffer took his place as acting Gruppenkommandeur. (Njaco)

After days of being declared unfit for flying due to malaria, Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt, Staffelkapitaen of 4./JG 77, was cleared for operations. With his health recovered, he flew one mission and shot down a Spitfire. Just after he landed, he stepped on an explosive device and was injured. He would not return to front-line service until August 1943. (Njaco)

In the evening, 17 torpedo bombers of I./KG 26 attacked British convoys. In an attack on convoy KMS 5, between Bone and Alger, a German airplane scored a hit on the British minesweeper "Acute', damaging it seriously. (Njaco)

*NORTH AMERICA*: Development of the first USN aircraft to be equipped with a turbojet engine is initiated with the issuance of a Letter of Intent to McDonnell Aircraft Corporation for engineering, development, and tooling for two fighter aircraft. Two Westinghouse 19-B turbojet engines are later specified and the aircraft is designated XFD-1. It became the prototype for the FH-1 Phantom jet fighter. The XFD-1 makes its first flight on 26 January 1946.


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## syscom3 (Jan 8, 2008)

*8 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet General Konstantin Rokossovsky, Commander-in- Chief of the Don Front, issues a surrender ultimatum to the troops of German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus' Sixth Army in Stalingrad, guaranteeing;


> "their lives and safety, and after the end of the war return to Germany", and promising that "...medical aid will be given to all wounded, sick and frost-bitten. .."


Since Paulus had been ordered by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler not to surrender or attempt to breakout of the city, the summons is ignored. Soviet forces seize Zimovniki, on the Stalingrad-Novorossisk railline.

Major Egbert von Frankenberg und Proschlitz succeeded Oberst Heinrich Conrady as Geschwaderkomodore of KG 51 based at Rostov. (Njaco)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 8/9 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches three Mosquitos and 38 Lancasters to attack Duisburg; 36 aircraft attack with the loss of three Lancasters.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: British General William Platt, Commander in Chief East Africa Command, turns over responsibility for the island of Madagascar, except for the Diego Suarez area, to Free French General Paul-Louis Legentilhomme, High Commissioner of the French possessions in the Indian Ocean, Governor-General of Madagascar and General Officer Commander in Chief Madagascar.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British submarine HMS/M P 311 (P 311) is reported overdue today. The ship is lost while engaged in Operation PRINCIPLE, the Chariot attack on Italian cruisers at La Maddalena, Sardinia. HMS/M P 311 left Scotland in November 1942 with sister-boats HMS/M '_Thunderbolt_' and '_Trooper_' after addition of human torpedo deck-mounted watertight containers, direct for Malta. P 311 departed from Malta on 28 December 1942. She sent her last signal on 31 December when she was about 88 nautical miles west of Palermo, Sicily. After this signal she is not heard from again and she is presumed sunk by Italian mines in the approaches to La Maddalena on or around 2 January 1943. She is reported overdue today when she fails to return to base.

*NORTH AFRICA*: RAF B-24s, under operational control of the USAAF IX Bomber Command, attack a rail junction near Tripoli.

Eight Ninth Air Force B-24s hit Tunis after weather and engine trouble prevent a planned attack on Bizerte. Fifteen Twelfth Air Force B-17s hit the docks at Ferryville and the naval base at Bizerte. B-25s hit bridges and rail junctions at Graiba and at Kalaa Srira while P-47s hit Kairouan Airfield. The heavy and medium bombers are escorted by P-38s. A-20s, escorted by P-40s, bomb tank concentrations near Gabes. Other fighters fly numerous patrols and reconnaissance missions.

Eight P-38s of the 49th FS/14th FG along with some P-38s of the 97th FS / 82nd FG and P-40s of the 58th FS / 33rd FG clashed with fighters from II./JG 2. The 48th FS suffered 3 aircraft destroyed and 2 damaged. Oblt. Buhligen and Lt. Goltzsch of II./JG 2 each claimed a victory but the Gruppe suffered a loss when Ofw. Karl Pfeiffer of 6./JG 2 was killed by P-40s from the 33rd FG south of Kairouan. As if to celebrate his new promotion as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 2, Lt. Rudorffer downed an A-20 near Pichon and a Spitfire over Kairouan. (Njaco)

*NORTH AMERICA*: Prime Minister Mackenzie King announces the appointment of the first Canadian Minister to the Soviet Union.

*WESTERN FRONT*: General Junck of Jagddivision 3, who commanded German fighters in the West, ordered some of his units to new bases. Because of this, II./JG 26 moved from Abbeville-Drucat to Vitry-en-Artois. (Njaco)


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## syscom3 (Jan 9, 2008)

*9 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: This morning the weary men of 6.Armee could read the terms of the surrender offer themselves in leaflets scattered by Soviet aircraft. The Russians promised that everyone who surrendered would be fed and recieve medical attention, and that their lives and safety would be guaranteed. The leaflet also promised that they would "retain their uniforms, badges of rank and decorations, their personal belongings and valuables. Senior officers may retain their swords and bayonets." The leaflet pointed out that their position was hopeless, that the main German front was being pushed further back each day and that the worst of the Russian winter had not yet even begun. Rokossovsky, anxious to free his forces tied down around the city, left no doubt of his intentions if the offer was refused; the Red Army would embark upon the annihilation of the encircled German troops. A new sight greeted the defenders of the embattled city. At 09.30 hours the first of seven Fw 200 'Condor' aircraft landed in the snow at Pitomnik airfield. The 'Condors' were from a group of 18 recon bombers, taken from 1. and 3./KG 40 on the Atlantic coast and thrown into the Stalingrad airlift with the designation 'Kampfgruppe ZbV 200', led by Major Hans Jurgen Willers. Both Staffeln would later be united as the new 8./KG 40. The recon aircraft-turned transports were based at Stalino, some 300 miles away from the battle area. A new 1. and 3./KG 40 began forming in Fassberg with He 177 bombers. The seven Focke Wulf transports brought 4 1/2 tons of fuel, 9 tons of ammunition and 22 1/2 tons of provisions on their first flight. On the return flight they took out 156 wounded. But the 'Condors' suffered losses. One aircraft had to return with engine trouble and another was unable to take-off. Two more 'Condors' were hit by Russian AA fire and a fifth went missing with 21 wounded on board. (Njaco)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 9/10 January, RAF Bomber Command sends two Mosquitos and 50 Lancasters to attack Essen; three Lancasters are lost. Essen reports concentrated bombing in or near the center with 127 buildings destroyed or seriously damaged and 28 people killed. Conditions were hazy, but the RAF was using 'Oboe', a blind-bombing device that depended on radio pulses transmitted from 2 stations in England and recieved back in the aircraft. By measuring the time taken by the pulses to reach the plane and return, its exact position could be calculated, and a short signal was then transmitted to the aircraft to indidcate the bomb release point. Errors would normally be of less than 300 yards.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Hptm. Anton Stadler succeeded Hptm. Heinrich Schweikhardt as Gruppenkommanduer of III./KG 76. (Njaco)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Twelfth Air Force B-26s with fighter escort, hit an airfield 10 miles south of Tripoli. Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack shipping off the northern Tunisian coast.

The Italian destroyer RN '_Corsaro_' hits a mine northeast of Bizerta, Tunisia.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Lockheed Constellation makes its first flight from Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California. The aircraft, Lockheed Model 049-46-10, msn 049-1961, is painted in USAAF camouflage colors with military insignia but carries the civilian registration NX25600. Piloted by Eddie Allen and Milo Burcham, the aircraft flies for 58 minutes with the landing gear down and lands at Muroc Army Air Base (now Edwards AFB), Muroc, California; the Connie makes four landings and take-offs at Muroc and then flies back to Burbank. Lockheed continues to test the aircraft until it is turned over to the USAAF on 28 July 1943 as C-69-LO, USAAF serial number 43-10309. It is immediately loaned back to Lockheed, flown back to Burbank and used by for testing until March 1946.

The auxiliary aircraft carrier '_Block Island_' ( ACV-8 ) is transferred to the British under Lend Lease as HMS '_Trailer_'. She is renamed HMS '_Hunter_' in 1943 and is returned to the USN in December 1945. The is the eighth ACV transferred to the Royal Navy.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Thirty seven RAF Bomber Command aircraft (all RCAF from 420,425,427,408 and 419 Sqns) lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark; one aircraft is lost (Halifax Mk II w7957 coded VR-O). (pbfoot)

In a second mining mission, four bombers lay mines in the Heligoland Bight, the arm of the North Sea extending south and east of the island of Helgoland.

During the day, one RAF Bomber Command Mosquito bombs the marshalling yard at Mons. Five RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the marshalling yard at Rouen; one aircraft is lost. Twelve Bostons are sent to attack the Abbeville airfields but are recalled before attacking. RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Venturas to attack the Ijmuiden steelworks; all attack without loss. During the night of 9/10 January, 56 bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands; three aircraft are lost.

Shorts S-26 Flying Boat, msn S-873, registered G-AFCK and named 'Golden Horn' by the British airline British Overseas Airline Corporation (BOAC), crashes in the River Tagus in Lisbon, Spain. The aircraft was on a test flight after an engine overhaul when a piston seized causing a severe engine fire and setting the tail surfaces on fire. The captain was blinded by the smoke and the aircraft crashed into the river killing 12 of the 13 BOAC personnel aboard.

Six Spitfire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG were dispatched to patrol the coast line of Europe. Bounced by JG 26 fighters, 2 Spitfires were claimed by Hptm. Wilhelm F. Galland from Stab II./JG 26 and Lt. Heinz Hoppe of 6./JG 26. (Njaco)

Major Bernhard von Dobschutz succeeded Major Ersnt-Gunther von Schelia as Gruppenkommandeur of I./KG 6 based at Beauvais. (Njaco)


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## syscom3 (Jan 10, 2008)

*10 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers, and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation RING, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of the German 6.Armee defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad. The main effort is by the Soviet 65th and 21st Army to the west of Stalingrad. With the beginning of Operation 'Ring', the Germans were soon in retreat. Some progress was made in the north and south, but determined German resistance limited gains.

In a desperate gamble to increase the airlift to Stalingrad, Major Willers of the new KGzbV 200 made use of 2 Ju 290 heavy bombers. The first flight into the city was made by Hptm. Hanig who returned successfully. These large aircraft were able to bring 10 tons of supplies and took out about 80 wounded men. (Njaco)

*GERMANY*: The second version of the Heinkel He 219V-2 'Uhu' was flown. (Njaco)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Stab I, 3. and 4./JG 4 were formed at Mizil (Rumania) and the Gruppe was now complete. 4./JG 4 was the Rumanian staffel Escadrilla 53. With the formation of the whole Gruppe completed, Hptm. Franz Hahn was appointed Gruppenkommandeur. (Njaco)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's 308th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, with Spitfire Mk Vs, begins operating from Casablanca instead of Tafaraoui, Algeria, to provide protection for the Casablanca Conference between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, briefs the assault forces of the army on a projected drive through the Buerat line to Tripoli, which must be accomplished within ten days, beginning on 15 January, to avoid supply difficulties.

During the night of 10/11 January, RAF B-24s under operational control of the USAAF IX Bomber Command, Ninth Air Force, bomb a road junction at Tripoli.

The Italian Arditi Regiment, in teams of nine to ten men, parachute in various places in Algeria, Libya and Tunisia for covert warfare duties. Although not as successful as they had hoped to be, they managed to destroy or damage bridges in Algeria.

Twelve Ninth Air Force B-24s forced by an overcast to divert from the primary target of Bizerte, strike La Goulette, the seaport of the city of Tunis. One aircraft is lost. Twelfth Air Force B-26s, with P-38 escort, attack the marshaling yard and oil tanks at Gabes. B-26s, sent against Sousse, abort due to bad weather. A-20s with P-40 cover, hit the military camp at Kebili. Fighters escort C-47 missions and fly reconnaissance and patrols. One P-40, flown by Major Philip Cochran, Commanding Officer, 58th Fighter Squadron, 33d FG, bombs and demolishes the Hotel Splendida, the German headquarters in Kairouan.

Seven Luftwaffe Bf 109s bomb and strafe Thelepte Airfield.

The Luftwaffe created a new command, Fliegerfuhrer Tunisien, commanded by Generalmajor Harlinghausen. Luftwaffe units under his command consisted of 2(H)./14, II./JG 2, Stab, I. and II./JG 53, III./SKG 10 and one staffel of II./StG 3. No Kampfgruppen were committed to the area due to a shortage of airfields and the new command would be a close-support and tactical organization instead of a strategic bombing group. (Njaco)

1(F)./122 lost a Ju 88A-4 that failed to return from its mission with Hptm. Karstinat (observer) and 3 others missing. The aircraft may have been borrowed from I./KG 60, which was also based at Elmas. S/L Leonard Harold Bartlett, CO of RAF No. 253 Sqdrn, spotted a German aircraft formation near a convoy northwest of Bougie. He shot down one Ju 88 and watched as it crashed into the sea. Luftflotte 2 recorded 1(F)./122 operating from Elmas with Ju 88s and Fw 200s and had 15 on strength with 4 servicable. (Njaco)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Fairey Barracuda Mk. II enters service with No. 827 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, based at Stretton, Cheshire, England.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Major Gerhard Schopfel gave up his position as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26 to become Operations Officer at Jagdfliegerfuhrer 4 in northern France for Luftflotte 3. The Stab was initially located at Rennes. The unit wasn't officially formed for several months. (Njaco)


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## syscom3 (Jan 11, 2008)

*11 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: As the Germans continue a withdrawal from the Caucasus, Soviet forces occupy Pyatigorsk, Georgievsk and Mineralnye Vody.

After his demand for surrender had been rebuffed, Rokkosovsky stepped up the pressure on the Stalingrad pocket. By mid-January, the remnant of von Paulus' command had shrunk to an area roughly 10 miles square. (Njaco)

In the darkness before dawn, with the temperature at -23C, the Red Army opened Operation 'Iskra' (Spark) to break the German seige of Leningrad. 2000 guns and mortars smashed the frozen silence as white-clad soldiers of the 2nd Shock Army advanced round the southern shore of Lake Ladoga towards the lakeside town of Schlusselburg. At the same time, units of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front, supported by warships of the Baltic Fleet, struck at the beseigers across the frozen river Neva. The plan, made by General Zhukov, newly arrived from Stalingrad, called for the Leningrad army and the relieving force to meet at a worker's housing development south of Schlusselburg. This would enable a supply route to be opened round the lake to bring food to the long suffering citizens of Leningrad. One daring part of Zhukov's plan had already succeeded. The 12th Infantry Brigade, all expert skiers, swooped through the freezing mist over Lake Ladoga to take the Germans in the rear. The Russians were only 10 miles apart at some points, but they faced a well prepared German army which included the Spanish Blue Division (Azul), "volunteers" sent by General Franco. It would be a bitter struggle. (Njaco)

At II./JG 54, the Staffelkapitaen of 4./JG 54, Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn gained his 120th destruction of an enemy aircraft and was immediately awarded the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz. But 10./JG 54 lost an ace when Lt. Wolfgang Bowing-Treuding, with 46 victories to his score, went missing during combat. (Njaco)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 11/12 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Pathfinder Mosquitos and 72 Lancasters to continue trials (tests) with Oboe on the Krupps works at Essen; 51 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of one Lancaster.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Eight Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbor at Naples; two B-24s are lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb the fort and town of Gadames. Escorting P-38 Lightnings engage in a 25-minute combat with attacking fighters, shooting down one and severely damaging another; two P-38s are lost.

The 6th Armoured Division, V Corps, British First Army, improves their positions in a local attack north of Bou Arada.

Twelfth Air Force B-17s attack the rail bridge and highway bridge across the Oued el Akarit, NNW of Gabes. B-25 Mitchells bomb shipping along the northeastern Tunisian coast; escorting P-38s claim three aircraft shot down.

Six Bf 109s, with additional overhead cover, strafe Thelepte Airfield.

Ten P-38s of the US 1st FG, escorting B-17s again, came across II./JG 51 and engaged in a 25 minute combat the attacking German fighters. The US fighter group lost 2 more P-38s - one of them to Ofw. Otto Schulz - without German losses although the Lightning pilots claimed shooting down 1 and severley danaging another. Other escorting P-38s claimed 3 Axis aircraft shot down. Uffz. Alfred Sonntag of II./JG 2 was wounded following trouble during take-off, bailing out of his Fw 190 just before crashing. (Njaco)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Josef "Pips" Priller of III./JG 26 was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26, replacing Major Gerhard Schopfel, who had left to become Operations Officer at Jagdfliegerfuhrer 4. Hptm. Priller's position as Gruppenkommandeur of III. Gruppe was taken by Hptm. Fritz Geisshardt from I./JG 77. (Njaco)

Rumors of JG 26 transferring to the Eastern Front came true and I./JG 26 was ordered to trade places with III./JG 54. The move was to take place in pieces so as to keep continuity of defense on the frontlines. The Gruppe moved from St. Omer-Wizernes, arriving by train at Heiligenbeil in East Prussia to collect new Fw 190A-5s. 7./JG 26 was to follow later, replacing 4./JG 54 (Njaco)


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## syscom3 (Jan 12, 2008)

*12 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops create a breach in the German siege of Leningrad, which has lasted for a year and a half. The Soviet forces punch a hole in the siege, which ruptures the German encirclement and allows for more supplies to come in along Lake Ladoga. After fierce battles, the Red Army units in Operation 'Spark' overcame the powerful German fortifications to the south of Lake Ladoga and restored the land communications within the encircled city of Leningrad. Soviet forces succeeded in driving a very thin land corridor to the city. Supplies were rushed into the city while wounded and non-combantants were shipped out. All of this was done under constant artillery fire against the cordon. The encirclement of Leningrad was broken as a result.

The Red Army gained several more streets in the bloody battle for Stalingrad. In heavy fighting, the Don Front overran the western portion of the Stalingrad pocket. Since the start of Operation 'Ring', the front had lost 26,000 men and 126 tanks. German losses were just as heavy. The Voronezh and Bryansk Fronts opened a fresh set of offensives against the Hungarian 2nd and German 2nd Armies. The Hungarian forces were overrun quickly and Soviet spearheads headed for Kharkov. Heersegruppe A continued its withdraw from the Caucasus to the Taman penisula, abandoning a 300 mile salient and withdrew towards the Kuban bridgehead. (Njaco)

*GERMANY*: During the night of 12/13 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Pathfinder Mosquitos and 55 Lancasters in a problematical attack on Essen; 49 aircraft attack the city with the loss of one Lancaster. The Oboe equipment of the first Mosquito to arrive fails and the other three Mosquitos are all late. Because of this, many of the Lancasters bomb on dead reckoning. Some bombs do fall in Essen, where 20 houses are destroyed or seriously damaged and nine people are killed, but other bombs fall in Neviges, Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal, a group of towns 12-20 miles (19-32 kilometers) south of Essen. Nineteen people are killed in Remscheid.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italian torpedo boat R.N. '_Ardente_' sinks after being rammed by destoyer R.N. '_Grecale_'.

Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells sent to hit shipping in the Straits of Sicily and in the Gulf of Gabes fail to find targets and return with their bombs.

*NORTH AFRICA*: RAF B-24s, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, Ninth Air Force, bomb Tripoli. Twelve Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb the Castel Benito Airfield south of Tripoli claiming the destruction of 14 attacking Italian Mc 202 aircraft in aerial combat.

Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit the bridges at La Hencha and Chaaba, completely destroying one bridge. Fighters fly patrols, reconnaissance, C-47 escort and strafe moored seaplanes and destroy numerous trucks during a sweep over the Ben Gardane area.

Seven Luftwaffe Ju 88s and five Bf 109s attack Thelepte Airfield.

P-40s carried out 3 scramble interceptor missions claiming 2 fighters shot down. Lt. Johannes Badum, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 77 was killed in action as was Oblt. Hans Heydrich of II./JG 51. But 2 Kittyhawks were claimed by Ofw. Walter Brandt and Uffz. Ernst Gronitz of 2./JG 77. (Njaco)

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Uffz. Alois Job of 8./JG 1 destroyed a PR Spitfire northwest of Kristiansand for his first score.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill leaves for Casablanca, French Morocco, where he and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt will plan the invasion of the European continent. Churchill believes it is essential for them to alleviate the pressure on the Soviets in 1943 with an attack on Sicily and then a cross-Channel invasion.

_From Hugh Spencer, forum member_;


> "On January 12th 65 years ago, I was waiting to join the RAF aircrew after volunteering in December 1942. All my friends had been called up, my brother was already flying with Bomber Command and I couldn't wait to go. I would have to wait another 3 months or so before and went to the Aircrew Reception Centre at St John's Wood, London."



*WESTERN FRONT*: In the English Channel, the British antisubmarine warfare trawler HMS 'Kingston Jacinth' strikes a mine off Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, U.K., and sinks.

During the night of 12/13 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 aircraft to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: nine aircraft off Gironde, six off La Rochelle, four off St. Nazaire, two off Lorient and one each off Bayonne and St. Jean de Luz.


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## Njaco (Jan 13, 2008)

*13 January 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The surfaced German submarine U-507 is sunk about 150 nautical miles NNW of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, by depth charges from a USN PBY-5A Catalina, aircraft “10" of VP-83 based at NAF Natal, Brazil; all 54 crewmen are lost. U-507 (along with U-156 and U-506 and Italian submarine '_Cappellini_') took part in the rescue operations after the sinking of SS '_Laconia_' on 12 September 1942 off Africa. About 1,500 men were saved by these boats and French ships from Dakar (which arrived on 16 September, four days after the sinking). (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The first of 7 airfields in the Stalingrad pocket was captued. At Pitomnik airfield, a Ju 290 heavy bomber took off from the airbase with 80 wounded onboard, rolled over and crashed. Only one person survived. He explained to officials that as the plane took off in a steep climb from the runway, the unstrapped wounded men inside slid to the back of the aircraft and overloaded the tail, making it uncontrollable and it crashed.

*GERMANY*: Another trial raid on Essen by 3 Mosquitoes and 66 Lancasters and another poor raid for 'Oboe' aircraft. Two aircraft had to return without marking and the skymarkers of the 3rd aircraft failed to ignite above the cloud. German aircraft also appeared to have dropped decoy flares to distract the Lancasters. Four Lancasters were lost with 2 being claimed destroyed by Major Werner Streib of Stab I./NJG 1 and one bomber by Oblt. Pause of the same unit. Despite all this, Essen reported a sharp raid with 63 people killed, including 11 French prisoners of war and 6 other foreigners. This ended the series of Oboe Mosquito trials. 

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia 5 Ju 88s dropped 40 bombs on Thelepte airfield. The fighter-bombers of SKG 10 continued their attacks on the Bone harbours. In combat with RAF Spitfires near La Calle, Lt. Crinius of I./JG 53 was wounded in the thigh and turned away from the fight. Trying to reach base, his engine caught fire and he was forced to ditch his Bf 109G in the sea. After 24 hours in the water he was rescued by French sailors and spent the rest of the war as a POW. He ended the war with 114 kills.

In Libya, weather prevented US 9th AF B-24s from attacking Tripoli and also caused B-25s sent to bomb Bir Durfan to abort. Fw. Heinz Furth of 7./JG 77 was killed in combat after a scramble from Bir Durfan.

P-40s flew cover for RAF Baltimores. JG 77 attacked the 21 bombers of 21 SAAF Sqdrn, escorted by 44 P-40s and Spitfires of US 57th FG, RAF No. 112 Sqdrn and RAF No. 92 Sqdrn and shot down 3 of the bombers. Credit for destruction of the bombers went to Major Joachim Muncheberg of Stab./JG 77, Oblt. Siegfried Freytag of 1./JG 77 and Uffz. Hempfling from 3./JG 77. Nine P-40s were also claimed by other fighters from JG 77.

Over the Med, US 12th AF B-25s with P-38 escort, bombed a partially sunken freighter between Tunisia and Sicily.

German submarine U-224 is sunk about 85 nautical miles northeast of Oran, Algeria, by ramming and depth charges from the Canadian corvette HMCS '_Ville de Quebec_'; only one of the 46 crewmen survives. This is the Royal Canadian Navy’s first U-boat kill. (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Luftwaffe attacks were made on Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham during the night. 5 HEs were dropped in fields near North Lizzard farm, Whitburn Colliery. Two of these exploded on impact causing craters, but no casualties. The others failed to explode at the time. Bombs fell in the South Dock - Monsanto Works area doing little damage.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 29: 72 B-17s of the US 1st BW raided the Fives Locomotive works at Lille. Escort for the raid plus 2 other raids by RAF Bostons against St. Omer, was provided by 69 Spitfire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG. Twenty to twenty-five Fw 190s from I. and II./JG 26 intercepted the bombers on their bomb run and attacked head-on and in a line of 5 to 6 aircraft abreast. This manevuer allowed only the 305th BG to be attacked and one bomber was shot down and 10 out of 22 Fortresses were badly damaged. Two B-17s from the 306th BG were also shot down and one Spitfire was lost. One Spitfire was forced down at Tangmere due to engine failure and sustained major damage. 64 B-17s dropped 125 tons of bombs on the target between 14.27 and 14.30 hours. Locomotive construction and repair work was seriously impaired. The Allies claimed 3 Luftwaffe fighters destroyed, 4 probables and 5 damaged.

In a case of mistaken identity, Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland closed in on what he believed was a TAF Spitfire and shot it down. In reality the aircraft was a Bf 109G from 6./JG 26, piloted by Uffz. Johann Irlinger. Uffz. Irlinger died in the crash. The incident was cleaned up for the official records and no action was taken against Hptm. Galland.

36 aircraft of 2 Group RAF Bomber Command, 18 Venturas, 12 Bostons and 6 Mosquitoes, attacked airfield and railway targets in France. 6 Wellingtons laid mines in the Frisian Islands. No aircraft lost. (Hugh Spencer)

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 36 RAF and RAAF aircraft, 18 Venturas, 12 Bostons and six Mosquitos, to attack airfields and marshalling yards. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1):
- Airfields: Drucat at Abbeville (18-0) and Ft. Rouge at St. Omer (8-0).
- Marshalling yards: Aulnoye, Laon and Tergnier (2-0) (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Jan 14, 2008)

*14 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Two Ju 52s managed to lumber off the runway at Pitomnik airfield, littering the surrounding countryside with an assortment of desperate men who tried to escape by clinging to the wings of the transports. With a sense of urgency spurred on by the knowledge that each departing aircraft from Gumrak or Pitomnik might be the last, desperate soldiers overwhelmed the guards and clung to the outside of transports making their take-off run. Many still clung to the wings as the planes gained speed and became airborne, but all eventually lost their grip and fell onto the snowy steppe. Among those departing on these final flights were a number of men with self-inflicted wounds who had managed to decieve the triage doctors who were determined to bar such men from evacuation. They had managed to hide the tell-tale marks of gunpowder burns by shooting themselves through thick blankets. Rather than inflicting an obvious wound - such as shooting themselves in the hand or foot - many of them shot themselves in the chest or abdomen. Such acts were indicative of the level of desperation that drove many to try and escape the frozen hell of Stalingrad at any cost.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends six Halifaxes on a cloud-cover raid to Leer but only one aircraft bombs through a gap in the clouds.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italian submarine R.Smg. '_Narvalo_' is attacked by an RAF Beaufort Mk. I or II of No. 39 Squadron based at Shallufa, Egypt, and sunk by destroyers HMS '_Pakenham_' and '_Hursley_' southeast of Malta. The sub is returning to Italy from a supply mission to North Africa. Aboard are 11 British officer POWs; eight of them go down with the sub along with 28 Italian sailors.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The ten-day Casablanca Conference begins. The two men meeting in the heavily-guarded compound at the Hotel Anfa, are known as Admiral Q and Mr. P. In fact, they are British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with their military advisers. They are planning the next moves against the Axis powers. The original intention had been to hold a "Big Three" conference, but Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin said that he could not leave the country; the fighting on the Stalingrad front, he said, demands "my constant presence near our troops." Stalin rounded off his letter to Roosevelt with a reminder that the President and Mr. Churchill had promised to open a second front in Europe by spring 1943. But the US and Britain are keen to exploit the imminent Allied victory in North Africa by striking across the Mediterranean, probably at Sicily although some favour Sardinia, and knocking Italy out of the war. The planned assault on northwest Europe will almost certainly be delayed as the Combined Chiefs of Staff say that there are as yet too many logistical problems. Italy, however, could be tackled this year and, the British say, would divert German forces from Russia. On the last day of the conference they express regret that Stalin is unable to attend. Two French generals, each claiming to speak for France, have finally met in a villa in a suburb of Casablanca where the Allied leaders are now meeting. London-based Brigadier General Charles-Andre de Gaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces in London, agrees to talk to Algeria-based General Henri-Honer Giraud, High Commissioner of North Africa and Commander in Chief French Land and Air Forces, only after intense pressure from Churchill. De Gaulle loftily rejects an invitation from Roosevelt to come to Casablanca; he considered it an insult to be invited by an American to visit French Morocco. At length he gave way, but even then it was some hours before he agreed to meet Giraud, who is staying in the next villa. Churchill told him that if he persists in his obduracy he could find himself abandoned by the British, upon whose goodwill he is entirely dependent. De Gaulle, who has been the symbol of French resistance since the collapse of 1940, deeply mistrusts the conservative and anti-republican Giraud. For his part, Giraud, who escaped from a German POW camp last year, rejects de Gaulle's claim to be the sole leader of the Fighting French and refuses to co-operate in joint military operations. After a two-hour meeting the two generals agreed on one point only: to keep in touch.

Franklin Roosevelt became the first president to travel on official business by airplane when he flew from Miami, Florida, to Casablanca. Crossing the Atlantic by air, Roosevelt flew in a Pan American Airways Boeing 314, msn 1992, registered NC18605 and named "Dixie Clipper." The secret and circuitous journey began on 11 January, when the plane departed Miami, Florida with a "Mr. Jones" on the manifest. Roosevelt flew on the B 314 to Gambia where he boarded a USAAF C-54 Skymaster for the flight to French Morocco. The trip was repeated in reverse at the conclusion of the conference.

XXX Corps, British Eighth Army, moves forward in preparation for an assault on the Buerat line and drive on Tripoli. RAF B-24s, under the operational control of the Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command, hit Tripoli, Tagiura and the supply dump at Misurata.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-25s strike motor transport near Gheiada, with P-40s providing cover. B-24s fail, due to weather, to locate Sousse harbor (the primary target), but four bomb in the target area and one bombs the road near Teboulba.

Twenty six Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with an escort of 17 P-38s, attack docks and shipping at Sfax; a total of two hundred fifty three 500-pound bombs are dropped from 23,400 feet. Sixteen other B-17s bomb shipping at Sousse. B-26s, with fighter escort, attack the rail junction at Kalaa Srira and the junction and warehouse at Mahares.

Major battles against the British kept the desert Jagdflieger busy throughout the day. 36 Kittyhawks from RAAF No. 3 Sqdrn, No. 250 Sqdrn, No. 260 Sqdrn and No. 450 Sqdrn were tasked to protect 18 Boston bombers on their way to bombthe frontlines at Bir Durfan. A fight of 20 Bf 109s from JG 77 came across the bomber formation and the Kittyhawks took the brunt of JG 77's attack. As the Messerschmitts attacked the bombers, escorting P-40s from RAAF No. 3 Sqdrn bounced the Germans. A ferocious dogfight found the Australians losing 6 warplanes to the Luftwaffe fighters. In all, JG 77 shot down 11 Kittyhawks without loss to themsleves. Among the victors were Hptm. Heinz Bar of Stab I./JG 77 who claimed 5 Allied aircraft to bring his score to 144 and Major Joachim Muncheburg of Stab./JG 77 who downed 3 aircraft to get to 124 kills. Getting double kills for the day were Ofw. Johann Pichler of 7./JG 77 and Major Kurt Ubben, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 77 who achieved his 100th and 101st kill of the war.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Eight Eighth Air Force Spitfire Mk Vs carry out three 'Rhubarbs' (a small number of aircraft attacking ground targets usually in bad weather) and engage Fw 190s west of Ostend. They claim two Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed.

During the night of 14/15 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 122 aircraft, 63 Halifaxes, 33 Wellingtons, 20 Stirlings and six Lancasters, in the first of eight area attacks on the French port of Lorient which is being used as a U-boat base; two Wellingtons are lost: 103 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of two aircraft. This was No 6 (RCAF) Group's first bombing operation, with nine Wellingtons and six Halifaxes being dispatched. One Wellington of No 426 Squadron, RCAF, is the group's first loss; Pilot Officer (USAAF 2nd Lieutenant) George Milne and his crew, five Canadians and an Englishman, all died when their aircraft is lost in the sea. The Pathfinder marking of the target was accurate but later bombing by the Main Force was described as "wild".

In other missions, 41 Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: 13 lay mines in the Gironde River Estuary, seven off Lorient, six off Brest, four each off La Pallice and St. Nazaire, two off Bayonne and one off St. Jean de Luz. Thirteen other bombers drop leaflets over France.


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## Njaco (Jan 14, 2008)

*15 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops crushed the Hungarian 2nd Army at Voronezh. On the northern front, the Red Army finally captured Velikije Luki in the Valdai Hills northwest of Moscow.

III./JG 54's last day of operations in the Velikije Luki area contributed to bring down the mood in the Gruppe. 9./JG 54's war diary records;


> "One Rotte carries out a free hunting mission, and engages 5 P-40s without any success. Three other rotten on free hunting. Lt. Klemm shots down a Pe-2 (No. 20), Oblt. Eisenach one LaGG-3 (No. 9). Uffz. Zester transfers a Bf 109 to Smolensk. Lt. Kromer returns to base with a shot up left wing."


During another mission that day, 7./JG 54's Fw. Kurt Stober and Lt. Alfred Doege were shot down by Soviet fighters. Both were lost. With Stober, 7./JG 54 was deprived of another of its best airmen, credited with 36 victories. The Battle of Velikije Luki would prove to be III./JG 54's final mission in the East. It was next shifted to the West.

Oblt. Hans "Beisser" Beisswenger, Staffelkapitaen of 6./JG 54, recorded his 125th to 127th victories when he destroyed two LaGG-3s and a P-39.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 15/16 January, two RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Aachen. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German, Italian and Croat forces under General Alexander von Lohr, launch Operation 'White', the largest campaign to date against Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army opens a drive on Tripoli, moving forward in three columns, those on right and in center under personal command of General Bernard L. Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army; the outflanking force on the left is under XXX Corps command. The 7th Armoured Division and New Zealand 2nd Division, the enveloping force, drive the Axis back to Wadi Zem Zem. The coastal advance by the 51st Division begins at 2230 hours and meets little opposition. The 22nd Armoured Brigade moves forward in the center prepared to assist wherever needed. (Syscom)

Twenty Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb the port area at Tripoli, scoring hits on vessels and on the shore areas near the harbor. (Syscom)

P-40s flew sweep and fighter-bomber operations as the British Eighth Army began the assault. US 9th AF B-24s bombed the harbor at Tripoli, scoring hits on vessels and on the shore areas. RAF Liberators, under operational control of IX Bomber Command, hit a road junction at Tripoli.

Nine Ju 88s escorted by 4 Mc 202s attacked Thelepte airfield. Eight Ju 88s were shot down by P-40s of the US 33rd FG. Flak brought down a ninth Ju 88. Several Fw 190s of III./SKG 10 destroyed 2 Beaufighters of RAF No. 153 Sqdrn on the ground at Thelepte in another attack.

In Tunisia, US 12th AF B-26s attacked a railroad and highway bridge across Oued el Akarit, northwest of Gabes. Eight P-38s of the US 48th FS / 14th FG escorted 18 B-26 bombers while 8 more from the 49th FS escorted other bombers. Both formations were attacked by 12 Bf 109s of II./JG 51 who shot down 2 B-26s and 2 Lightnings. Capt. Fulmer of the P-38 force, was seen to crash into the sea while Lt. Auton and Lt. Lawrence failed to return. Ofw. Otto Schultz of 4./JG 51 claimed one Lightning and Fw. Helmut Baumann from 5./JG 51 claimed another 2 minutes after downing a Marauder.

Luftwaffe units in North Africa became subordinated to Oberbefehlshaber Sud and included 4(H)./12, 1(F)./121, JG 77 led by Major Muncheberg, I. and 4./SchG 2 and III./StG 3. The Staffel of 7./JG 53 was transferred to Trapani.

In the Med, B-25s and B-26s flew 3 counter-shipping missions north and northeast of Tunisia, claiming one vessel in flames. Escorting fighters strafed trucks and claimed 2 aircraft shot down. Fighters fly several reconnaissance and patrol operations, intercept Axis aircraft attacking airfields in the Labasse area, and escort transport aircraft.

*NORTH AMERICA*: On the Virginia side of the Potomac River outside Washington, D.C., a new headquarters building for the Armed Forces of the U.S. is completed. Due to the five sided architectural design, it will become known as "The Pentagon." The massive structure covers 34 acres of land and has 17 miles of corridors. The size of this building will allow the U.S. Army, Navy and Army Air Forces to move their command functions into one place. These have been located all over the greater Washington, D.C. area. Many of them are housed in temporary buildings, "on the Mall," between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. These temporary buildings were erected during WWI and were not expected to be in use much longer than the duration of that conflict. (Some were still there in the 1960s.)

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends ten A-20 Bostons to attack a whaling factory ship at Cherbourg but score no hits.(Syscom)

During the night of 15/16 January, RAF Bomber Command flies three missions: 1.) 157 aircraft, 65 Wellingtons, 48 Halifaxes, 40 Stirlings and four Lancasters (24 wellingtons and 12 halifaxes were from 6 Group RCAF), are dispatched to attack the city and U-boat pens at Lorient; 133 bomb the targets with the loss of a Stirling and a Wellington. Bombing is more accurate than on the previous night. At least 800 buildings are destroyed and 12 civilians killed. Most of the inhabitants had fled the town during the previous day. 6 RCAF Wellingtons also tried to bomb Norden in daylight they were recalled. One Wellington never recieved the message and bombed from 600 feet. (Hugh Spencer pbfoot)

Nine Wellingtons lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: five lay mines off Lorient and four lay mines off St. Nazaire. Three aircraft drop leaflets over France. (Syscom)


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## Njaco (Jan 15, 2008)

*16 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Rokossovsky was carrying out his threat to annihilate the Germans trapped in the Stalingrad pocket. Attacking from the west, he was hammering the exhausted, starving 6. Armee. The Germans were still fighting stubbornly, but they had little left to fight with and the hoplessness of their situation was only too clear to them. One soldier, in a letter home, wrote:


> "We're quite alone, with no help from the outside. Hitler has left us in the lurch. When Stalingrad falls you will hear about it. Then you will know I shall not return."


The main German airfield at Pitomnik was captured by the Soviets. The Luftwaffe had abandoned the airfield as the Russian offensive advanced. Along with a handful of wounded and a few key staff officers, the last transport away carried the War Diary of 6. Armee, von Paulus' Last Will and a few personal keepsakes for his family. One Ju 52 from KGzbV 9 was shot down near the airfield. A short time after the last planes left, a Soviet T-34 tank broke through the outer defense of the airfield and started shooting up the control tower and the makeshift airport facilities. Supported by more tanks and a horde of Russian infantry, Pitomnik was now in the hands of the Red Army. The German forces at Stalingrad now had only one airfield, Gumrak, connecting them by air with German forces outside the pocket. Six Ju 87s and six Bf 109s - volunteers from JG 3 acting as airfield defense - were able to take off as Pitomnik was attacked by the Soviet infantry. The fighters, led by Hptm. Germeroth and Hptm. Kurt Ebener, were ordered to the airfield at Gumrak. But Gumrak was not ready for use and as they landed, disaster struck. The first Bf 109 overturned in a snow drift. Four more of the fighters hit bomb craters as they landed, leaving only one still flyable Bf 109, flown by Oblt. Lukas. Lukas decided that the airfield was too dangerous and he flew off to the west. Also transferring out of the area were the Hs 129Bs of Panzerjagdstaffel./JG 51 who finally arrived at Vitebsk. Gumrak was also supposed to be the airfield for the numerous transports bringing supplies. But the wreck-strewn airbase forced the Ju 52 Gruppen, led by Oberst Morzik, to land in a maize field near Sverevo. A bombing attack on the field later by the Russians destroyed 52 of the transports. Night landings in the city were no longer possible and supplies now had to be parachuted in. The daily deliveries were down to 60 tons, 20% of 6. Armme's minimal needs. Back at Pitomnik, the Russians used abandoned German direction finding equipment to mislead the German aircrews. Several pilots were decieved into landing at the airfield and were taken prisoner. At Taganrog, Generalfeldmarschal Erhard Milch arrived with special orders from Hitler to take over and re-organize the airlift. Hitler had dispatched him to the Stalingrad Front to try and revive the flagging airlift. Milch was a former Lufhansa executive with a reputation for working wonders with air transport, but not even he was capable of providing the miracle which the Fuhrer had ordered him to conjure up. Milch arrived at the forward airfields, brimming with enthusiasm, but was soon jolted into reality and appalled by what he found there. In spite of the fact that Goring and Jeschonnek had sucked replacment aircraft from every theatre of operations, von Ricthofen's total fleet was now down to 100 machines of all types. In addition, Soviet bombers were now cratering the runways and hammering the supply depots at the forward airfields from which the airlift operated. Milch returned to Germany and amazingly managed to scrape together an assortment of some 300 aircraft, including Lufthansa mail planes and anything still left in Germany's civil air transport inventory. But not even Milch could figure out how to staunch the bleeding caused by the worsening winter weather and the dominance of Soviet fighters who now controlled the air around Stalingrad.

*GERMANY*: RAF Bomber Command, after 4 months of bombing other cities, returned to Berlin during the night for the first time since 7 November 1941. 190 Lancasters and 11 Halifaxes from the Pathfinders and Nos. 1, 4 and 5 Gropus were dispatched to Berlin and marked the first use of an all four-engined bombing force. The city was hit by 8,000 lb bombs and thousands of IBs but the attack was a disapointment. Berlin was well beyond the range of 'Gee' and 'Oboe' and H2S radar was not yet ready. Thick cloud which was encountered on the way to the target, hindered navigation and Berlin was found to be covered by haze although the AA barrage was surprisingly light. The Germans were relying on camouflage and dummy fires to mislead the bombers, but pilots were told to expect these. Bombing was scattered, mostly in the southern areas, with the greatest concentration in the Tempelhof District. The German air-raid system failed to report the approach of the large bomber force, instead reporting only a few single aircraft. The Lancasters and Halifaxes thus arrived over Berlin in the evening when a lot of people were away from their homes. The first bombs coincided with the sounding of sirens and there were many scenes of panic until the police could control the crowds. Because of the warning failure, an unusually high number of people were killed, considering the weakness of the bombing. Another event was that about half of the personnel of the Berlin flak units were away from the city, taking part in a course and this resulted in a very much lighter barrage than normal. 10,000 people attending a fair at the Deutschlandhalle had a remarkable escape. The air-raid police and the fire brigade managed to supervise the evacuation of every person and all the circus animals to open ground in parks around the hall. 21 people were slightly injured in the crush as the crowds left the building. Just after the last person had left, a large number of IBs fell on the hall. None of the 10,000 people in the open nearby were hurt. The empty hall was quickly consumed by fire. The RAF bomber casualties were also light. Only one Lancaster, from No. 5 Group, was lost. No Luftwaffe nightfighter claims were even made.

2 Mosquitoes attacked Duisburg and Essen without loss. (Hugh Spencer)

*MIDDLE EAST*: Baghdad: Iraq declares war on the Axis. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: P-40s flew patrol and fighter-bomber missions as the British Eighth Army, having passed through the German's main defenses at Beurat, pushed toward Tripoli. The Eighth Army was now just 300 miles from the Tunisian frontier. US 9th AF B-24s hit Tripoli harbor and the town area. RAF Liberator Mk IIs of No. 178 Sqdrn bombed the road junction and Benito Gate at Tripoli.

Ofw. Johann Pichler of 7./JG 77 was forced to belly-land his Bf 109G-2 after engine difficulties. He was taken captive - by local Arab tribesmen who proceeded to plunder the wreck of his Bf 109 but subsequently allowed him to set fire to the machine. He was rescued later in the day by his comrades who had come out into the desert to look for him in a Storch liason aircraft.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jan 17, 2008)

*17 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Rokossovsky suspended his offensive against the Stalingrad pocket temporarily to regroup. Outside the pocket, Millerovo and Zimoviki were captured. One Ju 52 from KGzbV 9 was destroyed and 2 damaged during a Soviet air raid on Sverevo. (Njaco)

Lt. Josef Jennewein of I./JG 54 was given credit for destroying 5 Soviet aircraft during the day. (Njaco)

Oblt. Rudolf Busch, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 51 was killed in action having achieved 40 kills during the war. Major Erich Leie was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 51. (Njaco)

The Soviet Navy lists submarine L-23 Black Sea Fleet Karkinitski zaliv mined off Yevpatoeria by German ASW aircraft. (Syscom)

*GERMANY*: A second raid on Berlin, 170 Lancasters and 17 Halifaxes. 19 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes were lost, 154 aircrew. The weather was better then the past night but the pathfinders were again unable to mark the centre of the city and again the bombing fell mainly in the southern areas. The Bomber Command report stated that the Daimler-Benz factory was hit but this ws not confirmed by the Germans; however, a BMW aero-engine factory at Spandau was hit by IBs and slightly damaged. There was no damage of any note in any part of Berlin. The routes taken by the bombers to and from Berlin were the same as those followed on the previous night and German night-fighters were able to find the bomber stream. 19 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes were lost, most by intercepting fighters from NJG 1 and NJG 3. 3 Lancasters were claimed by Lt. Paul Szameitat of 6./NJG 3 and 2 aircraft were destroyed by Oblt. Ludwig Becker of 12./NJG 1. Other successful pilots included Oblt. Hans-Joachim Jabs of 11./NJG 1, Major Gunther Radusch of Stab II./NJG 3, Oblt. Martin Drewes of 7./NJG 3, Hptm. Hans-Dieter Frank of 2./NJG 1 and 2 Lancasters for Ofw. Maisch of 4./NJG 3. The experiments with this Lancaster/Halifax force, using target indicators against Berlin, now ceased until H2S became available. Richard Dimbleby, the BBC broadcaster, observed and commentated on the raid from a 106 Sqdn Lancaster, piloted by Wing Commander Guy Gibson.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British ground forces pursued the Afrika Korps toward Tripoli, reaching positions 10 miles east of Misurata on the coast with Beni Ulid on the south flank. US 9th AF B-24s bombed Tripoli harbor. During the night, RAF Liberators hit Castel Benito airfield and the road junction west of Homs. Major Muncheberg's Stab./JG 77 and Major Heinz Bar's I./JG 77 was transferred from Bir Durfan to Castel Benito airfield. Major Kurt Ubben's III./JG 77 moved from Bir Durfan to El Asabaa. (Njaco)

In Tunisia, B-25s of the US 12th AF, with P-38 cover, attacked the rail junction at Graiba. Lt. Fritz Karch of II./JG 2 shot down a Spitfire of RAF No. 111 Sqdrn near Tabarka while Oblt. Buhligen claimed 2 victories against the Allies and Fw. Goltzsch claimed one aircraft shot down. (Njaco)

In the evening, 4 He 111s of I./KG 26 attacked a convoy to the west of Bougie that had left from Oran and was sailing to Philippeville, damaging by a torpedo, the British LSI '_Tesayera_'. (Njaco)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Luftwaffe reprisal raid on London. Bombs fell mainly on the outskirts and the Greenwich power station hit. A total of 118 bombers from KG 2 and KG 6, equipped with the latest versions of the Do 217 and Ju 88, attacked London in two waves. Twenty-three people were killed and 60 were injured during the attack. Six Luftwaffe aircraft were lost.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Brothels should be established at all Waffen-SS garrisons in occupied France. This is the view of Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer, who believes that what he calls "this naturalness" will increase the performance of his men, presumably in their military duties. Himmler's order was conveyed in a letter to Karl Albrecht Oberg, the head of the police and the SS in occupied France, on 5 January. He is apparently worried by the increase is sexual diseases amongst the SS soldiers. Prostitutes in the brothels, however, would come under regular medical supervision. (Njaco)


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## Hugh Spencer (Jan 18, 2008)

*18 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Staff officers at OKW had to admit to themselves that 6.Armee was lost in Stalingrad and they tried to salvage what they could of technicians and specialists while abandoning the ordinary Landsers to their fate. They stepped up evacuation of officers with rare skills and ability, giving them priority on flights out of the pocket even in front of the wounded. General Hans Hube, the one-armed commander of the 16th Armoured division who had first reached the Volga at Rynok was one such officer. Ordered to abandon his command and fly out, Hube refused. He was flown out after a squad of Gestapo men was sent to the city with orders to remove him forcibly. Lt. Hans Gilbert, flying one of the remaining Fw 200 'Condors', landed at snowbound Gumrak airfield. Although he broke his tail skid on landing, he ws able to take off with General Hube. Later a He 111 landed at Gumrak with Major Thiel, Gruppenkommandeur of III./KG 27. He was sent by VIII Fliegerkorps to report on the conditions of the airbase - described by radio messages as "day-and-night operational". Major Thiel reported:


> "The airfield is easy to pin-point from 4500-5000 feet owing to its rolled runway, its wreckage and the numerous bomb craters and shell holes. The landing cross was covered with snow. Directly my machine came to a standstill, the airfield was shot up by 10 enemy fighters - which however, did not come lower than 2500-3000 feet owing to the light flak that opened up on them. Simultaneously it was under artillery fire. I had just switched off the engines when my aircraft became an object for target practice. The whole airfield was commanded by both heavy and medium guns situated - so far as one could judge from the open firing positions - mainly to the southwest...Technically speaking, the airfield can be used for daylight landings, but at night only by thoroughly experienced aircrews....Altogether 13 aircraft wrecks litter the field, in consequence of which the effective width of the landing area is reduced to 80 yards. Especially dangerous for night landings of heavily laden aircraft is the presence of the wreck of a Bf 109 at the end of it. Immediate clearance of these obstacles has been promised by Oberst Rosenfeld. The field is also strewn with numerous bomb canisters of provisions, none of them saved, and some already half covered with snow...When I returned to my aircraft (after reporting to General Oberst von Paulus) I found that it had been severly damaged by artillery, and my flight mechanic had been killed. A second aircraft of my section stood off the runway in like condition. Though I had landed at 11.00 hours, by 20.00 hours no unloading team had appeared, and my aircraft had neither been unloaded nor de-fueled despite the crying need for fuel by the Stalingrad garrison. The excuse given was the artillery fire. At 15.00 hours, Russian planes (U-2s) began to keep watch on the airfield in sectiuons of 3 or 4. From the onset I made it my business to look into the air control system and established that before 22.00 hours it was quite impossible to land a single plane....If one approached, the 7 lamps of the flare path would be switched on, offering a target visible for miles, whereas it would be bombed by the nuisance raiders above. The only possible measure was a short flash to enable the aircraft to position its bomb canisters..."


 In the Caucasus, The Russian advance continued. Cherkessk was captured and the Red Army was now less than 250 miles south east of Rostov.

The 16 month seige of Leningrad began to crack when Capt. Sabatkin of the Leningrad army exchanged the password with Capt. Demidov of the relieving force on a corpse-littered field near Schlusselburg on the shore of Lake Ladoga. The formalities over, the 2 men embraced in a celebration of their victory. The seige of Leningrad had been raised. Despite this the rations in the city were still limited and German artillery could still reach any part of the city. It had taken 5 days of fierce fighting for the Russians to break the German ring around the city, for the Germans had spent the last year building their seige fortiifications with minefields and a network of concrete pillboxes. The victory was yet another triumph for the meticulous planning of General Zhukov, who was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union, the first Russian field commander to be so honored. Attempts to widen the corridor (only 6 miles wide) failed, at a heavy cost in men and material. The gap that had been opened in the lines around the city remained narrow and any traffic through it would have to run the gauntlet of the German guns.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Hptm. Stadler's III./KG 76 moved from Tympakion on Crete to Athens-Tatori in Greece.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Germans counter-attacked in Tunisia. They gained ground against the Free French but were repulsed by British forces. British and American tankers at Bou Arada were confronted by the Tiger tank. The heavily armoured tank was equipped with the 88mm gun and had no equal in the Allied inventory. General Montgomery ordered accelerated day and night pursuit toward Tripoli as contact with Rommel's forces was temporarily lost due to terrain and obstacles. In Libya, US 12th AF B-17s with fighter escort bombed Castel Benito airfield. US 9th AF B-24s struck Tripoli harbor as P-40s flew top cover. JG 2's Lt. Rudorffer shot down a P-38 from the US 48th FS / 14th FG and a Spitfire V from RAF No. 232 Sqdrn. In the Med, B-26s attacked 2 vessels in the Gulf of Hammamet.

After a stay of only one day, Major Heinz Bar's I./JG 77 was transferred from Castel Benito airfield to Ben Gardane.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 21 Venturas and 14 Bostons set out for Caen and Cherbourg but were recalled due to bad weather.

22 Stirlings and 7 Wellingtons of 3 Group laid mines off the Frisian Islands without loss.

Major Helmut Lent, Gruppenkommandeur of IV./NJG 1, achieved his 50th victory, a RAF Halifax. He was the first nightfighter experten to reach this mark.


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## Njaco (Jan 19, 2008)

*19 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The seige of the German 6.Armee at Stalingrad was holding down 90 out of 259 Soviet formations. The Russians claimed further victories during a 75 mile advance towards Kharkov on the Voronezh front, with the Russians claiming 52,000 Axis prisoners on this front alone. Meanwhile in the north, Soviet 50th Army captured Novgorod.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Libya, Allied ground forces regained contact with Rommel's forces. the coastal force reached Homs while the southern column pressed toward Tarhunah. B-24s hit the harbor at Tripoli while B-25s hit castel Benito airfield and motor transport on the road. In Tunisia, US 12th AF B-17s hit the industrial area just south of Tunis and the marshalling yard at Jabal al Jallud with P-38s as cover. US 9th AF B-24s hit the harbor at Sousse. B-25s hit Medenine and a nearby motorpool. From the Sousse raid, 2 bombers were claimed by Uffz. Rudolf Flindt and Fw. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert of 4./JG 77 along with a P-40 brought down by Hptm. Anton Hackl of 5./JG 77. The Tripoli raid found 2 bombers being claimed by Fw. Albert Strater of 3./JG 53 and Fw. Stockmann of 2./JG 53.

72 P-40s of the 325th FG were flown off the USS '_Ranger_' and landed at Cazes Airdrome, Casablanca. Major Anton Mader's II./JG 77 moved from Bir Durfan to Medenine. After a stay of 2 days, Major Kurt Ubben's III./JG 77 moved from El Asabaa to Malacha.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Luftwaffe daylight fighter-bomber raids were made on London by 28 aircraft accompanied by 50 escort fighters. 22 bombs fell on the target, 39 children and 5 teachers killed at Lewisham school. Surrey Docks were hit. Typhoons intercepted the raiders as they withdrew. (Hugh Spencer)

*WESTERN FRONT*: 8 Mosquitoes made a low level attack on the engineering works at Hengelo, no losses. (Hugh Spencer)

8 Wellingtons minelaying in the Frisian Islands, no losses. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Njaco (Jan 20, 2008)

*20 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army began an offensive against Heeresgruppe Mitte in the Voronezh area. With the reduction of the Stalingrad pocket well in hand, Soviet forces began to leave the area to reinforce that attack further west. To the south, the Red Army captured Mevinnomyssk and Proletarskaya. Karl Frentzel-Beyme of Jagdgruppe Ost was killed in action. He had shot down 8 enemy aircraft during his career with the Jagdgruppe and JG 54.

Parts of Ekdo 21 moved to Morosovskaja and was absorbed by KGrzbV 5. Hptm. Ernst Hetzel's Ekdo 21 was formed in September '42 at Garz / Usedom with Do 217s and He 111Hs to test the new 'Fritz X' glidebomb. The Gruppe was reorganized into 4 Staffeln, now only with Do 217K-2/Fritz X and known as Kampfgruppe 21.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Six B-25s of the US 310th BG (Medium), escorted by 12 P-38s of the US 14th FG, hit shipping in the Straits of Sicily, sinking a tanker.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Libya, B-24s hit the harbor at Tripoli as B-17s hit Cap Mangin near Gabes when cloud cover prevented bombing of the primary target, also Tripoli. P-40s flew top cover and fighter-bomber operations as German resistance to the British advance stiffened in the Homs - Tarhunah area. At Sidi Ahmed airfield, III./SKG 10 lost its Gruppenkommandeur, Oblt. Hans-Peter Bosselmann when his Fw 190 collided during take-off with Bf 109s from JG 53.

In the morning 7 He 111s of I./KG 26 again attacked the convoy KMS 6 to the north of Alger, damaging with a torpedo the American steamboat '_Walt Whitman_'.

U-66 landed espionage agent Jean Lallart on the coast of Mauritania near Cape Blanc. Lallart and the 2 crewman who rowed him ashore were immediately captured by the French. After waiting in vain for 13 hours for the crewmen to return, Kptlt. Markworth of U-66 was forced to abandon his crewmen to whatever fate they had suffered. ten days later Markworth learned of the capture of his men.

After even a shorter stay that that at El Asabaa - one day - Major Kurt Ubben's III./JG 77 moved from Malacha to Matmata.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Great London Raid - A rare combined attack on London by Luftwaffe fighter-bombers was the main engagment of the day for the fighters of the Channel coast. Around noon, a formation of 30 Fw 190s compiled from the full strength of the two jabostaffeln - 10(J)./JG 26 and 10(J)./JG 2 - escorted by aircraft from I./JG 2, crossed the French coast and headed out to sea for England. Spreading out in line abreast and only 10 feet above the sea, the formation raced for London. The British defenses were caught completely surprised and of the barrage balloons that were able to get aloft, 10 were immediately brought down by fire from JG 2. Barreling into the London area, the Jabos dropped their loads on docks and warehouses before banking away and heading for home. As they reached the coast, Lt. Herman Hoch of 10(J)./JG 26 was hit by flak and after trying to escape to France over the Channel, turned back and belly-landed on Englisg soil. He was soon captured and made a prisoner, the only casualty from the first wave of Jabos. The second wave with 3 dozen Bf 109Gs and Fw 190As of II./JG 26 were not as lucky as they reached Eastbourne ten minutes after the first formation. This formation flew at 10,000 feet and scattered their bombs over Brighton. The RAF, now alerted, intercepted and made their presence felt. One Fw 190 from 5./JG 26 was hit and the pilot bailed out and was captured. Two Typhoons attacked 2 schwarm from 6./JG 26, who dove for cloud, trying to escape. Two Bf 109s collided in the cloud and another was shot down. Another Bf 109, its pilot blinded by debris from an exploding Messerschmitt in front of him, nursed his plane back and force landed at Abbeville. Spitfires and Typhoons chased the German formations back across the Channel and destroyed another Bf 109 from 6./JG 26. Fighters from 2./JG 26, protecting the coast, intervened and Oblt. Fulbert Zink destroyed one Spitfire but the Staffel lost an Fw 190 and its pilot. III./JG 26 was tasked with high cover for the withdrawl and as this proceeded, the Focke Wulfs swept over the Dover coast. The new Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26, Major Josef Priller caught up to one Spitfire near Canterbury and sent it to the ground While Oblt. Kurt Mierusch of 7./JG 26 forced the pilots of 2 Spitfires to bail out of their stricken craft. London had been hit by 6 tons of bombs, hitting a school, killing 44 children and one teacher. But the cost to the Jabos and their escorts was high. 8 pilots were missing and a further 2 were seriously injured. JG 26 claimed only 4 victories. 6./JG 26 lost almost all its aircraft and shortly after, traded the remaining Bf 109s for Fw 190s. The Great Raid on London was not repeated and it was the last time JG 26 flew over English skies in force. (Caldwell)


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## Njaco (Jan 21, 2008)

*21 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russians completed the isolation of the German 6.Armee in Stalingrad with the capture of Gumrak airfield. The last transports that left the city - 21 He 111s and 4 Ju 52s - had landed at Gumrak during the night. After this operation, the airfield was overrun by Russian forces which forced the Luftwaffe to drop supplies from the air instead of landing. But the bomb canisters either fell among the ruins of the city or men were too tired and starving to gather them up. The airlift came abruptly to a halt as Stalingrad continued to die. Hitler cables von Paulus,


> "Surrender is out of the question."


The Russians claimed the capture of the Caucasian railway town of Voroshilovskiy and reported that 500,000 Germans had been killed and 200,000 captured in the last 2 months of fighting. The British code breakers at Bletchley Park broke the 'Porcupine' key, which allowed them to read all Luftwaffe transmissions in southern Russia for nearly a month.

*GERMANY*: 79 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos were dispatched to Essen and encountered total cloud, so bombs were dropped blindly on estimated positions. 4 Lancasters were lost. 70 aircraft were sent on a large minelaying operation in the Frisian Isalnds and lost Wellingtons and 2 Halifxes. Major Helmut Lent of Stab IV./NJG 1 claimed one of the Wellingtons.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Germans strengthened the Tarhunah area at the expense of the Homs front, causing General montgomery to decide to make the main effort along the coast. B-24s bombed Tripoli harbor while B-25s attacked targets along the Surman-Az Zawiyah road.

In Tunisia, B-25s bombed the highway and railroad bridges just north of Pont du Fahs. Allied fighters flew bomber escort and sweeps, attacking and destroying a large number of trucks on the Gabes - Ben Gardane road. A-20s and their fighters escort bombed and strafed a tank and truck concentration near Ousseltia in support of elements of the US 1st Armoured Division which began an Allied assault in an effort to push the Germans back in the Ousseltia Valley into which a new Afrika Korps offensive under new Commanding General, von Arnim, had advanced in a four day push. 24 P-38s found the Gabes - Medenine - Ben gardane road crowded with traffic. They swept down and strafed, claiming 65 vehicles destroyed plus 2 Bf 109s destroyed in the air.

Fw 190s from 4./JG 2 attacked P-40s from the French GC II/5 in the Kairouan area. Uffz. Heinz Gabler was shot down but Oblt. Buhligen shot down 2 French aircraft whereupon the rest of the French fighters turned and fled.

Six B-26s of the US 319th BG (Medium) hit 2 freighters northeast of Cape Bon, sinking one and damaging the other. The 10 escorting US 82nd FG P-38s shot down 2 Z1007 bombers and then mixed it up with 6 Bf 109s, claiming 3 shot down but losing 2 Lightnings. Both P-38s were claimed by Hptm. Heinz Bar of Stab I./JG 77 to reach a score of 145 kills.

In the Afternoon, 24 German torpedo bombers including 7 He 111s of I./KG 26 and 8 Ju 88s of III./KG 26, attacked a convoy to the west of Caxine Head, damaging the British steamboat 'Ocean Rider'.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: After months of fruitless patrols, the first kills came to Mosquito pilots operating from Acklington airfield, when they shot down a Do 217 near Hartlepool.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Sptifire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG flew 40 sorties during the day. Early in the morning, 26 Spitfires escorted RAF Venturas attacking Caen / Carpiquet in France. Later 23 Spitfires supported a Circus (heavy fighter escort of a small bomber force in an attempt to provoke a Luftwaffe fighter response) to Caen. A US 93rd BG (Heavy) B-24 attempted a Moling mission (a bad weather mission by a single aircraft designed to harrass the Luftwaffe).

36 Bostons and 15 Venturas attempted to attack the docks at Flushing and Cherbourg and an airfield near Caen. Cloud prevented good results and there were no losses.

42 RCAF 6 Group aircraft - 15 Halifaxes and 27 Wellingtons - were mining in the Frisian island area. 3 Wellingtons failed to return. (pbfoot)


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## Njaco (Jan 22, 2008)

*22 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army began its final attacks at Stalingrad. The Soviet 21st and 62nd Armies linked up, cutting the pocket in two, north and south of the city. The Luftwaffe airbase at Salsk in the Caucasus fell. Two Ju 52s from KGzbV 9 crashed in bad weather and poor visibility between Sverevo and Stalingrad, killing both crews. The Italian Alpini Divisions, 'Julia' and Cuneense' clashed with Soviet forces at Novo-Georgievka and Valuiki.

In the face of the Russian offensives, several Luftwaffe units moved airbases. Major Joachim Blechschmidt's I./ZG 1 moved their Bf 110s and crew from Krasnodar to Powalta. Major Gunther Tonne's II./ZG 1 moved from Schachty to Dnjepropetrosk. III./KG 4 moved from Woroschilowgrad to Konstantinovka.

*GERMANY*: 2 Mosquitoes, using OBOE, attacked Cologne with considerable damage, without loss of aircraft. (Hugh Spencer)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US B-26s on a shipping strike, damaged a freighter in the Straits of Sicily.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army's 22nd Armoured Brigade passed through the 51st Infantry Division at Homs and drove beyond Castelverde. Forces to the south advanced to within 17 miles of Tripoli. B-25s bombed a road junction near the city.

In Tunisia, B-17s - operating in 2 forces - bombed El Aouina airfield in the morning. B-26s hit the airfield shortly after noon and B-25s attacked later in the afternoon. Two escorting P-38s were lost to Luftwaffe fighters, claimed by Ofw. Otto Schultz of 4./JG 51 and Fw. Almenroeder of 6./JG 51.

P-39s and P-40s supported the Allied ground assault in the Ousseltia Valley which had been halted by strong opposition. The fighters silenced several machine gun positions. One P-40 was lost although 3 were claimed between Oblt. Buhligen of 4./JG 2 and Major Joachim Muncheberg's Stab./JG 77. The almost constant pounding of airfields by the Allies caused Major Muncheberg's Stab./JG 77 to transfer from Castel Benito airfield to Zuara.

*WESTERN FRON*T: The first North American B-25 'Mitchell' bombers in the service of the RAF made their operational debut when 12 Mitchells of RAF Nos. 98 and 180 Sqdrns flew an attack on oil refineries at Terneuzen near Ghent, Belgium, flying from Foulsham, Norfolk. 23 Bostons and 18 Venturas attacked airfields in France. Two Venturas and 3 Mitchells were lost, including the aircraft of Wing Commander C. C. Hodder, commanding officer of RAF No. 180 Sqdrn. 25 Spitfire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG supported the RAF Bostons on the missions. One Spitfire was lost and one damaged beyond repair although the defending Luftwaffe fighters claimed 4 Spitfires and 4 Mustangs. Among the pilots credited with downing Spitfires were Hptm. Wilhelm Galland of Stab II./JG 26, Uffz. Robert Stellfeld of 5./JG 1 and Oblt. Kurt Mietusch of 7./JG 26 who claimed his third Spitfire in 2 days. Uffz. Hans Vorhauer of 11./JG 1 brought down one of the new B-25s for his first victory then 15 minutes later destroyed a Spitfire. Oblt. Walter Leonhardt from 6./JG 1 also claimed a Mitchell and then a Mustang 9 minutes later.

Obstlt. Walter Bradel replaced Obstlt. Hans von Koppelow as Geschwaderkommodore of KG 2, based at Soesterberg flying Do 217Es.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jan 23, 2008)

*23 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The last resistance in Stalingrad was crumbling. The 6. Armee had been split into 2 pockets north and south of the city. The Germans inside the pocket outside retreated from the suburbs of Stalingrad into the city itself. The loss of the 2 airfields at Pitomnik and Gumrak meant an end to air supplies and to the evacuation of the wounded. The last German airfield in the Stalingrad pocket, at Gumrak, fell 2 days ago to Soviet tanks. The last German airplane, an He 111 carrying 19 wounded soldiers and 7 bags of mail - the last letters from doomed men to their families - flew out of the pocket as the last German airfield fell. Now the only way in which the defenders could be supplied was by parachute. The Germans were now literally starving and running out of ammunition. With defeat inevitable, some Germans were surrendering or saving their last bullets for themselves. General von Hartmann, commander of the 71st Infantry Division, stood upright on a railway embankment and fired his carbine at the advancing Russians until he was mowed down by a machine-gun. Nevertheless, they continued to resist stubbornly, partly because they believed the Soviets would execute those who surrendered. In particular, the "HiWi" troops - ex-Soviets fighting for the Germans - had no illusions about their fate if captured. The Soviets in turn, were initially surprised by the large number of German forces they had trapped and had to reinforce their encircling forces. Bloody urban warfare began again in Stalingrad, but this time it was the Germans who were pushed back to the banks of the Volga. With all hope of relief or rescue now gone, von Paulus radioed Hitler yet again, asking for permission to surrender and save what he could of his army.


> "The troops are out of ammunition and food, effective command is no longer possible. There are 18,000 wounded without any supplies, dressings or drugs . . . Further desfense senseless. Collapse inevitable. Army requests permission to surrender in order to save the lives of remaining troops."


Hitler gave the same response that he did to all similar requests for a humane ending to the now futile struggle;


> "Surrender is forbidden. 6.Armeee will hold their positions to the last man and last round and by their heroic resistance make an unforgettable contribution towards the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world."


For once there was a measure of truth in one of Hitler's statements. Each day that 6.Armee held out, tied up Soviet forces which might be diverted from their push towards Rostov.

Soviet forces recaptured Armavir, securing a line of communications with the Maikop oil fields in the Caucasus.

*GERMANY*: 6 RAF Wellingtons raided a target near Wilhelmshaven through cloud cover without loss. 4 Mosquitoes bombed Osnabruck railway yards, 1 was lost. 80 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes bombed Dusseldorf through complete cloud cover, 2 Lancasters lost. 6 RCAF Wellingtons bombed Essen in daylight without loss. (pbfoot)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US 9th AF B-24s bombed Palermo harbor during the night.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Panzerarmee Afrika evacuated Tripoli and the retreat continued towards the Tunisian border, which was reached by the end of the month. An hour before dawn, a lone scout car of the 11th Hussars drove gingerly through the deserted suburbs of Tripoli and into the city centre itself - to find no sign of Axis troops. At first light a Valentine tank called 'Dorothy' - named after the driver's sweetheart in Liverpool - rumbled into the main square with 7 Gordon Highlanders clinging to it. Tripoli was in British hands. Three columns had been poised all night outside the city walls for this moment. Highlanders of the 51st Division had approached from the east along the heavily mined and booby-trapped coastal road, where every bridge and culvert had been demolished. Another force had approached from the west, but the most spectacular approach was made by the 7th Armoured Division which had waited on the mountain overlooking Tripoli and charged towards the south of the city. A delighted Montgomery - who had even predicted the date of Tripoli's fall - accepted surrender from the city's mayor, his battledress and beret contrasting with the Italian's full dress uniform.


> "I have nothing but praise for the men of the Eighth Army!"


 he told his assembled war correspomdants.

In Tunisia, B-17s in two forces, hit Bizerte and shipping in the immediate area. Much damage was done to these facilities and one motor vessel was sunk. 75 to 100 German fighters attacked the formations and the bombers and escorting P-38s claimed 20 Luftwaffe planes destroyed. 16 P-38s of the US 48th FS / 14th FG clashed with the Bf 109s of II./JG 51 of about the same strength as the Americans, and the Lightning pilots Lt. Schottlekorb, Lt. Mark Shipman, Lt. Stuteville, Lt. Harley, Lt. Yates and Lt. Soliday - a total of 6 P-38s - were shot down without any German losses. Again Ofw. Otto Schulz - an Eastern Front veteran who started to emerge as a first class "Lightning killer" - was among the successful pilots. Uffz. Hans-Gunther Koch of 6./JG 51 claimed 2 of the Lightnings while his Staffel-mate, Lt. Herbert Puschmann, claimed 3 of the twin-boomed fighters.

US 12th AF A-20s and escorting P-38s attacked a heavy gun battery, machinegun nests and 2 infantry columns while supporting ground forces in the battle area south of Ousseltia. Fighters of the US 12th Air Support Command destroyed over 20 vehicles on the Gabes-Ben Gardane road. In the Med., B-26s hit shipping off northeastern Tunisia, attacking several vessels and claiming one destroyed. Escorting fighters hit trucks and tanks near Enfidaville on the return flight.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: By the beginning of 1943, due to the strength of the British defenses, it became almost impossible for the Luftwaffe to fly daylight recon missions over much of Southern England and a switch was made to night sorties. When engaged in this work, the aircraft carried photographic flash bulbs and the base plates of 2 such spent devices were recovered for the first time at Long Ashton this night when a single aircraft operated over the Exeter, South Wales and Bristol areas. There were bombing incidents reported in Durham and Yorkshire.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Luftwaffe determiined that its head-on tactic against the Allied bombers might be more effective if fighters approached the bomber formations at a slightly higher elevation than used previously. An angle of attack at 10 degrees above the horizon - also known as 12 o'clock high - as opposed to level flight was decided upon. The new tactic was tried for the first time this day. The US 1st BW dispatched 73 B-17s against the port area of Lorient and were met by the fighters of JG 2 and JG 26 using the new tactic. 5 B-17s were shot down out of a formation of 35 and 2 more crashed on returning to England. The fighters of 9./JG 26 were credited with 2 of the destroyed Fortresses while fighters from 7./JG 2 were credited with 4 bombers destroyed including 2 Fortresses for Oblt. Erich Hohagen. 19 B-17s hit the secondary target, the U-Boat base at Brest and dropped 45.25 tons of bombs on the target. No B-17s were lost from this raid. The US 2nd BW dispatched 17 B-24s on a diversionary raid.

Around noon Uffz. Peter Crump of 5./JG 26 shot down 2 Allied P-51 Mustangs on a freie jagd near Boulogne. After landing, Uffz. Crump had to wait for his wingman to return to base before being credited with the kills. When his wingman, Uffz, Hans Meyer, brought his shot-up fighter back to base, he was covered in blood and feathers. He explained that as he watched Uffz. Crump attack the Mustangs, his plane was hit in the canopy by a bird that knocked the armoured glass loose and allowed the body of the animal to fly into the cockpit. Uffz. Crump was given credit for the kills. (Caldwell)

75 Halifaxes (15 were RCAF Halifaxes), 33 Stirlings, 8 Lancasters and 5 Wellingtons successfully bombed Lorient, 1 Stirling lost.

With Obstlt. Bradel's promotion to Geschwaderkommodore of KG 2, Major Heinz Engel was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./KG 2.


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## Njaco (Jan 24, 2008)

*24 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The offensive by the Soviet Trans-Caucasian Front toward the Kuban bridgehead was stopped at Novorosiisk and Krasnodar. The Soviet attacks continued as Starobelskii, 250 miles west of Stalingrad, was liberated by Vatutin's Southwest Front. Hitler reissued orders not to surrender Stalingrad, forbidding even small groups of soldiers from attempting to breakout of the pocket. In the meantime, von Paulus ordered that food should not be distributed to the 30,000 wounded and sick in the city.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel's forces in North Africa left Libya for the last time, taking up defensive positions west of Medenine in Tunisia. B-25s and B-26s, operating in 2 forces, attacked Medenine airfield as B-17s hit shipping in Sousse harbor. Uffz. Adolf Dilg of III./SKG 10 was injured bailing out of his Fw 190 northwest of Tunis. P-40s flew cover and fighter-bomber missions as Axis forces retreated westward from Tripoli. More Allied fighters escorted bombers and attacked vehicles and troop concentrations along the battleline.


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## Njaco (Jan 25, 2008)

*25 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: At Stalingrad, the Red Army succeeded in further splitting the remnants of 6.Armee into a northern and southern pocket. German forces evacuated Armavir and Voronezh. After a stay of only 3 days, III./KG 4 moved from Konstantinovka to Makejewka.

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Giovanni Messe of the Italian First Army took overall control of the Axis forces in North Africa. In Libya, the British 7th Armoured Division, in pursuit of the Germans, reached Az Zawiyah. P-40s carried out fighter-bomber missions. In Tunisia bad weather canceled heavy and medium bomber missions. American forces took Maknassy.

Battery D, 105th Coast Artillery Battalion relieved its Battery C in the defense of the airstrip at Thelepte, less than 20 miles southwest of Kasserine. From the 25th January until 16th of February, the battalion fought off daily German air attacks on the airfield. The Luftwaffe strafed command posts and troop movements and attacked the American field artillery with an unrelenting ferocity. In one division area, 95% of all air attacks were against the divisional artillery. At Thelepte, the Luftwaffe attacked out of the rising or setting sun with Ju 87 Stukas and Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters. The Luftwaffe tactics changed with every attack. Sometimes, the aircraft would enter the target area from the same direction, other times from all different directions. The Stukas would fly low and use their machine guns to strafe the field or drop the 100LB bomb they carried under each wing. The fighters protected the dive bombers by strafing AA positions and flying a protective air cap. Often they would join the Stukas for the final kill. At Thelepte, the American AA artillerymen discovered they had the ability to decimate a Stuka dive bombing attack. The 105th Coast Artillery learned early warning was the vital key to a viable defense. The battalion positioned observers, taken from the gun crews, out from the airfield in the direction of the expected attack and equipped them with radios and binoculars. The observers identified incoming aircraft and radioed their identification back to a battalion information center that was in communications with the gun sections. When notified of the approach of friendly aircraft, the AA artillery fraticide was significantly reduced.

II./JG 2's Lt. Werner Klein was injured when his Fw 190 somersaulted and crashed on landing. At Bizerte, I./JG 53 Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Muller escaped injury when his Bf 109G crashed in almost the exact same way as Lt. Klein's Fw 190, somersaulting and crashing while trying to land.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 17 Spitfire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG escorted RAF Bostons on an uneventful 'Circus 255'. 12 Bostons bombed Flushing docks, 1 'plane lost. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Njaco (Jan 26, 2008)

*26 January 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-302 had to break off her patrol in the Arctic Sea due to serious technical problems. (Syscom)

At 11.00 hours, U-255 reported an icebreaker/freighter sunk with two torpedoes in the Barents Sea. The '_Ufa_' (Master A.I. Patrikeyew - 1892 tons) left Kola Inlet on 23 January and was reported missing thereafter.(Syscom)

The tanker '_Kollbjørg_' (Master Edvin Apall-Olsen -8259 tons) in convoy HX-223 in the North Atlantic broke in two behind midships, when an enormous breaker swept across the foredeck during a storm of hurricane force. The two parts drifted away from each other, the engine was stopped and the crew on the stern section stayed on board. They saw some crew members on the forepart, which was still afloat with the bow high up in the air. The '_Nortind_' and the American tanker '_Pan Maryland_' left the convoy and stayed close to the broken ship all day, but a rescue operation was not possible in the storm. By the evening the forepart was not seen anymore. On 25 January, 25 survivors were rescued from the stern part by the American tanker, but one man was badly injured during the transfer and died that night. The American tanker searched for the forepart, but then proceeded to catch up with the convoy. The master and ten crew members from the '_Kollbjørg_' were lost. (Syscom) At 04.50 and 05.06 hours, U-607 (Mengersen) hit the forepart of '_Kollbjørg_' with two coups de grâce. The forepart capsized and the U-boat tried to sink her by gunfire, but had problems with the deck gun. At 16.09 hours, U-594 missed the capsized wreck with a coup de grâce and sank her at 16.21 hours by gunfire. At 15.33 hours, the '_Nortind_' (8221 tons) in convoy HX-223 was hit near the bridge by one of two torpedoes from U-358 and caught fire immediately. Cargo was 11,000 tons of oil. About 19.00 hours, the tanker broke in two and sank. None of the 34 Norwegian, seven British and two Dutch passengers on board survived. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 6.Armee pocket was further split as Soviet troops joined up to the west of the city. Italian General Giulio Martinat, chief-of-staff of the Alpini Corps in Russia (Giulia, Tridentina and Cueense Alpini divisions) was killed while personally leading a successful attack to break through Russian blocking positions at Nikolajevka (nowadays malenka Aleksandrovka), an attack which opened a path for the encircled Italian troops to escape and regain Axis lines (but at the cost of 320 Italians killed, including 40 officers and non-coms). The Italians won through against all odds, with no artillery and no air support and on foot. The Italian Alpini Corps had successfully held its own positions even after the rest of the 8th Army was overrun in December, but a new Soviet operation launched in mid-January, aimed at encircling the Italians by breaking through the Hungarians to the northwest, forced them to reverse fronts and fight their way out. General Martinat was detailed to take command of, and try to bring some order to, the disorganized mass of stagglers (Italains - both Alpini and from other commands - plus various Germans and Hungarians) which followed in the wake of the fighting spearheads of the Tridentina division supported by a handful of German armoured vehicles.

Major Hans 'Assi' Hahn of II./JG 54 claimed his 100th victory. 4(F)./122 was ordered to transfer from Krasnodar to Bagerovo in the Crimea.

*GERMANY*: Manpower shortages on the fighting fronts forced the Germans to replace flak crews in Germany with Hitler Youth boys as young as 15.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, headwinds prevented B-24s from reaching Naples, the primary target, before dark so they diverted to Messina, bombing the town and the area around the train ferry terminal. B-26s in the Med on a shipping strike, aborted because of weather that limited most air activity.

Between 02.45 and 03.16 hours, the sailing vessel '_Hassan_' (80 tons) was rammed five times by U-431 in the Eastern Med south of Cyprus. At 03.33 hours, the U-boat shelled the vessel with her 8.8cm and 2cm gun and set her on fire. The U-boat then left the burning and sinking ship. (Syscom) 

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army took Zaula in Libya, less than 100 miles from the Tunisian frontier. Rommel was told that he would be relieved by Italian General Messe. The jabos of III./SKG 10 raided the Allied airfields at Souk el Arba and destroyed 2 RAF Beaufighters on the ground and danaged 4 more aircraft.

JG 2 lost Oblt. Christian Eickhoff when he was killed in battle against the Allies. He had destroyed only 5 enemy aircraft during his combat career with JG 2.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 24 Venturas and 12 Bostons were sent to railway targets in France and Belgium but only 12 Venturas reached their target. 22 Spitfire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG escorted the 12 RAF Venturas on the mission and lost one Spitfire. 3 Spitfires were claimed by the Channel front Geschwaders. 2 Spitfires were claimed by Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland of Stab II./JG 26 and Uffz. Peter Crump of 5./JG 26. The third Spitfire was claimed by Fw. Rudolf Eisele of 8./JG 2. 2 additional Spitfires were claimed by Uffz. Hans Vorhauer of 6./JG 1 and Fw. Karl Bugaj of 11./JG 1.

Lorient was visited again at night by 157 RAF aircraft - 139 Wellingtons, 11 Lancasters, 4 Halifaxes and 3 Stirlings - which bombed in poor visibility. 59 of the 136 Wellingtons attcking Lorient were RCAF aircraft. 3 were lost including 1 upon hitting a hill on return. 2 Wellingtons and one Lancaster were lost being claimed by Fw Heinz Vinke of 11./NJG 1 and Uffz. Georg Kraft of 12./NJG 1. (pbfoot)

Jagdgeschwader 107 was formed in Nancy-Essay from Stab/ Jagdfliegerschule 7 (JFS 7). Major Georg Meyer was made Geschwaderkommodore and Hptm. Franz Horst was put in command of I./JG 107. 2./JG 107 was based at Toul. The unit used Bf 108s, Bf 109s, Bf 110s, CR 42, D.520s, Fiat G.50s, Fw 190s, Go 145s and Me 410s among other aircraft.


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## Njaco (Jan 27, 2008)

*27 January 1943*


*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-376 had to break off her one-day old patrol in the North Atlantic when some crew members were wounded in an air attack. (Syscom)

The unescorted Merchant ship '_Cape Decision_' (5106 tons) was hit by two torpedoes from U-105, as she steered a zigzag course in mid Atlantic Ocean. The torpedoes struck on port side between the #4 and #5 hatches. The blasts damaged the ship throughout and knocked out the electrical system, which halted the engines. As the ship settled by the stern, her complement of nine officers, 36 men, 26 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and six US Army passengers abandoned ship in the two lifeboats and two of the four rafts. Two of the armed guards remained at their gun until the last moment and had to jump overboard. The master jumped into the water and brought the exhausted men, which were in danger of being caught by the suction of the sinking ship to his lifeboat. The U-boat moved around the stern at periscope depth and fired a third torpedo at 09.55 hours, which struck on the starboard side in the engine room. The vessel immediately began to list to port and sank five minutes later. U-105 surfaced, questioned the survivors and directed them to the nearest land. The third assistant engineer and an able seaman were taken aboard, but were later put back into the boats after checking their papers. The boat of the master with 21 crewmen, three passengers and 16 armed guards reached Bridgetown, Barbados nine days later having traveled 957 miles. The boat of the chief mate with 37 men arrived at Saint Barthelemy, French West Indies, 14 days after the sinking and were provided with food and medicine by the natives. (Syscom)

The Merchant ship '_Julia Ward Howe_' (7176 tons), convoy UGS-4, was torpedoed by U-442 about 175 miles south of the Azores. The ship was a straggler from the convoy UGS-4 due to heavy weather. One torpedo struck on the starboard side between #3 hold and the deckhouse. The explosion blew off the #3 hatch cover, wrecked two lifeboats and destroyed the radio equipment. The ship immediately took a 15° list but flooded slowly afterwards and gradually righted herself on an even keel. Three shots from the after 5in gun were fired in the direction of the U-boat. The eight officers, 36 crewmen, 29 armed guards and one passenger (US Army security officer) abandoned ship in two lifeboats and two rafts. The master, one armed guard and the passenger were lost. 40 minutes after the attack, a coup de grâce struck amidships and broke the ship in two. The U-boat then surfaced and questioned the crew, taking the second mate on board for closer examination. Then the mate was released and the U-boat left. The rafts were secured to the lifeboats and they set sail for the Azores. After 15 hours, the survivors were picked up by the Portuguese destroyer '_Lima_' about 330 miles southwest of the Azores and landed at Ponta Delgada, but the chief engineer died of wounds on the rescue ship. (Syscom)

On 21 Jan, 1943, the Merchant ship '_Charles C. Pinckney_' (7177 tons) straggled from the convoy UGS-4 in heavy weather. Early on the 27 January lookouts spotted a U-boat, the master changed the course, increased the ship´s speed and the armed guards fired at the U-boat. U-514 fired three torpedoes at the Liberty ship, a lookout spotted one of the torpedoes 750 yards away approaching the ship off the port bow. The master tried to evade, but one torpedo struck just abaft the stem. The explosion ignited a portion of the cargo, the blast blew the bow off forward of the #1 hold and created a pillar of flame that shot skyward. The engines were immediately secured and the most of the nine officers, 32 crewmen, 27 armed guards and two US Army security officers abandoned ship in four lifeboats and one raft. A portion of the gun crew and the gunnery officer remained on board and opened fire, as U-514 surfaced 200 yards away. They claimed several hits and the sinking of the U-boat, but the Germans made an emergency dive and escaped undamaged. The crew reboarded the vessel, but the chief engineer discovered that he could not get steam up. At 23.26 hours, a coup de grâce missed, but a second fired hit and all survivors abandoned ship a second time. The U-boat surfaced again, questioned the men in the lifeboats and then left her victim in sinking condition, which later sank over the bow. The four lifeboats set sail, but during the night of 28 January, they became separated. On 8 February, the second mate, four men and nine armed guards in one boat were picked up by the Swiss steam merchant '_Caritas I_' and landed at Horta, Fayal Island, Azores. The other three boats with eight officers, 28 men, 18 armed guards and two passengers were never found. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The railway line between Leningrad and Moscow was reopened, enabling supplies to be delivered to the starving population. Erich Hartmann scored his 2nd kill, a Russian MiG-1, with 7./JG 52 and his first solo victory, while flying as Hptm. Walter Krupinski's wingman.

Major Erich Leie's I./JG 51 moved from Isotscha / Iwan-see to Orel-West. Hptm. Karl Heinz Schnell's III./JG 51 followed the I Gruppe to Orel with its Fw 190s.

*GERMANY*: The first of the American daylight raids over the Reich began when 64 B-17s and B-24s of the US 8th AF targeted the submarine yards at Vegesack, Wilhelshaven which had also been the target for the first British daylight raid in 1939. All previous raids had been over Occupied countries. Wilhelmshaven was considered a tough target by the RAF but while the 55 bombers which actually carried out the raid were attacked by fighters, the crews said it was;


> "not nearly as tough as St. Nazaire."



'Ground Marking' was used for the first time in a night raid on Dusseldorf by 162 RAF aircraft - 124 Lancasters, 33 Halifaxes and 5 Mosquitoes. It was the first occasion when OBOE Mosquitoes carried out ground marking for the Pathfinders. There was athin sheet of cloud over the target and without OBOE and new target indicators the raid could have been another failure. Bombing was concentrated and damage was reported to a wide variety of property. 3 halifaxes and 3 Lancasters were lost with Hptm. Reinhold Knacke of 1./NJG 1 claiming a Lancaster near Nijmegen and Oblt. Manfred Meurer of 3./NJG 1 destroying a Halifax.

Mosquitoes knock out Burmeister and Wain diesel engine works at Copenhagen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-24s bombed Naples and Messina during the night. In Sicily, B-24s hit Palermo during the afternoon, after weather caused a diversion from the primary target at Naples.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Libya, the British 7th Armoured Division met stiffening resistance near Zuwarah. In Tunisia, A-20s attacked the towns of Al Mazzunah while fighters escorted the bombers. 3 P-40s were claimed by Hptm. Heinz Bar of Stab I./JG 77 to bring his score to 122.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 23 Liberators from the US 44th and 93rd BG lost their way over the North Sea and instead identified Lemmer in Holland as the target and dropped their bombs north of the harbor city. The Luftwaffe was able to send between 50 and 75 fighters to intercept the remaining 55 B-17s on the return flight. The only home defense fighter units in Germany at this time were the Fw 190s of JG 1 under Oblt. Dr. Erich Mix, who attacked the bombers for the first time. The FWs engaged the bombers head-on and succeeded in destroying 8 bombers. The Luftwaffe lost 8 Fw 190s and Bf 109s with 4 pilots killed.

A B-24 from the US 68th BS was attacked by Fw. Fritz Koch of 12./JG 1. As Fw. Koch passed the Liberator, he clipped the wing and right tailfin of the bomber, sending both machines crashing to the ground, killing everyone. It was believed that Fw. Koch was hit and killed by return fire from another B-24 and this allowed his Focke-Wulf to crash into the bomber he was attacking. But Fw. Koch wasn't the only pilot lost as 7 other pilots from JG 1 were either killed or wounded including Uffz. Rolf Bolter and Ofw. Gerhard Witt of 1./JG 1 and Fw. Helmut Speckhardt of 3./JG 1 who were all killed.

Major E. R. T. Homes, the Surrey and England batsman, now a flak specialist, flew in the raid and took over a gun when the gunner was injured. He praised the tight formation of the Americans. Capt. Richard Riordan, recently awarded the DFC for bringing home 3 crippled B-17s, said that the raid was one of his easiest missions;


> "We came home on all four engines and that was an agreeable change."


 The relatively light losses of American bomber forces against German fighters led many American officers and airmen to believe that the guns of the B-17s and escorting fighters could drive off attacking Luftwaffe fighters.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jan 28, 2008)

*28 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The destruction of the Italian Alpini divisions 'Julia' and 'Cuneense' was completed by the Red Army at Novo-Georgievka and Valuiki. The retreat, a slow advance of more than 300 km succeeded in saving the remnants of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia, the 'Tridentina' division and of the stray units of Germans, Rumanians and Hungarians, trapped with them. Soviet forces liberated Kasternoe on the Kursk-Voronezh railroad.

*NORTH AFRICA:* In Tunisia, 60 heavy and medium bombers in 3 waves attacked the harbor, shipping and marshalling yards at Sfax. All the missions were escorted by P-38s. P-40s of the XII Air Support Command attacked infantry and artillery while supporting French and US ground forces in the Ousseltia Valley where the Allies gained control of the western exit and half of Kairouan Pass.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 3(F)./122 crashed into the sea 4 miles off Great Yarmouth. Uffz. H. Scwartze, Uffz. Pilz, Uffz. Wagner and Uffz. Herbinger were all missing and presumed dead. They were shot down by Spitfires piloted by Officer C.T.K. Cody and Sgt. W.P. Nash of RAF No. 167 Sqdrn. King George was inspecting the homebase of 167 Sqdrn at the very time of the shoot down.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold for destroying a total of 24 Allied aircraft.

2 Belgian RAF pilots drop Belgian flags over the centre of Brussels.


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## Njaco (Jan 29, 2008)

*29 January 1943*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: General von Paulus radioed Hitler saying;


> "The swastika flag is still flying above Stalingrad. May our battle be an example to the present and coming generations, that they must never capitulate even in a hopeless situation, for them Germany will emerge victorious."


Hitler decided then to promote von Paulus to Feldmarschall. The Luftwaffe made its last major effort to supply the surrounded forces at Stalingrad, dropping supplies from 124 airplanes. It would far too little, far too late. Flying his new Fw 190, Lt. Gunther Schack of III./JG 54 destroyed 5 Russian bombers over the Orel area. Major Franz Kieslich was made Gruppenkommandeur of II./SG 77 which he led in the Southern and Central sectors of the Eastern Front.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US B-26s on a shipping strike between Tunisia and Sicily, severly damaged a cargo liner. During a Luftwaffe attack against the coastal convoy 'TE 14', the British destroyer escorts '_Avon Vale_' and '_Pozarica_' were damaged off Bougie by 8 SM 79s from Gruppos 105, 130 and 132 and 10 He 111s from I./KG 26. They hit the '_Avon Vale_', eliminating the prow and forcing it to strand on the coast of Algeria. The '_Avon Vale_' was later repaired and became part of the escort force for the D-Day landings in Normandy. The '_Pozarica_', having made port at Bougie with serious damage, ended up sinking in port. The '_Pozarica_' was written off as a total loss on 13 Feb 1943.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Advance units of the British Eighth Army crossed the Tunisian frontier from Libya. In Tunisia, 3 consecutive waves of B-17s attacked the docks and shipping at Bizerte while B-26s hit El Aouina airfield. Fighters escorted the bombers and clashed with German fighters. Three P-38s were claimed by Fw. Horst Schlick of 1./JG 77, Oblt. Kurt Niederhagen of 3./JG 77 and Oblt. Kurt Buhligen of 4./JG 2. Major Heinz Bar's I./JG 77 was then transferred from Ben Gardane to Matmata.

RAAF No. 460 Bomber squadron is settling in after moving from Qaiyara, Iraq to Egypt. The squadron was re-equipped with Baltimores after using Blemheims. The Baltimores were to operate as a general reconnaissance unit of Middle East Command. From bases in Egypt, Libya and Palestine, the squadron flew anti-submarine patrols, bombing raids against Crete and Greece and bombed shipping at sea. (Heinz)

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The U-255 sinks the Soviet merchant ship "_Krasnyj Partizan_" (2418 tons) in the Barents Sea. At 05.47 hours, U-255 reported one Myronich class freighter (2274 grt) sunk with one torpedo in the Barents Sea. The '_Krasnyj Partizan_' left the Kola Inlet on 24 January and went missing thereafter, the last radio message was received on 26 January. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Six Spitfire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG flew an uneventful defensive patrol. A US 93rd BG (Heavy) B-24 attempted a Moling mission.

At 14.34 hours, Oblt. Heinz Wurm of 5./BFGr 196 claimed his first victory for 1943 and his last in the Ar 196, when he shared a Boston with a German flak unit in the Morlaix area. Oblt. Wurm's victim was probably a Boston of RAF No. 226 Sqdrn. Fighters of 8./JG 2 were also involved in this air battle, claiming 3 Spitfires destroyed for one Fw 190A-4 shot down.

This was 'Ramrod 50', carried out by RAF's 10 Group. It involved 6 squadrons of Spitfires covering 12 Bostons attacking the viaduct at Morlaix. RAF No. 310 Sqdrn claimed 2-1-2 Fw 190s and lost 2 pilots killed. In addition to the Boston shot down by Oblt. Wurm, the 3 Spitfires were claimed by Uffz. Groiss, Fw. Eisele and Hptm. Stolle - all from 8./JG 2 - and another Spitfire was claimed by Hptm. Dietrich Wickop of 4./JG 1.

75 Wellingtons and 41 Halifaxes of RAF Nos. 1, 4 and 6 Groups (22 Halifaxes and 49 Wellingtons were RCAF), attacking Lorient, encountered thick cloud and icing and, with no pathfinder marking, dropped a scattered bombload. 2 Hailfaxes and 2 Wellingtons were lost with Hptm. Horst Patuschka of Stab II./NJG 2 claiming one of the Wellingtons. (pbfoot)

Only 2 RAF Venturas out of 12 bombed a steelworks at Ijmuiden. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Njaco (Jan 29, 2008)

*30 January 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler had only one thing left to offer the doomed men of 6.Armee. With an unprecendented show of generosity, he presented dozens of senior officers of 6.Armee with promotions in rank, most notably a Field Marshal's baton for Friedrich von Paulus. There was a cynical method to his madness, as Hitler mentioned to General Zeitzler, that in the entire history of the German army, no Feldmarschall had ever surrendered or been captured alive and Hitler hoped von Paulus would commit suicide. If he couldn't have the prize of the city that bore Stalin's name, he was determined to have a dead Feldmarschall to offer up as a hero to the German Reich.

Soviet forces recaptured the Maikop oilfields in the Caucasus. The 40.Panzerkorps, commanded by Generalmajor Ferdinand Schorner, stationed in the Nikopol bridgehead east of the Dnepr river in the Ukraine, was attacked by the entire Fourth Ukrainian Front.

The Gruppenkommandeur of II./SchG 1, Hptm. Frank Neubert, was shot down and wounded by Soviet AA fire near Skurbiy. III./KG 4 moved from Makejewka to Bagerovo.

*GERMANY*: The British twin-engined de Havilland Mosquito became a thorn to the Luftwaffe and to Hitler and his cronies. Berlin was celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hitler becoming Chancellor when 2 RAF formations, each of 3 Mosquitoes, made dramatic attempts to interrupt the large rallies being addressed by Nazi leaders. In the morning 3 aircraft from RAF No. 105 Sqdrn successfully reached Berlin and bombed at the exact time that Reichmarschall Goring was due to speak in the Berlin Sportpalast. The attack on the field sent Goring running for shelter. All 3 Mosquitoes returned safely. Sgt. J. Massey said,


> "The only unusual thing to happen was that we brought a dead gull back on one of our wings."


After a delay of an hour, Goring gave his speech, referring to Stalingrad, saying;


> "A thousand years hence Germans will speak of this battle with reverance and awe and that in spite of everything, Germany's ultimate victory was decided here. . . In years to come it will be said of the heroic battle on the Volga: When you come to Germany, say you have seen us lying at Stalingrad, as our honor and our leaders ordained that we should, for the greater glory of Germany!"


 In the afternoon, 3 Mosquitoes of RAF No. 139 Sqdrn arrived at the time that Dr. Josef Goebbels was due to speak and again bombed at the correct time but the German defenses were alerted and the aircraft of S/L Darling was shot down. Darling and his navigator, F/O Wright were both killed. Goring became incensed with the audacity of the British Mosquito pilots and vowed to do something about the invaders.

148 RAF aircarft - 135 Lancasters, 7 Stirlings and 6 halifaxes - carried out the first H2S attack of the war, this being a raid on Hamburg with pathfinder Stirlings and Halifaxes using the new device to mark the target. Five Lancasters were lost with Oblt. Ludwig Becker of 12./NJG 1 and Lt. Weiss of 1./NJG 3 being credited each with a Lancaster. Bombing was scattered over a wide area and most of the bombs appeared to have fallen in the River Elbe or in the surrounding marshes.

Grand Admiral Raeder resigns after disagreement with Hitler about the future of the big ships of the Kriegsmarine Surface fleet. He is succeeded as Head of the German Navy by Admiral Karl Doenitz, who initially continues also to remain head of the U-Boat arm.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-24s bombed the train ferry terminal at Messina. Direct hits were scored on a ship and AA battery near the terminal.

U-175 was attacked by a British Catalina aircraft (RAF Sqdn 270 / G) with 6 bombs southwest of Dakar. The extensive damages limited the ability to dive and a trace of oil caused a serious loss of fuel that had to be replenished from U-118 (Czygan) on 11 February. (Syscom)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army took Zuwarah, near the Tunisian border. In Tunisia, over 50 B-17s bombed the docks and shipping at Ferryville. B-25s hit railroad installations and warehouses at El Aouina while B-26s bombed a railroad south of Reyville. Fighters and A-20s carried out numerous strafing and bombing operations against tanks, motor transport and along the battleine between El Guettar and Faid. Hptm. Julio Hofmann of 3./JG 53 was shot down by a Spitfire and captured. He ended his combat career with only 5 enemy planes destroyed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The pilots and crews of I./JG 26 boarded trains and headed to the Eastern Front in an exchange of fighter groups. I./JG 26 was to trade places with III./JG 54, staioned in Luftflotte 1, supporting Heeresgruppe Nord flying from airbases at Rielbitzi. The III Gruppe unit first arrived at Heiligenbeil on 11 January to recieve new Fw 190A-5s and then went on to Rielbitzi. 7./JG 26 was ordered to Gatschina in the Leningrad area to assist I./JG 54 in preventing a Russian offensive to relieve Leningrad.

Oblt. Eduard Tratt, Staffelkapitaen of 1./ZG 1, was wounded by a direct hit from flak on a combat mission and removed from operations. Oblt. Rudinger Ossmann was posted as Staffelkapitean.


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## Heinz (Jan 31, 2008)

*31 January 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-519 went missing in the Bay of Biscay. There is no explanation for its loss. 50 dead (all hands lost). (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet government announced that at 19.45 hours, after surrounding the Univermag department store building, Chuikov's 62nd Army accepted the surrender of Feldmarschall von Paulus and 16 other Generals at Stalingrad. The Germans continued to resist from strongpoints in the northern pocket. Here General Strecker, the commander of the 11.Korps, was holding out around the tractor works and the Red October ordinance works where so much of the cruel hand-to-hand fighting, which was such a feature of this battle, had raged. Hitler radioed him;


> "I expect the northern pocket of Stalingrad to hold out to the finish. Every day, every hour, thus gained decisively benefits the remainder of the front."


 Such exhortations meant little to the hollow-eyed, freezing, disease-ridden men fighting to survive in the rubble of Stalingrad. Strecker could hardly hold out for more than a couple days, and then he and his men would join the columns of prisoners trudging across the icy steppe to captivity.

*GERMANY*: RAF bombers last night used a new navigation device on operations. Called H2S, but known by the crews as "Home Sweet Home", it was an airbourne downward-looking radio-location system. The image of the terrain which the aircraft was overflying was reproduced on a cathode-ray tube, which the navigator could compare with his map. Unlike 'Gee', it was not range-dependant. Aircraft of the newly formed No. 8 (Pathfinder) Group used H2S in the attack on Hamburg, chosen because the nearby coast and river Elbe would show up well. Although H2S would later become a more effective device, it use was not successful on this night even though Hamburg, close to a coastline and on a prominent river, was the best type of H2S target. The term H2S seemingly had no real meaning, and so could not give away its purpose to German spies. However when asked what H2S stood for, the scientists responsible for the equipment replied "Home Sweet Home". After initial trials of H2S had gone badly during 1942, many, who knew their chemistry, commented;


> "It stinks!"



Major Gottfried Buchholz replaced Hptm. Helmut Powolny as Gruppenkommandeur of IV./KG 2.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: HMS '_QUIBERON_' left the Mediterranean as a unit of the escort of a convoy bound from England to Capetown. She arrived at Durban on 27 February and from there proceeded to Australia, arriving at Fremantle on 29 March, having steamed 51,000 miles on war service.

Cruiser-minelayer '_Welshman_' sunk by U-617 off Crete. (Hugh Spencer)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Lt. General Lewis H. Brereton, Commanding General US 9th AF assumed command of US Army Forces in the Middle East. The British 7th Armoured division finished clearing Zuwarah. In Tunisia B-17s hit the harbor and shipping at Bizerte while B-26s bombed Gabes airfield. Fighters escorted bombers and attacked ground targets and furnished cover for ground forces along the battleline between Gafsa and Faid.

In Northern Tunisia, an American convoy was attacked by a German bomber. This incident sparked a controversy between Air Command and ground commanders. The generals in command of ground troops wanted close air support. The idea of using bombers as an extension of the battle, taking out enemy tanks and troops was preferred and pushed by the ground commanders. The air commanders wanted to take a strategic approach rather than a tactical one. They wanted permission to bomb enemy aerodromes, airfields and installations. The idea was to gain air superiority by destroying the enemy's air force. If enemy planes or installations were of no use, they effectively could not be used against Allied troops on the ground or hinder Allied planes. Because of this lack of strategic usage, the Luftwaffe was able to maintain air superiority just by staying functional.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: U-376 left Bergen, Norway on 30 Jan for its 6th patrol, but the next day at 0057 hrs lost the third watch officer when he was washed overboard. U-376 then headed back to Bergen, took aboard a replacement and departed for patrol the same day. (Syscom)


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## syscom3 (Feb 1, 2008)

*1 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: After Hitler promoted General von Paulus to Feldmarschal, Hitler assumed that von Paulus would fight on or take his own life. Von Paulus was not so accomodating as to throw himself on his own funeral pyre. Soviet forces closed in on his last command post, a cellar in the bombed out ruins of the Univermag Department store in downtown Stalingrad. Unshaven, dirty and close to a state of collapse, Friedrich von Paulus offered his surrender to an obscure Russian lieutenant named Fydor Yelchenko, who promptly marched the new Feldmarschal and his staff off to his superiors. Of the nearly 350,000 men who had followed him to Stalingrad, only 90,000 survived to surrender to the Soviets. To the delight of the Soviet forces and the dismay of the Reich, the prisoners included 22 Generals. Hitler was angry at the Feldmarschal's surrender and confided that;


> "Paulus stood at the doorstep of eternal glory but made a about face."



German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) evacuated Demyansk in order to shorten their lines and free up troops to plug the gapping holes to the south. Soviet forces captured Svatovo, southeast of Kharkov, cutting the rail lines from the city to the Donets Basin. Lt. Wilhem Batz was appointed adjutant to Johannes Steinhoff at II./JG 52. Killed in a flying accident this day was Gerhard Beutin, a 60 victory experte with JG 54. 4(F)./122 was now located at Bagerovo, near Kerch, Crimea.

*GERMANY*: Hitler held a military conference at Rastenburg which he accused his generals of disloyalty. Although he pressed this accusation, he promoted Baron Maximillian von Weichs, Ewald von Kleist and Ernst Busch to Feldmarschal.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: U-617 fired a spread of four torpedoes at a vessel identified as cruiser of the Dido-class and observed two hits and a boiler explosion. At 17.55 hours, the ship capsized and later sank by the stern. The victim was the Cruiser-minelayer HMS '_Welshman_' (M 84) (Capt W.H.D. Friedberger, DSO, RN) (2650 tons) which sank 35 miles east-northeast off Tobruk, Libya. Nine officers and 139 ratings were lost, also an unknown number of military passengers (among them four aircrew members that had been badly burnt in a plane crash on Malta). Only a few survivors were rescued.

In the Mediterranean, an explosion occurred at 0615hrs in the diesel engine room of U-77, resulting in some damage to the boat.

*NORTH AFRICA*: American tanks and infantry are battered at German positions in Faid Pass (In Tunisia, roughly east-northeast from Kasserine). On 30 January von Arnim's 5.Panzerarmee had driven the French out of the Faid Pass and then attacked them at Pichon. Combat Command A of the U.S. 1st Armored Division then attempted to retake Faid, but was repulsed. Other U.S. and British forces (I don't know which units) were sent to Pichon and restored some stability along the front. About two weeks later Faid Pass was one of the staging points for the German counteroffensive against the U.S. Army around Kasserine.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: 14(jabo)./JG 5 was formed in February to serve as a semi-autonomous jabostaffel within JG 5. The unit was created from elements of 11./JG 5 and experienced fighter pilot Hptm. Friedrich Wilhelm Strakeljahn was given command. Another man assigned to the new Staffel was Kurt Dobner, who had gained one aerial victory with 11./JG 5 in 1942. 14(J)./JG 5 flew only Fw 190A-2s and A-3s, at a time when those variants had been superseded elsewhere by the Fw 190 A-4 and A-5. However because the staffel was based in the far north of Finalnd, fighter opposition was minimal, and the earlier Fw 190 variants proved adequate. The units's initial 11 Fw 190A-3s came from 11./JG 5, and later aircraft came from other parts of JG 5 and from the Kjeller repair facility in Norway. 14(J)./JG 5 flew missions primarily against Russian ships moving along the Barents Sea coast. the staffel prroved very effective, sinking many enemy vessels.

*WESTERN FRONT*: III./KG 101 was formed from I./Kampfschulgeschwader 3 at Cognac under the command of Hptm. Horst Beeger, who led the Gruppe throughout its existance. III./KG 101 trained pilots for service with Fw 190 ground-attack units, probably SKG 10 exclusively. I./KSG 3 had been based at Cognac and had provided training for SKG 10 pilots in Dec 1942 and early 1943. When the pilots first arrived at Cognac, they were given a short course on fighter tactics, starting with aerobatics in a Bu 133, then formation flying, aerobatics and air-to-ground firing in an Fw 190. Then came bombing training including lectures and pilots were taught about bombing land and sea targets. KSG 3 had its own bombing range at Cognac.


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## Njaco (Feb 1, 2008)

*2 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: At 03.04 hours, the Steam merchant '_Jeremiah Van Rensselaer_' (Liberty, Tonnage 7,177 tons) in station #45 (last ship in the extreme port column) of convoy HX-224 was torpedoed by U-456 south of Iceland. The ship had been in station #11, but had performed poorly keeping station and kept her station about once in seven nights, she managed to catch up in the daytime and consequently her position was changed. Two torpedoes struck on the port side in the #1 hold. The explosion created a hole 8 feet by 30 feet, blew the hatch cover off, strewed cargo overboard and started a fire. A short time later, a third torpedo struck on the port side at #4 hatch and blew a truck standing on deck into the water and also started a small fire. The engines were secured and some of the eight officers, 34 crewmen, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger abandoned ship panicked, they tried to launch three lifeboats, but two capsized in the rough seas. Eight men got away in a boat and others jumped overboard and swam to three rafts, but the harsh weather and cold water caused the most men to die from exposure. Only one officer, six crewmen and 17 armed guards survived. 23 survivors and three bodies were picked up after five hours by the British rescue ship '_Accrington_' and landed at Gourock. A boarding party from the US Coast Guard cutter USS '_Ingham_' (WPG 35) later boarded the ship and noted that she could have been saved, but the watch below left the boilers fire lit, which burned the boilers out. The vessel was scuttled by gunfire at 13.00 hours. The boarding party also found one man, who never left the ship and took him to the escort vessel. One week later two bodies were recovered from a raft by FFL '_Lobelia_' (K 05).

*EASTERN FRONT*: The final assault at Stalingrad took place. The German perimeter had been reduced to a small area of the wrecked city around the Tractor Factory complex. The Soviets massed over 300 guns per kilometer of front and smashed the German positions under a massive barrage. Later, 2 He 111s loaded with bomb canisters full of provisions flew over the city but found no signs of life and returned to base. The remnants of 6.Armee under General Strecker in the northern pocket ceased fighting and surrendered to the Red Army. The battle for Stalingrad was over and the Luftwaffe's attempt of an airlift for von Paulus' 6.Armee was a failure. The battle of Stalingrad was the largest single battle in human history. It raged for 199 days. Of the more than 280,000 men surrounded at Stalingrad, 160,000 had been killed in action or died of starvation or exposure. 34,000 mostly wounded men had been evacuated. 90,000 German soldiers marched off into captivity. Most would die in the march from the city. Only 5000 of these men would see Germany again, the last returning 12 years later in 1955. Losses for the Luftwaffe from 24 Nov '42 to 31 Jan '43 amounted to 266 Ju 52s, 165 He 111s, 42 Ju 86s, 9 Fw 200s, 7 He 177s and one Ju 290 - a total of 490 aircraft, enough for a whole Fliegerkorps.

The Russians advanced to the rail link between Nikopol and Axis held territory.

*GERMANY*: Cologne was attacked at night by 161 RAF aircraft - 116 Lancasters, 35 Halifaxes, 8 Stirlings and 2 Mosquitoes - in another experimental raid using a 4-engined bomber force with various forms of Pathfinder techniques. Markers were dropped by both the 'Oboe' Mosquitoes and the H2S marker aircraft. Again the results were disappointing, with no clear concentration of markers being achieved and with subsequent bombing being well scattered. Unfortunately, a Pathfinder Stirling (R9264) on this raid was shot down by a night-fighter and crashed near Hardinxveld-Giesendam (southeast of Rotterdam), handing the Germans an example of the H2S set on only the second night that this new device was used. The set was damaged but the German firm of Telefunken was able to reassemble it. This gave the Germans an early indication of the operational use of H2S and eventually led to the development of a device, 'Naxos', which would enable German night fighters to home on to a bomber which was using H2S.

Five aircraft - 3 Lancasters, 1 Halifax and 1 Stirling - were lost. Major Werner Streib of I./NJG 1 claimed 2 of the bombers and Hptm. Hans-Dieter Frank of 2./NJG 1 was credited with a destroyed Stirling.

US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission #32, dispatching 61 B-17s and 22 B-24s against the Hamm, Germany marschaling yards. The formation encountered bad weather over the North Sea and returned to base.


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## Njaco (Feb 2, 2008)

*3 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-265 was sunk south of Iceland, by depth charges from a British B-17 Fortress aircraft (Sqdn. 220/N). 46 dead (all hands lost).

U-217 sank the steam merchant '_Rhexenor_' (7957 tons) at location at Mid Atlantic. At 10.50 hours, the unescorted '_Rhexenor_' was hit on the port side under the bridge by one torpedo from U-217 southeast of Bermuda. After all men of the crew had abandoned ship in four lifeboats the U-boat surfaced and fired at the ship with the deck gun until she sank at 12.10 hours. The fourth mate C.W.G. Allen was taken prisoner by the U-boat after the Germans were told that the master and the chief officer were lost with the ship, landed at Brest and was taken to the POW camp Milag Nord. The master and 18 survivors in a lifeboat reached Guadeloupe on 20 February, after one man died of exhaustion, but another one later died in hospital. On 21 February, a second boat with the chief officer and 19 survivors made landfall about 60 miles north of St.Johns, Antigua. A third boat with ten survivors landed on Jost van Dyke Island in the Tobago group on 23 February, after one men in that boat died of exhaustion. Also on 23 February, the 18 occupants in a fourth boat were picked up by the British armed yacht HMS '_Conqueror_' after they had been spotted by USMC patrol aircraft of VMS-3 and landed at St.Thomas, Virgin Islands.

At 04.52 hours, U-223 fired five single torpedoes at three ships in the convoy SG-19 about 150 miles west of Cape Farewell. One of the first torpedoes hit the steam passenger ship '_Dorchester_' (5,649 tons) and the other torpedoes missed her and the Norwegian steam merchants '_Biscaya_' and '_Lutz_'. The '_Dorchester_' was struck on the starboard side in the machinery spaces. The explosion stopped the engines and the vessel swung to starboard, losing way. Her complement of seven officers, 123 crewmen, 23 armed guards and 751 troops and passengers began to abandon ship three minutes after the hit. Three of the 14 lifeboats had been damaged by the explosion, the crew managed only to launch two more overcrowded boats and 33 men left with rafts, but many men evidently did not relize the seriousness of the situation, stayed aboard and went down with the ship, which sank 30 minutes later. The US coast guard cutters USS '_Escanaba_' (WPG 77) and USS '_Comanche_' (WPG 76) began rescuing survivors within minutes. Rescue swimmers from the USS '_Escabana_' jumped into the icy water with lines tied about them to pull incapacitated men out of the water. The USS '_Escabana_' picked up 81 survivors from the water and rafts and 51 from one lifeboat. The USS '_Comanche_' picked up 41 survivors from another lifeboat and 56 from rafts and the water. They also picked up hundreds of bodies. They were landed at Narsarssuak the same day. 675 lives were lost: the master, three officers, 98 crewmen, 15 armed guards and 558 troops and passengers. Three officers, 25 crewmen, 44 civilian workers, three Danish citizens, twelve armed guards, seven US coast guard personnel and 135 US Army personnel were saved. Four Army chaplains representing the four different faiths: RevLt George Lansing Fox (Methodist); Rabbi Lt Alexander David Goode; RevLt. Clark Poling (First Reformed Church) and Father John Washington gave up their lifebelts to soldiers who have none, all four perished with the ship. All were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the DSC. In 1961 the US Congress declared the 3 February four Chaplains Observance Day and The Chapel of the Four Chaplains was established in Philadelphia.

U-255 fired torpedoes at the convoy RA-52 about 600 miles northeast of Iceland and observed two hits on one ship. Lookouts on the steam merchant '_Greylock_' spotted a torpedo in the smooth seas and broad daylight about 300 yards off the port side. They tried to evade the torpedo, but it struck between the #5 and #6 holds, creating a large hole below the waterline and also locking the steering gear. A second torpedo missed the bow by 75 yards. The ship immediately flooded and took a starboard list. 15 minutes after the hit, the ten officers, 26 crew members, 25 armed guards and nine passengers left the ship in four lifeboats. A British escort ship shelled the '_Greylock_', which sank stern first at 14.30 hours. The most men were picked up by the HMS '_Lady Madeleine_' (FY 283) and HMS '_Northern Wave_' (FY 153) and landed at Belfast and Gourock. Four crew members were picked up by the HMS '_Harrier_' (J 71) and taken to Scapa Flow. All the crew came together in Glasgow and were eventually repatriated from Liverpool.

The motor tanker '_Inverilen_' in convoy HX-224 was torpedoed by U-456 south of Iceland. The tanker was abandoned and sank later. The master, 24 crew members and six gunners were lost. 14 crew members and two passengers (DBS) were picked up by the HMS '_Asphodel_' (K 56) (Lt G.L. Fraser) and landed at Londonderry. U-456 was chased after the attack by the HMS '_Londonderry_' (U 76), which had to abort the chase after she was damaged by a premature detonation of one of her own depth charges. U-632 sank the motor tanker '_Cordelia_', a straggler from convoy HX-224, south of Iceland. The master, 37 crew members and eight gunners were lost. The sole survivor, chief engineer I.C. Bingham, was taken prisoner by the U-boat and carelessly mentioned the convoy SC-118 which was reported to the BdU. The convoy was subsequently attacked with the loss of nine ships. The survivor landed at Brest on 14 February and was taken to the German POW camp Milag Nord.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops retook Kushchevskaya on the Soskya River, 50 miles south of Rostov and Kupyansk in the Ukraine. Fw. Alfred Kruger of 4./JG 52 was listed as missing in action and believed to be dead. 

Hptm. Hans Knauth's IV./JG 51 moved its Bf 109Fs and Fw 190s from Isotscha / Iwan-See to Jesau.

*GERMANY*: Hitler, in a national broadcast from his headquarters, announced to the nation that 6.Armee had been destroyed at Stalingrad, saying the;


> "....the sacrifice of the Army, bulwark of a historical European mission, was not in vain."


Four days of national mourning was declared.

84 Halifaxes, 66 Stirlings, 62 Lancasters and 51 Wellingtons raided Hamburg on the first 200-plus raid for more than 2 weeks. Icing conditions in cloud over the North Sea caused many aircraft to return early. The Pathfinders were unable to produce concentrated and sustained marking on H2S and the bombing of the Main Force was scattered. The results in Hamburg were no better than the attack by a much smaller force a few nights earlier. 55 people were killed and 40 injured. The German night fighters operated effectively against the Hamburg raid, despite the bad weather, and 16 bombers were lost - 8 Stirlings, 4 Halifaxes, 3 Wellingtons and one Lancaster. Lt. Lothar Linke of Stab IV./NJG 1 claimed 2 of the bombers and scores went to Oblt. Manfred Meurer of 3./NJG 1, Hptm. Wolfgang Thimmig of Stab III./NJG 1 and Hptm. Wilhelm Dormann of 9./NJG 1, among others. Hptm. Reinhold Knacke, a 44 victory night-fighter with Stab I./NJG 1 was killed after destroying a Halifax and a Stirling.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The day after arriving at Thelepte airfield in Tunisia, the US 52nd FG encountered Fw 190s of JG 2 while escorting P-39s. The ensuing combat resulted in the loss of Lt. Harold Pederson. A second Spitfire was shot up so badly that the wounded pilot, Lt. Hugh Williamson, had to bail out. 7 Spitfires were claimed by the Fw 190s including 4 for Lt. Kurt Buhligen of 4./JG 2 and 2 for Ofw. Kurt Goltzsch of 4./JG 2.

Over Tunisia, Lt. Franz Kunz of 5./JG 53 flying a Bf 109G-4, collided with an Allied aircraft and was wounded.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Do 217E was shot down by a Beaufighter of RAF No. 219 Sqdrn and it crashed 1/2 mile south of Muston near Filey in Yorkshire. It was assumed that the crew baled out over the sea, as no bodies were found in the wreckage. German records examined after the war showed that its pilot, Obfw. Karl Muller, was the holder of the Ritterkreuz and had over 280 missions to his credit.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: 60 Venturas were sent to various targets in France, Belgium and Holland but only 15 aircraft bombed the railway yards at Abbeville and at St. Omer airfield. Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 26, led 40 Fw 190A-5s to intercept 12 of the Venturas of RAF No. 121 Sqdrn escorted by Spitfires from RAF No. 64, 122 and 308 Sqdrns., which were sent to attack Coutrai-Wevelghem airfield. At 11:05 hours, Galland sent down in flames the Ventura flown by Sgt. G.K. Moodley and only 7 minutes later he blasted a Spitfire of RAF No. 308 Sqdrn. II./JG 26 literally thrashed the escort when they shot down 2 other Polish Spitfires and forced the pilot of a fourth to bail out over the waters of the Channel. During another Ventura raid in the afternoon, Fw 190s of I./JG 2 and II./JG 26 engaged one of the escorting Spitfire squadrons, RCAF No. 416 Sqdrn and again Galland beat them up. Three Spitfires were shot down in a few minutes, one of them by Hptm. Galland (possibly the Spitfire flown by F/O J.S. McKenty). A fourth Spitfire, flown by F/O Rainville ditched in the waters of the Channel and he was rescued. For the day the Channel Front Geschwaders shot down 8 Spitfires and one Ventura (2 Spitfires and the Ventura by Galland himself) and lost only one Fw 190.


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## Njaco (Feb 3, 2008)

*4 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-414 was attacked in the North Atlantic by a Curtiss aircraft and damaged so badly that she had to return to base.

Convoy SC-118 comes under concentrated attack from German U-boats in the Atlantic.

U-187 (Type IXC/40) is sunk in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS '_Vimy_' and '_Beverley_'. 9 dead and 45 survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet army troops and marines achieved a landing behind the German 17.Armee in the Kuban near the Black Sea port of Novorosiisk. The attack was designed to unhinge the strong German mountain positions east of the city but quick reactions from the Germans turned the tiny bridgehead into a charnel house. German High Command had ordered an operation to help Schorner's men of 40.Panzerkorps to escape the oncoming Soviet onslaught. During the operation, Schorner actually took control of a Flak gun.

Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: MS "T-515" (ex-"_Gelenjik_" ) - was sunk by field artillery, close to Ujnaya Ozereika (later raised and went into service). (Syscom)

Gerhard Seifert, brother of Major Johannes Seifert of JG 52 was killed in action. He had only one victory to his credit.

*GERMANY*: The second daylight American raid on Germany was an attack on the Hamm marshalling yards along with Emden and Onsbruck. 65 B-17s of the US 1st BW and 21 B-24s of the US 2nd BW were dispatched. The B-24s turned back before hitting the Dutch coast when the temperature dropped below the lowest limit of the thermometers. Heavy cloud covered Hamm so 3 of the 4 B-17 groups (39 B-17s) attacked the yards, port area and industries in Emden. As the bomber formations broke up from the cloud layer, they were intercepted by 8 Bf 110s of IV./NJG 1 led by Hptm. Hans-Joachim Jabs. Flying in pairs, this was the first time that the Luftwaffe decided to use night-fighters in daylight defense because it was thought the heavily armoured Bf 110s would be effective against the heavy bombers. The first pair of Bf 110s, consisting of Hptm. Jabs and Ofhr. Scherer, sliced into the bomber formation and scored no hits but Ofhr. Scherer's plane was damaged and both crew members wounded. The second pair, that of Lt. Vollkopf and Uffz. Naumann, attacked from head-on and both succeeded in damaging a bomber, which broke from the formation with a smoking enegine. Coming around for a second pass, Uffz. Naumann attacked from behind but as he damaged the Fortress further, its rear gunner scored strikes on Naumann's Bf 110. Both planes went down smoking, with Uffz. Naumann crashing in shallow water on the north shore of Ameland Island. The last pair of Bf 110s, that of Ofw. Grimm and Uffz. Kraft, dove past the rear of the bomber formation in a hail of bullets and bounced a straggling B-17. Taking turns attacking the bomber, the Fortress finally caught fire and went down. But both Bf 110s were smoking and barely made it back to the airfield at Leeuwarden. Ofw. Grimm belly-landed after his engines gave out. All 8 Bf 110s were severly damaged, leaving 8 aircraft with all their sensitive special night fighting equipment out of action. An additional 50 Fw 190s and Bf 109s joined the attack. Before the bomber formations reached the North Sea coast, 3 B-17s were shot down and a 4th, badly damaged, fell into the sea. At one point,, a Fw 190 attacking from a head-on position, collided with a B-17 from the US 305th BG and both planes crashed to the ground. 5 B-17s were lost although the planes of JG 1 claimed 10 bombers shot down. The Geschwader lost 2 pilots - the Stafflekapitaen of 6./JG 1, Oblt. Walter Leonhardt and Uffz. Rudolf Mayer of 12./JG 1.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 77 Lancasters,55 Halifaxes, 50 Stirlings and 6 Wellingtons bombed Turin (Italy) with the loss of 3 Lancasters. 156 aircraft reached and bombed Turin causing serious and widespread damage. The brief local report states that 29 people were killed and 53 injured. (Hugh Spencer)

4 Pathfinder Lancasters were sent to La Spezia, an Italian port, to try out a new type of 'proximity fused' 4,000 lb bomb which exploded between 200 and 600 feet above the ground to widen the effects of the resulting blast. 3 aircraft dropped their bombs successfully but this type of weapon does not seem to have come into general use. All the Lancasters returned safely. (Hugh Spencer)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The first units of the British Eighth Army crossed from Libya into Tunisia.

Men of the 51st Highland and New Zealand Divisions - all heroes of El Alamein - formed up to march past Winston Churchill. The Prime Minister was on a whirlwind tour of the Middle East - with a significant stop in neutral Turkey - and was spending the day with his troops. The PM toured the harbor - where engineers were clearing blockships and port installations. He left for Algiers, despite a death threat from a known assasssin.

Ten P-38s of the US 1st FG escorted 18 B-17s followed by 10 additional P-38s escorting a flight of 24 B-24s. Four P-38s were lost in combat with Bf 109s. Oblt. Anton Hackl of II./JG 77 battled with the Lightnings and was shot down and badly wounded. He spent the next several months in hospital. Capt. Clarence Rimke of the US 94th FS / 1st FG claimed one Bf 109. Another flight of Lightnings hit an airfield west of Gabes.

At 16:00 hours, 8 Fw 190s from JG 2 were scrambled from Kairouan airfield to intercept enemy aircraft flying recon over the Sbeitla and Fondouk areas. The Allied formation came from Thelepte airfield and consisted of 6 Spitfires from the US 4th FS / 52nd FG and 6 Spitfires from the US 5th FS / 52nd FG, escorting 5 P-39s. The Fw 190s were south of Ousseltia when air combat with the escorting Spitfires began. During the engagement, Oblt. Buhligen claimed 3 Spitfires destroyed, Oblt. Rudorffer claimed 2 Spitfires and Ofw. Goltzsch claimed one Spitfire. Either Oblt. Buhligen or Oblt. Rudorffer shot down Capt. Hugh Williamson, who baled out with a wounded leg. While he descended in his parachute, Lt. Harold Pederson flew protective circles around him but a II./JG 2 pilot latched onto his tail after circling 1 1/2 times and was shot down in flames. The 52nd FG lost at least one other Spitfire during this combat. Capt. Williamson claimed one German fighter probably destroyed and 2 damaged, but not one II./JG 2 machine was hit by enemy fire.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: New guidelines to Allied bomber crews have emerged from the Casablanca summit attended by the British PM, Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt last month. An air ministry directive sent to Sir Arthur Harris, chief Bomber Command, today said that his primary objective is the;


> "...progressive destruction . . . of the German military, industrial and economic system and the underminig of the morale of the German people."



In January 1943 approx 628 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were lost - killed or POW. (Hugh Spencer)

*WESTERN FRONT*: 103 Wellingtons, 16 Halifaxes and 9 Lancasters attacked Lorient. 1 Wellington was lost. This was an all-incendiary attack without the Pathfinders. Bombing was concentrated and large areas of fire were started. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Njaco (Feb 4, 2008)

*5 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-267 was attacked in the North Atlantic by escorts with depth charges. The boat was damaged so severely that a return to base was necessary, reaching St. Nazaire on Feb 18. (Syscom)

At 14.05 hours, the '_West Portal'_ (Master Oswald Joseph Griffin), a straggler from convoy SC-118, was hit forward of the bridge by one torpedo from U-413 and immediately took a list. The U-boat had fired a spread of four torpedoes from a distance of over 3500 yards at the zigzagging ship and hit her with the third torpedo. She was missed by a first coup de grâce, but sank after a second hit in the stern at 15.21 hours. The Germans observed how some of the eight officers, 32 crewmen, 25 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and twelve passengers abandoned ship in lifeboats, but they were never seen again. HMS '_Vanessa_' (D 29) recieved a distress signal from the ship and left the convoy to search for survivors, but no position had been reported so search proved to be fruitless. (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army reached the Sea of Azov at Yeisk, cutting off German troops at Novorossiisk. Soviet forces captured Staryy Oskol and Izyum, but the landings at Anopa were repulsed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The first signs of a major crack in the facade of Mussolini's Fascist Italy began to show when a tired and bitter il Duce sacked his son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italy's foreign minister since 1936 and 2 other senior members of his cabinet. Mussolini himself took charge of foreign affairs. Mussolini was described as no more than a sad shadow of the bombastic, boastful and vain Duce who set out to recreate the grandeur of Imperial Rome by engineering excuses ti invade soft targets like Albania and Ethiopia - only to see his 'empire' snatched from him by Allied troops. With Anglo-American forces converging on Tunisia, he knew that the invasion of Italy could not be far away and he pleaded with Hitler to sue for peace in Russia after the defeat at Stalingrad and bolster Italy's shattered army against the Allies. On the other hand, Count Ciano was appointed ambassador to the Vatican and many observers believed that the desperate Mussolini sent him there to negotiate peace with the Allies.

U-617 shadowed the convoy AW-22 (Alexandria - Benghazi), consisting of four steamers and four escorts from grid CO92 to CO67. At 08.02 hours, the U-boat torpedoed and sank the '_Henrik_' and '_Corona_'. The '_Corona_' (Master Einar Endresen) was hit by one torpedo and 15 minutes later by another on the starboard side. The foc´sle deck line split to keel and from keel to about 15 feet from deck line port side. The collision bulkhead was fractured and foc´sle deck dropped 12 inchs from aft side windlass to stem. All seven Norwegian officers, 40 Chinese crewmen, the Egyptian messboy, six British gunners and 49 army personnel as passengers abandoned ship. The master, 10 crewmen and 11 passengers were picked up by the British motor launch HMS ML-1012. The master, the 2nd mate and three crewmen returned to the lifeboat with the intention of returning to the ship, but on the way back he came across the British motor launch HMS ML-356 and being uncertain of the condition of the ship they decided to board the motor launch. HMS '_Erica_' (K 50) (Lt A.C.C. Seligman, RNR) put a boarding party on the 'Corona', including one Indian stoker from 'Henrik' and later took the survivors on board and brought them to Tobruk. The next day, the 'Corona' was taken in tow to Tobruk and beached. In the afternoon on 24 February, she sank during a storm. On 17 Oct, 1947, the wreck of '_Corona_' was refloated and was taken in tow by the tug '_Lenamill_', but sank two days later 20 miles north of Derna. (Syscom) The '_Henrik_' (Master Johan Sørlie) was probably hit by two torpedoes and sank within 3 minutes about 30 miles east of Tobruk. The launched lifeboat swapped as the vessel sank, throwing the occupants into the water. The survivors clung to rafts or debris until they were picked up by British motor launches. Two Chinese crew members died, out of a complement of seven Norwegian officers, 33 Chinese crew members and six gunners. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Spitfires of the US 4th FG flew 8 sorties -2 on uneventful patrols and 6 to strafe a shipping convoy. Two corvettes and a merchant ship were damaged. One Spitfire was shot down by Uffz. Heinz Goimann of 5./JG 26.

One flight of the US 350th FG, flying P-39s from RAF stations Portreath and Predannack on Lands End, England to Port Lyautey, French Morocco, broke up in a severe squall over the Bay of Biscay and lost one pilot. He was flying alone, probably still on the deck, when he was ambushed and shot down by a patrolling Ju 88 flown by Oblt. Hermann Horstmann of 13./KG 40.

19 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisian Islands. 2 aircraft were lost. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 5, 2008)

5th February 1943
I reported for a medical assessment locally in the first step to be accepted for training as aircrew in the RAF. Apparently they liked what they saw and subsequently accepted me.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2008)

*6 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-465 was attacked by an Allied aircraft during a convoy action and had to abort its attack due to damages.

U-403 was strafed and attacked with 6 bombs by a Canadian Canso aircraft (RCAF Sqdn 5) off Newfoundland and recieved moderate damages.

U-262 fired five torpedoes at a tanker and a steamer, heard three detonations and claimed both ships sunk. However, there is no confirmation from Allied sources, but it is likely that Polish Steam merchant '_Zagloba_' (Master Zbigniew Deyczakowski) was hit and sunk in these attacks. The ship was straggling from the convoy SC-118 since the afternoon of 5 February. (26 dead - no survivors) The Greek Steam merchant '_Polyktor_' was torpedoed by U-266 and sank after two coups de grâce at 19.30 and 19.32 hours. The ship was straggling from convoy SC-118 due to problems with the rudder. The master and one crew member were taken prisoner.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet advances continued as Bataysk (near Rostov), yeysk (Sea of Azov), Lisichansk (Donets River) and Barvenkovo (near Kharkov) were all liberated.

Hitler, infuriated by the continual Soviet advance in southern Russia, had Feldmarschal von Manstein flown to his 'Wolf's Lair' HQ in East Prussia. It was his intention to refuse von Manstein permission to make any more withdrawls, but military reality and the shock of Stalingrad forced him to allow von Manstein to fall back from the Donets to the river Mius, leaving only a rearguard to cover Rostov-on-Don. The fall of Rostov, which was now imminent, meant that 17.Armee, left behind by von Kleist in his retreat from the Caucasus, was now confined to the 'Gothic Line' positions around the Taman penisula between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Hitler planned to use this army as the springboard for another attack on the Caucasus, but Stalin planned to treat it as he did 6.Armee in Stalingrad. Two days ago, Soviet amphibious forces landed on the peninsula to cut the Germans off from the Crimea. But 17.Armee had been listening to Soviet radio and knew that the assault was coming. They slaughtered the Russians as they were coming ashore at 2 of the landing beaches but another force, put ashore at Novorossiisk, dug in and was expanding its beach-head. Meanwhile, General Malinovsky was racing on from the Donets, forcing von Manstein back to Tagnrog and the Mius even without Hitler's permission. The Russians were now poised to take the whole Donets basin. It was the same story further north where Hitler had been forced to give General von Kluge, the commander of Heeresgruppe Mitte, permission to abandon the vulnerable Rzhev salient. Von Kluge now seemed likely to lose Kursk in the next few days. There was one city that Hitler ordered to be held at all costs: Kharkov, the fourth largest city in the Soviet Union. The newly-formed SS Panzerkorps had been ordered to defend it to the death.

*GERMANY*: The official 3 days of mourning for Stalingrad ordered by Hitler were over, but it was doubtful if the German people would ever recover from the terrible defeat. They still could not come to terms with the crushing of the Wehrmacht by the untermenschen (subhumans) of Russia. Hitler added to the shock felt in the higher echelons of the Naxi Party by telling a group of gauleiters at his 'Wolf's Lair';


> "What you are witnessing is a catastrophe of unheard-of magnitude. . . if the German people fails then it does not deserve that we should fight for its future; then we can write it off with equanimity."


 General Dietmar, Germany's chief military commentator, echoed Hitler's doom-laden message in an extrodinary broadcast from Berlin last night in which he said;


> "The bitter experience of Stalingrad still weighs heavily on our soul. For the first time we are experiencing the entire tragedy of the reverse. For the first time an entire German army has ceased to exist."


Even more painful for the hundreds of thousands of German families were the last letters from fathers, sons and brothers killed in the final days of the debacle or marched off across the steppes into captivity. The tales of horror told in these letters and the longing for home which permeated them contrasted sadly with the bombastic broadcast of Goring, in which he boasted;


> "....in spite of everything, Germany's ultimate victory was decided there."


 In the midst of all the sorrow there was a threat. Goebbels was invoking an old Prussian war decree of 1689 which said:


> "Whoever, in the midst of battle, begins to retreat, shall be put to death without mercy."


 SS Reichfuerher Heinrich Himmler receives an inventory of goods taken from murdered Polish Jews, including 825 rail wagons of clothing for redistribution in Germany and a wagon full of women's hair.

2 Mosquitoes attacked Dusseldorf without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Canadian corvette HMCS '_LOUISBURG_' is sunk by enemy aircraft off Oran, Algeria. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: In an opinion poll released today the American public were asked: If Hitler offered peace terms now to all countries on the basis of not going further, but of leaving matters as they are now, would you favor or oppose such a plan?
Favor 4%
Oppose 92 %
No Opinion 4%

The US High Command is restructured, creating a European theatre under General Andrews and leaving General Eisenhower in charge of North Africa.

The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) had been established on 8 June 1942by presidential directive to command all U.S. Army personnel in Europe and Africa. Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower had been named Commanding General ETOUSA during the same month. Recognizing the importance of the North African operations, the formal separation of operations in England and Africa is finalized as the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA) is established today with Lieutenant General Eisenhower in command; NATOUSA is responsible for all U.S. Army personnel in North Africa. The U.S. Army Air Forces' Lieutenant General Frank M. Andrews, currently Commanding General U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East, is named to replace "Ike" as Commanding General ETOUSA, which now controls all U.S. Army forces in the U.K., Iceland and Greenland.

A jury in Los Angeles, California, USA acquits actor Errol Flynn of three counts of statutory rape. Flynn was charged with the statutory rape of two teenage girls aboard his yacht. The publicity resulted in the catch phrase "In like Flynn."
*
WESTERN FRONT*: 52 Wellingtons and 20 Halifaxes were minelaying between St Nazaire and Texel and 3 Wellingtons were lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 6, 2008)

*7 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-118 attacked Convoy MKS-7 and sunk 3 ships: the Steam merchants '_Baltonia_' and '_Empire Mordred_' and the Motor merchant '_Mary Slessor_'. (Syscom)

U-402 attacked Convoy SC-118 and hit 6 ships: the Motor merchant '_Afrika_', Steam merchants '_Kalliopi_' and '_Toward_', tankers '_Daghild_' and '_Robert E. Hopkins_' and the Troop transport '_Henry R. Mallory_'. U-614 also attacked Convoy SC-118 and hit the Steam merchant '_Harmala_'. (Syscom)

U-77 attacked Convoy KMS-8 and hit the merchant ships '_Empire Banner_' and '_Empire Webster_'. (Syscom)

U-609 was sunk in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from the Free French corvette '_Lobelia_'. 47 dead (all hands lost). (Syscom)

U-624 was sunk in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from a British B-17 Fortress aircraft (Sqdn. 220/J). 45 dead (all hands lost). (Syscom)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces captured Azov and the mouth of the Don River while in the Ukraine, Kramatosk was liberated.

*GERMANY*: 2 Mosquitoes bombed Essen and Hamborn without loss. (Hugh Spencer)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sardina, over 50 US 12th AF B-17s and B-24s bombed Elmas airfield and the seaplane base at Cagliari. P-38s provided escort. During the raid on Elmas, Oblt. Ferdinand Ottisch and 2 others were killed and 3 were wounded. 1(F)./122 was reduced to only 3 sevicable Ju 88s.

In Italy, US 9th AF B-24s hit the harbor at Naples, scoring a direct hit on 1 vessel and hits on others.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In the evening, the North African convoy KMS 8 was attacked to the west of Tenes Head by 7 Ju 88 and 7 He 111 torpedo bombers of I./KG 26. The convoy came under attack by German and Italian bombers as it moved towards Sicily and away from Gibraltar Based fighter cover. The bombers sank the RCN corvette HMCS '_Louisburg_' and damaged the British steamboat '_Fort Babine_'. At 19:00 hours several Axis aircraft converged on the convoy from different directions and executed an aggressive low-level bombing attack. A few minutes later, 5 Italian torpedo-bombers swept in from ahead of the convoy and launched thier weapons. 'Louisburg', who was stained in the van, was hit at 19:10 hours by a torpedo that struck her on the port side amidships. The torpedo was dropped at such short range that there was no time to take evasive action. The attacking aircraft was hit and flew off trailing smoke but did not crash. The majority of casualties was caused by the detonation of her own depth charges as the ship went down so quickly that there was no opportunity to set them to "Safe".

*WESTERN FRONT*: Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle, leader of Luftflotte 3, inspected Schiphol airfield.

100 Wellingtons,81 Halifaxes, 80 Lancasters and 62 Stirlings attacked Lorient. 3 Lancasters, 2 Halifaxes and 2 Wellingtons were lost. The Pathfinder marking plan worked well and the two Main Force waves produced a devastating attack. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 7, 2008)

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## Njaco (Feb 7, 2008)

*8 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Kursk fell to the Soviets with a sudden flanking movement which took the Germans by surprise. General Golikov's troops also took Korocha, some 70 miles to the south, and the Russians now threatened the whole German line from Orel to Kharkov. Kursk, captured by the Germans in November 1941, became the key to their communications network, the vital link in the shifting of supplies and reinforcements between the southern and central fronts. It was the first of the 3 main bases - Kursk, Orel and Kharkov - which the Germans established as their winter line in 1941, to be recaptured. The Germans used these bases as the starting points for their offensive last summer which led to Stalingrad. Now, it seemed that the Russians would use Kursk to launch the northern arm of a pincer attack on Kharkov in order to trap SS General Hauser's Panzerkorps. German correspondents reporting the battles at the approaches to Kursk, commented with some awe, on the numbers of tanks and guns deployed by the Russians.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, US 9th AF B-24s attacked ferry installations at Messina.

*NORTH AFRICA*: 1(F)./122 was transferred from Elmas to Decimo in Sardina due to the constant Allied air attacks on the airfield. A Me 210 belonging to 2(F)./122 failed to return from the Tripoli - Misurata -Zuara area. Two crew were missing including the pilot, Uffz. Kurt Schulz.

In Tunisia, B-17s bombed the docks and shipping at Sousse. B-26s and B-25s bombed Gabes airfield, hitting the nearby marshalling yard. Two forces of A-20s attacked a vehicle and troop concentration east of Faid. Fighters escorted bomber missions, strafed the Sened-Maknassy area and the landing ground at Kebili.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 6 Lancasters laid mines in Baltic areas without loss.

*GERMANY*: Himmler ordered special precautions to be taken at concentration camps to prevent mass escapes in the event of air raids - including the sub-division of each camp into blocks, each containing 4000 prisoners, which were surrounded by minefields, electrically charged barbed wire, searchlights and dogs trained to kill on sight.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 8, 2008)

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## Njaco (Feb 8, 2008)

*9 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army recaptured Belgorod. In the early morning over Slavyanskaya near Kuban, Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 scored his 3rd victory over a Russian aircraft - a LaGG-3.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Allies sent 24 B-17s of the US 301st BG escorted by P-38s of the US 1st FG and 20 P-40s and Spitfire Vs to attack Axis targets. At 13:45 hours, 6 II./JG 2 pilots scrambled to intercept an incoming enemy aircraft. A formation of 4 P-39s of the US 81st FG was flying a recon mission north of Ousseltia and east of Kairouan, escorted by 9 P-40s of GC II/5. 10 minutes after take-off, the Fw 190s attacked the P-40s. During the combat, the P-40s formed a defensive circle. The Fw 190s barreled into the circle and claimed shooting down at least 12 P-40s and 6 P-38s at no loss to themselves. Hptm. Erich Rudorffer of 6./JG 2 shot down 6 of the Warhawks. After breaking away from the fight, he spotted several P-38s strafing ground targets and he dove to attack them. Two P-38s were shot down by Hptm. Rudorffer, making a total of 8 kills in a span of 32 minutes. GC II/5 lost at least 3 P-40Fs in this combat and Adjudant Chef Verrier, Sgt. Chef Denaix and Sgt. Chef Borg did not return from the mission although no one was killed. In the engagement, Sgt. Chef Denaix was hit and forced landed 24 km east of Kasserine. The French pilots Hebrard, Moret and Denaix each claimed a Fw 190, but II./JG 2 had no losses.

*GERMANY*: 21 Wellingtons laid mines between Brest and Texel and 2 Mosquitoes raided Essen and Ruhrort with no losses. A map from Essen showed that the Oboe Mosquito's bomb load fell just north of the Krupps factory.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Because of his difficulties in converting to the Fw 190, Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt, Staffelkapitaen of the Fw 190 equipped 6./JG 1, was shifted to the Bf 109 equipped III./JG 1, where he assumed command of 7 Staffel. This time, he was succeeded by Major Heinz Bar, who was appointed 6./JG 1's new Staffelkapitaen. III./JG 1 was equipped with the new Bf 109G-6/AS, equipped with DB 605 AS engines, specially trimmed for high-altitude operations. The unit was tasked to provide other Home Defense units, equipped with Fw 190s, with fighter cover against US fighter planes that escorted heavy bombers against Germany. This suited Lt. Burckhardt well. In III./JG 1, he reunited with Ofw. Herbert Kaiser, an old friend from JG 77 and made the acquaintance of Alfred Grislawski.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 9, 2008)

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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2008)

*10 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: RAF 'Whirlbombers' hit the disguised German raider 'Coronel' as she attempted to break out into the Atlantic. She put into Boulogne.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Volchansk and Chuguyev were taken by the Red Army. Soviet forces were now only 20 miles from Kharkov.

In the morning 3 Soviet divisions (72nd Rifle, 43rd Rifle and 63rd Guard) supported by 60 tanks and 400 guns advanced on the 262nd Spanish Regiment of the 'Spanish Blue Division' - the Battle of Krasni Bor. By 10:00 hours the battle had turned into chaos with disorganized attackers assaulting isolated pockets. Despite heroic defensive fighting by this regiment of Spanish volunteers, by 10:30 hours, II-262 HQ was overrun and Krasni Bor fell into Soviet hands. The battle ended the next day. The Soviets lost no less than 7,000 men (some sources quote up to 11,000 casualties), the Blue Division some 2,500 (60% of the men involved). Losses such as these, in a one day battle, in such a reduced area (some 7km by 5km) were not usually heard in WWII. The sacrifice of the 262 Regiment was a main event in stopping a general offensive aimed at the elimination of the threat against Leningrad and, if possible, to encircle a whole German Corps.

Hptm. Sommers, Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 52 brought his score to 50 kills after downing a Russian fighter while Erich Hartmann of the same Staffel brought his score to 4 with a Douglas Boston Bomber destroyed near Slavyanskaya.

Oblt. Hans-Ulrich Rudel, Staffelkapitaen of 1./StG 2, flew his 1,000th mission and became a national hero to the German public. Rudel was then posted to the new, special "Panzerjagdkommando Weiss" unit formed in Briansk to test the newly-developed tank-busting version of the Ju 87D-3. The modified Stuka was armed with 2 Rhenmetall-Borsig 37mm (BK) flak 18 guns mounted in a special canopy under each wing with 6 rounds of ammunition and was developed at the Luftwaffe's experimental station at Rechlin.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Venturas bombed Caen railway yards without loss but the escorting Spitfires had a fierce fight with German fighters. Four Spitfires were claimed destroyed by fighters from I./JG 2 with credit going to Hptm. Helmut-Felix Bolz of Stab I./JG 2, Lt. Joachim Bialucha of 2./JG 2 and Uffz. Walter Leber and Ofw. Friedrich Klopper of 3./JG 2.

The Lorient district in France was evacuated after becoming the target of recent heavy Allied bombings.


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## Njaco (Feb 10, 2008)

*11 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Lozovaya was captured by Vatutin's Southwest Front. Hptm. Edwin Kerner of 4(F)./122 was killed during a Soviet air attack on Bagerovo.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Hptm. Hartmann Grasser's II./JG 51 moved from Gabes to Trapani.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 129 Lancasters, 40 Halifaxes and 8 Stirlings were sent to Wilhelmshaven and 3 Lancasters were lost. This was an interesting and important raid.The Pathfinders found that the area was completely covered by cloud and they had to employ their least reliable marking method, sky-marking by parachute flares using H2S. The marking was carried out with great accuracy and the Main Force bombing was very effective. Crews saw through the clouds a huge explosion on the ground, the glow of which lingered for nearly 10 minutes. This was caused by bombs blowing up the naval ammunition depot at Mariensiel to the south of Wilhelmshaven. The resulting explosion devastated an area of nearly 120 acres and caused widespread damage in the naval dockyard and in the town. Much damage was also caused by other bombs. It had not been possible to obtain details of the casualties from Wilhelmshaven. This raid represented the first blind-bombing success for the H2S radar device.

19 Bostons attempted attacks on railway targets over a wide area. 1 Boston lost.

2 Mosquitoes went to Bochum and Hamborn and 36 aircraft were minelaying from La Pallice to the Frisians.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 11, 2008)

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## Njaco (Feb 11, 2008)

*12 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops of Heeresgruppe A (von Weichs) evacuated Krasnodar in the Kuban and reached defensive positions in the Kuban brifgehead. Krasnodar was then captured by Red Army forces. Soviet forces west of the Don river liberated Shakhty, Kommunarsk and Krasnoarmeskoye.

Major Seiler's III./JG 54 boarded trains in Smolensk and headed for the airbase at Vendeville on the Western Front. They stopped first in Germany and picked up new Bf 109Gs and flew them to their new base. Soon after, 4./JG 54, led by Oblt. Graf Matuschka, followed the Gruppe to the Western Front, becoming subordinated to III./JG 26 at Wevelghem. 4./JG 54 replaced 7./JG 26 which was now on the Eastern Front.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In driving rain, the 7th Armoured Division crossed the Tunisian border in force, leaving the whole of Libya in Allied hands. With Rommel regrouping his Panzerarmee Afrika on the French-built Mareth Line, the next great battles could be expected shortly. General Montgomery was biding his time, re-equipping the 8th Army with supplies and weapons which were arriving in the newly-cleared port at Tripoli by the shipload. His first objectives were Medenine and Ben Gardane - both with valuable airstrips.

The Luftwaffe made another command change. Fliegerfuhrer Tunis, recently formed in January, and Fliegerfuhrer Afrika were combined to form Fliegerkorps Tunis and was subordinated to Luftflotte 2. Led by General Hans Seidemann, the command controlled the following units: Fliegerfuhrer 1 (Nord), Fliegerfuhrer 2 (Mitte), Fliegerfuhrer 3 (Sud), Fliegerfuhrer Gabes and the Verbindungsstaffel and Flugbereitschaft of Fliegerkorps Tunis.

*GERMANY*: 16 Mosquitoes attacked targets in Eastern Belgium and over the German border without loss. 2 Mosquitoes bombed Dusseldorf and Rheinhausen and 38 aircraft were minelaying off Heligoland and in the Frisians with no losses.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 12, 2008)

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## Njaco (Feb 13, 2008)

*13 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops retake control of the Tostov-on-Don to Voronezh railway line with the recature of Novosherkassk.

Oblt. Gustav Denk of 5./JG 52 was killed in action. He had 67 victories.

Oblt. Dr. Ernst Kupfer, Gruppenkommandeur of II./StG 2 replaced Oblt. Paul-Werner Hozzel as Geschwaderkommodore of StG 2 (Gefechtsverband Hozzel), controlling parts of StG 1, StG 2 and StG 77. Hptm. Martin Moebus was made Gruppenkommandeur of II./StG 2.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Spitfire Mk Vs of the US 4th FG flew sorties on shipping patrols. One aircraft was lost and the pilot was killed. The Luftwaffe claimed 12 Spitfires destroyed throughout the day. Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland of JG 26 downed one Spifire west of Hardelot at 10:17 hours and another southeast of Le Touquet at 12:20 hours.

The ghost town of Lorient, evacuated by all non-essential personnel last week, was hammered again by the RAF during the night. when 466 planes dropped over 1,000 tons of bombs. 164 Lancasters, 140 Wellingtons, 96 Halifaxes and 66 Stirlings carried out Bomber Command's heaviest attack on Lorient during the war. The ordinary squadrons of Bomber Command, not reinforced for a 1,000 bomber type raid, dropped more than 1,000 tons of bombs for the first time. The raid was carried out in clear visibility and considerable damage was caused to the already battered town. Seven aircraft - 3 Wellingtons, 2 Lancasters, 1 Halifax and 1 Stirling - were lost. The reason for such intense attacks was to deny the port to packs of U-Boats using it as a base for attacks on merchant shipping. Around 1,000 sorties had been made on Lorient each month. St. Nazaire was also targeted, along with the U-Boat engine works at Copenhagen, hit by low-level Mosquitoes 17 days ago. Privately, the head of Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Harris, had misgivings about submarine pens as targets; "_U-Boats using these bases are amply protected by concrete, bomb-proof shelters."
_
34 Venturas and 22 Bostons were sent in 5 different raids to attack Ijmuiden steelworks and ships at Boulogne and the lock gates at St Malo. Bombing was successful and no aircraft were lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 13, 2008)

*14 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The SS '_Dutchess of York_', a Canadian-owned, British-registered CPR passenger liner, was heavily damaged off Cape Finisterre, when she was bombed by Luftwaffe aircraft. She was sunk later in 1943 in another air attack in the same general area.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops of Heeresgruppe Don (von Manstein) evacuated Rostov and withdrew to the old Mius line. Russians soon captured Rostov, cutting off the German 17.Armee in the Kuban peninsula forcing the Germans to lines of communication west over the Kerch Straits into the Crimean peninsula. The Soviets now controlled the entire length of the rail line from Voronezh to Rostov. Drasnyy Sulin and Shakhty were also liberated.

*GERMANY*: The US 1st BW dispatched 74 B-17s against the Hamm marschaling yards. The mission was cancelled due to the weather and the aircraft were recalled before they passed the European coast. One B-17 was damaged although Uffz. Max Kolschek of 4./JG 1 tried to put in a claim of a B-17 destroyed but was denied.

90 Halifaxes, 85 Wellingtons and 68 Stirlings attacked Cologne, 3 of each type of aircraft were lost. The Pathfinder marking was again based on sky-markers dropped by H2S but it was only of limited success. 218 aircraft claimed to have bombed Cologne but local records suggest that less than 50 aircraft hit the target, mostly in the western districts. 2 industrial, 2 agricultural and 97 domestic premises were destroyed. 51 civilians were killed and 135 injured and 25 French workers died when their barracks at an old fort on the western outskirts of Cologne were bombed.

During the RAF raid on Cologne Hptm. Manfred Meuer, Staffelkapitaen of 3./NJG 1 destroyed 3 of the RAF bombers to bring his score to 14 kills.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 152 Lancasters of 1, 5 and No. 8 Groups from England attacked Milan and carried out concentrated bombing in good visibility. Fires could be seen from 100 miles away on the return flight. No report was available from Milan. Italian defences were usually weak and only two Lancasters were lost on this raid. An unusual story is available, however, about a Lancaster of 101 Squadron which was attacked by an Italian CR 42 fighter just after bombing the target. The Lancaster was set on fire and the two gunners were both seriously injured, although they claimed to have shot down the fighter. The pilot, Sergeant I.H.Hazard, had to dive 8,000 feet to put out the fire and one member of the crew mistook instructions and baled out. The remainder of the crew completed the extinguishing of the fire, tended the wounded and eventually reached England. The only officer in the crew, Pilot Officer F.W.Gates the wireless operator, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Sergeant Hazard and the other members of the crew who helped to bring the Lancaster home all received Conspicuous Gallantry Medals, an unusually high number of awards of this decoration. Sergeant Hazard died with his Flight Engineer and Navigator when their Lancaster crashed in a flying accident in Yorkshire less than a month after the Milan incident and Pilot Officer Gates died when the Lancaster in which he was flying, with another crew, crashed when returning from Dortmund on 5th May 1943; the two air gunners in the crew appear to have survived the war.

4 Pathfinder Lancasters bombed LA Spezia docks without loss.​
*NORTH AFRICA:* The Germans launched its famous offensive on the Allies at Kasserine. 5.Panzerarmee (von Arnim) forced the retreat of the US 2nd Corps (Fredenhall) inflicting very heavy losses. The 10. and 21.Panzerdivisions attacked the Combat Command A of the US 1st Armoured Division at Faid Pass, and the Afrika Korps survivors attacked the French and Americans on an axis from Gafsa to Feriana to Kasserine. The Americans, positioned poorly between Faid and Sbeitla, broke and retreated in disorder as General von Arnim's forces shattered their lines. The Luftwaffe did its best but it could hardly facilitate the task of the Wehrmacht, which missed its strategic reserves.

Twelve Spitfires of the US 308th FS were escorting 9 A-20s, 6 P-39s and 6 P-40s. After one Spitfire returned to base early with a radio problem, the P-40s were attacked by 8 Fw 190s from JG 2. The Spitfires also attacked with 5 of them getting firing opportunities. However, none of the guns fired due to sand jamming them. There had been 2 days of blowing sand and it was not an uncommon problem. By the end of the day, fighters from II./JG 2 had claimed 11 Spitfires shot down with Oblt. Kurt Buhligen of 4./JG 2 again having a mulitple kill day with 4 Spitfires. Two other pilots from 4 Staffel, Lt. Lothar Werner and Ofw. Kurt Goltzsch each claimed 2 Spitfires destroyed.

A Ju 88D-1/trop belonging to 1(F)./122 was attacked north of Cap Bougeron by 2 Hurricanes of RAF No. 253 Sqdrn from Jemapes. RAF Sgt. Coran Perry Ashworth shot down the Junkers 20 miles north of Cap Bougeron. The entire crew went missing.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 6 out of 10 Mosquitoes accurately bombed Tours railway yards without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 14, 2008)

*15 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The rear-guard of the 40.Panzerkorps escaped annihilation by the Fourth Ukranian Front.

*GERMANY*: 6 Oboe Mosquitoes bombed Essen, Rheinhausen and the German night fighter airfield at St Trond. A map from Essen shows that bombs were dropped on the southern part of the Krupps factory. No losses.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Rommel's forces joined the attack in Tunisia against the Americans at Kasserine as elements of 15.Panzerdivision attacked and captured Gafsa. The bulk of Rommel's forces had taken up strong positions to the east as the last forces from Libya entered the Mareth Line.

Returning from a P-39 escort mission, the US 309th FS engaged a mixed formation of 16 Bf 109s and Fw 190s attacking Thelepte. The Allied formation claimed 2 Luftwaffe planes shot down while Hptm. Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 2 shot down 7 more Allied aircraft in 20 minutes. Oblt. Kurt Buhligen of 4./JG 2 claimed 3 P-38s and Ofw. Kurt Goltzsch of 4./JG 2 claimed 2 Lightnings.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In an effort to disrupt the German radar chain along the French coast, the US 8th AF and RAF Bomber Command attacked the port area and shipping at Dunkirk harbour along with a raid on the night-fighter control ship '_Tojo_', moving through the German Bight. 17 B-17s along with 23 B-24s and 23 Bostons flew on a straight course up the French Coast to Dunkirk. The fighters of JG 2 bounced the formations and shot down 2 B-17s with a victory going to Oblt. Erich Hohagen, Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 2. Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland of Stab II./JG 26 claimed a Spitfire. The control ship '_Tojo_' remained afloat after the attack.

12 Mosquitoes bombed railway workshops at Tours. No losses.

4 Stirlings laid mines in the River Gironde and 2 OTU Wellingtons dropped leaflets over France. No losses.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 15, 2008)

*16 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops evacuated Kharkov. The decision to pull out was taken by SS General Paul 'Papa' Hauser, the battle-scarred commander of the newly-formed Waffen-SS corps composed of the crack 'Leibstandarte', 'Totenkopf' and 'Das Reich' divisions. As the Russian circle around Kharkov drew tighter and tighter, Hauser sent ever more urgent cables to Hitler, seeking permission to leave the burning city. Hitler remained adamant, but Hauser, risking execution, defied the Fuhrer and saved his Panzers from certain destruction by elements of the Soviet 40th Army and 3rd tank Army. Fighting against odds of 7 to 1, they stood no chance.

The newly arrived I./JG 26 engaged the Russians for the first time while supporting the German Army's II Corps withdrawl from the Demyansk pocket. In a dogfight against heavily-armoured Russian Il-2s, the Gruppenstab and 1./JG 26 destroyed 11 of the fighter-bombers at no loss for the Gruppe.

*GERMANY*: The commander of Luftwaffe-Command East, General der Flieger Robert Ritter von Greim was promoted to Generaloberst while the commander of Luftflotte 4, Generaloberst Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, 5.Panzerarmee's advance past Kasserine Pass was temporarily suspended as elements of Montgomery's Eighth Army occupied Medenine on the approaches to the Mareth Line.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Seventy-one B-17s of the US 1st BW and 18 B-24s of the 2nd BW were dispatched against the locks and U-Boat base at St. Nazaire. The bomber formation was intercepted by head-on attacks by 65 fighters from III./JG 2, I./JG 2 and 9./JG 26. Lt. Stammberger of 9./JG 26 scored hits on a B-17 and watched as it fell to the ground but he was not given credit for the kill. He was soon hit in the cockpit and injured his hand. On returning to base his plane was written off as too badly damaged. Uffz. E. Schwartz, also of 9./JG 26, destroyed a B-17 from the 306th BG over Ploermal. 6 of the B-17s and 2 B-24s were destroyed and because of the aggressive attack, the bombers completely missed the U-Boat target. Another 2 B-24s collided over the Channel on the return flight. 30 more bombers returned badly damaged. The Luftwaffe lost only Lt. Stammberger's aircraft.

131 Lancasters, 103 Halifaxes, 99 Wellingtons and 44 Stirlings carried out the last raid in this series on Lorient. 363 aircraft dropped mainly incendiary bombs in clear visibility. 1 Lancaster was lost. Bomber Command had flown 1853 sorties in 8 area raids in response to direct instructions from the Air Ministry. 1675 aircraft claimed to have bombed Lorient during these raids, dropping nearly 4000 tons of bombs. 24 aircraft were lost. Few records were available from Lorient bit it is known that the town was now almost completely ruined and deserted.

32 aircraft were minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire. No losses.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2008)

*17 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops evacuated Demyansk. I./JG 26 again engaged Russian aircraft and destroyed 3 Lend-lease P-40s. But the Gruppe also suffered its first casualties on the Eastern Front. A pilot was killed by Russian AA fire near Demyansk, another crashed into the ground trying to attack Il-2 fighters and a third was shot down by Yak fighters but survived a crash landing.

A Ju 52 belonging to KGrzbV 9 was shot down by Soviet fighters with the loss of all 4 crewmen.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The German offensive in Tunisia continued as the Americans took huge losses in men and material. The US 1st Armoured Division was particularliy seriously hit, losing 2/3 of its strength. Von Arnim redirected his forces against Foundouk while Rommel's forces to the south entered Feeriana. Rommel, wanting a greater victory, had hoped von Arnim would head for Sbeitla, which would have destroyed an even greater portion of the American force. This was to be only the first of many command coordination problems for the Germans in Tunisia.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The jabostaffel of JG 26 was redesignated 10(Jabo)./JG 54. A change-of-command ceremony was held at St. Omer-Wizernes with Oblt. hannes Trautloft, Geschwaderkommodore of the "Green Hearts" - JG 54, flying in from the Eastern Front to attend the formal procedure.

9./JG 26, led by Lt. Otto Stammberger, was ordered to rejoin its Gruppe in Belgium, ending its subordination to III./JG 2.

While flying over Aalborg, a Ju 88A-4 belonging to IV./KG 30 collided with another aircraft and was 15% damaged. The Ju 88 landed safely at Aalborg with no injuries to the crew. The other aircraft was less than 10% damaged.

12 Venturas went to Dunkirk but the target was not reached. 6 Wellingtons went on cloud-cover raids to Emden which was bombed by 3 aircraft. No losses.

2 Mosquitoes flew to Bochum and Hamborn. 12 Stirlings laid mines in southern Biscay. No losses.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 17, 2008)

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## Njaco (Feb 17, 2008)

*18 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The once-great industrial city of Kharkov, now a ruined ghost town, its inhabitants killed or deported, fell to the triumphant Red Army. After fighting their way in through the suburbs, street by street, the Russians were astonished to find that the Germans had suddenly fled, despite Hitler's orders that it had to be held to the last man.

Moscow was delighted. Its forces had come 400 miles in barely 3 months. But the Russians were beginning to run out of steam. They had taken heavy losses against stubborn German resistance and their supply lines were over-extended. The Germans believed it was time to strike at the Russian exposed flank.

*GERMANY*: In the shadow of the Stalingrad disaster, Goebbels today organized a morale-boosting rally in Berlin's Sportpalast, with a well-drilled crowd roaring,


> "Yes, Yes!"


as he called for total war and asked them to reaffirm their faith in Hitler.


> "The British assert that the German people have lost faith in victory," he said. "Are you determined to follow the Fuhrer through thick and thin and shoulder even the heaviset burden?"


On cue came the response,


> "Yes!"


 The German home radio said it would begin at 8:15pm, but two hours before that time, the Foriegn Service was broadcasting long extracts from Goebbel's speech. The exact timing of the rally was concealed to prevent an RAF raid.

127 Lancasters, 59 Halifaxes and 9 Stirlings attacked Wilhelmshaven. The Pathfinders claimed accurate marking in clear visibility but bombing photographs showed that most of the attack fell in open country west of the target. Wilhelmshaven's report said that the bombs which did fall in the town killed 5 people and injured 47 and caused damage to a variety of buildings including 'Heine's Hotel'. Four Lancasters were lost on the Wilhemshaven raid, 2 of them claimed by Fw. Schuppan of 2./NJG 3 and Uffz. Georg Kraft of 12./NJG 1.

*NORTH AFRICA*: German attacks continued as the routed American forces abandoned Sbeitla. Rommel, von Arnim and the Italians still couldn't decide on the direction of the combined offensive, giving the Allies time to react.

General Rommel was in the midst of his most desperate campaign. Since the battle of El Alamein, 5 months earlier, General Montgomery and the British Eighth Army had pursued Rommel and the remnants of the Afrika Korps from Egypt to Tunisia. Montgomery paused near Mareth in early February, but it was only a matter of time before the British continued the offensive.

There was an attack on Benghazi by 4 He 111s of KG 100 and 16 Ju 88s of LG 1. Two aircraft had to return early due to technical problems. The attack took place at 16:15 hours and was concentrated after a low-level approach. Surprise was achieved and much damage was caused.

*NORWAY*: 14(jabo)./JG 5's first recorded loss of an aircraft occurred when an Fw 190A-3 suffered a landing accident at Alta airfield in northern Norway.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 26 Mosquitoes went to Tours railway yards and 1 aircraft was lost. 12 Venturas sent to Dunkirk failed to reach their target.

89 aircraft carried out widespread minelaying operations from St Nazaire to the Frisians. 2 Halifaxes were lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 18, 2008)

/


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## Njaco (Feb 18, 2008)

*19 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler, panicked over the constant retreats of his armies in Russia, flew to Zaporozhye to harrass Feldmarschall von Manstein for his failures. Von Manstein clamly laid out the plan for his counter-attack on the already over-extended Soviet spearheads. Hitler accepted the plan. He then told German troops that new, top-secret weapons were going to help them win the battle. Hearing the thunder of Russian artillery and finding out that Soviet tanks were only 60 miles away from Zaporozhye, Hitler hastily decided to cut short his visit to von Manstein's HQ and return safely to his HQ at Vinnitsa.

Intercepting large formations of Russian Il-2s in the Leningrad area, fighters from JG 54 claimed 30 Soviet aircraft shot down. Fw. Otto Kittel of 2./JG 54 scored his 39th - and JG 54's 4,000th - victory. Upon landing back at base, Geschwaderkommodore Oblt. Hannes Trautloft personally congradulated Kittel with the announcement;


> "I have instructed that you're no longer to be assigned a wingman. Instead you're to be sent on freie jagd on your own whenever there's an oppourtunity."


The Gruppenkommandeur of I./StG 77, Helmut Bruck, was awarded the Eichenlaub for his victories in the Balkans and Russia.

*GERMANY*: 120 Wellingtons,110 Halifaxes, 56 Stirlings and 52 Lancasters attacked Wilhelmshaven again. 12 aircraft were lost. This raid was another failure with the Pathfinder marking causing the Main Force bombing to fall north of Wilhelmshaven. The local report said that only 3 people were slightly injured. After this raid it was found that the Pathfinders had been issued with out-of-date maps which did not show recent town developments. A general updating of maps then took place. Oblt. Hans-Joachim Jabs of 11./NJG 1 claimed 3 of the Stirlings from the Wilhelshaven raid and Oblt. Paul Gildner of Stab IV./NJG 1 destroyed 2 Halifaxes.

2 Mosquitoes bombed Dortmung and Essen without loss.

12 Venturas attacked German naval torpedo workshops at Den Helder without loss.

*NORTH AFRICA*: After days of arguing on objectives, the German offensive in Tunisia resumed. A two-pronged attack, led by 15. and 21.Panzerdivisions were to take Le Kef. However, Allied forces had occupied the mountain passes the German tankers would have to move through. The Germans had pushed US II Corps into the Western Dorsals, a low series of low mountains running from the southwest to the northeast across Tunisia. Rommel ordered Colonel Hans Georg Hildebrandt, the commander of 21.Panzerdivision, to attack through the broad pass at Sbiba and take the First Army supply and transportation center at Le Kef. The German occupation of the principal Allied logistical center and the severance of the Allied supply line would force the British First Army back, buying time to deal with Montgomery. By noon, Rommel terminated the attack. Hildebrandt encountered accurate artillery fire and because his maneuverability was restricted to the roads by the heavy rains of the past 48 hours, he took heavy tank losses. The pass was well fortified and well defended by the American 34th Infantry Division and the British 6th Armoured Division, which had been rushed to Sbiba the night before. The Sbiba approach denied to him, Rommel turned to the only other pass within a reasonable distance, the one that lay 5 miles west of the small village of Kasserine. The Desert Fox ordered the 21.Panzerdivision to hold in place. Two critical German combat elements were not yet on the battlefield: the 10.Panzerdivision was marching south from General von Arnim and the Luftwaffe was grounded due to low cloud cover and rain. The battle would begin without them, but Rommel knew the timing of their arrival could be critical. The blitzkreig operations Rommel favored featured close integration of the German armour and the German Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe was an important memeber of the blitzkreig team. But their close air support and recon over Kasserine could be especially important. The American 155mm and 105mm howitzers out-ranged the German artillery, and by February 1943, the Americans had developed techniques that made their artillery an effective tank killer. Rommel realized this and gave his artillery - the Luftwaffe - standing orders to kill as many American howitzers as they could find. The pass at Kasserine was another obstacle that had to be forced and the absence of maneuver room in the Bled Foussana meant the Luftwaffe support was again vital to success. The opposition had to be blasted away because there was no room to go around them. If only the Luftwaffe could fly. The ultimate tactical objective was to create a situation in which the Stukas could enter the target area at high altitude and attack targets from an almost perpendicular dive, delivering the 500lb bomb carried under the fuselage. By February 1943 the Germans had learned this tactic was costly. Even in a steep attack angle, the stuka reached speeds of only 200 mph, and the Americans and British Bofors guns could engage aircraft flying up to 300mph. At Thelepte, the American AA artillerymen discovered they had the ability to decimate a stuka dive-bombing attack. Furthermore, the AA was effective against the German fighters, which had to slow to a speed of 250mph to acquire and attack ground targets. The Kasserine Pass was defended by the US 19th Engineer Regiment, a battalion of the 26th Infantry, some TDs and a four gun battery of French 75mm cannon. Just behind the thousands of mines that covered the entrance to Kasserine, 2 Bofors 40mm AA guns from Battery D, 105th Coast Artillery Battalion (AW) waited for the Luftwaffe. As dawn broke on 19 February, the artillerymen of the 105th huddled against their guns and waited for the Germans. They would not be idle for long.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Army Cooperation Command planes bombed electrical transformer stations in the Loire valley.


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## Njaco (Feb 19, 2008)

*20 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops took Pavolgrad and engaged the Germans at Krasnograd. The Gruppenkommandeur of I./StG 77, Major Helmut Bruck was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of StG 77, a day after recieving the Eichenlaub. Major Werner Roell was made Gruppenkommandeur of I./StG 77. The I./StG 77 and II./StG 77 then moved its Ju 87Ds from Kotelnikowo to Dnepropetrowsk.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US 9th AF B-24s bombed Crotone, Naples, Amantea, Palmi, Nicotera and Rosarno in Italy. RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, bombed Herklion and Kastelli/Pediada airfields on Crete during the night.

A German test commision was sent to Italy to evaluate the new Italian fighters. The commission was led by Oberst Peterson and was formed by Luftwaffe officers and pilots and by technical personnel, among them Flugbaumeister Malz. The Germans brought with them several aircraft including a Fw 190A and a Bf 109G for direct comparison tests in simulated dogfights. Top of the line examples of the Bf 109 and Fw 190 were tested in apples to apples performance tests and dogfights against all three Series 5s - the Macchi Mc 205, the Reggiane Re 2005 and the Fiat G.55. The German commission was very impressed by the Italian aircraft, the G.55 in particular. In general, all the Series 5s were very good at low altitude, but the G.55 was competetive with its German opponents also in terms of speed and climb rate at high altitudes while still maintaining superior handling characteristics. The final evaluation by the German commission was "excellent" for the G.55, "good" for the Re 2005 and "average" for the Mc 205. Oberst Peterson defined the G.55 "the best fighter in the Axis" and immediately telegraphed his impressions to Goering. The G.55 was determined to have greater potential for further development than the Bf 109. The interest of the Germans, apart from the good test results, derived also from the development possibilities they were able to see in the G.55 and in the Re 2005. For the Re 2005, the German interest resulted in the provision of an original DB 605 with the new WM injection. This engine and a VDM propellor were installed on the MM495 prototype that was aquired by the Luftwaffe and tested at Rechlin. The aircraft reached 700km/h during a test with a German pilot, but the airframe was judged not strong enough for these performances. As a result of the German interest in the G.55, the Luftwaffe aquired three complete G.55 Sottoserie 0 airframes (MM91064 - 65 - 66) for evaluation and experiments, giving inexchange three DB 603 engines and the original machinery for the setup of production lines for the DB 605/RA1050 RC58 I. Two of the Luftwaffe G.55s remained in Turin, at the Aeritalia plants, where they were used by German and Italian engineers to study the planned modifications and the planned production process. Later these two were converted to Serie 1 and delivered to the ANR. The third one was transferred to Rechlin for tests and experiments. The DB 603 engines were used to build the G.56 prototypes. Further study concluded that the production of the G.55 could be reduced as low as 9,000 man hours per plane but in light of the fact that the Bf 109 could be churned out in as little as 5,000 man hours, the idea of the G.55 succeeding the Bf 109 was scraped.

*NORTH AFRICA*: A shaken American army came face to face with the military genius of Rommel - and tasted defeat for the first time in the Tunisian campaign. The German offensive met heavy resistance from British tank forces, including the Guards Brigade, supported by heavy artillery fire from the Americans. In a typical Rommel Blitzkreig operation, German tanks, supported by Stuka dive bombers, hit the American sector of the line, taking the village of Sidi Bou Zid and cutting off 2,000 men. In a badly planned counter-attack, tanks of the US 1st Armoured Division were annihilated when they drove directly into German artillery. With Rommel scenting victory and confusion regning in the Allied camp, General Alexander, who took command of the 18th Army Group, including all the above named forces, ordered that there should be no withdrawl. The threat from Rommel was not over. Panzers stormed into the Pass and were stopped by US anti-tank fire. But in a fresh attack, the Americans faced German Nebelwerfer rocket-launchers and a huge artillery barrage before Axis tanks advanced relentlessly. Elements of 15. and 10. Panzerdivisions broke through only to be met by the British 26th Armoured Brigade, limiting the advance to 10 miles.

A handful of Northwest African Air Force P-39s strafed trucks and half-tracks in the Kasserine area as the Germans broke through and thrust north and west toward Thala and Tebessa.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: 20 Wellingtons laid mines in the Frisian Islands and 1 aircraft was lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 20, 2008)

*21 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces launched a large counter-attack to regain Kharkov.

Leading the fighters of II./JG 54 on a mission, Gruppenkommandeur Major Hans 'Assi' Hahn suffered engine trouble and had to land his Bf 109G in enemy held territory. He was captured and made a POW by the Russians. He had destroyed 108 aircraft by this time. His place as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 54 was taken by Hptm. Heinrich Jung.

*GERMANY*: 130 Lancasters, 7 Stirlings and 6 Halifaxes bombed Bremen through cloud. No photographs were brought back because of the cloud and no report was available from Bremen. No aircraft were lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Heavy fighting took place in Tunisia as 10.Panzerdivision battered against the British armour at Thala while the regrouped US 1st Armoured Division held Tebessa against attacks by 15.Panzerdivision. With Feldmarschall Rommel at the front, the German attacks at the Kasserine Pass reached their maximum effect and then stopped.

1(F)./122 dispatched several sorties to the Algerian coast via Cap palos and the Alboran Sea near Bone. One Ju 88D-1/trop failed to return from the Bone-Oran area with the entire crew killed. and another Ju 88D-1/trop failed to return with one crewman killed and 3 missing.


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## Njaco (Feb 20, 2008)

*22 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-606 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from the US coastguard cutter USS '_Campbell_' and the Polish destroyer '_Burza_'. 36 dead and 11 survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Von Manstein launched his "Backhanded Blow" against the overextended Soviet spearheads. The counteroffensive to recapture Kharkov began as elements of German 1. and 4.Panzerarmees struck from south to north from the area west of Krasnoarmeskoye while reinforced elements of 2.SS Panzerkorps attacked north to south from Krasnodar. A counterattack was begun by forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) in the area between the Dnepr and Donets. Meanwhile, oblivious to the threat to their flanks and rear, the Soviet spearhead under Popov continued to advance west, deeper into the trap von Manstein had sprung.

4(F)./122 was transferred from Bagerovo to Sarabus in the Crimea. The 'Regiment Normandie' took to the air over Russia for the first time. This fighter unit was formed from anti-Vichy French forces in Syria in 1942.

The Bulgarian government agrees to deport the Jewish population (11,000) people from Thrace and Macedonia to Treblinka.

*GERMANY*: Hans and Sophie Scholl, Martyrs of the anti-Nazi movement at Munich University, are beheaded by the guillotine. They were instrumental in organizing the resistance group known as the 'White Rose'. In one of their illegally printed pamphlets, she wrote;


> 'Every word that comes from Hitler's mouth is a lie'.


 The graves of Hans and Sophie Scholl can be seen in the Perlach Forest Cemetery, outside Munich. The Judge for this trial was Roland Freisler. It started at 1300 hours and by 1500 hours the condemned had been executed.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Heavy fighting continued through the night and early morning hours around Thala. Both sides took heavy losses before the Germans withdrew in the afternoon. Rommel broke off the attack on Sbiba and Thala as British reinforcements started to arrive.

A-20s of the US 47th BG (Light) and fighters, flying close support to Allied ground forces, aid in repulsing Feldmarschall Rommel's drive toward Thala and Tebessa. The 47th bombed at minimum altitude and one A-20 was lost after being hit by 3 Bf 109s. Several aircraft sustained wing damage from ripping antennae of of German tanks and trucks. At 19:15 hours, the Germans began a general withdrawl toward Kasserine. B-17s bombed the Kasserine Pass while B-25s hit the nearby bridge and escorting P-38s strafed retreating troops. Other B-25s hit the railway yards at Gafsa. P-39s of the 15th Observation Sqdrn, 68th Observation Group flew attack-recon sorties over the Kasserine area destroying 3 tanks and damaging 10 trucks while losing 1 aircraft.

Two days after a hard drive by the Germans through Kasserine Pass, the weather cleared enough for the US 27th FS and 94th FS to strafe the Pass, encountering heavy AA fire, from both friendly and enemy forces below, level with and even above the P-38's low flight path. Of the 12 aircraft sent, 8 came back. Capt. Clarence Rimke and Lt. Thomas E. Chambers went down in the Pass and 2 more crash landed behind Allied lines north of Kasserine. Capt. Rimke was killed and Lt. Chambers became a POW. Nearly every plane was hit.

A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 2(F)./122 was sent on a recce mission to Algiers and failed to return. RAF No. 43 Sqdrn intercepted the Junkers at 27,000 feet off the Algerian Coast and shot it down. The 4 crew went missing. 2(F)./122 also reported that they lost a Me 210 flown by Fw. Walter Spitthoff in the Tripoli area.


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## Njaco (Feb 20, 2008)

*23 February 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: U-53 (TypeVIIB) is sunk in the North Sea in the mid Orkneys, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS '_Gurkha_'. 42 dead (all hands lost).

U-522 (Type IXC) is sunk in the mid-Atlantic south-west of Madeira, Portugal, by depth charges from the British coastguard cutter '_Totland_'. 51 dead (all hands lost).

The German Falke acoustic torpedo scores its first operational success when a U-boat sinks a tanker from convoy UC-1.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Von Manstein's offensive rolled forward as the German 48.Panzerkorps took Barvenkovo. Meanwhile Soviet forces captured Sumy and Lebedin northeast of Kharkov. The newly formed 16th Rifle Division went into action for the first time on the Russian front. This formation was made up almost exclusively of Lithuanian Jews.

In heavy fighting over the Orel area, fighters of I. and III./JG 54 claimed a total of 46 Russian aircraft destroyed, 5 of the enemy planes being credited to Lt. Gunther Schack of III./JG 54.

A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 5(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie to the Lake Ilmen area. The 4 crewmen were killed.

*NORTH AFRICA*: 1(F)./122 was at Decimo, flying 2 or 4 sorties a day in search of convoys and photo recon of Algerian harbours.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: From London, De Gaulle asks General Giraud to declare a Free French Republic in North Africa.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Uffz. Paul Gildner, a 49 victory night fighter with NJG 4, who as a member of 6./NJG 1 became the first NCO to be awarded the Ritterkruez for night-fighting, was killed in action.


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## Njaco (Feb 20, 2008)

*24 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Another day of intense battles around Orel found the fighters of JG 54 claiming another 43 Soviet planes destroyed including 7 credited to Lt. Josef Jennewein of I./JG 54. A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 5(F)./122 was damaged in a collision with a fighter near Lake Ilmen. One crewman was killed and another wounded.

*GERMANY*: 115 aircraft of RAF Nos 6 and No. 8 Groups carried out a final raid on the much bombed town of Wilhelmshaven - at least until Oct. 1944. Wilhelmshaven's report called it a 'small raid' with 'little damage in the town' and made no mention of casualties. Once again, the bomber force returned without losing any aircraft. The 115 aircraft consisted of 71 Wellingtons, 27 Halifaxes, 9 Stirlings and 8 Lancasters.

4 Mosquitoes bombed Brauweiler and Dusseldorf without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: At 13:54 hours, the US liberty ship '_Nathaniel Greene_', in convoy 'MKS-8', was hit on the starborad side by two of 3 torpedoes from U-565 about 40 miles northeast of Oran. The explosions severely damaged the deck cargo, disabled the engines and flooded the forward compartments and the machinery spaces. One officer and 3 men on watch below were killed while 7 others were injured. Only a few minutes later, 7 Ju 88 bombers and 7 He 111 torpedo bombers of I./KG 26 attacked the convoy and the disabled '_Nathaniel Greene_' was hit amidships by one aerial torpedo. Most of the 9 officers, 32 crewmen and 16 armed guards abandoned ship in 2 lifeboats while 26 men jumped directly onboard HMS '_Brixham_', which came alongside and later picked up the remaining survivors from the boats and the water. The minesweeper took the '_Nathaniel Greene_' in tow until the British salavage tug '_Restive_' took and beached the vessel at Salamanda. The ship was declared a total loss, but the repair ship managed to save at least 400 tons of her cargo.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first Mk I Hawker Tempest fighter (HM 599) with wing radiators flew.


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## Njaco (Feb 24, 2008)

*25 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet attacks in the Caucasus continues. Stalin orders General Konstantin Rokossovsky to attack towards Gomel and Smolensk, even though only half his troops have arrived in the battle zone. (Syscom)

*GERMANY*: 169 RAF Lancasters, 104 Halifaxes and 64 Stirlings attacked Nuremberg, 6 Lancasters, 2 Stirlings and 1 Halifax lost. Weather conditions were poor and the Pathfinders were late with their marking. Nuremberg's report shows that the bombing fell on the northern edges of Nuremberg and on the neighbouring town of Furth and in the countryside up to 12 km further north. However, more than 300 buildings were damaged in Nuremberg, including an historic military chapel which was burnt out. 12 civilians, 1 soldier on leave and 1 pow were killed in Nuremberg; 26 people were killed in Furth and there may have been further casualties in the villages to the north. (Hugh Spencer)

6 RAF Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr where 13 people were killed in Cologne and 54 aircraft were minelaying off Brittany and in the Frisians. (Hugh Spencer)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Ninth AF B-24s bombed Naples harbor and Crotone during the night.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British First Army and US troops of the II Corps occupy Kasserine Pass. It was a cavalry charge, with heavy guns this time, almost in the movie tradition of the 7th Cavalry, that finally saved the day at Kasserine Pass for the Allies. Brigadier LeRoy's 9th Infantry Brigade had travelled 735 miles from western Algieria non-stop and arrived just as the British and French forces were preparing to pull back. It was a final sortie by the 2nd Lothians and Border Horse Regiment that convinced Rommel that he had no chance. British tanks took their objective, but 5 were lost in the mist and destroyed. Rommel chose to withdraw in the belief - based on this tank assault - that his army would be engulfed by the reinforced Allies. Such was the stealth of his withdrawl that the Allies found themselves attacking empty positions the next morning. The Battle of Kasserine Pass was over and now the Allies counted the cost: 10,000 men (6,500 Americans) lost compared to the Axis' 2,000. The US II Corps alone lost 183 tanks and 208 artillery pieces, 500 jeeps and trucks and huge amounts of ammunition.

The RAF began round-the-clock bombing campaign in Tunisia with 2,000 sorties in the next 48 hours. The mass formations of Allied fighters started to appear in the Tunisian skies from late February 1943 and onward. From then onward, the ruling phenomenon was this: "_Die Amerikaner kamen immer in die Masse." - the Americans always came in masses_. The tactic of dispatching concentrated masses of fighters to gain an overwhelming numerical superiority against the enemy had been used by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, not without success.

In Tunisia, Ninth Air Force B-25ls attack motor transport on the Arram road. (Syscom)

Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb El Aouina Airfield. Fighters and A-20s hit troops and military traffic in the
Thala-Kasserine- Sbeitla areas and along the Gafsa-Feriana road. Other fighters carry out widespread reconnaissance and patrol missions. (Syscom)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Flying with Nachtjagdschule 1, where he was posted to recieve night-fighter instruction, Hptm. Georg-Hermann Greiner scored his 3rd night-fighter victory.

Jagdgeschwader 102 was formed in Zerbst from Stab/Jagdfliergerschule 2 (JFS 2). Obstlt. Jurgen Roth was appointed Geschwaderkommodore and Hptm. Leo Eggers was put in command of I./JG 102. 3./JG 102 was based at Magdeburg-Ost but joined the rest of I./JG 102 at Aalborg-Ost in July of 1944. Among the numerous aircraft used by the unit were the Ar 68, Bf 108, Bf 109, Bu 131, Fw 56, Fw 190, He 51 and Si 204. In addition to JG 102, Jagdgeschwader 105 was formed at Villacoublay-Nord from Stab/Jagdfliegerschule 5 (JFS 5). Major Richard Leppla was made Geschwaderkommodore and Hptm. Otto Bertram was put in command of I./JG 105. While the majority of the Geschwader was at Villacoublay-Nord, 2./JG 105 was based at Paris-Orly.


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## Hugh Spencer (Feb 25, 2008)

*26 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Uffz. Gerhard 'Gerd' Thyben of 6./JG 3, claimed his first victory, a Boston at 09:15 hours.

*GERMANY*: 76 B-17s of the US 1st BW and 17 B-24s of the US 2nd BW were dispatched against Bremen. The primary target was overcast so 59 B-17s and 6 B-24s attacked the docks and surrounding areas of Wilhelmshaven.

The Staffelkapitaen of 12./NJG 1, Hptm. Ludwig Becker, was informed he was to be awarded the Eichenlaub for achieving 44 night victories. But the award had to wait. At 10:22 hours, German radar scrambled all defending fighters to intercept the American bombers heading to Germany. At 10:30 hours, the bomber formations were bounced by a single Fw 190 flown by Lt. Eberhard Burath if IV./JG 1. Lt. Burath described his action:


> "During the usual - mostly successful - search for enemy formations I had, flying right out on the starboard wing and while continually scanning the sky, missed my formation's turn to port and had continued flying straight ahead far out over the North Sea. I noticed it too late and now looked for my own lot. They appeared back there and I went after them at full power. Then they grew ever larger, much too large for fighters. Can that be possible? There they were, the Viermots, 60 to 70 of them in close formation. What now? fear comes only with experience and that I did not have. Without thinking, I turned into the formation and attacked from ahead. Firing with all my guns I flashed right through them. Turn in, pass parallel to them ahead. In doing so I was nearly hit as a projectile, aimed with just the right deflection, came towards me like a red tomato. Nice that the fellows then still used tracer, enabling me to jink away just in time. I zoomed once more through the formation, then it was time to return to the coast which was still 100 kilometers away. What might the Yanks have thought about this 'massed attack' by German fighters? At least they had provided me with an alibi by a hit in the engine, but the 801 continued to run smoothly even on 13 cylinders."


After Lt. Burath's lone attack, the bomber formations were bounced by Fw 190s from JG 1. Night-fighter experten Hptm. Ludwig Becker and Hptm. Hans-Joachim Jabs took off from Leeuwarden with 3 flights from the night-fighting Geschwader NJG 1 to attack the B-24 formation. This was Hptm. Becker's first daylight flight and as his formation attacked the American bombers, Hptm. Becker disappeared, never to be seen again. All available aircraft searched the area for the night-fighting experte but he was not found. Hptm. Becker had 44 enemy planes destroyed to his credit. This action, combined with the losses of 4 Feb. 1943, forced the Luftwaffe to reconsider using Nachtjagdger for daylight Reichsverteidigung duties. The air battle continued with more Fw 190s from JG 1 and NJG 1 joining in the attack as the bombers crossed the German border and on the return flight. Claims went to Ofw. Bach of 12./JG 1, Uffz. Heinz Hanke of 9./JG 1, Uffz. Wenneckers of 2./JG 1 and Lt. Heinz Knoke of 2./JG 1. The American bombers claimed that the Luftwaffe attempted air-to-air bombing by fighter aircraft and the use of parachute bombs fired by flak. 5 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost plus 1 B-24 was damaged beyond repair.

145 RAF Lancasters, 126 Wellingtons, 106 Halifaxes, 46 Stirlings and 4 Mosquitoes attacked Cologne. 10 aircraft were lost. Most of the bombs from this large raid fell to the south-west of Cologne. Figures from Cologne itself suggest that only a quarter of the force hit the city. An increasingly familiar list of destroyed and damaged buildings was provided - much housing, minor industry, churches, historic buildings, public utilities and offices. The worst incident was when 40 to 50 people were trapped in several blocks of flats hit by a 4000lb bomb in the Einhardstrasse. The wreckage began to burn before the rescue workers could free the trapped people and most of them died. The total casualty list in Cologne was 109 people dead, more than 150 injured and 6322 bombed out.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Von Arnim launched a 5 day counter-attack in northern Tunisia, gaining some ground. Units of the 10. and 21.Panzerdivisions attacked British postions at Medjez el Bab. No progress was made. This prevented Rommel from concentrating quickly for an attack on the British Eighth Army before the Mareth Line. Montgomery issued the plan 'Operation Pugilist' which was to smash the Mareth defensive line in southern Tunisia.

JG 77 saw extensive action against the Desert Air Force fighter-bombers and claimed 18 Kittyhawks. Total Allied air superiority led to the various JG 77 bases in Tunisia coming under constant air attack and large numbers of Bf 109s being written off on the ground. Ofw. Robert Helmer of 8./JG 77 was killed in combat. He had destroyed 35 enemy aircraft during his wartime career, all with JG 77.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: _Hugh Spencer_: I reported to RAF Cardington, Bedforshire, to be attested into the Royal Air Force to start my service as aircrew. I had to wait another 2 months to be called.

*WESTERN FRONT*: At Fliegerhorst Grove, a Ju 88A-14 belonging to 1./KG 6 on a training flight, dropped its concrete training bomb in the designated area and turned south. It started to circle the lookout tower when the left wing touched the ground and the aircraft crashed with the loss of all onboard.

Fw. Ferdinand Nicklaus of 11./KG 30 and his crew were on a night navigation training flight from Fliegerhorst Aalborg west to Kalundborg when their Ju 88 crashed into the sea of the Kattegat, killing the entire crew.

2 RAF Mosquitoes went to Aachen and 21 aircraft laid mines in the Frisians without loss.

60 RAF Venturas set out for Dunkirk but only 33 bombed, without loss.


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## Njaco (Feb 26, 2008)

*27 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops regained Lozovaya. Von Manstein's southern pincer continued to gain ground, occupying a line from Lozovaya to Kramatorsk.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 63 B-17s of the US 1st BW and 15 B-24s of the US 2nd BW were dispatched against the U-Boat pens, port and naval facilities at Brest. 46 B-17s and 14 B-24s dropped 155 tons of bombs on the target. Heavy AA fire was encountered but German fighters were not seen. Two B-24s were damaged but there were no casualties.

The fighters of II./JG 26 took off from Vitry to intercept a formation of Spitfires over the French-Belgium coast. As the Focke-Wulfs reached the Spitfires, 5./JG 26 was bounced by 4 Spitfires and lost 2 Fw 190s. Turning into the attack, the remaining Fw 190s assaulted the Spitfires. Uffz. Crump downed one Spitfire.

A Ju 88 of 3(F)./122 crash landed at Schipol. Observer Oblt. Augsut Hogl, pilot Lt. Riemer, flight engineer Fw. Herbert Uhlmann and gunner Uffz. Herbert Banz survived the crash.

24 RAF Venturas attacked ships at Dunirk without loss. (Hugh Spencer)

91 RAF aircraft went minelaying to the Frisian Islands and Texel. 1 Halifax was lost. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Njaco (Feb 27, 2008)

*28 February 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet attacks in the Caucasus continued.

The bravery and effectiveness of the partisans fighting behind the German lines is now fully recognized by the Soviet government. 14 partisans have been made Heroes of the Soviet Union, and a new medal struck to be awarded "To a Partisan of the War for the Fatherland." The exploits of the partisans make stirring reading, and Stalin has issued a special order urging that the "flame of partisan warfare shall be kindled and spread". Some of the partisan brigades are over 1,000 strong and are supplied from the air with weapons, explosives, radios and even printing presses to spread the word of resistance. The effect of their activities may be judged from the diary of a German officer killed by partisans in Byelorussia.


> "We entered a gloomy wilderness in our tanks. There wasn't a single man anywhere. Everywhere the forests and marshes are haunted by the ghosts of the avengers. They would attack us unexpectedly, as if rising from under the earth. They cut us up to disappear like devils into the nether regions. Night is setting in and I feel them stealthily approaching from out of the darkness, they are the ghosts and I am frozen with fear."


 Journeys through forested areas are extremely hazardous for the Germans. Bridges are blown, mines laid and ambushes set. Some units heading for the front have to fight their way through. These activities have brought a violent reaction from the Germans who mount full-scale operations against the partisans and kill anyone whom they capture. Zoya, a famous 18-year-old girl partisan who was captured near Moscow in 1941, was hanged and mutilated as an example. Not everyone approves of the partisans. They live off the country and expect the peasants to feed, clothe and shelter them, and the Germans need little excuse to execute those suspected of helping the partisans. The partisans are just as ruthless as the Germans and will kill anyone suspected of collaboration with the enemy. (Syscom)

In the yard of Block 25 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp there is a pile of bodies stacked up like firewood. Occasionally the pile stirs as the dying struggle to free themselves from those already dead. Enormous rats scuttle around gnawing the corpses. At Treblinka, inmates are made to dig up the buried dead for burning. The stench of rotting flesh fills the air. Female corpses are used as kindling because they burn more quickly; the pregnant women burst open to reveal blackened foetuses. At Sobibor, the SS guards compete to throw Jewish children the furthest. One of them, Hubert Gomerski, enjoys beating people to death with an iron watering can. 10,000 Hungarian Jews have been deported to a Yugoslav copper mine for hard labour that will certainly kill many of them. 4,000 Jews from Marseilles, have been rounded up for deportation, and Bulgaria has agreed to deport 11,000 to Treblinka. The Nazis are liquidating the Polish ghettoes. The last 5,000 Jews of Bialystock have been dispersed to Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz. All but 300 went straight to the gas chamber. (Syscom)

The '_GRUZ_', a Russian Minesweeper is torpedoed by S(E)-Boats off Cape Myshako. (Syscom)

*GERMANY*: Women drivers are needed in Germany. An appeal was issued today by the German Women's Association, which plans special courses both to teach women to driver and to help them maintain their vehicles. The courses will be free and the aim, as with other recent measures such as labour mobilization, is to release more men for work at the front; everything is now secondary to war production. Another sign of this came earlier this month with the decree of 4 February shutting "luxury" businesses - from jewellers to sweet manufacturers - which are not considered essential for the war effort. (Syscom)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Karl Kolb of JG 53 was killed in action. He had a final score of 7 enemy aircraft destroyed.

*NORWAY*: Operation Gunnerside - On the night of 27 / 28 February, one of the most daring undercover operations of WW II took place when Norwegian commandos launched attacks against the Norsk Hydro Electrsk factory at Vermork, Norway. The destruction of the heavy water plant was given highest priority at HQ of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The first attempt (Operation Freshman) ended in failure when 2 Hailfax bombers, both towing gliders with 34 commandos on board, crashed in bad weather over Norway. 45 men lost their lives, some in the crash, the others were shot after capture by German forces. Another attempt (Operation Gunnerside) was made by SOE, this time by parachuting a commando force of volunteers, trained in Scotland, onto the frozen surface of one of the lakes on the 3,500 square mile Hardanger Plateau. A 14 man Norwegian Army Commando group eventually reached Vermork and forced entry into the 7 story factory building through windows on the first floor and placed explosives near the 18 electroysis cells in the basement. Mission accomplished, the commandos retreated back the way they had come. At 1:15 am, the explosion did not destroy the building but about a ton of heavy water was released to pour down the drains. Two months production was lost. Although German nuclear physicists had been early leaders in research, Nazi Germany made no real progress towards the creation of an atomic bomb. Heavy water is used in certain types of nuclear reactors where it acts as a neutron moderator to slow down neutrons so that they can react with the uranium in the reactor.

Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: Submarine loss. "M-108" by surface ships, at Sulten-fjord area. (Syscom)

The Allied convoy JW-57 - 42 merchant ships and a tanker - arrives safely, in Murmansk, having sunk two U-boats but lost the destroyer HMS '_Mahratta_'. (Syscom)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In February 1943 681 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were lost, either killed or POW. (Hugh Spencer)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Having destroyed Lorient, Bomber Command was now ready to start on the second target on the list of French U-boat base ports, St Nazaire, which the directive of 14th January had ordered to be destroyed. 152 Lancasters, 119 Wellingtons, 100 Halifaxes, 62 Stirlings and 4 Mosquitoes were despatched. 5 aircraft were lost. This initial raid caused widespread destruction. Local reports say that many bombs fell into the port area and that 60% of the town was destroyed. 29 people were killed and 12 injured. It is presumed that most of the local population had left the town. (Hugh Spencer)

10 RAF Mosquitoes went to targets in Holland without loss. 3 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr and 5 Wellingtons were minelaying off St Nazaire. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Njaco (Feb 29, 2008)

*1 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: On the central front in the East, German troops began the evacuation of the Rzhev area. Russian troops resumed the offensive north of Moscow. Soviet troops recaptured Demyansk, Zaluchie and Lychkovo.

During a tank battle around Belgorod in March, Hans-Ulrich Rudel knocked out his first tank with his new tank busting Stuka;


> "...my rear gunner said that the tank exploded like a bomb and he had seen bits of it crashing down behind us."


Later on, more Ju 87D-3s were converted to tank-busters and were designated Ju 87G-1 (often nicknamed Panzerknacker or Kanonenvogel) and started arriving on the Eastern Front in October 1943.

*GERMANY*: Luftwaffe service units began to recieve the first He 219 'Uhu' night-fighter during March.

156 Lancasters, 86 Halifaxes and 60 Stirlings attacked Berlin, 17 aircraft were lost. The Pathfinders experienced difficulty in producing concentrated marking because individual parts of the extensive built-up city area of Berlin could not be distinguished on the H2S screens. Bombing photographs showed that the attack was spread over more than 100 square miles with the main emphasis in the south west of the city. However, because larger numbers of aircraft were now being used and because those aircraft were now carrying a greater average bomb load, the proportion of the force which did hit Berlin caused more damage than any previous raid to this target. This type of result - with significant damage still being caused by only partially successful attacks - was becoming a regular feature of Bomber Command raids. Much damage was caused in the south and west of Berlin. 22 acres of workshops were burnt out at the railway repair works at Tempelhof and 20 factories were badly damaged and 875 buildings, mostly houses, were destroyed. 191 people were killed. Some bombs hit the Telefunken works at which the H2S set taken from the Stirling shot down near Rotterdam was being reassembled. The set was completely destroyed in the bombing but a Halifax of 35 Squadron with an almost intact set crashed in Holland on this night and the Germans were able to resume their research into H2S immediately.

6 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr and 49 Wellingtons and Halifaxes were minelaying off the French and German coasts. 2 Wellingtons were lost.

A new night-fighter unit was formed, Nachtjagdgeschwader 101 with Major Harry von Bulow-Bothkamp appointed as Geschwaderkommodore. Oblt. Werner Klumper was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of KG 26 in place of Oberst Karl Stockmann who became Geschwaderkommodore of KG 102 in February.The postion of Geschwaderkommodore of KG 102 was given to Oberst Horst Beyling.

Major Walter Engel's IV./KG 27 moved from Winniza to Braunschweig-Waggum.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-24s raided the harbour at Naples. One bombed Soverato while 2 others hit Naples and Palmi. In Sardinia, B-17s bombed docks and shipping, also hitting railroad yards and the town area at cagliari. The Italian destroyers RM '_Geniere_' was sunk in dry dock at Palermo by the air raids and RM '_Monsone_' was sunk in Naples Harbour.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, B-25s and B-26s of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force attacked bridges and AA positions in the La Hencha area. Fighters escorted bombers and hit ground forces in the battle areas around Sidi Nsir and Bedja. B-25s of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force bombed the Mateur area. B-26s attacked a frieghter northeast of Bizerte.

During March Allied units in Tunisia increased their combat power. Two fresh British divisions arrived and the British 6th Armoured refitted with American Sherman tanks. The French XIX Corps turned in its prewar equipment for the latest American weapons. The US II Corps recieved the rest of the 1st, 9th and 34th Infantry Divisions from Algeria and replaced lost tanks and equipment as fast as ships, trains and trucks could bring them to the front. Engineer and other support specialists improved and expanded ports, rail lines and roads. Best of all for the troops on the ground, Allied air support soon improved.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Atlantic Convoy Conference, which opened today, was deciding the strategy of the increased U-Boats menace in the North Atlantic. Losses mounted because of the increased number of U-Boats, the deployment of 'milch cow' submarines and the shortage of very-long range aircraft. Beginning 1 April the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy were to share the escort of convoys on the North Atlantic route with a dividing line at 47 degrees west, while the US Navy would cover the South Atlantic and Caribbean.

8./KG 40 began conversion to the He 177 at Fassberg while 7./KG 40 was based at Cognac and 9./KG 40 was at Bordeaux-Merignac. 9./KG 40 had operated in the Mediterranean, flying supplies to Africa, first between Crete and Tobruk and later between Lecce and Tunisia. Apparently 7./KG 40 also flew some of these missions.


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## Njaco (Mar 1, 2008)

*2 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Mussolini withdrew his troops from the Eastern front.

Oblt. Walter Krupinski or 'Graf Pinski' as he was known to other pilots, became Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 52. He selected as his wingman during operations the promising Lt. Erich Hartmann who had only 4 kills at this time.

But JG 52 lost another of its Experten against the Russians. Fw. Karl Hammerl of 1./JG 52, with 65 planes destroyed to his credit, was listed as missing in action during the day.

*GERMANY*: In the heaviest raid against Berlin so far of the war, RAF bombers dropped 8,000lb HE and thousands of IBs in a night attack on the city centre.

302 aircraft - 156 Lancasters, 86 Halifaxes and 60 Stirlings were dispatched but the Pathfinders experienced difficulty in producing concentrated marking because individual parts of the extensive built-up city area of Berlin could not be distinquished on the H2S screens. Bombing photographs showed that the attack wa spread over more than 100 square miles with the main emphasis in the southwest of the city. However because large numbers of aircraft were now being used and because those aircraft were now carrying a greater average bomb load, the proportion of the force which did hit Berlin caused more damage than any previous raid to this target. This type of result - with significant damage still being caused by only partially successful attacks - was becoming a regular feature of Bomber Command raids. Some bombs hit the Telefunken Works at which the H2S set taken from the Stirling shot down near Rotterdam was being reassembled. The set was completely destroyed in the bombing but a Halifax of RAF No. 35 Sqdrn with an almost intact set crashed in Holland on this night and the Germans were able to resume their research into H2S almost immediately.

Much damage was concentrated around the 'Unter den Linden', the Opera and the cathedral of St. Hedwig. One pilot said later;


> "It was a fearsome sight, but no regrets....remember what the Nazis did to London."


The Germans later said that 191 people were killed and 268 injured. A total of 17 aircraft did not come back - 7 Lancasters, 6 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings. Berlin threatened reprisal raids against New York and Washington, without suggesting how these might be achieved.

60 aircraft went minelaying between Texel and the River Gironde. 2 Wellingtons and 1 Lancaster were lost.

6 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr without loss. The aircraft which bombed Essen scored direct hits in the middle of the main Krupps factory.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sicily, Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s bombed shipping and the harbour area at Palermo.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US forces in Tunisia followed the retreating Germans, occupying Sbeitla and advancing toward Feriana. Fighting continued in the north as von Arnim continued to probe at the British defenses.

In Tunisia, B-26s attacked bridges and flak positions at La Hencha. Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters hit troops, tanks and motor transport south of Mateur and northeast of Bedja as the Germans renewed an attack along the Mateur-Taberka road.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2008)

*3 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces occupied Rzhev as the Germans withdrew from the exposed position. Soviet attacks north of Kharkov continued to gain ground as Lgov, west of Kursk, was captured. The situation south of Kharkov was not going well as Papov finally realized his mistake and began to withdraw. 9,000 prisoners were taken in the first of many surrenders to come in the next few weeks. In air battles over the front, Lt. Gunther Schack of III./JG 51 destroyed a Russian aircraft to bring his score to 46 kills.

The SS announced that an SS Division was to be formed in Latvia to fight the Russians and around 32,000 latvians volunteered. They formed the 'Waffen Grenadier Division der SS (No. 1 )'. During the winter offensive they fought bravely against the Soviets. Pulled out of the battle zone to avoid encirclement, they were sent back into Prussia. Gradually pushed westward by the advancing Red Army, they eventually surrendered to the British.

The idea that British POWs be recruited to form an infantry SS unit was put forward by the self-styled facist, John Emery, son of a minister in Churchill's war cabinet. In 1943 the SS expressed interest in the idea and the 'Legion of St. George' or British Free Corps was created to fight only against communists on the German-Finnish front. Despite promises of an easy life of luxury, only about 30 prisoners responded. Lt. William Shearer was the only officer to volunteer but was soon diagnosed as a schizophrenic and repatriated to England on medical grounds. The unit included 3 Canadians, 3 South Africans, 3 Australians and 1 New Zealander. Many changed their minds and were returned to their POW camps. By March 1943, only 6 remained as part of the 11.SS Panzergrenadier Division 'Nordland'. After the war, John Emery was tried for treason and recieved the death penalty. He was hanged on 19 December 1945. The remaining members recieved periods of imprisonment.

*GERMANY*: In its largest daylight mission to date, the US Eighth AF dispatched a total of 566 B-17s and B-24s against the Wilhelmshaven port area. A total of 434 B-17s and 105 B-24s dropped a record 1,488 tons of bombs on the briefed area at about 1300 hours. Seven B-17s were lost with 70 crewmaen. This was also the first time that a Bomb Group went out in double strength. The US 90th BG dispatched 50 B-17s.

149 Lancasters, 123 Wellingtons, 83 Halifaxes, 62 Stirlings attacked Hamburg. 10 aircraft were missing. Visibility was clear over the target but the Pathfinders made a mistake, possibly thinking that the H2S indications of mudbanks in the Elbe which had been uncovered by the low tides were sections of the Hamburg docks. Most of the Main Force bombing thus fell 13 miles downstream from the centre of Hamburg, around the small town of Wedel. Even so, a proportion of the bombing force did hit Hamburg which suffered 27 people killed and 95 injured and whose fire brigade had to put out 100 fires before devoting all its energies to helping the town of Wedel, which suffered so heavily. The damage at Wedel included a large naval clothing store burnt out as well as several important industrial concerns destroyed in Wedel's harbour area and this illustrated another Bomber Command view; that bombing could usually be useful even if the wrong target was hit.

5 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr with more direct hits on Krupps. 14 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians, 1 Stirling lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-24s dispatched against Naples, failed to reach the primary target. Several bombed the secondary, Messina, while 3 aircraft bombed the bridges at Bianco and Siderno Marina.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, P-40s flew fighter-bomber missions along the Mareth Line as a probing attack against the British 51st Division was driven back. The Germans issued a plan for a counterattack fom the Mareth Lines to its commanders. US B-17s bombed docks and shipping at Tunis and shipping and a power plant at La Goulette harbor. Fighters and medium bombers of the Northwest African Tactical AF hit ground forces in the areas around Bedja, Bou Arada and Mateur. Fighting around Bedja subsided but German forces took Sedjanane.

While on an escort mission to El Aouina, Lt. Harry Dowd, US 27th FS was killed in action. Lt. William Martin US 27th, was also listed as missing inaction. Capt. E.G. Johnson of the US 31st FG damaged a Fw 190. Oblt. Wolfgang Tonne of 3./JG 53 and Lt. Gerhard Opel of 2./JG 53 each claimed a P-38.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: 10 Mosquitoes of RAF No. 139 Sqdn carried out a long range raid on the important molybdenum mine at Knaben in Norway. The target was successfully bombed but 1 Mosquito was shot down by Fw 190s, claimed by Uffz. Schmid of 7./JG 1 for his first kill.

Oblt. Gerd Senoner, Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 5 crashed his Bf 109F due to engine trouble. Fw. Josef Gruber of 1./JG 5 went missing in action.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: An air raid warning was sounded in London but it was a false alarm. Near Bethnal Green underground station in London, an army defense unit was using a new type of rocket launcher. The whining noise the rockets made sounded like falling bombs. Hearing this, many families in the area rushed to the underground tube shelter for safety. Regrettably, 173 civilians were killed in a panicked crush attempting to enter the shelters at Bethnal Green. A middle-aged woman carrying a baby tripped near the bottom of the first flight of 20 steps. Her fall brought down the man behind her, and others hurrying down to the shelter fell in their turn. Within minutes, dozens of bodies were crushed on top of each other. Unaware, others pressed in from the street, building up a wall of death. The woman lived. Her baby died.


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## Njaco (Mar 3, 2008)

*4 March 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Canadian ships were escorting the 57 ship convoy 'KMS-10' from the UK to Algieria. The convoy had been under air attack by German Fw 200 long-range aircraft for 2 days and U-Boat wolf packs began to intercept the ships. U-87 was sunk west of Leixoes, by depth charges from the corvette HMCS '_Sheliac_' and the destroyer HMCS '_St. Croix'_. '_Sheliac_' had obtained a sonar contact, which the 2 escorts attacked repeatedly before it vanished without giving any indication of the success of the attack. There were no survivors from the U-Boat's crew of 49 men.

*EASTERN FRONT*: North of Kharkov, Red Army forces continued to make advances against the Germans, capturring Olenino and Chertolino to the west of Rzhev, and Sevsk and Sudzha west of Kursk. However, von Manstein redirected his attacks at Kharkov, sending the SS Panzerkorps west from Poltava and elements of 4.Panzerarmee to attack northwards from positions along the Berestovaya River, west of Izyum.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth AF undertook raiding the railroad yards at Hamm in the Ruhr, the first US Eight AF attack on a Ruhr industrial target. To divert the enemy, 14 B-24s of the US 2nd BW flew a diversion without loss. In an effort to confuse the German radar, the main force of 71 B-17s of the US 1st BW headed over the North Sea coast as if heading to Wilhelmshaven or Bremen. Halfway across they banked hard to the right and headed for Hamm. Near the city bad weather interferred and forced the entire bomber formation to seek other targets while one group, 14 B-17s of the 91st BG, continued to Hamm. The remainder attacked targets in Holland, notably the port of Rotterdam. The 14 Fortresses of the 91st BG were attacked by German fighters shortly after dropping their loads on Hamm. Four B-17s were shot down from the US group and all of the remaining 11 B-17s were badly damaged but were able to return to base in England. 28 B-17s from the original formations hit the shipyards at Rotterdam dropping 70 tons at around 10:20 hours. After dropping their loads on the city, the formation was intercepted on the return flight by 50 single and twin-engined fighters, mostly by all four Gruppen of JG 1, supported by JG 26, and Bf 110s from IV./NJG 1 and III./NJG 1. Four Bf 110s destroyed a B-17 over Den Helder and Lt. Koster of NJG 1 destroyed another bomber. The night-fighters lost one Bf 110 from each Gruppe during the battle. The Fw 190s of JG 1 and JG 26 suffered 5 losses. This was the first time that the Luftwaffe recorded 2 seperations of 'Herausschuss' and a final destruction or 'endgultige Vernichtung' among the claims, relating to the point system of promotions and awards for fighter pilots. Recognizing how difficult it was to attack tight bomber formations, more points were awarded for sepearting a four-engined bomber from a formation than shooting down a single engined fighter. A 'endgultige Vernichtung' of a bomber gained the pilot 1 point (presumably because it was considered much easier to shoot down an already crippled bomber or straggler), compared to 1 point for destruction of a single-engined enemy fighter. In addition, 2 points were awarded for a 'Herausschuss' while 3 points were awarded for downing a four-engined bomber along with the pilot being awarded the Iron Cross, First Class. 

12 Mosquitoes attacked railway targets at Arnage and Aulnoye without loss.

6 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr. 27 aircraft were minelaying in areas as far south as Bayonne and as far north as Gydnia. 1 Lancaster was lost.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, P-40s flew top cover missions as the British Eighth Army completed the concentration of troops and weapons in forward areas and awaited an attack which seemed imminent because of German troop movements in the mountains west of Medenine. Montgomery was reinforcing his already strong defenses around Medenine as elements of 10. and 21.Panzerdivisions headed south. JG 53 recorded its first loss of a new Bf 109G-6.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Unsuccessful night sortie by German MTBs off Great Yarmouth. 'S-70' was mined and sank. 'S-75' was sunk by Spitfires and Typhoons.

*WESTERN FRONT*: At Aalborg West a Ju 88A-14 belonging to III./KG 6 was parked on the airfiled and was hit by another Ju 88A-4 piloted by Fw. Willi Rabe of 11./KG 30 while the latter was taking off. The KG 6 Junkers was heavily damaged. Fw. Rabe and navigator Obgefr. Henning both lost their lives and were laid to rest in Fredrickshaven cemetary on 9 March. The remaining 2 crewmen were injured.


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## Njaco (Mar 4, 2008)

*5 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Von Manstein's attack continued as elements of 4.Panzerarmee mauled the retreating Soviet forces west of Izyum. However the attack could not be forced over the Donets River as the ice near Izyum was breaking up, preventing bridging operations. German troops advanced to Kharkov and Byelgorod.

*GERMANY*: The Battle Of The Ruhr: The British opened their night-time bombing offensive - as per the 'Casablanca Directive' - with a raid on Essen and the Krupp Works in the Ruhr area by 422 twin and four engined bombers. With the heavy attack on the Ruhr main city of Essen, the RAF Bomber Command started an air offensive against the Rhine-Ruhr area which was to last 4 months. Between this date and the middle of July, Bomber Command delivered concentrated attacks against all of the major industrial cities of the Ruhr.

157 Lancasters, 131 Wellingtons, 94 Halifaxes, 52 Stirlings and 8 Mosquitoes went to Essen. 14 aircraft were lost. It was on this night that Bomber Command's 100,000th sortie of the war was flown. A new combination of RAF bombing aids and techniques were used to devastating effect on Essen, the home of Krupps. The use of 'Oboe' blind-bombing system and H2s navigation and bombing radar enabled targets to be marked with some accuracy by the Pathfinder force. About 160 acres of factory space were destroyed, causing damage which in some cases would take years to repair. The only tactical setback to this raid was that 56 aircraft turned back early because of technical defects and other causes. 3 of the 'early returns' were from the 8 Oboe Mosquito marker aircraft upon which the success of the raid depended but the 5 Mosquitoes which did reach the target area opened the attack on time and marked the centre of Essen perfectly. The Pathfinder backers-up also arrived in good time and carried out their part of the plan. The whole of the marking was 'blind' so that the ground haze which normally concealed Essen did not affect the outcome of the raid. The Main Force bombed in three waves - Halifaxes in the first wave, Wellingtons and Stirlings in the second and Lancasters in the third. Two thirds of the bomb tonnage was incendiary and one third of the high explosive bombs were fused for long delay. The attack lasted for 40 minutes and 362 aircraft claimed to have bombed the main target. These tactics would be typical of many other raids on the Ruhr area in the next 4 months. Reconnaissance photographs showed 160 acres of destruction with 53 separate buildings within the Krupps works hit by bombs. A map from Essen shows the main area of damage to have been between the Krupps works and the city centre. The local report states that 3,018 houses were destroyed and 2,166 were seriously damaged. The number of people killed is given in various reports as between 457 and 482; at least 10 of these were firemen. If the higher figure is correct, the previous record number of people killed in an air raid on Germany - 469 in the 1000 bomber raid on Cologne in May 1942 - was exceeded. Small numbers of bombs fell in 6 other Ruhr cities.

7 aircraft were sent minelaying in the Frisian Islands without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, RAF Liberators, under operational control of US 9th Bomber Command, bombed the harbor at Naples during the night. All operations by 9th Bomber Command were then suspended for 7 days so the crews could rest.

*NORTH AFRICA*: JG 77 recorded the first loss of their new Bf 109G-6s.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Ju 88A-5 of Blindflugschule 4 took off from Kastrup and soon suffered an engine failure. When it reached an altitude of 10 meters, it stalled and crashed into the Oresund approximately 100 meters north of Hammers Kudthus, killing the crew of 4.


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## Njaco (Mar 5, 2008)

*6 March 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Convoy battle SC-121 was fought. uboat.net - U-boat Operations - Convoy Battles Convoy SC-121 with the American escort group A3 (Cdr Heineman) consisting of the cutter '_Spencer_', the destroyer '_Greer_', the British corvettes '_Dauphin_' and '_Dianthus_' and the Canadian corvettes '_Rosthern_' and '_Trillium_' were heading to the UK. In the convoy is also the rescue ship "_Melrose Abbey_". The convoy initially avoids the patrol lines Burggraf and Wildfang but then runs into U-405. The convoy has a lot of stragglers who have difficulties in keeping up with the convoy due to the bad weather. The escort group A3 is in bad shape also, taking up the escort of SC-121 only a few days after the disaster of ON-166. Most of the escort vessels have problems with their equipment and need urgent repairs or even dry-docking. Before dark a sharp course change is ordered in an attempt to shake off the boats but without result: U-566 and U-230 make contact and the latter sinks one ship in the night. This event goes unnoticed in the heavy gale and the rescue ship is not warned. One merchant ship recovers survivors but in doing so becomes a straggler himself and this ship is sunk towards morning by the U-591.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army troops captured Gzhatsk, between Vyazma and Rzhev.

Oblt. Hans Beisswenger, Staffelkapitaen of 6./JG 54, shot down 2 Russian LaGG-3 fighters near Lake Ilmen. However while attacking a third, his Bf 109G-2 "Yellow 4" was rammed by the Soviet ace Starshii Leitenant Ivan Kholodov (26 victories) of 32 GIAP VVS. Kholodov successfully baled out but Beisswenger crashed to his death. "Beisser" Beisswenger was credited with 152 victories in over 500 missions. He recorded all but one of his victories over the Eastern Front. Also from JG 54, Georg Munderloh went missing in action.

Another Experte was lost when Gerhard Hubner a 20 victory pilot with JG 52 was killed in action against the Soviets.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Feldmarschall Rommel, with a mixed German / Italian force, launched an expected attack on the Mareth Line near Medenine, Tunisia. There were 4 thrusts by Rommel toward Medenine, which were repulsed by the Britsh Eighth Army. It was concieved as the second phase of a counter-attack which began with the Battle of Kasserine Pass last month. The Desert Fox could not even surprise the Allies for they had broken his coded messages and seen his tanks on the move. Allied strengths had quadrupled in the last 10 days, and this gave Eighth Army a decisive strength on the battlefield. Rommel had no more than 160 tanks against his enemy's 400 and with 3 fighters wings operating from forward airfields, the Allies had air superiority. 35 Allied planes strafed and bombed installations in the Mareth Line as Rommel's sttack was defeated. When the attack began, Montgomery was waiting in well-sited defensive positions. The British had time to camuouflage a line of AA guns across Rommel's path. Cool British gunners held their fire until the panzers were within close range of the hidden guns, then loosed a holocaust of armour-piercing shells. The Germans were soon pinned down and subjected to a withering assault from tanks and the air. The British used only one squadron of tanks at Medenine, but their AA guns cost Rommel 52 of his panzers. Rommel renewed the attack in the afternoon and, once again, failed to make any headway against the thick defenses. By the end of the day Rommel had less than 100 tanks left. The British had blunted the attack and in doing so may have found the tactic that could stop the panzers: massed artillery and AA fire combined with air raids.

1(F)./122 sent a sortie to the Bone-Oran area and one Ju 88D-1/Trop failed to return in the vicinity of Algiers. The Junkers was intercepted by RAF No. 48 Sqdrn Spitfires about 20km from Cap Djinet and crashed into the sea. The crew was seen to have bailed out but Oblt. Alois Kiefer and 3 others were missing.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Fifteen B-24s from the US 44th and 93rd BG flew a diversionary raid on a bridge and U-Boat facilities at Brest while 71 B-17s of the US 1st BW were dispatched against the power plant, bridge and port area at Lorient. 3 B-17s were shot down by Fw 190s of III./JG 2.


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## Njaco (Mar 6, 2008)

*7 March 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: All day on the 7th U-228, U-230, U-409, U-591 and U-634 keep contact with Convoy SC-121 but the gale makes any successful attacks impossible.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Von Manstein redirected 4.Panzerarmee westward and now attacked northeast from around Krasnograd in an attempt to link up with SS Panzerkorps. A He 111 belonging to 4(F)./122 crashed on take-off from Sarabus and 4 were killed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Uffz. Hans-Joachim Fast of 2./JG 26 was killed in a flying accident. He had destroyed only 5 Allied aicraft during his short combat career.

3(F)./122 at Schipol reported the following strength: 8 Ju 88D-1s, 4 Ju 88D-5s and a single Fw 58C-2.

14 Wellingtons and 6 Halifaxes laid mines in the Frisians. 2 aircraft lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Mar 7, 2008)

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## Njaco (Mar 7, 2008)

*8 March 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The weather improves over Convoy SC-121 and the boats of the newly formed gruppe Ostmark make contact. In the morning U-527's attack but misses the convoy. In the evening U-190, U-527, U-591 and U-642 each sink a straggler.

In an attempt to improve communications security, German U-Boats began operating with a fourth rotor on their Enigma equipment. This created some problems for the Allies but the code breakers were able to break the new system with minimal effort.

*EASTERN FRONT*: As the jaws of von Manstein's pincer attack began to close on the Red Army forces outside Kharkov, Soviet troops took Sychevka between Rzhev and Vyazma. Lt. Udo Cordes of 9(Eins.)./KG 3, under foul weather conditions, was able to destroy 5 locomotives.

*GERMANY*: 170 Lancasters, 103 Halifaxes and 62 Stirlings attacked Nuremberg, 8 aircraft lost. This distant raid had to be marked by a combination of H2S and visual means. The Pathfinders had no moon to help them and, although there was no cloud, they found that haze prevented accurate visual identification of the target area. The truth was that both marking and bombing spread over more than 10 miles along the line of the attack, with more than half of the bombs falling outside the city boundaries . This result would be typical of raids carried out beyond the range of Oboe during this period. Nuremberg reports that more than 600 buildings were destroyed and nearly 1,400 were damaged, including the M.A.N. and Siemens factories. Railway installations were also hit. Figures given for the dead vary from 284 to 343. Sergeant D.R.Spanton, a mid-upper gunner in a 7 Sqdn Stirling, had a fortunate escape on this night. After his aircraft crossed the English coast on the return flight, Spanton realised that he was the only man in the plane. The remainder of the crew, a new crew in this Pathfinder squadron, had baled out earlier, possibly because of suspected fuel shortage, and the pilot left the plane flying on automatic pilot. Spanton had not heard the order. He parachuted safely over Kent and the empty Stirling later crashed into the Thames estuary. The remainder of the crew, presumably thinking they were parachuting over France, had actually come down in the sea and were all drowned. Sergeant Spanton went on to fly a further 12 operations but his plane was lost on the night of 24/25 June 1943 in a raid on Wuppertal and the presence of his name on the Runnymede Memorial probably indicates that he died in the sea on that occasion.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s and B-24s attacked shipping between Tunisia and Sicily, claiming the destruction or the heavy damage of several motor vessels.

*NORTH AFRICA:* Fighters of the North African Tactical Air Force flew several recon and patrol missions along the British 1st Army battlefront while Western Desert Air Force P-40s and Spitfires hit the rear of columns attacking Medenine from the west.

During the morning, 4 Spitfires of the US 307th FS / 31st FG took off from their Le Kouif base to fly a recon mission over the front. At 09:35 hours they were bounced by at least 5 Fw 190s from 4./JG 2. At the moment the Germans attacked, the American formation was re-forming and Lt. Woodlief Thomas had slowed down to return to his position as wingman to Lt. Jerry Collinsworth. Lt. Collinsworth recalled the early moments of the combat; 

> "Unknown to any of us, at least 3 Fw 190s were coming up off the 'deck' from behind to attack us....I was just barely past Woody (Thomas)when I heard guns and upon looking toward him I discovered he was already on fire and, without uttering a word, he crashed to the ground about 500 feet below."


Thomas had fallen victim to 4./JG 2's Staffelkapitaen, Oblt. Kurt Buhligen. Buhligen recorded the victory as occuring at 09:38 hours, about 35km northwest of II./JG 2's base, Kairouan. Two of the Spitfire pilots (including Lt. Collinsworth) tried to escape by flying into cloud, but the American formation leader, Lt. Merlin Mitchell, became engaged in a low-level, turning dogfight with a few of the Fw 190s. However he was outnumbered and was shot down by Oblt. Buhligen, Lt. Lothar Werner or Uffz. Heinz Schulze, all of whom made claims for Spitfires at low-altitude. Meanwhile Lt. Collinsworth was dogfighting with Uffz. Erich Engelbrecht. Uffz. Engelbrecht tried to escape his pursuer and flew towards Kairouan but did not make it back to base. He was caught by Lt. Collinsworth and tried to Split 'S' at about a height of 50 feet and slammed his Fw 190 'White 1' into the ground at 350mph. Uffz. Engelbrecht perished in the crash. Uffz. Engelbrecht had just turned 23 and had shot down 2 aircraft in Tunisia. Uffz. Alfred Sonntag also fell victim to the US Spitfires and was probably shot down by Lt. Mitchell. Uffz. Sonntag was flying Fw 190A-4 'White 7' and was wounded. Lt. Mitchell survived the combat and was captured by the Germans. He spent some time with II./JG 2 at Kairouan and was photographed sitting at a table with Oblt. Buhligen and other pilots from JG 2.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Sixteen B-24s of the US 2nd BW raided Rouen while 67 B-17s of the US 1st BW attacked the marshalling yard at Rennes escorted by 3 squadrons of Spitfires along with the new P-47s from the US 4thFG, making their first appearance of the war. The Fw 190s of I. and III./JG 26 led by Hptm. 'Pips' Priller, attacked the Spitfires while II./JG 26 led by Hptm. 'Wutz' Galland intercepted the bombers. Hptm. Prillers fighters successfully attracted the escorts while Gallands fighters tore into the bombers. The fierce head-on attack immediately sent 2 of the lead Liberators down in flames, one destroyed by Ofw. Willi Roth. Thirteen B-24s eventually dropped 39 tons of bombs on Rouen, considerably disrupted by the well executed attack of the German fighters as 54 B-17s hit the target at Rennes dropping about 135 tons of bombs. Uffz. Peter Crump, after his first pass at the bombers, narrowly avoided colliding with the falling bombs of the bombers. 3 bombers were shot down along with 2 RAF Spitfires. The 2 Gruppen of JG 26 lost 3 Fw 190s in the action.

16 Mosquitoes went to railway centres at Tergnier and Aulnoye in France and at Lingen in Belgium. 1 Mosquito was lost.

4 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr and 16 Wellingtons were minelaying in the Frisians. No losses.


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## Njaco (Mar 8, 2008)

*9 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Fighting around Kharkov intensified as the SS Panzerkorps of General Hausser advanced on the city from the west and north while the Soviet 25th Guards Rifle Division held Taranovka against determined attacks by the 48.Panzerkorps to the south.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel departed Tunisia for Germany. He met with Mussolini in Rome then with Hitler. Hitler, fearing that his 'best general' would be defeated in Tunisia, recalled Rommel, leaving von Arnim in charge of the Axis forces in Africa. Rommel would never return to that theatre.

*GERMANY*: 142 Lancasters, 81 Halifaxes and 41 Stirlings attacked Munich, 8 aircraft were lost. The wind caused this raid to be concentrated on the western half of Munich rather than on the centre of the city but much damage was caused. 291 buildings were destroyed, 660 severely damaged and 2,134 less seriously damaged. These included many public buildings - 11 hospitals, the cathedral,4 churches and 14 'cultural' buildings for example but also 3 wholesale and 22 retail business premises were completely destroyed and no less than 294 military buildings were hit, including the headquarters of the local Flak brigade, which was burnt out. The most serious industrial damage was at the BMW factory where the aero-engine assembly shop was put out of action for 6 weeks. Many other industrial concerns were hit, including 141 back-street-type workshops which were destroyed. The detailed Munich reports show that 208 people were killed and 425 injured. The dead included - 2 party officials on duty, 10 soldiers, 1 Hitler Youth boy serving at a Flak site, 2 policemen and 4 foreigners. The local Flak fired 14,234 rounds of ammunition - 2,314 of 105mm, 8,328 of 88mm and 3,592 of 20mm. 7 night fighters were reported as being on duty in the Munich area but only one bomber, unidentified because of its explosion in the air, was shot down over the city.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 15 Mosquitoes bombed the Renault works at Le Mans and scored direct hits. 1 Mosquito was lost. 8 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr and 62 aircraft laid mines off Kiel and in the Frisians. 3 Wellington minelayers were lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2008)

*10 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: One of the more outstanding young pilots of III./SG 2 'Immelmann' on the Eastern Front, Oblt. Helmut Fickel, flew his first mission near Poltawa.

Rommel arrived in the Ukraine from Rome and was summoned to take tea with the Fuhrer where he did his best to convey the gravity of the situation in Tunisia. He begged Hitler to allow the evacuation of the Axis troops to Italy where they could be re-equipped for the defense of Europe. Hitler refused to listen. Hitler accused his once-favorite soldier of 'pessimism' and ordered him on sick leave until he was ready to lead a hypothetical attack on Casablanca. Rommel had a similar response from Mussolini yesterday. Il Duce was worried about the effect on Italian opinion should Tunisia fall and offered Rommel another division. The offer was refused.

*GERMANY*: 2 Mosquitoes went to Essen and Mulheim.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied bombers raided Salerno.

*NORTH AFRICA*: There was heavy fighting at Ksar Rhilane, southest of Mareth, Tunisia. LeClerc's Free French troops fought off determined Axis attacks which were heavily supported from the air. B-17s bombed El Aouina airfield and the La Marsa landing ground, destroying several parked airplanes and hit the town of Gafsa. Fighters escorted the B-17s and carried out numerous recon missions.

Thirty-six P-38s from the US 1st FG escorted bombers and were involved in combat with 15 Bf 109s. Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Muller of Stab I./JG 53 shot down a Lightning for his 108th victory and 3 minutes later Uffz. Alfred Scharl of 2./JG 53 also claimed a P-38.

7 pilots, including Hptm. Hans-Jurgen Westphal and Fw. Emil Babenz, formerly of the disbanded 11./JG 26, were transferred to JG 53 with Fw. Babenz posted to 1./JG 53.
*
NORTHERN FRONT*: An Fw 190A-3 belonging to 14 (jabo)./JG 5 was slighly damaged in a RAF bombing raid on Petsamo.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A RAF Beaufighter took off for a patrol of the Bay of Biscay. It was piloted by the Free French pilot Max Guedj, DFC, who had adopted the nom de guerre of Lt. Maurice to safeguard his Jewish family remaining in France. His navigator was F/L Charles Corder. They were on their 71st operation together. Over the Bay they found, attacked and destroyed a Ju 88. However return fire from the Junker's gunner severly damaged the Beaufighter. Guedj was wounded during the attack and communications was disabled. With the situation appearing hopeless, Corder crawled forward to assist Guedj where he was able to get a radio bearing and gave Guedj a course to their base in Cornwall, 180 miles away. One of the 2 engines had failed and Guedj had difficulty keeping control, forcing him to fly a few feet above the sea. Just before they reached the English coast, the second engine caught fire which soon spread to the cockpit. Corder transmitted an SOS and fired distress flares to attract attention of those ashore. As they approached Cornwall, it was clear that the aircraft had either to ditch in the heavy seas or try to clear the cliffs. Guedj just managed to clear the cliffs by a few feet before making an emergency landing as the second engine finally failed. Corder's navigation had been so accurate that they managed to crash-land on their own field at Predannack. For their actions in recovering the aircraft, Guedj would be the first French airman to recieve the DSO.

The US 4th FG flew another mission in their new P-47C Thunderbolts. Aircraft-to-aircraft communication proved impossible because of VHF radio malfunctions in the Thunderbolts.

20 Lancasters and 15 Stirlings went minelaying over a wide area from Biscay to Swinemunde in the Baltic. 2 Lancasters were lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Mar 10, 2008)

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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2008)

*11 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Hausser of the SS Panzerkorps reached Kharkov. This city of ruins, liberated only a month ago by the Red Army, was once again threatened by the Germans. Geneal Hausser who, against Hitler's orders, extricated his panzers from the then doomed German garrison in the city, had led his men back to crush the Soviet Third Tank Army and established himself at the approaches to the city. He sealed off the city and was preparing to attack.

Lt. Wilhelm 'Willi' Batz of JG 52 scored his first victory while the Staffelkapitaen of 4./JG 52, Ofw. Willi Nemitz was awarded the Ritterkreuz. Ofw. Nemitz, who had the nickname 'Altvater' (Old Father) because of his age - 32 years old - had 54 kills against the Allies at this time.

*GERMANY*: 152 Lancasters, 109 Halifaxes and 53 Stirlings attacked Stuttgart, 11 aircraft were lost. The raid was not successful. The Pathfinders claimed to have marked Stuttgart accurately but the Main Force was reported to have been late arriving. The first use by the Germans of dummy target indicators was also reported. Most of the bombing fell in open country but the south western suburbs of Vaihingen and Kaltental were hit. 118 buildings, nearly all houses, were destroyed, 112 people were killed and 386 were injured. The only industrial damage reported was to a small packing store at the Bosch factory.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, US fighters escorted medium bombers and attacked guns, vehicles and tanks in the Sedjanane, Jefna and Bedja areas.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Doriner Do 217E, held in the beam of a searchlight, was attacked by a Beaufighter of RAF No. 219 Sqdrn and eventually crashed at High Grange Farm, Great Stainton near Darlington. The crew all baled out and were captured, two of them injured and were detained in the Military Hospital and 2 were detained at the Police Station in Stockton. A Ju 88A-14 from 9./KG 6 was shot down by fire from a Beaufighters and crashed into the sea off Blyth. All the crew were killed.

A fighter bomber raid took place on Hastings, Sussex.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 11 Stirlings and 3 Lancasters laid mines in the Frisians and the River Gironde without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Mar 11, 2008)

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## Njaco (Mar 11, 2008)

*12 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heavy fighting was still reported in Kharkov as the Germans cleared the Russians from the city. The Germans released mobile forces from the city fight and drove south in an attempt to cut off Soviet forces southwest of the city. Further to the north, the Germans abandoned and the Red Army occupied Vyazma as Heeresgruppe Mitte continued its limited withdrawls to shorten their front. The pilots of 7./JG 26 around Leningrad were ready for operations and began flying missions. No enemy fighter contact was reported.

*GERMANY*: 158 Wellingtons, 156 Lancasters, 91 Halifaxes, 42 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Essen. 23 aircraft lost. This was another very successful Oboe-marked raid. The centre of the bombing area was right across the giant Krupps factory, just west of the city centre, with later bombing drifting back to the north western outskirts. Photographic interpretation assessed that Krupps received 30% more damage on this night than on the earlier successful raid of 5/6th March. Nearly 500 houses were also destroyed in the raid. The number of people killed is variously reported between 169 and 322 with 198 probably being the most accurate figure, made up of 64 men, 45 women, 19 children, 4 soldiers, 61 foreign workers and 5 prisoners of war. German records say that one third of the bombs dropped on this night did not hit Essen and that 39 people were killed in other towns with Bottrop just north of Essen being the worst hit but these towns were all close to Essen and there was often no clear division between overlapping built up areas. During the RAF raid on Essen, Hptm. Manfred Meuer, Staffelkapitaen of 3./NJG 1 shot down 4 RAF bombers to bring his score to 23 victories.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Preparations of the British Eight Army in Tunisia for a flanking attack began. In an attempt to outflank the Mareth Line, Montgomery moved the 2nd New Zealand Division and the 8th Armoured Brigade south from Medenine opposite Wilder's Gap.

Northwest African Air Force B-17s bombed the docks and marshalling yards at Sousse. B-26s pounded supply dumps and scored near misses on bridges at Enfidaville while B-25s bombed shipping between Tunisia and Sicily. Fighters escorted the bombers and carried out attacks on ground targets, destroying several vehicles in the Pichon area and south of Pont-du-Fahs. RAF Wellingtons bombed the Tunis docks during the night.

Lt. A. A. Davis of the US 31st FG downed one Fw 190 and damaged another. The same day Lt. Mosby damaged a Fw 190.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: FW190 fighter bombers raided London.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US 8th AF Mission No. 42: 72 B-17s were dispatched by the 1st BW against the Rouen-Sotteville marshalling yards. The bombers dropped 156.5 tons of bombs on the target. There were no losses and no claims on this mission. Good fighter escort was a major factor in this no-loss mission. 18 B-24s of the US 2nd BW flew a diversionary raid with no losses or claims. The US 4th FG flew 43 sorties in their Spitfire Mk Vs and flew a fighter sweep. One Spitfire was shot down near St. Omer although 3 Spitfires were claimed by pilots of JG 2.

12 Mosquitoes bombed an armaments factory at Liege and scored direct hits. 1 Mosquito was lost.

9 Stirlings were minelaying in the Frisians without loss.


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## Njaco (Mar 12, 2008)

*13 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler, while visiting Heeresgruppe Mitte's HQ in Smolensk, narrowly avoided assassination, in a plot called 'Operation Flash'. Back in the summer of 1941, Major General Henning von Tresckow, a member of General von Bock's Heeresgruppe Mitte, was the leader of one of many conspiracies against Hitler. Along with his staff - Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff and 2 other conspirators, both of old German families who believed Hitler was leading Germany to humiliation - Tresckow had planned to arrest the Fuhrer when his visited the Army Group's HQ at Borisov in the Soviet Union. But their naivete in such matters became evident when Hitler showed up surrounded by SS bodyguards and driven in one of a fleet of cars. They never got near him. The second attempt was to be made during a luncheon, but Hitler and Feldmarschal von Kluge were seated next to one another and Tresckow feared hitting his commander. This day Hitler planned to fly back to Rastenburg, Germany from Vinnitsa. A Stopover was planned at Smolensk, during which the Fuhrer was to be handed a parcel bomb by an unwitting officer thinking it was a gift of liquor for 2 senior officers at Rastenburg. All went according to plan and Hitler's Fw 200 transport plane took off - the bomb was set to go off somewhere over Minsk. At that point, co-conspirators in Berlin were ready to take control of the central government at the mention of the word 'Flash'. Unfortunately, the bomb never went off at all - the detonator was defective. The detonator for the bomb, a British Plastic C, failed to ignite due to its sensitivity to low temperatures.

Helmut Brunke of JG 51 was killed in action. The fighter pilot had 8 victories against the Allies.

*GERMANY*: The German Army High Command issued the preliminary orders for Unternehmen 'Zitadelle' - the plan to eliminate the Soviet held salient centered on Kursk.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Hptm. Heinrich Setz, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 27 was killed in action. Hptm. Hans-Joachim Heincke was named acting Gruppenkommandeur. But the most serious loss for JG 27 this day was Lt. Wilhelm Crinius of 3./JG 27, who was shot down by a RAF Spitfire off the Tunisian coast becoming a prisoner of war. At the time of his capture, Lt. Crinius had 114 victories against enemy aircraft.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Northwest African Air Force B-25s were sent against shipping northeast of Bizerte but failed to locate a target. US fighters hit positions and troop movement in the Mareth Line area. 34 P-40s of the US 57th FG flew top cover and fighter sweeps and engaged about 25 Bf 109s in combat. The 57th claimed 4 Bf 109s destroyed but lost 4 planes including 3 pilots.

Lt. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert of II./JG 77 had a very successful day in the skies over the Mareth Line. In the morning he destroyed a P-40 and in the afternoon he destroyed 5 P-39s. In total JG 77 wiped out 7 P-39s while the experienced US 33rd FG was reduced from 75 to 13 fighters and withdrawn to Morocco. In spite of their much higher losses, the Allies managed to increase the number of aircraft in Tunisia from 600 in January 1943 to 1,500 in mid-March 1943.

Oblt. Siegfreid Freytag, Staffelkapitaen of 1./JG 77 was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 77.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The Finnish Air Force received the first 16 Bf 109G-2 fighters purchased from Germany. They were a considerable improvement to the Finnish fighter plane inventory.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth AF Mission No. 44: 78 B-17s of the US 1st BW were dispatched against the Rouen-Sotteville marshalling yards again. Due to bad weather, the bombers were recalled before they left England. 28 B-24s of the US 2nd BW were dispatched on a diversionary mission over the North Sea but were also recalled.

51 Wellingtons and 17 Lancasters laid mines between Lorient and Kattegat. 3 aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 13, 2008)

*14 March 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A six day series of sea battles began. Convoys 'HX 229' and 'SC 122' were attacked by a large wolfpack of 20 German U-Boats. Through B Dienst, the Germans had enough intelligence to find the convoys and sink 21 ships. Almost half of the U-Boats participating in this, "The Biggest Convoy Operation of the War - Against HX 229 and SC 122" - as it is titled in the Germany Naval History - scored results and only one U-Boat was lost. The German claim was for 32 ships sunk totaling 136,000 tons, comparing with the British record of only 21 ships but aggregating 141,000 tons plus the A/S trawler '_Campo Bello'_. The British Admiralty Monthly A/S reported, "_The Germans never came so near to disrupting communication between the New World and the Old as in the first twenty days of March 1943."_

*EASTERN FRONT*: Major Hubertus von Bonin's III./JG 52 moved from Nikolayev to Kertsch IV.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy during the night, RAF Liberators under the operational control of the IX Bomber Command, hit the harbour at Naples.

The submarine HMS '_Turbulent_' was lost with all hands (62 casualties). She may have been mined or the victim of a depth charge attack by a Ju 88 and the Italian destroyer '_Arditi_' in the Bay of Naples or mined somewhere along the east coast of Sardinia.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Weather cancelled all missions except Northwest African Air Force fighter recon in the Enfidaville-Sfax area and between Tunisia and Sicily. Fighters flew cover and swept over the battle area. The US 85th and 87th FS of the US 79th FG flew their first combat mission when 12 P-40s escorted 11 B-25s on a mission against the Mareth Line.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 13 Wellingtons were minelaying in the Frisians without loss.


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## Njaco (Mar 14, 2008)

*15 March 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The Canadian owned, British registered CPR passenger liner SS '_Dutchess of York_' was heavily damaged off Cape Finisterre when she was bombed by Luftwaffe aircraft. She was sunk later in 1943 in another air attack in the same general area.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans recaptured the city of Kharkov after bitter street fighting. A special communique from Hitler's HQ last night claimed that 3 picked divisions of Waffen SS - the 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler', the 'Totenkopf' and the 'Das Reich', strongly supported by the Luftwaffe - had retaken the city in an encircling attack from the north and west. One of the first actions of the German troops on entering Kharkov was the murder of 200 people in a hospital. Afterwards they set fire to the building. The German successes stemmed from the counter-offensive launched by von Manstein on 22 February when he caught the Russians by surprise while they were overextended in their great advance to the west following their victory at Stalingrad. North of Kharkov, a new German attack was developing against Byelgorod, the fortress town on the railway to Kursk and there was every indication that the Germans intended to try and recapture Kursk.

After achieving his 47th victory while flying a Fw 190A-4, Fw. Otto Kittel of 2./JG 54 made an emergency landing 60 km behind Russian lines. After landing on an open, icy field, he immediately set out for some woods he saw in the distance. Sitting in the woods for a short break, he searched his pockets and found 3 'drops' and 2 cigarette packets but no matches. He also had a gun, a clock and a compass. In his haste to leave his landing site, he had forgotten his supplies and his gloves. Bitterly cold and underclothed, he crossed the frozen Ilmen Lake and after 3 days without food, reached the German lines.

At StG 1, Oblt. Gustav Pressler was made Geschwaderkommodore in place of Oblt. Walter Hagen.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, B-25s, escorted by P-40s of the US 79th FG (the group's first operation in the theatre) bombed Zarat. Fighters also flew strafing and bombing raids against ground targets. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-26s with fighter escort, attacked the landing ground at Mezzouna. B-25s followed with an attcak on the same target. Fighters of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force flew recon over the battle area as the units of the US II Corps prepared to attack east from the Gafsa area. In the Mediterranean, B-17s with fighter escort, hit shipping off northern Tunisia.

After II./JG 2 had 150 kills for a loss of 18 aircraft, the unit began to withdraw from the North African theatre and took its Fw 190s to France.

Lt. Cobb of the US 31st FG claimed a Bf 109. Surprisingly, Lt. Cobb observed the Messerschmitt crash-land and the German pilot, wearing khaki shorts, got out and waved.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 11 Venturas bombed La Pleine airfield in Brittany. 1 Ventura was lost in the sea.


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## Hugh Spencer (Mar 15, 2008)

16th March 1943
16 Mosquitoes attacked railway workshops at Paderborn, nearly 200 miles inland from the coast, and scored direct hits. 1 'Mossie' lost.
12 Wellingtons went minelaying in the Frisian Islands without loss.


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## Njaco (Mar 15, 2008)

*16 March 1943
EASTERN FRONT*: Armoured Waffen SS units of Heeresgruppe Sud (von Manstein) finished the recapture of Kharkov. Kharkov changed hands for the third time in the war as German forces destroyed organized resistance in the shattered city. Meanwhile further north, Red Army forces captured Kholm and Zharkovskiy, as Heeresgruppe Mitte continued its withdrawl.

The _Staffelkapitan _of 9./JG 3, Lt. Wilhelm Lemke, destroyed a Russian LaGG 5 to bring his score to 100 kills. Lt. Udo Cordes of 9(Eins)./KG 3, again under foul weather conditions, destroyed 6 locomotives and a complete fuel train.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Montgomery's Eighth Army began probing the approaches to the Mareth Line as it prepared to open its main offensive in Tunisia. General Montgomery made no attempt to follow up his recent success at Medenine. The Mareth Line was his objective and no one doubted this was going to be a tough nut to crack. P-40s flew fighter-bomber operations against German positions as British ground forces conducted limited attacks preliminary to the main assault against the Mareth Line.

Further north General George S. Patton, new commander of US II Corps, assembled his staff for a last briefing in a dimly lit schoolroom that served as II Corps HQ. Patton's message left his officers speechless;


> "_Gentlemen, tommorrow we attack. If we are not victorious, let no man come back alive." _


At 57, Patton was already a legend among the American soldiers. He successfully used a combination of showmanship, bravado, and severity to galvanize the sloppy Americans into a trim and effective fighting force. The British Command still harboured doubts that the Americans were capable of mounting a major offensive against the Axis so II Corps was tasked with drawing the Axis forces away from the Mareth Line while Montgomery tried to break through it.

The objective for II Corps was a string of towns and hill masses beginning at Gafsa, 180 miles south of Tunis and 105 miles northwest of Mareth, where the British Eighth Army was pounding Rommel's line. The US advance began that night. At first, the Americans met almost no resistance, arriving at Gafsa. The Italian garrison had pulled out and retreated into the hills beyond El Guettar.


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## Njaco (Mar 16, 2008)

*17 March 1943
EASTERN FRONT*: The _Gruppenkommandeur _of JG 54, Hptm. Hans Philipp reached the 200 kill mark, becoming only the second Luftwaffe pilot to reach this score behind Hermann Graf at this time.

*GERMANY*: Oblt. Horst von Riesen was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of KG 1 in place of Major Heinrich Lau.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Major Martin Kastner's II./KG 40 moved from Soesterberg to Gilze Rijen and in late May 1943 began conversion to Me 410 destroyers.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, P-40s flew scramble and fighter-bomber missions and sweeps over Sedjenane, Cap Serrat and the Sidi Nsir area and attacked ground forces east of Gafsa.

Spearheaded by Major General Orlando Ward's US 1st Armoured Division, Patton's II Corps took Gafsa but were denied the satisfaction of victory when the Axis forces withdrew without a fight. Urging on his tankers and their attached 60th Regimental Combat Team, Patton was soon raging at the enemy's alliance with "General Mud"; heavy rains stopped his tanks and trucks for two days.

The British continued to probe the Mareth Line defenses during the night. On one such mission the 201st Guards Brigade ran into a minefield and then got involved in hand-to-hand fighting with the Germans. The 6th Battalion of the Grenadier Guards lost 24 officers and 300 men in this struggle.


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## Hugh Spencer (Mar 17, 2008)

18th March 1943
12 Venturas attacked an oil refinery at Maasluis but their bombs just missed the target. 12 further Venturas turned back from raids to targets in France. No aircraft were lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 17, 2008)

*18 March 1943
GERMANY*: Reichsmarschall Goring summoned the aircraft manufacturers Professor Willy Messerschmitt, Ernst Heinkel and Claude Dornier to a conference and accused them of their inability to develop a fighter to counter-act the RAF Mosquito. He decided that a special anti-Mosquito unit must be formed and started searching for the appropriate officer to lead the group. The seeds of a little known Luftwaffe unit, JG 50, were born.

During the morning, Lt. Heinz Knoke and Lt. Dieter Gerhardt of I./JG 1, practiced a new tactic for the defending German fighters. Flying Bf 109s loaded with a 100lb bomb, the Leutenants practiced dropping the bombs on a sack being towed by a Ju 88 off Heligoland. Lt. Gerhardt's third bomb scored a direct hit and it was decided that the next time the Americans sent bombers to Germany, they would be in for a surprise.

It didn't take long for an oppourtunity. US Eighth AF Mission No. 45 was 76 B-17s of the US 1st BW and 27 B-24s of the US 2nd BW sent against the submarine yards at Vegesack and the Bremen Vulkan Schiffbau shipbuilding yards on the Weser near Bremen, dropping 268 tons of bombs on the target. This mission marked the first successful combat use of automatic flight control linked with bombsights.

The pilots of I./JG 1 at Jever - including Lt. Knoke and Lt. Gerhardt who were unable to load their Bf 109s in time with bombs - were ordered to scramble and intercepted the bomber formations. Lt. Knoke led his flight in a head-on attack and badly damaged a B-24 from the US 93rd BG. Banking around, Lt. Knoke continued to attack until the Liberator exploded. It was Lt. Knoke's 5th kill. Lt. Gerhardt destroyed his first B-24 off Heligoland. Shortly after the B-24 fell from the sky, Lt. Gerhardt was shot down into the sea. He managed to bail out but died of his wounds, floating in his liferaft. The U-Boat pens were heavily damaged from the raid, destroying 7 U-Boat hulls and demolishing much of the shipyard.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Von Manstein's attack came to a close as the _'Grossdeutchsland' _Division attacked Byelgorod northeast of Kharkov and the spring thaw and its accompanying sea of mud took over. During von Manstein's offensive, the overextended Red Army suffered 40,000 casualties and lost at least 600 tanks and the Germans succeeded in stabilizing the southern half of the Eastern Front. However the blow was nowhere near as devastating as the attacks in the summer of 1941. The Soviet Army was coming of age and able to fight with the Germans on a more level field.

Hermann Kiworra of JG 52 was killed in action. He had downed a total of 27 enemy aircraft during his wartime flying career.

Fw. Otto Kittel of 2./JG 54 reached German troops. After he returned to his _Gruppe_, he was promoted to _Oberfeldwebel _and recieved the German Cross In Gold.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Elements of Patton's US II Corps finished capturing Gafsa and advanced toward El Guettar.

On the British battlefront in front of the Mareth Line, Montgomery put his plan of attack into action. The Mareth Line ran from Wadi Zigzaou - a deep trench 22 miles from the sea - to the Matmata hills. The Wadi and the Matmata Hills were formidible barriers but a stretch of open desert called the Dahar lay west through a narrow pass, the Tebaga Gap, toward El Hamma and Gabes. The line was built by the French - against the Italians in Lybia - and consisted of minefields, anti-tank ditches, barbed wire and carefully concealed artillery positions stretching from the sea to the Matmata Hills. Although told Dahar was impassable, Monty's men had found a way with the Long Range Desert Group which had patrolled through Wilder's Gap, past Tebaga and into the El Hamma plain.

The Wadi Zigzaou defenses were manned by the Italians who had the 164th Light Division on one side of them and the 19th Light Division on the other. The 15.Panzerdivison was 5 miles behind the wadi with 50 panzers.

The attack was a combination of frontal attack on the line and a flanking movement west of the Matmata Hills. The plan called for XXX Corps - Monty's 'Right Hook' - to attack on the eastern flank with 3 divisions to draw Rommel's reserves to this part of the line. The New Zealanders and other units - the 'Left Hook' - would sweep around to the west to break through the German line behind the Matmata mountains. Montgomery had amassed 27,000 men of the 2nd New Zealand Division and attached units and 200 tanks on the southern flank of the Eighth Army. Monty felt he was ready and with the Americans starting their show, his would begin.


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## Njaco (Mar 18, 2008)

*19 March 1943
UNITED KINGDOM*: An unsuccessful night raid was made on Norwich, England.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops of the _'Grossdeutchsland' _Division reached Byelgorod but were still battling with Soviet resistance in the northern approaches to Kharkov.

The pilots of 7./JG 26 encountered the Russian Air Force when they engaged LaGG-3s near Leningrad. No fighters were lost on either side in this engagement. But another Eastern Front Geschwader did lose a pilot when Fw. Helmut Friese of 7./JG 52 was killed in combat. He had shot down 8 enemy aircraft.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A night-fighter belonging to 11./NJG 3 ditched in the North Sea off Hanstholm. The Ju 88C-6 sank and the crew drowned. Oblt. E. Hosel abd radio operator Obgefr. A Kaffl were found washed ashore near Thyboron and were laid to rest in Lemvig cemetary. Obfw. P. Keyer was found washed ashore in Norway and laid to rest in that country.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, the 2nd New Zealand Division - Montgomery's 'Left Hook' - began moving in a 200 mile march toward Ksar Rhilane in preparation for Monty's attack on the Mareth Line. With numerous wadis along their way, the advance soon narrowed to a one tank front. Soon the hills gave way to soft, powdery sand which sank the trucks up to their axles. The long column crawled slowly northward, leaving a wake of billowing dust. The Germans took notice.

Whilst at anchor in port at Tripoli, the destroyer HMS _'Derwent' _was hit by a Motobomba (circling torpedo) launched by an Italian aircraft. She was beached with her engine room flooded and although salvaged and returned to England, she was never repaired. Chief Officer George Preston Stronach evacuated the fuel and ammunition laden SS _'Ocean Voyager' _after it was bombed and braved flames to save 4 men.


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## Hugh Spencer (Mar 19, 2008)

.


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## Njaco (Mar 19, 2008)

*20 March 1943
EASTERN FRONT*: During take-off from Gatschina airfield, Oblt Mietusch, _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 26, suffered engine failure of his Fw 190A and crashed, overturning on the field. He was out of action for 2 months. In his place, Obfw. Heinz Kemethmuller was transferred from 9./JG 26 to the _staffel_.

Another loss suffered by the Luftwaffe this day was Wolf-Dieter von Coester, of JG 52 who was reported missing in action and presumed dead. He had 5 victories against the Allies.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Fw. Friedrich Hammesfahr of 14(Jabo)./JG 5 was shot down and wounded by Soviet AA near Severomorsk, north-east of Murmansk, becoming the first Fw 190 of the _jabostaffel _lost on operations. He recovered from his injuries and later returned to the unit, eventually serving with the Focke-Wulf company, flying all Fw190 variants up to the Fw190F-9 and the Ta 152.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 2(F)./122 dispatched a sortie to the Straits of Sicily but one Ju 88D-1 failed to return after combat with P-38s of the US 82nd FG and was lost. Four crewmen were killed.

Oblt. Paul Sommer serving in Stab II./JG 27, flying a Bf 109G, shot down a Spitfire 6km from cap Scaramia.

*NORTH AFRICA*: As night fell, Montgomery's long awaited attack on the Mareth line began with a massive AA barrage on Italian positions along the coast. With his 'Left Hook' ready to press through the Tebaga Gap, Monty's 'Right Hook' began moving forward as sappers went first followed by the British 50th Northumbrian Division, the 4th Indian and the 51st Highland. The Germans had discovered the New Zealands of the 'Left Hook', so the orders were off and they were told to go as fast as they could to the north. The 2nd New Zealand Division marched to their flanking position to the west and finally reached the Tebaga Gap. The Germans were looking over their shoulders at the Americans at Gafsa as Monty began his frontal assault. Near the coast, the British infantry attacked the Italian Young Fascists Division and put a bridgehead through. But from the beginning the attack was crippled. The sappers in front of the 50th Northumbrian, the lead division, couldn't hear the ping of their mine detectors, the bombardment was so loud. Undiscovered mines began to take a toll on the attackers. Then at Wadi Zigzaou, torrential rains had turned it into a moat of muddy water. Engineers tried to bridge the ravine but only 4 tanks crossed before the causeway was swallowed up in the mud. The Germans were so little impressed that they regarded this as only a diversion and did not attack with the 15.Panzerdivision. The infantry fared better than the armour in crossing the wadi and by morning the next day, had won a bridgehead on the far bank. Although the infantry had succeeded in getting a foothold in the enemy lines, they were concentrated in a relatively small area and were coming under heavy fire from German flak. As dusk fell over Mareth, Monty was preparing a fresh attack. A few miles past El Guettar, the Americans had to pause. There, as they entered a vast green valley rimmed by ridges, the road leading east split in two, both branches disappearing through narrow passes on the high hills that blocked other exits from the valley. The Axis had converted these passes into fortified funnels sown with wide belts of mines backed up by aprons of barbed wire. The cliffs above them sprouted AA and light and heavy machine guns. The Americans recognized that a steep slope rising to the crest of a hill overlooking one of the passes might be climbed by a column of men moving in single file. If they were able to gain the crest, they would be staring at the backs of the Italians whose guns were trained down on the pass. So during the night a column spearheaded by 500 men of Lt. Col. William O. Darby's Rangers set out over the path. They could not carry any sizable weapons, the terrain was too difficult. The success of their mission would depend instead on stealth, surprise and shock. They marched in silence, picking their way painfully over a carpet of loose stone and struggling through crevasses. At intervals their progress slowed to a crawl as they scaled 20 foot cliffs, passing their equipment up from hand to hand. It was near dawn when at last the Rangers reached the rocky plateau that overlooked the Italian guns.

Six Spitfires of the Us 309thFS/31st FG got into a dogfight with 8 Bf 109s, claiming 3 damaged while Lt. Barber had to crash land. Oblt. Dietrich Kasten of 2./JG 53 claimed the Spitfire for his 17th victory. JG 53 also lost Oblt. Gunther Hess of 6./JG 53 when the 9 victory pilot was listed as missing in action in his Bf 109G-4/trop.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Mosquitoes went to Louvain and Malines railway yards but only Louvain was reached.

1 Lancaster bombed Leer near Emden. This flight was carried out by Squadron Leader C. O'Donoghue of 103 Squadron. He decided to make this lone flight after a major Bomber Command effort planned for the previous night was cancelled. The Lancaster attacked Leer soon after dawn and its bombs fell close to the railway station.

12 Wellingtons and 4 Lancasters went minelaying off Biscay ports but the Wellingtons were recalled. No losses.


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## Njaco (Mar 20, 2008)

*21 March 1943
NORTH AFRICA*: Italian forces defending Tebaga Gap in Tunisia put up a surprisingly determined defense, stopping the 2nd New Zealand Divison's flank attack. Meanwhile the 'Right Hook' attack on the Mareth Line by British forces had in the morning established a small force across the natural ant-tank obstacle of the Wadi Zigzaou but ground conditions prevented a further buildup. Engineers worked feverishly to build a more substantial causeway across the ravine. Once this was done, the British commander made a costly mistake. Instead of sending AA guns across, he opted to send lightly armed Valentine tanks instead. 42 tanks made it across before the causeway was churned into a hopeless mess and bacame impassable again. The Americans covered the 28 mile distance to Sened and took their second objective, this time against light opposition. Again in high gear, Ward's tankers pushed on 20 miles to Maknassy only to see enemy troops evacuate the villiage. Continuing east, Ward soon found determined opposition in hills around the village and stopped his column to await stronger support. While the tankers rushed eastward, the infantrymen found themselves in a major battle 40 miles back to the west at El Guettar. As Allied planners hoped, Kesselring had released 10.Panzerdivision for a counterattack on II Corps. As the German attack pleased strategists waiting for an enemy diversion from the south, the troops of Major General Terry Allen's 1st Infantry Division - who had to face it - saw nothing to celebrate.

The US 31st FG escorted A-20s to Kairouan and encountered 17 Ju 87 _Stuka _dive-bombers with Bf 109 escorts. The temptation was too great and the 309th FS went after them. The result was 4 _Stukas _shot down and 4 damaged and one Bf 109 damaged. One Spitfire, flown by Lt. Langberg, was lost. He bailed out, was captured by Italian troops but then was released and returned on the 23rd. The US 52nd FG lost one Spitfire that day also. Three pilots from II./JG 51 and Oblt. Siegfreid Freytag from Stab II./JG 77 claimed 4 Spitfires.

*GERMANY*: Another attempt was made to assassinate Hitler, this time by a suicide bomber, on Heroe's Memorial Day (a holiday honoring German WWI dead). Tresckow selected Col. Rudolph Christoph von Gersdorf (_who had provided the faulty bomb in the 13 March attempt_) to act as a suicide bomber at the Zeughaus Museum in Berlin where Hitler was to attend the annual dedication. While Hitler was visiting the exhibit at the museum, von Gersdorfplanned to detonate a bomb planted on himself while standing near the Fuhrer. Von Gersdorfwas to sidle up to Hitler as he reviewed the memorials and ignite the bombs, taking the dictator out - along with himself and everyone in the immediate vicinty. Von Gersdorfhad wanted to use an instantaneous detonator but could only obtain an acid-based 10 minute delay fuse. With a bomb planted in each of his coat pockets, all went as planned as von Bersdorf set the fuse going at the end of Hitler's speech and joined the tour group, inching toward the Fuhrer. But shortly after starting the tour, Hitler moved off, ignoring the exhibit and left the area. The Colonel was informed that Hitler was to inspect the exhibits for only 8 minutes - not enough time for the fuses to melt down. Von Gersdorf was forced to rush to the men's room to flush the acid detonator down the toilet before it blew up.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Helmut Bennemann's I./JG 52 moved from Kursk to Poltawa.


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## Njaco (Mar 21, 2008)

*22 March 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN *: Mosquitoes shot down 2 Ju 88s over the Bay of Biscay.
*
GERMANY*: US Eighth AF Mission #46: 76 B-17s and 26 B-24s were dispatched against the U-Boat yards at Wilhelmshaven. 69 B-17s and 15 B-24s dropped 224 tons of bombs on target. They lost one B-17 and 2 B-24s. The fighters of I./JG 1 intercepted the formations including Lt. Knoke who tried his aerial bombing tactic for the first time. Flying a Bbf 109G loaded with a 500lb bomb, Lt. Knoke was able to drop the bomb in the middle of a formation of Fortresses. The bomb broke the wing off a B-17 from the 91st BG and it crashed 18 miles off Heligoland, killing the entire crew. Not exactly the way it was supposed to work but the effect was the same. Numerous bombers returned to England badly damaged including one that had 368 holes in the aircraft.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 189 Lancasters, 99 Halifaxes, 63 Stirlings and 6 Mosquitoes attacked St Nazaire. 1 Lancaster was lost. RAF #3 Group sent out a recall order to its Stirlings and only 8 carried on to bomb the target. Accurate marking led to a concentrated attack by 283 aircraft on the port area of St Nazaire. Lt. Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer of Stab II./NJG 1 claimed the destruction of a Lancaster during the RAF raid on St. Nazaire. But another pilot, Hptm. Wilhelm Herget of Stab I./NJG 4 also made a claim of destroying the same RAF bomber. Unable to decide who should get credit for the kill, General Kammhuber ordered the 2 experten to draw lots. The Lancaster kill was awarded to Hptm. Herget.

6 Wellingtons laid mines off Texel without loss.

12 Venturas attacked Maasluis oil refinery but again failed to hit the target. 12 further Venturas turned back from French targets. No losses.

*NORTH AFRICA*: As the British attempted to expand their bridgehead over Wadi Zigzaou, German reserves from the 15.Panzerdivision (with a mere 30 tanks in all) counterattacked. The panzers attacked just as a heavy rain fell on the area. The British Valentine tanks were no match for the more powerfully gunned panzers and by dusk the bridghead had all but disappeared. The British lost two thirds of the Valentine tanks and went on the defensive in this sector.

Meanwhile elements of 21.Panzerdivision and 164th Light Division arrived at Tebaga Gap to stop the 2nd New Zealand Division's advance. But it was here that Montgomery decided to change tactics and throw all his weight behind his 'Left Hook'. He sent General Horrocks and the British 1st Armoured Division over the long desert route to join the New Zealanders in their thrust through the Tebaga Gap.

RAF Hurricanes smashed a panzer counter-attack near the Mareth Line. At 12:50 hours a total of 24 Spitfires of RAF No. 145 Sqdrn and RAF No. 601 Sqdrn took off in two formations. 12 of these Spitfires, from 145 Sqdrn, met 7 Bf 109s from JG 51 in the Mareth area. The other formation of 12 Spitfires also reported an engagment with 7 Bf 109s in the same area. Shortly after 13:00 hours 36 Kittyhawks from RAF Nos. 112 and 250 Sqdrns took off and were attacked by 6 Bf 109s. One Kittyhawk of 250 Sqdrn was shot down by Major Muncheberg of Stab./JG 77. Six more Spitfires dived into the combat, whereby S/L Wade claimed one Bf 109 shot down. This may have been Oblt. Heinrich Osswald of 4./JG 77 who was killed. A little while later 13 Hurricanes of RAF No. 6 Sqdrn took off and was engaged by Bf 109s which shot down one Hurricane. Lt. Franz Hradlicka of 5./JG 77 claimed a Hurricane during the combats as did Lt. Liedtke of 4./JG 77.

23 P-38s of the US 82nd FG escorted B-26s and they were engaged by 2 Bf 109s. Later during the mission, the same formation of bombers and P-38s were attacked by 6 Bf 109s. The US 52nd FG was very successful near Mazzouna against Bf 109s, Fw 190s and Ju 88s. the group downed 5 Bf 109s, 2 Fw 190s and 2 Ju 88s, losing only one Spitfire to a crash landing from flak damage. The US 31st FG also lost one to a crash-landing.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: There was slight German activity over Newcastle. Sunderland and County Durham bore the brunt of the Luftwaffe's sorties. AA projectiles caused damage and casualties. HE and IBs fell on fields north of Rake House, Rake Lane, on the beach at Cullercoats and on the rocks beside the South Pier. Considerable damage was done to sidings and railway stock, chiefly wagons and vans. German records examined after the war show that a Do 217 failed to return from a sortie to Hartlepool.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte recaptured Byelgorod.

Once again the weather had taken a decisive hand in the war in Russia. The thaw came early and both armies were bogged down in the morass of mud churned up by fighting vehicles of both sides. Where, only a few days ago, tanks could roar at full speed across the hard-frozen steppe, they were now in danger of drowning in a sea of mud and the runways of airstrips had turned into quagmires which refused to release aircraft. While the thaw brought difficulties to both sides, it hurt the Germans most by bringing von Manstein's successful counter-offensive to a halt. After recapturing Kharkov, he had planned to cut quickly across the Donets behind the Russian armies which were still pressing west. If he had been able to do so, he might well have caught the Red Army in a trap and produced a disaster comparable to Stalingrad. But he lost too many men and too many machines to achieve the quick result, and now General Thaw had taken command.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 24 B-17s bombed port facilities at Palermo. This was the first Allied bomber mission against Sicily by aircraft based in Northwest Africa.


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## Njaco (Mar 22, 2008)

*23 March 1943
NORTH AFRICA*: Patton's drive on El Guettar was stopped by determined German and Italian resistance with the 10.Panzerdivision taking serious losses. The Germans were amazed at how quickly the Americans were learning.

50 tanks of Broich's 10.Panzerdivision had swept down from the hills during the night and hit the US 1st Infantry Division marching in the valley below, followed by mobile guns and troop carriers full of infantry. Messerschmitts swarmed out of the sky and strafed foxholes and gun emplacements. The Germans swept through, driving all before them until they were slowed by a hastily laid minefield and artillery. the panzers paused to reorganize then set off again, fully confident of victory against the 'green' Americans.But the Americans stood their ground. Artillery shells rained down on the panzers and in fighting that often came down to "him-or-me" hand-to-hand combat, US 1st Division troops pushed the Germans out of their fighting positions and off hilltops. Fortunately, Allen's men could call on strong air and artillery support. Massed artillery and tank destroyers knocked out nearly 30 tanks while mines stopped 8 more. American casualties were heavy but the 10.Panzerdivision had to withdraw.

In the afternoon the Axis forces returned, this time in long columns of infantry led by panzers. But the American forces had used the hours in between to set up their artillery guns and showered the advancing Germans with shells. The panzers turned and retreated. The US 1st Division avenged its defeat at the Kasserine Pass by beating off the 10.Panzerdivision which retreated from the El Guettar valley and dug in to reinforce the Italian 'Centauro' Division in the mountains. For the first time an American infantry divsion had taken on German tanks and won.

The Luftwaffe suffered a terrible loss. During a _freie jagd_, Major Joachim Muncheberg, _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 77, came across a formation of US Spitfires. Diving on the Allied flight, Muncheberg claimed his 135th kill. But unable to break from his attack, Muncheberg's Bf 109 collided with his victim and both planes crashed to the ground, killing the commander. His position at JG 77 was taken by Oblt. Johannes Steinhoff from II./JG 51.

II./JG 51 recorded the first loss of one of their new Bf 109G-6s in the desert.

In the morning, 3 He 111s of I./KG 26 attacked the convoy 'KMF 11' to the north of Tenes Head, sinking the troop transport _'Windsor Castle' _and damaging the Norwegian oil tanker _'Garonne'_.

*GERMANY*: In an effort to prove his point about the effectiveness of his night-fighter program with the new He 219 'Uhu', _General der Nachtjagd_ Kammhuber convened a demostration flight with his He 219 going up against the RLM's favorite for night-fighter duties, a Ju 88 flown by Oberst Wiktor von Lossberg and a D0 217N. The Dornier soon withdrew and after trying his best, von Lossberg soon conceded defeat to the 'Uhu', flown by the _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./NJG 1, Major Werner Streib.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Ju 88A-4 belonging to 13./KG 30 crashed in Store Vildmosen moor near the road, killing the crew of four. The aircraft burst into flames on impact and set fire to the moor.

15 Mosquitoes attacked railway engine works at Nantes. Direct hits were scored and no aircraft were lost.

45 aircraft laid mines in the Frisian Islands and south of Texel and 21 aircraft dropped leaflets over French towns. 2 Wellingtons were lost, one each from the minelaying and leaflet dropping sorties.


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## Njaco (Mar 23, 2008)

*24 March 1943
GERMANY*: 3 Mosquitoes shot up trains in areas east of the Ruhr without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52, during one of two missions that he flew for the day, tangled with Russian aircraft near Kerch in the Crimea. Shortly after noon, he downed a Russian U-2 to bring his score to 5 kills and earning him the Iron Cross-Second Class.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Lt. Ferdinand Jahn of 9./JG 77 was killed in action against the Allies. He had destroyed a total of 8 enemy aircraft during his war career.

*ENGLAND*: A force of German raiders was scattered widely over seperated parts of Northern England. At North Shields considerable damage was done to property. The only casualty was one person seriously injured at High Heaton by AA fire. There was a fighter-bomber raid on Ashford, Kent. A total of 8 German aircraft - 3 Do 217Es and 5 Ju 88As - crashed this night, mostly flying into high ground. A Do 217E struck a hill at Twice Brewed Inn at Haltwhistle at 00:20 hours. The crew all perished. A Ju 88A, flying low, hit a hill at a shallow angle at Linhope Rigg near Powburn, Northumberland at 00:45 hours and again the crew all perished. Another D0 217E was shot down by AA fire and crashed at Madam Law Farm, Kirknewton. It appeared that the aircaft had come from a northerly direction, crashed into the side of Madam Law, near the top, riccocheted over the hill and came to rest in pieces on the southern side. Three of the four crew were thrown out of the plane and killed, the fourth was found dead inside the burnt wreckage.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Montgomery continued his attacks in Tunisia, sending the 4th Indian Division on a flank attack toward Ksar el Hallouf and Ben Zelten. It failed to dislodge the Axis forces.


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## Njaco (Mar 24, 2008)

*25 March 1943
EASTERN FRONT*: Lt. Walter Nowotny of JG 54 scored his 79th victory with the destruction of a Soviet Spitfire from 26 GVIAP of the Leningrad Air Defense.

Herbert Kirnbauer of JG 52 was killed in action aganist the Soviets. He had destroyed only 8 enemy aircraft during his combat career.

A Ju 88D-1 from 4(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie to the P'ot'i-Bat'umi area of Georgia. Four crewmen went missing.

*ENGLAND*: The Luftwaffe flew a bombing mission over North Britain and Scotland and lost 10 aircraft. KG 2 lost 4 Do 217s, 3 crashing in the UK and one on the Continent, whilst KG 6 lost 6 Ju 88s including 2 missing over the North Sea. One Junkers Ju 88 of 1./KG 6 based at Deelen, Holland was chased by a Beaufighter from RAF No. 219 Sqdrn and hit Linhope Rig near Powburn in the early hours. Ofw. F. Lang and his 3 crew were all buried in Chevington Cemetary.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Pressure from the British 1st Armoured Division at Tebaga Gap and the US II Corps at Maknassy forced General von Arnim to withdraw from the Mareth Line.

Hptm. Fritz Schroter's III./SKG 10 moved its Fw 190As from Gabes-West to San Pietro at night and Bizerte and Djedeida during the day.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Greek partisans succeeded in taking over Samos Island from the Itailian garrison.


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## Njaco (Mar 25, 2008)

*26 March 1943
GERMANY*: 173 Wellingtons, 157 Lancasters, 114 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitoes and 2 Stirlings attacked Duisburg. 6 aircraft were lost.

The Mosquito lost was the first Oboe Mosquito casualty. A message was received from the pilot, F/Lt L.J. Ackland, that he was having to ditch in the North Sea. His body was never found but his navigator, W/O F.S. Sprouts, is believed to have survived. This raid was one of the few failures of this series of attacks on Ruhr targets. It was a cloudy night and, for once, accurate Oboe sky-marking was lacking because 5 Oboe Mosquitoes were forced to return early with technical difficulties and a sixth was lost. The result was a widely scattered raid. The only details reported from Duisburg were 15 houses destroyed and 70 damaged with 11 people killed and 36 injured.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Montgomery took a leaf from the German book and staged what he called a "blitz attack" on the afternoon of 26 March, with the sun behind the British and shining in the eyes of the Axis troops and a dust storm blowing in their faces. As Freyberg's infantry and Horrock's armour moved toward the entrance of the Tebaga Gap, waves of 30 Allied bombers, paced 15 minutes apart, zeroed in on the Axis defenses in the valley passageway to El Hamma. The RAF plastered the German units holding the exits and smashed guns and equipment and paralyzed the 21.Panzerdivision. The bombing and strafing lasted 3 hours and when at dusk silence again settled in the valley, Freyberg's New Zealanders, bayonets at the ready, poked into the gap.

After the infantry led the way through the rim of the Axis defenses, it parted and let Horrock's armour slide through and push on toward El Hamma in the moonlight. As the 1,200 vehicles left the infantry behind and advanced on a single track, they passsed almost unchallenged through the encampment where part of the 21.Panzerdivision rested for the night. Even though the resistance was feeble, the progress of the gigantic column was agonizingly slow, impeded by frequent wadis. By dawn the Germans had been able to scrape up enough 88mm guns to establish an anti-tank screen at the exit of the valley, 3 miles from El Hamma. They opened up on the British 1st Armoured Division and stopped its advance, keeping Horrocks at bay for two days.

But Monty's "Left Hook" had done its job. Fearing that Horrocks might break through at any moment and attack thier rear in force, the Axis troops of the Mareth Line were compelled to retreat. They pulled out undercover of a sandstorm and withdrew northward along the coast, settling finally for another fight at Wadi Akarit, 15 miles north of the port of Gabes.

During the morning, a formation of 12 torpedo bombers constisting of 9 He 111s of I./KG 26 and 3 Ju 88s of III./KG 26 attacked convoy 'KMF 12' to the west of Alger, sinking the Dutch motor-ship _'Prinz Willem III'_.


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## Hugh Spencer (Mar 26, 2008)

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## Njaco (Mar 26, 2008)

*27 March 1943
EASTERN FRONT*: Near Byelgorod JG 52's Lt. Georg Schwientek shot down 2 LaGG-5s and 2 Il-2s and claimed another LaGG-5 but was denied the last kill giving him 4 kills for the day. Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 downed a Russian I-16 Rata near Anapa for his 6th kill.

*GERMANY*: Negotiations had begun between the RLM and Heinkel for some 300 He 280B-1 fighters, although the actual production was to be subcontracted to Siebel Flugzeugwerke as Heinkel had little surplus capacity. But revised estimates of the availability of the Jumo 004 dictated that both the He 280 and the Me 262 could not both be built. Development of the He 280 seemed to be going well, but further evaluation of the Me 262 demonstrated the superiority of the Messerschmitt aircraft and the RLM ordered all further development of the He 280 as an operational type to be abandoned. As the redesign work to adapt the He 280 to the Jumo engine had only just begun, the Me 262 was chosen as it was ready for production, merely waiting on its engines. The V-1, V-7 and V-8 prototypes were put to use as flying testbeds for a variety of engine and aerodynamic design projects. The V-1 was fitted with 4 Argus 014 pulse-jet engines (as fitted on the V-1 missile) but failed to complete a flight as the pilot was forced to eject when the tow line failed to separate (the pulse-jets didn't develop enough thrust for an unassisted take-off). The V-7 was completed as a glider and made a large number of flights investigating problems encountered in high-speed flight. The V-8 was fitted with a pair of Jumo 004B engines and a V-tail for 10 flights, after which the engines were removed and it was flown as a glider to continue the investigation into the aerodynamic qualities of the V-tail.

191 Lancasters, 124 Halifaxes and 81 Stirlings attacked BERLIN. 9 aircraft were lost. This raid was basically a failure. The bombing force approached the target from the south-west and the Pathfinders established two separate marking areas but both well short of the city. No bombing photographs were plotted within 5 miles of the aiming point in the centre of BERLIN and most of the bombing fell from 7 to 17 miles short of the aiming point. The BERLIN report confirms that damage in the city was not heavy although the bombing was slightly more widespread than the bombing photographs indicated. Only 16 houses were classed as completely destroyed but many further buildings including public utilities and factories suffered light damage. These were typical results in a scattered raid; the local fire services were able to contain fires quickly but 102 people were killed and 260 injured. The majority of these casualties occurred when two bombs at the Anhalter Station hit a military train bringing men on leave from the Russian Front. 80 soldiers were killed and 63 injured. Arno Abendroth states that the damage in BERLIN would have been heavier if approximately one quarter of the bombs dropped had not turned out to be 'duds'. _"The English factories must have been under some stress,"_ he writes. Further out from the city centre stray bombs hit several Luftwaffe establishments. 3 planes were destroyed and a flak position was hit at Templehof airfield. The flying school at Staaken airfield was damaged and a further 70 service personnel were killed or wounded. These casualties are in addition to those in BERLIN. The most interesting story concerns a secret Luftwaffe stores depot in the woods at Teltow, 11 miles south-west of the centre of BERLIN. By chance this was in the middle of the main concentration of bombs and a large quantity of valuable radio, radar and other technical stores was destroyed. The Luftwaffe decided that this depot was the true target for the RAF raid on this night and were full of admiration for the special unit which had found and bombed it so accurately. The Gestapo investigated houses nearby because someone reported that light signals had been flashed to the bombers.

5 Mosquitoes reached and bombed and engineering factory at Hengelo but 7 other Mosquitoes did not reach their targets. No losses.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Soldiers of the 2nd New Zealand Division broke through the Axis lines after an overnight attack which outflanked the German defenses now retreating from the Mareth Line 30 miles further east. The New Zealanders - 27,000 men and 200 tanks - attacked a gap in the hills at Tebaga. The 8th Armoured Brigade and the New Zealand infantry made up the advance wave, followed by the British 1st Armoured Divsion. Their movements were given some cover not only by the encroaching dusk but also by a sandstorm which obscured the vision of the anti-tank guns ranged to defend Tebaga. By daybreak the Allies had blasted through the gap, ensuring the ultimate breach of the Mareth Line. Montgomery had pushed back the Axis forces from two sides: the inland column established through Tebaga (the "Left Hook") and a direct coastal assault via Gabes (the "Right Hook"). Von Arnim planned to deploy tanks of the 15.Panzerdivision to hold off the Allies in order to allow his infantry time to retreat from the doomed Mareth Line to new defensive positions at Wadi Akarit. As Patton began anew attack near Foudouk, the British armour was stopped in front of El hamma as German infantry held the road open for retreating Axis forces. US 12th AF fighters attacked the German installations.

Another attack against convoy 'KMF 12' in the afternoon was made by 12 Italian S. 79 torpedo bombers of 89 and 105 Group and 8 He 111s of I./KG 26, guided by 2 Ju 88 bombers of III./KG 76. The British motor-ship 'Empire Rowan' was sunk in the Gulf of Philippeville by 3 aircraft of the Italian 105 Group along with 2 crews of 89 Group. An Italian aircraft failed to return to base from the mission being shot down by a Spitfire of RAF No. 43 Squadron. The Germans lost 3 aircraft, a He 111 of I./KG 26 and the 2 Ju 88s of II./KG 76 to Hurricanes and Spitfires of RAF No. 43 Sqdn and RAF No. 249 Sqdn.
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*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Heinz Bar's I./JG 77 moved from Fatnassa/Oudref to La Fauconnerie.

24 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel with no losses.


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## Njaco (Mar 27, 2008)

*28 March 1943
WESTERN FRONT*: Shortly after noon, 103 B-17s and 24 B-24s were sent to bomb the Rouen marshaling yards. Bad weather caused the Liberators to return to base, leaving the Fortresses to carry on alone. After the escorting RAF Spitfires failed to rendezvous with the bombers, the B-17s began flying a triangular pattern over the Channel, allowing the fighters of II./JG 26 and 12./JG 2 to intercept the formation. When the Spitfires finally arrived, they were too low on fuel and had to return to their airbases leaving the B-17s alone to the Luftwaffe. The German fighters tore into the bomber formation. 9 B-17s were badly damaged and one was shot down by Lt. Georg-Peter Eder of 12./JG 2. But Lt. Eder was injured by return fire from the American bombers and crash-landed his Bf 109 at Beaumont-Le Roger airfield.

24 Venturas, escorted by fighters, bombed Rotterdam docks and hit at least 6 ships and started a fire in a dockside warehouse. No planes were lost.

6 Mosquitoes were dispatched to attack a railway yard near Liege but 2 aircraft were shot down and the remaining 4 bombed an alternative target.

179 Wellingtons, 52 Halifaxes, 50 Lancasters, 35 Stirlings and 7 Mosquitoes attacked St Nazaire. 2 aircraft were lost. This Oboe marked attack fell mainly in the port area.

7 aircraft laid mines off St Nazaire with no losses.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British 8th Army forces completed the capture of the Mareth Line as Free French forces operating in southern Tunisia cleared several towns. 9th AF P-40s supported ground forces in eastern Tunisia while 12th AF aircraft supported ground forces in western Tunisia.

Anxious to move beyond El Guettar, Patton planned a two division attack to the sea that would divide enemy forces. The now experienced US 1st Infantry Division would advance on the north. On the south Major General Manton S. Eddy's 9th Infantry Division would make its first attack as a unit. The 9th would also be making its first attack at night, a difficult tactic in the easiest terrain and in the rocky hills east of El Guettar probably impossible for a unit with only 5 months experience. When the attack began before dawn, 3 battalions of the 9th soon became lost, and 2 remained out of touch for 36 hours. On the left the 1st Infantry Division made faster progress but was unable to push too far ahead of Eddy's men without inviting envelopment. Soon both divisions were exhausting themselves against enemy units dug into rock-face positions with interlocking fields of fire.

Hptm. Heinz Bar, _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 77, was promoted to Major.


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## Njaco (Mar 28, 2008)

*29 March 1943
NORTH AFRICA:* The last Axis troops reached Wadi Akarit. With the Wadi Akarit line fully manned, the New Zealanders entered Gabes. The new Axis defense was a strong natural barrier but preparations for the line were poor and the forces to defend it depleted. El Hamma was finally occupied by British forces. 9th AF B-25s and P-40s attacked an airfield and supported British ground troops.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 9./JG 53 moved to Monserrato / Sardinia.

*GERMANY*: 162 Lancasters, 103 Halifaxes and 64 Stirlings attacked BERLIN. 21 aircraft were lost. Weather conditions were difficult with icing and inaccurately forecast winds. The marking for the raid appeared to be concentrated but in a position which was too far south and the Main Force arrived late. Most of the bombs fell in open country 6 miles southeast of BERLIN. German records say that 148 people were killed in BERLIN and 148 buildings were totally destroyed but there is some doubt about the accuracy of these figures.

8 Oboe Mosquitoes and a Main Force of 149 Wellingtons attacked Bochum. 12 aircraft were lost. This raid was another failure. The night was moonless and cloudy. The Mosquitoes were not able to adhere to their timetable and there were long gaps in the sky-marking. Local records say that only 4 buildings in Bochum were destroyed and 35 were damaged with 28 people being killed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 61 Venturas flew 2 raids to Rotterdam docks and 1 to a railway target at Abbeville but the weather was unfavorable and only the bombing on the second raid to Rotterdam was accurate. No losses.

1 Mosquito went to Dortmund and 7 Stirlings laid mines in the Frisians without loss.


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## Njaco (Mar 29, 2008)

*30 March 1943
NORTH AFRICA:* Allied troops of the British Eighth Army moved up to the new German defensive line at Wadi Akarit. The 10 day battle to breach the Axis defenses of the Mareth Line was over, with Montgomery a decisive victor in his first confrontation with the new German commander, General von Arnim. The movement of so many men and tanks in darkness was a move previously favoured by Rommel but not the Allies. Another tactic deployed to a greater extent than was customary for the Allies was the use of air power to support attacking land forces. Forward air-controllers were in the front line of the Tebaga attack, using radio to direct Spitfires and other aircraft to attack tanks and enemy defenses. The land forces advanced behind an aerial barrage of cannon fire and bombs from fighter-bombers flying over them in 15 minute relays. Some 6,000 Axis soldiers - mostly Italian - were taken prisoner. But although most of the Mareth Line defenders escaped, they had little time to prepare new defenses against the inevitable next move by Monty's desert soldiers.

Further northwest, frustrated at the pace of the American infantry attack, General Alexander directed Patton to send an armoured column on a quick thrust to Gabes, the seaport whose possession would complete the division of Axis forces. Patton sent a task force ahead at noon, but in 3 days it made little progress and lost 13 tanks. The task force was halted, and the emphasis returned to the infantry struggling in the hills.

After a stay of a few days, Major Heinz Bar's I./JG 77 moved from La Fauconnerie to Bou Thadi.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stalin was informed that the Murmansk convoys were being suspended due to the losses sustained by the merchant ships.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 10 Mosquitoes bombed the Philips works at Eindhoven but could only hit the corner of the factory. No losses.


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## Njaco (Mar 30, 2008)

*31 March 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Attacks against the German 17.Armee in the Kuban peninsula resulted in the fall of Anastasyevsk, north of Novorossiisk, to the advancing Soviet forces. Oberst Kurt Kuhlmey, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./SG 3 was made Geschwaderkommodore of Stukageschwader 3, seeing action on the Eastern Front and in the Crimea.
**
Major Hubertus von Bonin's III./JG 52 moved from Kertsch IV to Taman.
**
*GERMANY: *Major-General Peltz of the Luftwaffe, was appointed _Angriffsfuhrer England_, in charge of bombing raids against the British Isles.
**
*NORTH AFRICA:* Cap Serrat was occupied by the British. Hptm. Adolf Dickfeld, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 2 gave up his command in North Africa to transfer to a new unit forming in Germany.
**
*MEDITERRANEAN*: A large US AF bombing force attacked the Axis air base and transit port of Cagliari, Sardinia.​*UNITED KINGDOM*: Approximately 1056 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were lost in March, either killed or POW.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The shipyards at Rotterdam were bombed by the Us 8th AF. 78 B-17s and 24 B-24s were dispatched. The US had trouble as only 33 B-17s of the 303rd and 305th BG (Heavy) bombed the target. A formation of B-24s on the way to Rotterdam were blown off course by high winds which forced the formation to change course numerous times. The changes were so bad that 4 of the 6 bomber groups aborted the mission. The remaining B-17s were met by Fw 190s from JG 26. Fw. Peter Crump explained the action;


> "_A new tactic of the heavy formations made its first appearance. The direction of attack appeared to be over Holland into the Ruhr, and so we of the opposing defenses were disposed accordingly. During their approach they turned, and left England on a southerly course, as if to attack a target in France. But the entire maneuver was then reversed; after flying south they then turned back east. In the meantime, we were being led this way and that, and would soon be unable to attack the enemy formation due to low fuel. Auxiliary fuel tanks were available but we were flying this mission without them...As our Gruppe flew north, almost to the coast and almost out of fuel, I spotted the bomber stream in the dusk at 11 o'clock, on a northwesterly course somewhat below us. My report to the formation leader Galland brought the reply, 'Where are they? I see nothing!' A second more detailed report brought the same reply. Apparently no one else saw the formation or else the Kommandeur did not want to see it, having in mind our almost empty tanks. At any rate, after a short delay he turned about to a course for home, with the comment, 'Ich habe durst!', which was code for low fuel. However the rest of us were given a free hand to do what we wanted. A glance at my fuel gauge showed me that an attack was possible; my wingman agreed with me. In a gentle climb, I turned my rotte on a course to the northwest; as we approached the bomber stream I swung to the right, toward the last Pulk of B-17s. I glanced around, and found to my relief that the bombers were without fighter escort. I attacked the nearest B-17, which was at the left of the leading Vee, from the front and slightly above. It began to smoke immediately. Flames erupted between its 2 left engines. The bomber sheered away to the left, trailing a long stream of fire. As long as I watched, it remained on a course in a shallow dive. I quickly turned my eyes away from it and the rest of the enemy formation, as it was high time we got away. My wingman had been hit in an aileron and had control problems. But thanks to our altitude, and with some luck, we made smooth landings at Coxyde, a nearby coastal airfield. I do not know what happened to 'my' B-17. I only know that from that day onward I was considered to have the best eyes in the Second Gruppe." _


Only 2 bombers were lost, one shot down by Fw. Crump and another by Oblt. Stammberger of 4./JG 26 off Ostend. Two other bombers were destroyed in a mid-air collision.

At JG 1 Hptm Gunther Beise gave up his position as _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 1. At III./JG 1, Major Walter Spies gave up his position as _Gruppenkommandeur _to Major Karl-Heinz Lessmann. Oblt. Dr. Erich Mix gave up his position as _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 1, performing _Reichsverteidigung _duties in Germany. Several _Geschwaderkommodoren _of the _Kampfgeschwader _also lost their positions. At KG 53, Oblt. Pockrandt was made _Geschwaderkommodore _in place of Oberst Wilke. Oblt. freiherr zu Eisenbach was given command of KG 54 in place of Oblt. Marienfeld.


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## Njaco (Mar 31, 2008)

*1 April 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: British coastal fighters and torpedo planes engaged the Italian blockade runner _'Pietro Orseolo' _off the coast of Spain. Escorting German destroyers destroyed 5 of the attacking aircraft but the US submarine _'Shad' _hit the Italian ship with a torpedo causing substantial damage.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Auschwitz-Birkenau: With the opening of the second of four spanking-new crematoria here today, the camp's capacity to process human beings into ashes has taken another step forward. The
extermination of Jews and Gypsies on such a scale brings a new problem: how to dispose of their belongings? In order to maintain the illusion that they are to be resettled, deportees are allowed to take a bundle of clothes or a small suitcase of belongings each. When they arrive, and undergo the selection that sends most of them straight to the gas chamber, they must drop everything. A special corner of the camp, called Canada, is full of privileged prisoners whose task is to sort the goods into piles. In the middle of the yard are two enormous mountains, one of blankets, and one of suitcases and knapsacks. Prisoners sort clothing into piles; the yellow stars will be taken off, the bloodstains cleaned up and the old clothes shipped to the Reich for distribution to the German needy. To the right, hundreds of prams; to the left, thousands of pots and pans. All around are huts filled to the rafters with shaving brushes, spectacles, dentures, corsets, wigs, false limbs, shoes, handkerchiefs; the pitiful residue of lives cruelly terminated in a cloud of poison gas. The children's toys, bottles, dummies and tiny clothes bear mute testimony to the slaughter of the innocents. Money and valuables - mainly watches, jewelry, and currency - are set aside and sent to the Reichsbank. This includes the few diamonds squeezed out of toothpaste tubes where hopeful deportees hid them, and gold teeth and fillings wrenched from the mouths of corpses before cremation.

*GERMANY*: The prototype Blohm and Voss Bv 222V-7 made its maiden flight. This aircraft was different from its predecessors in having 6 980hp Jumo 207C diesels in place of BMW engines. It had an increased armament and provision for rocket-assisted take-off.

Early in the morning, an RAF Lancaster tried to repeat the British success of 20 March 1943 by raiding into Germany alone. The lone Lancaster of RAF No. 103 Sqdrn was again piloted by S/L C. O'Donoghue and set out to bomb the town of Emmerich just over the German border. But this time the bomber was met by Obfw. Fritz Timm of 3./JG 1 who shot down the bomber for one of the few Lancaster kills achieved by the _Geschwader_. The Lancaster went down over Holland and the entire crew was killed. 

Major-General Peltz of the Luftwaffe is appointed Angriffsfhrer England, in charge of bombing raids against England. With the whole country now geared up for "total war", the armaments industry accounts for a massive 70% of Germany's national product. Since 1939, production of arms and equipment has quadrupled. Overall industrial production has risen by only 12%. The National Socialist government says that recovery from the appalling losses of the Wehrmacht in the USSR will be made on a rising tide of new weaponry, although male armaments workers are being sent to replace their dead countrymen at the front. All businesses that are not essential to the war effort have been closed. Agricultural production has fallen severely as farmhands are siphoned off to the war industries and fertilizers are increasingly hard to come by. Even production of the much-praised potato has dropped, and it is now illegal to feed potatoes to livestock. But the economy would be in a far worse state if it were not for the National Socialists' systematic exploitation of the occupied countries' resources and labour. Nearly one-fifth of the food consumed in Germany comes from abroad. 

At Rastenburg, Hitler meets Bulgaria's King Boris III for consultations.

*NORTH AFRICA*: During the night RAf Wellingtons of the NAAF bombed the Bizerte docks and Karouba Bay seaplane base. During the day, A-20s bombed La Fauconnerie and El Djem airfields. Fighters carrying out recon missions over wide areas of Tunisia, attacked motor transports, tanks and guns in the Sidi Mansour-Djebel Tebaga areas. British medium and light bombers along with fighters hit gunpositions north of Oued el Akarit and hit the Sfax-El Maou airfield, hitting parked planes and AA batteries.

Major Thyng of the US 309th FS / 31st FG destroyed a Bf 109. Lt. Kelly also claimed a Bf 109 however Lts. Juhnke and Strole were both killed.

JG 77 gained an emblem when the unit was given a _Geschwader _badge and the name 'Herz-As' or Ace of Hearts.

*NORWAY*: Soviet troops occupy Anastasyevsk, north of Novorossiisk. The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day: S-54 Northern Fleet off coast of Norway (mined off Norwegian coast)​
*WESTERN FRONT*: _Jagdfliegerfuhrer 4_ was formed in northern France for Luftflotte 3. Among its members were Major Gerhard Schopfel, Operations Officer and Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix, formerly of JG 1. Obstlt. Joachim-Friedrich Huth was appointed _Jagdfliegerfuhrer_. The HQ of Jafu 4 was initially located in a monastery in Rennes.

The growing might of the Allies had forced the Luftwaffe to increase its fighter units and a new _Geschwader_, JG 11, was formed at Jever from a poaching of Bf 109s from I./JG 1 and Fw 190s from III./JG 1, becoming II./JG 11 and I./JG 11 respectively. To this organization was added a new Bf 109 equipped II./JG 11 and a _Geschwaderstab _under _Geschwaderkommodore _Major Anton Mader from II./JG 77. Having formed this new unit, JG 11 was based in an arc stretching on the north German plain between the Dutch and Danish borders. I./JG 11 was divided between Aalborg-West (Denmark) and Lister (Norway). II./JG 11 was initially divided between Borkum (4./JG 11), Jever (Stab.II and 5./JG 11) and Wangerooge (6./JG 11), but all were united at Jever during April. The _Gruppenkommandeurs _were Major Walter Spies for I./JG 11, Hptm. Gunther Beise of II./JG 11 and Hptm. Ernst-Gunther Heinze for III./JG 11. In place of Major Mader, Major Siefried Freytag was posted as _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 77.

Hptm. Hans Philipp of I./JG 54 was transferred to _Reichsvertiedigung _duties as _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 1 in place of the recently departed Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix. But Hptm. Philipp was in command of a depleted air unit. The remaining units of JG 1 were reformed at Deelen. IV./JG 1 became I./JG 1 led by Major Fritz Losigkeit and III./JG 1 led by the newly appointed Major Karl-Heinz Leesmann.

Back in August 1942, the _General der Nachtjagd_, Josef Kammhuber, had urged the aircraft manufacturer Ernst Heinkel to produce enough of the new He 219 'Uhu' nightfighters to equip an operational _Gruppe _by 1 April 1943. By this date Heinkel had only 5 prototypes available. A small batch of preproduction He 219A-Os were nevertheless delivered to I./NJG 1 at Venlo.

In early April, the _Fliegerfuhrer Atlantik _Generalluetnant Ulrich Kessler, requested that patrols be flown by auxillary tank equipped Fw 190s to the area southwest of Cornwall, England, where Coastal Command aircraft could be expected to fly.

12 Mosquitoes bombed a power station and railways yards at Trier. Both targets were hit. A local report says that 21 people were killed in the attack but gives no other detail. No planes were lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 1, 2008)

*2 April 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: 'U-124' on passage to the Freetown area encountered the UK/West Africa convoy 'OS45' to the west of Portugal. Two merchant ships were sunk, but she was attacked by the sloop _'Black Swan' _and the corvette _'Stonecrop' _of the 37th EG and sunk in turn.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Moscow claimed that 850,000 Germans died in the winter campaign.

*GERMANY*: The commander of Luftwaffenkommando Ost, Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim, was awarded the _Eichenlaub_.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night, RAF Liberators of the 9th AF bombed the ferry terminal at Messina and the airfield at Crotone. During the day two 9th AF B-24s on a special mission, bombed the ferry terminals at Messina and Villa San Giovanni. 27 B-24s sent against Naples found the target totally obscured by clouds. 9 machines bombed the area through overcast and 3 bombed Augusta and Crotone. 24 9th AF B-24s sent to attack Palermo aborted because of heavy clouds over the target.

1(F)./122 received 6 Bf 109G-4/R3s with orders to base them at Elmas, since this was the only airfield on Sardinia that had a runway long enough for Bf 109 photo recon variants outfitted with auxiliary fuel tanks.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US 9th AF P-40s flew 9 armed recon and 6 fighter-bomber and escort missions. NAAF B-25s and A-20s bombed the airfield at La Fauconnerie.

6./JG 77 lost a Bf 109 in an air combat with a P-40, north of Gabes, 4./JG 77 lost one Bf 109 in combat with Bostons and Spitfires over La Fauconnerie and 3./JG 77 lost one Bf 109 after combat with a P-40 near gabes in the evening.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Today was the first sortie of the newly formed 1409 (Meteorological) Flight, based at Oakington. One Mosquito, crewed by Flight Lieutenant P. Cunliffe-Lister and Sergeant J. Boyle, made a weather reconnaissance flight to Brittany in preparation for the Bomber Command raids to be carried out in the coming night. The Mosquito returned safely. 1409 Flight operated until the end of the war, flying 1364 sorties on 632 days. Only 3 Mosquitoes were lost during this period. Although all these sorties were under Bomber Command control, it was not practicable to list every sortie in the Bomber Command War Diaries.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 55 mixed aircraft went to St Nazaire and 47 to Lorient in the last raids on these French ports. Bomber Command was released from the obligation to bomb these targets 3 days later. 1 Lancaster was lost from the St Nazaire raid. The only report available from France said that the local fire brigade headquarters at St Nazaire was hit and 1 person was wounded. Both towns were now largely deserted by their former civilian populations.

33 aircraft laid mines off the southern part of the Biscay coast. 1 Lancaster was lost.​


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2008)

*3 April 1943*

*GERMANY*: 225 Lancasters, 113 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Essen. 12 Halifaxes and 9 Lancasters were lost, a further 2 Halifaxes crashed in England. This was the first raid in which more than 200 Lancasters had taken part. The weather forecast was not entirely favorable for this raid and the Pathfinders prepared a plan both for sky-marking and ground-marking the target. In the event, there was no cloud over Essen and the Main Force crews were somewhat confused to find two kinds of marking taking place. The resultant bombing, however, was accurate and a higher proportion of aircraft produced good bombing photographs than on any of the earlier successful raids on Essen. Local reports showed that there was widespread damage in the centre and in the western half of Essen. 635 buildings were destroyed and 526 seriously damaged.118 people - 88 civilians, 10 flak gunners, 2 railwaymen, 2 policemen and 16 French workers - were killed and 458 people were injured. Almost the whole of NJG 1 were involved in the RAF raid on Essen and several pilots recorded multiple kills. Triple victories were awarded to Major Werner Streib of Stab I./NJG 1 and Hptm. Hans-Dieter Frank of 2./NJG 1 while Hptm. Herbert Lutje from 8./NJG 1 and Oblt. Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin of 6./NJG 1 were credited with 2 bombers apiece. Single scores were claimed by Lt. August Geiger of 7./NJG 1, Major Helmut Lent of Stab IV./NJG 1 and Oblt. Martin Bauer from 3./NJG 1.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Patton's thrust by US II Corps around El Guettar was stopped by determined Axis defenses. NAAF fighters strafed tanks and trucks at Kebira and Jabal Nasir Allah. 13 _Stukas _near El Guettar were attacked by Spitfires of the US 52d FG. The Spitfires shot down 12 of the _Stukas _and lost one Spitfire. As remembered by Col. Collinsworth;


> "_One squadron relieved another squadron on station. We were patrolling all daylight hours - you talk about a waste of time and flying hours, this was it! But Vinson, his squadron was to replace another squadron and at the appointed time, the squadron that was to leave the patrol didn't see the replacements, which was Vinson and his squadron. So because of fuel, they left at the appointed time, but Vinson wasn't there. Well, what Vinson had done was delay his takeoff 5 minutes intentionally, and maintained low-level flight across there to El Guettar and lo, and behold, he caught 13 Stukas doing their business! They shot down, to the best of my knowledge, 12 of those Stukas and lost one Spitfire. Now, unfortunately, that one lone Spitfire was Arnold Vinson." _


Capt. Vinson did become an ace, along with Capt. Norman McDonald who shot down 3 that day, to become the first Spitfire aces in the Med.

USAAF 9th AF B-24s bombed El Maou Airdrome in the Sfax area during the night. P-40s flew fighter-bomber missions north of Gabes. B-25s bombed the airfield at Saint Marie du Zit. Western Desert AF light bombers hit motor transport and gun positions north of Oued el Akarit.​
*UNITED KINGDOM*: FW190 fighter bombers raided Eastbourne and strafed streets crowded with shoppers.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Venturas bombed shipping at Brest and 8 Mosquitoes attacked railway targets in Belgium and France. 1 Mosquito was lost.

16 Wellingtons went minelaying off Brittany ports. 1 aircraft was lost.​


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## Njaco (Apr 3, 2008)

*4 April 1943*

*GERMANY*: 203 Lancasters, 168 Wellingtons, 116 Halifaxes and 90 Stirlings made the largest raid so far on Kiel. This was the largest 'non-1000' bombing force of the war so far. 12 aircraft were lost. The Pathfinders encountered thick cloud and strong winds over the target so that accurate marking became very difficult. It was reported that decoy fire sites may also have drawn off some of the bombing. Kiel reported that only a few bombs in the town with 11 buildings destroyed, 46 damaged and 26 people being killed. No commercial premises were hit. The only building hit apart from houses was a Catholic church.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US Ninth AF dispatched 99 B-24s to attack Naples, concentrating on the dock area. In Sicily, RAF Liberators bombed Palermo. Meanwhile NAAF B-25s bombed shipping at Carloforte on San Petro Isalnd and 64 B-17s hit Capodichino airfield and the marschaling yards at Naples.

*NORTH AFRICA*: NAAF P-38s dive-bombed a beached freighter off Cape Zebib. Other P-38s escorted bombing raids. NATAF A-20s hit La Fauconnerie airfield while B-25s hit El Djem and Sainte Maries du Zit airfields. Fighters accompanied light and medium bombers on attacks and carried out support missions over the battle areas of Tunisia. Ofw. Johann Picler of 7./JG 77 claimed one B-25 for his 32d victory.

*NORWAY*: A Ju 88A-4 from IV./KG 30 crashed into the sea at Kattegat 3 miles east of Hals before noon for unknown reasons. Two ships from Hafenschutsflotille Hals set course for the area of the crash to search for survivours but returned to Hals without having found any of the crew.

A Bf 110F-4 from 7./NJG 3 crashed into the Storebaelt, south of the island of Sjaelland. Uffz. Brodel and Uffz. Abele were found washed ashore on the island of Bogo on 7 April and interred in Kobenhavn Vestre cemetary.​
*UNITED KINGDOM*: German aircraft began dropping mines in the Thames Estuary near London.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth AF targeted the Renault plant in Paris for bombing by 97 B-17s of the US 1st BW. Three diversions by the bombers drew the defending German fighters away and allowed 18 B-17s of the US 305th BG to successfully bomb the target. On the return flight, the bombers were bounced over Rouen by 75 fighters from JG 26, I./JG 2 and the single _Staffel _of JG 105 led by the _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 2, Major Walter Oesau. Heavy damage was caused by the German defenders before the escorting RAF Spitfires appeared and a massive dogfight ensued, extending over the Channel. Five Spitfires were shot down and 2 B-17s were credited to II./JG 26's _Gruppenkommandeur _Hptm. 'Wutz' Galland. Oblt. Karl Borris of 8./JG 26 claimed 1 B-17 while Major Oesau was credited with a 4th bomber. JG 26 lost 2 pilots killed from MG fire from the bombers and one pilot injured. Victory claims being what they were, one B-17 crew was given credit for destroying 10 Luftwaffe fighters.

60 Venturas attacked an airfield near Caen(24 aircraft), a shipyard at Rotterdam(24 aircraft) and a railway target at St Brieue (12 aircraft). All targets were successfully bombed but 2 aircraft from the Rotterdam raid were lost. Of the RAF Venturas that were lost attacking Caen and Rotterdam, credit for the kills was given to Uffz. Schonrock of 4./JG 1 and Fw. Roden from 4./JG 1 who also claimed a P-38. Six Spitfires were also claimed by pilots of 5. and 4./JG 1.
​


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## Njaco (Apr 4, 2008)

*5 April 1943*
*
EASTERN FRONT*: Over Murmansk, Uffz. Kurt Dobner of 14(Jabo)./JG 5 and an original member of the unit, was killed by flak over the seaport.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Montgomery was finally ready to attack the Germans and Italians on the Wadi Akarit Line. The Axis forces had used the time wisely and had improved the defenses so that the 15.Panzerdivision and 90th Light Division were in good shape but most of the armour had been sent north to engage US forces around El Guettar. Four hours before the battle began, the 4th Indian Division staged an attack on the Italian positions on the 900ft high Djebel Fatnassa that commanded the wadi from the rear. In the lead were Gurkhas, warriors from Nepal who began scaling Fatnassa to secure the pathway along the ridgeline above the wadi. For Italian Alpine troops high in the hills overlooking Wadi Akarit, the nightmare came on a starless night. Sentries knew nothing of the assault by the 4th Indian until they felt the cold steel of Gurkha kukris against their throats. In a few hours, more than 4,000 Italians had surrendered. The Indian encirclement - over a wide mountainous area - was an overwhelming success. By dawn, the Gurkhas had secured the high ground, eliminating a key position of the Axis defense.

Operation FLAX began which was designed to destroy - in the air and on the ground - enemy air transports and escrts employed in ferrying personnel and supplies to Tunis. NAAF B-17s and A-20s bombed airfields at Sidi Ahmed and Tunis. Fighetrs attacked E-Boats off Pont-du-Fahs and vehicles south of Bou Hamran. Western Desert AF and NAAF aircraft hit motor transport west of Cekhirs and struck shipping. During the day NAAF aircraft claimed the destruction of nearly 50 aircraft in aerial combat. As the daylight bombers returned to their bases, RAF Wellingtons hammered targets behind the battle lines, destroying a railway station, barracks and factories near Sfax.

Vital Axis supply routes took a terrible punishment. In an effort to re-supply the Afrika Korps trapped in Tunis, the Luftwaffe tried to fly in supplies from Sicily and southern Italy. 65 JU 52s were sent across the Med in one of the first large scale re-supply missions. The Junkers were escorted by only 2 Bf 109s from II./JG 27 and 3 Bf 110s from III./ZG 26. These were attacked near Cap Bon by 46 P-38s from the US 1st and 82d FG, divided into 2 formations. The Germans scrambled whatever they could to aid the hard pressed formation of transports but the whole reinforcement amounted to nothing more than 8 Bf 109s from II./JG 53. The German fighter pilots shot down 6 P-38s, but of course were so outnumbered that they were unable to cover the Ju 52s against the masses of Lightnings. No less than 14 Ju 52s were shot down. Elsewhere, P-38s accounted for another 15 German fighters. Combined efforts of NAAF fighters and bombers destroyed up to 200 Luftwaffe aircraft on 5 April, with many destroyed on the ground.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: As Allied troops prepared for the final push on Tunis and Bizerte, British and American aircraft launched their greatest assault on Axis targets. More than a thousand sorties were flown, a record in the North African campaign. Allied Fortresses and Mitchells saturated 3 airfields - Borizza, Boca de Felso and Milo - on the Italian mainland. More than 250 grounded aircraft were destroyed. P-38s flew several fighter sweeps over the Straits of Sicily.
​*WESTERN FRONT*: The US sent 104 B-17s and B-24s of the US 1st BW to raid the ERLA aircraft repair facility at Antwerp, escorted by 9 squadrons of RAF Spitfires. The bombing of the factory turned out to be one of the major tragedies of WW II. The Germans had taken over the Minerva motorworks when they occupied Belgium in 1940 and 3,000 people were employed there, repairing damaged German planes and therefore on the priority list for attention by the US Eighth AF. When the escort Spitfires withdrew at the limit of their endurance, the Germans struck, breaking up the US formation causing the bombing run to be poor. Oblt. Otto Stammberger described the attack by JG 26;


> "_At about 1430 hours a report was received at Vitry that many bombers were assembling over southeastern England. Neither the direction of the attack not its target could yet be determined. Our Gruppe was called to cockpit readiness; at this command 30 pilots climbed into their aircraft and made ready for takeoff. We recieved running reports over the loudspeakers of the movement of the aircraft, which were now identified as heavy bombers - about 100 of them. They were still circling while assembling. At 1445 hours we were sent off into the air; first to wait over Amiens and then over Bethune. The bomber stream took a southeastern course toward Dunkirk and we were sent to Dunkirk. The heavies had now reached the coast near Ostend and flew in the direction Ghent-Brussels. We turned and rushed toward Brussels. Past Ghent, the stream suddenly turned east toward Antwerp. We had already been in the air more than half an hour and had used up over half our fuel as we had been flying at high speed trying to catch up to the bombers.
> After about 45 minutes we saw the bombers far ahead on an easterly course; we were to their north. Now we took out after them at full throttle, climbing at a slight angle in order to be able to storm through the formation from the front. Suddenly we saw the bomb carpet of the first formation strike on the southern edge of Antwerp with large explosions and clouds of smoke. We had just reached a good attack position and broke to the right, diving on the first pulk, which made a left turn away from us. But the pulk following it was in just the right position for our attack. Just as this formation dropped its bombs, I found a Boeing squarely in my sights. Everything now took place in fractions of a second. The salvo from my 4 cannon and 2 machine guns hit squarely in the bomber's cockpit; I had to pull up quickly as the bomber suddenly tipped forward - the pilot had probably been hit. The aircraft entered a spin to the left. Most of the crew bailed out. The B-17 kept flying, pilotless, for some distance; it finally crashed at about 1535 hours. After my victory, I still had enough fuel for 10 or 15 minutes of flight, and returned to my base with as many of my companions as were still with me."_


Four B-17s were shot down by JG 26 including one each for _Geschwaderkommodore _Priller - his 84th kill - _Gruppenkommandeur _Hptm. 'Wutz' Galland's 38th victory, Obfw. Addi Glunz' 32d victory and Oblt. Stammberger's 5th victory. But this success had a cost. The _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 26, Hptm. Fritz Geisshardt was hit by return fire from the bombers and landed at Ghent, badly wounded. The doctors could not save him and he died the next morning.

In a mission summary, Brigadier General Frank Armstrong of the US Eighth AF's 1st BW stated;


> "_This was the strongest and most aggressive force of fighters that 1st Bombardment Wing has ever faced. The enemy, with his tactics of attacking in formation, picking out the low aircraft, boring in to make the attack and then breaking away downward as the next wave came in, was successful in destroying 4 aircraft and acting as a definite deterrent on the bombing run."_


Two bombs hit the aircraft factory, killing many workers but the rest of the bombs were released too late and fell on the residential part of Mortsel, a suburb of Antwerp, over a mile away from the target. A total of 936 civilians were killed including 209 schoolchildren. Only 18 children survived the bombing of St. Lutgardis school at No. 30 Mechelsesteenweg. In all, 342 people were injured and 220 houses destroyed.

12 Venturas attacked a tanker at Brest. The ship was not hit but nearby dock installations were. 3 Venturas were lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 5, 2008)

*6 April 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In attacks on the Halifax/UK convoy 'HX231' southwest of Iceland, 2 U-Boats were lost - _'U-635' _to the frigate _'Tay' _of the British B7 group and _'U-632' _to a RAF Liberator. 6 of the convoy's merchantmen were lost to the 15 ship wolf pack.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Units of Heeresgruppe A (von Weichs) began an offensive against the Black Sea port of Novorosiisk in the Caucasus.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Montgomery launched his attack against the Wadi Akarit Line an hour before dawn. The British opened with an artillery barrage described by the Italian commander, General Giovanni Meese, as an "_apocalyptic hurricane of steel and fire._" The British 50th Division and 51st Highland Division then struck at the center of the Akarit Line. Depsite the artillery barrage, the Italians were surprised by the assault. By 09:30 hours they were surrendering in huge numbers.The attack, though, went poorly and drew the German 15.Panzerdivision and 90th Light Division south and away from Patton's forces at El Guettar. The 90th refused to yield its sector of the line. In the afternoon, as the British 8th Armoured Brigade crawled around the base of a hill behind the captured Italian positions, its lead tanks were met head-on and stopped by the guns of the 15.Panzerdivision. All that afternoon, the 15.Panzerdivision blocked the British breakthrough. Montgomery decided to wait until the next morning before trying to force the advance. But that afternoon, the German Divisional Commanders brought discouraging reports to General Meese who reported these to von Arnim. 15.Panzerdivision had stopped the British but they would be unable to continue to do so. If Italian forces were to be saved, then the Axis lines would have to be pulled back. Orders went out that the remaining Axis troops in the coastal region, at El Hamma and El Guettar must withdraw to the north, to the Enfidaville line. But not before 7,000 prisoners had been taken by the British.

US 9th AF B-25s flew 2 missions against concentrations in the Oued el Akarit region, scoring hits on buildings, tanks and numerous vehicles. P-40s flew escort and strafing operations, attacking guns, vehicles and personnel as the British army began the assault on Wadi Akarit.

During the night, NAAF Wellingtons bombed the dock and shipping at Tunis. Two forces of B-17s bombed a convoy further west, near Zembra Island and hit a convoy off Bizerte sinking a German freighter and damaging an Italian transport which was later beached to prevent her sinking. B-25s and A-20 havocs attacked landing grounds and airfields at Enfidaville, La Fauconnerie and El Djem. La Fauconnerie bore the brunt of the attacks and was well covered. Fighters escorted the bombing raids and attacked scattered Axis movement.

JG 77 suffered 3 losses in the afternoon, one northwest of Fatnassa in air combat and 2 in belly-landings near to La Cesare due to unknown reasons. Fw. Herbert Kittler of 7./JG 77 was killed in action shortly after gaining his 11th victory, a Spitfire. Oblt. Georg Seckel of 7./JG 77 claimed another Spitfire shortly after Fw. Kittler's.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 8 Mosquitoes attacked Namur railway workshops accurately and without loss.

47 aircraft went to lay mines off the Biscay ports. 1 Halifax and 1 Wellington lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 6, 2008)

*7 April 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Walter Heitkamp, a 40 victory pilot with JG 52, died of his wounds while in Russian captivity. Some believe that he was actually killed by his captors.

*MEDITERREANAN* : RAF Liberators, under IX Bomber Command control, bomb the Naples area.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s hit the ferry and slips at Messina harbor. Northwest African Air Force B-17s bomb the docks and ships at Trapani.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The US II Corps linked up with the British Eighth Army on the Gabes-Gafsa road, cutting off German forces in Tunisia. 9th AF B-25s bombed retreating columns which were being pursued north of Oued el Akarit by the British XXX and X Corps while fighters carried out bombing and strafing operations in the battle area. Highway and motor transport were bombed between Sfax and Sousse.

In the skies over the battlelines, JG 77 fought vicious air battles against the Allies in an effort to protect the German troops. Several _Experten _raised their scores including Fw. Alexander Preinfalk of 5./JG 77 who reached 67 kills and Lt. Heinz-Edgar Berres of 3./JG 77 who downed a Spitfire in the morning to reach 41 kills.

NAAF Wellingtons attacked Tunis and the Jabal al Jallud marshalling yard. Weather canceled all other bomber missions except for 2 recon sorties. All available airplanes of the XII Air Support Command and Western Desert Air Force hit ground forces which were retreating in all sectors. Fighters flew sweeps over Medjez el Bab (claiming 3 fighters downed), a scramble mission northwest of Oued Zarga (5 fighters claimed destroyed) and over 100 other sorties.

The US 31st FG received its first Spitfire Mk IXs. The Germans were now on the run and the Group was moved to Djilma, 15 miles from the front.​
*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Kurt Ruppert was posted as _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 26 in place of Hptm. Fritz Geisshardt who had died of his wounds the day before.

Hptm. Lothar Otto, _Staffelkapitaen _of 3(F)./122 had a narrow escape when a fire started in one of the engines of his Ju 88D-1. He forced landed at St. Remis en l'Eau due to the fire and was injured.


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## Njaco (Apr 8, 2008)

*8 April 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: With the spring thaw turning battlefields into mud and hampering military maneuvers, both the Germans and Soviets planned ahead for the summer. Marshal Zhukov suggested to Stalin in a letter that his forces should be first on the defensive against the expected panzer onslaught.


> "_It would be better to make the enemy first exhaust himself against our defenses and knock out his tanks_," he wrote.



*GERMANY*: 156 Lancasters, 97 Wellingtons, 73 Halifaxes, 56 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Duisburg. 19 aircraft were lost. Thick cloud again ruined the Pathfinder marking and the resultant bombing was widely scattered. Duisburg experienced only moderate damage with 40 buildings destroyed, 72 seriously damaged and 36 people killed. Bombs fell on at least 15 other towns in the Ruhr.

A 4 day meeting between Hitler and Mussolini begins at Salzberg. They decide to hold in North Africa.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Ninth Air Force B-24s attack Palermo harbor.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Axis forces continued their withdrawl towards Enfidaville. Units of the British Eighth Army captured Sfax. Lt. Graf von Westerholt of III./SKG 10 was hit by AA fire and his Fw 190A-4 crashed near Mezzouna, Tunis and he was killed.

USAAF 9th AF P-40s flew 29 bomber escort and other missions against retreating German columns along the coast north of Gabes. NAAF P-40s and Spitfires flew sweeps and recon over the Faid Pass - Fondouk el Aouareb - Kairouan area as the British X Corps attacked Fondouk. Other fighters flew recon and sweeps attacking motor transport south of Zaghouan. Western Desert AF fighters hit retreating German columns in the Cekhira-Sfax area.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 27 aircraft went minelaying off the Biscay coast. 1 Wellington was lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 8, 2008)

*9 April 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: The _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 51, Obstlt. Friedrich Beckh - who had succeeded Werner Moelders in 1941 when Moelders was named _General der Flieger_ - was posted to a staff position within the RLM. In his place was appointed the _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./JG 51, Major Karl-Gottfried Nordmann.

*GERMANY*: 104 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitoes were dispatched to Duisburg but thick cloud caused a scattered attack. 50 houses were destroyed and 27 people were killed in Duisburg. Other bombs fell over a wide area of the Ruhr. 8 Lancasters were lost. During the RAF raid on Duisburg, Fw. Heinz Vinke from 11./NJG 1 destroyed 3 of the bombers but Lt. Oskar Kostler of 10./NJG 1 was killed shortly after he had destroyed a Lancaster for his 6th victory.

4 Mosquitoes attacked various targets just over the German border but a raid by 4 more Mosquitoes to a railway target at Orleans was abortive. No aircraft were lost. 

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army took Maharos, 50 miles southwest of Gabes. 9th AF P-40s in a fighter-bomber role attacked Sfax, as the British Army pursued the retreating Axis. NAAF fighters continued recon of the northern half of Tunisia and the Straits of Sicily and hit German movement and defenses over wide areas between Sfax and Enfidaville.


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## Njaco (Apr 9, 2008)

*10 April 1943*

*GERMANY*: 144 Wellingtons, 136 Lancasters, 124 Halifaxes and 98 Stirlings raided Frankfurt with 21 aircraft lost. Complete cloud cover in the target area again led to a failure. The bombing photographs of every aircraft showed nothing but cloud and Bomber Command had no idea where bombs had fallen. Frankfurt reported only a few in the suburbs of the city south of the River Main. The only damage listed was fires in a paper goods store and in the rafters of a few neighboring houses. The Frankfurt report said that there were no casualties in the city but another report said that 18 people died presumably in country areas.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: IS 12th AF B-17s raided Italian fleet units at La Maddalena in Sardinia sinking the Italian cruiser _'Trieste' _and 2 motor torpedo boats and badly damaging the cruiser _'Gorizia'_. US 9th AF B-24s bombed the harbor at Naples. RAF Liberators hit Palermo.

*NORWAY*: Fw. Hainz Graupner of 2./JG 5 lost speed when banking his Bf 109 sharply and stalled, crashing near Jonstrup not far from Fliegerhorst Vaerlose. Fw, Graupner was killed in the crash and the Bf 109 was a total loss.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army entered Sfax and continued north to La Hencha. The British IX Corps broke out of Fondouk Pass too late to cut off the retreat of the Axis forces.

P-38s destroyed another 20 German transports and 8 escorting German and Italian fighters. Later that afternoon, B-25 medium bombers and their escorts downed 21 transports and 4 of the escorting fighters. Despite these serious losses, the Luftwaffe continued to fly these aerial convoys.

During the night NAAF Wellingtons bombed troops and transports on roads in the area surrounding Enfidaville. In daytime, B-26 Marauders followed up the Wellingtons with raids on roads and military concentrations near Enfidaville. Fighter-bombers also hit ground targets. Fighters escorted bombers and flew sweeps from Medjez el rah to Sousse.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 7 Stirlings laid mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.​


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## Njaco (Apr 10, 2008)

*11 April 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: In a dogfight with Russian fighters over his airbase at Anapa, Ofw. Willi nemitz, _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 52, was shot down and killed. He was one of the oldest frontline pilots in the Luftwaffe at the age of 32 - his nickname was _'Altvater' _or 'Old Father' - and had 81 kills at the time of his death.

Another Eastern front pilot, Oblt. Albrecht Walz of 4./JG 3, was listed as missing in action. He had 27 victories during the war.

*GERMANY*: Hermann Goring, the man whose Luftwaffe was going to bring Britain to its knees, decreed that air-raid patrol duty would be compulsory for every able-bodied German. Women would not be spared their place in the duty rotas which were now being organized. Factory workers were also being drafted into civil defense or the emergency services as they battled to minimize the effect of the raids on production. The raids caused particular damage to the rail and road networks, making travel difficult as well as dangerous.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US 9th AF B-24s attacked Naples harbor. AA fire was intense and Luftwaffe fighters attacked the bombers from all sides, knocking down one bomber. The B-24s claimed the destruction of 3 fighters. NAAF B-17s struck the harbors of Marsala and Trapani. During the night, NAAF Wellingtons bombed airfields at Decimomannu and Monserrato.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In northern Tunisia, the British First Army took Kalrouan, 100 miles south of Tunis.

The Luftwaffe again tried to re-supply the Afrika Korps in Tunisia and sent a formation of 35 transports on an aerial convoy from Sicily. Bounced by B-25s and P-38s out on a shipping sweep over the Sicilian strait, both bomber and twin-engined fighters tore into the German formations. Within minutes, 25 German planes including 21 Ju 52 transports were shot down. In an unusual victory, Uffz. Gaisberger of III./TG 3 claimed one P-38 destroyed during the battle. Uffz. Herbert Romeikat of 2./JG 27 was listed as missing after landing on the sea near Derna with engine damage. The Luftwaffe was being bled white.

1(F)./122 sent a Ju 88A-4 on a sortie to the Algiers - Bone area. the aircraft was shot down 120 miles north of Bone by Spitfires of RAF No. 87 Sqdrn while they were on a convoy patrol.

In the late morning a patrol led by Hptm. Siegfreid Freytag of Stab II./JG 77 flew escort for _Stukas _attacking Allied positions around Medjez el Bab. The force was intercepted by Spitfires and in the ongoing battle Ofw. Wilhelm Baumgartner of 7./JG 77 was shot down south of Sedjoumi. He wore the _Deutsches Kruez in Gold_ and had 34 victories at the time of his death. Hptm. Freytag and Ofw. Heinrich Hackler of 8./JG 77 each claimed a Spitfire.

US 9th AF B-25s attacked motor transport and troop concentrations north of Sfax as Allied ground troops pushed toward Sousse. NAAF P-38s carried out fighters sweeps and recon flights, claiming numerous aircraft shot down. B-26 Marauders bombed Oudna airfield, B-25s hit Sainte Marie du Zit airfield and B-17s struck the harbor at Tunis. Fighter-bombers and A-20s attacked trucks south of Enfidaville and east of Kairouan, the Sousse docks and numerous other targets.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Robert McClintock, the chief American diplomat in Finland, had offered his good services to mediate peace between Finland and Soviet Union. Four days later the Finnish Foreign Minister Henrik Ramsay answered and asked for more information to substantiate whether there is a real basis for a negotiated peace. The American answer is received today. McClintock states that the offer concerns only arranging a direct contact between Finland and Soviet Union, not any offer to act as an intermediary. After receiving the American statement, President Risto Ryti empowers Ramsay to give the Finnish answer. Finland does not think it possible to start negotiations in the present circumstances. One reason is that the Soviets are unwilling to state their terms for starting the negotiations (Molotov has in fact informed the Americans what their minimum demands are, but has also forbidden to inform the Finns of these). The Germans are also applying heavy pressure on Finland; ambassador Wipert von BlŸcher has already left Finland for an undetermined period of time. The Germans also demand Finland to conclude a formal alliance with Germany, but this is refused.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 8 Mosquitoes bomber an engineering factory at Hengelo and railway workshops at Malines. 2 aircraft were lost. The 2 RAF Mosquitoes shot down during the attack on the engineering factory at Hengelo and railway workshops at Malines were claimed by Hptm. Paul Steindl of 9./JG 26 and Uffz. Werner Wiegand of 2./JG 1 for his first victory.

46 aircraft were sent to lay mines off Texel, Brittany and the Biscay ports. 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington were lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 11, 2008)

*12 April 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) evacuated Vyazma. 4(F)./122 conducted operations over the Kuban bridgehead. Two Ju 88D-1s failed to return from a sortie in that area.

*GERMANY*: Oblt. Joachim Blechschmidt was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of ZG 1 in place of Oblt. Paul-Friedrich Darjes.

German radio announced that 4,150 Polish officers that were deported by the Russian authorities in 1940 had been found in mass graves near Smolensk, "...._a ditch was found, 28 meters long and 16 meters wide, in which the bodies of 3,000 Polish officers were piled up in twelve layers. they were fully dressed in military uniforms, some were bound and all had pistol shot wounds in the back of their heads_...." the reports, coming from Goebbels Propaganda ministry were suspect, but the relationship between Russian and Poland had never been a happy one.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US 9th AF B-24s sent to attack Naples harbor, were prevented by bad weather from bombing the target. About half returned without bombing while others hit Cosenza and Crotone. Other heavy bombers of the same group, in another mission, bombed Naples and the secondary target of Pizzo.

RAF Liberators were dispatched against Palermo. The primary target was attacked in spite of total cloud cover, but most of the bomb tonnage was dropped in Messina harbor. NASAF B-17s bombed the harbor at Trapani and hit shipping in the Straits of Sicily.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army took Sousse in Tunisia. NASAF B-17s bombed the harbor at Bizerte. NATAF B-25s and A-20s bombed airfields at Oudna and Sainte Marie du Zit. Other tactical aircraft hit enemy movements and flew sweep and recon throughout northeast Tunisia following the attack during the night by British aircraft, mainly in the Enfidavile, Zaghouan and Bou Ficha areas. 1(F)./122 sent sorties to the Algiers-Bone area and lost one Ju 88D-1 trop.

3 Me 323s from TG 5 were shot down north of Tunis into the Med while ferrying supplies and troops to the North African front.​
*WESTERN FRONT*: Fw. Karl Bugaj of 11./JG 1 was killed in a flying accident. He had only 5 kills flying with JG 1.


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## Njaco (Apr 12, 2008)

*13 April 1943

GERMANY*: 6 Mosquitoes carried out nuisance raids to Bremen, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven. These were the first non-Oboe Mosquito night raids and were the forerunners of Light Night Striking Force operations. The Germans hated the nuisance and harassing effect of the Mosquito raids and could rarely shoot down any of these fast, high-flying aircraft. The Mosquito was later modified to carry a 4000 lb bomb as far as Berlin - a favorite Mosquito target - and in winter individual Mosquitoes were sometimes able to make 2 flights to Berlin under the cover of darkness in the same night, changing crews after the first landing.

10 Lancasters went minelaying off Germany.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: NAAF P-38s bombed a cruiser at La Maddalena and other shipping at Porto Torres. NAAF B-17s bombed the airfields at Castelvetrano and Milo. US 9th AF B-24s were dispatched against the harbor at Catania. Total cloud cover prevented visual contact with the target. One bomber dropped bombs in the target area but others jettisoned their load or returned to base without bombing.

*NORWAY*: Another pilot of 14(Jabo)./JG 5, Uffz. Kurt Wendler, was killed by flak.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army's X Corps, continuing north, reached an anti-tank ditch guarding new enemy positions at Enfidaville and unsuccessfully attempted - on a limited scale - to force a retreat before the line could be strengthened. NAAF B-25s bombed Oudna airfield. Fighters maintained sweeps and recon over northeastern Tunisia and the Straits of Sicily. During the night, RAF aircraft bombed the Megrine landing ground.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The British destroyer _'Eskdale' _was sunk by a German torpedo boat off the coast of Cornwall.​
*WESTERN FRONT*: 24 Venturas bombed railway targets at Abbeville and Caen but most of the bombs missed their targets. No aircraft were lost.

208 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes bombed the dock area of La Spezia and caused heavy damage. 4 Lancasters were lost and 3 more, either damaged or in mechanical difficulty, flew on to land at Allied airfields in North Africa. It is believed that this was the first occasion that the recently captured North African airfields were used for Bomber Command aircraft in distress. The 3 Lancasters flew back to England later. This target was regarded as at maximum range therefore the balance between fuel and bomb load was critical. Max Chivers and his crew in Lancaster ED717 QR-N of 61 Squadron crossed the French coast at 20,000 feet when it was attacked by 2 German night fighters which were outwitted by the two gunners and the violent corkscrew maneuver by the pilot. The navigator was asked for a new course to the target when the wireless operator told the pilot that the navigator was unwell and was unable thereafter to do his duty. As they were half way to the target they decided to continue the operation. Two hours later the target was nearing and despite the fact that most of the Main Force had left the pilot from 8000 feet made his bombing run. On clearing the target area they set a north westerly course and headed for home. Four hours after leaving the area the flight engineer reported a serious loss of fuel possibly due to flak damage. They had been in the air for almost ten hours but decided to make for an emergency landing in the south of England. An hour later, almost out of fuel, they prepared to ditch somewhere between Cherbourg and the Isle of Wight. The impact broke the back of the aircraft but it floated long enough for the crew to clamber into the aircraft's dinghy. Unfortunately the emergency radio was left in the aircraft so their only hope was that an Air-Sea Rescue launch would pick them up. For two days they drifted but on the third day they were spotted by a Whitley bomber of Coastal Command. Later that day they were rescued by a launch. They were given a great reception by the sailors and were taken to their base on the Isles of Scilly. After recovery the crew, except for the navigator, returned to RAF Syerston to continue their tour of operations. The pilot, Flying Officer Max Chivers, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and all the crew became members of the Goldfish Club.


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## Njaco (Apr 13, 2008)

*14 April 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russian 14th Army repulsed a German attack to the southeast of Leningrad. Following their success in opening a route to Leningrad on 18 January, the Soviets had tried twice to lift the siege completely. In their first attack on 10 February, they were foiled by the Spanish _Azul _Division, and then on 19 March they were driven off again. The situation was now like two boxers sparring, seeking advantage, before unleashing their big punches.

Oblt. Hans-Ulrich Rudel of 1./StG 2 was awarded the _Eichenlaub_. This award and presentation by Hitler came with a stipulation added by Rudel himself, that he would not accept it if he was not allowed to continue to fly missions.
​*GERMANY*: 146 Wellingtons, 135 Halifaxes, 98 Lancasters and 83 Stirlings attacked Stuttgart, 23 aircraft were lost. The Pathfinders claimed to have marked the center of this normally difficult target accurately but the main bombing area developed to the north east, along the line of approach of the bombing force. This was an example of the 'creepback', a feature of large raids which occurred when Main Force crews, and some Pathfinder backers-up, failed to press through to the center of the marking area but bombed, or remarked, the earliest markers visible. Bomber Command was never able to eliminate the creepback tendency and much bombing fell outside city areas because of it. On this night the creepback extended over the suburb of Bad Canstatt, which was of an industrial nature, and some useful damage was caused, particularly in the large railway repair workshops situated there. The neighboring districts of Munster and Muhlhausen were also hit and the majority of the 393 buildings destroyed and 942 severely damaged and the 200-plus civilian casualties were in these northern areas. Only a few bombs fell in the center of Stuttgart but the old Gedachtnis church was destroyed. In the district of Gaisburg, just east of the center, 1 bomb scored a direct hit on an air raid shelter packed with French and Russian prisoners of war. 257 Frenchmen and 143 Russians were killed. This tragedy brought the total death roll in Stuttgart to 619, a new record for raids to Germany. The 23 aircraft lost during the RAF raid to Stuttgart were shot down by fighters from NJG 4 and NJG 2. Many night-fighter pilots recorded double kills including Major Kurt Holler of Stab III./NJG 4, Hptm. Materne of 4./NJG 4, Oblt. Rudolf Altendorf from 2./NJG 4, Hptm. Hans-Karl Kamp of 7./NJG 4 and Fw. Robert Luddecke from 5./NJG 2. A Lancaster was returning to Spalding Moor airfield from the operation when just 2 miles from the airfield it crashed out of control. All seven crew were killed. One Stirling collided with an electricity pylon and had to jettison part of its load when the incendiaries caught fire.

At the same time as the Stuttgart raid, Russian long-range 4-engined bombers made individual attacks on Danzig and Konigsberg.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: NAAF B-17s bombed the Elmas and Monserrato airfields.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Axis forces occupied the hills around Bizerte and Tunis, extending from the Cape of Seratt to Enfidaville. This was the last tenable line they had in Tunisia. Montgomery's Eighth Army was moving north toward Djebel Garci and Takrouna. US 9th AF P-40s flew convoy escort and fighter sweeps as the British X Corps continued to make quick jabs at positions at Enfidaville. These attempts to force a German retreat were unsuccessful.

During the night NAAF Hurricanes and Blenhiems bombed La Sebala airfield and attacked transport on the Tunis-Pont du Fahs road. Western Desert AF light and medium bombers hit the airfields at SaintMarie du Zit. During the day, B-17s bombed El Aouina airfield. P-38s escorted the heavy bombers and flew a bombing and strafing mission against a beached vessel near Cape Zebib. A-20 Havocs bombed Bordj Toum. Fighter-bombers hit a motor convoy near Grich el Oued and trucks northeast of Dechret Ben Saidane and a battery east of Djedeida. Fighters flew recon and swept throughout the Tunisian battle area. Patrol planes maintained sea patrols.​
*WESTERN FRONT*: A fighter sweep by 8./JG 2 in the afternoon brought a victory over a Whirlwind bomber by Lt. Wilhelm Godt. But the victory was not without cost as another pilot from 8./JG 2, Fw. Rudolf Eisele, was shot down over Brest by friendly fire from flak. He was killed.


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## Hugh Spencer (Apr 14, 2008)

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## Njaco (Apr 14, 2008)

*15 April 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: Fw. Josef 'Jupp' Zwernemann of 7./JG 52 shot down the Soviet ace, Dmitriy Glinka of 45 GIAP. Fw. Zwernemann's fellow pilot in 7th Staffel, Lt. Erich Hartmann, destroyed a Russian lend-lease Airacobra near Taman.

At Heiligenbeil, Major Reinhard Seiler was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 54 in place of Hptm. Hans Philipp who was transferred to JG 1 as _Geschwaderkommodore _on 1 April 1943.

JG 54's Oblt. Siegfried Graf von Matuschka of 4./JG 54 was killed by a lend-lease Spitfire over St. Inglevert in his Bf 109. He died with a victory total of 29 aerial victories.

*NORTH AFRICA*: US 9th AF B-25s bombed the airfield and area near a fuel dump at Saint Marie du Zit. P-40s flew recon and sea patrol. NAAF fighters attacked tanks and trucks at Oum el Djema and Sidi Ahmed while others flew recon and patrols during the day.​
*MEDITERRANEAN*: RAF bombers attacked La Spezia. RAF Liberators bombed Naples and Messina. NAAF B-26 Marauders on recon of the Naples area attacked a vessel south of Ustica Island. US 9th AF B-24s attacked Catania and Palermo. NAAF Wellingtons bombed Decimomannu, Villacidro and Elmas airfields during the night.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RCAF No. 402 Sqn converted from Hurricane II to the Spit MkV. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Luftwaffe met the American P-47 Thunderbolt single-engined fighter for the first time. Over Ostend, a flight of 59 P-47s from the US 4th FG on a 'Rodeo' of the St. Omer area, bounced a formation of 15 Fw 190s from II./JG 1. Although the Americans claimed 3 Focke-Wulfs shot down, JG 1 claimed no fighters lost but - matching the report from the Thunderbolts - JG 1 claimed 2 P-47s shot down by Obfw. Ernst Heesen of 5./JG 1. The P-47 was the heaviest single-engined fighter the Allies had at this time and despite the need for a long-range escorting fighter for the bombers, its range was little better than the RAF Spitfires, at least until a usable fuel tank could be developed. Most of the American fighter groups in England were being equipped with the Thunderbolts as their P-38 Lightnings were being removed from combat operations in Europe and taken to North Africa as replacement for losses in that theatre.

When the moon period began in mid-April, the night rangers of RCAF No. 410 Sqdn. were at last able to get into action. W/C Frank Hillock who, with his navigator, F/L O'Neil.-Dunne, was the first to take off, on the night of the 15th, headed for the Ruhr. The weather was not too good and, as the Mosquito was skipping along at 300 feet over Holland, Hillock suddenly saw the eight radio masts of Apeldoorn Station rushing at him. There was no time to climb and no room to fly between them, so the pilot threw the Mossie on its side and ripped through the antennae, tearing away several wires. On return to base it was found that one wing tip of the aircraft had been sliced off, and another wing had been cut through to the main spar before the wire broke; about 300 feet of well-made quarter-inch copper cable were trailing behind the Mosquito. Despite this shaking experience Hillock had coolly flown to his target area before coming home.

Major Adolf Dickfeld was appointed the new _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 1 in place of Hptm. Gunther Beise.

13 Venturas bombed a whaling factory ship in dry dock at Cherbourg. Bomb bursts were seen to straddle the target. No Venturas were lost.

23 aircraft including 6 Wellingtons from RCAF No.424 Sqn. were minelaying from Brest to Lorient. No losses.​


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2008)

*16 April 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Two Consolidated PBY-5A Catalinas of the USN's Patrol Squadron Eighty Three (VP-83) based at Natal, Brazil, attack the 913 ton Italian submarine _'Archimede'_ off the coast of Brazil. The crew of the first PBY drops four depth charges that damages the sub; a few minutes later, the crew of the second aircraft drops four more depth charges from an altitude of 50 feet. The sub sank six-minutes later after 30 crewmen abandoned ship and boarded three rafts; one raft was found 27 days later by Brazilian fishermen. The raft contained two bodies and one survivor who identified the submarine.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Walther Dahl of JG 3 shot down 2 LaGG-3 aircraft.

197 Lancasters and 130 Halifaxes attacked Pilsen, 36 aircraft lost. This raid on the Skoda armaments factory took place by the light of a full moon but was not a success. In a complicated plan the Main Force was ordered to confirm the position of the Skoda factory visually. The Pathfinder markers were only intended as a general guide. In the event a large asylum building 7 miles away was mistaken for the factory and only 6 crews brought back bombing photographs which were within 3 miles of the real target. The Skoda factory was not hit. One report says that 200 German soldiers were killed when their barracks near the asylum was bombed.

*GERMANY*: 159 Wellingtons, 95 Stirlings and 17 Halifaxes attacked Mannheim, 18 aircraft were lost. The Pathfinders marked this target accurately and an effective attack followed. 130 buildings were totally destroyed and nearly 3000 damaged. Production was stopped or reduced at 41 industrial premises. 130 people were killed, 269 injured and 6954 bombed out of their homes.

25 Venturas bombed a chemical factory at Ostend and railway yards at Haarlem without loss. The bombing at Ostend was accurate but the Haarlem raid hit housing near the railway causing many casualties. 85 Dutch people were killed and 160 injured and the old Town Hall was damaged by fire.
The greatest number of aircrew casualties were suffered today in the whole of April - 360 men.

The total RAF aircraft losses on this night were the highest so far in the war, exceeding the 50 lost on the 1,000 bomber raid on Bremen on 25/26 June 1942 but 14 of the aircraft lost from the Pilsen and Mannheim raids came down in the sea and a proportion of their crews were rescued. With so many aircraft brought down from the night skies, there was ample opportunity for multiple kills by the night-fighters. Two bombers each were given credit to Hptm. Materne of Dtab II./NJG 4, Hptm. Wilhelm Herget of Stab I./NJG 4, Hptm. Hans-Karl Kamp of 7./NJG 4, Fw. Faren of 11./NJG 4 and Lt. Heinz-Martin Hadeball of 12./NJG 4. Lt. Helmut Bergmann from Stab III./NJG 4 claimed a total of 4 bombers for the evening.

Hptm. Manfred Mauer, _Staffelkapitaen _of 3./NJG 1 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz_.

*MEDITERREANAN*: RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, bomb Naples and Messina.

Northwest African Air Force B-26 Marauders on armed reconnaissance of the Naples area attack a vessel south of Ustica Island. 

After two years of unaided guerrilla warfare, with huge losses on both sides, Tito's Yugoslav partisans seem to have been recognized by the Allies. Until recently, the misinformed British were dropping weapons to the rival band of partisans the pro-royalist Chetniks. Today, however, Allied liaison officers, Canadians of Yugoslavian birth, were parachuted into Croatia to find Tito's partisans fighting their way to Montenegro after a major Axis crackdown had failed to destroy them. The fourth major offensive involved five German divisions - including a Waffen- SS, a complete infantry regiment, two Italian divisions and their locally raised Ustachi allies. After savage fighting the outnumbered partisans managed to fight their way out, bringing 4,000 wounded with them. An attempt to trap them failed after a savage series of battles in which no prisoners were taken.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army abandoned their attempts to force a German retreat from Enfidaville by quick jabs and prepared to launch a full-scale assault during the night of 19/20 April. US 9th AF fighters flew sea patrol. In a brave but futile attempt to reinforce the Tunisian bridgehead, Italian Naval forces sortied. In the attacks the British lost the destroyer "_Pakenham_" while the Italians lost 2 destroyers.

NAAF fighters strafed trucks during the night and during the following day. A-20s and fighter-bombers bombed Djqobel el Raar and concentrations located in various wadis in the battle area. Aircraft maintained sea recon and patrols while B-25s and B-26s hit the Oudns landing ground and P-38s bombed vessels near Cape Zebib and Cape el Ahmar.

The Allied Air Forces in the Mediterranean have been completely re-organized in both their command structure under the overall command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder. A North-West Africa Tactical Air Force has been established under the command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham to use the lessons learnt in the desert to give close support to ground forces in Tunisia. Light bombers and tank-busters protected by fighters will blast the enemy's strongpoints. A Strategic Force has also been set up. Composed of USAAF heavy and medium bombers, and RAF medium bombers, it is responsible for long-range attacks on bases, communications and shipping. In order to cope with the vast area covered by the Allied air forces they have also been divided into three geographical regions: Middle East Command, stretching from India to Tunis; the North African Air Command in Tunisia under Major-General Carl Spaatz, of the USAAF; and the RAF in Malta. The re-organization is to cope with the vast expansion of Allied air power in the region. The creation of the Tactical Air Force reflects planning for the invasion of Europe. 

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Finland officially rejects the Soviet terms for peace, stating that they would be impossible to meet. This refers primarily to the Soviet demand for 600 million USD reparations, which the Finnish economic experts think impossible to pay in time without ruining the Finnish economy. As for the other Soviet demands, military experts think the Soviet demand of rapid demobilization together with the inevitable war against the Germans a dangerous combination. Majority of the people also still find it hard to accept the permanent loss of the territories lost after the Winter War, plus Petsamo, esp. as the Finnish lines of defense are still where the Finnish advance was stopped in 1941. Many are still confident that the German situation is not hopeless, although the highest Finnish leadership doesn't share this hope. From now on, the Finns see two possibilities. The first is that the Soviets think the Finnish front too unimportant to warrant a major transfer of troops from the most important effort against the Germans. In this case Finland could perhaps secure better terms later. The second is that the Soviets will attack, but that the attack could be repulsed, and after that Finland could have better terms. The latter is essentially what eventually happened, but whether the somewhat lighter terms received in September 1944 were worth the almost 20 000 deaths suffered in the battles of summer 1944 (not to mention the Russian losses), is another matter.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: After a raid by 30 Fw 190 fighter-bombers on London during the night, the Fw 190A-5/U-8 of Fritz Setzer of II./SKG 10 was damaged by flak and he crash landed at West Malling. Two other SKG 10 pilots also landed on this night.

British intelligence services intercepted and decoded a series of orders indicating that the main German effort for the summer would be an attack against the Kursk salient. Churchill was informed mere hours after the messages reached the German commanders in the field who were to undertake the attack.​
*WESTERN FRONT*: 25 B-24s were dispatched against the Brest U-Boat base while 83 B-17s were dispatched against the Lorient U-Boat base. 19 B-24s dropped 52 tons of bombs on Brest and 59 B-17s dropped 147 tons on Lorient. The attack was hindered by an effective smoke screen and strong fighter opposition. The bomber formations were met by fighters from JG 2 and lost 3 B-24s and one B-17. Although these losses were confirmed by the Allies, JG 2 claimed 3 B-24s and 6 B-17s destroyed. Ofw. Friedrich May of 8./JG 2 and Hptm. Mayer of Stab III./JG 2 each claimed 2 bombers. 4 Spitfires were also claimed shot down.

The II _Gruppe _of JG 1 had a mixed day over Occupied Europe. Around noon, Fw. Georg Hutter of 5./JG 1 gained his 9th victory when he destroyed a Mosquito east of Oostmalle. Near Vlissingen in the afternoon, the fighters of JG 1 engaged several Allied Spitfires and Thunderbolts. Major Herbert Kijewski, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 1 was killed when his Fw 190 was shot down by one of the new P-47s. Hptm. Dietrich Wickop, having destroyed 2 Spitfires in the same engagement to bring his score to 8, took his place as _Gruppenkommandeur_. Major Kijewski had destroyed 21 enemy aircraft during his combat career.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2008)

*17 April 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT: *Operation NEPTUNE - Soviet forces in the Kuban launched a series of attacks against the German 17.Armee. The Germans counter-attacked and tried to hold back the Soviet army. The German ground assault was preceeded by an attack of 450 _Stukas_, bombers and ground-attack aircraft of I Fliegerkorps against Soviet airfields. Throughout the day, I Fliegerkorps carried out 1,560 sorties over the Kuban bridgehead, mainly against Myshako. The Soviets, who by this time were inferior in numbers, could only mount 538 sorties. Nevertheless, the concentration of AA batteries that the Soviets had shipped in to Myshako since February 1943 met the assaulting German aircraft with a wall of steel and fire. 7 _Stukas _were shot down or returned to base with severe damage.

Some 550-600 aircraft under VIII Fliegerkorps were sent to bases in the Crimea and commenced intensive operations. The Russians weren't allowing the Luftwaffe to rest on its laurels and at the very time when rest and re-equipment was necessary, the Luftwaffe was forced to fly around 400 sorties per day.

The Germans launched *Operation Magic Flute*, an anti-partisan operation in the Minsk area. Soviet partisans had been creating serious delays in the build-up of forces and supplies for Heeresgruppe Mitte in preparation for the Kursk offensive.

*GERMANY*: Luftwaffe fighter pilot Hptm. Wolfgang Spate flew the experimental Me 262 for the first time.

The US VIII Bomber Command conducted its largest raid into Germany to date when 107 unescorted B-17s attacked the Focke-Wulf plant at Bremen. Along with being a record for the largest daylight raid to date by the Americans, it was also a record for the number of aircraft lost as they suffered severe losses. More than 150 Fw 190s of JG 1 and JG 11 along with Bf 109s from JG 54 intercepted the formations and shot down 16 Fortresses and damaged another 46. Among the German victors was the _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 1, Major Fritz Losigkeit, who claimed his first B-17. The Luftwaffe reported 5 fighters lost and 5 more damaged. Hptm. Hans-Ekkehard Bob, _Staffelkapitaen _of 9./JG 54 described his action;


> "_At 12:29 hours I set off from Oldenburg airfield as the Staffelkapitaen of the 9th Staffel behind the Gruppenstab and headed for the B-17 bombers. At about 12:40 hours we identified 120-150 4-engined B-17 bombers at an altitude of 7 to 8,000 meters, west of Wilhelmshaven. The enemy formation flew on a course south to southeast and we overtook them from the left in order to attack from the front....Just as we had gained enough of a lead to start the attack, the enemy formation flew a left curve so that we were now flying to the right of it. I corrected my flight direction slightly and then started an attack from the front with my entire Staffel. Thereupon the enemy formation continued to curve so that I ended up in a very poor attacking position and I did not witness any effective results. In the meantime, the Americans had attacked Bremen and had flown away southwards and then changed course subsequently westwards. Now I started a new attack and approached the lead element of bombers from the front. I fired at the right aircraft of the leading group_. _Approaching from 500 meters, right up to the point of ramming, I saw good hits in both the cockpit and port engine of the Boeing. At the last minute I wanted to duck beneath the B-17 but this did not work and I ended up ramming the bomber. Thereby I destroyed much of my aircraft's fuselage, while the bomber lost its wing. My aircraft went into a spin and, of course, did not react to any of the controls. I immediately decided to parachute. I threw off the cabin roof, unclipped the buckle of the seat harnesses and was thrown out of the aircraft in a split-second. Constantly turning over, I lost altitude and fell from 6,000 meters in a free fall to approximately 5,000 meters where I was able to open my parachute. The parachute had a sinking rate of about 5 meters a second so that it took me about 20 minutes to reach the ground. You cannot steer, so you carefully watch for obstacles such as high-tension wires, woods, roads, lakes, etc., in the area where you will land. The impact - when it came - was so strong due to a strong breeze and the swinging motions of the parachute that I lost consciousness. I was dragged several hundred meters across a field. When I regained consciousness I wanted to release the parachute, but the life raft I had attached, hindered me. When I managed to make the parachute collapse, by pulling on one of the lines, I was able to free myself from it. Meanwhile, the B-17 had been so badly damaged in my attack that the entire crew had parachuted out. I was practically parachuting out with the Americans and we all came down south of the village of Grosskohren in Oldenburg. In Germany, Territorial Reserve Units consisting of older soldiers had the task of finding and capturing downed enemy airmen. This also happened to 'My Americans' whereby I was taken prisoner because German overalls were the same as those of the Americans in color and cut. I was also suffering from shock and at first did not resist. I stood in line with the Americans and opened my overalls, when one of the Territorial soldiers shouted 'There is an American who has a Knight's Cross!' Suddenly I realized my dilemma and identified myself as a German officer!. So then all turned: they celebrated my victory. In the nearby village of Grosskohren, the mayor gave a big victory party, where I became honorary citizen of Grosskohren. It was a drunken anticipation of the 'Endsieg'. My parachute jump had consequences: my whole body had green and blue fields - I could not move for 3 days. The victory was proofed and confirmed by the RLM."_


17 April 1943 represented the most successful Luftwaffe interception yet faced by the USAAF. The reason for the high losses for the Americans was because a Luftwaffe recon plane had spotted the bomber formation over the North Sea and radioed to fighter bases the force's heading, speed, altitude and number of bombers. The Commanding General of US VIII Fighter Command expressed the need for 20 fighter groups to neutralize the growing German fighter opposition to the Allied bomber offensive.​
*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fw. Walter Hillgruber of 7./JG 27 went missing in action and was presumed dead. He had only 7 aerial victories at the time of his death.

Stab./122 was ordered to transfer from Trapani to Frosinone as was 2(F)./122. This unit left a small detachment (_Kommando_) behind at Trapani with 2 Me 210s. All of 2(F)./122's Ju 88s were to go initially to Grottaglie for servicing by IV./KG 54 and the 2 other Me 210s assigned were to go to Chinisia.​
*NORTH AFRICA*: Despite Rommel's plea to Hitler and Mussolini to evacuate North Africa and prepare for the invasion of Europe, German engineers were working feverishly to prepare new defensive lines in Tunisia. The High Command in Berlin reasoned that if Axis troops could hold out in Tunisia until the autumn, the invasion of mainland Europe would be delayed for another year..Allied numerical superiority was overwhelming however. The British and American Air forces could muster 3,000 aircraft - the Axis, 500. The Allies had 1,200 tanks - the Axis, 130. Despite this the Germans were skilled improvisors, particularly when it came to defense.

In the skies over Tunisia, it was JG 53's turn to defend against the Allies. Flying against Allied bombers and fighters, the _Geschwader _pilots added to their scores. Hptm. Franz Gotz of Stab III./JG 53 destroyed a B-25 to reach 44 kills while Oblt. Franz Scheiss of 8./JG 53 got his 42d victory when he downed a Spitfire.

US 9th AF P-40s flew sweeps, sea patrol and fighter-bomber missions. During the night NASAF Wellingtons bombed the 'N' quay in Bizerte harbor. Shortly after noon, B-17s bombed shipping and docks at Ferryville. B-25s hit the town area and marshalling yard at Mateur. NATAF Blenheims bombed La Sebala airfield and A-20s hit Ksar Tyr and concentrations near Grich el Oued. NACAF airplanes flew sea patrol and attacked shipping in the Strait of Sicily.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 3(F)./122 sent out a Ju 88D-1 from Creil on a convoy recon sortie off the English east coast. About 6km north of Ostend, it was repeatedly attacked by a Spitfire flown by F/O Hogarth of RAF No. 41 Sqdrn. Both aircraft suffered damage - the German ditched in the sea while the Hogarth returned to base.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 37 Venturas bombed railway targets at Abbeville and Caen and a power station at Zeebrugge. All targets were hit and no aircraft were lost.

24 aircraft laid mines off the Biscay ports without loss.


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## Njaco (Apr 17, 2008)

*18 April 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German submarine 'U-175' is sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges and gunfire from USCGC _'Spencer'_ (WPG-36); 41 of the 54 U-boat crewmen survive. USCGC _'Spencer'_ was escorting convoy HX 233.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German 17.Armee began its attacks to eliminate the Russian bridgehead at Novorossiysk. In heavy fighting the Soviets clung to their toehold. The German attack failed and was finally given up on 23 April.

Kuno Balz, with 12 kills flying for JG 51, was listed as missing in action.

*GERMANY*: The official model inspection of the Dornier Do 335 'Pfeil' was made. The twin-engined fighter was the result of Dornier being awarded the contract arising from the High-Speed Bomber Requirement issued on 28 September, 1942. Initially conceived as a bomber, the role of the Do 335 changed frequently during the war years. First conceived as a high-speed bomber, it was then changed to a night-fighter, a recon aircraft and finally at the end of March 1944, it was ordered as a heavy fighter.
​*MEDITERRANEAN*: Over 75 NAAF B-17s, escorted by P-38s, attacked Boccadifalco airfield and the Palermo marshaling yard. US 9th AF B-24s attacked Catania. NAAF B-25s, escorted by P-38s, hit the Alghero-Fertilia airfield and shipping at Porto Torres while RAF Beaufighters attacked Decimomannu airfield.

175 RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes were dispatched to bomb the dockyard at La Spezia but the centre of the bombing was northwest of the aiming point. The main railway station and many public buildings were hit. One Lancaster was lost. 8 further Lancasters laid mines off La Spezia harbor.

Ninth Air Force B-24s (including Liberator Mk IIs of the RAF 178 Squadron, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command) bomb Catania. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s bomb
shipping and docks at Palermo.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Palm Sunday Massacre - The effort to re-supply the bridgehead in Tunisia by the Germans is slowly turning into a disaster. Nearly 100 Ju 52s were loaded with German soldiers to be airlifted to Tunisia in an effort to reinforce Rommel. The transport formation was to be escorted by 16 Italian Macchi C-202s and Bf 109s fighters from JG 53 along with 3 Bf 110s. Near Cape Bon, the formation was attacked by 46 P-40s from the US 9th AF's 57th FG, 12 P-40s from the 324th FS and 12 Spitfires from RAF No. 92 Sqdrn. who were providing top cover for the P-40s. The Allied pilots were guided to the Germans by messages received from the German enigma codes. The Junkers transports were caught flying about 100 feet above the Mediterranean in 3 'V' formations. Leaving the Spitfires and a squadron of War hawks to take on the Messerschmitt and Italians, Capt. James Curl led 3 squadrons of fighters into the German transports. After 10 minutes of battle, over half of the Ju 52s were shot down into the sea or crashed on the beaches of Cape Bon. 51 German transports were shot down along with more than 16 fighters. The Allies lost 6 P-40s and one Spitfire during combat. Luftwaffe pilots claiming kills defending the transports were Lt. Rolf Schlegel of 4./JG 53 for his 3d kill, Oblt. Fritz Dinger of 4./JG 53 for his 56th victory, Hptm. Gerhard Michalski of the Stab flight of II./JG 53 for his 52d kill and Ofw. Emil Babenz of the Stab flight of I./JG 53 for his 24th victory.

At 09:50 hours, 5 Spitfires of RAF No. 145 Sqdrn were protecting 12 Spitfires of RCAF No. 417 Sqdrn as they patrolled over the Cape Bon-Tunis area. Near Grembala, they intercepted 2 Bf 109s flying at 16,000 feet and one Spitfire was subsequently shot down. Two claims were made over the Cape Bon region by pilots of 7./JG 53. The first claim was for a Kittyhawk by Lt. Walter Hicke, the second was for a Spitfire made by Uffz. Georg Amon for his first kill.

During the night RAF Wellingtons of the NAAF bombed the Tunis docks and marshaling yard. RAF Blenheims hit the La Marsa landing ground while fighters flew recon and patrols, attacking vessels, troop columns and trucks in the coastal area.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Finnish Commander-in- Chief Marshal Mannerheim travels to Switzerland to tend his health. He uses the alias of 'Baron Marhein'. Chief of General Staff Gen. Erik Heinrichs acts as the C-in-C during Mannerheim's absence. Numerous rumors float around explaining the 'true' reasons for Mannerheim's trip. Some say there's in fact been a military coup and Mannerheim has been driven to exile. Others say Mannerheim went to present the Finnish surrender to the Western Allies. But the truth is just that: Mannerheim goes to tend his health after being seriously ill in early April. He returns on 9 May and resumes his duties. Mannerheim is old (he will be 76 next June) and his duties has worn him further. The old Marshal is no more in top of his powers. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Commanding General, VIII Fighter Command, expresses the need for 20 fighter groups to neutralize growing German fighter opposition to the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). ​
*WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Venturas attacked shipping and dock installations at Dieppe without loss.

10 Stirlings went minelaying in southern Biscay, no losses.

Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Retired), Ambassador to France, announces that he is being recalled to Washington "for consultation. "


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## pbfoot (Apr 18, 2008)

Njaco said:


> At 09:50 hours, 5 Spitfires of RAF No. 145 Sqdrn were protecting 12 Spitfires of RAF No. 417 Sqdrn as they patrolled over the Cape Bon-Tunis area. Near Grembala, they intercepted 2 Bf 109s flying at 16,000 feet and one Spitfire was subsequently shot down. Two claims were made over the Cape Bon region by pilots of 7./JG 53. The first claim was for a Kittyhawk by Lt. Walter Hicke, the second was for a Spitfire made by Uffz. Georg Amon for his first kill.
> 
> 
> 
> > Not to be niggily 417 was an RCAF unit the easy way to tell is the RCAF were from 400-450 squadrons for the overseas units not including the Aleutians as that was home defence birds


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## Njaco (Apr 18, 2008)

*19 April 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: Alfred Grislawski of II./JG 52 gained his 95th aerial victory, destroying a Soviet fighter during the battle at Myshako. But one of the most serious losses of the day was when Lt. Rudolf 'Rudi' Muller of Stab I./JG 5 with 94 victories, was shot down and taken prisoner by the Russians.

The final liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto began on the Eve of Passover, April 19, 1943. The deportation did not come as a surprise. The Germans had amassed a military force to carry it out, but did not expect to engage in a confrontation that included street battles. Armed German forces ringed the ghetto at 3:00 a.m. The unit that entered the ghetto encountered armed resistance and retreated. The main ghetto, with its population of 30,000 Jews, was deserted. The Jews could not be rounded up for the transport; the railroad cars at the deportation point remained empty. Possessing one machine gun, less than 20 rifles, a handful of pistols, grenades and Molotov cocktails, 1200 Jews led by 23 year old Mordecai Anielewicz, rose up against the Germans in the Warsaw ghetto. In the attack, the Germans surrounded the ghetto and sent infiltration parties forward under cover of darkness. At dawn, the SS troopers brashly marched down the vacant streets. They came under fire and attempted to retreat, but were pinned down. They called for reinforcements and tank support. After a 7 hour battle, the bloodied SS troopers withdrew, leaving behind their dead, 2 destroyed tanks and scores of weapons. The remainder of the day saw artillery and aircraft attack the ghetto. After Germans and rebels fought in the streets for three days, the Germans began to torch the ghetto, street by street, building by building. The entire ghetto became a sizzling, smoke-swathed conflagration. Most of the Jews who emerged from their hideouts, including entire families, were murdered by the Germans on the spot. The ghetto Jews gradually lost the strength to resist. On April 23, Mordecai Anielewicz the ZOB commander wrote the following to Yitzhak Zuckerman, a member of the ZOB command who was stationed on the "aryan" side: _"I cannot describe the conditions in which the Jews are living. Only a special few will hold out; all the others will perish sooner or later. Their fate is sealed. None of the bunkers where our comrades are hiding has enough air to light a candle at night.... Be well, my dear, perhaps we shall yet meet. The dream of my life has risen to become fact. Self-defense in the ghetto will have been a reality. I have been a witness to the magnificent, heroic fighting of Jewish men of battle". _The rebels pursued their cause, even though they knew from the outset that they could not win. Even before the war ended, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising became a symbol of Jewish resistance.

The Russians respond to the Katyn Massacre incident with a lie. They claim that it was concocted by the Germans.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British Eighth Army made small gains but suffered heavy casualties near Enfidaville, 45 miles south of Tunis. The US II Corps took over the northern end of the Allied line and prepared to attack. US 9th AF B-25s hit landing grounds and defensive positions and P-40s escorted bombers and flew sweeps in support of the British assault on Enfidaville.

During the night, NAAF Blenheims bombed La Marsa landing ground and the roads nearby and attacked activity on the beach at Reyville. During the day, B-17s bombed shipping at Tunis. B-25s and A-20s raided the La Sabal airfield and fighter-bombers attacked tanks in the battle area.

JG 53 continued its defense of the dwindling German forces in Tunisia. In air battles during the afternoon, several _Experten _destroyed Allied aircraft including 2 kills each for Hptm. Gerhard Michalski of Stab II./JG 53 (54 kills) and Hptm. Freidrich-Karl Muller of Stab I./JG 53 (111 kills).

Another German effort to fly supplies into Tunisia failed. A Me 210 was dispatched on a sortie by 2(F)./122 to North Africa. F/L Alexander Hendry Thom, 'B' Flight Commander of RAF No. 87 Sqdrn claimed the Messerschmitt over Tunisia. Uffz. Forster was killed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Various Luftwaffe sorties were dispatched to Algeria and the Straits of Sicily including one from 1(F)./122 to Algiers and Cap Serat. One Ju 88D-1/trop was dispatched from Sardinia to the North African coast. On the return journey, low fuel levels caused the plane to put down in a wheat field at Muro village, Mallorca after having failed in an attempted landing at Alcudia. The 4 man crew were repatriated two days later. The aircraft sustained severe damage to its engines and underbelly in the crash. Another Ju 88D-1/trop failed to return from the Algerian coast.


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## Njaco (Apr 19, 2008)

*20 April 1943
*
*EASTERN FRONT*: Pilots of JG 52 were busy supporting "Operation Neptun'. Lt. Heinrich Sturm of II./JG 52 was credited with 5 Soviet kills, Alfred Grislawski of II./JG 52 claimed a LaGG-3 over Myshako, Fw. Helmut Kabisch downed a LaGG-3 and Oblt. Gunther Rall of 8./JG 52 claimed his 116th and the _Geschwader's _5,000th kill. But the Soviets were also victorious. From 9 April to this date, the Russian fighter squadron 16 GIAP claimed 57 German aircraft destroyed in the Kuban bridgehead area. JG 52 lost personnel when Hans Gleissner was killed in action. He had destroyed 37 enemy aircraft at the time he was killed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Over the Channel, 6 Fw 190s of 5./JG 26 were bounced by a large formation of RAF Spitfires. One Focke-Wulf was shot down before the remaining 5 planes broke away and returned to base.

36 RAF Venturas bombed railway yards at Boulogne, shipping at Cherbourg and the power station at Zeebrugge. No Venturas were lost.

18 RAF Wellingtons were minelaying off Brittany ports. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: Montgomery's Eighth Army began a series of attacks on Axis defenses around Enfidaville. The British failed to budge the Axis and took heavy losses in the process. The US II Corps was far more successful, taking the mountainous stronghold north of Medjez el Bab, allowing tanks to move into the Tine River valley. The British finally took Enfidaville - only 45 miles from Tunis - but made only limited headway against strong Italian defenses. US 9th AF P-40s flew sweeps and missions in support of the British Eighth Army. NAAF B-17s and B-25s bombed the landing grounds of Mabtouha, La Marsa, La Sebala, Sidi Ahmed, Creteville and near Protville. Fighters flew escort and attacked various Tunisian airfields.

Intense air battles over Tunisia caused the Luftwaffe to lose an _Experte_. In the morning, Oblt. Wolfgang Tonne of 3./JG 53 destroyed 2 Spitfires north of Tebourba to reach 121 kills. After combat with US Spitfires in the afternoon in which he destroyed another fighter, Oblt. Tonne tried to land his badly shot-up Bf 109G-5 "Yellow 7" at Tunis-Protville airfield but was killed when his plane crashed. That last Spitfire brought his score to 122 victories. JG 53 then prepared to leave North Africa.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Kampfgruppe I./KG 2 and II./KG 2 were moved to the airfield at Sola with 30 Do 217s in preparation for an attack on Britain from Norway.

*GERMANY*: The RAF celebrated Hitler's 54th birthday with 425 bombers inflicting heavy damage on the German ports of Stettin and Rostock. Stettin, a key port supplying the German armies in north Russia, was most heavily hit. More than 140 4,000lb bombs were dropped in 40 minutes. Hitler, it was thought, was far from the bombing in a mountain retreat.

194 Lancasters,134 Halifaxes and 11 Stirlings attacked Stettin, 21 aircraft lost. This raid, on a target more than 600 miles from England, proved to be the most successful attack beyond the range of Oboe during the Battle of the Ruhr. Visilibity was good and the Pathfinder marking was carried out perfectly. 24 fires were still burning when a photographic reconnaissance aircraft flew over Stettin a day and a half later. Approximately 100 acres in the centre of the town were claimed as devastated. Much of this area comprised industrial buildings. German reports showed that 13 industrial premises and 380 houses were completely destroyed. Alarge chemical factory was among the places where production was completely halted. 586 people were killed in Stettin. (_Hugh Spencer_)

86 Stirlings were despatched to attack the Heinkel factory near Rostock but a smokescreen concealed this target and bombing was scattered. 8 Stirlings were lost. (_Hugh Spencer_)

11 Mosquitoes carried out a raid to Berlin as a diversion for the forces attacking Stettin and Rostock. (_Hugh Spencer_)

During the night defenses against the RAF bombers, Oblt. Gunter Koberich of 11./NJG 3 was flying a Ju 88C-6 and came upon a Stirling bomber of RAF No. 149 Sqdrn and shot it down in the area near Esbjerg. Major Helmut Lent, _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./NJG 1, shot down a RAF Mosquito, the first recorded at night by the Luftwaffe.


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## Njaco (Apr 20, 2008)

*21 April 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: Heavy fighting over Myshako was a sign that 'Operation Neptun' was a failure. Fighting intensified as Soviet forces in the Kuban peninsula pressed the German 17.Armee back into the Novorossivsk area. ./JG 52 tangled with a formation of the new Soviet LaGG-5 fighter and Alfred Grislawski claimed his 97th victim. Fw. Helmut Kabisch of 2./JG 52 was shot down near Kabardincka but survived with severe wounds.

At JG 51, Lt. Hans Boos of Stab./JG 51, having achieved 41 victories against the Allies, was killed in action. And JG 3 lost Lt. Lothar Myrrhe of 5./JG 3 when he was listed as missing in action.

German SS forces were able to establish a secure position in the Warsaw Ghetto against continuing stubborn opposition. They achieved this by using flamethrowers to methodically burn down whole blocks, thus clearing the Jewish fighters from their strongholds. After the day's fight, the German commander, General Stroop, gave the inhabitants a day to turn themselves over to his authority.

*NORTH AFRICA*: New Zealand troops consisting mainly of Maoris, took Takrouna. After heavy casualties and little progress, the British Eighth Army ended a 3 day attempt to break through strong Italian defenses. It was the Desert Rats final North African battle. During the upcoming Allied offensive, the Eighth would remain on the defensive while other Allied units destroyed the Axis army.

US 9th AF P-40s bombed and strafed barges along the coast. NAAF fighters and A-20 Havocs hit landing grounds and military traffic on raods, flew sweeps and attacked ground forces and aircraft in the Medjezel bab-Goubellat area where a German counterattack by armoured and infantry columns during the night ended in a costly failure.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 18 aircraft from the newly arrived I./KG 2 and II./KG 2 at Sola, attacked Aberdeen, Scotland in 2 waves at night. No bombers were lost.​
*WESTERN FRONT*: An inspection by Generalfeldmarschal Sperrle at the II./JG 26 base at Vitry was interrupted when 11 Lockheed Venturas of RAF No. 21 Sqdrn were reported bombing the railroad yards at Abbeville. The _Gruppe _took off to intercept the raiders leaving the General on the podium. Approaching the British formation, _Gruppenkommandeur _Hptm. 'Wutz' Glland ordered his Focke-Wulfs to split formation with one group attacking the bombers and the other attacking the escorting Spitfires. Hptm. Galland destroyed 2 bombers and Oblt. Horst Sternberg downed another as did Hptm. Erich Hohagen, _Gruppenkommandeur _of Stab I./JG 27. A Spitfire was shot down by Fw. Peter Crump of 8./JG 26 for his 8th victory while another Spitfire was downed by Lt. Hans Fischer of 4./JG 26 for his first kill. The _Gruppe _lost no fighters or pilots and returned to Vitry and Generalfeldmarschal Sperrle.

11 RAF Venturas bombed railway yards at Abbeville. 3 aircraft were lost. (Hugh Spencer)


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## Njaco (Apr 21, 2008)

*22 April 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: 32 aircraft went minelaying off Biscay ports. 1 Lancaster and 1 Wellington were lost. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Holy Thursday Massacre: The Allies had achieved air superiority by 22 April. There remained some Luftwaffe units in Tunisia, however they were soon destroyed or evacuated to Sicily. The Luftwaffe again tried to supply the forces in Tunisia by sending transports loaded with fuel across the Med. 10 Ju 52s of Kampfgruppe zbV 106 took off from Pomigliano at 06:40 hours bound for Tunis. The formation was led by _Staffelkapitaen _Oblt. Biedermann. The Junkers were supposed to fly with a group of 14 Me 323s which took off from Pomigliano at 07:10 hours with the maximum available fighter escort. Each Gigant was carrying about 12 metric tons of fuel or ammunition destined for Heeresgruppe Tunis, the remnant of the Afrika Korps. 16 Me 323s were originally supposed to take part in the mission, which was to be a repeat of a mission on 19 April when all transports returned safely. The 16 transports were not the last available to KGzbV 323 according to strength reports. I _Gruppe _had 15 aircraft while II _Gruppe _had 23 Me 323s although not all were serviceable. The fighter escort of 39 Bf 109s assembled over Trapani at 08:30 hours. Another 35 fighters were supposed to fly out from Tunis to meet the formation. At 08:35 hours, the formation overflew the island of Marettimo, west of Sicily and descended to a height of 20 to 50 meters above the sea. The specified route was not over Cap Bon, a fact which had been stressed at the flight briefing but over Cape Farina, which lay about 75 kms farther west. The area around Cap Bon was considered especially dangerous. The Ju 52 group was flying on the right, the Me 323s on the left. About halfway between Sicily and Tunisia, the Me 323s separated from the Ju 52 formation and, contrary to orders, set a course for Cap Bon. Why the _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./KGzbV 323, who was flying in Gigant 'C8+AR' ordered this course change will never be known. Most of the escort fighters which had taken off from Sicily stayed with the Ju 52s and did not go after the Me 323s until the fighters from Tunis had reached the Junkers. This splitting of the fighter force meant that the Giganten had only 36 escorts instead of the planned 104. The SAAF sent out 38 P-40s, covered by a SAAF Spitfire squadron and additional flights of British and Polish-manned Spitfires. Intercepted over the Gulf of Tunis by the Allied fighters, the formation was mowed down. Oblt. Biedermann saw the attack on the Me 323s beginning in the distance - however he and his formation of Ju 52s reached Cape Farina unmolested about 09:35 hours. Biedermann was supposed to take his aircraft into the holding area near Cape el Fortass. Instead, he led his formation to a German fighter base at Andeless and circled there until he received clearance to land. At 09:25 hours, two large groups of Allied fighters began attacking the Me 323s between Cap Bon and the island of Zembra. Conditions were hazy. The first group of Allied fighters engaged the Bf 109s of II./JG 27 which were flying at an altitude of about 2400 meters, and forced them away from the transports. This allowed the second formation, which was larger and made up mainly of P-40s of the SAAF to attack the Giganten. The arrival of the fighters was no accident. First, Tunis and the surrounding airfields were the transports only possible destination and they could only arrive within certain hours. Second, a secret transmitter, which was discovered that same day, had been sending information to the Allies on all German flight movements from Trapani. The radio was hidden in a confessional in a church on Monte Giovanni above Trapani. Under these circumstances, it was no problem for the Allied fighters to intercept and destroy the transport units, especially since shortages of personnel and aircraft meant that they were usually weakly escorted. The Allied fighters estimated the size of the Me 323 formation at 20 aircraft instead of the actual 14. Once attacked, the Me 323s took evasive action and the wedged-shaped formation disintegrated. The huge, cumbersome transports had little chance of even reaching the African coast. Usually able to sustain a great deal of battle damage, on this day the Giganten were carrying volatile cargoes and most caught fire and exploded after a few hits. Though they put up a stiff resistance, claiming themselves to shooting down 5 to 7 enemy fighters, the Me 323s were shot down one after another until the last Gigant crashed into the sea in flames. The escort fighters from Tunis were still with the Ju 52s and were too far away to intervene. The fighters from JG 27 did manage to tangle with some of the Allied planes and Lt. Bernd Schneider of 5./JG 27 claimed 2 Kittyhawks while Uffz. Dagobert Stanglmaier of 4./Jg 27 destroyed a Spitfire for his first victory. Only after he had arrived in Tunis did Oblt. Biedermann contact the adjutant of the _Fliegerfuhrer _by telephone and inform him of the air battle. On reading Oblt. Biedermann's report, the _Geschwaderkommodore _of KGzbV 323, Obstlt. Gustav Damm, became furious and demanded to know why the air-sea rescue had not been alerted by radio. The belated (beginning at about 12:00 hours) rescue - Fiesler Storchs dropping one-man life rafts, most of which missed their targets - was hampered by heavy seas and rain. Some men were picked up by motor torpedo boats, with the Storchs circling overhead to guide the boats to the men in the water. The last survivors were picked up at about 18:00 hours, after 8 1/2 hours in the water. Final confirmation of the early morning battle credited the Allied DAF fighters with 25 Me 323s, 8 Bf 109s, one MC 202 and one RE 2001, at the cost of 4 P-40s lost and one damaged, one Spitfire belly-landed but repairable and one damaged. However on this occasion there seems to have been a fair amount of double-claiming, particularly as the formation of Me 323s was assessed to be only 20 strong. All 14 transports with 700 drums of fuel were shot down, carrying the equivalent of a regiment into Tunisia, and 7 fighters were destroyed. Of the 140 crewmembers, the initial tally was 2 killed, 113 missing (including 6 officers), 4 badly injured and 14 with less injuries. In the end however it was found that only 19 of 138 men involved had survived the tragedy. JG 27 lost 2 pilots when Uffz. Heinz Holletz and Fw. Rudolf Lenz, both from 6./JG 27, crashed into the sea near Cap Bon. Of the transports, _Gruppenkommanduer _Obstlt. Werner Stephan was among the dead and he was officially honored by Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring for his "heroic actions". In transport officer circles, it was believed that Obstlt. Stephan had arbitrarily changed course to reach Tunis more quickly and thus led the Giganten to their destruction. Had he lived, he would probably have been required to answer for his actions before a court-martial. According to Me 323 pilot, Oblt. Ernst Peters, from the end of November 1942 to 22 April 1943, KGzbV 323 had transported 15,000 metric tons of equipment to Tunis and Bizerte in approximately 1,200 sorties. Among the items delivered: 309 trucks, 51 medium prime movers up to 12 tonnes, 209 guns up to 150mm caliber, 324 light guns, 83 anti-tank and AA guns, 42 AA radars including 'Wurzburg Riese' and 96 armoured troop carriers and self-propelled guns.

Allied attacks against enemy positions began again. The US II Corps, now under General Bradley, attacked Hill 609 in 'Mousetrap Valley' on the way to Mateur. Meanwhile the British V Corps hit 'Longstop' and 'Peter's Corner', attacking on a front north and south of Medjez el Bab, while the British IX Corps attacked between Boubellat and Bou Arada. Slowly but remorselessly, the Allies were advancing on all fronts in Tunisia, driving the Axis into a corner from which escape would be almost impossible. No armies had fought a more savage defensive battle than the poorly-supplied and numerically weaker Axis forces. Their counter-attacks were fierce but always costly in men and tanks. The American 1st Division was excelling in mountain warfare in the peaks between the Dhjoumine and Tine rivers. Their colleagues of the British 78th Division were locked in a brutal combat for a hill called 'Longstop'. The British 6th Armoured Division was fighting an expensive battle - in terms of losses on both sides - with the 10.Panzerdivision at Sbkret el Kourzia.

NAAF B-26s bombed 2 landing grounds near Protville while fighters and A-20s flew sweeps and attacked positions at Djebel el Ahmera (Longstop Ridge), Sidi Nsir, Djebel el Ajred (Bald Hill) and other points as the British First Army's V Corps launched the start of the final phase of the assault on Tunis and Bizerte. In order to save supplies, Montgomery was ordered to stop his feeble efforts along the coast.

The US 309th FS / 31st FG came out on top of an engagement with the squadron shooting down 3 enemy aircraft, Major Hill sharing 2 with Lts. Payne and Rahn while Lt. McRaven accounted for the third.


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## Njaco (Apr 22, 2008)

*23 April 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Battle of Slow UK/North American Convoy ONS4 - ONS4 (these convoys were renumbered starting in March) was escorted by the British B2 Group (Cdr Macintyre) and reinforced by the 5th Escort Group with escort carrier _'Biter'_. On the 23d April, _'U-191' _was detected to the south of Greenland by HF/DF and sunk by the destroyer _'Hesperus' _using Hedgehog forward-throwing A/S mortars.
*
GERMANY*: The aircraft builder Messerschmitt recieved an order from the OKL for the 'Me 209 High-Altitude Fighter with DB 628', the performance specifications of which were almost exactly identical to that of the Me 155 high-altitude fighter that was cancelled in January 1943.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 4(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie over Novorossisk. Four crewmen were listed as missing. A Do 24 of 8. Seenot. was dispatched in the morning to rescue the missing Ju 88 crew but they were not successful.

Orders were given to raze the Warsaw Ghetto. Fighting became desperate as the Jewish fighters took to the vast network of sewers, cellars and underground shelters.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The Allies attacked the Axis in the final compaign for North Africa. The British and American armies stormed or out-flanked all the major German hill fortresses and forced a German retreat to a line east of Mateur and the Tine valley on the last hills protecting the roads to Bizerte and Tunis. The operation of the US II Corps, lasted 17 days and involved distances of 25 to 50 miles by 4 divisions. The main effort was made on the right flank. 3 divisions began the attack on a 13 mile front where the advance by the US II Coprs would best support the big British thrust in the Medjerda valley. On the northern part of the front, one division and the _Corps Franc d'Afrique_ struck at enemy defenses west of Mateur. Air power was to play an important role as during the first 2 days of action, the NATAF made 1,500 sorties. By the opening of the battle, the Allied Air Force had won mastery of the air from the Luftwaffe. In order to reach assigned positions for the attack, the US II Corps had to move more than 100,000 men plus equipment of all types, an average of 150 miles over difficult country and across the communication lines of the British First Army. In addition, supplies for the upcoming operation had to be assembled from bases and ports many miles to the west. The accomplishment of this move was one of the outstanding achievments of transport and supply in the North African campaign.

Maj. John Thompson McKellar Anderson (1918-43), Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, led many attacks at the head of his battalion, which seized a key objective and 200 prisoners. (Victoria Cross). Lt. Wilwood Alexander Sandys Clarke (b.1919), Royal North Lancs Regt., knocked out three machine-guns posts and led his platoon to its goal, before he was killed tackling two sniper posts. (Victoria Cross). (_Syscom_)

*UNITED KINGDOM:* London: A joint Anglo-US command is set up to plan for a European landing; Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Morgan is appointed Chief of Staff Supreme Allied Command [COSSAC]. (_Syscom_)


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## Hugh Spencer (Apr 23, 2008)

*24 April 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: 5 RAF Mosquitoes attacked railway targets at Tours, Paderborn and Trier without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: SS forces began to reduce the Jewish strongholds in the Warsaw Ghetto. Deploying heavy artillery and flamethrowers, the defenders were burned or blown out of their defenses. But the Jews continued to fight, re-occupying the rubble and taking to the sewers in tenacious fighting. (_Njaco_)

Lt. Adoplf von Gordron of the _Gruppenstab _of II./JG 3 was killed in action against Russian Il-2 Sturmoviks. A Ju 88A-4 belonging to 4(F)./122 was destroyed by bombs during a Russian air raid on Flugplatz Sarabus. (_Njaco_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: The air battles over Tunis continued with Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Muller of Stab I./JG 53 getting 2 kills to bring his score to 114 victories while Ofw. Walter Schumann of 1./JG 77 was getting shot down and listed as missing in action, having achieved 11 victories during his career. (_Njaco_)


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## Njaco (Apr 24, 2008)

*25 April 1943
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Battle of Slow UK/North American Convoy ONS4 - A Swordfish of RAF No. 811 Sqdrn from _'Biter' _found 'U-203' and the destroyer _'Pathfinder' _finished the submarine off.

*EASTERN FRONT*: After a lull in the fighting at Warsaw, the German SS troops cut off water and electricity to the Ghetto and continued their clearing operations, burning the city to the ground.
*
NORTH AFRICA*: The British V Corps, with heavy armour support, succeeded in capturing 'Longstop' Hill after heavy fighting.

JG 77 resumed battling in the skies over Tunis. Lt. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert of 4./JG 77 brought down a Spitfire and an Airacobra in the afternoon, bringing his score to 152 enemy aircraft destroyed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: I./KG 2 and II./KG 2 returned back to the airfields at Eindhoven and Soesterberg. On the return trip near Lindesnes, a Do 217 from 4./KG 2 crashed into the sea from a collision with a Fw 190 from I./JG 11, based at Lister. Uffz. Helmut Glagla of 1./JG 11 and Fw. Gunther Stahr's entire Dornier crew were killed.


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## Hugh Spencer (Apr 25, 2008)

*26 April 1943

UNITED KINGDOM*: I reported to No 1 Aircrew Reception Centre in St John's Wood, London to commence training for RAF aircrew. I would have to be there for about three weeks, billeted in requisitioned properties, kitted out with uniform, medically examined, inoculated and introduced to drill and physical training.

*GERMANY*: 215 Lancasters, 135 Wellingtons, 119 Halifaxes, 78 Stirlings and 14 Mosquitoes attacked Duisburg. 17 aircraft were lost. This heavy raid was a partial failure. The Pathfinders claimed to have marked their target accurately but daylight reconnaissance showed that most of the bombing had fallen to the northeast of Duisburg. The Main Force may have bombed too early or they may have been lured by early fires short of the target. However, Duisburg had more than 300 buildings destroyed and a death roll of between 130 and 207, reports varied. 4 of the Mosquitoes taking part in this raid were from 2 Group. They bombed Duisburg 3 hours after the main raid, then dived hard and flew back to England at low level. Bombs hit 6 other towns in the Ruhr.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 6 RAF Mosquitoes attacked railway targets at Tours, Julich and Lingen without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: At 11:00 hours near Taman, Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 destroyed a Russian R-5 for his 8th victory. (_Njaco_)


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## Njaco (Apr 26, 2008)

*27 April 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: 12 RAF Venturas dispatched to attack a railway target at St Brieuc turned back because of 10/10ths cloud. (_Hugh Spencer_)

58 RAF Halifaxes, 46 Lancasters, 31 Wellingtons and 25 Stirlings went on the biggest minelaying operation so far mounted. 123 aircraft carried out their flights successfully, laying 458 mines off the Biscay and Brittany ports and in the Frisian Islands. 1 Lancaster was lost. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Over the Kuban bridgehead, Oblt. Joachim Kirschner, _Staffelakpitaen _of 5./JG 3, destroyed a pair of Russian lend-lease Boston bombers to bring his score to 100 victories so far during the war.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Djebel Bou Aoukaz fell to British forces.


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## Njaco (Apr 27, 2008)

*28 April 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* A series of running battles, between German U-Boats and Convoy ONS-5, begin. These battles will last through 6 May. The convoy will lose 13 transports. 7 U-Boats are sunk with damage to others. The ratio of 2 transports to 1 U-boat is acceptable. This convoy is being protected by British escorts and PBY-5A Catalinas of the US Navy's Patrol VP-84 based as Naval Air Facility (NAF) Reykjavik, Iceland. The effective air escort during the main battle was RCAF No. 5 Squadron from Newfoundland which sank _'U-630' _on 4th May. Earlier in the voyage, on 24 April, _'U-710' _was sunk by RAF 206 Squadron. The surface escort accounted for the remainder of the U-boat losses. The weather from 28 May onwards was atrocious. (_Syscom_)

In the Atlantic, a US Navy hunter-killer group comprised of the auxiliary aircraft carrier USS _'Bogue' _and four destroyers drives off five German U-boats deploying against Convoy HX 235. (_Syscom_)
**
*EASTERN FRONT: *Following in the footsteps of Oblt. Kirschner of the day before, the _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 3, Lt. Wolf Ettel, shot down 3 Russian LaGG-3s to bring his score to 100 kills. At JG 52, Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 downed a Soviet LaGG-3 in the morning near Taman to bring his score to 9.
**
*GERMANY*: 6 RAF Mosquitoes carried out a raid to Wilhelmshaven, dropping numerous flares to divert attention from the minelaying force which was operating nearby. No Mosquitoes were lost.
**
*NORTHERN FRONT*: The Finnish Parliament passes a law decreeing that all recipients of the Mannerheim Cross (the Finnish equivalent of the VC or MOH) would additionally receive the sum of 50 000 Finnish marks. It is a considerable sum, equivalent to a lieutenant's yearly pay. (_Syscom_)
A Ju 88A-14 of 9./KG 6 was lost and crashed into the North Sea. Only the body of Uffz. Hans Hart washed ashore on 26 June 1943 in the vicinity of beach pole #5 near Den Helder. His body was buried at the cemetery of Huisduinen.​
*WESTERN FRONT*: 207 RAF aircraft - 68 Lancasters, 60 Halifaxes, 47 Wellingtons and 32 Stirlings - carried out another large minelaying operation. 167 aircraft laid mines off Heligoland, in the River Elbe and in the Great and Little Belts. Low cloud over the German and Dutch coasts forced the minelayers to fly low in order to establish their positions before laying their mines and much German flak actvity was seen. 22 aircraft - 7 Lancasters, 7 Stirlings, 6 Wellingtons and 2 Halifaxes - were lost. This was the heaviest loss of aircraft while minelaying in the war, but the number of mines laid was the highest in one night.


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## Njaco (Apr 29, 2008)

*29 April 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *3(F)./122 dispatched a number of sorties, one of which was a combined overseas training flight and check of German minefields. One Ju 88 was shot down by RAF No. 486 Sqdrn Typhoons south of the Isle of Wight. Another Ju 88 was attacked by a fighter and shot down into the sea, 20km to the west of the island of Terschelling, where it exploded. Uffz. Rudolf Wolf and his crew were all killed.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: A fighter sweep - or 'Rodeo' - by the US 56th FG flying P-47 Thunderbolts over the Dutch coast brought the Focke-Wulfs of JG 26 up to battle. The Fw 190s made a short, head-on pass at the American fighters in groups of two and shot down 2 P-47s, the claims being made by Ofw. Hans Heitmann of 8./JG 26 and Uffz. Wilhelm Mayer of 6./JG 26. The _Geschwader _lost no fighters in this action. At about the same time, Ofw. Johannes Edmann of 8./JG 26 downed a Spitfire in the sea near Zeebrugge.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 1(F)./122 was engaged in tracking the movements of the RN battleships HMS _'Nelson' _and HMS _'Rodney' _together with 6 lesser ships that had just passed Gibraltar headed into the Med. One Ju 88 was sent out on an over water recon sortie. A second Ju 88 was sent out but failed to find the warships due to weather conditions.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A series of minor attacks by the Red Army near Novorossiysk slowly pushed the Germans back.


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## Njaco (Apr 29, 2008)

*30 April 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* British submarine _'Seraph'_, releases a corpse "The Man Who Never Was" into the sea of the Spanish port of Huelva. This is part of the deception plan for the invasion of Sicily. (_Syscom_)
**
The U.S. Navy turns over responsibility for convoys sailing between Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and the UK to the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy. (_Syscom_)

Axis submarine losses for the month of April amounted to 14 German and 1 Italian U-Boats including 3 destroyed by the RAF in the North Atlantic and off the Canaries; 1 by an RAF Bay of Biscay patrol; 1 by an RAF-laid mine in the Bay of Biscay; 1 by the RAAF north of the Faeroes and 3 to US forces in the North and South Atlantic including the one Italian.​*EASTERN FRONT*: Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 gained his first double kill, 2 Soviet LaGG-3s over Taman. His score was now at 11 kills.

*NORTH AFRICA*: German armor led in retaking Djebel Bou Aoukaz but sustained heavy losses.

Frank Hill from the US 31st FG related escorting 18 B-25s on a sea sweep as;


> "..._absolutely one of the most interesting missions I've ever been on! Our Squadron was close cover, and Col. Dean was leading the 308th as top cover. By this time I was in the 309th Squadron as commander. We flew from Le Sers to the coast then up towards Cape Bon. As we neared the Cape, we could see 2 large vessels making large wakes in the water. We were supposed to go around the Cape and go into the Gulf of Tunis to bomb some shipping that was in the harbor but here were two very large ships. So the bomber commander decided to lay their eggs there. Just as we were making the first bomb run, we saw 9 enemy 109s above us and to the right and a fight was started between them and the 308th with Col. Dean. The boats below were turning furiously and sending up plenty of flak and the first bombs did not land too close. The bombers made a slight turn to the right and headed out to sea then swung around in a large left turn and headed right back in again towards the ships. At this time, the enemy 109s were really trying to get at the bombers but every time they would come in close, we would always be there and shooting at them. Major Thyng damaged one and it beetled on away. The 308th really was tangling in there - and the enemy 109s were keeping us busy also. I got burned up with the rear gunners of the bombers because they were shooting at us also. But I guess they couldn't pick us out from the enemy 109s. The second bomb run was really beautiful. They flew a straight course and all the flak didn't make them flinch a bit. One whole stick of bombs hit the large cruiser, in a direct hit, and it practically lifted it out of the water. An explosion occurred and big, black rolls of smoke came up high in the air. The ship was still burning as we last looked at it from 20 miles away. The smaller ship, probably a small cruiser, was heading towards the burning cruiser, probably to rescue people who might still be alive. ME 109s continued to fight us most of the way home, but never hit any of us and we only claimed a few damaged. Col. Dean got one destroyed. He was with the 308th at that time. It was a really good show!"_


Gefr. Karl Unkell from Stab./JG 77 was killed in combat near Cape Bon. Lt. Baumel from 6./JG 77 claimed a Spitfire for his first kill.

*GERMANY*: On 20 April, Duncan Sandys, Churchill's son-in-law and Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Supply, was appointed to head a committee to review all evidence of German long-range rocket development. Mr. Sandys thought that the Germans must have had a special base for experimental projects. A check of air photographs revealed that Peenemunde, on the Baltic, was a likely spot. Medmenham unearthed photographs taken by a bomber pilot on a raid against Kiel in May 1942, which revealed much building and mysterious earthworks. Some photographic sorties were immediately launched. On 22 April, a Mosquito took photos of the area. One of these revealed an object projecting from the seaward end of a building. In the next frame, taken 4 seconds later, the object had vanished and in its place was a puff of smoke. The British did not realize it, but the photos showed the 21st experimental firing of an A4 rocket. Nevertheless, the Sandys Committee had concluded that Peenemunde was an experimental station dealing with projectiles and explosives. If rockets were being developed there it would be a while before they were operational. Peenemunde was to be kept under observation and every effort made to establish its role.

190 RAF Lancasters, 105 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Essen, 12 aircraft lost. Cloud was expected over the target so a Pathfinder technique based solely on Oboe Mosquitoes skymarkers was planned. This was not expected to give such good results as groundmarking but the plan worked well and 238 crews reported that they had bombed Essen. Because of the cloud, no bombing photographs were produced. A map from Essen showed that this modest attack did produce new damage areas all over the city although there was no major concentration. 189 buildings were destroyed and 237 severely damaged. The Krupps factory was hit again. 53 people were killed and 218 injured. Bombs also fell on 10 other Ruhr towns particularly in Bottrop just to the north of Essen which was hit by 86 high explosive bombs. (_Hugh Spencer_)

8 RAF Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes of the Pathfinders carried out H2S training attacks on Bocholt. 1 Stirling was lost. In the whole of April 1943 1739 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were lost, POW's or killed. (_Hugh Spencer_)


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## Njaco (Apr 30, 2008)

*1 May 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-613' _engaged in a gun battle with an RAF No. 172 Sqdrn Wellington. The aircraft was damaged in the attack and crash landed with no fatalities among the crew.

_'U-515' _attacked Convoy 'TS-37' for a second time about 75 miles southwest of Freetown and fired 3 single torpedoes. The first hit the _'City of Singapore' _in the stern and the ship was seen to burn fiercely before she sank. The second torpedo hit the _'Mokambo' _and set her on fire. The third torpedo hit the _'Clan MacPherson'_, which began to sink by the stern. The master, 86 crewmembers and 10 gunners from the _'City of Singapore' _were picked up by trawlers HMS _'Arran' _and _'Birdlip' _and landed at Freetown the same day. The _'Clan Macpherson' _foundered later. Four crewmembers were lost. The _'Mokambo' _was badly damaged but remained afloat. The ship was towed to Freetown roads by tugs _'Aimwell' _and _'Onana' _but capsized on 2 May and sank.​
*EASTERN FRONT*: KGr zb V9 was redesignated as I./TG 3 (_Transportfliegergeschwader_) as part of the general restructuring of the Luftwaffe's air transport branch.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The US II Corps took Hill 609 in 'Mousetrap Valley'. Axis forces began to withdraw from the area. At sunset 7 Ju 88 bombers and 6 Ju 88 torpedo bombers of III./KG 26 and 3 He 111 Torpedo bombers of II./KG 26 attacked a convoy to the north of Benghazi that had left Alexandria and was sailing to Malta and Tripoli. The steamboat _'Erimpura' _was sunk and the tanker _'British Trust' _was hit by bombs and a torpedo which sank her also.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 5./BFGr 196 was redesignated 1./SAGr 128. The unit took on 17 Ar 196s and 6 Fw 190s along with a couple of Bu 133s. 5./BFGr 196, 1./SAGr 128 and 10./ZG 1 were three of the designations used by this small but successful Luftwaffe unit. 1./SAGr 128 was based at Brest-Sud throughout its existance but had detachments at Bayonne. In 8 months of operations, this unit lost no Ar 196s but 5 Fw 190s were lost to enemy action and 8 to other causes. During the early months of 1943, the Luftwaffe was not providing adequate protection for the Atlantic U-Boats and this situation had to be remedied. The introduction of centimetric radar on Allied aircraft in February 1943 meant that U-Boat sinkings greatly increased. Aside from patrolling the waters around Brest, the unit was also occasionally deployed against US bombing raids with mixed results. It was impossible for 1./SAGr 128 and 10./ZG 1 to change the course of the war in the Bay of Biscay with just a handful of Fw 190s and Ar 196. Allied technical developments, new aircraft types and weight of numbers meant that the Fw 190s could only cause some disruption to Allied successes. On some notable occasions, the long-range Fw 190s were very successful but these pin-pricks were not enough to save the U-Boat force from near annihilation between May and December 1943. While operating from Brest, 5./BFGr 196, 1./SAGr 128 and 10./ZG 1 worked alongside other German units under _Fliegerfuhrer Atlantik_. 8./JG 2 periodically flew against Coastal Command anti-submarine aircraft and in June 1943, the _Staffel _took on strength some long-range Fw 190A-5/U8s (some of these were kept until February 1944). The best known of the German units flying over the Bay of Biscay was V./KG 40 with its Ju 88s (it would become I./ZG 1 in October 1943). Other units were more enigmatic, like the Me 410 equipped 7./ZG 1. Other elements of ZG 1 and ZG 26 also made appearances over the Bay in 1943 and 1944 with Ju 88s and Bf 110s. 1./SAGr 129 operated the BV 138 and BV 222 while 2./SAGr 128 flew the Ar 196 A-3.

12 RAF Bostons went to a railway target at Caen and 6 Mosquitoes to the Philips factory at Eindhoven. Both raids were abandoned because of cloud. (_Hugh Spencer_)

18 RAF Wellingtons and 12 Stirlings laid mines off the Brittany and Biscay coasts. 1 Stirling was lost. (_Hugh Spencer_)


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## Njaco (May 1, 2008)

*2 May 1943

GERMANY*: A maximum force, 154 B-17s, 21 B-24s and 12 B-26s of the US 8th Bomber Command were dispatched against 4 targets. This was the first time more than 200 US bombers were dispatched. The principal attack was against submarine yards and naval installations at Kiel and destroyed 3 U-Boats. They lost 5 B-24s and 3 B-17s.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 42 B-17s were dispatched against the former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp, Belgium. 38 bombers hit the target and claimed 5 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed. One B-17 was lost. The bombers were escorted by 118 P-47s which claimed 4 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed and lost 3 P-47s. 39 B-17s were dispatched against the Coutrai airfield and lost 2 B-17s. Another 12 B-17s were sent against the Velsen power station at Ijmuiden and hit the target without loss.

RAF Mosquitoes raided the railway yards at Thionville, France.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The German transport _'Gneisenau' _struck a mine and sank, east of Gedser. _'U-465' _was sunk in the Bay of Biscay north of Cape Finisterre by depth charges from an RAAF No. 461 Sqdrn Sunderland with all hands lost. _'U-188' _was heading home through the Bay of Biscay when a Whitley aircraft attacked it. The commander, KL Siegfried Ludden and a crewmember were seriously wounded.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: German Dornier bombers laid mines off the Thames and Huber estuaries.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia, P-40s attacked shipping off the coast. Bad weather restricted the NASAF to recon missions. NATAF fighters hit tank and troop concentrations near Massicault and Tebourba and flew recon as the US II Coprs occupied Kef en Nsour while Axis forces withdrew toward Bizerte.


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## Njaco (May 2, 2008)

*3 May 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Venturas of RAF No. 487 Sqdrn (New Zealand) were dispatched to attack a power station on the northern outskirts of Amsterdam. One aircraft returned early; the remaining 11 proceeded with an escort of 3 squadrons of Spitfires. Unfortunately, an earlier Spitfire sweep had alerted the German defenses while the Ventura force was still flying at a low level over the North Sea. Unfortunately, also, an exceptional number of experienced German fighter pilots were present at Schiphol airfield for a conference. 69 German fighters were thus up in the air near Amsterdam when the Ventura force crossed the Dutch coast. Some of the German fighters engaged the Spitfires while the remainder attacked the bombers. 9 Venturas were shot down before reaching the target and a 10th was badly damaged but it managed to return to England. The only remaining Ventura was that of S/L L. H. Trent. His Ventura, completely alone, pressed on to the target and bombed it. The bombs just missed but some of the blast caused some damage. This last Ventura was then immediately shot down. The story of this action was reconstructed after the war and S/L Trent was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1946.

Ofw, Ernst Heesen of 5./JG 1 was killed in action. He had 28 victories to his credit, flying for JG 1 and JG 3 during the war.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In Iceland, Lt. General Frank M. Andrews, the USAAF officer who was Commanding General European Theatre of Operations, US Army (ETOUSA) was killed in an aircraft crash while landing. There has been specualtion over the years whether Andrews instead of Eisenhower would have commanded the Allied forces in Europe if he had lived. Camp Springs Army Air Field in Maryland was renamed Andrews Army Air Field (now Air Force Base) in 1945 in his memory.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The US 1st Division along with French troops captured Mateur, 20 miles from Bizerte as they fought their way out of 'Mousetrap Valley'. P-40s flew fighter-bomber missions against a bridge, buildings and docks in the northeast part ofthe country. NASAF B-25s bombed a landing ground near Protville and B-17s hit shipping at Bizerte.


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## Njaco (May 3, 2008)

*4 May 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF dispatched 79 B-17s against the former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp. The B-17s were escorted by 117 P-47Cs up to 175 miles from their bases along with Spitfires. The Spitfires and Thunderbolts intercepted the Fw 190s of JG 26 sent to attack the bombers and were successful in keeping the German fighters away from the bombers. A diversion was flown by 20 B-17s and 13 B-24s towards the French coast arousing more than 100 German fighters (about half of the total number in the region) and kept many of them airbourne long enough to prevent their attacking the main effort. No bombers were lost on this mission. A pilot with JG 26 wrote that the Geschwader's failure to destroy the bombers had brought, "_a great salvo from Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring. We should be disbanded - our formation leaders should be arrested - we are all cowardly dogs!_" Oblt. Konrad von Donner of Stab II./JG 26 was credited with destroying a 4 engined airplane near Scheld-Mundung. A Spitfire was also awarded to Major Josef Priller from Stab./JG 26 for his 85th victory.

Polish pilots flying in the RAF F/O Dubielecki claimed 2 Fw-190s damaged and P/O Zurakowski claimed 1 Fw-190 damaged. F/O Lipinski in Spitfire IX (EN131, PK-M), was killed in action over Flushing (Vlissingen, Netherlands). Although he virtually never made any notes in his log book, the Northolt Wing's Deputy Commnader S/Ldr Sawicz, after flying that mission had made an entry in it: "_An exhausting flight - heavy fight. I got out of a/c on very shaky legs. One Fw-190 damaged_."

12 RAF Venturas attacked railway yards at Abbeville. 3 Mosquitoes out of 6 despatched bombed power stations at Haarlem and The Hague. No losses. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: After sailing for a week through raging storms, westbound convoy 'ONS-5' made contact with the German wolf pack sent to destroy it. As German submarine _'U-630'_ was starting its attack run, a Canadian RAF airplane depth charged the U-Boat, sinking it.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler decided to post-pone the planned summer offensive at Kursk until more of the new Tiger and Panther tanks could be delivered. By mid-May, the Russians had prepared an extensive defense network that was more than enough to defeat the Germans at Kursk.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In an act of purest desperation, the Italian merchant ship _'Campobasso' _attempted to deliver desperately needed fuel and military supplies to the Axis forces in Tunisia. It was intercepted and sunk by British destroyers. Weather restricted most NASAF operations to recon and uneventful sweeps. NATAF fighters attacked gun positions and vehicles near Zaghouan and Massicault and at other points in the surrounding area. A-20s and medium bombers hit Zaghouan in support of the French advance.

*GERMANY*: 255 RAF Lancasters, 141 Halifaxes, 110 Wellingtons, 80 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Dortmund - the largest non-1000 raid of the war to date and the largest on this city. 31 aircraft were lost and a further 7 aircraft crashed in bad weather at their bomber bases. The initial Pathfinder marking was accurate but some of the back-up marking fell short. A decoy fire site also attracted many bombs. Half of the large force did bomb within 3 miles of the aiming point and severe damage was caused in central and northern parts of Dortmund. The city's report stated that 1218 buildings were destroyed and 2141 seriously damaged including the Hoesch and the Dortmunder Union steel factories and many facilities in the dock area. The old Rathaus was among 7 buildings of a cultural nature which were destroyed. At least 693 people were killed including 200 prisoners of war and 1075 people were injured. The number of dead in this raid was a new record. (_Hugh Spencer_)


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## Njaco (May 4, 2008)

*5 May 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Convoy 'ONS-5', now being dogged by over 20 German submarines, began to take serious losses. However, the German U-Boat _'U-192' _was sunk.

An airbourne Lifeboat was used operationally for the first time, when it was dropped from an aircraft of RAF No. 279 Sqdrn.

The first MAC (merchant aircraft carrier) ship MV _'Empire MacAlpine' _a converted grain cargo vessel of 8,800 tonnes 481 ft long and carrying just 4 Swordfish onboard sails for Halifax with west bound convoy ONS 9 to increase the mid Atlantic air cover. Doubts had been expressed about the ability of the aircraft to operate from such small vessels in lively seaways but in fact it was found on the return voyage with convoy HX 245 that the Swordfish crews could operate in weather conditions unsuitable for the Grumman Avengers of no 846 squadron aboard the accompanying escort carrier HMS _'Chaser'_. (_Trackend_)

*GERMANY*: The commander of _Luftwaffenkommando Ost_, Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim was given command of Luftflotte 6.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British forces broke through the defenses of 5.Panzerarmee (von Arnim) south of Tunis. After taking then losing the town in very heavy fighting, British forces re-captured Djebel Bou Aoukaz late in the day. This action secured the left flank for the final drive on Tunis. NATAF fighters and bombers flew missions against strongholds on the slopes of Djebel Bou Aoukaz. The British 5th Corps was now commanded by Horrocks and included the 6th and 7th Armoured Divisions and the 4th Indian Division. With the front collapsing on all sides, the German fighters of the Desert jagdflieger lost another experte. Oblt. Gunther Hannak of 7./JG 27 and previously of I(J)./LG 2 and JG 77, was shot down and captured by the Allies, ending the war with 49 destroyed enemy planes to his credit.

The Axis made one more attempt to supply Tunis, sending the _'San Antonio'_ to her doom, this time at the hands of American bombers. There would be no more attempts to supply Tunisia.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Fw. Georg Thurimger of 13./KG 30 lost control of his Ju 88A-4 during take-off at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West and collided with a Ju 88 belonging to III./KG 30 parking nearby. '4D+IX' was damaged and Fw. Thuringer was killed and two of his crew injured.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Heavy fighting continued on the Kuban peninsula as Red Army forces took Krymsk and Neberjaisk from the German 17.Armee.


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## Njaco (May 5, 2008)

*6 May 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Over 30 German submarines were engaged with convoy 'ONS-5' as the 11th merchant ship was sunk. However 4 more U-Boats were sunk. 20 more submarines would attack the convoy but only one more merchant ship would be destroyed.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: Heinz Scholz of JG 52 was killed in action. Lt. Franz Schall of 3./JG 52 gained his first victory when he shot down a LaGG-5 fighter.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British opened the final assault on Tunis and Bizerte before dawn. The assault was supported by massed artillery fire and the most intensive air bombardment yet employed in North Africa. The British 5th Corps, led by Horrocks, broke through the Axis front, taking Massicault and advanced toward Tunis. The attack along with the heavy air support succeeded in destroying the remnants of the German 15.Panzerdivision. B-25s attacked Furna and Massicault and the surrounding areas. Meanwhile the US II Corps advanced toward Bizerte, Ferryville and Protville and the Free French 19th Corps approached Pont du Fahs.

NATAF airplanes bombed El Aouina, La Sebala and Ariana airfields during the night. During the day, fighters, A-20s and medium bombers flew over 1,400 sorties, attacking Protville and La Sebala airfields, trucks on the Massicault-Tunis road, Bordj Frendj, Djebel Achour, traffic near Tunis and other strongpoints in extreme northeast Tunisia. B-25s and B-26s bombed 2 beached vessels at Cape Zebib and ships, a lighthouse and parked aircraft near Cape Fortass, Zebib, Cap Serrat and Protville.

This day saw the largest number of Luftwaffe fighters destroyed in the North African theatre by an American fighter group in one day to date. The record set for the US 31st FG was 11 destroyed German aircraft. one probably destroyed and two damaged, without a single loss. Frank Hill became one of the first aces of the US 31st FG that day;


> "_On the morning mission, I was leading the Spit IXs. That was the newer Spitfire with the bigger engine and I chased 2 109s around the sky, finally got one which dove head-on into the ground just north of Tunis. Just a little before this, I followed one Me 109 north towards Bizerte and shot at him and he continued to dive with black smoke coming out all the way down. There was another Me 109 on our tail, so we had to turn to head into it to avoid getting hit. Just as I turned back, I saw a large explosion just where the first Me 109 was headed, so I believe he went in also. Later on it was confirmed by my wingman. In the afternoon we were up again and this time we ran into about 16 Me 109s and Macchi 202s, which was the Italian fighter. There were 6 of us in Spit Vs and 4 above us in Spit IXs. I started after this formation, came up from underneath where they didn't see us, and shot at one Macchi which I hit. He immediately half-rolled and started down. I don't know if he crashed or pulled out. I just kind of damaged it. After their whole formation split up, and so did ours, a general dogfight was a result. Major Kelly, who was a new replacement at that time who I'd known back at the 40th squadron at Selfridge, was my number 2 man. He stayed with me, even though he lagged behind a couple of times, because he was in a much slower plane. When we sighted more Me 109s and gave chase, two of them turned off and climbed into the sun. So we went right after them, underneath and behind so they didn't see us. When we were able to close in again, I opened fire on the lead one when they both half-rolled and the one went straight down with glycol and smoke coming out. Major Kelly watched him for a long while, and he believed he never did come out of the dive. The other one straightened out right away and I came up on his tail and fired what little ammunition I had left at him and Kelly shot at him and we both broke away. The German must have known I was out of ammunition because he turned right back and started after us. He was almost on Kelly's tail when I told Kelly to break hard left. The Me 109 overshot us and never did attack us again. We were down to our last few gallons of gas, so we landed at an emergency field near the front, re-serviced and came on home. For the day's work, I claimed 2 enemy 109s destroyed, one probably destroyed and one damaged, and one Macchi damaged."_


Although the number of German aircraft destroyed was mounting, Lt. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert of 4./JG 77 managed to claim a Spitfire near Tunis.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Robert Olejnik replaced Hptm. Dietrich Wickop as acting Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 1 after Hptm. Wickop was killed in action.


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## Njaco (May 6, 2008)

*7 May 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: Ofw. Albert Brunner of 5./JG 5 was killed in action. He had 53 victories against the Allies at the time of his death. Also killed this day was Oskar Loffler of JG 3. He died having destroyed 5 enemy aircraft during his career.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Fighting in North Africa was coming to a speedy conclusion as von Arnim's Axis forces retreated into the Cape Bon peninsula. 5.Panzerarmee evacuated Tunisia and Bizerte. It was 03:15 am when the order was given for the British to drive into the city. Armoured cars of the 11th Hussara were they first - as they had been in every major town or city captured since El Alamein - followed almost immediately by the tanks. Thousands of civilians lined the streets of Tunis to pelt British troops with spring flowers, bestowing kisses on embarrassed troops of the Derbyshire Yeomanry as their tanks rolled in. Even then, however, the fighting was not over, as small pockets of fanatical Germans continued to snipe from vantage points on public buildings and mosques.

The final assault on the Djebel Bou Aoukaz hills overlooking the city had involved an artillery barrage of an intensity not known since El Alamein. The technique was to use a concentration of fire, centrally controlled, on all known enemy positions. Shells landed on every two yards of front, causing total havoc. A huge air attack began at dawn, with the RAF flying more than 200 sorties. By 09:30 am the 4th Indian Division had cleared a path for IX Corps tanks. Simultaneously, the US II Coprs began its final assault towards Bizerte in the north. After some tough fighting, the US 9th Infantry Division drove into the city in the late afternoon but formal entry was reserved for the French Corps _Franc d'Afrique_.

The last remnants of the Luftwaffe abandoned their airfields and flew off for Sicily or Italy. For JG 77, the evacuation from the Cape Bon peninsula was a chaotic affair. The _Geschwader _had suffered heavy losses in the air and on the ground while claiming 333 kills in total in North Africa. Transport aircraft were in short supply and the pilots found themselves flying a shuttle between Tunis and Sicily with up to 2 passengers in the fuselages of the Bf 109s. Having achieved some 50 victories over North Africa, 4./JG 77 experte Fw. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert was just one pilot to fly the hazrdous over-water flight. Too tall to squeeze into the fuselage of a 109, Reinert took the controls of 'White 7', the Bf 109G assigned to his superior, Oblt. Zeno Baeumel, while Baeumel and a mechanic crammed into the machine. Enroute to Sicily, Reinert sighted a formation of Royal Navy Martlets and swung his heavily loaded fighter in behind one of the British aircraft to deliver the _coup de grace_ before putting down in Sicily, no doubt to the immense relief of his terrified passengers. Once back on the mainland and with most of their aircraft unmaintained and even unservicable on arrival in Sicily - the majority of the ground crews having gone into captivity in North Africa - the pilots of I. and II./JG 77 returned by train to Germany to collect new aircraft. Only III./JG 77 remained in Italy, being based in Foggia northeast of Naples. Aircraft were taken on loan from JG 53 in an effort to rebuild the _Gruppe_. Obstlt. Johannes Steinhoff now took over as _Geschwaderkommodore _as the _Geschwader_, now part of Fliegerkorps II, prepared for the Allies to invade Sicily.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The battle with convoy 'ONS-5' came to an end. In the week long battle, the convoy of 42 merchants and 9 escorts were attacked by 51 U-Boats. the convoy lost 13 ships but the escorts and land-based Catalina planes sank 7 U-Boats, seriously damaging 5 more. Despite the serious losses, the Allies considered this a great success.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *RAF maritime patrol aircraft sank 3 U-Boats in oneday. A Handley-Page Halifax of No. 58 Sqdrn sunk _'U-109' _and a Short Sunderland of RAAF No. 10 Sqdrn sank _'U-663'_, both engagements taking place in the Bay of Biscay. Meanwhile a Lockheed Hudson of No. 233 Sqdrn sank _'U-447' _off Gibraltar.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Lt. General Jacob L. Devers was appointed Commanding General European Theatre of Operations US Army replacing General Andrews who was killed in Iceland.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night in Sicily, NASAF Wellingtons bombed the docks and shipping at Trapani as a diversion for a mine-laying mission off Malta.


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## Njaco (May 7, 2008)

*8 May 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler now gives in about allowing a full scale withdrawal from the Crimea. (_Syscom_)

The fighters of JG 52 lost Helmut Haberda when the 58 victory experte was killed in action.

Mordechai Anielewicz (1919-1943), commandant of the ZOB during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is killed battling the Nazis. (_Syscom_)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fw. Karl Hosmann of 2./JG 77 was listed as missing in action and presumed dead. He had destroyed 8 enemy aircraft during his combat career. Another pilot with JG 77, Oblt. Helmut Mickel was killed in a flying accident. He died having destroyed 25 enemy aircraft during his career.

NASAF P-38s and NATAF fighters along with A-20s attacked the airfield on Pantelleria Island between Cape Bon and Sicily.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British 6th Armoured Division drove from Hammam Lif towards Hammamet, preventing the Germans from making an orderly withdrawl. The Luftwaffe, battered and exhausted, abandoned Tunisia. Admiral Cunningham launched Operation '_Retribution' _to prevent Axis armies from evacuating North Africa.

NASAF B-26s and P-40s attacked small vessels off Tunisia. Weather prevented the success of other shipping sweeps, but B-25s hit a road junction and railroad at Korba and a highway south of Beni Khalled. On the ground, _Corps Franc d'Afrique _made an official entry into Bizerte as the British 7th Armoured Division pushed north from Tunis toward the US II Corps zone. The British 5th Corps' 1st Division and 4th Indian Division pushed east with the French 19th Corps which met firm resistance near Zaghouan.


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## Njaco (May 8, 2008)

*9 May 1943

MEDITTERANEAN*: In Italy, B-24s attacked harbour facilities at Messina, scoring hits on the ferry terminal, roundhouse, 2 ferries and a ship. B-25s hit the landing ground on Pantelleria Island. In Sardinia, during the night, NASAF Wellingtons bombed Villacidro, Elmas and Decimomannu airfields. In Sicily, B-17s with P-38 escort bombed Palermo. B-26s followed immediately with an attack on the same target. Fw. Josef Brandl of 7./JG 27 was listed as missing in action. He had 7 kills with JG 27.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Ju 88R-1 defected to Britain, landing near Aberdeen. Allegedly it was carrying an important agent but the secrets of the _'Lichtenstein BC' _radar were also extremely valuable. This night-fighter version of the Ju 88, using BMW radial engines instead of the normal Jumo 211s, with pilot Oblt. Herbert Schmid, r/o Obfw. Paul Rosenberger and engineer Obfw. Erich Kantwill took off from Fliegerhorst Aalborg West on an operational flight and at 16:06 hours the aircraft was reported lost over the North Sea. The crew of the Ju 88 from 10./NJG 3 was believed to have contacted the Allies about their defection and 2 Spitfires intercepted and escorted the night-fighter to airbase Dyce-Aberdeen in Scotland. The Junkers was practically brand new and fresh from the factory with the FuG 202 _'Lichtenstein BC' _interception radar onboard. The crew were made prisoners of war. This Ju 88R-1, now in the RAF museum at Hendon, is one of two surviving Ju 88s - the other being a Ju 88D-1 in the USAF museum.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Axis forces facing the US II Coprs in Tunisia, began to surrender. Six generals were among those who capitulated. King George VI told Eisenhower,


> "_the debt of Dunkirk is repaid_!"


 as the Allies began to take 50,000 Axis soldiers prisoners.


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## pbfoot (May 8, 2008)

Njaco said:


> NORTH AFRICA: * ....At 09:50 hours, 5 Spitfires of RAF No. 145 Sqdrn were protecting 12 Spitfires of RCAF No. 417 Sqdrn as they patrolled over the Cape Bon-Tunis area. Near Grembala, they intercepted 2 Bf 109s flying at 16,000 feet and one Spitfire was subsequently shot down. Two claims were made over the Cape Bon region by pilots of 7./JG 53. The first claim was for a Kittyhawk by Lt. Walter Hicke, the second was for a Spitfire made by Uffz. Georg Amon for his first kill.
> .....
> 
> .*


*found this at the hanger*


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## Njaco (May 9, 2008)

*10 May 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: Unternehmen _'Citadel' _was approved by Hitler. The attack at Kursk would begin in June. Intelligence reports indicated that the Soviets were expecting the attack and preparing strong defenses to meet it. The fighter pilots of JG 52 lost another member of the _Geschwader _when Ernst Ehrenberg was killed in action. He had a final victory total of 10 kills.

Organized resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto ended. SS Brigadefuehrer Stoop declared, "_The Warsaw ghetto is no more!"_

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Lt. Gunter Busse of 14(Jabo)./JG 5, flting a Fw 190A-3, was killed in action over Pummankibukten, shot down by the AA defenses. Another pilot from JG 5, Lt. Gunther Steinmann of 4./JG 5 was also lost over Kowdosero to flak.

*NORTH AFRICA*: All organized resistance in northeast Tunisia ended as Axis forces began to surrender. Over the course of the next 2 days, 238,243 unwounded Axis soldiers would become POWs. Numerous motor transport and troop concentrations on the Cape Bon peninsula were bombed and strafed as the British 6th Armoured Division drove to Hammamet. The British ended Axis chances of escape by cutting off the peninsula.

*MEDITERANEAN*: NATAF fighters, A-20s and medium bombers attacked Pantelleria harbour.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A B-17 on a ferry flight to the UK, ran out of fuel and belly landed on a beach in Ireland. Met by guests from a local hotel, the crew were sent across the border and onto the US 379th BG.


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## Njaco (May 10, 2008)

*11 May 1943

UNITED KINGDOM*: A daylight raid by 20 German fighter-bombers on Great Yarmouth killed 26 girls staying at an ATS hotel.

The US 94th BG (Heavy) and its 331st, 332d, 333d and 410 BS (heavy with B-17Fs arrived at Earls Colne, England from the US. The 334th, 335th, 336th and 412th BS (Heavy) of the 95th BG, also with B-17Fs, arrived at Framlingham, England.

*MEDTERRANEAN*: The Allies ended a 3 day aerial bombardment of the Italian island of Pantelleria. In Sicily, B-24s struck Catalina harbour, severly damaging the area and several ships. NASAF B-17s, B-26s and B-25s bombed Marsala, hitting the warehouse, docks, railroad yards, seaplane base and city area.

*NORTH AFRICA*: NATAF fighters and A-20s attacked vehicles, gun positions and troop concentrations in the Zaghouan-Sainte Marie du Zit area on Cape Bon as the British 4th Division completed an uneventful sweep around the Cap Bon peninsul, revealing no important forces there. Resistance in the Zaghouan sector was weakening.


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## Hugh Spencer (May 11, 2008)

*12 May 1943

GERMANY*: 238 Lancasters, 142 Halifaxes, 112 Wellingtons, 70 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Duisburg. 34 aircraft lost. This was the fourth raid on Duisburg so far during the Battle of the Ruhr, the first 3 raids having been only partially successful. The Pathfinder marking on this night, however, was near perfect and the Main Force bombing was particularly well concentrated. The centre of Duisburg and the port area just off the River Rhine, the largest inland port in Germany, suffered severe damage. 1596 buildings were totally destroyed and 273 people were killed. 4 of the August Thyssen steel factories were damaged. Nearly 2000 prisoners of war and forced workers were drafted into Duisburg to repair windows, roofs and other bomb damage. In the port area 21 barges and 13 other ships totalling 18,921 tons were sunk and 60 further ships of 41,000 tons were damaged. It was not deemed necessary to attack Duisburg again during this period. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: After three years of struggle, Allied forces liberated all of North Africa from the Axis powers. A quarter of a million troops (130,000 Germans and 120,000 Italians) surrendered in Tunisia, ending the campaign. General Jurgen von Arnim and 25 other generals were included in the tally of prisoners. General Gustav Fehn, the last commander of the vaunted ‘Afrika Krops’, sent this final message to higher authorities;


> … “Ammunition exhausted. Equipment destroyed. In accordance with orders received, the Afrika Korps has fought to the last man”.


General Alexander, in a message to Churchill wrote,


> “It is my duty to report that the Tunis campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are masters of the North African shores
> .”


British Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Atlee, formally announced end of the North African Campaign. Mussolini promoted General Messe to Field Marshall in hope of inspiring him to hold out.

Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighters, A-20's, and medium bombers flew sweeps and tactical reconnaissance over the battle area and hit positions south of Bou Ficha which formed the last link between the enemy forces and the sea. By night, enemy resistance in the south was almost ended.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A Consolidated Liberator maritime patrol aircraft of RAF No.86 Squadron based at Aldergrove, Co. Antrim, Ireland, dropped a Mark 24 acoustic homing torpedo (codenamed _'Fido'_), seriously damaging U-Boat _'U-456' _and driving it to the surface. It was originally thought to have been sunk as the result of subsequent attacks by a Short Sunderland of No.423 Squadron RCAF, and the warships HMS _'Lagan' _and HMCS _'Drumheller'_. However, it now appears that _'U-456' _was forced to dive by approaching destroyers and then sank because of the damage inflicted by the Liberator. This may properly be said to mark the first successful use of an air-dropped precision weapon in air warfare. The Sunderland and the two warships had actually combined to sink _'U-753'_. _'U-456' _was sunk while facing the British destroyer HMS _'Opportune' _after being badly damaged by the _'Fido'_ homing torpedo. All 49 hands on the U-boat were lost.

Among other notable U-Boat actions were _'U-223' _was rammed by HMS _'Hesperus' _in the North Atlantic and badly damaged. _'U-377' _and _'U-359' _assisted the boat, which could no longer dive, and _'U-223' _reached base on 24 May. _'U-311' _shot down an RAF 206 Sqn B-17 Fortress and _'U-89' _was sunk in the Northern Atlantic, by an RN 811 Sqn Swordfish from HMS _'Biter'_, destroyer HMS _'Broadway' _and frigate HMS _'Lagan'_.

The Canadian-built, British-registered cargo ship _'Fort Concord' _(7,130 GRT) was damaged by _'U-456' _ and later sunk by _'U-403' _north of the Azores. _'Fort Concord' _was proceeding from New York City to Liverpool, as part of the 46-ship convoy 'HX-237'. She was loaded with 8,500 tons of grain and 700 tons of military stores. Thirty-seven of the 56 crewmembers, DEMS gunners, and passengers onboard were lost. The survivors were rescued by the Canadian Flower-class corvette _'Drumheller' _and were landed in Londonderry. Records show that 'HX-237' arrived in Liverpool on 17 May 43 without having lost any ships, indicating that 'Fort _Concord' _was sunk after straggling behind the convoy. _'U-230' _shot down an RN 811 Sqn Swordfish in Convoy 'HX-237'. The _'Sandanger'_, a straggler from Convoy 'HX-237' due to thick fog, was hit amidships, in the pump room and in #6 tank by three torpedoes from _'U-221' _and caught fire immediately. Some survivors tried to abandon ship in boats and rafts but they died in the burning sea. After the tanker broke in two, the stern sank while the burning forepart remained afloat. Because of the fast combustion, an area of low pressure was created, which caused a very strong wind to blow in along the water from the high pressure area outside of the flames, and this wind split the flames on the starboard side in two. This phenomenon saved the 19 survivors in the only intact lifeboat. They rowed for 40 minutes through this area away from the flames that burned just a few feet above their heads and behind them. The tanker sank completely about 90 minutes after the hits, but the fuel burned for several hours on the water surface. 20 crewmembers, including the master and all deck officers were lost. The survivors set sail and were spotted several times by aircraft, one of them dropped a portable radio transmitter that made it possible that they were picked up on 22 May by HMCS _'Kootenay' _and landed at Londonderry the next day. The _'Brand' _was separated from Convoy 'HX-237' in thick fog and was torpedoed by _'U-603'_. 36 crewmen and seven gunners abandoned ship in three lifeboats. The vessel sank after seven minutes, taking two crewmen and one gunner with her. The lifeboats set sails for Ireland, but were picked up the same day by corvette HMCS _'Morden'_. A Swordfish aircraft had been sighted in the afternoon and it had probably guided the corvette to the boats.

*WESTERN FRONT: *The 417th Night Fighter Squadron, US VIII Fighter Command arrived at Ayr, Scotland from the US and began training with Beaufighters.

*EASTERN FRONT*: SKR-31 (ex-RT-43 _'Ribets'_) was sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft, close to Cape Zip-Navolok.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Hitler downgraded the defence of Sicily, giving priority to Sardinia and the Peloponnese. In Sicily, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the docks at Marsala during the night. Some bombs fell on Mazara del Vallo and Trapani.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Trident Conference begins in Washington, DC. Churchill and Roosevelt meet until the 25th of May. They decide on a target date of May 1, 1944 for D-Day in northwest Europe. The US forces in the Pacific receive no restrictions on operations. British General Morgan, as Cossac, is choosen to head the Allied buildup of forces in preparation for the 1944 cross channel operation. _(Syscom) Note - for those that want to know more, heres a link that gives you all the details. This is an important conference for the allies, because it essentailly spells out the basic strategy of the war up to the Normandy invasion.

Chapter VI: The Trident Conference - New Patterns: May 1943_


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## Njaco (May 12, 2008)

*13 May 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The British sank three out of seven U-boats hunting convoy 'HX-237', which has lost three ships. _'U-753' _was sunk by HMCS _'Drumheller'_, HMS _'Lagan' _and RCAF 423 Sqn aircraft. A Sunderland from RCAF 423 Sqn sighted _'U-753' _while flying in support of convoy 'HX-237'. Making skillful use of cloud cover, F/Lt Musgrave approached to within a mile before being sighted by the U-boat, which opened a withering fire that drove off her attacker. The Sunderland orbited out of the U-boat's AA range and called for support from the convoy escorts, only 10 miles away. As _'Lagan' _and _'Drumheller' _approached the U-boat dove, at which point the Sunderland made its attack. Two depth charges were seen to explode and the escorts made a series of follow-up attacks that produced oil and debris. Convoy 'HX-273' arrived in New York City on 17 May 43 with 45 ships. The convoy did lose 3 ships to U-boats, but theses were all 'stragglers' and no ships were lost from within the main body of the convoy.

_'U-176' _attacked Convoy 'NC-18' and sank the _'Nickeliner' _and _'Mambi'_. The _'Mambi' _was hit by one torpedo and sank fast. Of 29 Cuban crewmembers and five American armed guards, only the master, nine crewmembers and one armed guard survived. A first torpedo in the port bow and a second hit the _'Nickeliner' _on the port side aft. The first explosion lifted the bow out of the water and threw water and flames about 100 feet into the air and the second released ammonia from the tanks. As the bow began to settle, the engines were secured and the eight officers, 15 crewmen, seven armed guards (the ship was armed with one 3in and two .30cal guns) and one passenger abandoned ship in two lifeboats 30 minutes after the hits. The tanker sank at 10:15 hours, while the survivors were picked up by a Cuban submarine chaser and landed at Nuevitas.
​*GERMANY*: 135 RAF Halifaxes, 104 Wellingtons, 98 Lancasters, 95 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Bochum. 24 aircraft were lost. This raid started well but after 15 minutes what were believed to be German decoy markers drew much of the bombing away from the target. (_Hugh Spencer_)

156 RAF Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes were despatched in a further attempt to bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen. 120 aircraft from this force were from 5 Group and the remainders were Pathfinders. 9 aircraft were lost. This target again proved to be a difficult one to find and mark accurately and nearly all the bombs fell in open country north of the Skoda works. (_Hugh Spencer_)

12 RAF Mosquitoes went to Berlin, 1 was lost, and 8 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Uffz. Alexander Bleymuller, a pilot with 10 kills flying with 3./JG 53, was listed as missing in action against the Russians.

Volga Flotilla: GB "_Vanya Communist_" - was mined close to Svetlii Yar, in the Stalingrad area.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 55 against the Luftwaffe airfields at Meaulte and St. Omer with 4 groups of B-17s escorted by 13 squadrons of Spitfires. 97 B-17s were dispatched against the Avions Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte and 72 B-17s were dispatcged against the Longuenesse and Ft. Rouge airfields at St. Omer. At 12:00 hours the fighters of II./JG 26 were ordered into the air as the bomber formations reached the Belgian coast. After the B-17s suddenly turned south towards northern France, II./JG 26 was redirected to Lille. All the Fw 190s headed to the new vector except for the plane of Oblt. Otto Stammberger and his wingman who had a broken radio and did not recieve the new instructions. Not noticing that the rest of his _Staffel _had left for Lille, Oblt. Stammberger attacked the escorting Spitfires alone with his wingman. After his plane was hit and his fuel tank exploded, Stammberger bailed out and landed hard with a damaged parachute. He was knocked unconcious and ended up in hospital, severely injured. The rest of JG 26's fighters reached the bombers on their return course and attacked. The fighters of II./JG 26 ignored the Spitfires and assailed the 91st BG in the low box while the fighters of III./JG 26 attacked the 305th BG in the high box and the escortingSpitfires. The attack was vicious and several American airmen commented on the ferocity of the Luftwaffe's engagement. Hitting the bomber formations from the rear, the German fighters were able to damage several bombers while flying straight through the formations. One B-17 was severely damaged when a bomb was dropped on it from a bomb-carrying Fw 190. 3 B-17s and 3 RAF Spifires were shot down at a cost for the Luftwaffe of Oblt. Stammberger and an _Unteroffizier_, who was shot down in flames by a Spitfire. One of these B-17s was HELL'S ANGELS of the 303rd BG (H) which today completed it's tour of 25 missions, the first B-17 crew to complete a tour intact.

During _'Ramrod 71' _over Amiens, Polish pilot F/O Kuryllowicz (BS410, PK-E) was shot down and became a POW.

The 416th Night Fighter Squadron, US VIII Fighter Command arrived at Honiley, England from the US. Detachments were dispersed to Cranfield, Usworth and Bath to train with Beaufighters under control of the RAF.

12 Bostons attacked Cherbourg docks and 6 Mitchells attacked railway targets at Boulogne. 1 Mitchell was lost. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*NORTH AFRICA*: At 2.15pm today, the teleprinter chattered out a message for the British prime minister, who was in Washington. "_Sir_," said the Allied C-in-C, General Alexander,


> "_it is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are the masters of the North African shores._"


The German commander in North Africa, General von Arnim, had surrendered yesterday, and the Italian Feldmarschall Messe surrendered the "1st Italo-German Panzerarmee", the current designation of Rommel's 'Panzer Army Afrika'. The end came quickly as Axis troops found themselves trapped between 2 Allied spearheads and began to give themselves up in the thousands. A small 11th Hussar squadron from Montgomery's British Eighth Army found itself with 10,000 exhausted men of the once formidable Afrika Korps. Then the deluge began as General von Vaerst, commanding 5.Panzerarmee, signaled; "_We will fight to the last_." - only to watch his beaten troops raise their hands and march into captivity. On a beach near Bizerte, another Hussar squadron found 9,000 disconsolate Germans awaiting rescue, some trying to build rafts. More Germans had escaped in commandered small boats, only to be plucked out of the ocean by the Royal Navy. About 240,000 Germans and Italians went into captivity. The focus of all now turned to Sicily. For Hitler, who ordered a defence to "_the last bullet_", the implications were serious. The defeated Afrika Korps would have been invaluable in the defence of Europe. For the British, American and French, bitter lessons had been learnt. American generals and their troops had seen German armour in action and learned how to cope with skilled defensive fighting. The French learned to co-operate with the British, despite the sinking of their fleet. And the British, celebrating in the bars of Tunis, learned that it was a long way from Alamein.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After two weeks of constant bombardment from the air, Italian defenders on Sardinia were joined by German troops as the island braced itself for an Allied invasion. Few Axis leaders now doubted that Sardinia would be the target and coastal defenses were being rebuilt and the airfields repaired after the Allied raids. B-17s, B-25s and B-26s from 7 Bomb Groups, escorted by fighters from 7 Fighter Groups, bombed Cagliari, hitting shipping, the dock area, marshalling yard, oil dump, chemical plant and the city area. Allied forces launched a series of heavy bombing attacks on Pantelleria Island in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. The intensive bombardment was an essential part of an Allied deception plan which involved the corpse of a mythical "Major William Martin" of the Royal Marines washed up in Spain last month carrying allegedly secret documents, giving details of the landings from North Africa. Hitlers _Abwehr _was taken in by the apparent authenticity; hence the reinforcements. Field Marshal Kesselring, the German commander in Italy, was known to be dubious, however, and kept strong mobile forces in Sicily and Southern Italy which he regarded as the more logical area for the attack. It was Mussolini who called for reinforcements for Sardinia.

Ofhr. Hans-Jurgen Schumacher of 7./JG 77 was injured attempting to get airbourne from Foggia in Bf 109G-4 'White 5' - although the aircraft was 90% destroyed, the pilot returned to III./JG 77 after 14 days of hospitalization.

_'U-616' _was attacked by escorts in the Mediterranean with 64 depth charges. The boat suffered severe damage and had to return to base.

In Italy, B-25s bombed Augusta while RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, attacked the Messina ferry terminal. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the area of the railroad station, marshalling yard and docks in Naples during the night.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Although the Bristol area was not targeted by the Luftwaffe during 1943, Cardiff was attacked and in preparation for this on the afternoon of 13 May, two Bf 109F-5s of 3(F)./123 undertook a pre-raid mission to South Wales, their drop tanks falling at Yatton on what was one of the last operations carried out locally.

British officials announced that for the first time in the war, there were more German prisoners of war in the hands of the Allies than British prisoners in the hands of the Axis.


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## Njaco (May 17, 2008)

*14 May 1943

MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Mincemeat', the deception operation for the invasion of Sicily, bore fruit as the Germans reinforced their forces in Greece against the upcoming invasion, which, of course, would never come.

The Allies' Mediterranean Air Command ordered a sea and air blockade of Pantelleria.

In Sardinia during the night, Wellingtons hit Cagliari. During the day, B-25's and P-38 escorts bombed the dock and town area of Olbia claiming the destruction of 3 vessels. B-26's hit Porto Ponte Romano. During the day, P-38's bombed tunnel, barracks, airfield, industry,power station, and town areas at Sassari and Abbasanta, Italy; and Alghero and Porto Torres, Sardinia.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Maximum force was put in air as part of combined offensive against Wehrmacht. The USAAF VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 56. A maximum force, 154 B-17s, 21 B-24s and 12 B-26s, were dispatched against four targets. This was the first time more than 200 US bombers were dispatched. The principal attack was against submarine yards and naval installations at Kiel, Germany. 136 B-17s and 21 B-24s were dispatched with 126 B-17s and 17 B-24s hitting the target at 1200-1203 hours local. They claimed 62 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed and lost 5 B-24s and 3 B-17s. The attack succeeded in destroying 3 U-boats. U-237 was sunk at Germaniawerft Kiel, by US bombs. Raised, repaired, and returned to service on 8 Oct 1943.15 B-17s of the US 96th and 351st BGs bombed Wevelghem, leaving the airfield unservicable. Oblt. Erwin Leykauf, _Staffelkapitaen _of 12./JG 26 decided to try and take-off during the raid and crashed his bf 109 in a bomb crater. Another Bf 109G from 9./JG 26 collided with a Spitfire on take-off with both planes crashing to the ground. The _Staffel _pilot survived but lost an eye. Most of the Focke-Wulfs of JG 26 were able to get airbourne and intercepted the bombers. Two of the B-17s shot down were claimed by II./JG 26 along with a P-47 from the US 78th FG and an RAF Spitfire. But losses to JG 26 were heavy. Two pilots from 5./JG 26 were killed from return fire of the B-17s and the _Staffelkapitaen _of 8./JG 26, Hptm. Karl Borris, was forced to bail out of his damaged Fw 190. He opened his chute too soon and was severely injured when it collapsed and he landed hard. Another pilot from 8./JG 26 was seriously injured by return fire from the bombers. The US 78th got its first Luftwaffe kill when a P-47 shot down a fighter from 6./JG 26 during the battle. With the airfield at Wevelghem unusable, III./JG 26 was forced to move operations to the Lille-Nord airbase.

42 B-17s were dispatched against the former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp, Belgium; 38 hit the target at 132 hours local. They claimed 5 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed and one B-17 was lost. The bombers were escorted by 118 P-47 of the US 4th FG and 78th FG, which claimed 4 destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft. 3 P-47s were lost. At 12:52 hours, II./JG 1 sortied 29 Fw 190s to meet the bomber force. Within 20 minutes of takeoff, they were engaged in fierce combat. Ofw. Otto Bach of 5./JG 1 was credited with his 6th victory, a B-17.

39 B-17s were dispatched against Courtrai Airfield, France. 34 bombers hit the target and two B-17s were lost.

In the 4th raid, 12 B-26s were dispatched against the Velsen power station at Ijmuiden, The Netherlands. 11 bombers hit the target. 1 B-26 was damaged beyond repair when it crashed upon returning to base and 9 others were damaged. The attack at Ijmuiden was made at low level by the 322d Bombardment Group (Medium), the first US medium bomber group to become operational in the UK. Three B-17s were downed with fragmentation bombs dropped by Uffz. Wilhelm Fest of 5./JG 11, Ofw. Erich Fuhrman of 5./JG 11 and Biermann. The weapon was a 250lb bomb, dropped with a set fuse to blow at low altitude. A B 17F belonging to 91 BG, 322 BS,christened ”Hells Angels”, with a hole on the rudder and with one engine stopped, crashed into the North Sea west of Amrum killing all onboard. Later in the afternoon, Fw. Peter Crump of 5./JG 26, returning from an unsuccessful interception, found a lone B-17 flying over the coast. As he attacked the bomber, he himself was hit and lost his entire electrical system. Finally landing at Vlissingen - after manually lowering his landing gear, but with no flaps or trim tabs - Fw. Crump found a single bullet hole that had narrowly missed him and hit his electrical system.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN;*_ 'U-640' _was sunk in the North Atlantic east of Cape Farewell, Greenland in position 60.32N, 31.05W by depth charges from a USN VP-84 Catalina. 49 dead.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: SS day was celebrated in Oslo, Norway.

A BV 138C-1 of 1./706 made an emergency landing at sea after a battle with enemy aircraft. A Do 24T-3 of 5.Seenotstaffel had an engine catch fire during the rescue of the Blohm and Voss plane.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces in the Leningrad area attempted to cut the land bridge to the city, but the operation fell apart quickly.

Submarine "_M-122_" of the Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla was sunk by aviation, close to Cape Zip-Navolok.

*GERMANY*: The British and American Chiefs of Staff at the TRIDENT Conference approved operation Pontblank, the systematic strategic bombing of Germany. That very night, British bombers struck the Skoda munitions factory near Pilsen. 156 Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes were dispatched in a further attempt to bomb the armaments factory. 120 aircraft of this force were from No. 5 Group and the remainder were Pathfinders.The terror bombing did little real damage, as the target again proved to be a difficult one to find and mark accurately and nearly all the bombs fell in open country north of the Skoda works but 9 bombers were lost in the raid.

Bochum was attacked by 442 RAF aircraft - 135 halifaxes, 104 Wellingtons, 98 Lancasters, 95 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes. Of this force, 24 aircraft were lost. The raid started well but after 15 minutes, what were believed to be German decoy markers drew much of the bombing away from the target. Lothar Linke, a night-fighter NJG 2 with 28 victories, was killed over Holland.


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## Njaco (May 17, 2008)

*15 May 1943
*
*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 57. 113 B-17s were dispatched against various targets in Germany as well as airfield and naval installations on Helgoland Island and the naval base and submarine construction works at Wilhelmshaven. 76 bombed the targets and claimed 29 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed but five B-17s were lost. 80 B-17s were dispatched against the U-boat yard, marshalling yard and airfield at Emden. 59 bombers bombed at 1056-1103 hours local and claimed 14 destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft while one B-17 was lost.

The personnel of 7./JG 54 losts pilots when Lt. Friedrich Rupp was shot down and killed attacking B-17s over the North Sea along with Gunther Fink who was also killed. Fink had shot down 46 enemy aircraft during his combat career while Rupp had destroyed 52 enemy aircraft.

116 P-47 Thunderbolts were dispatched on a high altitude sweep of the Amsterdam/Rotterdam area in the Netherlands prior to the bombing raids. They claimed two Luftwaffe aircraft damaged and one P-47 was lost.

RAF No. 315 (Polish) Squadron flew Circus 297 over Caen. P/O Blokin in a Spitfire IX, was shot down by one Focke Wulf, while F/O Dubielecki damaged another. G/C Pawlikowski flying a Spitfire IX, was killed by AA, NE of Caen (France). Sgt Lewandowski was also killed. 2./JG 2 lost its _Staffelkapitaen _when Oblt. Horst Hannig was bounced by RAF Spitfires near Caen. He managed to bail out of his Fw 190 but his parachute failed to open and he was killed. A former Eastern Front _experte_, Oblt. Hannig had managed to add only 8 more victories - including a 4 engined bomber - to his 90 Russian kills since taking over 2 Staffel in January.

Major Fritz Losigkeit, _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 1 gave up his duties to Hptm. Rudolf-Emil Schnoor.​
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-266' _was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from an RAF No.58 Sqn Halifax. At 20:43, the unescorted _'Maroussio Logotheti' _was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-105' _and sank immediately. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo, which detonated prematurely. The second officer was taken prisoner by the U-boat, transferred four days later to _'U-460' _and landed at Bordeaux on 25 June. 'U-607' fired a spread of two torpedoes at the unescorted _'Irish Oak' _and hit her twice under the bridge after 2 minutes 10 seconds. After the crew had abandoned ship, she was sunk by a _coup de grâce_. _'U-591' _was hit with machine gun fire from an RAF No.10 Sqn Whitley that wounded the Commander and one seaman. The boat had to abort its 3 day-old patrol and returned to St Nazaire 2 days later.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Hitler, worried over the potential for an Allied invasion of Italy (and the subsequent fall of Mussolini’s regime), removed troops earmarked for the eastern front and Operation Citadel and sent them to Italy.

In Sicily, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Palermo during the night.

Axis forces in Yugoslavia launched their fifth offensive against aimed at smashing local resistance. Unternehmen "Schwarz", as it was called, was the biggest offensive so far against the partisans, and promised to be the most savage. Axis troops were ordered to move "_with utmost brutality_" against "_the hostile population_". Four German and Italian divisions were supported by Bulgarian troops and the Ustachi, the notorious Croatian irregulars. In all 120,000 men were lined up against a much smaller force of guerrilla fighters. The Germans and their allies were using new tactics. Until now they had advanced along main roads; but now were using Tito's methods, advancing across the countryside, often by night.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stalin dissolved the Komintern, the Communist International, who’s mission was to obtain the worldwide revolution. He thought it might be good for relations with Churchill and Roosevelt. The timing of the announcement, which will take effect in a week, is significant. The Grand Alliance against the Axis powers came under strain last month when Moscow broke with the Polish government in exile in London over the Katyn atrocity.

Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 got his 15th kill when he destroyed a Russian U-2 biplane over the Kuban area.

*NORTH AFRICA*: General Giraud deposes the bey of Tunis for collaboration with the Axis.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Hugh Spencer: I was posted to No 19 Initial Training Wing (ITW) at Bridgnorth, Shropshire for more basic training before going to a radio school on 22nd July.


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## Njaco (May 17, 2008)

*16 May 1943
*
*WESTERN FRONT*: *THE DAMBUSTER RAID *– After 6 weeks of intensive training, RAF No.617 Sqdrn, lead by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, raided the power generating dams in the Ruhr. A force of 19 specially modified Avro Lancasters attacked the series of dams using Upkeep rotating mines designed by Barnes Wallis. Despite flying at extremely low level to avoid German night fighters, five bombers were destroyed and one other turned back with flak damage before reaching the target. One bomber turned back when a high wave tore the bomb from the belly. The twelve remaining planes headed for their targets. Five Lancaster hit and breached the Mohne Dam while three bombers struck and breached the Eder damn. Two planes hit the Sorpe Dam and one the Schwelme Dam but neither was breached. Three more bombers were downed on the return flight. The subsequent flooding caused severe damage and disrupted transportation routes. Civilian losses were estimated at 1,294 (859 people of Neheim-Husten were killed when the entire town was wiped out). Power supplies were disrupted to the local industry, and water was rationed in the area until the next winter, but little damage was done to factories. Gibson would be awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry during the mission, having delivered his attack with great accuracy and afterwards circling very low for half an hour, drawing the enemy fire to his aircraft to clear the way for the attacks that followed. 34 other aircrew from the squadron were also decorated. This raid was re-enacted yesterday, 16th May 2008, over the Derwent Valley Dam in Derbyshire, England. (Hugh Spencer)
BBC NEWS | UK | Dambusters remembered 65 years on (V2)

The Germans confiscated all wireless sets in the Netherlands.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: 'U-463' was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by depth charges from an RAF No.58 Sqn Halifax. 57 dead (all hands lost).

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Nazi SS troops in Warsaw blow up the synagogue in the Warsaw Ghetto. Their actions in the Ghetto resulted in 14,000+ killed and 40,000+ sent to the death camp at Treblinka. Only eight buildings have survived: the police lodgings, quarters for factory guards and a hospital. The remnants of the Jewish resistance, driven from their bunkers by poison gas, still refused to give in. One man attacked the Germans with stones; he was beaten with rifle butts, kicked and left soaked in blood.

Operation 'Gypsy Baron' started as six German divisions (5 infantry and 1 panzer) made a partisan sweep through the Bryansk area. The attack would kill or capture 3,000 partisans but would not have any long-lasting effects on Soviet operations in the area. Further south, 17.Armee launched an attack out of the Kuban bridgehead. Little progress was made.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Submarine HMS 'Unruly' torpedoed and damaged the Italian merchant 'Nicolo Tommaseo'.

In Sicily, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Trapani during the night.

*GERMANY*: The aircraft of the fledgling Nachtjagd Versuchs Kommando (NJVK) led by the former bomber pilot of III./KG 30, Major Hans Joachim "Hajo" Herrmann, took to the air from Staaken airfield to defend the city of Berlin. But heavy AA fire kept the formation away from the RAF planes. The flak was so intense that the Fw 190 of Fw. Hans Muller was damaged by the ground fire but he was able to return to base. The idea of the Nachtjagd Versuchs Kommando night-fighting tactic had its roots in the mind of Major Herrmann even though he had never flown a single engined fighter in combat. The idea was based on using fast single engined fighters such as the Fw 190 or Bf 109 using 300 litre drop tanks under each aircraft for a longer operation time and patrolling over the approximate target cities of the RAF bombers. In the moon-shine, the NJVK pilots could find their targets and intercept them. For easier recognition, ground forces with lights and special units equipped with bomber planes were alled to help. From the ground the lights were turned toward the clouds, which illuminated and made a white base from which the bombers were easily seen. Bomber crews dropped phosphor or other illuminating materials from above. Herrmann began to test this style of bomber hunting in April 1943 from Staaken.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: After sinking 2 "M" class submarines and 2 freighters during a 3 day period early in May, the personnel of 14(Jabo)./JG 5 were recognized for their achievement. Congratulations for these feats came from the highest level of the German administration.


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## Njaco (May 18, 2008)

*17 May 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 58: 159 B-17 Flying Fortresses were dispatched to hit the port area and U-boat base at Lorient, France; 118 bombed the target and claimed 47 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed. An additional 39 B-17s were dispatched to hit the docks and sub pens at Bordeaux, France. 34 bombed and one B-17 was lost. The Fw 190s of I. and III./JG 2 and 1./SAGr 128 intercepted the bombers. Oblt. Wurm of 1./SAGr 128 made his unit's only claim, a Fortress II, while JG 2 claimed 10 bombers and a Spitfire. The Luftwaffe concentrated its efforts on the B-17s of the US 1st and 4 th BW, which lost 7 bombers shot down and 28 damaged.

In a third strike, 11 B-26 Marauders were dispatched on a low-level mission to bomb power stations at Haarlem and Ijmuiden, The Netherlands. One B-26 aborted, the other ten are all shot down before they reached the target. This action prompted the Eighth Air Force to abandon low-level medium bomber attacks. A B-26 Marauder of the USAAF was one of the flight of ten that encountered heavy AAA fire while en-route to bomb the power plants. It was shot down and forced to ditch in a canal. On-board was navigator Jim Hoel, of Evanston, Illinois, USA, one of three survivors of the aircraft's six man crew. During the crash Jim lost his elaborate Gallet Chronometer. 60 years later in 2003, Peter Cooper of England returned the watch to Jim.

The ‘Memphis Belle’ returned from a raid on Lorient, France, finishing her 25th bombing mission with an intact crew. This was a first for a plane in the USAAF's VIII Bomber Command. During the Belle’s 10 months of combat, her crew shot down eight enemy fighters, probably destroyed five others, and damaged at least a dozen more, dropped more than 60 tons of bombs over Germany, France and Belgium, flew 148 hours, 50 minutes, and covered more than 20,000 combat miles. Although there were no major injuries in the crew, the plane had five engines shot out and on one mission, her tail was nearly shot away.

RAF No.315 (Polish) Squadron flew Rodeo 217 over Cayeux-Poix. F/O Zajac was credited with 1 Fw-190 damaged.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The _'Aymeric' _in Convoy 'ONS-7' was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-657' _east of Cape Farewell. 52 crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 18 crewmembers and six gunners were picked up by British rescue ship _'Copeland' _and trawler HMS _'Northern Wave' _and landed at Halifax on 25 May.

_'U-648' _shot down an RAF 10 OTU Sqn Whitley. The entire aircrew was lost. _'U-229' _was attacked by a Catalina with four bombs. The boat was damaged so badly that it returned to base. _'U-128' _was sunk in the South Atlantic south of Pernambuco by gunfire from destroyers USS _'Moffett' _and _'Jouett'_, and depth charges from two USN VP-74 Mariners. _'U-646' _was sunk SE of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF 269 Sqn Hudson. _'U-657' _sunk east of Cape Farewell, Greenland by depth charges from corvette HMS _'Swale'_.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A convoy of Allied ships successfully traversed the Mediterranean Sea without meeting any enemy submarines or air attacks. This was the first convoy to do this since Italy joined the war in 1940, offering tangible proof that the Axis has quit North Africa.

In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the Lido di Roma seaplane base and dropped leaflets over Rome.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 17.Armee continued it’s attacks in the Kuban. Soviet defenses hold firm.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Luftwaffe sent 89 bombers on a night air raid against Cardiff in Wales and during the course of this a few stray bombs fell at Aust. Uffz. Joachim Troger of 3./KG 2 was rescued from the sea off Clevedon, his Do 217 having crashed at Woodspring Bay following a mid-air collision.

Britain and America came to an agreement to share the work and the results of a joint attack on the codes and ciphers of the Axis powers. Britain is to concentrate its efforts on the German and Italian ciphers while the US war department devotes its attention to the Japanese army ciphers. Experts from both sides will work on each other's cryptanalytic programmes, and there will be a full exchange of information and "decrypts". It was also agreed to adopt the Bletchley Park codename of "_Ultra_", derived from Ultra-Secret, for all information gleaned from breaking the German Enigma, the Japanese "_Purple_" and the Italian C38M enciphering machines. Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, 40 miles north of London, is the wartime home of the vastly expanded government code and cipher school whose name gives little hint of the extraordinary work it is doing in allowing Allied commanders to read enemy secrets.


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## Njaco (May 18, 2008)

*18 May 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) plan for the round-the-clock bombing of the enemy from the UK by the RAF and USAAF was approved by the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS). The U.S. Eighth Air Force now has authorization to proceed with daylight strategic bombing within the type of combined offensive it has long wished to initiate. The CBO plan lists the destruction of German fighters as the immediate priority objective. Primary objectives in order are German submarine yards and bases, the German aircraft industry, ball bearings, and oil (the last being contingent upon attacks from the Mediterranean against Ploesti, Romania). Secondary objectives in order of priority are synthetic rubber and tires, and military motor transport vehicles.

Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland of JG 26 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for achieving 35 victories and promoted to the rank of Major.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-103' _rescued two shipwrecked survivors of the _'Fort Concord'_, which had been sunk by _'U-456' _a week earlier.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: _'U-414' _attacked Convoy 'KMS-14' (combined with 'UGS-8') northeast of Mostaganem, Algeria, damaging SS _'Fort Anne' _and sinking CAM ship SS _'Empire Eve'_. The master, 55 crewmembers, 12 gunners and 13 RAF personnel from the _'Empire Eve' _were picked up by boom defense ship HMS _'Barfoil' _and an LCT and landed at Algiers. Five crewmembers were lost.

In Sardinia during the night, Wellingtons bombed the Alghero-Sassari area. In Sicily, B-17s, with fighter escort, bombed Trapani.

The Northwest African Air Force (NAAF) began a strong air offensive against Pantelleria Island in conjunction with a naval blockade. Over 80 B-25s and B-26s, escorted by P-38s, blasted the island, hitting Porto di Pantelleria and Marghana Airfield. Prior to invading Sicily, the Allies needed to 'reduce' the two smaller islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa.

The Axis launched Unternehmen "Schwarz". Unternehmen "Schwarz" was a joint German-Ialian-Craotian anti-partisan offensive south of Sarajevo and Montenegro and used Ju 88s including those of Einsatzkampf Gruppe Ju 88/Gen.d.Fl.Ausb., II./LG 1 and IV./LG 1. Einsatzkampf Gruppe Ju 88/Gen.d.Fl.Ausb. formed in April/May 1943 in Germany as a provisional unit using assests taken from the bomber training schools and operated over Yugoslavia, mainly from Belgrade-Zemun, Sarajevo-Butmir and Mostar-South. It provided bomber support for Unternehmen "Schwarz". Einsatzkampf Gruppe Ju 88/Gen.d.Fl.Ausb. lost at least 5 Ju 88s on operations in the Balkans, all the Ju 88A-4 losses were crashes and accidents - none to hostile fire. The _Gruppenkommander _was Karl-August von der Fecht.


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## Njaco (May 18, 2008)

*19 May 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-954' _was sunk in the North Atlantic SE of Cape Farewell, Greenland by depth charges from corvettes HMS _'Jed' _and _'Sennen' _escorting convoy SC-130. Among the crew of 47 who perished was Admiral Dönitz' younger son, Peter.

_'U-273' _was sunk SW of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF 269 Sqn Hudson.

The Canadian-flagged barquentine _'Angelus' _was stopped by _'U-161' _north of Bermuda and sunk by gunfire after the crew of ten men abandoned ship in a lifeboat. When USS _'Turner' _found the boat after five days; only two of them were still alive, the others had died from exposure. The survivors were landed at Portland ME on 27 May 1943.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 59: 123 B-17 Flying Fortresses were dispatched against the U-boat yards at Kiel, Germany. 103 bombed the target and claimed 48 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed. Six B-17s were lost. A smaller force, 64 B-17s, was dispatched against the naval yards at Flensburg, Germany. 55 attacked the target and claimed 12 Luftwaffe aircraft. No B-17s were lost. An uneventful diversion is flown by 24 B-17s.

Hptm. Georg-Hermann Greiner was transferred back to 10./NJG 1 from Nachtjagdschule 1.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Churchill addressed a joint session of the US congress saying that,


> “_The enemy is still proud and powerful. He is hard to get at. He still possesses enormous armies, vast resources and invaluable strategic territories. But, there is one grave danger, the undue prolongation of the war … No one can tell what new complications and perils might arise in four or five more years of war. And it is in the dragging-out of the war at enormous expense, until the democracies are tired or bored or split, that the main hopes of Germany and Japan must now reside.”_


Mr. Churchill, who first addressed a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives in December 1941, was greeted by cheering lasting for a minute and a half before he spoke. His 50-minute speech was heard clearly in London by radio. The first cheers during it came when the British prime minister said "_our partnership has not done badly". _He was cheered again when he promised his government's determination to fight the Japanese in Burma.

*EASTERN FRONT*: : BP "ChF-6 "Pervansh" of the Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla was sunk by a schnellboat, in the Gelenjik-Sochi area.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 2nd Lt. Louis Curdes, of the US 82nd FG, 95th FS shoots down two Bf 109s near Villacidro, Sardinia. In Sardinia, B-25s hit Milis and Villacidro Airfields while B-26s bombed Monserrato and Elmas Airfields, the outskirts of Quarto Sant'Elena, and Cagliari harbor. In Sicily, B-17s bombed Milo Airfield at Trapani.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In Tunisia after 2 days of sand storms, aircraft were again airborne. P-40s flew escort for ships in the area east of Kelibia off Cap Bon peninsula.


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## Njaco (May 19, 2008)

*20 May 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The US Tenth Fleet was established, headquartered in Washington, D.C., under command of Adm. Ernest J. King. The role of Tenth Fleet was to coordinate American anti-submarine operations in Atlantic. Rear Admiral Francis S. Low, King's Assistant Chief of Staff (Anti-submarine), was appointed Chief of Staff Tenth Fleet. All anti-submarine resources from US Fleet headquarters were transferred intact to the Commander Tenth Fleet. Admiral King retained command in order to direct asset allocation between commands in the Atlantic. He also did this to take the lead in the struggle with the US Army Air Corps over control of squadrons assigned to anti-submarine duty. General George C. Marshall wished Army very long-range and long-range squadrons to be commanded by an army general officer and to create a Coastal Air Command under the command of the Army Air Corps, headed by Lieutenant General McNarney. King was adamantly opposed to this arrangement and carried on an active struggle to gain control over long-range, land-based aircraft for naval uses. Eventually, the US Army Air Corps withdrew from anti-submarine patrols and transferred its aircraft to the USN.

The _'Benakat' _left Capetown in a coastal convoy which was formed in the Table Bay, but left after three days to continue her voyage on the prescribed route to the destination. On 14 May the Admiralty radioed a new course. At 0728 on 20 May a torpedo struck her from _'U-197' _on the starboard side, just before the bridge. The explosion caused very heavy damage, wrecked the starboard lifeboat and destroyed the starboard machinegun-platform, injuring the first and fourth mate (not seriously). After the hit no electric power was left, so the distress signal could only be send a few times. The ship began to list to starboard, and with some difficulty the crew succeeded in boarding the three remaining lifeboats and rowed away. About 20 minutes later a second torpedo hit the _'Benakat' _on the starboard side and broke her in two. The bow section sank and the stern remained afloat. The U-boat surfaced and fired with the deck gun at the port side of the vessel until the stern sank.

_'U-258' _was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 2 RAF Mosquitoes bombed locomotive sheds at Tergnier without loss. (_Hugh Spencer_)

3 RAF Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 23 aircraft went minelaying in southern Biscay. (_Hugh Spencer_)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sardinia during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Villacidro and Decimomannu Airfields. During the day, P-38s bombed Milis Airfield and targets of opportunity at Bonorva while B-25's bomb Villacidro, Alghero, and Decimomannu Airfields.

In Italy, P-38s bombed the docks on the Gulf of Aranci, a railroad bridge NE of Perfugas, the Macomer rail junction, and targets of opportunity at Sassari, Bonnanaro, and Chilivani while B-17s struck Grosseto Airfield.

The full weight of Allied air power was being thrown at airfields in Italy, Sicily and Sardinia in an attempt to neutralize the Luftwaffe and the Italian air force. Over the past 48 hours, at least 186 Axis aircraft were destroyed in day and night bombing. The most spectacular raid hit Grosseto airfield, 90 miles north of Rome. Flying Fortresses saturated the field and installations with fragmentation bombs, leaving 58 Italian bombers wrecked.

In the Mediterranean, P-38s and P-40s strafed and bombed Pantelleria Island.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Typhoon fighter based at Milfield airfield, near Wooler, crashed in Ford Westfield Woods. The aircraft had left Milfield when it reached about 200' the engine stalled and the machine crashed to the ground. The pilot, a Flight Lieutenant was killed.

The 524th, 525th, 526th and 527th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 379th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Kimbolton, England from the US with B-17F's. They will fly their first mission on 29 May 43.

A father and son from Seaton Delaval in Northumberland were prosecuted by the Ministry of Labour and National Service, charged with being persistently late for work without a reasonable excuse. They were both fined 40s. (£2.00). - a sizeable sum for the period!


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## Njaco (May 20, 2008)

*21 May 1943*
*
WESTERN FRONT*: The US VIII Fighter Command dispatched 105 P-47 Thunderbolts on a fighter sweep in the Ostend/Ghent area. They claimed no Luftwaffe aircraft but three P-47s were lost.

4 Mosquitoes bombed a railway target at Orleans. 1 aircraft was lost.

64 Wellingtons, 36 Stirlings and 4 Lancasters carried out extensive minelaying in the Frisians and the River Gironde and off La Palice. 4 aircraft were lost.

_'U-381' _was listed as missing south of Greenland. There was no explanation for its loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heavy fighting continued between the Germans and Russians in the Kuban.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 60: 98 B-17 Flying Fortresses were dispatched against the U-boat yards at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. 77 hit the target and claimed 47 Luftwaffe aircraft. Seven B-17s were lost. A second, smaller strike of 63 B-17s was dispatched against the U-boat yards at Emden, Germany. 46 bombed the target and claimed 31 Luftwaffe aircraft. Five B-17s were lost. At Wilhelmshaven German fighters were reported firing rockets.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Admiral Rene Godfroy, after having his crews back pay made good by the British, formally announced that his French naval units, interned at Alexandria, would join the Allied cause.

Submarine HMS _'Sickle' _attacked _'U-755' _but missed. _'Sickle' _then torpedoed and sank _'U-303' _south of Toulon.

In Italy during the night , RAF Liberators, under operational control of IX Bomber Command, bombed Messina and Reggio di Calabria. During the day, B-24s hit Vila San Giovanni and Reggio di Calabria. Gunners claimed 4 Axis fighters destroyed.

In Sardinia during the night, Wellingtons hit Villacidro and Decimomannu Airfields and targets of opportunity. During the day, B-25s and B-26s bombed the same airfields. In Sicily, B-17s hit hangars, repair shops, dispersal points, and a gun battery at Castelvetrano.

In the Mediterranean, P-40s attacked gun positions and targets of opportunity on Pantelleria Island.

The Luftwaffe carried out a raid by FW-190 fighter bombers against Malta.


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## Njaco (May 21, 2008)

*22 May 1943*

*GERMANY*: The _General der Jagdfleiger_ Adolf Galland visited Lechfeld airfield to test fly the new Me 262 jer fighter (code 'PC+UD' werknummer 262 000004). After being instructed on tapping the brakes and getting airbourne, Galland spotted a prop-driven airplane flying near the airfield. Excited with the jet, Galland banked toward the small plane and engaged in a mock combat. He was very impressed with the handling and the quickness of the Me 262, stating that it felt, "_as if an angel were pushing!" _Upon landing he wrote a quick telegram to _Generalluftzugmeister_ Milch;


> .... "_The Me 262 is a tremendous stroke of fortune for us. It will guarantee us an unbelievable advantage in operations, so long as the enemy sticks to piston propulsion. It opens up entirely new possibilities in tactics._"


He reached 520 mph and said that it would regain air superiority for Germany.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 7 Mosquitoes went to attack railway workshops at Nantes but turned back because of fighter opposition. No losses.

As emergency services deliver bread, milk and coffee to households which have had their power supplies cut, Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister, pulled 7,000 men out of the Atlantic Wall defences in France to repair the breached Ruhr dams. At least 476 people died, and 156 were missing (91), after a nine-foot wave of 100 million cubic metres of water tore through the Mohne valley, wrecking road and rail bridges and flooding towns and villages. Among the dead were many slave labourers, including women from the Ukraine. A further 47 died in the Eder area.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German Admiral Karl Doenitz withdrew his U-boats from the North Atlantic after mounting losses. Two Grumman TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the auxiliary aircraft carrier USS _'Bogue' _(ACV-9) depth charge and damaged the German submarine _'U-569' _in the North Atlantic. The sub was subsequently scuttled by her crew. 25 of the 46-man crew survived. This was the first U-boat sunk by an escort carrier on a hunter-killer patrol. _'U-305' _was attacked twice by Avengers from USS _'Bogue'_. The boat had to return to base.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Finnish patrol boats were in action against their Soviet counterparts. VMV 17 was hit by gunfire, two men lost and one wounded, in addition two wounded in other boats. Two enemy boats were sunk. Soviet submarine Shch-408 of the Baltic Fleet was sunk off Vaindlo Island by the Finnish minelayer _'Ruotsinsalmi'_.

There were increasing signs that both sides were about to launch their long-prepared summer offensives on the Eastern front. Artillery barrages were rumbling all along the front, and there was intense aerial activity while the ground forces spared for position. The battle would centre on the great Soviet salient bulging into the German lines before Kursk. Hitler planned to launch Operation Citadel, a huge attack to cut off the salient, on 9 May, but postponed it on 5 May until mid-June to allow more preparation.

Lt. Hans Strelow of JG 51 disappeared during combat against Soviet fighters. Shot down in enemy territory, he committed suicide before he could be captured by the Russians. He had destroyed 68 enemy planes during his career.

An Fw 190 _jabo_, "Black 3" of 14(J)./JG 5 was lost to Soviet flak near Tayp Navolok, the pilot Claus Biwer losing his life.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sicily, as a diversion for a convoy passing off Sicily during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons flew intrusion missions dropping bombs on Castelvetrano, Sciacca, Milo, and Bo Rizzo Airfields.


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## Hugh Spencer (May 22, 2008)

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## Njaco (May 22, 2008)

*23 May 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Venturas of 487 Squadron bombed a power station at Zeebrugge in the first operation for the squadron since its heavy losses on the Amsterdam raid 3 weeks earlier. The formation's bombs fell on to railway yards near the power station. No losses.

The personnel of III./JG 26 moved to new bases at Cuxhaven-Nordholz to support JG 1, III./JG 54 and JG 11 in _Reichsverteidigung _duties.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered all U-boats to be fitted with anti-aircraft guns.

A Fairey Swordfish Mk. II, aircraft "B" of No. 819 Squadron in the escort aircraft carrier HMS _'Archer'_, damaged the German submarine _'U-752' _in the North Atlantic with rockets and the sub was scuttled by her crew. 17 of the 46-man crew survived. This was the first successful sinking of a U-boat using rockets.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heavy fighting continued between the Germans and Russians in the Kuban.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The last major raid of the war in the North-East caused the highest death toll. In its 35th raid of the war and its 11th of appreciable dimensions, eleven PMs, sixty-seven HEs, nine firepot HEs and about 600 IBs fell on Sunderland causing widespread damage. 84 people died and 221 were injured; among the dead were a group of joiners from Glasgow who were there to repair earlier bomb damage. Many casualties occurred when a PM landed on St George's Square. Three Public Shelters were hit; three died in the Bromarsh Shelter, North Bridge Street, five in Bonners Field Shelter, Monkwearmouth and thirteen in Lodge Terrace Shelter at Hendon. The Isolation Hospital (now Havelock Hospital) was evacuated because of an UXPM. Including those slightly damaged about 5,000 houses were involved in this last attack and, together with the attack of 15/16th May, about 15,000. The morale of the people was reported as excellent.

Simultaneous lunchtime Luftwaffe attacks were launched against Hastings and Bournemouth. Hastings was attacked by 20 aircraft of II/SKG 10, with Bournemouth attacked by 26 from IV/SKG 10. At Hastings, anti-aircraft sites appeared to be the chosen targets but, for a change, these sites and the fighter standing patrol had received ample warning. The town was still bombed and the two German losses, one to a Typhoon, the other to anti-aircraft fire, occurred after the bombs had been dropped. The two Fw 190s lost on the Hastings raid were flown by Fw. Adam Fischer of 6./SKG 10 and Ofw. Herbert Dobroch.

The peacefulness of a beautiful Sunday morning was abruptly shattered when the German aircraft, led by Lt. Leopold Wenger, conducted their most audacious raid on Bournemouth. Despite a six-minute warning, the attack on Bournemouth was a total success. Considerable damage was caused to the town centre with five buildings destroyed and a further 3,000 damaged. The Kingsway Hotel, the Congressional Church and Beales Department Store sustained significant bomb damage, but at the Landsdowne Circle the Metropole Hotel, being used by trainee RAF aircrew, was virtually destroyed when it took a direct hit. One Fw 190 of 15./SKG 10 was lost to AAA fire, flown by Uffz. Schmidt on his first operational flight. Casualties were high. Among the 128 killed that day were 51 service men. (_C.Goss, and others_ )

The 417th Night Fighter Squadron, US VIII Fighter Command based at Cranfield, England sent a detachment to Scorton, England to train with the RAF on Beaufighters.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USS _'New Jersey' _BB-62 was commissioned. The sister ships of the Iowa class were: USS _'Iowa'_, USS _'Missouri' _and USS _'Wisconsin'_. She displaces 45,000 tons, with a length of 887 feet 7 inches, a draft of 38 feet and beam of 108 feet 1 inch. Powered by 4 Westinghouse turbines fired by 8 boilers, with 212,000 shaft horsepower, she has a top speed of 33+ knots. She will carry a crew (WWII) of 120 officers and 3,000 enlisted men. Nine 16"/50 cal guns in 3 turrets are the main armament, with 20 5"/38 cal dual purpose guns in twin mounts for the secondary armament. AA weapons include 64 40mm AA guns in 16 quad mounts and 49 20mm AA guns. She carries 3 Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes. The USS _'New Jersey' _is now a floating museum on the Camden waterfront in New Jersey. Battleship New Jersey

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-25s and B-26s bombed the docks and airfield on Pantelleria Island and P-40s attacked gun positions on the island.

In Italy, P-38s attacked the zinc works at Iglesias and Carloforte harbor on San Pietro Island.

*GERMANY*: After a 9 day break in major operations, Bomber Command despatched 826 aircraft on this raid to Dortmund, 343 Lancasters, 199 Halifaxes, 151 Wellingtons, 120 Stirlings and 13 Mosquitoes. 38 aircraft were lost. This raid involved the greatest number in a "non-1000" force so far in the war and the largest raid of the Battle of the Ruhr. The Pathfinders marked the target accurately in clear weather conditions and the ensuing attack proceeded according to plan. It was a very successful raid. Large areas in the centre, the north and the east of Dortmund were devastated. Nearly 2,000 buildings were completely destroyed. Many industrial premises were hit, particularly the large Hoesch steelworks which ceased production. 599 people were killed, 1275 were injured and the bodies of about 25 other people were never found. Dortmund was not attacked in strength again by Bomber Command until exactly 1 year after this raid. There is an interesting story to tell about a Wellington of 431 Squadron which took part in this raid. Just after leaving the target the Wellington was coned by searchlights and hit several times by fragments of flak. The rear gunner reported that he thought the aircraft was on fire. The pilot twice put the aircraft into a steep dive to evade the searchlights but was not able to do so. There was some confusion over whether an order to bale out was given by the pilot and the pilot actually did leave the aircraft. The bomb aimer, Sergeant S.N. Sloan, an Englishman, took over the controls and eventually was able to shake off the searchlights. The navigator and wireless operator were still aboard and Sergeant Sloan flew the aircraft back to England and made a perfect landing at Cranwell. He was immediately awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, commissioned and posted to a pilot training course. The wireless operator, Flying Officer J.B.G. Bailey and the navigator, Sergeant G.C.W. Parslow received immediate awards of the DFC and the DFM respectively. They later became part of the crew of Wing Commander J. Coverdale, the squadron commander but were killed with Coverdale on the night of 21/22 June 1943 on a raid to Krefeld. Sergeant (later Flight Lieutenant) Sloan came back to Bomber Command as a Halifax pilot with 158 Squadron and flew on operations from January 1945 until the end of the war. In the post-war years he served with the King's Flight.
​During the heavy raid on Dortmund, the total weight of bombs dropped by RAF Bomber Command on Germany reached 100,000 tons. To mark the occasion, the Air Officer Commanding in Chief, RAF Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris sent this message;


> "_In 1939, Goring promised that not a single enemy bomb would reach the Ruhr. Congratulations on having delivered the first 100,000 tons of bombs on Germany to refute him_".


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## Njaco (May 23, 2008)

*24 May 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: In the first three weeks of May, 31 German U-boats were sunk. Because of these mounting losses, Admiral Donitz had ordered all U-boat patrols in the north Atlantic to break off operations against the convoys, ending the battle of the Atlantic. Earlier in the day he had told U-boat commanders:


> "_Only you can fight the enemy offensively and beat him ... the German nation has long felt that our arm is the sharpest and most decisive and that the outcome of the war depends on the success of failure of the BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC." _



As the day wore on Dönitz absorbed yesterday's news that two more U-boats had been sunk while attacking the convoy 'HX-239'. That brought the month's losses up to 33, but, worse than that, increasingly they were failing to get through the escorts. Just five days ago a pack of 33 U-boats attacked 'SC-130' and failed to sink a single ship. No fewer than five of the pack were sunk. One boat, _'U-954' _sunk by a Coastal Command Liberator of 120 Squadron, took all hands to the bottom, including the grand admiral's 21-year-old son, Peter. Although he showed no emotion when told of his personal loss, Dönitz could not ignore the growing evidence that the two year battle to rupture the Allies' ocean supply lines was being lost. Radar and the increasing successes in breaking the Enigma codes have made the U-boats more vulnerable to the escorts. Equally, the escorts have been growing in power and effectiveness. Escort carriers, both British and American, have increased the extent of the routes which can be offered air support. And more effective anti-submarine weapons like the Hedgehog and the Squid have been introduced. The plain fact is that more U-boats have been operating here than at any time during the war, but the score of successful sinkings has been rapidly declining. With the month almost over, the Allies have lost less than one-third as much shipping as the 476,000 tons North Atlantic losses in March. By tonight the U-boats were moving to the South Atlantic to take up positions south of the Azores. A few remain to convince the Allies that the convoys are still in danger. They hope to tie up as many Allied escort ships as possible here for as long as they can.

_'U-441' _shot down an RAF 228 Sqn Sunderland. It was the first success of the Flak boats. _'U-594' _shot down an RAF 228 Sqn Sunderland. The entire aircrew was lost.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Bf 110 belonging to 6./ NJG 3 was seen circling Løjt Skovby when the left engine suffered a failure. It flew towards the east and then came back over Sønderskov and prepared to land. Pilot Obfw. Helmut Teichmann passed low over a farm and belly landed up a hill in a field. It skidded along for about 70-100 metres before it came to a halt. Obfw. Teichmann and Air gunner Lt. Josef Zeit were killed. The Ortskommandantur in Aabenraa was informed about the crash and soldiers were sent out to guard the wreck until it could be removed by Luftwaffe.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* A Ju 88A-4 belonging to 12./KG 30 made an emergency landing due to engine failure in a field near Arentsminde west of Fliegerhorst Aalborg West at 19:30 hours. It approached from the north and touched down in the northern end of the field and skidded along for about 80 metres before it came to a halt. The aircraft was 15% damaged and the crew were unharmed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Dr. Josef Mengele takes up his new position at Auschwitz concentration camp. His sickening and grotesque “medical research” would lead to the death of several thousand Jews.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-24s hit the Villa San Giovanni ferry slip and railroad yards, and ferry terminal and a nearby tanker at Reggio di Calabria. In Sardinia, P-40s, P-38s, B-25s, B-26s and B-17s, bombed targets including Carloforte harbor, factories, hangars, and oil dump at Alghero and the seaplane base at Porto Conte, the railroad bridge at Arbatax, the area near Macomer, the town of Iglesias,the harbor at La Maddalena Island, harbor, warehouses, and dump at Terranova, and the airfield at Olbia.

During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the harbor and airfield at Pantelleria Island. During the day, NASAF and Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighters followed with more attacks on the airfield.


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## Hugh Spencer (May 24, 2008)

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## Njaco (May 24, 2008)

*25 May 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Mitchells attempted to raid Abbeville airfield but cloud over the target and flak disrupted the attack and only 5 aircraft bombed dispersal buildings near the airfield. 2 Mitchells were lost.

12 Bostons on a raid to Cherbourg abandoned the operation.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-467' _was sunk SE of Iceland by a Fido homing torpedo from a USN VP 84 Catalina.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The TRIDENT Conference between Churchill and Roosevelt ended in Washington. The decision to invade northern France was concluded with May 1, 1944 being selected as D-Day. Decisions were also made regarding knocking Italy out of the war early, increasing aid to China and beginning offensive operations in the Pacific. Churchill’s plan to invade the Balkans was rejected. As well as this they agreed to step up the strategic bombing of Germany and occupied Europe as a preliminary to invasion; to bomb the Ploesti oilfields in Romania, from bases in the Mediterranean and to increase aid to China. Allied superiority over the enemy in munitions production was now beginning to tell, Churchill said Allied air power had become a decisive factor in the war, and the bombing campaign against Germany would be a 24-hours-a-day operation. War would continue until unconditional surrender was obtained "_from all those who had molested us_". Roosevelt then interrupted Churchill to say that "_molested_" was the best example of understatement he had heard.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Avro York Ascalon (LV 633) flew the Prime Minister and Allied commanders to Algiers via Gibraltar. This aircraft was flown by RAF No. 24 Squadron at Northolt and was furnished as a flying conference room.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Baltic Fleet and Ladoga Flotilla: The submarine "Sch-408" was sunk by aviation and surface ships gunfire of _'Ruotsinsalmi' _and Patrol Boat 'VMV', close to Vaindlo lighthouse at Keri.

Lt. Udo Cordes of 9(Eins.)./KG 3 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _after 150 combat missions and 41 locomotive kills, 19 trains of which were 2 tank wagons and 3 were carrying ammunition. Until the award he had also destroyed 11 tanks, 2 flak emplacements and achieved 2 aerial victories. Lt. Cordes was one of the most successful Luftwaffe bomber pilots, known as "Der Lok-Toter."

Oblt. Egon Albrecht, _Staffelkapitaen _of 1./ZG 1 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for 15 aerial victories plus 11 aircraft, 162 motor vehicles, 254 covered vehicles, 3 locomotives, 8 flak positions, 12 anti-tank gun positions and 8 infantry positions destroyed on the ground.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: _'U-414' _was sunk in the western Mediterranean NW of Tenes by depth charges from corvette HMS _'Vetch'_.

B-24s attacked the Messina, Italy ferry docks and railroad yards. NASAF fighter, medium and heavy bombers bombed Terranova, a tunnel near Macomer, and Messina. In Sardinia during the night, Wellingtons bombed the docks and marshalling yard at Olbia. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) fighters, medium and heavy bombers bombed Portoscuso, Porto Empedocle, Boccadifalco Airfield, Licata harbor, and Milo Airfield.

Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) and NASAF P-40s and B-25s hit the airfield, shipping, and military concentrations on Pantelleria Island.

*GERMANY*: General Galland reported on the abilities of the Me 262:



> "_Most Esteemed Herr Generalfeldmarschall!
> On Saturday, the 22d of the month, I tested the Me 262 at Augsburg in the presence of Oberst Petersen and other persons from the Technical Office. I would have preferred to report personally to the Generalfeldmarschall and also elaborate on other matters, however I was so occupied after my visit to Sicily that there was simply no time. The Reichsmarschall has ordered me to report today.
> 
> Concerning the Me 262, I beg to state the following:
> ...



323 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes, 142 Wellingtons, 113 Stirlings and 12 Mosquitoes attacked Dusseldorf. 27 aircraft were lost.This raid was a failure. There were two layers of cloud over the target and the Pathfinders experienced great difficulty in marking it. It is believed that the Germans were also operating decoy markers and fire sites. The result was that the Main Force bombing was scattered over a wide area. There was no concentration in Dusseldorf which recorded only 50 to 100 buildings destroyed and some 30 people killed.


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## Njaco (May 25, 2008)

*26 May 1943

GERMANY*: Albert Speer, Germany’s armaments minister agrees to fund a new program to develop pilotless planes. The project would lead to the development of the V1 ‘buzz bomb’ and the V2 ballistic missile.

Reichsmarschall Goring met with Hitler to discuss the Me 262. Hitler forbid any production of the jet as a fighter until he personally assessed the plane, stating; "_Nothing will be done with the new fighter until I have decided on its merits!"_

*NORTH AMERICA*: Roosevelt and Churchill agree to collaborate on the development of the atomic bomb after a year of working separately.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army began an offensive against the German forces isolated in the Kuban bridgehead between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. 

 "_Krasnogvardeetz_" of the Volga Flotilla was mined close to Besimyannii Is., in the Stalingrad area.

1,042 Gypsies were executed in gas chamber at Auschwitz after typhoid breaks out. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During an air attack by an RAF 500 Sqn Hudson in the Mediterranean one man was killed and two men wounded on _'U-755'_. The boat was forced to return to port due to heavy damage but was sunk 2 days later.

The first through convoy to complete the Mediterranean passage since 1941 arrives at Alexandria without loss; it left Gibraltar on 17 May.

In Sardinia, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) medium and heavy bombers hit the airfields at Ponte Olivo, Biscari, and Comiso. P-38s hit Porto Ponte Romano shipping, and Villacidro Airfield. NASAF P-40s attacked gun emplacements, trucks, and troops on the SE coast of Pantelleria Island. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) P-40s also bombed Pantelleria. In Italy, NASAF P-38s hit the Tirso power dam and the Golfo Aranci harbor.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The _'Oost Vlaanderen' _was part of a German convoy on the way from St Malo in northern France to St Peter Port in Guernsey, carrying a cargo of guns and cement for the German fortifications. Just 1.5 miles outside St Peter Port, it was attacked by RAF aircraft and holed at the waterline on the port side and sank.

II./JG 1 was engaged in the late afternoon in fierce combat with a group of 40 p-47s and Spitfires. Lt. Otto Bach of 5./JG 1 was credited with shooting down a Spitfire as was Fw. Flecks. Strangely, Allied Fighter Command records list nothing about this engagement.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-436' _was sunk in the North Atlantic west of Cape Ortegal, Spain by depth charges from frigate HMS _'Test' _and corvette HMS '_Hyderabad_'.


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## Hugh Spencer (May 26, 2008)

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## Njaco (May 26, 2008)

*27 May 1943*

*GERMANY*: 274 Lancasters, 151 Halifaxes, 81 Wellingtons and 12 Mosquitoes attacked Essen, 23 aircraft were lost. The weather was cloudy and sky-marking had to be used. The main bombing was scattered with many aircraft undershooting. The limited damage caused in Essen was mainly in the central and northern districts. 488 buildings were destroyed, 196 people were killed and 547 injured. Bombs fell in 10 surrounding Ruhr towns.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 14 Mosquitoes of 105 and 139 Squadrons were despatched to fly at low level and attack a glass works and the Zeiss optical instruments factory at Jena. These were the last operations flown by the two squadrons with 2 Group before the coming transfer to 8 Group. The round flight from the Dutch coast was more than 500 miles. 2 Mosquitoes of 139 Squadron collided on the outward flight near Paderborn and crashed. Another Mosquito of 105 Squadron was also lost. 11 aircraft bombed the 2 targets with great accuracy. On the return to England 2 more Mosquitoes, 1 from each squadron, crashed in Norfolk and all the crews were killed.

23 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians, 1 aircraft was lost.

Looted works of art deemed "Unfit for sale" are brought by military trucks to the Jeu de Paume, and in the garden within the courtyard there, a bonfire is lit and the paintings burnt. Between five and six hundred works by amongst others, Masson, Miro, Pacabia (whose daughter Jeannine is in the resistance network with which Samuel Beckett has contact), Suzanne Valadon, Klee, Max Ernst, Picasso, Kisling (the man himself, a Jew, has been denounced by the model he so delighted in painting), Léger, La Fresnaye and Mané-Katz are destroyed.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: The German 17.Armee suspended offensive operations after making no progress. The Soviets began their own operations in the Kuban, and also met stiff resistance.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: For the first time in the war, small parties of British troops were para-dropped into Yugoslavia to coordinate sabotage and guerrilla activities with Tito’s partisans. The partisans have been in heavy fighting now for ten days and prepared to breakout now that the British have arrived.

For the first time since Italy came into the war, the Italian government admitted to the world that its people were rebelling against the Mussolini regime and staging strikes. Strikes were forbidden years ago by the Fascist government, and a public decree today ordered all strikers to return to work at once. Fear of an Allied invasion was driving thousands of Italians away from the south of the country.

The destroyer FS _'Leopard' _was stranded and wrecked North of Benghazi. The wreck was destroyed on 19 June 1943.

Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) P-40s bombed the harbor defenses on Pantelleria Island and Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) P-40s attacked targets on the S coast of Pantelleria. In Sardinia, NASAF B-25s and B-26s hit Villacidro and Decimomannu Airfields.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The _'Sicilia' _was stopped by _'U-181' _by shots across her bow and was sunk by a torpedo at 0829 hours after the crew had abandoned ship.


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## Hugh Spencer (May 27, 2008)

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## Njaco (May 27, 2008)

*28 May 1943*

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF 315 (Polish) Squadron flew a circus over St. Omer. During a fight with Bf-109s, F/Sgt Rogowski was shot and KIA over Bergues near Calais.

12 Venturas bombed a power station at Zeebrugge, 1 aircraft lost.

34 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians, off Brittany ports and in the River Gironde. No losses.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *_'U-154' _fired six torpedoes at Convoy 'BT-14' about 125 miles east of Fortaleza, Brazil and reported one tanker damaged, one freighter sunk, one tanker probably sunk and two more freighters sunk. In fact each of the three ships - _'Florida' _in station #53, _'Cardinal Gibbons' _in station #61 and _'John Worthington' _in station #42 were hit by one torpedo and all reached port safely, but the last ship was never repaired. The _'Cardinal Gibbons' _was struck on the starboard side abaft the stem and a hole was ripped in the forepeak tank containing fresh water. The eight officers, 35 crewmen and 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and nine 20mm guns) remained on board and suffered no injuries. The vessel remained on course and arrived in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 5 June. The _'Florida' _was struck forward of the after peak on the starboard side 15 feet beneath the waterline. The explosion opened a hole 16 feet by six feet and broke her back. The ship lost way as water filled the engine room and the stern settled until the stern gun platform was awash. 15 minutes after the attack, the eight officers, 34 crewmen and 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats. A fourth boat swamped in the moderate seas. All hands were picked up by USS _'PC-592' _and landed at Fortaleza the same day. A salvage crew boarded the tanker and corvette USS _'Saucy' _towed her into Fortaleza. The salvage ship USS _'Crusader' _later towed the _'Florida' _to San Juan, Puerto Rico for temporary repairs. Permanent repairs were done at Chester, Pennsylvania, after which the tanker returned to service. The _'John Worthington' _was struck by one torpedo at the #8 tank. The explosion blew a hole 30 feet by 10 feet in her side, buckled the deck and pushed fragments out the port side. The ship veered 30° to starboard, but regained her course and continued on her way, rejoining the convoy the next morning. Only a few of the eight officers, 34 crewmen and 14 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in, two .50cal and two .30cal guns) suffered slight injuries. After temporary repairs at Trinidad the ship was sailed on 10 June to Galveston, Texas for major repairs, arriving on 21 June. But the tanker was never repaired and did not return to service.

_'U-177' _attacked Convoy 'CD-20' and claimed two ships with 16000 grt sunk. The ships sunk were the _'Storaas' _and the _'Agwimonte'_. The _'Agwimonte' _was in station #53 (last ship of the starboard column) and the lookouts spotted the wake of a torpedo from _'U-177' _but it was too late. The torpedo struck on the starboard side between the #2 and #3 hatches, causing the ship to heel to starboard and the sea washed over the foredeck and the bridge. The watch below secured the engines and the ship settled on even keel. Ten officers, 36 men and 23 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in, eight 20mm and two 30cal guns) abandoned ship in two lifeboats and three rafts. The first boat swamped in the swells when the after fall failed to release. The men tumbled into the sea and climbed back on board the _'Agwimonte'_. Several of these men left the ship with the overcrowded second lifeboat. The master and 5 men bailed out the swamped boat and picked up two men from a raft. One hour and twenty minutes later they witnessed a second torpedo attack, which caused the boiler to explode and she sank bow first off Cape Agulhas in ten minutes with the general alarm still blaring. Two of the survivors on one of the rafts later transferred to an abandoned lifeboat of the _'Storaas'_. The armed trawler SAS _'Vereeniging' _picked up 61 survivors from a lifeboat and two rafts and landed them at Port Elizabeth, South Africa. A South African Army plane sighted the other two boats in the afternoon of 29 May. An Army crash boat rescued the occupants of those boats 18 hours after the attack and landed them two hours later at Gordon Bay.

_'U-304' _was sunk in the North Atlantic SE of Cape Farewell, Greenland by depth charges from an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 15th Air Force attacked the Italian oil refineries at Livorno with 100 B-17 bombers. During the night, RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, bombed Augusta. During the day, B-24s of 2 groups hit Foggia Airfield and the surrounding area.

In Sardinia during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Villacidro, Decimomannu, and Elmas Airfields. In Sicily, NASAF medium bombers attacked the airfields of Sciacca, Castelvetrano, Milo, and Bo Rizzo. Pantelleria Island was hit by NASAF P-40s and Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) A-20s.

British support for Yugoslavia's partisans arrived - in the shape of two officers and two wireless operators parachuted onto a mountainside in Serbia in a gale, while a battle raged around them. Their commanding officer, Captain F. W. Deakin, a former literary assistant to Winston Churchill, will report directly to London.

_'U-755' _was sunk in the Mediterranean NW of Mallorca, by rockets from an RAF 608 Sqn Hudson from Blida in North Africa. This was the first U-boat sunk by an RAF aircraft by means of rocket-fired projectiles fired from beneath the wings.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The award of the Victoria Cross to Wing-Commander Guy Gibson, who planned and led the raid on the Rühr dams, was announced.


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## Hugh Spencer (May 28, 2008)

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## Njaco (May 28, 2008)

*
29 May 1943

GERMANY*: 292 Lancasters, 185 Halifaxes, 118 Stirlings, 113 Wellingtons and 11 Mosquitoes attacked Wuppertal, 33 aircraft lost. This attack was aimed at the Barmen half of the long and narrow town of Wurrertal and was the outstanding success of the Battle of the Ruhr. Both Pathfinder marking and Main Force bombing was particularly accurate and a large fire area developed in the narrow streets of the old centre of the town. It is probable that this fire was so severe that the first small form of what would later become known as a 'firestorm' developed. Because it was a Saturday night, many of the town's fire and air raid officials were not present, having gone to their country homes for the weekend and the fire services of the town, in their first raid, were not able to control the fires. Approximately 1000 acres, possibly 80% of Barmen's built up area, was destroyed by fire. 5 out of the town's 6 largest factories, 211 other industrial premises and nearly 4,000 houses were completely destroyed. The number of buildings classed as seriously damaged, 71 industrial and 1,800 domestic, indicates the high proportion of complete destruction. Various figures were given for the number of people killed but our expert on Ruhr raids, Norbert Kruger, advises that the figure of 'approximately 3,400' was the nearest reasonable estimate. The above figures indicate that the property damage in this raid was about twice as severe as any previous raid on a German city while the number of people killed in this comparatively unprepared backwater of the Ruhr was about 5 times greater than any previous city raid.The Bf 110s of NJG 1 along with the Fw 190s and Bf 109s of NJVK intercepted the formations of RAF bombers attacking Wuppertal. Many of the bombers were shot down during the 20 mile run through the guns of the Kammhuber Line, ground-controlled "boxes" patrolled by Luftwaffe night-fighters. Many _Nachtjagders _added to their scores including Hptm. Manfred Meuer, _Staffelkapitaen _of 3./NJG 1, who destroyed 4 RAF bombers during the combat. Two Halifaxes were brought down by pilots from Major Hajo Herrmann's NJVK. The raid killed 2,450 civilians and left 118,000 homeless. Over 80% of the city was destroyed as 1000s acres of the city were burned out in a firestorm.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission Number 61: 169 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched against the submarine pens and locks at Saint-Nazaire, France; 147 aircraft hit the target at 1706-1711 hours local and claim 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; eight B-17s are lost. In two other raids, 72 B-17s are dispatched against the Rennes, France naval depot; 57 hit the target at 1601-1605 hours and claim 19-5-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; six B-17s are lost. In the third raid, 38 B-24 Liberators are dispatched against the U-boat yards at La Pallice, France; 34 hit the target without any casualties on either side.

Seven YB-40s, heavily armoured B-17s with increased firepower for escorting bombers, flew their first mission. YB-40s showed an inability to keep up with B-17s after they dropped their bombs and the need for modification of waist and tail gun feeds and ammunition supplies. US 327th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 92d Bombardment Group (Heavy), based at Alconbury, flew its first mission with the YB-40 to St. Nazaire, France.

12 Venturas bombed Caen airfield without loss.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A damaged Sunderland flying boat of No. 461 Sqdn., RAAF, is successfully landed on an airfield in South Wales. This is one of the first occasions on which a flying-boat has been put down safely on land.

*INDIAN OCEAN*: At 1937, the unescorted _'Hopetarn' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-198' _about 450 miles east of Durban. Six crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The second officer was taken prisoner by the U-boat, landed at Bordeaux on 24 September and taken to the POW camp Milag Nord. The master, 28 crewmembers and seven gunners were picked up two days later by the British merchantman _'Nirvana' _and landed at Durban on 3 June.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Rosie the Riveter appears on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sicily during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the town areas, docks, and airfield at Castelvetrano, Bo Rizzo, Trapani, and Marsala. In Sardinia, NASAF P-38s bombed Porto Ponte Romano.

P-40s, P-38s, and B-26s of NASAF and Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) attacked gun positions, a radar station, and town area on Pantelleria Island.

21 year old Uffz. Kurt Selle of 9./JG 77 was lost. Escorting re-supply Ju 52s, the engine of his Bf 109G-6 'Yellow 9' suddenly seized. Selle had no choice but to attempt a ditching in the Mediterranean but struck rocks off El Tavolara. The pilot died instantly.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Lt. Erwin Fleig, _Staffelkapitaen _of 2./JG 51 and a 66 victory _experte _is forced to bail out of his damaged Bf 109 during combat with Russian fighters. He lands uninjured in enemy territory and is captured becoming a POW.


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## Njaco (May 29, 2008)

*30 May 1943
*
*UNITED KINGDOM*: Twenty children and 5 adults were killed when a bomb hit a church in Torquay, England dropped by German raiders.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The _'Flora MacDonald'_, escorted by armed trawler HMS _'Fandango'_, was hit by one torpedo from _'U-126'_. The torpedo struck on the port side in the engine room, killing the third assistant engineer and a fireman. The explosion opened a large hole that immediately flooded the engine room, stopped the engines and caused the ship to settle by the stern. A fire started in the #3 hold and flames, shooting 40 feet in the air, quickly trapped some of the men in their quarters. The surviving crewmembers of the eight officers, 36 men, 24 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and nine 20mm guns) and two passengers abandoned ship in six lifeboats and two rafts. Five of these men suffered severe burns. The fire raged out of control and spread to the #2 and #4 holds and the entire midships house. The armed trawler picked up the survivors and decided to head to Freetown, so the badly burned men could be treated. Three of them died on board and the other two died in the hospital in Freetown from their burns. 20 men were hospitalized. At 1430 the next day, tug HMS _'Zwarte Zee'_, escorted by sloop HMS _'Milford' _and corvettes HMS _'Woodruff' _and _'Tamarisk'_, took the still burning vessel in tow for Freetown at 5.5 knots. At 1800 on 1 June, they beached the ship in Freetown Harbor where the cargo of rubber was salvaged. The Liberty ship burned for 16 days and was later declared a total loss.

_'U-418' _fought off an RAF No. 210 Sqn Catalina aircraft. The aircraft made it home but was so "holed" that she sank on landing. Later salvaged. The boat was most probably _'U-418'_, which was lost shortly afterwards.

_'U-459' _shot down an RAF No. 10 Sqn Whitley.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Vichy broadcast an announcement that the French naval squadron at Alexandria had gone over to the Allies.

27 RAF aircraft conducted minelaying off Biscay ports.

Towards evening, Oblt. Wurm of 1./SAGr 128 downed a Liberator at 20:54 hours in the area north of the Brest peninsula. His victim was probably from RAF No. 224 Sqdrn. Ofw. Vincenz Giessuebel of 14./KG 40 made a claim for a Liberator northwest of Brest and this was possibly related to Oblt. Wurm's victory.

Stabs-Fw. Fritz Stritzel of Stab I./JG 2 was listed as missing in action against the Allies and presumed killed. He died with a final victory score of 19 enemy aircraft destroyed.

Pilot Uffz. Berg and crew member Obfw. Wirths took off in a Bf 110G-4 belonging to 7./NJG 3 from Fliegerhorst København – Kastrup at 14:05 hours for a calibration flight for a radar station in the Skagerak. When finshed with the calibration they sighted an “English” freight ship and attacked. The ship fired back with flak and the Bf 110 was hit and the engines stopped. The aircraft ditched in the Skagerak at 16:10 hours and the crew survived long enough to be rescued after a long stay in the water. Obfw. Wirths was taken to the Lazarett, Copenhagen where he stayed until 30 June.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-24s hit Foggia Airfield, damaging buildings and hangars, and destroying several aircraft. P-38s bombed the Chilivani railway station and marshalling yard, hit port and railroad at Aranci. B-17s bombed the Pomigliano aircraft factory and landing ground and Capodichino Airfield and marshalling yard.

During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Pantelleria Island. The following morning medium bombers and fighters also hit the island. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighters hit Pantelleria Island. B-25s attacked concentrations on the NE slope of the Island.


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## Njaco (May 31, 2008)

*31 May 1943*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 15th Air Force hit the Italian airfields at Foggia, destroying large numbers of aircraft.

In Italy, Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers, including Liberators of No. 178 Squadron under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, bombed oil stores, harbor, and seaplane base at Augusta. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-17s bombed the airfield and marshalling yard at Foggia. In Sardinia, P-38s bombed Cagliari, a factory at Guspini, and a power station at Santa Caterina.

NASAF medium bombers and fighters hit defended positions on Pantelleria Island. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) P-40s also hit positions on the island.

*GERMANY*: Admiral Dönitz transfered responsibility for naval armaments to Albert Speer's ministry.

Chronic shortages were biting deeper into German civilian morale. Today the government announced a cut in the weekly meat ration from 12 to nine ounces, and the SS, in one of its regular secret reports, noted on 6 May that despite stiff penalties bartering was increasing. This was not surprising, given the lack of consumer goods. An SS report on 17 May expressed concern at the consequences of a shortage of alarm clocks: arms workers and miners, exhausted from long hours and frequent air raids, were sleeping through early shifts.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Generals de Gaulle and Giraud began talks on a provisional government of France. It was also announced that Rear Admiral Rene Emile Godfroy's naval squadron, immobilized at Alexandria, joined Giraud's forces on 7 May.

The Egyptian Cabinet voted to resume diplomatic relations with Russia.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-440' _was sunk in the North Atlantic NW of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from an RAF No. 201 Sqn Sunderland. _'U-563' _ was sunk in the Bay of Biscay SW of Brest, by depth charges from RAF No. 58 and No. 228 Sqn Halifaxes and an RAAF No. 10 Sqn Sunderland.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Danish resistance blows up an engine shed at Toender as sabotage mounts, despite Danish King’s appeal for a halt.

A III./KG 101 Fw 190 crashed at an unknown location, causing 10% damage. Two Fw 190s were sent to Beauvais and St. Andre. During the day Oblt. Homann, Technical Officer of III./KG 101 sent a strength report. The _Gruppe _had 36 pilots and the Fw 190A-3 that had crashed was being repaired, having suffered a burst hydraulic pipe. Two Fw 190A-5s were handed over to JG 2 at Beaumont le Roger. Stab./JG 2 was based at this airfield and had recieved 3 Fw 190A-5s from other units, I./JG 2 had recieved one Fw 190A-5 and III./JG 2 had recieved 12 Fw 190A-5s from other units.

The squadrons of 2 Group despatched 54 aircraft on 5 raids on this, the last day before the group left Bomber Command.

30 Venturas were despatched - 12 to attack Zeebrugge power station, 12 to Caen airfield and 6 to Cherbourg docks. 12 Mitchells bombed a shipyard at Flushing. All of these raids were successful. The only casualty was a Mitchell of 180 Squadron which ditched in the sea. 3 of its crew were picked up safely but Flight Sergeant A.W.Wood, the New Zealand wireless operator, died - the last casualty suffered by 2 Group with Bomber Command. 12 Bostons sent to attack a power station in France were not able to reach the target. 27 aircraft went minelaying off Biscay ports without loss.

The approximate number of Raf Bomber Command aircrew lost during May 1943, killed or POW, was 1579.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: SS _'Catford' _(1,568t) on a voyage from London to the Tyne was sunk by a mine, off the Humber.

Between 01:44 and 01:49 hours 8 photo flash bombs fell south of Bristol, one of which, having failed to ignite, was recovered unburnt at Winford.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The _Gruppenkommandeir _of II./JG 51, Hptm. Josef Fozo was badly injured in a take-off accident and ended his combat career in hospital. He had destroyed 24 enemy aircraft during the war along with 3 victories in the Condor Legion.


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## Njaco (May 31, 2008)

*1 June 1943*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: An attack by Wellingtons against Pantelleria Island during the night was followed by Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) P-38s and B-17s while Northwest Tactical Air Force (NATAF) P-40s attacked gun positions on the island during the day.

In Italy, NASAF P-40s strafed the seaplane base on Stagnone Island and P-38s bombed the railroad near Balesrate. In Sardinia, P-38s, B-26s, and B-25s, bombed Porto Torres harbor, Porto Ponte Romano and Olbia harbor.

III./JG 77 was ordered to take up residence at the airfield of Chilivani near Olbia to provide aerial cover in concert with II./JG 51 from Allied bombing raids on Italian ports and airfields. An airfield with reasonable facilities, the pilots recalled above all the intense heat of the Mediterranean summer. Uffz. Helmut Schwarzenhoelzer remembered;


> "_On Sardinia we were accommodated under canvas and the stifling heat was unbearable. Temperatures reached 40 degrees plus on the ground in the broiling sun while at altitude in the cockpits of our 109s, temperatures could fall as low as minus 20...."_



*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAF No. 315 (Polish) Squadron arrived at Hutton Cranswick (12 Group), Yorkshire, where it received "new" Spitfire VB and VCs. RAF No. 350 (Belgian) squadron reaches full strength at Acklington with the addition of R. Bladt and A. Van Wersch.

Army Co-operation Command was disbanded and the 2d Tactical Air Force was formed in the United Kingdom under command of Air Marshal J.H. D'Albiac.

Eden announced that Empire casualties in first three years of war were 92,089 killed, 226,719 missing, 88,294 wounded and 107,891 captured.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviets raid airfields and facilities at Smolensk, Orel and Bryansk in an attempt to disrupt the German buildup for the Kursk Offensive.

Submarine "_Sch-406_" of the Baltic Fleet and Ladoga Flotilla was sunk by aviation and surface ships gunfire, close to Porkallan-Kallboda lighthouse. GB "_KL-12_" (ex-"_Kalyaev_") was lost by field artillery, close to Vasilisin Is., on Onega Lake.

Major Seifert of I./JG 26 was ordered to give up command of his _Gruppe _and take a position on the staff of a German mission to Bulgaria. Unknown to Seifert, his mother had invoked the "last surviving son" rule when his brother Gerhard was killed in February. She requested his removal from combat.

The _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 3, Lt. Wolf Ettel was finally awarded the _Ritterkruez _after achieving 120 kills against the Russians. Heinz Leber of JG 51 was killed in action with afinal victory tally of 54 destroyed planes.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Germany began operations with a U-boat festooned with Anti-aircraft guns. Initially, the Allies were surprised by the new platform but quickly adopted newer, less risky tactics for dealing with the threat.

Britain lost an outstanding actor-director when Leslie Howard was lost presumed dead after the plane he was travelling in disappeared over the Bay of Biscay. The British airliner, a Douglas DC-3-194, msn 1590, owned by KLM (Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij NV) but leased to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) as G-AGBB, left Lisbon for Eire, and its last radio message was:


> "_Enemy aircraft attacking us_."


He was shot down by a flight of Ju-88s. Leslie Howard had been lecturing in Portugal and Spain on his films _'Pimpernel Smith' _and _'The First of the Few'_. As a result, 900 cinemas there were to show British films. He was 50 and universally popular. After playing Ashley Wilkes in _'Gone with the Wind' _he returned to Britain, where he was the definitive Professor Higgins in the film of _'Pygmalion'_. His other films include _'Of Human Bondage' _and _'The Petrefied Forest'_. Although it came to be believed that the real target was Howard's manager, Alfred Chenhalls, who bore a passing resemblance to Winston Churchill, it now appeared certain that Howard was the actual target. Alerted to Howard's presence in the Iberian Peninsula by German agents, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had ordered the plane shot down in order to silence the outspoken anti-Nazi actor.

The sloop HMS _'STARLING' _and an RAF Liberator E/120 each sink a U-boat in separate actions. _'U-202' _(Type VIIC) was sunk at 0030hrs southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges and gunfire from the British sloop HMS _'Starling'_. _'U-418' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by rockets from a British Beaufighter aircraft (Sqdn. 236/B).

*WESTERN FRONT*: 23 Wellingtons and 10 Stirlings laid mines in the Frisians, off Texel and off the Biscay ports without loss.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Churchill spoke to British troops gathered in the dusty heat of the Roman ampitheatre at Carthage.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) was first activated at MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida, assigned to the Third Air Force and trained with B-26 Marauders. The four squadrons assigned were the 616th, 617th, 618th and 619th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium).


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## Njaco (Jun 1, 2008)

*2 June 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: A Short Sunderland of RAAF No. 464 Squadron,was attacked over the Bay of Biscay by eight Junkers Ju 88s. The ensuing combat last for 45 minutes and the Sunderland shot down three of the attacking Ju 88s. The Sunderland was badly damaged, with one of its crew killed and three wounded. Nevertheless, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant C.B. Walker brought the aircraft safely back and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The combat indicated the seriousness with which the Germans viewed the Allied air threat to their U-boats transiting the Bay of Biscay from their French coastal ports. The Germans deployed long range Junkers Ju 88s of KG 40 and shorter ranged Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters to try to combat the threat of Allied aircraft. In response the Royal Air Force (RAF) deployed Bristol Beaufighter and later de Havilland Mosquito squadrons to try to counter the threat of German interceptors. The patrols became known as Instep operations. The RAF lost 15 aircraft in patrols over the Bay of Biscay during June 1943. 4 Junkers Ju 88s were claimed as destroyed by Instep patrols.

_'U-105' _(Type IXB) was sunk near Dakar, by depth charges from a one-of-a-kind French Potez-CAMS 141 flying boat named "Antarés" of Flotille d'exploration 4E, French Naval Air Force. The 4-engine flying boat that sank _'U-105' _was the only one of that design built. The aircraft, named after a star as tradition in the French Navy, was based at Dakar and she sank the boat after a 2 hour chase.

_'U-521' _(Type IXC) was sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Baltimore by depth charges from the US submarine chaser PC 565.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 21 Wellingtons and 14 Stirlings laid mines off the Biscay ports without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Luftwaffe raiders bombard Soviet positions at Kursk. The Red Air Force bombed Kiev and Roslavl. The Russians claimed 162 "kills" for the loss of 30 planes.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British destroyer HMS _'Jervis' _and the Greek ship _'Vasilissa Olga' _attacked an Italian convoy, sinking the torpedo boat _'Castore' _and two merchant ships.

In a message aimed at Allied bombing strategists, Pope Pius XII appealed to the warring nations to observe the "laws of humanity" in air warfare. He implicitly condemned the routine targeting of civilians in "terror" bombing campaigns, although he did not comment on German bombing.

During the night, Wellingtons of Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) hit Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean and dropped pamphlets on Naples, Italy. Fighters and medium bombers hit Pantelleria during the following morning and afternoon. P-38s attacked the airfield at Milo, Sicily while P-40s strafed targets of opportunity in Sardinia.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Famed American football player Nile Kinnick, winner of the 1939 Heisman Trophy, died during a training flight from the USS _'Lexington' _over the Caribbean. He experienced engine problems during the flight and ditched into the Caribbean. While a rescue boat arrived soon after he ditched, his body was never found.

*GERMANY*: A Ju 88R-2 was experimentally fitted with the enlarged squared-off tail unit of a Ju 188, becoming the Ju 88 V-58. A completely revised armament fit was introduced. Two MG 151/20 cannon were housed in the right-hand side of the nose, and 4 more located in a ventral tray under the left side of the belly. Designated Ju 88G V-1, the new version first flew in June 1943 and served as the prototype in deleting the nose mounted MG 151 cannon, as they blinded the pilot at night. The increased power of the 1,700 hp BMW 801D radials helped restore much of the type's good handling qualities. The Ju 88G-1 was the first series production version, essentially the same as the G-0.


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## Njaco (Jun 2, 2008)

*3 June 1943

WESTERN FRONT*: The French Resistance supported by British SOC agents destroyed 300 tons of tyres at the Michelin tyre factory at Clermont-Ferrand, badly damaging the facility.

A Ju 88A-4 belonging to 13./KG 30 belly landed due to engine failure at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West and was 50% damaged. An Ar 66 belonging to JG 102 made an emergency landing near Blaavand as the pilot was lost. The Ar 66 was 35% damaged but the pilot was unharmed.

24 Wellingtons and 15 Stirlings went minelaying off the Biscay ports. No losses.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:*_ 'U-308' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the Norwegian sea northeast of the Faroes by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS _'Truculent'_. _'

U-594' _(Type VIIC) was sunk west of Gibraltar by rockets from a British Hudson aircraft (48 Sqdn.).

German mining operations, laid by a U-boat, sink _'Halma'_, a cargo ship sailing under the Panamanian flag, off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

*GERMANY*: A tunnel was broken at OFLAG VIIB at Eichstätt which got 65 officers out, all of whom were recaptured within a matter of days but which caused such a diversion of resources as to cause the Gestapo to insist upon extermination on the next mass escape.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Germany launched Operation Cottbus, aiming to destroy Soviet partisans in the area of Borisov.

A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 4(F)./122 was shot down by a fighter in the Krymskaya-Krasnodar area.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: US HQ 5th Air Defense Wing arrived at Duxford, England from the US. This unit will be redesignated the 66th Fighter Wing in Jul 43. HQ 384th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 545th Bombardment Squadron(Heavy) arrived with B-17s at Grafton Underwood, England from the US. HQ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) and it's 552d, 553d and 554th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) arrived with B-26s at Snetterton Heath, England from the US.

The first fruits of victory reached British shops, Algerian wine.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fighters, light and medium bombers of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) and Northwest Tactical Air Force NATAF) attacked defended positions on Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean following a raid on the town area and docks by Wellingtons during the night.

French generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud join forces in Algiers to create the French Committee of National Liberation. Their organization will act as the French authority wherever the French empire exists beyond the reach of the Nazis.


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## Njaco (Jun 3, 2008)

*4 June 1943

MEDITERRANEAN*: The bombardment from sea and air of the island of Pantelleria in the Sicilian Channel continued. During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Syracuse, Sicily; Catanzaro, Italy; and Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean, which was also hit on the following day by fighters, light, medium, and heavy bombers, of NASAF and the Northwest Tactical Air Force (NATAF).

General Henri Giraud was appointed C-in-C of the Fighting French Army.

In Italy, B-24s attacked Grottaglie Airfield, leaving hangars and other building in flames. B-24 gunners claimed 3 fighters shot down.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Three Ju 88s belonging to 11./KG 30 were practising formation flying in the area south of Østervraa, Denmark. When the formation turned to one side '4D+IV' turned in the opposite direction and cut the tail off '4D+HV' and both aircraft fell to the ground. A fire erupted in one engine of '4D+IV' and when it hit the ground next to a small pond some of the nearby trees were set on fire. The Ju 88 lying with the belly up continued to burn and was a 100% loss. '4D+HV' started turning round and round as it now had no tail to stabilize it and none of the crew were able to bail out. The tail fell between Skovfogedgaarden farm and St. Nejsum farm and the fuselage with the crew fell on the grounds belonging to St. Nejsom farm. Aage and Anna Bering arrived and found Air gunner Uffz. Erich Träger of '4D+IV' standing badly shaken near the wreck. He and a comrade had managed to bail out of the aircraft, but at too low an altitude. Their parachutes were caught in the branches of trees and this had saved Trägers life while his comrade had died after his body hit the trunk of a tree. Aage and Anna found the dead flyer still hanging in the tree and lowered him to the ground. When they realised that he was dead, they covered him with his parachute.Träger walked over to the nearby St. Nejsom farm and talked to Ida and Anton Jensen. They only understood two words of what he was saying: "_Comrades_" and "_Telephone_". They guided him towards the main building where he used the phone to contact Aalborg. Afterwards he returned to the crash site where he spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in one of the German trucks that arrived from Aalborg. The third Ju 88 made a couple of low passes over the area and then turned towards Aalborg. The first Germans to arrive were some elderly soldiers that were garrisoned in Østervraa. Together with civilians they tried to get the flyers out of the aircraft, but gave it up when they heard that Luftwaffe personnel were on their way towards the crash site. Instead they told the civilians to leave the site. Pilot Fw. Willi Hinka, Navigator Uffz. Herbert Schwarzer and Wop Uffz. Heinrich Messemer died and were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery on 10 June 1943. Pilot Uffz. Hans-Jürgen Skopnik, Navigator Obergefreiter Karl-Heinz Müller, Wop Gefreiter Heinz-Günther Kaltenhausen and Air gunner Flieger Hans Sontopski of '4D+HV' were all laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery on 10 June 1943.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In a rare attempt at long range strategic bombing, the Germans raid the massive new Soviet tank factory at Gorki.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The British submarine HMS _'TRUCULENT' _sinks _'U-308' _off the Faeroe Islands by torpedoes. All U-boat crew of 44 are lost. _'U-594' _(Type VIIC) was sunk west of Gibraltar by rockets from a British Hudson aircraft (48 Sqdn.).

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The US 544th, 546th and 547th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 384th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived with B-17s at Grafton Underwood, England from the US. The group will fly it's first mission on 22 Jun. The 555th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) arrived at Snetterton Heath, England from the US with B-26s.

The House of Commons rejected any lifting of the economic blockade against occupied Europe.


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## Njaco (Jun 4, 2008)

*5 June 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Operations outside the North Atlantic prove to be more successful for the Germans as _'U-513' _sinks 4 ships off the coast of Brazil. But losses for the German wolf packs continued. _'U-217' _(Type VIID) was sunk in the mid-Atlantic by depth charges from Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier USS _'Bogue'_.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: The Luftwaffe launched a series of heavy raids on Kursk, the pivotal point of the Russian salient which bulged dangerously into the German lines between Orel, in the north and Kharkov in the south.

Despite the withdrawal of fighter squadrons to face the growing threat of Allied bombers in the west, and the need to reinforce the Mediterranean, the Germans were able to rebuild Field Marshal von Richtohofen's Luftlotte 4 into a powerful striking force. His _Stukas _and Bf 109s were joined by Henschel 129 tankbusters and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters.

However, the Luftwaffe, like the Wehrmacht, was devoting a significant part of its strength to containing the threat posed by the Russian partisans who now had their own airstrips behind the German lines. These were used to deliver supplies and evacuate wounded partisans and peasants. A report today on the current anti-partisan Operation 'Cottbus' said that these airstrips take twin-engined aircraft.

Moscow claimed the destruction of 752 German aircraft in combat and on the ground in the week ended 5 June for loss of 212 Russian aircraft, and reported that during May the enemy had lost 2069 planes on the Eastern front.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British ships kept up the heavy shelling of Pantelleria Island.

During the night, Northwest African Air Force Wellingtons hit docks and the town area of Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean. During the day, B-25s and P-38 Lightnings extended the attack on the island, hitting mainly gun positions. German fighter opposition, extremely light at first, picked up when Bf 109s and Fw 190s appeared along with Italian fighter aircraft.

During the early morning, Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, attacked the harbor at Catania, Sicily. In Sardinia, B-26s bombed Porto Ponte Romano while P-38s hit airfields at Monserrato and Capoterra.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Boeing engineers start preliminary studies for developing a jet-powered aircraft.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 12 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians. No losses.


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## Njaco (Jun 5, 2008)

*6 June 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: SS units murder 13,000 Jewish men, women and children in five medium-sized "Aktions" throughout occupied Poland and the Ukraine.

A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 4(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie over Poti on the Black Sea coast.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The bombardment of the island of Pantelleria continued into its third consecutive day. During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons hit the town and docks of the Island. The following afternoon, Spitfires, P-40s, P-38s, B-26 Marauders, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, and B-25 Mitchells of the NASAF, Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) and USAAF Ninth Air Force continued pounding the island. The Allied air bombardment increased and was concentrated on coastal batteries and other gun emplacements as the second phase of air offensive against Pantelleria Island started.

In Italy, B-24's struck the harbor areas of Villa San Giovanni and Reggio di Calabria, and ferry slips and railroad yards at Messina. B-24 gunners claimed 8 fighters destroyed.

*NORTH AFRICA*: In a speech ironically delivered a year to the day prior to the Allied invasion of Normandy, General de Gaulle, to the Free (Fighting) French, called for a fourth republic. His appeal for "_national renovation_" was being taken by observers here to mean that he did not intend France to return to the pre-war constitution of the Third Republic. De Gaulle also told his audience that;


> "_France does not want to be liberated by others, even by her best friends. She does not want gifts. We intend win our liberty ourselves."_



*WESTERN FRONT*: General Franco proposes "no-bombing" zones in Europe. The Allies reject the idea as beneficial to the Axis.


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## Njaco (Jun 6, 2008)

*7 June 1943
*
*GERMANY:* Professor Clauberg informed Himmler that experiments of using X-ray exposure for mass sterilization was nearly ready for common use, stating _“…one doctor, with perhaps, ten assistants, can probably effect several hundred, if not one thousand sterilizations on a single day.”_
*
MEDITERRANEAN*: For the fourth straight day, the island of Pantelleria is bombarded from sea and air. Following a night raid by Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons on Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean, heavy, medium and light bombers, and fighters of the NASAF and Northwest Tactical Air Force (NATAF) pounded the island throughout the afternoon, dropping 600 tons of bombs.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ US 353d Fighter Group arrived at Goxhill, England from the US.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Axis discovered the "Comet Line," an underground network of safe houses established in 1940 to rescue Allies trapped behind enemy lines. The houses stretched from Belgium through France, Spain, and Gibraltar.


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## Njaco (Jun 8, 2008)

*8 June 1943

MEDITERRANEAN*: The bombardment of the island of Pantelleria continued into its fifth consecutive day. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons pounded the town and docks during the night. The air offensive against the island increased during the following day as fighters, light, medium and heavy bombers of the NASAF, Northwest Tactical Air Force (NATAF) and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force continued to bomb throughout the day. The B-17s, along with medium, light, and fighter bombers, dropped almost 700 tons of bombs. B-25s of 2 groups directed their major effort at gun emplacements. A naval task force consisting of motor torpedo boats, cruisers, and destroyers carried out a full-scale bombardment of coastal batteries and the harbor's docks. Surrender requests, dropped by airplane, bring no response.

Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers bombed the Messina, Italy ferry terminal. In Sardinia, P-38s attacked barracks north of Segariu and the airfield at Villacidro.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first flight of the de Havilland Mosquito Mk XVIII (HJ 732) was made today. It was equipped with a 57mm Molins gun (equivalent to a 6-pounder field gun).

Several pilots of RAF No.350 (Belgian) squadron are transferred to the reactivated 349 (Belgian) Squadron that will be led by S/Ldr Y. Du Monceau de Bergendael: C. Brahy, J. Groensteen, G. Seydel, J. Van Leerberghe, and L. Verbeeck.


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## Njaco (Jun 8, 2008)

*9 June 1943

MEDITERRANEAN*: The heavy shelling of Pantelleria Island continued for the sixth straight day, dropping more than 822 tons and the Allies say that it will go on until the island surrenders. Medium and heavy bombers, and fighters of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) continued pounding the Island in predawn hours and during the afternoon.

The Axis “Operation Black” against the Yugoslavian partisans succeeded in trapping Tito and a battalion of his troops. A breakout was made which left 100 partisans dead, Tito was wounded during a German air attack and his forces scattered. However, they regrouped and fought on.

In Sicily, B-24s bombed the landing ground at Gerbini and the airfield at Catania.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German and Russian forces on the eastern front launched a series of probes against each other. Soviet thrusts along the Mius River gained some ground while a German attack near Lisichansk did not.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAF No. 350 (Belgian) squadron moves to Ouston Airfield.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 8 OTU Wellingtons went on leaflet flights to France. 1 aircraft crashed in England.


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## Njaco (Jun 9, 2008)

*10 June 1943
*
*EASTERN FRONT: *700 Russian night bombers attacked German positions at Yaroslavl and airfields west of Kursk; 19 were lost.

*GERMANY*: The possibility of an Allied invasion of Sicily was discounted in the projections of German High Command (OKW).

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Pantelleria was bombed for the seventh straight day and reached a crescendo. Following attacks during the night by fighter-bombers, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) and Northwest Tactical Air Force (NATAF) aircraft (fighters, and light, medium and heavy bombers)maintained all-day attacks on Pantelleria Island. Over 1,000 sorties were flown. B-25s, escorted by fighters, bombed the Island. The escorting fighters dive-bombed targets on the island. Sicily-based enemy aircraft appeared but failed to impede the Allied air offensive. 1,571 tons of bombs were released. It was one of the heaviest air attacks of the war up to that time. The Army Air Forces official history described how;


> "_wave after wave of bombers swept over former Tunisian battlefields and out across the Mediterranean_." It went on to note that observers were "_struck by the power of the aerial weapon which the Allies had forged."_


 More than 100,000 leaflets were dropped on the island demanding its unconditional surrender.


> "_The demand was made to save the garrison from unnecessary suffering",_ said Allied headquarters. "_Pantelleria will continue to be subjected to bombing and blockade."_


With the failure of the second surrender call to meet with a response, the British 1st Infantry Division embarked on the night of June 10-11 to assault and capture Pantelleria.

Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers attacked Reggio di Calabria Airfield, Italy.

The partisan leader Josip Broz, better known by his nom de guerre, Tito, narrowly escaped capture when his temporary headquarters in a Bosnian farmhouse were surrounded by Axis soldiers, it was revealed today. Tito heard a warning shout, leapt through a window and spent the next few hours hiding in a ditch listening to the Italian troops in the house. Several of Tito's staff were captured and executed later. The informer can expect little mercy from Tito's men. With a price of 100,000 Reichsmarks (£8,300) on his head, Tito is the most wanted man in Europe and has had several similar escapes.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ US 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) and it's 552d, 553d, 554th and 555th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) with B-26s transferred from Snetterton Heath, England to Boxted, England. The group will fly it's first combat mission on 30 Jul 43.

The detachments of the US 416th Night Fighter Squadron, VIII Fighter Command at Cranfield, Usworth, and Bath, England returned to their base at Honiley, England. The squadron was attached to the RAF for training on Beaufighters.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) issued a directive through the Chief of Air Staff (C/AS), Royal Air Force (RAF), marking the official beginning of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) of the USAAF and RAF against sources of German war power. The 'Pointblank Directive' outlined the priorities and aims of the bomber offensive leading up to the cross channel invasion of France. The RAF was to bomb strategic city areas at night and the USAAF was to hit precise targets by daylight. However, the primary focus when weather permits was to attack targets identified at the Casablanca conference. German fighter force and related industry are a high priority because of the American intention to begin daylight bombing. The CCS sanctions the Combined Operational Planning Committee as the agency for coordinating the efforts of the CBO forces. However, the plan was not specific enough and this allowed both the US Air Force and British Bomber Command to conduct their independent operations as they saw fit. 

5 Whitleys and 1 Wellington went on leaflet raids to France. 1 Whitley was lost. The operations since the end of May were a good example of the way in which Bomber Command curtailed its operations during the moon period.


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## pbfoot (Jun 9, 2008)

Just finished reading about Point Blank and there were 2 priorities almost equal the which was the destruction of 1 the oil industry and 2 the Luftwaffe. The point blank document of June 3 reads and was directed at both the USAAF and Bomber Command "to seek the destruction of enemy fighters in the air and on the ground" there was not one mention of general area attack upon German morale.... Harris didn't play the game because the RAF was not able to


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 10, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 10, 2008)

*11 June 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: SS chief Heinrich Himmler orders the resettlement of all remaining Jews in occupied Poland from urban ghettos to death camps.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 62: 252 B-17s were dispatched against the U-boat yard at Wilhelmshaven, Germany and the port area at Cuxhaven, Germany. 218 hit the targets and claimed 85 Luftwaffe aircraft. Eight B-17s were lost. The raid on Wilhelmshaven demonstrated the difficulty of operating beyond range of fighters escort as enemy fighter attacks prevented accurate bombing of the target.

326 Lancasters, 202 Halifaxes, 143 Wellingtons, 99 Stirlings and 13 Mosquitoes attacked Dusseldorf. 38 aircraft were lost. This was the first night that more than 200 Halifaxes took part in a raid.The Pathfinder marking plan proceeded excellently until an Oboe Mosquito inadvertently released a load of target indicators 14 miles north-east of Dusseldorf. This caused part of the Main Force to waste its bombs on open country. But the main bombing caused extensive damage in the center of Dusseldorf where 130 acres were claimed as destroyed and this proved to be the most damaging raid of the war for this city. Dusseldorf reported that the fire area measured 8 km by 5 km covering the city center - both the old and the new parts, the Derendorf district and the south of the city. No less than 8,882 separate fire incidents were recorded of which 1,444 were classified as large. 1,292 people were killed and 140,000 people were bombed out of their homes. The list of destroyed and seriously damaged industrial and public buildings covered 4 typed pages in the Dusseldorf report. 42 industries connected with the war effort suffered complete stoppages of production and 35 more suffered a partial reduction. 20 military establishments were hit. 8 ships were sunk or damaged. The Gau (province) local government headquarters was destroyed.

29 Lancasters, 22 Halifaxes and 21 Stirlings were dispatched on an interesting raid on Munster. All the aircraft were provided by 8 Group and it was really a mass H2S trial. 33 of the aircraft carried markers or flares, the remaining aircraft acting as the bombing force although the marker aircraft also bombed. The marking and bombing were very accurate and the whole raid lasted less than 10 minutes. Photographic reconnaissance showed that much damage was done to railway installations in Munster as well as to housing areas. Munster's report was very brief stating only that 132 buildings were destroyed, 317 were seriously damaged and 52 people were killed. Unfortunately the raid was expensive for the small force involved. 5 aircraft were lost.

Major Hermann Graf arrived at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim airfield to begin forming a new high-altitude fighter _Geschwader _for Reichmarschall Goering's anti-Mosquito group. Major Graf, who was directly responsible to Goering, had very little problem arranging the transfer of a number pilots to his group. The fighter unit started with 8 specially modified Bf 109Gs though the arrival of the planes and pilots was delayed. The Bf 109Gs were equipped with a special tank for a Nitro-Oxide mixture contained under pressure in liquid form and injected directly into the supercharger intake to cool the engine temperature and increase performance. The unit was named _Jagdgruppe Sud_.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allies launched “Operation Corkscrew”, a landing on the bomb range formally known as Pantelleria Island. As the British 1st Infantry Division landing craft headed toward the island, B-17s delivered a final pounding to the Pantelleria harbor area. During the next 12 minutes, the Fortresses dropped tons of bombs, resulting in "_simultaneous flashes and a great roar," _stated the AAF official history. "_Suddenly the whole harbor area appeared to rise and hang in midair, while smoke and dust billowed high, dwarfing Montagna Grande, Pantelleria's tallest peak." _At about 11:00 hours, Allied airplanes spotted a white cross on the airfield. Shortly thereafter, the first British assault wave hit the beach. The commander of the landing force contacted Pantelleria's military governor, Vice Adm. Gino Pavesi, who surrendered the island and the garrison of 78 Germans and 11,121 Italians. A small number of captured German technicians maintained that German soldiers and anti-aircraft gunners would have made a much better showing than the island's garrison. On the other hand, the sheer intensity of bombing and its increasing weight, according to the testimony of prisoners of war, made it doubtful that the outcome would have been different. Although more than 5000 tons of bombs were dropped on the island, there was less damage than expected. The harbor facilities at Pantelleria had been badly damaged; the town itself had been practically destroyed; communications were a shambles; roads had been obliterated; electric power had been destroyed; and water mains were broken. At Marghana airdrome, the airfield was cratered. Although the underground hangar had withstood a number of direct hits, except for two aircraft, all of the 80-plus enemy airplanes had been either destroyed or damaged. The 1943 Pantellerian experience pointed the way toward the Allies' future strategy: Intensive air bombardment, increasing in tempo, and naval bombardment would precede landing operations. As the AAF official history noted: "_The pattern set here was probably one that would be followed in other island operations and perhaps in the invasion of the continent itself."_ The Allies now intensified preparations for the assault on Sicily in July 1943. Allied airplanes operating from Pantelleria would play a critical role in that assault operation.

Oblt. Karl von Lieres und Wilkau of I./JG 27 was killed in combat. He had destroyed a total of 32 enemy aircraft, including 24 in the Desert Campaign.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ US 388th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 560th, 561st, 562d and 563d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) arrived at Knettishall, England from the US with B-17s. The group will fly it's first combat mission on 17 Jul 43.

HQ US 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 564th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) arrived at Hethel, England from the US with B-24s. The group will fly it's first mission on 9 Jul.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Ju 88A-6 belonging to 12./KG 30 crashed at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West due to pilot error and was 80% damaged. Obergefreiter Adriano Puzzilli and Gefreiter Duino Vanzini died and were brought to Frederikshavn from Lazarett Aalborg and were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery on 16 June 1943.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 11, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 11, 2008)

*12 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-118' _(Type XB) was sunk in the mid-Atlantic west of the Canary Islands by depth charges from eight Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier USS _'Bogue'_.

*GERMANY*: A British Coastal Command Mosquito plane flew a reconnaissance flight over Peenemünde, Germany. Photos showed a large rocket lying on a trailer. The rocket was a V-2, the type first used in September 1944.

323 Lancasters, 167 Halifaxes and 11 Mosquitoes attacked Bochum, 24 aircraft lost.
This raid took place over a completely cloud-covered target but accurate Oboe sky-marking enabled the all Lancaster/Halifax Main Force to cause severe damage to the centre of Bochum. After daylight photographs had been taken, 130 acres of destruction were claimed. The only report from Germany said that 449 buildings were destroyed and 916 severely damaged and that 312 people were killed. On the first operational mission of a He 219A 'Uhu' night-fighter, flown by Major Streib of I./NJG 1 and Uffz. Fischer as his radioman, the 'Uhu' shot down 5 RAF heavy bombers on the raid to Bochum. On returning to base, Major Dtreib misjudged the runway because of dim lights and crashed. The Heinkel hit the ground so hard that ir broke up but both men walked away without a scratch. Upon hearing about Major Streib's success with the He 219, Generalluftzugmeister Milch replied,


> _"....perhaps Streib would have shot down just as many had he been flying another type of aircraft." _


 In the next 10 days, the He 219 would redeem itself by claiming 20 RAF bombers and 6 previously untouchable Mosquitoes.

34 Wellingtons went to the Frisians , Lorient and St Nazaire minelaying without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fighters, light, medium and heavy bombers of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force, the Northwest African Tactical Air Force and the USAAF Ninth Air Force hit Lampedusa Island in the Strait of Sicily. Twenty four B-25s (12 of the 445th) took off at 13:39 to bomb the town and adjacent area of Lampedusa. The escort were 12 P-38s from the 82nd fighter group. A string of bombs fell through the town, harbor installations, radio building and small boats on shore. A couple gun emplacements were hit. The island surrendered to the Allies after RAF Sergeant Cohen of the Coldstream Guards "captured" the island after making a false landing. 

The unescorted _'Palima' _was hit by one torpedo from _'U-97' _and sank rapidly. 24 crewmembers and two British gunners were lost. 37 crewmembers and two British gunners rescued themselves on a few rafts that had floated free. During the day they were spotted by an aircraft, picked up by a large whaleboat and a Greek destroyer and landed at Beirut the same day.

In Sicily, B-17s and B-26s bombed Castelvetrano, Boccadifalco, and Milo Airfields.

2(F)./122 was selected to operationally evaluate the Arado Ar 234, one of which arrived at Frosinone from Germany around mid-June. On 12 July the Arado jet was flown to Villacidro on Sardinia from where it was to be used to fly recon over Bizerta in North Africa. Immediately after this flight it was destroyed in a landing accident at Frosinone.

*NORTH AFRICA*: King George VI of Great Britain arrived in North Africa to visits the troops. He will go to Malta on the 20th.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Luftwaffe carried out a night attack against Plymouth.

*WESTERN FRONT*: At approximately 09:30 hours a Ju 88A-4 belonging to 11./KG 30 hit the ground near Mørke and burst into flames and was a 100% loss. All four flyers were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery on 16 June 1943. Another Ju 88A-4 belonging to 12./KG 30 crashed at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West due to pilot error and was 60% damaged. The crew were unharmed.

A Ju 88C-6 belonging to 11./NJG 3 was on a calibration flight for radar. Lt. Nicolas Volkmar tried to reach base when the left engine lost power. Ammunition and machine guns were dumped overboard to lighten the aircraft but Lt. Volkmar could not keep it flying and touched down on a hill where there was a potato field. From the hill, the Ju 88C-6 skidded into a meadow where there were stumps that had not been removed. These ripped the bottom of the Ju 88 and it came to a halt a few metres from two bulls that were hitched in the meadow. The aircraft was 75% damaged. A truck arrived with a team of guards that guarded the aircraft, and took the crew back to Grove. In the morning a new team of guards arrived to release those who had been on duty during the night. The team was billeted at the farm for about five days while a team of 6-8 men took the Ju 88 apart and transported it back to Fliegerhorst Grove. The local police constable spent the next three days collecting the guns and ammunition dumped from the aircraft. It was found on a three kilometres long trail west of the landing ground. Afterwards the farmer received 600 kroner as compensation for the damage to his field. Probably due to a mistake he received yet another check of 600 kroner about a year later. This check was cashed in a hurry.

3(F)./122 sent out a Ju 88 from Schiphol, tasked with a recon of a convoy off the east coast of England. The Ju 88 was attacked by a Beaufighter and crash-landed off the Dutch coast. Two crewmen were wounded and taken to hospital. The Beaufighter was crewed by F/O J. N. Howard-Williams and F/O J. A. Quinton of RAF No. 604 Sqdrn. As the Ju 88 did not make it back to base, it was not suitable for the 2000th Feindflug of the German unit, the offical 2000th taking place 3 days later.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 12, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 12, 2008)

*13 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The United States Coast Guard Cutter _'ESCANABA' _(PG-77), was sunk by a German submarine torpedo, off Ivigtut, Greenland.

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 63: 151 B-17s were dispatched against the Bremen, Germany U-boat yards and a smaller force of 76 B-17s were dispatched against the Kiel, Germany U-boat yards. Both forces were unescorted and short-range P-47s were used on 2 diversionary sweeps off the coast during the morning and afternoon. The Thunderbolts from the US 56th FG met with the Fw 190s of III./JG 26 off the Belgian coast in the morning sweep. 2 Fw 190s were claimed by Col. Hub Zemke although only Ogfr. Heinrich Zenker was shot down and killed and Oblt. Karl-Heinz Bocher was wounded. The second sweep in the afternoon found 44 P-47s from the US 78th FG clashing with the Fw 190s of II./JG 26. 2 P-47s were shot down without loss to the _Gruppe_. 3 P-47s were claimed by pilots of JG 26, claimants including Ofw, Heinz Gomann and Lt. Friedrich Lange - both from 5./JG 26 - and Fw. Hans Mayer of 6./JG 26. Meanwhile the B-17s continued on to their targets, hoping that the two-pronged attack would split the defending fighters. The Bremen formation was attacked by 6./JG 11 and 32 Bf 109s and Fw 190s of III./JG 26 led by _Gruppenkommandeur _Hptm. Kurt Ruppert. A massive diving frontal attack raked the lead B-17 with cannon fire and it fell out and spiraled down. On board was Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest III of HQ 402d PCBW, riding in the co-pilots seat. All 13 crewmen bailed out but only one, the group navigator survived. General Forrest was the first American General to be lost in combat in Europe. The body of General Forrest was found near the seaplane base at Bug on Rügen and was laid to rest in Wiek cemetery on 28 September 1943. In 1947 his body was moved to Arlington cemetery, USA. (B 17F 42-30164 crashed Kiel Bay 13/6-1943) A second massive sweep through the formations from the rear immediately destroyed 4 more B-17s from the US 95th BG. On this pass, Hptm. Ruppert was hit by return fire and forced to bail out. He tried to open his parachute too quickly and it ripped his hemp harness and he fell to his death. 5 more B-17s were shot down bringing a total of 10 lost by the 95th BG in a few minutes of combat. In what the USAAF says was one on the heaviest fighter attacks to date, 26 B-17s were lost. A B-17F belonging to the 95 BG, 336 BS which was christened “Rat Killer”, was one of those shot down, crashing in the sea south of the island of Langeland. 3 more B-17s crashed in Kiel Bay. 31 B-17s were claimed by pilots from JG 1, JG 11, JG 26, JG 54 and NJG 3.

6 Mosquitoes went to Berlin, 4 to Dusseldorf and 3 to Cologne, no losses. All targets were cloud covered and only estimated positions were bombed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sicily, US and Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers attacked Catania and Gerbini Airfields, causing severe damage to aircraft, runways, hangars, and other installations. The heavy bombers claimed 5 fighters but 2 B-24s were shot down at sea.

The Italian island of Linosa in the Sicilian Channel surrendered to the British.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: German raiders dropped "butterfly" anti-personnel bombs for the first time, killing 74 people and injuring 130.

At about 11.30 hours, a Typhoon operating from Milfield airfield, near Wooler, crashed in a field at Kimmerston Farm, Milfield. The plane was heard to come down in a power dive at a speed estimated at 600 mph, it did not pull out of it in time. The pilot was killed.

Night fighter ace Wing Commander John Cunningham, brought down his 16th victim over southern England.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 18 Wellingtons and 12 Stirlings went minelaying off the Biscay ports. 1 Wellington was lost.

Lt. Bock of III./JG 54 emergency landed his Bf 109 near Hesselbjerg 15 kilometres south of Rudkøbing on the island of Langeland at 10:00 hours due to lack of fuel after the combat. The Bf 109 was apparently less than 10% damaged and the pilot was unharmed. The aircraft was taken apart by the Luftwaffe and loaded on a railway wagon at Nordenbro railway station from where it was sent to Ofenerdiek near Oldenburg. When it arrived it was clear that the canopy had been forced open during the transport and the Luftwaffe complained to the Danish government demanding that those involved should be found and punished. An investigation was launched and it was found that the damage had been done by members of the Wehrmacht as it was common for guards to climb the wagons and get into damaged aircraft when the trains were parked in railway stations.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 13, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 13, 2008)

*14 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* RAF Coastal Command began daily patrols over the Bay of Biscay by aircraft equipped with new detection devices to locate and destroy German U-boats leaving and entering their bases on the French coast. _'U-564' _(Type VIIC) was sunk at 1730 hrs northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain by depth charges from a British Whitley aircraft (10 OTU/G).

When an RAF No. 547 Sqdn Wellington attacked _'U-155'_ in the Bay of Biscay, one man died. [Bootsmaat Heinz Wilke]. Four RAF No. 307 Polish Sqdn Mosquitos then attacked wounding 5 men. _'U-155' _shot down one of the Mosquitos. A Mosquito attacked _'U-68' _killing 1 and wounding 3 more. _'U-68' _later was given the doctor onboard of _'U-155' _for some medical treatment.
_
'U-334' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Iceland by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Jed' _and the sloop _'Pelican'_.

*EASTERN FRONT:* A German report showed that 100,000 cases of typhus were reported on the Russian front during 1942, with a fatality rate of 15%.

*GERMANY:* 197 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes attacked Oberhausen, 17 Lancasters lost. This target was cloud covered but once again the Oboe sky-marking was accurate. The report from Oberhausen said that the Germans noted the markers right over the top of the Altstadt. 267 buildings were destroyed and 584 severely damaged. 85 people were killed and 258 were injured.

2 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 29 aircraft went minelaying off Brittany and in the River Gironde. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM: *The 349th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Thorpe Abbots, England from the US with B-17s. The squadron would fly it's first mission on 25 Jun.

The creation of the Allied Tactical Air Force in the UK was announced. Following an assessment of 'Exercise Spartan', Tactical Air Forces (TAFs) were created as replacements for RAF Army Co-operation Command. The exercise tested the efficiency of Army co-operation squadrons under mobile conditions, and was effectively a rehearsal for the invasion and liberation of Northwest Europe.

A Hurricane crashed at 12.25 on Milfield Hill Farm, Northumberland, it crashed almost on take-off. The pilot, seriously injured, was taken to the airfield hospital, were he died later that day. The aircraft was damaged.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* During the night Northwest African Strategic Air Force(NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Messina, Italy.

The Italian island of Lampedusa surrendered to the British.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 14, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 15, 2008)

*15 June 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *German U-boats hit a convoy in the Atlantic but failed to cause major damage after a running battle of 5-days.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: SS Colonel Paul Blobel began work on the mass graves outside Lvov, Poland. Himmler, seeing that Hitler’s hold on power was waning decided to eradicate the evidence of the mass murders to be destroyed. Blobel was ordered to dig up the graves and burn the bodies. Concentration camp laborers were forced to dig up the decaying bodies, extract gold teeth from the corpses and burn the remains before reburying.

MS "_T-411_" of the Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla was sunk by a U-boat in the Sukhumi area. At 14:19, _'U-24' _fired a spread of two torpedoes at the BTShCh-411 _'Zashchitnik' _(No 26), which had been spotted at 13:54 and observed one hit in the stern after 1 minute 30 seconds. The vessel broke in two and sank about 20 miles west of Suchumi. The survivors were picked up by the Soviet patrol craft SKA-0101 and SKA-0138.

German General Heinz Guderian told Adolf Hitler that the new Panther tanks were not ready for battle.

The rising _experte _of 9./JG 54, Lt. Walter Nowotny, scored his 100th victory. But the ace this day was Ofw. Herbert Strassl of III./JG 51 who destroyed 15 Russian aircraft during 4 sorties throughout the day.

*GERMANY*: The Arado Ar-234, the world's first jet bomber aircraft, had its first test flight at Munster, piloted by Flugkapitän Selle. The Ar 234V-1 had no landing gear so it took off from a 3 wheeled trolley and landed on retractable skids. All went well with the flight but the five braking parachutes failed to open and the landing trolley was destroyed. The Ar 234 was originally concieved in early 1941 by an engineering team under Professor Walter Blume, director of the Arado aircraft company. The design project was code-named 'E-370" and was in response to a German requirement for a fast recon aircraft. Arado projected a speed of 780 kph, an operating altitude of almost 11,000 meters and a maximum range of 2,000 meters. The range was alittle less than the Air Ministry wanted but they liked the design anyway and ordered 2 prototypes. The 2 prototypes, designated Ar 234V-1 and Ar 234V-2 were largely complete before the end of 1941. However the Jumo 004 engines weren't ready and wouldn't be ready for over a year. In February 1943, Arado finally got a pair of Jumo 004As. However, these engines were only cleared for static and taxi tests. At the time, Messerschmitt had priority for engine deliveries for their Me 262 fighter and Arado had to accept what they could. Flight qualified engines were finally delivered that spring and the Ar 234V-1 was flown.

An Fw 190A-5 of 1./JG 2 was damaged in a forced landing at Bernay airfield after combat and the pilot Uffz. Karl-Heinz Kurth was wounded.

6 Mosquitoes carried out a nuisance raid on Berlin without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night Northwest African Strategic Air Force(NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the airfields at Milo, Sciacca, Castelvetrano, and Boccadifalco, Sicily. B-17s, B-25s, B-26s, and P-38s followed during the morning hours with raids on the same targets and hit the airfield at Bo Rizzo and radio stations near Marsala, Sicily. The US 448th BS took off with 36 planes to bomb the landing ground at Sciacca, Sicily. Hits were made on some planes on ground N of the field and others among barracks S of field. 12 Bf 109s and 6 MA-202s came up from the deck and were attacked by the escorts. The escorts shot down 1 Bf 109. 2 planes were hit by flak and 1 crash landed at Mateur.

A detachment of the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter), 67th Reconnaissance Group began operating from Malta with F-5s.

Submarine HMS _'Umbra' _torpedoed and sank the Italian heavy cruiser _'Trento'_. _'Trento' _was already damaged by a torpedo from an RAF No. 217 Sqn Beaufort from Malta. Submarine HMS _'Ultor' _sankthe Italian auxiliary minesweeper _'Tullio'/_No.92.

A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 2(F)./122 failed to return from a recce to Malta. Suspected engine failure was the cause and Oblt. Heinrich Fennel (observer), Lt Josef Träger and Fw Michael Feiersinger all MIA.

At 14:30, the _'Athelmonarch'_, escorted by the Greek destroyer _'Aetos'_, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-97' _NW of Jaffa, Palestine. Four crewmembers were lost. The master, 35 crewmembers and eleven gunners were picked up by the destroyer and landed at Beirut.

A meeting was held this evening by the 447th BS and the officers and enlisted men asked to vote on whether they would like to contribute more money each month in order to continue to get fresh vegetables and meat. The enlisted men voted to contribute five dollars each for the month of June and the officers voted to contribute ten dollars each.

*NORTH AMERICA*: President Roosevelt approved a ceiling of 31,447 useful aircraft for the USN.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Theo Weissenberger was appointed _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 5.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Additional modifications of YB-40 escort bombers were completed in the United Kingdom. It was now hoped that these B-17s converted to heavily armored aircraft with great firepower would solve the problem of long-range escort for bombers

The 565th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Hethel, England from the US with B-24s.

RAF Squadron 101, Radio Counter Measures (RCM), was based at Ludford Magna, near Louth in Lincolnshire, as part of No. 1 Group, Bomber Command. At Ludford a dangerous task was assigned the squadron. Many Allied bombers were falling victim to German night-fighters guided by ground controllers scrutinizing radar screens. An Allied counter-measure named ‘Window’ partially upset this, but the Luftwaffe responded by coordinating the commentaries of several controllers at different locations, and delegating overall command to a single master controller who guided the night-fighters towards the Allied aircraft. The British Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) at Malvern developed a response to this that was tested by 101 Squadron. It was called ‘Airborne Cigar’, or ABC, a battlefield version of ‘Ground Cigar’, and its original code name was ‘Jostle’. Using a receiver and three 50-watt T.3160-type transmitters, the German VHF frequency – and language - was identified and then jammed. The jamming caused a loud and constantly varying note running up and down the scale of the relevant speech channel. For this purpose, a German-speaking eighth crew member was included in the crew of especially fitted Lancaster bombers. He was known as the Special Duty Operator, ‘Spec. Op.’, or SO. All were volunteers from various aircrew trades. Since the enemy often gave phoney instructions to divert the jammers, it was essential that they know German reasonably well. In addition, if the Germans changed frequencies the SO would have to be skillful enough to do likewise. The SO had to recognize German codewords – such as Kapelle, for ‘target altitude’ - and log any German transmissions for passing on to Intelligence at the post-flight debriefing. Jewish veteran Flight Sergeant Leslie Temple recalls the Germans trying to distract the SOs by using screaming female voices or martial music. Some sources allege that the SOs were trained in ‘verbal jamming’, that is giving false information in German, but this was very little used. see: Jewish RAF Special Operators in Radio Counter Measures with 101 Squadron

*WESTERN FRONT*: 3(F)./122's official 2000th _Feindflug _took place on this day - the crew involved were Ofw. Von Zabiensky, Obfw. Tonne, Fw. Knortz and Oblt. Salecker.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 15, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 15, 2008)

*16 June 1943
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: British Bomber Command aircraft began dropping sea mines from 6000 feet, instead of 2000-3000 feet.

Corvette HMCS "_Arvida_" arrived Iceland for repair of depth charge damage.

An aircraft from RAF No. 547 Sqdn attacked '_U-600'_, killing one crewman. The aircraft was shot down.

The first convoys for the Invasion of Sicily, Operation 'Husky', sail from the US.

*GERMANY*: 202 Lancasters and 10 Halifaxes attacked Cologne, 14 Lancasters lost. The marking for this raid was not by Oboe but by 16 heavy bombers of the Pathfinders fitted with H2S. The target was cloud-covered but some of the Pathfinder aircraft had trouble with their H2S sets. The sky-marking was late and sparse and the bombing of the all-Lancaster Main Force was thus scattered. The local report believed that several hundred planes approached Cologne but, because of bad weather, only the first hundred bombed, the remainder turning back. Most of the damage in Cologne was to housing areas; 401 houses were destroyed and nearly 13,000 suffered varying degrees of damage. 16 industrial premises were hit including the Kalk Chemical Works which, according to RAF photographic reconnaissance, was burnt out. Other buildings destroyed or damaged included 9 railway stations, 2 railway stores, 1 telephone exchange, 2 district town halls (at Ehrenfeld and Spanischer Bau), 5 churches, 5 hospitals, 3 cinemas and 2 schools. 147 people were killed and 213 were injured.

5 Mosquitoes went to Berlin.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Wave after wave of Allied bombers flew unmolested over Sicily today, dropping thousands of tons of high explosive on ports, airfields and other military targets. The island was being "softened up" for an invasion - although Rome radio was still talking of Sardinia as a possible target. An announcer described the country's present situation as "_the gravest in the whole of her modern history."_

Four British battleships were on station in Gibraltar, and intensive training was under way both in North Africa and in Scotland, where a beach near Troon was being used for commando "rehearsals", although few knew the actual destination. Two more Italian islands have surrendered. White flags fluttered over tiny Linosa on 13 June as soon as the British destroyer HMS _'Nubian' _appeared. Closer to Africa, Lampedusa was pounded heavily from the sea and air before surrendering on 12 June. A British fighter pilot, Sergeant Jack Cohen, force-landed on the island with engine trouble in the middle of the bombardment. Italians came running up to his aircraft waving white flags and shouting: "_Can't you stop this?" _Cohen was forced to shelter from Allied bombs and shells for two hours. Italian engineers helped him to men his aircraft, and he flew off to tell the navy that Lampedusa was surrendering. The capture of Pantelleria and the other islands has virtually closed the Sicilian narrows to German and Italian shipping.

_'U-97' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in Mediterranean, west of Haifa by depth charges from an Australian Hudson aircraft (Sqdn 459/T). 27 men died when _'U-97' _was lost and 21 men survived.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The 566th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Hethel, England from the US with B-24s.

British military intelligence received its first report from an agent about a "bomb with wings" (V-1) being developed in Germany.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Britain invoked the treaty of Windsor (established in 1386, binding Britain and Portugal to mutual assistance), and requested of Portugal that Britain be allowed to use airfields on the Azores islands.
....
A Ju 88C-6 belonging to 11./NJG 3 experienced an engine failure on the left engine during a calibration flight and tried to make it back to Fliegerhorst Grove. At 00:15 Hours the Ju 88 crashed near what is today known as Stadionvej road 93 near Karup. The tail of the JU 88 ended up 20 metres from the house, but luckily no fire started. In the morning personnel from Fliegerhorst Grove arrived and retrieved the crew from the wreckage. Pilot Uffz. Franz Henneke, Wop Uffz. Günther Thiele and Engineer Gefr. Josef Deppish had all died and were placed underneath a parachute about 20 metres from the wreck. The Luftwaffe personnel worked all day to remove the wreckage and not until late afternoon were the bodies removed.

While flying target on a calibration flight for a radar station a Ju 88C-6 belonging to 10./NJG 3 was apparently flying with its position lights on. Mosquito UP-R of RAF No. 605 Squadron piloted by F/O R. R. Smart and navigated by F/O J. K. Sutcliffe were orbiting Aalborg at 100 feet when they sighted the Ju 88 and climbed to 2000 feet for a stern attack. Smart opened fire at 00:45 hours with a 2-3 seconds burst. Strikes were seen on starboard engine and fuselage and the port engine caught fire. The Ju 88 fell to the ground with fire spreading to the fuselage and crashed just south of Sønderøkse about 7 miles west of Fliegerhorst Aalborg West. It blew up on impact. All were killed. One of the crewmen had managed to bail out, but at too low an altitude and he was found dead with a broken skull near Nørre Skovhus not far from the wreckage.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 16, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 16, 2008)

*17 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* HMT _'Yoma' _sunk by _'U-81'_. On 13 Nov, 1941 the boat, under the command of Guggenberger, sank the famous British aircraft carrier HMS _'Ark Royal' _in the Mediterranean.

An RAF No. 206 Sqdn Fortress damaged _'U-338'_, killing one and wounding three. The _'U-338' _was nicknamed the _'Wild Onager' _in reference to an incident that occurred when it was first launched. Apparently, the U-boat broke its moorings on the day of launch and sank a small tug boat.

*EASTERN FRONT:* A Ju 88D-1 from 4(F)./122 failed to return from a mission to the Krymskaya-Armavir-Tikhoretsk-Krasnodar area.

*GERMANY:* 7 Mosquitoes, 4 to Berlin and 3 to Cologne and the Ruhr. No losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* United States naval vessels LST 6 and LST 326, were damaged by collision in the North African area.

B-24s attacked airfields at Biscariy and Comiso, Sicily. During the night Wellingtons bombed docks and a marshalling yard at Naples, Italy.

Preparations for the Allied invasion of Sicily continued as the British battleships _'Valiant' _and _'Warspit' _were transferred from the Scapa Flow in the North Sea to North Africa.

*WESTERN FRONT:* RAF No. 186 Squadron flying the Hawker Hurricane MK IID made the first rocket attacks against targets at Flushing in the Netherlands.

The BBC warned civilians in occupied Europe to evacuate the vicinity of all factories working for the German war effort.


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## Njaco (Jun 17, 2008)

*18 June 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Mietusch of 7./JG 26 had a 5-in-one day near Leningrad. In the morning, the staffel took off from Siverskaya airfield to patrol the Leningrad front. Soon engaging Russian fighters, he downed a Soviet LaGG-3 near Kinderovo and 7 minutes later another LaGG-3 near Podborvye. Obfw. Heinz Kemethmueller destroyed a Yak-1 in the same engagement. In the afternoon Oblt. Mietusch destroyed 2 more Russian LaGG-3s in 3 minutes. He ended the day with the destruction of a Soviet Yak-7 over Lake Ladoga bringing his score to 42 kills. But 7./JG 26 lost a promising pilot. Engaging lend-lease P-40s, Fw. Erich Jauer shot down 2 of the American-built fighters but was then caught by the Russians and shot down behind enemy lines. Captured, he spent the rest of the war as a POW having destroyed 13 enemy aircraft during his short combat career.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allies "soften" Sicily with a pre-invasion bombing campaign. B-17s struck the Messina, Italy ferry slip and railroad yards while P-38s bombed the airfield at Milo, Sicily. B-26s and B-25s, with P-38 escort, hit docks and shipping at Olbia, Sardinia and shipping at Golfo Aranci, Italy. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) and Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) airplanes maintained patrol and reconnaissance flights. Northwest African Air Force (NAAF) aircraft claimed over 40 aircraft destroyed.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Dr. R.V. Jones studied aerial reconnaissance photos of Peenemünde from June 12, and discovered what he concluded was a rocket, about 35 feet long, with five-foot diameter.

The British "RDF" or "radiolocation" technology was renamed "radar".

HMCS _'Athabaskan'_, a Tribal-class destroyer, Capt. George "Gus" Ralph Miles, OBE, RCN, CO, was damaged in a collision with boom defense vessel HMS _'Bargate' _at Scapa Flow. This resulted in the destroyer being under repairs at Devonport for a month. _'Athabaskan' _was dubbed "The Unlucky Lady" as the result of her many unfortunate escapades. In Apr 43, she was heavily damaged by weather and had to undergo major repairs. After her collision in June, she was hit by a German radio-controlled glider bomb on 27 Aug 43, which also required a lengthy period in a repair yard. _'Athabaskan' _was sunk in action on 29 Apr 44 with heavy loss of life.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: While attacking shipping targets off Cap Pogan, 2 Fw 190A-3s of 14(Jabo)./JG 5 were lost. Flying "Black 9", Fw Hunlein struck the mast of the vessel he was attacking and crashed to his death. Uffz. Pohl was hit by AA fire in "Black 8" and died when he crashed west of Cap Pogan.


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## pbfoot (Jun 17, 2008)

Njaco said:


> .
> 
> 
> ....HMCS _'Athabaskan'_, a Tribal-class destroyer, Capt. George "Gus" Ralph Miles, OBE, RCN, CO, was damaged in a collision with boom defense vessel HMS _'Bargate' _at Scapa Flow. This resulted in the destroyer being under repairs at Devonport for a month. _'Athabaskan' _was dubbed "The Unlucky Lady" as the result of her many unfortunate escapades. In Apr 43, she was heavily damaged by weather and had to undergo major repairs. After her collision in June, she was hit by a German radio-controlled glider bomb on 27 Aug 43, which also required a lengthy period in a repair yard. _'Athabaskan' _was sunk in action on 29 Apr 44 with heavy loss of life.
> ...


They found her in the English Channel a few years ago and determined she was sunk by friendly fire (torpedoed)from a RN MTB


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 18, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 18, 2008)

*19 June 1943*

*GERMANY*: 9./KG 101 based at Lechfeld, became 13./KG 2. The remainder of III./KG 101 disbanded in August 1943.

6 Mosquitoes went to Cologne, Duisburg and Dusseldorf. 12 Lancasters of 3 Group laid mines in the River Gironde, 1 Lancaster was lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night Northwest African Strategic Air Force(NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Syracuse, Sicily. An evacuation of civilians from Sicily and Naples was ordered by the Italian government.

In Italy, B-24s attacked ferry and railroad yards at Villa San Giovanni, ferries in the Straits of Messina, and the harbor of Reggio di Calabria.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The British sapper was the victim of a German booby trap. He was bleeding badly. The explosion had almost severed his leg. A razor-sharp piece of shrapnel had penetrated his skull. When medical orderlies reached him, his life was in the balance. Only a miracle or skilled surgery could save him. The miracle - and the surgery - came in the form of a Dakota aircraft, complete with a surgeon, nursing orderlies and an operating theatre. Within an hour of the explosion, the fight to save Sapper X was taking place in mid-air. The shattered leg was amputated, the head wound prepared for more complex surgery in a hospital ship in Algiers. In any previous war, the victim would have stood little chance. But now, the RAF's "flying ambulance" service was playing a vital life-saving role on the battlefield. Nearly 3,000 lives are known to have been saved by the service in the desert campaigns. Only one-tenth of head-wound cases failed to survive. Major-General Freyberg, the New Zealand VC, owed his life to a flying ambulance after being picked up from a desert airstrip with severe neck wounds. It was a risky business for the personnel, flying in unarmed planes, often over Axis territory. One orderly received two bullets in the legs, but continued working until the patient was safely down - then collapsed from lack of blood.

A Ju 88D-1trop of 1(F)./122 was dispatched on a sortie to the Algerian Coast between Cap Bougaron and Oran. It failed to return and was believed to have been shot down by a fighter.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: During the month of June, the 40th Bombardment Wing arrived at Brampton Grange, England from the US.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 181 Halifaxes, 107 Stirlings and 2 Lancasters went to bomb the Scneider armaments factory and the Breuil steelworks at Le Creusot, 2 Halifaxes lost. The tactics for this raid were that the Pathfinders would only drop flares and that each crew of the Main Fore was to identify their part of the target by the light of these flares. The Main Force crews were then to make two runs over the target area, dropping a short stick of bombs on each run from altitudes between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. By this stage of the war, however, Main Force crews were used to bombing target indicators and many had difficulty in making a visual identification of their target. Lingering smoke from the large number of flares was blamed for most of the difficulty. Bombing photographs showed that all crews bombed within 3 miles of the centre of the target but only about one-fifth managed to hit the factories. Many bombs fell on nearby residential property but no report could be obtained from France to give details of casualties.

26 of the H2S equipped Pathfinders who had released flares at Le Creusot were intended to fly on to drop flares over the electrical transformer station at Montchanin. By the light of these flares a further 26 Lancasters of 8 Group were to attack this second target. Most of the attacking crews, however, mistook a small metal factory for the transformer station and bombed that target instead. A few aircraft did identify the correct target but their bombs scored no hits on it.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 19, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 19, 2008)

*20 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The British announced a five-day U-boat attack on the Atlantic convoys and claimed that 97% of the ships survived.

A US Navy PBY-5A of Patrol Squadron Eighty Four (VP-84) based at Fleet Air Base Reykjavik, Iceland sank the German submarine _'U-388' _(Type VIIC) south south-west of Iceland and south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland. This was the first use of the Navy's homing torpedo (FIDO).

*GERMANY:* Operation Bellicose: First shuttle-bombing raid by Bomber Command. Sixty Avro Lancasters of the RAF's 57 and 97 Squadrons, No. 5 Group attacked the old German Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen. Aircraft landed at Algiers and attacked Spezia on the return journey to UK. This factory made Wurzburg radar sets which were an important part of the German fighter interception boxes through which Bomber Command had to fly every time they attacked a target in Germany. In early June 1943, a Central Interpretation Unit photo interpreter (Claude Wavell) at RAF Medmenham identified a stack of ribbed baskets (Würzburg radar reflectors) at the Zeppelin Works. After Winston Churchill viewed the photos at RAF Medmenham on 14 June, No. 5 Group RAF received the surprise orders on 16 June to attack Friedrichshafen during the next full moon. This was a special raid with interesting and novel tactics. Like the recent Dams Raid, the attack was to be 'controlled' by the pilot of one of the Lancasters. This feature would be later known as the 'Master Bomber' technique. The plan was formulated by 5 Group which provided the Master Bomber - Group Captain L.C. Slee - and nearly all of the aircraft involved. Strangely enough, the German night-fighters did not put in an appearance, despite a brilliant moon. The Pathfinders sent 4 Lancasters of 97 Squadron. Group Captain Slee's aircraft developed engine trouble and he handed over to his deputy, Wing Commander G.L. Gomm of 467 Squadron. The attack, like the recent raid on Le Creusot, was intended to be carried out from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in bright moonlight but the flak and the searchlight defences were very active and Wing Commander Gomm ordered the bombing force to climb a further 5,000 feet. Unfortunately the wind at the new height was stronger than anticipated and this caused difficulties. The bombing was in 2 parts. The first bombs were aimed at target indicators dropped by one of the Pathfinder aircraft. The second phase was a 'time-and distance' bombing run from a point on the shores of the lake to the estimated position of the factory. This was a technique which 5 Group was developing. Photographic reconnaissance showed that nearly 10% of the bombs hit the small factory and that much damage was caused there. Nearby factories were also hit. 44 people are known to have been killed in Friedrichshafen. While the intended target for the attack was the radar facilities and fabrication plants, unknown to the Allies, a production line for making V-2 rockets was being built nearby. Damage to this facility forced the line to be abandoned. Hence, although Operation 'Bellicose' was effectively the first Operation 'Crossbow' mission that attacked a long-range weapon facility, Operation 'Bellicose' was not planned for that objective and countermeasures against long-range missiles would not start until Operation Hydra in August 1943, after which Germany centralized V-2 production at the Mittelwerk. The bomber force confused the German night fighters waiting for the return over France by flying on in the first shuttle raid to North Africa.

4 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 1 to Dusseldorf. 15 aircraft went minelaying off La Pallice and in the River Gironde without loss.

Hptm. Erwin Clausen took over duties of _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 11 from Major Walter Spies.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Messina, Sicily during the night. The following morning B-26s bombed the airfields at Milo, Castelvetrano, and Bo Rizzo, Sicily.

The _'Santa Maria' _(Master Robert John Twaddell) struck a mine laid on 7 June by _'U-214' _five miles west of Dakar. The explosion occurred in the vicinity of the #1 hatch and caused the forward magazine to explode that completely destroyed the bow forward of the bulkhead between #1 and #2 holds. Two armed guards manning the gun on the bow were blown overboard, one of them was never found and the other was rescued and hospitalized in Dakar. The most of the nine officers, 48 crewmen and 30 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) on board abandoned ship in two lifeboats and stayed near the ship for two hours until two French Naval tugs arrived. 46 survivors were taken ashore, the rest reboarded the vessel and helped the tugs to tow the ship into the harbour of Dakar, where the ship was dry docked and repaired. On 14 December, she left for New York and arrived after a voyage of 13 days. 

Lt. Karl-Freidrich Liedtke of 4./JG 77 (5 victories) went missing in action after combat with a P-38 and a B-26 over Castrel Vetrano and Sciacca.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Howard Hughes pilots the Hughes XA-37. Constructed by the Duramold process, developed and patented by Co. Virginius E Clark, the Army's chief aeronautical engineer during WWI; it involved moulding resin--impregnated plywood into desired shapes and contours under high heat and pressure. It is 43 feet long, wing span of 60 feet 5 inches gross weight of 28,110 pounds Two Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 2000 hp engines. Est. top speed of 433 mph, but Hughes was the only test pilot.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 20, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 21, 2008)

*21 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Milk-cow _'U-462' _suffered one dead and 4 wounded during an attack from RAF 151 and 456 Sqn Mosquitoes. The boat had to abort patrol and return to port.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Adolf Hitler ordered Unternehmen 'Zitadel' was to commence 3 July.

Himmler ordered Jewish ghettoes in occupied Russia to be liquidated. In Lvov, 20,000 Jews would be murdered over the course of the next week.

*GERMANY:* 262 Lancasters, 209 Halifaxes, 117 Stirlings, 105 Wellingtons and 12 Mosquitoes attacked Krefeld, 44 aircraft lost. This raid was carried out before the moon period was over and the heavy casualties were mostly caused by night fighters. 12 of the aircraft lost were from the Pathfinders. 35 Squadron lost 6 out of its 19 Halifaxes taking part in the raid. The raid took place in good visibility and the Pathfinders produced an almost perfect marking effort and ground-markers dropped by Oboe Mosquitoes being well backed up by the Pathfinder heavies. 619 aircraft bombed these markers, more than three quarters of them achieving bombing photographs within 3 miles of the centre of Krefeld. 2,306 tons of bombs were dropped. A large area of fire became established and this raged, out of control, for several hours. The whole centre of the city - approximately 47% of the built up area - was burnt out. The total of 5,517 houses destroyed, quoted in Krefeld's records, was the largest figure so far in the war. 1,056 people were killed and 4,550 were injured. 72,000 people lost their homes; 20,000 of these were billeted upon families in suburbs, 30,000 moved in with relatives or friends and 20,000 were evacuated to other towns.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Italy, B-24s attacked the ferry terminal and surrounding areas at Villa San Giovanni, and the harbor area and railroad yards at Reggio di Calabria. Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers follow up with raids on the same targets. Wellingtons bombed Naples during the night. The following day, B-17s hit the Naples railroad yards, Salerno marshalling yard and trestle, Battipaglia marshalling yard, and Cancello Arnone air depot. Fighters flew patrol, reconnaissance, and convoy escort.

Thirty six B-25s (12 of the 445th) took off to bomb the marshalling yards and power plant at Battipaglia in Italy, about 40 miles south of Naples. This was the first time that medium bombers had ever hit Europe proper in the Mediterranean area. Thirty eight P-38s were escort. The marshalling yards, a transformer and repair sheds were hit. The hits rendered all approaches useless. Some bombs fell short and some fell over into the town. Twenty five units of rolling stock were destroyed and seventy-five percent of the power plant, which was the 445th target, was destroyed. There was no flak and one JU-290 was probably destroyed by the escort.

*NORTH AFRICA:* The USAAF 480th Antisubmarine Group was activated at Port Lyautey, it was equipped with four squadrons of B-24s.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The first production Hawker Tempest fighter, a MK V (JN 729) made its maiden flight with Bill Humble at the controls. During flight trials the first Tempest prototype had exceeded 477 mph in level flight, and the first production model was essentially similar to the first prototype with the chin-type radiator. This was designated Tempest V, and the initial production batch, the Series I, had Mk. II cannon which projected slightly ahead of the wing leading edge, but the Series II had the short-barrelled Mk. V cannon which did not project, and also featured a detachable rear fuselage, small-diameter wheels, and a rudder spring tab. 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Gestapo policemen raid a doctor's surgery at Caluire near Lyons, France. They captured Resistance leaders including the president of National Resistance Council Jean Moulin. He was tortured and died, probably around 8 July. Moulin, who escaped to England in 1941 in order to meet the Free French leader de Gaulle, agreed to be parachuted back into his native country on 1 January last year, charged with the mission of co-ordinating the many rival resistance groups operating there.

An FW 190A-5 belonging to 1./ JG 11 crashed at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West and was 60% damaged. Pilot Uffz. Franz Keller was injured.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 21, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 21, 2008)

*22 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Rocket projectiles were used for the first time against enemy surface shipping by Coastal Command with the rocket-firing version of the Bristol Beaufighter, the MK VIC.
_
'U-572' _fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy UGS-10 and sank the "_Lot_" with two of them. The fleet oiler USS _'Merrimack' _and an escorting corvette picked up the survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Koivisto islands in Finland were evacuated and troops transported to the west side of Bay of Vyborg.

GB "_Kama_" of the Baltic Fleet and Ladoga Flotilla was sunk by aviation, close to Lavensari Is.

On the second anniversary of the invasion, Radio Moscow claimed that 6.4 million Germans have been killed or taken prisoner.

Lt. Walter Geisen of 7./JG 5 (7 victories) was killed in action against Hurricanes near Murmansk.

*GERMANY:* VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 65: In the first US large-scale daylight raid on the Ruhr, 235 B-17s were dispatched to hit the chemical works and synthetic rubber plant at Huls. 183 bombed the target and claimed Luftwaffe aircraft but lost 16 and 75 others were damaged. This plant, representing a large percentage of the country's producing capacity, was severely damaged. 11 YB-40's accompanied the Huls raid and 1 was lost.

In a second raid, 42 B-17s were dispatched to bomb the former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp. They claimed 1-2-9 Luftwaffe aircraft but lost 4. An additional 21 B-17s flew an uneventful diversion.

242 Lancasters, 155 Halifaxes, 93 Stirlings, 55 Wellingtons and 12 Mosquitoes attacked Mulheim, 35 aircraft lost. The Pathfinders had to mark this target through a thin layer of stratus cloud but Mulheim's records contain reference to the accuracy of the markers over this medium sized town and to the ferocity of the ensuing bombing. The now familiar area of fire and temporary breakdown of the fire and rescue services followed. In later stages of the raid the Pathfinder markers and the bombing moved slightly into the northern part of the town. This had the effect of cutting all road and telephone communications with the neighbouring town of Oberhausen with which Mulheim was linked for air raid purposes. Not even cyclists or motor cyclists were able to get out of Mulheim, only messengers on foot coul;d get through. The centre and north of Mulheim and the eastern parts of Oberhausen were severely damaged. 578 people were killed and 1,174 were injured in the two towns. 1,135 houses were destroyed and 12,637 damaged. Other buildings hit were 41 public buildings, 27 schools, 17 churches and 6 hospitals. The only reference to industry is a general note - 'a large proportion of industries were severely affected'. The post-war British Bombing Survey Unit estimated that this single raid destroyed 64% of the town of Mulheim.

4 Mosquitoes each to Berlin and Cologne, no losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Salerno, Italy during the night. Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) Beaufighters sank a small vessel off Sardinia.
_
'U-593' _fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy 'Elastic' about eight miles northeast of Cape Corbelin, Algeria and hit the USS LST-333 and LST-387 with one torpedo each. The first was beached and declared a total loss, while the latter was towed to Dellys and later repaired. The torpedoing of these two ships hampered the training for the forthcoming invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). The torpedo struck USS LST-333 on the starboard side in the stern. The explosion demolished the stern section, carried away the screws and rudder and stopped the engines. About 20 minutes after the hit, the landing crafts USS LCT-244 and LCT-19 took the landing ship in tow and proceeded slowly towards the beach. After one hour, the submarine chaser USS SC-503 came alongside and took off 32 injured crewmembers and 24 injured passengers and brought them to Algiers. After five hours of towing, the stern of the landing craft came aground near Dellys. The crew and passengers were taken off by the landing craft and brought to Dellys. The USS LST-333 later sank during a salvage attempt on 6 July.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Obstlt. Walter Oesau was appointed _Jagdfliegerfuhrer _of _Jagdfliegerfuhrer 4_ in place of Oberst Karl Viek.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 22, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 22, 2008)

*23 June 1943*

*GERMANY*: Hitler tells an acquaintance who has questioned the deportation of Jews in occupied Europe:


> "_Germany has lost half a million .... on the battlefield. Am I to preserve and minister to these others? .... You must learn how to hate."_



3 Mosquitoes each went to Cologne and Duisburg and 30 aircraft went minelaying off Brittany and Biscay ports without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Royal Air Force (RAF) Liberators, under the operational control of the IX Bomber Command, hit the airfield at Comiso, Sicily. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the town of Olbia, Sardinia and laid mines in the harbor during the night.

52 Lancasters from the force which bombed Friedrichshafen 3 nights earlier flew from North Africa, bombed La Spezia and then flew on to England without loss. Bomber Command claimed damage to an armaments store and an oil depot at La Spezia.

Submarine HMS _'Unshaken' _sinks the Italian merchant Pomo (former Jug. Nico Matkovic, 1425 BRT).

*UNITED KINGDOM: *Winston Churchill ordered a military mission, led by a senior British officer to join Tito in his campaign against the Germans in Yugoslavia. After years of being unable to decide whether to back Tito's partisans or the rival Chetnik army led by General Mihailovich, the British now believe that the former have emerged as the only effective force against the Axis in Yugoslavia. But although the Chetniks were co-operating with the Italians against Tito's partisans, the British would continue to drop supplies to them, largely because of pressure from the Yugoslav government in exile.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 4th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), AAF Antisubmarine Command began a movement from Gander Lake, Newfoundland to England with B-24s.

British aerial reconnaissance has now secured photographs of Peenemunde research base showing rockets available for firing.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 23, 2008)

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## Njaco (Jun 23, 2008)

*24 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-200' _(Type IXD2) was sunk southwest of Iceland by 2 depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/H). 67 dead (all crew lost). The dead included 7 members from the German special force "Brandenburg" unit.
_
'U-119' _(Type XB) was sunk in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain by ramming and depth charges from the British sloop HMS _'Starling' _( CO was the famous Commander Walker RN).

_'U-194' _(Type IXC/40) was sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Iceland by a homing torpedo from an American Catalina aircraft (VP-84/G). Previously it had been recorded that _'U-194' _was sunk south of Iceland, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/H). This attack, however, resulted in the sinking of _'U-200'_.

'_U-449_' (Type VIIC) was sunk at 1600hrs on 24 June, 1943 in the North Atlantic, northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain by depth charges from the British sloops HMS _'Wren'_, _'Woodpecker'_, _'Kite' _and _'Wild Goose'_.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Russians retreated from Kupyansk on the Oskol River east of Kharkov. Lt. Walter Nowotny of 9./JG 54 destroyed 10 Russian aircraft during the day.

*GERMANY:* 251 Lancasters, 171 Halifaxes, 101 Wellingtons, 98 Stirlings and 9 Mosquitoes attacked Wuppertal, 34 aircraft lost. This attack was aimed at the Eberfeld half of Wuppertal, the Barmen half of the town having been devastated at the end of May. The Pathfinder marking was accurate and the Main Force bombing started well but the creepback became more pronounced than usual. 30 aircraft bombed targets in more western parts of the Ruhr; Wuppertal was at the eastern end of the area. These bombing failures were probably a result of the recent run of intensive operations incurring casualties at a high level. However, much serious damage was again caused to this medium sized Ruhr town. The post-war British survey estimated that 94% of the Elberfeld part of Wuppertal was destroyed on this night and Wuppertal's own records show that more bombs fell in Elberfeld than had fallen in Barmen on the last raid. 171 industrial premises and approximately 3,000 houses were destroyed; 53 industrial premises and 2,500 were severely damaged. Approximately 1,800 people were killed and 2,400 injured.

There was a dramatic incident in Gelsenkirchen, 20 miles north of Wuppertal when an RAF 4 engined bomber crashed into the hall of a building which had been taken over by the Wehrmacht. The bomber blew up 'with a terrific explosion'. A German officer, 13 soldiers, the caretaker of the building and 5 Dutch trainee postal workers were killed and 2 more soldiers died later.

4 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 4 Stirlings minelayng in the River Gironde without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* 36 B-25s (10 of the 445th BS, 12 of the 446th BS ) took off to bomb the Olbia Venafiarita air drome in Northern Sardinia. 36 P-38s of the US 82nd FG were escort. The field, taxi strip and dispersal area were well covered. Five fires were seen as the formation left the target. One flak position was silenced in the northwest corner. Ten to twelve Bf 109’s and MA-202’s with yellow spinners were seen above the target. 4 aircraft were destroyed on the ground and one attacking aircraft was shot down by S/Sgt. Joseph C. Kovis. 2nd Lt. Louis Curdes, USAAF, 82nd FG, 95th FS shot down an Italian Mc.202 over Golfo Aranci, Sardinia.

The United States naval vessel Tug YT-211 was damaged by a storm in the North African area.

1(F)./122 was relieved at Ottana by 3(F)./33 and transferred to Montpellier/South France for rest and refit. The last elements of 1.(F)/122 departed Sardinia about 10 days later. A Me 410A-1 belonging to 2(F)./122 was shot down by a Spitfire from RAF No. 111 Sqdn after a chase south of Cape Passero.

Lancasters of No. 5 Group Bomber Command returned to base after a remarkable mission which took them to the shores of Lake Constance to bomb the Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen on the night of 20-21 June, then to Bilda, in Algeria from whence, after a day's rest, almost all of the original force of 60 went on to attack the Italian naval base at La Spezia on the way home. Eight remained in Algeria awaiting repair. La Spezia had to be bombed blind as its defenders covered the harbour with a dense smokescreen. "Shuttle" bombing was an interesting development and certainly confused the enemy's defences, but it was unlikely to be used regularly because of the difficulties of servicing Lancasters in North Africa.

*NORTH AMERICA:* From a Boeing B-17 flying at 40,200 feet, Lt. Col. W.R. Lovelace, M.D., made the highest parachute jump ever made in the United States.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The Luftwaffe attacked the North-East of England during the night. Eight IB clusters and seventeen HEs including four of 1000kg fell over widespread areas encompassing Brunswick Avenue, Holderness Road and Mytongate. Residential, industrial and railway property damage also widespread. 51 fires were started and 23 people were killed. The first anti-personnel, or butterfly bombs were dropped, insignificant looking weapons with great destructive power if handled or disturbed. They were so small that they could get into any crevice. although there were about 100 casualties, including 23 dead, there was not a serious incident created through inquisitive people handling anti-personnel missiles. The casualties came from high explosive bombs and other causes. Central Hull was one target, Bond Street, Jarratt Street, Albion Street, Savile Street were also hit. The Royal Institution, long the centre of much of Hull's cultural life, was destroyed. The main fire station also suffered. 1,000 houses were damaged, 400 seriously.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Four German sail planes belonging to Fl.Pl.Kdo. A 7/XI were destroyed by fire near Lønstrup. The fire in the hangar, owned by “Dansk Svæveflyveunion”, was observed at 02:30 hours in the morning. Luftwaffe rented the hangar and used it to hangar three single seat and one double seat sail planes used for training. A team of Luftwaffe soldiers had been training on 23/6 and had just left for Frederikshavn in the evening. The hangar was therefore unmanned as it was only used when the weather was fit for sail flying. When the Danish police searched the tomb it became clear that the fire had been started on purpose as the remains of a fire was found next to the Kranish. The Danish police investigated the matter but those responsible for the fire were never caught.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 24, 2008)

*25 June 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT: *The Russians retreated from Kupyansk on the Oskol River east of Kharkov. The Soviets attacked east of Kharkov and below Soblüsselburg (Leningrad front), and claimed that the Luftwaffe had started big petrol fires in a raid on Astrakhan.

The Jewish ghetto at Czestochowa, Poland was annihilated and its inhabitants sent to Auschwitz after an abortive attempt at resistance.

*GERMANY:* US VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 67: 275 B-17s made scattered attacks on targets of opportunity in NW Germany when primary targets at Bremen and Hamburg were obscured by clouds. 167 aircraft bombed targets and claimed 62-11-40 Luftwaffe aircraft but lost 18 B-17s. Of 7 YB-40 escort bombers dispatched only 4 were able to accompany the formations to the target area.

The Ruhr and Rhineland areas of western German were declared war zones and Dr. Robert Ley, a senior German government official, ordered the evacuation of over a million women, children, invalids and old people. The action followed the stepping-up of the Allied air offensive against Germany, with the RAF unloading about a thousand bombs a night on the Ruhr alone. The raids were said to have demoralized soldiers whose families were in the bombed areas.

This week's "shuttle" bombing of the Friedrichshafen radar factory in southern Germany added a new dimension to Allied air power, soon to be further intensified by the US Eighth Army Air Force now based in Britain. But what the Goebbels-controlled newspapers referred to as "the Battle of the Ruhr" still pre-occupied the German authorities, who said that the Rhineland and the Ruhr were "_in the front line_". A German radio broadcast said that the damage caused by the RAF "_simply goes beyond human imagination_". In his diary, Goebbels recorded his view that the British aircraft industry and the RAF have wrested air supremacy from the Luftwaffe. 

214 Lancasters, 134 Halifaxes, 73 Stirlings, 40 Wellingtons and 12 Mosquitoes attacked Gelsenkirchen, 30 aircraft lost. This was the first raid to Gelsenkirchen since 1941 when it had been one of Bomber Command's regular oil targets, although, being in the middle of the Ruhr, this town had often been hit when other targets were attacked. The target was obscured by cloud and the Oboe Mosquitoes, for once, failed to produce regular and accurate marking since 5 of the 12 Oboe aircraft found that their equipment was unserviceable. The raid was not a success. Dusseldorf reported 24 buildings destroyed and 3,285 damaged but 2,937 of these suffered only superficial blast damage. 20 industrial premises were hit and 4 of them suffered total production loss but no large fires were involved and the loss in production lasted for no longer than 2 weeks. 16 people were killed.
Bombs probably fell on many other Ruhr towns. Solingen, nearly 30 miles from Gelsenkirchen, recorded 21 people killed and 58 injured on his night.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied air attacks on Sicily increased as raids concentrated on airfields around Messina. North-west African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed docks and marshalling yard at Olbia, Sardinia during the night. On the following day B-17s dropped over 300 tons of bombs on Messina, Sicily, bombing the marshalling yard, the W and N part of town, warehouse area and part of commercial quay.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* At Chequers, Churchill had been watching films taken during RAF raids on Germany. Suddenly, he sat up and said to his guest, the Australian cabinet minister Richard Casey:


> "_Are we beasts? Are we taking this too far?" _Casey answered: "_We didn't start it. And it was them or us."_



General Dwight David Eisenhower was appointed to command US Land Forces in Europe.

Black American troops ran rioting through the streets of Bamber Bridge, Lancashire last night, firing back at American military police who had fired on them. One man was killed and four wounded, including a white American officer. The trouble began in the Old Hob Inn, when American military police attempted to arrest a group of black GIs as it closed. A fight broke out as they walked back to the US Eighth Army Air Force camp. The MPs drew their guns and fired, hitting one man, and later returned in two trucks. The GIs armed themselves and there was a gun battle into the small hours. Local people ran for cover.

A Hurricane fighter crash-landed in a field known as Quarry Field, on Milfield Desmesne Farm, 1 mile W of Milfield Village at about 10.18. The plane had developed engine trouble. The pilot was uninjured.

*WESTERN FRONT:* A JU 88A-4 belonging to 10./KG 30 touched down in a barley field belonging to “Nykro” farm, southwest of Hjallerup. It skidded along and ended up lying across Lyngdrup bæk brook. The emergency landing was due to engine failure, and the Ju 88 was 20% damaged and the crew was unharmed.

33 aircraft were sent minelaying in the Frisians and off French ports. 1 Lancaster was lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 25, 2008)

*26 June 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* _'U-20' _was attacked by an escort with depth charges. The boat unsuccessfully tried to attack a Soviet submarine hunter off Tuapse, but was attacked itself with 8 depth charges and then kept submerged by aircraft for 4 hours. Afterwards the boat had to return to base due to mechanical failures.

An uprising of Jews in the Czestochowa ghetto was crushed as Germans brought overwhelming force against the town. The Germans captured thirty grenades, eighteen pistols and two rifles.

Soviets attacked east of Kharkov and below Soblüsselburg (Leningrad front), and the Luftwaffe started big petrol fires in a raid on Astrakhan the previous night. The Finnish High Command stated that after heavy artillery preparation Red Army units had penetrated Finnish positions near Rukajaervi, but claimed that the ground had been regained in counter-attacks. Russian aircraft, without loss, made heavy night attacks on the rail junction of Orsha (E. of Smolensk) and the port of Taman, on the Kerch peninsula loading to the Crimea. It was announced in Moscow that in the week June 19-26 hundreds of Soviet aircraft had been in action almost every night against enemy aerodromes and rail communications, some 600 enemy planes being believed destroyed or damaged on the ground.

*GERMANY*: Two bomber pilots, Major Werner Baumbach and Major Hajo Herrmann of III./KG 30 and currently operating NJVK over Berlin, finally gained an audience with Reichsmarschall Goering to advance a new idea. They discussed the RAF's night bombing raids and how they could defend against the bombers. Major Herrmann's proposal was to illuminate the German cities so that they could be seen from the air and to equip special night-fighter aircraft for their interception. These aircraft would be fast single-engined Bf 109s and Fw 190s equipped with 85 gal. fuel tanks for extra endurance. The tactic called for the bombers to be silhouetted against the glowing cities by searchlights or 'Mattscheibe' (ground glass screen) - searchlights playing their beams on the bases of clouds - and have the fighters attack without ground support or communications. This was so the RAF could not listen in and the Luftwaffe pilots could actually see their targets without radar. Goering agreed to this proposal and ordered an experimental commando unit be formed. The bomber pilots quickly rounded up 3 Bf 109s and 9 Fw 190s and their pilots - mostly from Herrmann's experimental unit NJVK - and volunteers that were former bomber pilots and teachers from flying schools. The unit was given the code-name _Stab./Nachtjagdversuchskommando Herrmann_.

The jet aircraft He 280 V-2 suffered an engine failure and was destroyed in a crash landing.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers, under IX Bomber Command control, bombed Messina, Sicily. Wellingtons bombed the Bari, Italy oil refinery during the night. 

A detachment of the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) based at Shipdham, England began operating from Benina, Libya with B-24s.

At 0955 hours, the _'Toufic Allah' _was sunk by 'U_-81' _with 48 rounds from the deck gun 40 miles WSW of Beirut. At 1410, the _'Nelly' _(approx. 80 tons) was sunk by _'U-81' _with 30 rounds from the deck gun.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Air Marshall Trafford L Leigh-Mallory was given responsibility for drafting air plans for the invasion of the Continent. His deputy was Brigadier General Haywood S Hansell, Jr.

*WESTERN FRONT:* US Eighth Air Force Mission Number 68: 165 B-17s were dispatched against the Vilacoublay, France air depot. 12 hit the target while 6 hit the secondary target, Poissy Airfield, and 39 bombed Tricqueville Airfield. The bombers claimed 17-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft and lost 5 B-17s and 14 others were damaged. 5 YB-40 escort bombers took off to accompany the heavy bombers but none were able to complete the attack. At 17:45 hours, the Fw 190s of JG 2 led by Major Egon Mayer met the B-17s over Liseaux and destroyed 5 of them in a few minutes with head-on attacks. An hour later, the Fw 190s of II./JG 26 were caught by surprise by the P-47s of the US 56th FG and within minutes, II./JG 26's Gruppenkommandeur Major Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland, Oblt. Heinz Hoppe and Fw. Gunther Scholz had bagged one Thunderbolt each. 12 minutes later Major Galland had tacked another P-47 of the 56th onto his scoreboard for his 46th victory. By the end of the day, 7 Thunderbolts and 5 B-17s had been downed, the lone JG 26 loss being a III./JG 26 aircraft downed by the US 4th FG near Dieppe.

Operating from West Malling, RAF No. 315 (Polish) Sqdrn took part in another Ramrod as escort to 12 Bostons on Abbeville airfield along with 10 aircraft from RAF No. 308 Sqrdn. The whole operation went according to plan with no incidents. 12 aircraft of RAF No. 317 (Polish) Sqdrn led by S/LDR. KORNICKI took off for IBSLEY to take part in Ramrod 108 as part of the withdrawal cover wing. Other pilots did photo-attacks and air-to-air firing during the day.

12 aircraft of RAF No. 317 (Polish) Sqdrn led by S/LDR. KORNICKI took off at 0850 hours to take part in Circus 39. They were over Lizard at 0901 hours and saw Typhoons for ahead. They crossed coast at Landeda at when the wing turned left to the target. Bombing was not seen. No enemy aircraft were seen on the ground or in the air.

Resistance fighters led by a British agent, Michael Trotobas, blow up a German locomotive plant.

Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring gave up his duties as commander of Luftflotte 2 in order to concentrate on his duties as Commander-In-Chief South.

4 Mosquitoes went to Hamburg and 3 to Duisburg. 16 Wellingtons went minelaying off Lorient and Brest, 1 aircraft lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 26, 2008)

*27 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* '_U-518_' was strafed and attacked with four depth charges by the British Sunderland aircraft W6005 (RAF No. 201 Sqdn., pilot F/O Brian E.H. Layne, RNZAF) west of Cape Finisterre. _'U-518' _was damaged so badly that she had to return to base and subsequently survived another air attack 3 days later while inbound. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* One of the last great Jewish ghettos in Poland at Lwow has now been destroyed. S Lt-Gen Fritz Katzmann rounded up the remainder of this city's Jews, an estimated 20,000, and shipped them off to camps, mainly to the extermination centres of Auschwitz and Belzec. But the SS came up against stiff resistance from those Jews strong enough to fight. They fought back with smuggled Italian handguns, and in the end 500 of them took to the sewers. The Germans were unaware of the Jews' secret weapon. In the last days, they released thousands of lice infected with deadly spotted fever, which they had saved up for the final reckoning.

'_U-18_' encountered a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea, but neither boat attacked.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: USAAF bombers attacked German airfields at Eleusis and Hassani, near Athens. B-24s hit airfields at Kalamaki and Eleusis, Greece, damaging buildings, runways, and parked airplanes and claimed 7 fighters shot down. During the night, Wellingtons bombed the marshalling yard and port area of Naples, Italy.

US HQ 57th Fighter Group and it's 64th, 65th and 66th Fighter Squadrons transferred with P-40s from Tunisia to Malta.

RFA _'Abbeydale' _damaged by _'U-73'_. _'U-73' _was then depth charged in the Mediterranean by escorts. Due to heavy damage, the boat had to return to base.

'_U-81_' fired a spread of two torpedoes at the _'Michalios' _and hit her with one torpedo in the stern. The stern broke off, causing the ship to sink within two minutes three miles west of Latakia. The U-boat had missed the vessel, misidentified as the Greek steam merchant _'Livathos' _(1667 tons), at 1457 hours with a first spread of two torpedoes. The U-boat was then attacked by shore-based guns in the Mediterranean off Latakia 

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The British Chiefs of Staff circulated the paper "_German Long-Range Rocket: Evidence Received from All Sources",_ concluding that German rocket development was taking place at Peenemünde, with manufacturing to start soon in the nearby factory area.

*WESTERN FRONT:* RAF No. 315 (Polish) Sqdrn provided rear cover for 16 Group Beaufighters attacking a convoy off Hague.

15 Lancasters and 15 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians, off Pallice and in the River Gironde. 1 Lancaster lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 27, 2008)

*28 June 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-172' _fired a spread of two torpedoes at SS _'City_ _of Vernon' _(Master Malcolm Douglas Loutit),from convoy OS-49, and observed a hit in the forward hold. The ship settled and sank by the bow at 07.07 hours south-southeast of St. Paul Rocks. The U-boat misidentified her victim as _'Cornish City'_. The master, 43 crew members and eight gunners were picked up by the Brazilian coastal tanker _'Aurora M'_. and landed at Recife on 4 July.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A rigger named Stahlsmeier was sent to 14(Jabo)./JG 5 in Finland. He was to fit ETC 501 bomb racks to the unit's Fw 190s. SC 250 and SC 500 bombs were used by aircraft of 14(Jabo)./JG 5. A reasonably simple modification was done to convert the Fw 190 fighters to fighter-bombers. They were given the ETC 501 rack under the fuselage, round peices of metal were installed inside the inner edges of the wheel walls to secure the rack and the wheel doors were removed. Some of the Jabos were fitted with the exhaust of the Fw 190A-5. All of 14(Jabo)./JG 5's Fw 190s had the mid-wing MG FF cannon and associated underwing bulges removed. There were never more than 3 Fw 190A-2s on strength.

*GERMANY:* 267 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes, 85 Wellingtons, 75 Stirlings and 12 Mosquitoes attacked Cologne, 24 aircraft lost. The circumstances of this raid did not seem promising. The weather forecast said that Cologne would probably be cloud-covered although there might be a break. The Pathfinders had to prepare a dual plan. The target was cloud-covered and the less reliable sky-marking system had to be employed. Only 7 of tyhe 12 Oboe Mosquitoes reached the target and only 6 of these were able to drop their markers. The marking was 7 minutes late in starting and proceeded only intermittently. Despite all these setbacks the Main Force delivered its most powerful blow of the Battle of the Ruhr. The result was Cologne's worst raid of the war. 43 industrial, 6 military and 6,368 other buildings were destroyed; nearly 15,000 other buildings were damaged. Listed as ' completely destroyed' were : 24 schools, 16 churches, 15 major administrative buildings, 11 hotels, 8 cinemas, 7 post offices, 6 large banks, 2 hospitals and 2 theaters. The cathedral was seriously damaged by high explosive bombs. The casualties in Cologne were 4,377 people killed, approximately 10,000 injured and 230,000 forced to leave their damaged homes. The number of dead was greater than in any previous Bomber Command raid of the war on any target. The 'number of dead' record had thus increased nearly tenfold since the opening of the Battle of the Ruhr over 3 months earlier.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A change in the design of the US National Star Insignia applied to US aircraft added white rectangles on the left and right sides of the blue circular field to form a horizontal bar, and a red border stripe around the entire design. This replaces the white star in blue circle insignia.

The prototype Hawker Tempest MK II (LA 602) flies today. With a 2,526-h.p. Bristol Centaurus engine it will be the RAF's most powerful piston-engined fighter. With extra fuel tanks it has a range of 1,640 miles.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the Messina, Sicily marshalling yards and Villa San Giovanni. The following day, 97 B-17s hit Leghorn with 261 tons of bombs severely damaging industrial and railway installations; B-25 Mitchells with 25 P-38s for escort, hit airfields near Olbia, Sardinia and Alghero, Sicily, B-26 Marauders attacked the landing ground at Milis, Sardinia, and fighters hit the airfield at Decimomannu, Sardinia.

The US 27th and 71st Fighter Squadrons, 1st Fighter Group transferred with P-38s from Chateaudun-du-Rhumel, Algeria to Mateur, Tunisia. The US 58th Fighter Squadron, 33rd Fighter Group transferred with P-40s from Menzel Temime, Tunisia to Pantelleria Island.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission Number 69. 185 B-17s and six YB-40s were dispatched against the locks and submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire, France; 158 hit the target between 1655 and 1713 hours local; they claimed 28-6-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; eight B-17s were lost and 57 others were damaged. This mission was escorted partway to the target by 130 P-47s. Fifty other B-17s were dispatched against Beaumont-le-Roger Airfield; 43 bombed the target between 1736 and 1740 hours local; six B-17s were damaged.

Eight aircraft of RAF No. 317 (Polish) Sqdrn did convoy patrol from early morning. At 1825 hours eleven aircraft, again led by S/LDR. KORNICKI, F. took off to take part in a Circus 40.

Hptm. Walter Hoeckner was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 1, taking over command from acting _Gruppenkommandeur _Hptm. Robert Olejnik.

4 Mosquitoes went to Hamburg and 6 Stirlings went minelaying in the River Gironde without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 28, 2008)

*29 June 1943*

*GERMANY:* After making a tour of fighter stations in the West, Reichsmarschall Goering reported,


> "To _achieve any decisive success against American formations of between 100 and 200 four-engined bombers, the fighter forces must out-number the enemy by 4 to 1. Successful defense against such formations, therefore, requires the commitment of 600 to 800 fighters on each occasion....The morale of the pilots is excellent; their performance, considering their numerical weakness, cannot be stressed too much and the leaders are well up to their task. Provided they receive new reinforcements, the prospects of the day-fighter can be viewed with complete assurance._"



*MEDITERRANEAN*: Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers hit the airfield at Reggio di Calabria, Italy. Wellingtons during the night raid ferry slips and marshalling yard at Messina, Sicily.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The US 548th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Great Ashfield, England from the US with B-17s. The squadron will fly it's first mission on 17 Jul 43.

The Defence Committee of the British War Cabinet ordered Peenemünde, Germany to be bombed on the heaviest scale. Recent aerial reconnaissance had identified the area to be a center of rocket research and development.

London reports that Germany is reported to have recalled all U-boats in anticipation of the Allied invasion of Europe.

The award of the Albert Medal was gazetted in London to AB Eynon Hawkins (b.1920), RN, who organized a group of fellow survivors in the water pending their rescue, keeping them from their blazing merchantman and helping two men in trouble.

*WESTERN FRONT: *VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 70: 108 B-17s were dispatched against the air depot at Villacoublay, France and another 40 against the airfield at Tricqueville, France. Neither groups hit the target due to heavy cloud cover and returned to base. They claimed 0-3-3 Luftwaffe aircraft and 14 B-17s were damaged. Another 84 B-17s were dispatched against the aeroengine works at Le Mans, France. 76 hit the target between 1959 and 2003 hours local. Both of the 2 YB-40s dispatched as escorts were forced to abort. The lack of success of the YB-40's in this and previous missions in Jun 43 convinced Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker, Commanding General Eighth Air Force, that if the escort bomber was to succeed it must be able to carry bombs and must be endowed with the same flight performance as the B-l7.

The USN and USAAF finally got their acts together and issued a joint instruction, Army-Navy Aeronautical Specification AN-1-9a, dated 29 June, with the effective date of 1 September 1943, specifying the addition of white horizontal triangles to the national star insignia. The whole insignia was to be outlined in red.

16 Wellingtons were sent to lay mines off Lorient and St Nazaire, 1 aircraft lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 29, 2008)

*30 June 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The commander of the Polish Home Army, Gort-Rowecki was arrested by the Germans in Warsaw. Bor-Komorowski replaced him.

Preparations were being made in the Ukraine for a massive test of strength between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht. Hitler had planned Operation 'Citadel' to break the stalemate on the eastern front by pinching out the huge Russian salient around Kursk. He amassed a vast army with nearly a million men and 2,500 tanks under the command of General Model and General Hoth. But Stalin, alerted by the "Lucy" spy-ring, built a deep web of defensive positions.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night over 60 Wellingtons hit the area NW of Cape San Marco, Italy and the marshalling yard and surrounding area at Messina, Sicily. In Sicily the following day, B-17s bombed the airfields at Palermo and Boccadifalco, B-25s hit the airfield at Sciacca, and B-26s struck the airfield at Bo Rizzo. Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) airplanes sank 2 schooners off of Sardinia and damageed a vessel off the W coast of Italy.

Thirty six B-25s (12 of the 445th) took off to bomb aircraft on the Sciacca airdrome. The visibility was very poor and a number of the crews were unable to see the target. Some hits were reported on the west and east dispersal areas with a large billow of smoke in the southeast area. Four enemy aircraft were seen which did not attack. One was destroyed by the escort. 1Lt Charles D. Lungren of the 447th BS reported,


> "_A funny thing happened on our way out. We were to bomb our target after the 310th---a difference of some 45 minutes in target times. We were just off the Tunisian coast when the 310th, coming back, flew under us. An ME -109 was trailing them — probably to spot their field if he could. The poor guy didn’t see us coming and the first thing he knew he was headed for the big middle of a whole flock of B-25s and P-38s! You could almost hear his tires squealing as he threw on his brakes and made a quick turn around. Last we saw of him, he was leading a big whirlpool of P-38s out to catch him. I never found out if they got him, but his chances were pretty slim!”_



Worried that Italy might defect from the Axis after its defeats in North Africa, the Luftwaffe moved two operational command stations from the Russian front to southern Italy. The move followed Allied air raids on Messina, in Sicily, and Livorno, on the Italian mainland. In London, Winston Churchill talked in a broadcast of Italian speculation about where the coming invasion would land. "_It is no part of our business to relieve their anxieties_," he said.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Aircraft of RAF No. 300 (Polish) Sqdrn which took part in the mining operation of the previous night were flown form Harwell to base. Fourteen sorties of RAF No. 317 (Polish) Sqdrn were made for convoy patrol from early morning. 

In the evening the Polish Army Choir gave a concert in Lincoln, by kind permission of his worship the Mayor.

The US VIII Fighter Command became independent of Royal Air Force (RAF) operational control. All fighter groups were placed under control of the 4th Air Defense Wing.

Signposts were to be re-erected in rural areas of Britain, now that the danger of invasion has receded. Tank traps, anti-tank trenches and barbed wire entanglements would be removed where they were no longer necessary. Lord Mottisone said that on a windy day at least ten young women had had their frocks ripped on barbed wire within 300 yards of the House of Lords. Anti-tank blockades in the streets were the cause of accidents.

War production in Britain was at its highest since hostilities began. There were now nearly five million men and women employed in the munitions industries, and output of weapons was at its peak. The biggest of all was the aircraft industry, expanded to 1,600,000 workers, 40% of them women, which was turning out 26,000 planes a year, including 7,000 bombers. Fighting vehicles were being produced at the rate of 7,400 tanks and 24,000 armoured cars this year. It is calculated that 90% of single and 80% of married women of working age are in industry or the auxiliary forces. Over one million people over 65 are working. Average weekly wages reached £7/8/7 in aircraft factories and £6/18/3 for men (£3/9/10 for women) in engineering. But highly skilled piece-workers fitting aero engines can be earning up to £20 a week or more. Hours worked have been reduced from the 70 or more a week in 1940, as accidents and fatigue lowered productivity. The maximum recommended was 55 hours a week for men, 50 for women, with one day off a week and one week's paid holiday a year. Committees were set up to increase efficiency. Twice-weekly broadcasts of Music While You Work raised production by 15% for the next hour.

The British published aircraft losses incurred to date, with Axis losses of 18,031 aircraft and RAF losses of 9,906 aircraft. During June approximately 1,801 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were lost, either POW's or killed in action.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Total German submarine sinkings of merchant shipping in the Atlantic during the month amounted to 18,000 tons. German submarine losses during the month were 17.

Ju 88A-4 belonging to 4./KG 30 crashed in a field belonging to Thomas Petersen of Perbøl Mark north of Krusaa and was 50% damaged.

RAF _Serrate _operations - fighter interception by homing onto enemy transmissions, combined with airbourne interception radar to give range indications - began against German night-fighters.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jun 30, 2008)

*1 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* With only a token force of seven U-boats remaining in the North Atlantic now that the "air gap" has been closed, British naval and air forces were being deployed to tackle the enemy in the Bay of Biscay. Substantial damage had been inflicted, and two weeks ago Admiral Dönitz ordered submarines to cross the bay submerged and in pairs. More effective U-boat detection devices, plus Allied ability to read German codes, was still putting the German navy on the defensive, however. A particular target for the Allies were the "milch cows", U-boat tankers which were used for refuelling other boats.

On the night on 1 Jul, 1943, the unescorted SS _'Tutoya' _(Master Acácio de Araújo Faria) was hit by one torpedo from _'U-513' _and sank by the bow in a few minutes off the coast of São Paulo. The master and six crew members were lost. 17 survivors in a lifeboat and 6 men on a raft made landfall at the coast and a second boat with 7 occupants was towed into the harbour of Santos by a motorboat. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In preparation for Unternehmen _'Zitadel'_, many Luftwaffe units were moved into the Ukraine. The fighters of the Stab, I. and III./JG 52 were one of the first ordered from the Black Sea coast.

*GERMANY:* Messerschmitt designer Kurt Tank at Hannover-Langenhagen flew the first prototype of a specialized two-seat night-fighter of a wooden construction, The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 'Moskito'. Without any armament or equipment, the aircraft reached a speed of 635km/h at 6,000 meters.

Major Werner Streib became _Geschwaderkommodore _of NJG 1 replacing Oberst Wolfgang Falck.

Hitler addressed his major commanders at his Wolf's Lair headquarters in Rastenburg, briefing them on the upcoming offensive against the Kursk salient. He set July 4 for the offensive to begin. German objectives were to take high ground in front of start positions prior to main attack on the 5th.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Royal Air Force (RAF) Halifaxes hit Catania, Sicily railway yards. During the night Wellingtons bombed barracks and a railway station at Cagliari, Sicily.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The US 3d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), 25th Antisubmarine Wing, based at Ft. Dix Army Air Base, New Jersey with B-24s, ceased flying ASW missions. The 16th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), 25th Antisubmarine Wing, based at Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina with B-25s, ceased flying ASW missions.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Great Britain enjoyed her sixth day without sighting an enemy plane, while Mustangs and Typhoons shot up twenty locomotives in sweeps over Northern France to cap a record month of aerial warfare in which the Royal Air Force alone dropped at least 13,500 tons of explosives on German targets.

This day marked the 3rd Anniversary of the formation of the RAF No. 300 (Polish) Sqdrn, and a celebration was held on the station for the occasion. A presentation of awards was made to flying personnel, a communal lunch was held in No. 3 Hangar, followed by an Exhibition of the work of the Squadron`s mechanics. Following this at 16.00 hours, a performance of “Wloszka Fala” took place in the Airmen`s Institute, and at 18.00 hours a Garden Fete was held on the playing field. No flying took place whatever.

RAF No. 309 (Polish) Sqdrn were drawn up on parade on the airfield to await the arrival of the Polish Air Force Colours made secretly by Polish women in Poland and smuggled by undergrounds service to Britain, and due to be held by the Unit for three months. Colours and escort arrived by air at 1530 hrs and were received with due ceremony. The escort with Colours took up position on the runway, and the Squadron marched past and paid compliments. The colours were then escorted to Squadron Headquarters to be placed in safe custody. Four shipping Recce. sorties carried out along Dutch coast.

A memo by Major General Barney Mc Giles for General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General, USAAF, stressed great need for more fighter escort for strategic bombing missions. The present ratio of less than 1 fighter group to 4 heavy bomber groups was held to be completely insufficient and a minimum ratio of 1 to 2 was suggested.
....Eden announced that Empire casualties in first three years of war were 92,089 killed, 226,719 missing, 88,294 wounded and 107,891 captured.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Due to the success of 1./SAGr 128, there had been a proposal by the _General der Luftwaffe beim ObdM _for another Fw 190 equipped _See-Jagd-Staffel_, to be designated 3./128. However, this proposal was never carried out, and 1./SAGr 128, occasionally supported by 8./JG 2, remained the only long-range single-engined German fighter unit operating over the Bay of Biscay.

Over Holland, the fighters of I./JG 1 met American P-47 Thunderbolts for the first time. Lt. Eberhard Burath commented;


> "_The days passed with defensive patrols, sea recon and repeatedly alarms without contact with the enemy. But on 1 July there was something new in the sky; in the vicinity of Hoek von Holland we met up for the first time with Thunderbolts. From a distance they looked disconcertingly similar to the Fw 190. What they were able to fire from their 8 squirters I frequently came to feel later on."_


 During the combat, Fw. Martin Lacha destroyed one of the P-47s, piloted by Col. Arman Peterson, the C/O of the US 78th FG, who had led the group since its formation in the US in May 1942. The American group claimed four Fw 190s, probably got another and damaged five others for the loss of one man. 

8./KG 101 based at Cognac was redesignated as the Erg.Sta.(Nacht) SKG 10.

12 Lancasters went minelaying in the Frisian Islands, no losses.


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## Njaco (Jul 2, 2008)

*2 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The unescorted _'Empire Kohinoor' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-618' _about 250 miles SW of Freetown. Six crewmembers were lost. The master, 72 crewmembers and eight gunners were rescued. The first boat was rescued by destroyer HMS _'Wolverine' _and landed at Takoradi. The second boat was rescued by the British merchantman _'Gascony' _and the third landed at Lumley Beach, Sierra Leone on 7 July.

At 0008 hours, the unescorted _'Bloody Marsh' _was on her maiden voyage, when the ship´s torpedo indicator sounded after detecting the approach of a torpedo from _'U-66'_. The master ordered a course change to hard left, but 30 seconds later the torpedo struck the port side at the engine room, destroying the room completely, flooding the compartment and killing one officer and two men on watch below. The hull was ruptured on the port side from midship to the engine room. As the tanker settled slowly by the stern, gradually losing headway, the after gun crew reported a conning tower but could not open fire because the explosion had jammed the gun. The forward gun did not get into action because it could not be brought to bear. Most of the ten officers, 40 men and 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) left the ship in four lifeboats and three rafts, with the exception of the armed guard commander and three of his men. 20 minutes after the attack, a second torpedo struck the port side amidships, broke the ship in two and immediately sank the tanker about 75 miles east of Savannah, Georgia. The four armed guards jumped overboard as the water reached the after gun platform. At 06.00 hours, a Navy blimp sighted the survivors and signaled that help was on the way. USS SC-1048 picked them up at 0900 and landed them at Charleston, South Carolina. 
_
'U-543' _(Type IXC/40) was sunk in the mid-Atlantic SW of Tenerife by depth charges and a homing torpedo from an Avenger aircraft (VC-58) of the US escort carrier USS _'Wake Island'_.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Submarine "Sch-422" of the Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla was mined and then finished by surface ASW ships, close to Maakur lighthouse, in Varde area.

.A Ju 88 of 4.(F)/122 suffered problems with one engine (cause unknown) and was escorted while over the Black Sea by a Do 24. Another Ju 88D-1 of 4.(F)/122 crashed in the Kerch area due to engine failure.

The pilots and crew of III./JG 54 gave up their airbase at Taman and moved to the airfield at Ugrim.

Among the losses for the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front was Harald Frenzel (8 victories) of JG 3.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The US 15th Air Force launched a series of heavy raids against airfield in southern Italy in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. US 9th Air Force dispatched B-24 Liberators to bomb airfields at Lecce, Grottaglie and San Pancrazio Salentino. Jafu Sud-Italien responded by sending fighters from 10./JG 3 and II./JG 27 to intercept. Engaging the bombers near Lecce, several Experten added to their scores. From 10./JG 3, Lt. Otto Wessling destroyed 2 Liberators to bring his score to 64, Oblt. Franz Daspelgruber gained his 46th kill and getting their first kills were Uffz. Hans-Ulrich Jung and Lt. Hans Zwick. Another B-24 was destroyed by Fw. Uwe Krais for his 15th. Hptm. Ernst Boerngen of 5./JG 27 reached a score of 25 after bringing down 2 Liberators while single victories were credited to Lt. Karl-Heinz Kapp of Stab II./JG 27, Fw. Heinrich Steis and Lt. Josef Torfer from 4./JG 27, Lt. Willy Kienrsch of 6./JG 27 and Uffz. Karl Kampe of 5./JG 27. Despite all this claiming, only 4 bombers were lost.

In Sicily, Ninth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit the airfield and surrounding area at Sciacca. P-40s, escorting the bombers to Sciacca, shot down a fighter and damaged one. The fighters of 5./JG 77 engaged the escorting Kittyhawks in the morning near Sciacca. Two P-40s were lost. Claiming credit for destroying the P-40s were Lt. Egon Graf von Beissel for his 2d kill and gaining first kills were Uffz. Friedrich Walter and Uffz. Schubert. At about the same time, Lt. Armin Kohler shot down a B-25 for his 23d kill.

Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons hit Palermo and Cagliari during the night and Northwest African Tactical Air Force B-25s hit Castelvetrano during the day.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 8th Air Force was ready to start operating over 1000 heavy bombers from English air fields for the first time in the war.

3 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 2 to Duisburg. 32 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Brittany ports without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 2, 2008)

*3 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Two German submarines were sunk by RAF aircraft: Type IXC submarine _'U-126' _was sunk about 385 nm (713 km) west of the German submarine base at Saint-Nazaire, France by depth charges from a Wellington Mk. XII, aircraft "R" of No. 172 Squadron, based at RAF Limavady, County Derry, Northern Ireland. All hands (55 men) in the U-boat were lost. Type VIIC submarine _'U-628' _was sunk about 331 nm (613 km) west-southwest of the German submarine base at Saint-Nazaire, France by depth charges from a Liberator Mk. IIIA, aircraft "J" of No. 224 Squadron, based at RAF St. Eval, Cornwall, England. All hands (49 men) in the U-boat are lost.

_'U-199' _shot down a USN VP-74 Mariner. Around 18.15 hours, _'U-359' _and _'U-466' _were attacked by a USAAC Liberator west of Oporto, Portugal. The aircraft strafed them and dropped 3 bombs that fell between the boats, which both fired at the aircraft and crash-dived undamaged at 18.26 hours. The Germans had observed AA hits on the bomber and it apparently crashed shortly after the attack, killing its entire crew of 10.

'U-420' was attacked by an RCAF 10 Sqn Liberator and two men were killed (Bootsmann Heinz Grosser, Matrosengefreiter Willi Noeske) with one more wounded when the boat was hit with a Fido homing torpedo. She was severely damaged and arrived at Lorient on 16 July. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet air attacks on German airfields caused heavy damage and disrupted preparations for the coming offensive against the Kursk bulge. German leaders delayed the opening of the attack by an additional day to recover from the attacks. On the night of the 3rd July German Army sappers cleared and taped paths through some of the minefields, in preparation for Unternehmen _'Zitadel'_, the Battle of Kursk. Testimony to the expertise of the Großdeutschland engineers was the fact that ten men of the 2nd Engineer Company lifted and made safe a total of 2,700 mines which worked out at a rate of a mine a minute by each man! On the same night the Red Army captured a sapper of the 6th Infantry Division - Private Fermello - after a skirmish, who informed the Soviets of the start time of the offensive which was to be at 3am on 5 July. The Germans’ goal during _'Zitadel'_, was to pinch off a large salient in the Eastern Front that extended 70 miles toward the west. Field Marshal Günther von Kluge’s Army Group Center would attack from the north flank of the bulge, with Colonel General Walther Model’s Ninth Army leading the effort, General Hans Zorn’s XLVI Panzer Corps on the right flank and Maj. Gen. Josef Harpe’s XLI Panzer Corps on the left. General Joachim Lemelsen’s XLVII Panzer Corps planned to drive toward Kursk and meet up with Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s Army Group South, Col. Gen. Hermann Hoth’s Fourth Panzer Army and the Kempf Army, commanded by General Werner Kempf. Opposing the German forces were the Soviet Central Front, led by General Konstantin K. Rokossovsky, and the Voronezh Front, led by General Nikolai F. Vatutin. The Central Front, with the right wing strengthened by Lt. Gen. Nikolai P. Pukhov’s Thirteenth Army and Lt. Gen. I.V. Galinin’s Seventeenth Army, was to defend the northern sector. To the south, the Voronezh Front faced the German Army Group South with three armies and two in reserve. The Sixth Guards Army, led by Lt. Gen. Mikhail N. Chistyakov, and the Seventh Guards Army, led by Lt. Gen. M. S. Shumilov, held the center and left wing. Stalin was intent on attacking the Germans in a pre-emptive strike but General Zhukov insisted on letting the Germans attack first and wearing themselves down on the defenses he had planned. These defenses were of a scale never seen before for a battle and the Russians immediately had put the military and 300,000 of the local civilian population to work laying a massive array of tank traps, minefields, anti-tank guns and dug in tanks and other defensive positions in anticipation of the German attack. The minefields were specially designed to channel the armored formations into dug in antitank defenses and it was hoped that the Germans would burn themselves out trying to break through the defenses. The Russians without a doubt knew of the impending German offensive with the massive build up of German armor and troops around the salient and through their "Lucy" spy network in Germany and also from ULTRA codes intercepted by the British and passed on to Stalin. It was obvious anyway that this would be the next German point of attack as the "bulge" presented too tempting a target for the Germans to ignore and the Russians saw this as a catalyst to start their own summer offensive.

*GERMANY:* 293 Lancasters, 182 Halifaxes, 89 Wellingtons, 76 Stirlings and 13 Mosquitoes attacked Cologne, 30 aircraft lost. The aiming point for this raid was that part of Cologne situated on the east bank of the Rhine. Much industry was located there. Pathfinder ground marking was accurately maintained by both the Mosquito Oboe aircraft and the backers-up, allowing the Main Force to carry out another heavy attack on Cologne. 20 industrial premises and 2,200 houses were completely destroyed. 588 people were killed, approximately 1,000 were injured and 72,000 bombed out. Twelve crews of RAF No. 300 (Polish) Sqdrn were briefed for the operations over Cologne, eleven completing the mission, and one aircraft Captained by F/L STADTMULLER, had to abandon the mission due the loss of oxygen through a leak in the distributor, and his bomb load was brought back to base. The remainder pressed home their attacks, and under very favorable weather conditions, reported many fires in the target area on their return to base, the glow of which could be seen for 70/80 miles on the return journey. Another aircraft piloted by F/S LECH, unfortunately had to jettison the bomb owing to the bomb doors not opening when over the target.

The night saw the first operations of a new German unit, Jagdgeschwader 300, equipped with single-engined fighters using the Wilde Sau (Wild Boar) technique. In this, a German pilot used any form of illumination available over a city being bombed - searchlights, target indicators, the glow of fires on the ground - to pick out a bomber for attack. Liaison with the local flak defences were supposed to ensure that the flak was limited to a certain height above which the Wild Boar fighter was free to operate. RAF crews were not used to meeting German fighters over a target city and it was some time before the presence of the new danger was realized. The reports on this night from 4 bombers that they had been fired on over the target by other bombers were almost certainly the result of Wild Boar attacks. The new German unit claimed 12 bombers shot down over Cologne but had to share the 12 available aircraft found to have crashed with the local flak, who also claimed 12 successes.

4 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 4 to Hamburg. 14 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians, 2 Stirlings lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* B-25s hit the airfield at Comiso, Sicily. P-40s flew escort over Sicily and over Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean, claiming the destruction of 1 fighter. During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons attack Olbia, Sardinia and Trapani, Sicily. The following day, B-17s and B-25s hit Chilivani, Italy, and the airfields at Monserrato and Alghero, Sardinia. In Sardinia, fighters hit radar stations at Pula and Alghero, while B-26's bomb the airfields at Milis and Capoterra. In Sicily, Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) A-20's hit the area around Marsala and airfields at Sciaccay and Trapani.

Thirty six B-25s (12 of the 445th) took off to bomb the airdrome at Alghero. Four large buildings on the west and east perimeter were hit. One fire north of the landing ground and one large fire and column of black smoke were seen at the southeast corner of the field. Two twin engine aircraft in front of the hangar were destroyed by direct hits. Forty two P-38s from the 82nd fighter group were our escorts. The flak was heavy, slight and inaccurate. The formation was attacked by 10 to 12 enemy fighters after leaving the target. Three Bf 109’s and one RE-2001 was shot down by the bombers.

Despite their dwindling numbers, the Luftwaffe continued to fight heroically in the Med theater. During the day, fighters from I./JG 77 destroyed 5 P-40s while II./JG 77 attacked B-17s and a roving recon Mosquito. Intercepted by Bf 109s led by Siegfreid Freytag, the Mosquito was shot down, becoming the first of its kind to be destroyed by the Luftwaffe in the Mediterranean.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Lieutenant General Jacob L Devers, Commanding General European Theater of Operations, US Army (ETOUSA), in a report to General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, praised the proficiency of the VIII Bomber Command bombardiers but stressed a dire need for high-altitude gunnery training.

Comedian Bob Hope and singer Frances Langford visited the US 78th FG at Duxford.

2 Ju 88D-1s of 3(F)./122 failed to return from a night recce to the area between Eastbourne and the Isle of Wight.


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## Njaco (Jul 4, 2008)

*4 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The _'Pelotaslóide'_, escorted by the Brazilian submarine chasers _'Jacuí' 
_and _'Jundiaí'_, was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-590' _and sank five miles north of Salinas, Brazil.

*EASTERN FRONT:* In preparation for the offensives at Kursk to start the next day, German forces launched a series of "reconnaissance in force" to drive in the Russian outpost lines. The 2.SS Panzerkorps, 3.Panzerkorps, and the 11.Panzerdivision stormed the Russian positions, making advances through the rest of the day, but the Russians resisted fiercely and slowed the German advances. Hoth's 3.Panzerkorps advanced on the Soviet positions around Savidovka, Alekseyevka and Luchanino. At the same time at Butovo the Soviet 199th Guards Rifle Regiment were attacked by 3rd Battalion Panzer Grenadier Regiment in torrential rain and the high ground around Butovo was taken by 11.Panzerdivision. To the west of Butovo the going proved tougher for the 3.Panzerdivision who met stiff Soviet resistance and did not secure their objectives until midnight. Meanwhile 2.SS Panzerkorps were launching preliminary attacks to secure observation posts for the next days fighting and again were met with stiff resistance until assault troops equipped with flame-throwers cleared the bunkers and outposts. At 2230 hrs the Soviets hit back with a fierce artillery bombardment which, aided by the torrential rain, slowed the German advance. At this time Georgi Zhukov had been briefed on the information about the start of the offensive gained by German prisoners and decided to launch a pre-emptive artillery bombardment on the German positions. German aerial preparations for the Kursk offensive began at 03:00 hours on the morning of the 4 July as the Luftwaffe began its bombardment of the Russian positions followed by an artillery bombardment. At 14.45 hrs Stukas belonging to the five Ju 87D _Gruppen _of Luftflotte 4 bombed an area around Butovo two miles long and 500 yards deep. The attack lasted ten minutes and as the dive bombers turned for home German artillery and Nebelwerfers opened up on the Red Army positions. The Luftwaffe's participation in Unternehmen 'Zitadel' entailed VIII Fliegerkorps under General Hans Seidemann with 1,000 bombers, fighters and ground-attack aircraft, supporting the thrust from the Byelgorod region to the south. The Luftwaffe planned to screen the Wehrmacht's panzers from the Soviet Il-2 armoured tank-busting aircraft. The thrust from the north would be assisted by 1.Fliegerdivisionen at Orel, led by Generalleutnant Paul Deichmann, with about 700 aircraft. As the panzers advanced, Ju 52s would fly in supplies. Fighetr cover would be four _Gruppen _of Fw 190s on the northern bulge around Kursk - I./JG 51, III./JG 51, IV./JG 51 and one _Gruppe _from JG 54. On the southern front would be four _Gruppen _of Bf 109s, mainly II./JG 3, III./JG 3, I./JG 52 and III./JG 52.

*GERMANY:* Just after midnight of 3/4 July Major Herrmann led his new 'Wilde Sau' commando unit, _Stab./Nachtjagdversuchskommando Herrmann_, on its first night mission against RAf bombers heading for Cologne. Taking off with 12 Fw 190s equipped with 66 gal. drop tanks for endurance to intercept bombers heading for the Ruhr, Herrmann realized that the bombers were actually headed for Cologne. This was unfortunate as part of the 'Wilde Sau' plan was to have a flak-free zone over which the fighters could operate - this night's area being over the Ruhr and not over Cologne. Despite this setback, Herrmann ordered his unit to attack the bombers anyway. Flying through heavy flak from friendly ground units, the 'Wilde Sau' destroyed 12 heavy bombers while losing only one of their own. The new tactic was a success.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Prime Minister-in-Exile General Wladyslaw Sikorski and other members of Poland's ruling elite die when their plane crashes immediately after takeoff from the airport at Gibraltar. With the Soviet Union and Axis alike potentially benefiting from Sikorski's demise, there would be no shortage of conspiracy theories in the aftermath.

Royal Air Force (RAF) Halifax aircraft bombed the Catania, Sicily, railroad yards during the night. Also during the night, Wellingtons hit Trapani, Sicily and Lido di Roma, Italy. In Sicily, B-17s and B-26s hit the airfields at Catania and Gerbini. B-25's bombed 2 satellite airfields near Gerbini and hit the airfield at Comiso, Sicily. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) A-20 and medium bombers hit airfields at Comiso, Trapani, Sciacca, and Castelvetrano. P-40s escorted bombers and convoy and flew sea-search for a missing pilot. Allied fighters claimed 3 Bf 109's shot down. 4 P-40's were lost. The following is an eye witness account of the mission by one of the crew members of the 446th BS:


> "_For our Fourth of July celebration we were assigned to bomb the Gerbini A/D in Sicily. We had some trouble finding the target and the Germans and Italians sent up plenty of flak. We dropped our bombs and started away from the target, lagging because our plane had been shot up. 10-12 enemy fighters came in to finish us off, but instead of our being finished we got two of them. A 20 mm shell exploded in the pilot’s compartment and injured Lt. Axson, our pilot, who fell forward putting the plane into a steep dive. Everybody and everything that wasn’t tied down fell in a heap on the floor. The co-pilot, Lt. Coffey, straightened the plane out and brought it to an emergency field on Cape Bon. When we got there we had practically no gas left and we then found out that Lt. Coffey had also been hit and injured, but he had said nothing about it. All in all it was an exciting Fourth." _


 James A. Shields, T/Sgt.

There was a successful British commando raid on German military airbases on Crete.
_
'U-375' _attacked Convoy KMS-18B 10 miles north of Cape Tenez, Algeria and sank the _'St Essylt' _and 'City _of Venice'_. The _'City of Venice' _was carrying 292 troops of the 1st Canadian Division for the Operation 'Husky', the invasion of Sicily. The master, ten crewmembers and ten troops were lost. HMS _'Honeysuckle'_, _'Rhododendron'_, _'Teviot' _and _'Restive' _rescued 147 crewmembers, 22 gunners, 282 troops and ten naval personnel.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Eighth Air Force in England hit three targets on Mission 71. 192 B-17s were dispatched against aircraft factories at Le Mans and Nanes, France. 166 made a very effective attack and claimed 52-14-22 Luftwaffe aircraft. US loses were 7 B-17s with 1 damaged beyond repair and 53 others damaged. Eighty three other B-17s were dispatched against submarine yards at La Pallice, France. 71 hit the target between 1201 and 1204 hours and claimed 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 B-17 was lost and 1 was damaged. Bombing was extremely accurate.

3 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 13 Stirlings went minelaying off La Pallice and in the River Gironde without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 4, 2008)

*5 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *A group of 3 inbound U-boats (_'U-170'_, _'U-535' _and _'U-536'_) was attacked by the British Liberator aircraft BZ751 (53 Sqdn RAF/G, pilot F/S W. Anderson, RNZAF) near Cape Vilano, Spain. The boats evaded the first attack and only _'U-536' _was strafed in a second because the depth charges hung-up. The leading _'U-536' _then gave the signal to crash-dive, but _'U-535' _remained surfaced for unknown reasons and had to face the next attack alone. Despite AA hits in the wings, fuselage and tailplane of the Liberator, the boat was straddled by 8 depth charges just abaft the conning tower and sank with all hands. Due to the damages and a wounded crewman, the aircraft immediately had to leave the area and safely reached its base.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Unternehmen 'Zitadel': After much delay and preparation, the Germans launched their summer offensive against the huge bulge in the front centered around Kursk. The 9.Armee (General Model) was to strike the northern shoulder while the 4.Panzerarmee (General Hoth) and Army Detachment Kempf struck from the south. Many of the German Panzer formations had been reinforced with powerful new weapons. Four new armored fighting vehicles would see action here. The Tiger tank was very heavily armored and carried the feared 88mm gun. The Panther, mounting a long 75mm gun as powerful as the Tiger's 88, was also introduced. Finally, a massively armed and armored assault gun, the Elefant, mounting a long 88mm gun, was also included in the new arsenal to bust through the Russian antitank positions. Finally, the Germans introduced a lightly armored, but powerfully armed (a long 88mm gun) assault gun, called the Nashorn for dealing at long range with the Soviet tanks. Ten minutes before the Offensive was to begin, the Soviets launched their own bombardment with 600 guns, mortars and Katyusha rocket launchers which lasted for thirty minutes. The weight of shells fired during this bombardment was heavier than that fired during the whole of the Polish and French campaigns. A second Russian battery opened up but was ineffectual in disrupting German assembly areas. Some of General Model's troops were caught in the open and could not start their attack until 90 minutes after their scheduled start time. On the northern side of the bulge, 9.Armee opened the attack with an 80 minute barrage. This was followed by an infantry assault by the 23 Corps into the positions of the 148th and 8th Rifle Divisions. Meanwhile, the 41. and 47.Panzerkorps, heavily supported from the air, struck the 15th and 81st Rifle Divisions. None of these attacks gained more than 8 kilometers (5 miles) at a cost of 200 tanks. On the southern side of the bulge, the offensive would be conducted by the 4.Panzerarmee and Army Detachment Kempf. The attacks by 4.Panzerarmee were spearheaded by two very powerful formations - the 48. (nearly 600 tanks) and 2.SS Panzerkorps (over 600 tanks). Both planned to attack along roads which converged on the town of Oboyan and then Kursk. AD Kempf was to attack in the Belgorod area and secure the eastern flank of the offensive. The _'Großdeutschland' _
division made the best progress advancing towards its objective of Oboyan forcing the Russian 3rd Mechanized Corps back to the River Pena. A grand total of 119 Panthers of the 10th Brigade went into battle with the _'Großdeutschland' _division. 65% of those went out of action, either damaged or destroyed, on the first day. The attacks quickly became bogged down in the extensive mine fields. The 10th Brigade had further problems in that early morning rain had turned their march route into a quagmire. They managed to extract themselves and make limited advances, but failed to reach its first day objective of the Psel River. 2.SS Panzerkorps under the command of Paul Hausser progressed quite well using a tactic known as the "Panzerkiel" which was basically spearheaded by the heavy Tiger I tanks followed up by MK IV and MK III tanks. Hausser’s corps was made up of three panzer divisions – the 1st _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _(Adolf Hitler’s bodyguard), 2nd SS 'Das _Reich' _(The Empire) and 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _(Death’s Head). Although all three were technically Panzergrenadier divisions, each had more than 100 tanks when 'Zitadel' began. Before the Luftwaffe could launch raids against the Red Air Force, the Soviets launched a pre-dawn raid with more than 400 aircraft against 5 Luftwaffe airfields near Kharkov. At the airfields, the bomber and fighter units were crowding the runways, waiting for the order to take-off. Then German radar units reported hundreds of Russian aircraft heading to the bases. Commanders had all their bombers kept on the ground and cleared the way for Bf 109s to launch. At Mikoyanovka airfield, the fighters of JG 54 managed to get into the air before the Russian aircraft reached the base. Fighters from JG 3 followed. Gaining height, the two _Geschwaders _descended upon the Russian bombers, fighters and ground-attack aircraft. Soon 120 Russian aircraft went flaming to earth. Lt. Rudolf Rademacher of I./JG 54 claimed 7 shot down and Oblt. Emil Bitsch, _Staffelkapitaen _of 8./JG 3 destroyed 6 Russian planes. Two pilots with II./JG 3 reached the 150 kill mark. _Gruppenkommandeur _Major Kurt Brandle downed 4 Il-2s and a Yak-1 while Oblt. Joachim Kirschner, _Staffelakpitean _of 5./JG 3 reached 150 during one of 9 Russian aircraft shot down. Hptm. Hans-Ulrich Rudel's squadron of 9 tank-busting Ju 87G-1s of 1./StG 2 were assigned to support the 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _. During his first mission, Rudel knocked out 4 Soviet tanks and by evening, his score grew to 12.


> "_We are all seized with a kind of passion for the chase from the glorious feeling of having saved much German bloodshed with every tank destroyed." _


 At the same time, because of Rudel's success, _Panzerstaffeln _(Tank Destroyer Squadrons) were formed. As evening approached, a final combat was fought between the Fw 190s of Luftflotte 6 and a Soviet bomber force. The German fighters claimed 45 victories. The III./JG 54 was the first to engage and Fw. Hubert Strassl claimed a pair of the big Il-4 bombers. He then downed 2 more from low altitude. Returning to base at Orel, Strassl had claimed a remarkable 15 victories in a single day. The Germans claimed 432 Soviet aircraft destroyed for only 26 of their own.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sicily, B-24s attacked the harbor, harbor installations, railway yards, and oil storage at Messina while B-25s hit the airfields at Sciacca and Biscari. Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers struck railroad yards at Catania, Sicily.

NASAF Wellingtons bombed the airfields at Villacidro, Sardinia and Catania, Sicily during the night. In Sicily, NASAF fighters, medium and heavy bombers hit main and satellite airfields at Gerbini and radar stations at Marsala and Licata; Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light and medium bombers hit Sciacca and airfields at Trapani, Comiso and Biscari.

War Diary of: 1Lt. Daniel R. McDuff, pilot:


> "_The boys had a very tough mission, raiding the Gerbini Airfields. Some big shot somewhere had his head up and locked and “ordered” that they follow the course he prescribed. It was a honey. They were to approach the target area from the south, going west of it so that, when they got well north of it, a turn to the right would bring them southwest to the target. They were to make a 270° turn to the left after dropping their bombs, fly west a way, then go back off the island to the south the same way they had come in. And it was a long way from the target to the coast! It would be just begging for trouble. And they got it. Shapiro was shot down and crashed on the island---DeMoss, who followed him down to give him what protection he could, said Shap crashed and burned—not a chance to live through it. Bradley, of the 446th, was shot down abut 8 or 10 miles off the coast of Sicily, and several others were shot up pretty bad. Cohagen and his crew took a beating---as did his passenger, Capt. R.W. Manly, who got various and sundry pieces of flak here and there and nearly had the top of one of his fingers torn off. Cohagen landed at Tunis and left him in the hospital there. He is not back yet, but should be in a few days. Apparently there was nothing really serious.” _



'U-593' attacked Convoy KMS-18B NE of Cap Bengut and sank the ship of the convoy commodore, the _'Devis'_. She had 289 Canadian troops and two British landing crafts (LCTs) on board for the Operation 'Husky', the invasion of Sicily. 52 soldiers were lost. One of the LCTs sank with the ship; the other was damaged but remained afloat. The master, the convoy commodore, six naval staff members, 38 crewmembers, eight gunners and 237 soldiers were picked up by HMS _'Cleveland' _and landed at Bougie. 

*NORTH AMERICA:* The first turbojet engine developed for the U.S. Navy, the Westinghouse I9A, completed its 100-hour endurance test.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 4 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 4 to Hamburg.34 aircraft went minelaying off French ports and in the Frisians, 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 5, 2008)

*6 July 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 2: By the second day of the Kursk offensive, German troops had penetrated 20 miles into Russian territory, at a high cost on both sides. Major attacks began again midday in the south. The southern pincer of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) advanced some 12 miles, with both sides incurring heavy casualties. A small salient containing the 67th and 52nd Guard Rifle Division had developed the previous day between the 48th and 2.SS Panzerkorps. 48.Panzerkorps (the _'Großdeutschland' _division in particular) dealt with these units, forcing them to withdraw with serious losses. However, when the advance hit the second echelon positions, GD was stopped cold. Meanwhile, 3.Panzerdivision reached the Psel River only to discover that rain and steep muddy banks made fording the river impossible. This redirected the attacks to the east where elements of the 3rd Mechanized Corp (1st Tank Army) were engaged in heavy fighting and serious losses were sustained by both sides. By the end of the day, the Corps had lost 30% of its armor strength. 2.SS Panzerkorps continued on towards Prokhorovka with the 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _leading the advance and smashing all resistance to the west of the town. 2.SS Panzerkorps ran into the 5th Guard Tank Corps when its attacks resumed. The very formidable formation forced the Russians to engage in a fighting withdrawal. Meanwhile, the 2nd Guard Tank Corp struck the right (eastern) flank of the Germans forcing the 3.Panzerdivision to redirect its efforts on that axis. This sent alarm bells ringing in the Soviet camp and they knew that if 2.SS Panzerkorps broke out, the balance of armor would tip in the Germans favor. They decided to deploy the rest of the 5th Guards Tank Army to destroy the SS armored divisions. Further to the east, Army Detachment Kempf had three of its panzer divisions (6th, 7th and 19th) attacking in a northeasterly direction. The attackers succeeded in pushing back the left flank of the 81st Guard Rifle Divisions, but stopped dead in its tracks after crossing the River Donets upon reaching the backup positions occupied by the 73rd and 78th Guard Rifle Divisions. Several Antitank Gun Brigades were dispatched to the new line. Fighting to the north in the 9.Armee sector was stalemated. The German "Elefant" assault tanks were unable to live up to expectations due to effective Soviet infantry attacks. Soviet armored formations counterattacked forcing the Germans to defend their meager gains of the previous day. The attacks came in uncoordinated and the Germans were able to deal with the attacks. A second day of operations for the Luftwaffe supporting the offensive found 205 Russian planes destroyed, most by JG 51 in the northern sector. Fw. Herbert Strassl of III./JG 51 was promoted to Oberfeldwebel. During the day he downed another 4 Soviet aicraft, the victories coming in 2 missions. III./JG 51 met LaGG-5s and MiG-3s and Strassle claimed 2 LaGG-5s and a MiG-3. Later that afternoon III./Jg 51 again engaged LaGG-5s and MiG-3s. Strassl added on t his scorebard and Oblt. Maximillian Mayerl of 9./JG 51 claimed a LaGG-5 at the same time. By the end of the day. Fw. Herbert Strassl had added 10 planes to his score.

Hptm. Gunther Rall was given command of III./JG 52.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Sicily, B-24s struck satellite airfields at Gerbini and hit the airfields at Biscari and Gerbini while P-4Os escorted bombers and carried out dive-bombing operations. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons hit Gerbini Airfield and 2 satellites during the night. During predawn hours and throughout the day, light and medium bombers of the NATAF bombed airfields at Biscari, Sciacca, Trapani, and Comiso. NASAF B-17s again hit Gerbini Airfield and 3 satellite fields. B-25s bombed Biscari Airfield. At Biscari the majority of the bombs dropped on the field with excellent results. One JU 52 was hit while trying to take off. The escort was 24 P-38s and Spitfires from Malta furnished a high cover.

Submarine HMS _'Saracen'_sank the Italian merchant _'Tripoli' _(1166 BRT) near the island of Monte Cristo.

The _'Shahjehan' _in Convoy MWS-36 was torpedoed and damaged by _'U-453' _NE of Benghazi, Cyrenaica. The ship was taken in tow but sank. One service personnel was lost. The master, 77 crewmembers, 20 gunners and 229 troops (military, naval and RAF personnel) were picked up by HMS _'St Monance' _and the river gunboat HMS _'Aphis' _and landed at Benghazi. 

*NORTHERN FRONT:* _'U-629' _set up an automatic weather station on Bear Island.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 4 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 3 to Dusseldorf. 36 aircraft went minelaying off Biscay ports, 1 Lancaster lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 6, 2008)

*7 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The Battle of the South Atlantic continued as German submarine _'U-185' _sinks three merchant ships off the coast of Brazil.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 3: In the north, Model's forces concentrated their attacks in the area around Ponyri. 18th Panzer and 292nd Infantry Divisions hit the 307th Rifle division and were initially repulsed. A full day of heavy fighting in the village saw sections of the town change hands several times. By the end of the day, the town was split between the two combatants. Meanwhile, the 41.Panzerkorps struck toward Ol'Khovatka, an area surrounded by dominant high ground, only to be met by elements of the 2nd Tank Army. Both sides suffered serious losses and neither gained their objectives in the stallmate. In the south, Army Detachment Kempf continued to make modest headway against the 7th Guard Army. Four additional infantry divisions were assigned to shore up the Soviet positions. On the other (western) flank, 48.Panzerkorps was attempting to move forward only to be confronted by large tank formations Vatutuin was hoping to attack with. A large salient had developed between 2.SS Panzerkorps right (east) and AG Kempf's left (west) flank. 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _was dispatched to guard that vulnerable position, leaving only the 1st _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _and 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _panzer Divisions for attacks. Because of the serious resistance on the road to Oboian, these formations redirected to the northeast and advanced, making modest progress, toward Prokorovka. Over the battlefield, the air battle became desperate. German forces were concentrating on their ground support efforts and the Red Air Force had recovered from their initial trouncing at the optining of the offensive to contest the Germans. The Soviet fighter sweeps took a serious toll on the bomb laden German planes. But the fighters of Luftflotte 6 claimed 74 victories and Ofw. Strassl of 8./JG 51 made 6 of these claims. Oblt. Paul-Heinrich Dahne of 2./JG 52 destroyed a Russian plane over the frontlines, giving I./JG 52 800 kills for the war and 6000 kills for the _Geschwader_.

*GERMANY*: 10./JG 11 was formed at Husum with Oblt. Heinz Sahnwaldt appointed a _Staffelkapitaen_.

4 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 4 to Dusseldorf without loss.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* After a heavy engagement with Soviet fighters, JG 5 suffered damaged planes and missing pilots. A Bf 190G-2 flown by Fw. Josef Sommereger of 1./JG 5 went missing in action. The _Staffelkapitaen _of 14(Jabo)./JG 5 Hptm. Wilhelm Strakeljahn had to crash land his Fw 190 at Petsamo due to AA fire. He was uninjured.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 7, 2008)

*8 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* A B-24 Liberator of the 2d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), AAF Antisubmarine Command based at Port Lyautey, French Morocco, sank German submarine, _'U-232' _off Portugal. All 46 men on the U-boat were lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 4: Model's 9.Armee made an all out effort to make an impression on the Russian defenses in the north. The 4.Panzerdivision, the last fresh panzer unit in the army was committed to the attack along with all available air support. After a bitter day of fighting with heavy losses reported by both sides, no appreciable movement was seen in the front line. To the south, 4.Panzerarmee continued its attacks. On the left (west), 48.Panzerkorps, with the _'Großdeutschland' _panzerdivision in the lead, struck directly up the Oboian road. The battered 3rd Mechanized Corp was unable to contain the German attacks and grudgingly gave ground. 6th Tank Corp struck the left flank of GD which distracted the Germans long enough for Vatutin to organize fresh troops in front of the main attack, which prevented the Germans from obtaining a clean breakthrough. To the east, 2.SS Panzerkorps started the days attacks by redirecting their attacks away from the Oboian axis toward Prokorovka to the northeast. The attack started at the same time Vatutin planned an attack by the 10th Tank Corps into what he though would be the German right flank. Instead, the two forces met in a meeting engagement. Both sides took grievous losses in men and machines in the ensuing battle which raged for most of the day. The Russian attack began in the morning, moving west in an attempt to cut the Begorod-Oboian highway. Along the woods north of Belgorod, _Gruppenkommandeur _Hptm. Bruno Meyer, flying a Hs 129B of IV./SG 9, spotted moving Russian tanks and large concentrations of troops in the attack on the German flank. Meyer radioed to base that he saw at least 40 tanks and, "...._dense blocks of infantry, like a martial picture from the middle ages." _and ordered the rest of his _Gruppe _up from Mikoyanovka to assault the Russian attack. The Luftwaffe immediately scrambled 4 squadrons, a total of 64 Hs 129s, to Meyer's coordinates. Using high-velocity 30mm cannons, the planes swept the forest, pumping shells into the rears of the tanks. Within a few minutes, half a dozen tanks were destroyed and burning. Fw 190 fighters joined the fray, strafing infantry and bombing wherever the Soviets were clustered. Follow up attacks by squadrons led by Major Matuschek, Oblt. Oswald, Oblt. Dornemann and Lt. Orth along with attacks on the infantry by Major Druschel's Fw 190 _jabos_, soon destroyed the Russian brigade and they retreated into the woods. The Soviet armoured assault had been blunted solely through air power. Army Detachment Kempf advanced 8 kilometers north, capturing Melikhovo, finally breaking cleanly through the first defense lines of the 7th Guards Army. The Soviet Guardsmen simply withdrew to the second line in good order and redoubled their efforts to harass the German right (east). Despite the success of SG 9 north of Belgorod, this fourth day of battle brought German domination in the air to an end. The Luftwaffe was no longer able to automatically gain air superiority over a spot on the battlefield and roving swarms of Red fighters struck hard against the German planes. The Germans were able to execute a mere 650 sorties to the Soviet 1500. Soviet claims for the day were 304 tanks and 161 aircraft; the Germans, 400 tanks and 193 aircraft.

*GERMANY*: 282 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes of 1, 5 and 8 Groups went to Cologne, 7 Lancasters lost. The Oboe sky marking was accurate and another successful raid followed, the north western and south western sections of the city being the worst hit. 19 industrial and 2,381 domestic buildings were destroyed in areas which had not been severely bombed until now. 502 civilians were killed but the fatalities at a prisoner of war camp and an artillery barracks which were both heavily bombed are not known. A further 48,000 people were bombed out, making a total of 350,000 people losing their homes during this series of 3 raids in 1 week.

8 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 46 aircraft went minelaying off Texel, Brittany and the Biscay coast, 1 Wellington minelayer lost.

At a meeting in the Supreme Headquarters, Hitler promised his support for continued production of the Me-264 to Messerschmitt, but only for maritime uses. At the same time he dropped his plan to bomb the US east coast, because "_the few aircraft that could get through would only provoke the populace to resistance_."

*MEDITERRANEAN: *In Sicily, B-24s attacked the Catania railway station, telegraph and telephone buildings, and industrial area; B-25s hit the airfields at Biscari and Comiso and nearby areas; and P-40s attacked Biscari Airfield and escorted bombers over Sicily. NASAF Wellingtons bombed airfields at Comiso and Catania during the night. During the day, B-17s, B-25s, and B-26s made several strikes against Gerbini and its satellite fields. 48 P-38s of the 82nd fighter group were escort. P-38s strafed radar installations in the eastern part of Sicily. Two Siebel ferries were strafed just off the coast. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light bombers hit Sciacca Airfield while medium bombers hit airfields at Biscari and Comiso. A-36s attacked trucks, a train, railroads, highways, a sulfur plant, and a marshalling yard at several points in Sicily.

War Diary of Lt. Daniel R. McDuff, 447th BS:


> "_On the way - and just shortly after we left Malta - we could see the largest collection of boats of all sizes I have ever imagined! It’s size is almost unbelievable…Boats lined up and scattered around for as far as the eye could see. A lot of power, there, and I have a feeling someone is going to get a taste of that power somewhere and soon! Just before we got to the Tunisian coast we passed right between two more convoys - big ones - in fact I don’t think I’ve every seen a herd of cows with as many cows in it as that convoy had boats! I look for the invasion sometime between the 10th and 12th of July. We shall see!”_



*UNITED KINGDOM: *The USAAF 479th Antisubmarine Group was activated at RAF St. Eval, Cornwall. It would be equipped with two squadrons of B-24s.

The 354th, 357th and 358th Fighter Squadrons, 355th Fighter Group, arrived at Steeple Morden, England from the US with P-47Ds. They will fly their first combat mission on 14 Sep 43.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The British Home Fleet sailed strong units off Norway as a distraction for upcoming operations in the Mediterranean. The Germans did not notice them.


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## Njaco (Jul 9, 2008)

*9 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-508' _attacked Convoy ST-71 60 miles SW of Lagos in the Gulf of Benin and torpedoed the _'De La Salle' _and _'Manchester Citizen'_. The ships were sunk by coup de grâce at 0425 and 0452. The master, 129 crewmembers, 12 gunners and 97 passengers from the _'De La Salle' _were picked up by corvette FS _'Commandant Detroyat' _and the British SS _'Calabar' _and landed at Lagos. Eight crewmembers and two passengers were lost. Twelve crewmembers, two gunners and 14 Krooboys from the _'Manchester Citizen' _were lost. The master, 44 crewmembers, eight gunners and 23 Krooboys were picked up by _'Commandante Detroyat' _and landed at Lagos.

The unescorted _'Samuel Heintzelman' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-511' _in the Indian Ocean. The U-boat dived after firing torpedoes and not observed the results, but they heard underwater explosions and found no trace of the ship after surfacing, only debris floating in the water and lying on deck. All eight officers, 34 crewmen, 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and six passengers on board were lost. The '_Samuel Heintzelman' _was reported missing after being seen the last time on 4 July and it was first believed that she had been sunk by a Japanese surface raider. On 30 September, wreckage of the ship was found off Minni Minni village, Maldive Islands and two empty lifeboats had been spotted the day before.
_
'U-953' _was attacked by an aircraft killing one and wounding two of its crew.
_
'U-642' _shot down an RAF 210 Sqdn Catalina. The boat was attacked by the Catalina about 250 miles west of Lisbon. AA fire hit the port side of the aircraft during the attack run, damaging the wing, the engine and a fuel tank and wounding the nose gunner. Due to the damages, only the three depth charges on the starboard side were dropped but did not damage _'U-642'_, which crash-dived after the attack and did not observe how the burning Catalina ditched shortly afterwards. Two crewmen were lost in the crash and another died the next day from a heart attack. 7 survivors were picked up after 4 days by HMS _'Swale' _and taken to Casablanca.

'_U-435' _was sunk west of Figueira, Portugal by four depth charges from an RAF 179 Sqn Wellington.
_
'U-590' _was sunk near the Amazon Estuary by depth charges from a USN VP-94 Catalina aircraft.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 5: The Germans were becoming bogged down. Hitler's desperate attempt to change the course of the war by destroying the Soviet armies in the Kursk salient, was grinding to a halt as Soviet tanks, cunningly constructed defences, and swarms of Sturmoviks blunted the pincer attacks of General Hoth from the south and General Model from the north. Fighting at Kursk had taken on a significant and, for the Germans, a frustrating pattern. Unlike the previous two summers, the Russians did not collapse when subjected to the German armored onslaught. This summer the Germans were confronted by an enemy who contested every inch of ground and when forced to withdraw did so in good order to freshly prepared defenses. More worrisome, the Soviets had shown to be very aggressive in hammering the flanks of the German attacks. The confident, swaggering, facade of invincibility was beginning to show cracks as the battle dragged on. Vatutin was determined to stop the Germans. He ordered both the 5th Guards Tank and 5th Guard Armies to concentrate in the Prokorovka area and prepare for a coordinated attack against the Germans. He also heavily reinforced his right (west) facing the 48.Panzerkorps with fresh anti-tank brigades and infantry division. He also committed the fresh 69th Army in front of Kempf between the 7th and 6th Guards Armies. The main effort for the day came from 48.Panzerkorps up the Oboian road. With all of the air support that could be mustered. The unit, spearheaded by the _'Großdeutschland' _Panzerdivision pushed forward making good progress. That progress came to an abrupt end at Novoselovka when they ran into heavily reinforced 309th Rifle Division. Meanwhile, the 6th Tank Corp continued to attack the German flank. The Germans continued to drive forward. In the north, the attacks by 9.Armee were on the wane. Despite desperate attempts to crack the Russian, lines, no headway was made and losses were high. To the south, Army Detachment Kempf made little progress being faced by fresh reinforcements. 2.SS Panzerkorps made some progress on the road to Prokorovka, pushing the depleted formations of the 3rd Mechanized and 10th Tank Corps ahead of them while the battered 2nd Tank Corps harassed their flank. Oblt. Werner Hohenberg of 8./JG 52 bailed out of his aircraft after it became damaged from Soviet AA fire. He was rescued by friendly infantry and began a long stay in hospital. But Fw. Ernst Lohberg of 7./JG 52 (22 victories) was listed as missing in action and presumed dead. The fighters of JG 54 lost Uffz. Hans-Joachim Happatsch of 2./JG 54 (20 victories) when he was killed in combat.

*GERMANY*: Goebbels vowed that Allied bombing would be avenged by a new secret weapon.

218 Lancasters, 190 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Gelsenkirchen, 7 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters lost. This raid was not successful. TheOboe equipment failed to operate in 5 of the Mosquitoes and a 6th Mosquito dropped sky-markers in error 10 miles north of the target. Gelsenkerchen reported that its southern districts were bombed and assumed that the main raid was on the neighbouring towns of Bochum and Wattenscheid, also to the south, which received many more bombs than did Gelsenkirchen. G itself suffered 10 industrial firms hit, including the all important synthetic oil refinery at Scholven but damage in all places was only light. 41 people died in Gelsenkirchen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: General Guzzoni was now in command on Sicily with the Italian 6th Army.

In Sicily during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons bombed the airfields at Catania, Gerbini, and Comiso and Northwest African Tactical Air Force planes hit Sciacca and Milo Airfields. During the day, Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed airfields at Maleme, Crete, and Comiso and Taormina while B-25 Mitchells hit Sciacca landing ground and Biscari Airfield and dispersal areas and P-40s escorted bombers over Castelvetrano, and Milo Airfields. Northwest African Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-25s, B-26 Marauders, and fighters attacked other targets, including Sciacca and Biscari Airfields, Gerbini satellite field, and Cape Passero Island radar stations. This pre-invasion air bombardment of Sicily provided air superiority over the enemy.

2,590 Allied ships headed for Sicily to mount the first amphibious assault on Occupied Europe - Operation 'Husky' - while transport aircraft and gliders from North African bases inserted troops from the British 1st Airborne and US 82nd Airborne Divisions, beginning half an hour before midnight. The Allied forces for Operation 'Husky' were gathered around Malta. The invasion of Sicily would begin with airborne landings tonight. These would include the US 505th PIR landing at Gela.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The US Navy orders a version of the Consolidated Catalina from the new New Orleans factory. This mark will have two 0.50-in nose guns, search radar in a radome above the cockpit and amphibious undercarriage. They will be designated PBY-6A and 900 were ordered.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A German air raid against England succeeds in hitting the movie theater in East Grinstead, killing 12 civilians.

HQ US 355th Fighter Group arrived at Steeple Morden, England from the US to join the three squadrons that arrived yesterday.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 4 Mosquitoes went to Nordstern and 18 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel without loss


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## Njaco (Jul 9, 2008)

*10 July 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 6: In the north, Model's 9.Armee attack grinds on, but the attacks were half hearted and it became obvious to all that they have failed. The offensive on this sector was terminated. The Germans lost over 400 tanks and took 50,000 casualties for no apparent gain. The badly depleted 48.Panzerkorps made attacks to clear their flanks on this day. 3.Panzerdivision attacked the remnants of the 6th Tank Corp, while _'Großdeutschland' _Panzerdivision attacked the 10th Tank Corps. Meanwhile, the 11.Panzerdivision struck up the Oboian road and began relieving 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _Panzerdivision of some of its line so that it could be concentrated further east. On the other flank, Army Detachment Kempf still attempted to move north but had to contend with attacks on its right and left flanks. In the center,the 2.SS Panzerkorps would be concentrated for an all out attack on the Porokorvka axis. As 1st _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _and 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _Panzerdivisions regrouped, 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _Panzer, commanded by SS Maj. Gen. Hermann Priess, was to establish a bridgehead over the Psel River, west of Prochorovka. The initial attack failed, but in the afternoon, all three divisions lunged forward and the corps was able to establish jump off positions for the attack. General Mikhail E. Katukov’s First Tank Army had been unable to prevent the Germans from reaching the river. His VI Tank Corps, originally equipped with more than 200 tanks, had only 50 left. But the Germans had gained just five miles at the expense of 25,000 men, 200 aircraft and 200 tanks.

In the early morning, a Russian LaGG-5 fell under the guns of Lt. Erich Hartmann, _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 52 for his 33d kill.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 1: Shortly after midnight, 147 C-47s with their gliders in tow bucked 30-35mph winds heading toward Sicily. They would be the vanguard of the greatest sea borne invasion the world had yet seen. Regrettably, everything fell apart quickly. The planning for Operation 'Husky' was immaculate. The vast convoy - which had set out from ports in Egypt, North Africa, Malta and the United States - assembled exactly on cue. Only the unseasonal storm delayed H-Hour, but by no more than an hour while the convoy sorted itself out. For a few desperate hours, with a sudden storm churning the Mediterranean into a mass of huge white-capped waves, disaster threatened the greatest seaborne invasion of the war. The slow transports were met by heavy anti-aircraft fire as they came in. Sixty-nine of the gliders were released early and could not reach land, drowning 252 soldiers. Two more transports were shot out of the sky and 10 turned back without releasing their tows. Twelve of the gliders did manage to land at the correct place. While this was taking place, a reinforced regiment (3045 men) from the US 82nd Airborne Division were heading toward their landing zones behind Gela. The plan for this force was to fly over Malta and then make a turn to the left and head into Sicily. Most of the inexperience flight crews missed Malta (even though it was lit up like a Christmas tree to assist navigation this night) and the paratroops came in out of formation and widely scattered. This coupled with the high winds resulted in many injuries as well as exacerbating the scatter. Of the 137 British Airspeed Horsa gliders released, 69 came down in the sea, drowning some 200 men. A further 56 landed in the wrong part of Sicily and only 12 reached the target area - a vital bridge south of Syracuse. The airborne chaos was to the Allies' advantage in one sense. The sudden presence of so many paratroopers had the effect of confusing the defenders, convinced that the invasion was on an even bigger scale than they had first thought, and reserves were held back from the beach-heads. The British 8th Army (under General Montgomery) landed just south of Syracuse, spearheaded by commandos and Special Air Service (SAS) units as well as elements of the XXX Corps and XIII Corps. Heavy surf made navigation for the small landing craft difficult and many missed their designated target beaches (some by as much as 6000 yards). However, there was little resistance and the landings went well. The US 7th Army (under General Patton) made their landings west of (on the left flank) of the British in the Gulf of Gela. The initial landings included rangers and elements of the 3rd, 1st and 45th Infantry Divisions. The only mishap of this landing was the destruction of the destroyer _'Maddox' _which was sunk by a Stuka dive bomber. The only serious opposition encountered by the Americans was at Gela when the 1st US Division and a tank battalion were, after an unimpeded landing, met with a counter attack by German troops and armour. The response of the Axis was poor. Italian coastal units surrendered en masse. Mobile reserve groups were slow to react to the invasion. Italian Mobile Group 'E' was the first to attack and hit the town of Gela around 0900. The 16th Infantry Regiment, supported by fire from the cruiser _'Boise' _stopped the attack and forced the Italians to retreat. The Germans had two divisions on the island, the 15th Panzer Grenadier and the _'Herman Goering' _(HG) Panzer Division. The former was a well-trained and experienced unit but except for a kampfgruppe facing the British, they were not in a position to have an impact on D-Day. The HG Division however, was in an excellent position to crush the American beachhead. Although they were extremely well equipped (including 14 Tiger tanks), they were ineptly led. Their counterattack did not get organized until the afternoon. They too were met by naval gunfire and the men of the 'Big Red One' and retreated in considerable disorder. 1st Division "Big Red One" under Gen. Terry Allen had landed at the fishing village of Gela, spearheaded by Darby's Rangers. By the end of the first day, the Allies were well established on shore, although somewhat disorganized and scattered. On one American beach-head, US Rangers captured an Italian command post only to find the telephone ringing. A US war correspondent who had been stationed in Rome before the war answered in Italian. "_Where are the Americans?" _asked the voice at HQ. "_Americans? Its all quiet here." _the correspondent replied.

Soon after the landings, German fighters in Sardinia were recalled to the battlefront. 39 Bf 109s of II./JG 51 responded immediately and joined up with Stab. and II./JG 27 and II./JG 77 at Trapani and began operations against the Allied landings. By the end of the first day, 6 Allied bombers were shot down at a cost of 4 Bf 109s destroyed including the aircraft of the _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 77. Numerous airfields were unusable as the Allies pounded the air strips into rubble.
_
'U-371' _fired torpedoes at Convoy ET-22A about 30 miles east of Bougie and damaged the _'Matthew Maury' _and _'Gulfprince' _(in station #22). The convoy was about eight hours out of port. _'Gulfprince' _was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side at the #7 tank. The torpedo penetrated 20 feet into the empty but non-gas-free tank before exploding. The explosion ripped a 20-foot hole in the side, destroyed the steering engine, brought down the main mast and started fires in the tanks carrying fuel. The engines were secured and the ship listed to starboard. Within minutes the complement of eight officers, 28 crewmen and 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in two lifeboats, three rafts and by jumping overboard. All men were picked up by trawler HMS _'Sir Gareth' _and the British SS _'Empire Commerce'_, but one of the armed guards later died from burns on board. A salvage crew boarded the vessel and the tugs HMS _'Weazel' _and _'Hudson' _towed her to Algiers, arriving on 12 July. Rather than declaring the vessel a total loss, the US War Shipping Administration bought her and chartered the tanker to the US Navy for use as a mobile storehouse in North Africa. In March 1945, the tanker was laid up at Taranto and was sold to Italy on 20 Feb 1948 for scrapping. The _'Matthew Maury' _was struck by one torpedo in the stern. The explosion blew off the propeller, bent the shaft and flooded the #5 hold. The ship went out of control and gradually lost way. The eight officers, 35 crew men, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and seven passengers went to their boats stations but did not abandon ship. Two British corvettes stood by and later towed the ship to Bougie.

*WESTERN FRONT: *The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 72: 121 B-17s and five YB-40 Flying Fortresses were dispatched to the Caen/Carpiquet Airfield and 64 B-17s were dispatched to the Abbevile/Drucat Airfield, both in France. 34 hit Caen at 0832 hours while 36 hit Abbeville at 0729-0735 hours. They claimed 17-7-6 Luftwaffe aircraft. One B-17 was lost after a single pass by Lt. Helmut Hoppe, _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 26. In a second raid, 101 B-17s were dispatched against Le Bourget Airfield, Paris with escort provided by 18 squadrons of RAF Spitfires and 8 squadrons of US P-47s but the mission was abandoned due to cloud cover.


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## Njaco (Jul 13, 2008)

*11 JULY 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Destroyers HMCS _'Iroquois'_, HMS _'Douglas' _along with frigates HMCS _'Moyala' _and _'Swale' _were escorting the troopships _'Duchess of York'_, '_California_' and _'Port Fairy' _from Plymouth to Freetown, South Africa when they were attacked by 3 German Focke Wulf 200 'Kondor' high-altitude bombers at about 2100 hrs 200 miles off of Vigo, Spain. The German bombing accuracy was excellent and both _'California' _and
_'Duchess of York' _were hit and burned furiously. The consorts evacuated both ships and the 2 damaged liners were sunk by gunfire and the convoy continued on to an unscheduled stop at Casablanca. Twenty-seven lives were lost in this incident. 680 survivors were rescued from _'Duchess of York' _by _'Iroquois'_. _'Duchess of York' _was the 2nd and last of the 4 CPR Duchess-class liners lost during the war. The 1st was _'Duchess of Atholl' _on 12 Oct 42; several other CPR liners were also lost.) She was a veteran of the evacuations from Norway and France and had traveled widely on hazardous routes. She was regarded as a lucky ship. During one of her 6 voyages to North Africa she had survived a hit by an unexploded bomb. The Duchess-class liners had been designed with a flat-bottomed hull for travelling up the St.Lawrence River, which gave them a significant roll. This characteristic trait caused them to be dubbed "The Drunken Duchesses". The 2 survivors, _'Duchess of Bedford' _and _'Duchess of Richmond'_, were renamed _'Empress of France' _and _'Empress of Canada' _after the war. The CPR lost 14 of its original 22 ships during WW II. _'Empress of Britain' _(42,348 tons) was the largest Allied passenger liner to be sunk and the biggest merchant ship loss of the war.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 7: The fight at Kursk approached its climax as the Germans redoubled their efforts to break Vatutin's lines south of Kursk. 48.Panzerkorps on the left (west) probed the Russian infantry and antitank formations making limited progress. On the right (east), Army Detachment Kempf was able to concentrate its armor and make a 12-kilometer drive north toward Prokorovka and forcing the Russians to abandon several previously formidable positions. During the evening, SS General Paul Hausser readied his divisions for an assault on Prokorovka. 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _ anchored the left flank of the corps while 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _ was in the center, assembled west of the town between a rail line and the Psel. 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _ moved into its attack zone on the corps' right flank, which was several kilometers south of Tetrevino and southwest of Prokorovka. 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _had crossed the river on pontoon bridges and reached the bridgehead. Katukov launched continuous attacks on the _Totenkopf _units on the north bank of the river. In the center, 2.SS Panzerkorps advanced toward Prokorovka. The 1st _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _SS Panzerdivision advanced up the road with 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _Panzerdivision on its right. The Russians decided to deploy the rest of the 5th Guards Tank Army to destroy the SS armored divisions. The advance came to a sudden stop as the 1st SS troopers ran into the elite and fresh 9th Airborne Division outside the town. The arrival of these Russian forces signaled the fact that the Russians were committing their armored reserves, and that from July 11 on the Germans would have to content with these. By July 11th, The 1st _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _SS Panzerdivision was down to about 100 tanks, assault guns, and tank destroyers (not including observation tanks). The division reported that there were "_heavy downpours which severely hampered combat operations_" and that the roads were "_in very poor shape_". At the German positions at Orel, the Russians counterattacked at the German's weakest point, in front of 2.Panzerarmee between Kzyn and Bolchow, heading for Karatschew. To be able to cope with the new danger, Model (now in command of both 9.Armee and 2.Panzerarmee) desperately needed reinforcements to patch up holes in his defensive lines. The transfer of units from '_Großdeutschland'_ Panzerdivision allowed more or less to control that sector. To the east and northeast of Orel, the Russians made relatively slow progress, but nevertheless they pressed very hard.

For his 34th victory, _Staffelkapitaen _Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 downed a Russian LaGG-5 in the afternoon. But the _Geschwader _lost another experte when Alfred Lehmann (20 victories) was killed in combat.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 2: As reinforcements came slowly ashore, the Axis forces in the American sector attempted to make a coordinated attack against the beaches. The Italian Livorno Division and the _'Herman Goering' _(HG) Panzer Division managed to make a reasonably coordinated attack in the Gela area. This attack was initially met by the small bands of General Gavin's paratroops along the Biazza Ridge. Vastly outgunned and outnumbered, the American paratroops beat back the HG tankers. In the center, the HG Panzer Division column was making for Gela. This attack was met by naval gunfire. The destroyer _'Beatty' _alone fired 800 rounds of high explosive into the advancing Germans. However, they continued on and were only stopped by the direct fire from the 1st Division's own artillery which was set up on the beaches south of Gela. On the left, Darby's Rangers were confronted with the Italian attack. This attack was broken up by fire from the cruiser _'Savannah' _(ordered up by Patton himself). Upon leaving the rangers, Patton said, _"...kill every one of those bastards." _

In the British sector, the only organized fighting force was a group of 15th Panzer Grenadiers (KG Schmalz). These few Germans had all they could handle in making a fighting withdraw in front of the British army. The British on the other hand were having a difficult time in dealing with all of the Italians surrendering to them and in securing Syracuse.

In the air, Ninth Air Force B-24s hit airfields at Vibo Valentia, Sicily and Reggio di Calabria, Italy and B-25s hit airfields at Trapani, Milo and Bo Rizzo, and areas between Sciacca and Enna, Sicily. P-40s escorted bombers and provided beach cover as invasion forces pushed inland. During the night, NASAF planes hit Milo and Sciacca Airfields and numerous tactical targets during the day, including town areas, vehicle convoys, bridges, trains and roads; NASAF B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed the Catania marshalling yard while B-26 Marauders hit Milo Airfield and Gerbini satellite airfields; and B-25s and P-38 Lightnings hit Sciacca Airfield and the town of Caltanissetta.


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## Njaco (Jul 13, 2008)

*12 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* A B-24 of the 1st Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), AAF Antisubmarine Command, based at Port Lyautey, French Morocco, sank _'U-506' _with 7 depth charges in the Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain. The U-boat was located by 10cm radar which the Germans could not detect. About 15 men were seen in the water after the boat broke in two and the B-24 crew dropped a liferaft and a smoke flare to assist the survivors.

Three Beaufighters attacked _'U-441'_. 10 men were killed and 13 more wounded, including most of the naval officers. The Flak boat was strafed by three British Beaufighter aircraft (248 Squadron RAF) in the Bay of Biscay. This action let to the abandonment of the Flak boats and all were reverted to their original configuration.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 8: As Army Detachment Kempf continued to make progress in their drive toward Prokorovka and 48.Panzerkorps struggled toward Odoain all eyes turned to the developments southwest of Prokorovka. The Germans started their attack at dawn. Simultaneously, the Soviets had launched their massed armor forward. The terrain in this area is gently rolling which reduced visibility to a few hundred yards. This resulted in extremely short engagement ranges, typically around 200 meters. This coupled with Vatutin's orders that his tankers should race their tanks to point blank range so they had a chance to penetrate the German tank's armor guaranteed massive carnage. At 08:30 am Rotmistrov gave the code-word 'Steel' and the 5th Guards Tank Army began its attack. Soon hundreds of Soviet tanks, carrying infantry, rolled out of Prokorovka in waves of T-34s and T-70s, straight at the startled Germans. The Soviet units that participated in the battle at Prokorovka were the 18th and 29th Tank Corps, along with a separate detachment under General Trufanov. These units combined were able to field about 421 tanks, assault guns, and tank destroyers. Only one panzerdivision, the 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _ fought this battle while the other two were on the flanks of the LSSAH (_Totenkopf _on the left, and largely across the Psel River, and _Das Reich_ on the right) and were fighting their own separate battles. The 2.SS Panzerkorps zone of battle was approximately 9 miles wide with the SS panzerdivisions fanned out. The corps had a total of 211 operational tanks - 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _ had 94 tanks, 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _ had only 56 and 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _ possessed just 61. Only 15 Pkfw Mk VI 'Tiger' tanks were still in action and there were no SS Panthers available. The 3 SS divisions attacked Prokorovka shoulder to shoulder, jammed into terrain between Psel and the railroad. The only formation to make headway for the Germans was the 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _on their left. They were able to break through the screening force and advanced several kilometers on one side west side of the Psel River. Vatutin threw fresh formations in front of the onrushing enemy, but they were stopped only when attacks on their left flank forced them to react in that direction. On the other side of the river, 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _was fighting for its life. Trapped between the Psel River and a railroad embankment to the east, the division could not maneuver and became entangled in a deadly short range duel with the Soviet armor. The carnage was catastrophic as the two behemoths ground themselves to dust. A Soviet attack by the 181st Tank Regiment was defeated by German tanks, one of which, the 13th (Heavy) Company of the 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _, was commanded by 2dLt Michael Wittmann. None of the 'Tigers' were lost but the 181st Tank Regiment was annihilated. On the left, 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _became entangled with 2nd Guard Tank Corps. Like their comrades to the west, these two formations also devoured one another in the fires of battle. The fighting came to an end as tremendous thunderstorms moved into the area. The bloody ground was further soaked by the rain turning the battlefield into a massive quagmire. Both sides had huge losses. Half of the tanks which started the day's fight were now burning wrecks. The Soviet charge, straight at the German panzers over open ground, was suicidal. The 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _ permanently lost a grand total of 7 AFVs. A further 25 were damaged and sent to repair shops, only 1 of which was a 'Tiger'. The Soviets, on the other hand, permanently lost at least 134 AFVs with a further 125 temporarily lost due to damage. Total tank losses due to combat at Prokorovka come out to 32 German against 259 Soviet. At the end of the day Hitler ordered the Kursk battle be discontinued. The north face had degenerated into static warfare before the Germans even got through all the defensive lines. On the south face, the Germans enjoyed some forward progress, but at a tremendous cost. Loses in AFVs, vehicles, and men were high enough to soak up a significant portion of the offensive power of the German armored divisions. The salient that the armored units pushed forward could not be adequately protected due to a lack of infantry divisions. Thus, the German offensive was contained and stalled. Further to the north opposite Orel, the Bryansk and West Fronts began a massive offensive. This coupled with the invasion at Sicily forced the Germans to call an end to the slaughter at Kursk. For the first time in the war, a deliberate and thoroughly planned German offensive had failed to achieve even an operational, let alone a strategic breakthrough.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 3: The bulk of the 15.Panzerdivision arrived on the left (west) flank of the American sector and began applying pressure against the 3rd Infantry Division. By this time Combat Command A of the 2nd Armored Division (CCA/2 Armored) had arrived to support the 3rd. The HG Panzerdivision was withdrawing but still in contact with the US 1st and 45th Divisions. In the British sector, the 8th Army continued to advance nearly unopposed as the regimental kampfgruppe (KG Schmalz) from the 15th Panzer Grenadiers remained the only organized resistance. The Italian army in Sicily continued to disintegrate. British and US forces joined up at Ragusa, having captured 6 airfields, the port of Syracuse and 10 other towns.

In Sicily during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons pounded Trapani, Marsala, Mazara del Vallo, and Montecorvino-Rovello Airfield and the Northwest African Air Force Troop Carrier Command dropped paratroops in front of the forward lines in the battle area. More than 20 C-47 Skytrains failed to return from the mission. During the following day, B-17 Flying Fortresses hit Messina railroad bridges, medium and light bombers hit Gerbini satellite fields, Agrigento, Canicatti, and Milo Airfield. Fighters hit trucks, trains, troops, tanks, and other targets of opportunity during sweeps over Sicily. Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters and light bombers hit Milo Airfield, Sicilian beaches, Termini harbor and town, Ninfa rail junction, several trains, numerous vehicles, and communications targets throughout Sicily. Northwest African Coastal Air Force aircraft fly convoy escort and carried out shipping strikes in Tyrrhenian Sea and west of Corsica and Sardinia.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s attacked the harbor, ferry slip, and marshalling yard at Reggio di Calabria, and the ferry slip and railroad yards at Villa San Giovanni. Royal Air Force heavy bombers bombed Reggio di Calabria Airfield.
_
Gruppenkommandeur _Siegfried Freytag of II./JG 77 was shot down over Gela by US P-38s. He bailed out successfully but landed with wounds that put him out of action for several months.
_
'U-409' _ was sunk in the Mediterranean NE of Algiers, by depth charges from destroyer HMS _'Inconstant'_. _'U-561' _ was sunk in the Straits of Messina, by torpedoes from HM MTB 81.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 295 Lancasters of 1, 5 and 8 Groups attacked Turin, 13 aircraft lost. The main weight of this raid fell just north of the centre of Turin in clear weather conditions. The only report obtainable from Italy states that 792 people were killed and 914 injured. This was Turin's highest number of air raid fatalities during the 10 raids made on the city by Bomber Command during the war. Among the RAF casualties on this night was Wing Commander J. D. Nettleton, commander of 44(Rhodesia) Squadron, who had won the Victoria Cross for the low level daylight raid on Augsburg in April 1942. Nettleton's Lancaster was shot down by a German night fighter over the Channel while returning from Turin. He and his crew all died and their names are on the Runnymede Memorial.

22 Wellingtons went minelaying off Brest, Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 14, 2008)

*13 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-487' _was sunk in the central Atlantic by five Avenger and Wildcat aircraft of the American escort carrier USS _'Core' _. 31 dead and 33 survivors. One Wildcat was shot down in the action. The milk cow was attacked by carrier aircraft (VC-13 USN) from USS _'Core' _southwest of the Azores after a planned refueling was reported by ULTRA. An Avenger/Wildcat team, piloted by Lt R.P. Williams and Lt(jg) E.H. Steiger, completely surprised _'U-487' _as some crewmen were seen sun-bathing on deck and no AA fire was experienced during the first attack run. Four depth charges straddled the boat, which stopped in a large oil patch. The Wildcat attempted a second strafing run, but was hit by AA fire and crashed off the port bow, killing the pilot. Two other Wildcats, piloted by LtCdr C.W. Brewer and Lt J.R. Brownstein, arrived at the scene and their strafing attacks made it possible for a second Avenger (Lt(jg) J.F. Schoby) to place four depth charges direct on target. Its explosions lifted _'U-487' _out of the water, broke her back and caused it to sink within a few seconds. 33 survivors were later rescued by USS _'Barker'_.
_
'U-607' _was sunk in the Bay of Biscay NW of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from an RAF 228 Sqn Sunderland.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 9: German offensive operations at Kursk come to an end as one last attempt was made to break the Soviet lines on the southern face of the bulge. It failed. The fighting continued around Prochorovka for several more days. 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _continued to push slowly eastward in the area south of the town. Hitler decided to cancel Unternehmen 'Zitadel'. Manstein argued that he should be allowed to finish off the two Soviet tank armies. He had unused reserves, consisting of three experienced panzer divisions of XXIV Panzer Corps, in position for quick commitment. That corps could have been used to attack the Fifth Guards Tank Army in its flank, to break out from the Psel bridgehead or to cross the Psel east of Prochorovka. All of the available Soviet armor in the south was committed and could not be withdrawn without causing a collapse of the Soviet defenses. Manstein correctly realized that he had the opportunity to destroy the Soviet operational and strategic armor in the Prochorovka area. Hitler suspended operations and the vaunted Wehrmacht would never attempt a major strategic offensive on the Russian front again. 4.Panzerarmee reported that the 2.SS Panzerkorps had 163 operational tanks, a net loss of only 48 tanks. The new tanks had turned out a very disappointing show with most of the Mk V Panthers breaking down on the first day due to problems with the complex electrical cooling systems (from a total of 200 only forty were in running order at the end of the first day). The Elefant tanks although a formidable machine with their 88mm gun had also proved a disappointment with Russian infantry simply attacking the 73 ton monsters with satchel charges and Molotov cocktails when they were separated from the infantry with relative ease due to the absence of a hull machine gun as a secondary defenses. Although German losses were quite high, Russian losses were higher with the 6th Guards Army (which had borne the brunt of the assault) suffering very high losses and by the 11th July the battle hung in the balance. Meanwhile, the Soviet offensive opposite Orel, north of Kursk continued to make good progress against dogged German resistance.

The crews of III./JG 54 were on the move again when they left the airbase at Ugrin and settled at the airfield near Orel. But not before they lost Fw. Peter Bremer (40 victories) of 1./JG 54 who was shot down and taken prisoner by the Russians.

JG 51 lost 2 pilots during the Kursk battle. Oblt. Albert Walter (37 kills) of the Stabstaffel JG 51 was listed as missing in action southeast of Uljanowo as was Oblt. Alfred Messerschmidt (8 kills).

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 4: British forces continued to advance in Sicily capturing Autusta and Raqusa. The 'Herman Goring' Division was beginning to shift position to face the advancing British 51st Infantry Division, 23rd Armored Brigade and Canadian 1st Infantry Division (Harpoon Force) near Vizzini, while the British 8th Corps opened attacks toward Catania and Lentini. The leading troops were held up by an enemy rearguard at Lentini. To speed up the advance, landings were made to capture the bridges to the north of the town. No 3 Commando landed at Agnone and prevented the destruction of the Ponte del Malati while the 1st Parachute Brigade and 151 Brigade captured the Primasole Bridge over the Simeto giving the British forces a route to the plain of Catania. These gains were made at considerable cost because of resistance from the Hermann Goring Division. Firmly established on the slopes of Mount Etna the Germans held up the British advance. The plain with the Gerbini airfields was in dispute for almost three weeks.

Augusta, Sicily was captured by the British 5th Division.

The Allied landings on Sicily forced all the Luftwaffe units except II./JG 51 to move to make-shift airfields in northeastern Sicily. Constant Allied bombings on the remaining airfields turned them into crater-filled fields and rendered them useless for the German fighters and bombers.

In the air during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons hit Caltanissetta, Gerbini Airfield, and Enna. During the day, B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-25 Mitchells, B-26 Marauders, and fighters attacked Enna, Milo Airfield, Carcitella landing ground, Randazzo, and targets of opportunity while Ninth Air Force B-24s hit the airfield at Vibo Valentia. Northwest African Tactical Air Force aircraft hit truck convoys, trains, railway stations, troops, and numerous targets of opportunity over wide areas in Sicily. Ninth Air Force B-25s attacked the Leonforte road and harbor at Termini while P-40s patrol the Licata area. Because of the coastal terrain at Sicily, it was possible for enemy planes to sneak in over the surrounding hills and attack before anyone knew they were coming. In such an attack, two Stuka dive-bombers hit the Avola anchorage before the alarm could be given. The 'Will _Rogers'_, which had just arrived, got in a few bursts of 20-millimeter fire, as did some other ships, but the planes were gone within a minute. One plane put two bombs into a hold full of ammunition on the _'Timothy Pickering'_, a US Liberty ship which had arrived with the _'Will Rogers' _and still had most of her troops aboard. The _'Pickering' _vanished in a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke and fire that towered a thousand feet into the air. Some of the burning wreckage hit a nearby tanker, which also blew up, and bits of that ship killed several men on the _'O. Henry'_. Of 192 men aboard the _'Pickering'_, the only survivors were 23 men blown overboard in the initial explosion.

*GERMANY:* 374 RAF aircraft - 214 Halifaxes, 76 Wellingtons, 55 Stirlings, 18 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos were ordered to Aachen. A strong tail wind brought the first waves of the Main Force into the target area before Zero Hour with the result that, when the first Pathfinder markers were released, an unusually large number of aircraft bombed in the first minutes of the raid. The visibility was good and large areas of Aachen appeared to burst into flame at once. In a report from Aachen, _'A Terrorangriff _[Terrorattack] _of the most severe scale was delivered_.' 20 aircraft - 15 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters, 2 Wellingtons, 1 Stirling - were lost. 2,927 individual buildings were destroyed. These contained 16,828 flats/apartments and there was the familiar list of public and cultural buildings hit. Among those classed as severely damaged were the cathedral, the Rathaus, the town theatre, the police headquarters, the local prison, the main post office, two infantry barracks and an army food depot and 8 large industrial premises including an aero-engine factory, a rubber factory, a tyre factory and a wagon works. 294 people were killed and 745 injured and 28,500 people appear to have fled the town and were still absent when new ration cards were issued nearly 7 weeks later. The Fw 190s of 1./SAGr 128 and 8./JG 2 were scrambled from their bases near Brest and soon they came across the British bombers. This was 1./SAGr 128's most successful day, as the Fw 190 pilots shot down 5 of the bombers. Oblt. Heinz Wurm made his first claim at 06:27 hours followed 3 minutes later by 8./JG 2's Ofw. Freidrich May for his 26th victory. Minutes later, bombers were claimed by Uffz. Schuler and Gefr. Hess from 8./JG 2 and Ofw. Hans Gryz and Ofw. Freidrich Jost of 1./SAGr 128 followed by Oblt. Wurm, who downed his 3d bomber of the morning. W/Cdr J. D. Nettleton VC was flying a Lancaster I with RAF No. 44 Sqdrn on this raid. The Augsburg Raid veteran was believed to have been shot down by a night-fighter off the Brest peninsula but possibly by the Fw 190s.

2 Oboe Mosquitoes carried out a diversion for the Aachen raid by dropping target indicators over Cologne.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* 3 German aircraft were brought down during a night attack on Hull. A Dornier Do 217K crashed in flames into the sea after an attack by a Beaufighter of RAF No. 604 Squadron (15 miles E of Spurn Head). Two of the crew were listed as missing and two were taken prisoner. Next was a Dornier Do 217M also shot down into the sea off Spurn Head by a Beaufighter of RAF No. 604 Squadron, all of the crew were listed as missing, but the body of one of them was later, on the 26th, recovered from the sea and buried at Grimsby. The 3d was a Dornier Do 217E shot down by AA fire - it crashed at Long Riston, near Hull. The crew were all killed. A new German aircraft preceded the raid on Hull, it closely resembled the RAF's Mosquito and was called the Hornisse (Hornet) it was the Messerschmitt 410. Operating at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000' enemy aircraft were attempting to bomb nearby nightfighter airfields but met with little success. However in the actual raid on Hull, fifty fires were started and twenty-six people were killed. F/L Bunting of RAF No. 85 Sqdrn, flying a Mosquito, shot down a Me 410 from V./KG 2. It was the first Me 410 to be destroyed over Britain.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 15, 2008)

*14 July 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Unternehmen 'Zitadel' Day 10: The Soviet offensive on the Orel salient expanded as the Voronezh Front struck back at the German 4.Panzerarmee and Army Detachment Kempf south of Kursk. 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _continued to push slowly eastward in the area south of Prochorovka. That advance enabled 2.SS Panzerkorps to link up with the SS divsion and encircle several Soviet rifle divisions south of Prochorovka. 3rd SS _'Totenkopf' _eventually reached the Kartachevka/Prochorovka road and the division took several tactically important hills on the north edge of its perimeter as well.

*GERMANY*: 8 Mosquitoes carried out a nuisance raid on Berlin. 1 aircraft crashed into the sea.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 5: One of the most bizarre battles in the war was fought as German and British paratroops made several combat drops in the same area within hours of one another near the Primrose Bridge in Sicily. The Primrose Bridge crossed a 400-foot gorge 7 miles south of Catania. It was the key to Montgomery's capture of the Catania plain. The German 3rd Parachute Regiment (which had dropped July 12) was reinforced by the drop of the 1st Para-MG battalion the previous day defended the area. In the early morning hours of 14th, the British 1st Parachute Brigade landed south of the bridge and secured it. The Germans struck the disorganized British at first light. The Brits were hard pressed until fire from the cruiser HMS _'Newfoundland' _delivered quick and accurate 6lb gun rounds in support. The Germans launched heavier attacks, supported by artillery in the afternoon. Communications with the _'Newfoundland' _broke down leaving the Brits without support. They were forced to abandon the bridge late in the day. Meanwhile, British armor had been fighting hard to reach the paratroops. By early evening they had made contact with the British paratroops well south of the bridge. The Germans withdrew to the north bank anticipating a British night attack, but it never developed. The Germans were reinforced during the night, by yet another airborne drop (the final drop into the area came on July 17th when the German 4th Parachute Regiment was landed) and could declare victory at the Primrose Bridge. In other fighting on Sicily, American forces secured the Biscari airfield and Niscemi while British forces captured Vizzini. The American capture of Biscari was marred by two incidents. In one, Captain John T. Compton was charged with killing 36 POWs in his charge. He claimed to be following orders. Both the investigating officer and the Judge Advocate declared that Comptons's actions were unlawful but he was acquitted in a court-marshal. In the second incident, Sergeant West was charged with killing POWs under his charge. He was found guilty, stripped of rank and sentenced to life in prison. This led to charges of uneven justice for officers and NCOs. Ultimately, West was released from prison as a private. Compton was transferred to another regiment and died a year later fighting in Italy.

In the air during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons bombed Palermo and Messina, and C-47 Skytrains dropped paratroops in advance of Allied troops to secure the bridge at Primosole. During the day, RAF heavy bombers and USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit railroad, marshalling yard, harbor, and oil storage facilities at Messina; B-25 Mitchells hit the Enna and Palermo areas; and P-40s patrol Licata and attack the Lentini area. Northwest African Tactical Air Force aircraft hit ammo dumps, trains, rail junctions, bridges, vehicle convoys, and other targets of opportunity in the Sicilian countryside; B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-26 Marauders, B-25s, and fighters hit Naples, Italy and Messina, Enna, Marsala, and Randazzo, and numerous targets of opportunity in Sicily.

Ofw. Johann Pichler of 7./JG 77 was forced to bail out of his Bf 109G-6 "Weiss 3" after being shot down by Spitfires during strafing on Allied troops. He hit the rudder while jumping clear and laned hard on the ground. Evacuated from Sicily on a hospital ship under cover of darkness, Pichler's injuries were severe enough to keep him off operations until January 1944 when he rejoined III./JG 77 in Rumania defending the Ploesti oil refinery.

*WESTERN FRONT: *USAAF VIII Bomber Command flew Mission Number 73 attacking three targets in France: 111 B-17s and 5 YB-40s were dispatched against the aircraft works at Villacoublay, France; 101 hit the target at 0811-0815 hours and claimed 15-7-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; three B-17s were lost. 64 B-17s were dispatched against Glisy Airfield at Amiens; 53 hit the target at 0742 hours and claimed 9-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; a B-17 was lost. 84 B-17s were dispatched against LeBourget Airfield, Paris; 52 hit the target at 0750-0820 hours and claimed 41-27-32 Luftwaffe aircraft; four B-17s were lost. Escort was provided by the US 4th FG and 78th FG among others. Four bombers were destroyed over Le Bourget by III./JG 2 including one that was credited to the _Gruppenkommandeur _Obstlt. Egon Mayer. The _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 26, Major 'Wutz' Galland, claimed 3 P-47s destroyed. Another victor was Oblt. George-Peter Eder, _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 2 who reported;


> "_We were doing about 450kmh now and were coming down slightly, aiming for the noses of the B-17s. There were about 200 of us attacking the 200 bombers but there was also fighter escort above them. We were going for the bombers. When we made our move, the P-47s began to dive on us and it was a race to get to the bombers before being intercepted. I was already close and about 600 ft above and coming straight on; I opened fire with the 20s at 500 yards. At 300 yards I opened fire with the 30s. It was a short burst, maybe 10 shells from each cannon, but I saw the bomber explode and begin to burn. I flashed over him at about 50 ft and then did a chandelle. When I had turned around I was about 1,000 ft above and behind them and was suddenly mixed in with American fighters._
> ...._Straight in front was a Thunderbolt...as I completed the turn and I opened fire on him immediately and hit his propwash. My fire was so heavy his left wing came off almost at once and I watched him go down....We flew south for a few seconds, preparing for another strike at the bombers and then, coming from above, I saw them. I called a warning; 'Indianer uber uns!', and as they came in behind us we banked hard left. There were 10 P-47s and 4 of us and we were all turning as hrad as we could, as in a Lufbery. I was able to turn tighter and was gaining. I pulled within 80 yards of the P-47 ahead of me and opened fire. I hit him quickly and two of the others got one each. so that in a minute and a half 3 of the P-47s went down...."_


An Fw 190A-5 of 1./SAGr 128 was destroyed by bombs during the raid on Le Bourget airfield. The Luftwaffe lost Oblt. Gunther Behrendt (5 kills) from 11./JG 2.

A wounded Duxford pilot, 2nd Lt. A V DeGenaro of the US 82nd, risked drowning rather than let his plane crash into a town and earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest US award for valour. While escorting bombers which attacked an airfield at Amiens, Lt. DeGenaro destroyed two FW190s and damaged another. During combat, however, he was severely injured in both hands, his right knee and both ankles. Because of his injuries, he had to fly his Thunderbolt with his forearms. His instruments were shot out, his right aileron was gone, his right wing was badly shot up, and his tail surfaces were damaged. Although barely able to manoeuvre the plane, he found the English Channel and headed across, ducking into low clouds to evade three pursuing FW190s which followed him almost to the British coast. He had planned on making a crash landing, but after crossing the coast he discovered his safety belt was unfastened (he had unhooked it in combat) and was unable to fasten it again because of his wounds. Realizing that baling out over land would mean his aircraft would crash into a coastal town, he headed out to sea again, baling out in view of a fishing boat which then rescued him.


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## Njaco (Jul 15, 2008)

*15 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The SS _'Twickenham' _was damaged by _'U-135'_. _'U-135' _was then sunk in the Atlantic, by sloop HMS _'Rochester' _and corvettes HMS _'Mignonette' _and _'Balsam' _and a USN VP-92 Catalina.

Two German submarines were sunk by US Navy aircraft. - _'U-759' _was sunk in the Caribbean Sea, south of Haiti, by depth charges from a PBM-3C Mariner of Patrol Squadron Thirty Two (VP-32) based at NAS Guantanamo, Cuba. _'U-509' _was sunk in the mid-Atlantic north-west of Madeira, Portugal, by aerial (Fido) torpedoes from a TBF Avenger of Composite Squadron Twenty Nine (VC-29) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Santee' _(CVE-29).
The unescorted _'Harmonic' _was torpedoed by _'U-172' _620 miles east of Rio de Janeiro. The vessel was sunk by a coup de grâce at 2116. One crewmember was lost. The master, 38 crewmembers and six gunners were picked up on 22 July by the Portuguese merchantman _'Inhambane' _and landed at Bahia, Brazil two days later.

The unescorted _'Empire Lake' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-181' _about 240 miles east of Madagascar. The master, 24 crewmembers and six gunners were lost. Five crewmembers and two gunners landed at Farafangana, Madagascar.

*EASTERN FRONT: *Heavy fighting continued on the Russian front as the Soviet Central Front (General Rokossovsky) joins in the offensive toward Orel, attacking from his positions north of Kursk. To the south 4.Panzerarmee relinquished all the ground it captured during the recent offensive and returned to their start line from two weeks ago.

A pair of Soviet LaGG-5s destroyed brought 7./JG 52's Lt. Erich Hartmann's score to 36 kills.

*GERMANY:* 6 Mosquitoes flew on a nuisance raid to Munich, only 2 aircraft reached the target but no aircraft were lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 6: In Sicily, Patton's 7th Army, was relegated to a minor roll of protecting Montgomery's left flank. Stung by the Alexander's decision to give Bradley's 2nd Corps front to Montgomery, Patton decided to drive west to Polermo with half his army while 2nd Corps was stuck advancing north through the trackless mountains.

The Bf 109s of 8./JG 27, led by their _Staffelkapitaen _Oblt. Wolf Ettel, flew to Brindisi in Italy to reinforce the fighters defending Sicily.

In Sicily during the night NATAF light and medium bombers bombed Palermo, and flew armored reconnaissance, attacking roads and convoys, over extensive areas of Sicily. During the day, Ninth Air Force B-25s bombed Palermo, Cape Gallo, Salina Island, and Cape Zifferano; and P-40s patrolled over the Licata area while NASAF medium bombers bombed Vibo Valentia, and fighters flew numerous strafing and bombing missions against trains, road junctions, radar installations, truck convoys, railway stations, and targets of opportunity throughout Sicily. Northwest African Coastal Air Force airplanes flew sea patrols, reconnaissance, convoy escort, and hit shipping off the west coast of Corsica and east coast of Sardinia.

During the night, Wellingtons of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) hit airfields and docks at Naples; during the day NASAF heavy bombers hit Villa San Giovanni and USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s struck the main airfield and two satellite fields at Foggia.

The Italian (transport) submarine _'Remo' _was torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of Taranto by submarine HMS _'United'_.

RAF No. 617 Squadron carried out its first operation since the Dams Raid in May. It had been decided to keep the squadron in being and to use it for independent precision raids on small targets. It remained in 5 Group and most of its replacement crews came from the squadrons of that group. The targets on this night were two electrical transformer stations in Northern Italy - one near Bologna and the other near Genoa. The intention was to disrupt the supply of electricity to the railways carrying German troops and supplies to the battle front in Sicily. 12 Lancasters of 617 Squadron were joined by 12 further 5 Group Lancasters for these attacks which were not successful. No flares or markers were carried and the targets were partially hidden by mist. After bombing the Lancasters flew on to North Africa. 2 Lancasters of the supporting force were lost.

*NORTH AMERICA: *The USN establishes new designations for aircraft carriers. The 10,000 ton class aircraft carriers built on light cruiser hulls, formerly designated aircraft carriers (CVs), are redesignated light aircraft carriers (CVLs); auxiliary aircraft carriers (ACVs), classified as auxiliary vessels, are redesignated escort aircraft carriers (CVEs) in the combatant category; and a new category, Aircraft Carriers, Large (CVB) is established for the Midway Class carriers.

*UNITED KINGDOM: *Another Me 410 from V./KG 2 was shot down by a Mosquito XII from RAF No. 85 Sqdrn flying a night interception patrol.

*WESTERN FRONT: *165 Halifaxes went to attack the Peugeot motor factory in the Montbeliard suburb of the French town of Sochaux, near the Swiss border, 5 aircraft were lost. The outcome of this raid illustrates again the difficulties of hitting relatively small targets in the occupied countries and the danger to surrounding civilians. The night was clear, the target was only lightly defended and the attack altitude was 6,000 to 10,000 feet but the centre of the group of markers dropped by the Pathfinder crews of 35 Squadron was 700 yards beyond the factory. The local report said that approximately 30 bombs fell in the factory but 600 fell in the town. 123 civilians were killed and 336 injured. The factory was classed as 5% damaged and the production was normal immediately after the raid.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 16, 2008)

*16 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron Thirteen (VC-13) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Core' _(CVE-13) sank German submarine _'U-67' _in the Sargasso Sea, by depth charges. Only 3 of the 51 submariners survived. 

The unescorted _'Richard Caswell' _was hit by one torpedo from _'U-513' _about 150 miles SE of Florianopolis, Brazil. The torpedo struck on the starboard side at the after end of the engine room, destroying the engines and killing three men on watch below. Most survivors among the eight officers, 34 crewmen, 24 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4-in and nine 20-mm guns) and two passengers on board abandoned ship in three lifeboats and two rafts. The master and a small party stayed on board but ten minutes after the hit a second torpedo struck at the forward end of the engine room. The explosion blew a few men over the side and caused extensive damage to the amidships deck and the superstructure. Just as the ship broke in two and sank after about 15 minutes, the U-boat surfaced and questioned the survivors. The commander told the men that he had lived in Brooklyn for seven years and asked how the Dodgers were doing; the Germans gave them cigarettes and then left the area. In all, the master, two officers and six crewmen were lost. The 26 survivors in two of the boats were picked up on 19 July by the Argentine steam merchant _'Mexico' _and landed two days later at Rio Grande, Brazil. On 22 July the 16 survivors in the third lifeboat made landfall at Barra Valha, Brazil. The 18 survivors on the rafts were picked up by seaplane tender USS _'Barnegat' _on 22 July and landed three days later at Rio de Janeiro. 

'U-306' shadowed Convoy SL-133 and reported two days later four ships of 27,000 tons sunk and one other ship of 5,000 tons probably sunk. The U-boat attacked two times; the first attack was carried out at 0352, firing five single torpedoes. Trotha reported one ship sunk, one probably sunk and three torpedoes missed due to great distance. In fact, only the _'Kaipara' _was torpedoed and damaged at this time. At 0801, the U-boat fired two spreads of two torpedoes and two minutes later the stern torpedo. _'U-306' _observed three hits and could not see the targets anymore, but none of the reported hits were confirmed by Allied reports.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Manstien's panzers began to give ground on the southern edge of the Kursk bulge as the Soviet Voronezh Front counter-attacks developed into general offensive. The Soviet offensive was slowed by counterattacks of German armoured units. Farther south, the Soviet Southwest Front (Malinovsky) began attacks around Voroshilovgrad.

Another pair of LaGG-5s fell under the guns of 7./JG 52's Lt. Erich Hartmann during 2 separate missions.

*GERMANY*: 6 Mosquitoes bombed Munich without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 7: Allied forces continued to advance in Sicily. The US 3rd Infantry Division was engaged in heavy fighting at Agrigento and Porto Empedocle. The British 50th Infantry Division established a bridgehead at the Primrose Bridge across the Simeto River and the Canadian 1st Infantry Division captured Caltagirone and moved on toward Piazza Armerina.

During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons bombed the dock, marshalling yards, and airfields at Vibo Valentia, Sicily and Crotone, Reggio di Calabria, and Villa San Giovanni, while Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light and medium bombers carried out numerous missions against Randazzo, Sicily and roads in Sicily.

During the day, USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators attacked Bari Airfield. Axis fighters attacked persistently and three B-24s are shot down. They claim 11 fighters destroyed in combat. The newly arrived Bf 109s of 8./JG 27 joined with the fighters of II./JG 27 in attacking the B-24s in their first mission. 9 Allied bombers were claimed shot down by the Gruppe with credit for 2 aircraft each going to Oblt. Wolf Ettel and Hptm. Werner Schroer.

B-25 Mitchells bombed Randazzo and Valguarnera, Sicily while RAF heavy bombers hit Reggio di Calabria Airfield.

18 Lancasters of RAF 5 Group attempted raids on two more transformer stations in Northern Italy. 7 aircraft bombed the Cislago station accurately but the second target was not located and an alternative target was bombed instead. 1 Lancaster was lost.

Northwest of Taranto, Oblt. Franz Daspelgruber (46 kills) of V./JG 3 was listed as missing in action in his Bf 109G-6.

In a statement by Churchill and Roosevelt to the people of Italy, the two leaders said,


> _"The sole hope for Italy's survival lies in honorable capitulation to the overwhelming, power of the military forces of the United Nations. If you continue to tolerate the Fascist regime, which serves the evil power of the Nazis, you must suffer the consequences of your own choice . . . we are determined to destroy the false leaders and their doctrines which have brought Italy to her present position."_



Major Heinz Schumann took over command of SKG 10 from acting 
_Geschwaderkommodore _Major Helmut Viedebannt. Hptm. Gotz Baumann was promoted _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./SKG 10, replacing Major Schumann.

Light cruiser HMS _'Cleopatra' _was torpedoed and heavily damaged off Sicily by Italian submarine _'Dandolo'_. She was patched up at Malta and left for the United States for permanent repairs in October 1943. Their repairs were completed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in November 1944.

*WESTERN FRONT:* USAAF's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission Number 1. Sixteen B-26B Marauders were dispatched against the marshalling yard at Abbeville, France; 14 hit the target at 2000 hours without loss. With this mission, the VIII Air Support Command began combat operations, having acquired the 332d, 323d, 386th and 387th Bombardment Groups (Medium).


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## Njaco (Jul 16, 2008)

*17 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *The unescorted _'City of Canton' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-178' _NE of Beira. Eight crewmembers were lost. The second officer was taken prisoner by _'U-178'_. The master and 74 crewmembers were picked up by the Free French cruiser _'Suffren' _and landed at Durban. 19 crewmembers were picked up by the Portuguese merchantman _'Luabo' _and landed at Mozambique.

*EASTERN FRONT:* On the night of July 17-18, the 2.SS Panzerkorps withdrew from its positions around Prochorovka to the partly prepared Hagen line at the base of the salient. Thus, the battle for Prochorovka ended, not because of German tank losses (Hausser had over 200 operational tanks on July 17) but because Hitler lacked the will to continue the offensive. South of Kursk, the German remnants of the 4.Panzerarmee continued their fighting withdraw. The Soviet Southwest Front (commanded by General Malinovsky) joined the attacks hitting German positions around Voroshilovgrad. To the north, Central Front's attacks toward Orel were temporarily checked as German tanks counterattacked the spearheads.

*GERMANY:* B-17s of the VIII Bomber Command flew Mission Number 74. The two primary targets were the rail industry at Hannover, Germany and the aviation industry at Hamburg, Germany. 205 B-17s and 2 YB-40s were dispatched against Hannover and 125 B-17s were dispatched against Hamburg. Both missions were recalled due to weather but the bombers hit three targets; 33 hit targets of opportunity, 1 hit a convoy and 21 attempt to bomb the Fokker plant at Amsterdam, The Netherlands which was obscured by clouds. The target was missed and 150 civilians were killed. 2 B-17s were lost. B-26Bs of the VIII Air Support Command flew Mission Number 2, a diversion to the Cayeux, France area.

Five Bf 109T-2s of_ Jasta Helgoland_ joined JG 11 in mounting defensive sorties. Uffz. Erich Ulmschneider was one of the Jasta pilots airbourne that day;


> _"We already had a hunch that things were going to get unpleasant from early that morning, having heard the radio announce, 'strong enemy concentrations forming up over southern England.' At around 10:40am cockpit readiness was ordered and we were scrambled at 11:00 am._ _Airbourne with 5 'Tonis'; one rotte of 2 machines led by Lt. Hondt with me as katschmareck and a kette of 3 led by Fw. Erich Carius, we headed out on course 320 degrees. The 'Amis' were flying a northern route from Helgoland to Wilhelmshaven. Having reached an altitude of 6000 meters, we spotted a group of 20 - 25 B-17s and headed towards them. We drew alongside them maintaining a distance of 1500 meters and then overtook them to be able to turn back into position for a frontal attack. As we could fly no faster than 420kmh, it took us a long time to pull some 3 km ahead of the bomber formation. After sweeping around in a banked curve to port, Lt. Hondt closed on the bombers head-on at full throttle, while Fw. Carius and 2 other machines were still trying to take a convienant position for an attack. So there were only 2 of us to lead an attack against 30 Boeings. They were able to concentrate their defensive fire on us beautifully. I was overcome with a sort of 'hunting fever' as I had already eased a B-17 into my gun sight and we were still 1000 meters away from each other. Time to open fire. I fired a burst from my MGs and was about to squeeze the firing button of my 2 wing-mounted cannon when something exploded very close to me. I felt enormous air pressure pinning me back into my seat; I could no longer see a thing. While running in for the attack I had pushed up my goggles, protection against shrapnel, to get a better view. The Amis had hit my reinforced windshield and numerous splinters of glass had lashed into my face and eyes. I was expecting to collide with the 4-engined bombers, but nothing happened. I managed to see out of the corner of one eye and concluded that the tracers had zipped past me from the rear - hence almost certainly saving me from colliding with the Amis! When my tears cleared my vision a little, I glanced all around - no sign of either Boeings or my comrades. So, I turned onto a southerly course, which would bring me over the North Sea coastline. The engine was running smoothly and I was able to calm myself down a little myself. This is how my first encounter with a Boeing ended....a life or death experience." _



*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 8: On Sicily, American forces capture Agrigento and Porto Empedocle. On the ground in Sicily, the US 45th and 1st Infantry Divisions crossed the Salso River south and east of Caltanissetta. The British 30 Corps expanded the Simeto River bridgehead and drove toward Catania in the coastal sector while 51 Division crossed the Simeto River and reached to within 10 miles (16 km) of Paterno. While the rough terrain and determined German resistance were slowing progress by both armies, a serious rift between the two generals was causing concern in the Allied camp. The fiery Patton had agreed only reluctantly that his army should act as a "shield" to Montgomery, who had planned a fast thrust along the east coast. When the Eighth Army found itself stalled as it neared Catania, a sudden switch of plans by Montgomery - aiming to attack on the west side of Mount Etna - found his men fighting in the same area as the Americans at Vizzini. It was then that Patton blew up. He flew to protest to General Sir Harold Alexander, the commander-in-chief. The urbane "Alex" was startled at Patton's fury - and gave the American his head.

In the air during the night and the following day Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters, light and medium bombers, hit Catania, Paterno, the Riposto railroad station, and targets of opportunity (vehicles, tanks, trains, guns). Also during the day, Ninth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit Catania and the rail yards and roads at Paterno and P-40s flew escort to Gela and Comiso. The Naples marshalling yard was hit by about 80 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s and about 200+ Northwest African Air Force B-25s, B-26s, and B-17s. The B-24s faced fierce fighter opposition and a B-24 was shot down; B-24 gunners claimed 23 fighters destroyed. RAF heavy bombers also hit Reggio di Calabria.

During a low-level attack near Catania 4 Bf 109s of 8./JG 27 were shot down including the _Staffelkapitaen _Oblt. Wolf Ettel (124 kills) who was hit by AA fire and killed.

A German Counterinsurgency action took place in the town of Trilofo on the outskirts of Katerini, Greece. Commandant Benjamin Locher of the GeheimFeldPolizei (Secret Field Police) has everyone gathered in the square and has captured Costas Papazoglou who was caught with papers in his home connecting him to ELAS (the resistance) the Germans break both of his arms until they hang limp at his sides, they beat him as well but he refuses to speak. They announce that he will be hung but then the mans father steps forward and volunteers to trade his life for his sons life. Locher brushes the father aside. They tie a noose and bring a chair, they stand Costas on the chair and bring his two brothers Mihalis and Yiannoulis, age 17 and 22, the latter of which has a pregnant wife present, and tells them to kick the chair from under their brother and that their lives will be spared if they do this. Both brothers start to cry and refuse to do it. Finally one of the soldiers kicks the chair and the man hangs. Then the Germans take the two brothers and a group of 11 others and line them up to be shot, the father is now begging that just one of his sons be freed and that he be shot instead. He falls to Lochers feet begging to exchange his life for just one of his two sons. At the same time the condemned were begging to know why they were being shot, begging to be interrogated instead. It was all to no avail as the 13 young men were executed in the village square of Trilofo.

*NORTHERN FRONT: *The Swedish government decided to stop transporting German war material to Norway, effective August 15. Transport of troops would cease on August 20.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The first aircraft landed on runway cleared of fog by ‘FIDO’, Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation. Before the introduction of FIDO, fog had been responsible for losses of a number of aircraft returning from operations. FIDO simply burnt the fog of the airstrip to allow the aircraft to land, and whilst it did use a lot of fuel, it did allow aircraft to touch down, saving other precious resources in the production of replacement aircraft and the training of aircrew.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Spain's Francisco Franco decided to bring his soldiers home from fighting on the Russian front.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 20, 2008)

*18 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The unescorted _'Incomati' _was torpedoed and damaged by _'U-508' _about 200 miles south of Lagos. At 0818, the U-boat began shelling the ship, setting her on fire and left the wreck in sinking condition. One crewmember was lost. The master, 101 crewmembers, eight gunners and 112 passengers were picked up by HMS _'Boadicea' _and _'Bridgewater' _and landed at Takoradi.

The USN airship K-74 assigned to Airship Patrol Squadron Twenty One (ZP-21) at Naval Air Station Richmond, Florida, lifts off on an antisubmarine patrol at 1909 hours local. At 2340 hours, radar detects a surface contact at 8 miles (12.9 km); the contact is the German submarine _'U-134'_. At 2350 hours, the airship begins an attack on the unsuspecting U-boat; the airship was at 250 feet (76.2 m) with a ground speed of 53 knots (61 mph/98.2 km/h) when the sub crew sighted the blimp and opened fire with light AA. The blimp crew returned fire with a 50-calibre (12.7 mm) machine gun which silenced the AA gun but the sub fired three rounds with a heavier calibre gun, one as the blimp approached and two as it passed over the sub. Orders were given to drop depth charges but a crewman's error prevented this. The blimp's bag had been punctured and the airship descended and hit the water at 2355 hours, the only airship shot down during the war. The airship remained afloat until 0815 hours on 19 July and the crew was rescued shortly thereafter; one man had been killed in a shark attack. _'U-134' _had suffered damage to her main ballast tank and a diving tank and after being sighted by a land-based aircraft, she was ordered home for repair. While en-route, she was sunk on 24 August in the North Atlantic near Vigo, Spain by six depth charges from an RAF Wellington.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Uffz. Thomas Ametsbichler of 4./JG 3 was shot down by flak and crashed 12 km southeast of Prochorovka flying Bf 109G-6 "Weisse 12". He had taken off with his rottenflieger Lt. Hermann Schuster from Ugrim for a "_freie Jagd an der Panterspitz_."

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 9: Patton's free-wheeling armored columns continued their romp over western Sicily capturing Caltanisetta and cutting the Palermo-Enna road. Canadian forces captured Valguarnera in the interior while on the east coast, British were stopped by stubborn resistance north of the Simeto River, stopping Dempsey's 13 Corps advance on the east coast near Catania.

In the air during the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons bombed airfields at Montecorvino, Sicily and Pomigliano, Italy, while Northwest African Tactical Air Force (light bombers bombed Catania, Sicily and carried out reconnaissance of extensive areas of Sicily. During the day, NATAF A-36 Apaches hit Santa Caterina, Adrano, Lercara, and Termini Imerese, Sicily. 

*WESTERN FRONT: *16 Wellingtons of 1 Group laid mines off Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.


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## Njaco (Jul 20, 2008)

*19 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* There was mutiny onboard destroyer HMCS _'Iroquois' _against commanding officer Cdr William Boyd Love Holms RCN. Reported that Cdr Holms, over a period of time insisted upon peacetime routines such as Bovril and sherry on the bridge and ordered men to work in their good uniforms; he also stopped leave arbitrarily and inflicted group punishments. In the rapid expansion which saw the RCN become the fourth largest navy in the world, only about 80 per cent of _'Iroquois' _wartime crew had been to sea before. Mutiny simmered for months and was delayed only by a short visit by _'Iroquois' _to Halifax. Matters came to a head in July 1943. Though _'Iroquois' _later rescued 628 survivors from the troopship _'Duchess of York'_, Holms had withheld fire while three troopships, which were being escorting 300 miles west of Vigo, were attacked by German aircraft, and two were sunk. Then on arrival in Plymouth, after a German prisoner complained that he had been robbed of a uniform badge, Holms again stopped leave. The junior rates locked themselves on their messdecks while Holms fell down to knock himself unconscious in his bathroom. The mutiny ended when Holms was stretchered ashore.

The German submarine _'U-513' _was sunk in the South Atlantic south-east of Sao Francisco do Sul, Brazil, by 6 depth charges from a PBM-3C Mariner of Patrol Squadron Seventy Four (VP-74) based at Naval Air Facility (NAF) Natal, Brazil. The submarine commander had elected to remain on the surface and use his AA guns against the PBM. Only 7 of the crew of 53 survived and they were rescued by the small seaplane tender USS _'Barnegat' _(AVP-10).

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviets continued to attack on both sides of the Kursk salient. The Red Army pushed forward, threatening German positions at Bolkhov, in the Orel salient.

A Russian brigade blocked the Bryansk-Orel railway at Khotinez, threatening the reinforcement route for both armies. The aircraft of 1 Fleigerdivisionen struck. With Ju 87s flying from Karachev along with bombers, fighters and anti-tank planes, the Luftwaffe was able to attack for the first time in strength. All day long, the Luftwaffe assaulted the tanks and infantry of the Russians until finally they retreated. An armoured breakthrough threatening 2 armies in the rear had, for the second time, been repulsed from the air alone. It also became the last major operation of the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front, subsequent operations being understrength because of dispersal over wide areas reducing its potency.

The Red Army entered Orel. I./ZG 1 was involved in the heavy fighting over the Bolhov area, including many ground-attack missions. The Russians suffered heavy losses because of the Bf 110's low-level attacks. But the Gruppe also had heavy losses. Hptm. Max Franzisket (5 kills) and Fw. Harri Pittack of Stab./ZG 1, went missing in their Bf 110G-2 after receiving a direct hit from flak on a combat mission. After barely a week at their new airbase at Orel, the crews of III./JG 54 again moved, this time to Iwanowka.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 10: Patton's armored columns continued to drive north and west toward Palermo. Montgomery's forces were still unable to move forward, and he shifted his spearheads inland aiming at Gerbini, Agira and Leonforte.

American bombers hit Rome for the first time in the war, destroying the Basilica at San Lorenzo. Panic swept the Italian capital as Allied bombers dropped more than 500-tons of high-explosive bombs on "military targets" on the outskirts of the Eternal City. The bombing force was made up of 157 B-17s and 112 B-24s, of which only five did not return. As thousands of men, women and children fled the city in vehicles of every description, the Pope drove to the scene to comfort victims. He returned, his vestments bloodstained, to announce that Romans could take shelter within the neutral Vatican.

During the night, RAF Wellingtons dropped over 800,000 leaflets on Rome. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light bombers attacked Catania, Sicily. During the following day, about 150 Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed the Rome railroad yards while B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders hit nearby Ciampino Airfield. Over 100 Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators attacked the Littoria marshalling yards and nearby airfield and on the return flight, railroads at Orlando, Sicily and Anzio were bombed. US Ninth Air Force P-40s bombed rail facilities in the Alcamo, Sicily area; Northwest African Air Force B-25s hit Catania and Randazzo; P-40s escort C-47 Skytrains; and NATAF A-36 Apaches attacked trains and motor transport in western Sicily.

Mussolini and Hitler met at Feltre in northern Italy. Hitler demanded more fighting from the Italians. For five hours, Adolf Hitler harangued a haggard and listless Mussolini, desperate to rekindle the flame of fanaticism in his partner. Hitler made his surprise visit after hearing reports that the Italian army was "in a state of collapse." He insisted to the Duce, Sicily could be saved if Mussolini put backbone into his army. Hitler talked of the "voice of history", and told Mussolini that their tasks could not be left to another generation. Hitler promised reinforcements and said that his new U-boats and terror weapons would turn Britain into a "Stalingrad". His tirade was to no avail. Il Duce said little and picked at his lunch while the Führer stormed; his despair was not helped by a note telling him that Rome was being bombed. Mussolini could not admit face to face to Hitler that the end was near.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The US Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was authorized to develop the Gorgon, an aerial ram or air-to-air missile powered by a turbojet engine and equipped with radio controls and a homing device. The Gorgon was later expanded into a broad program embracing turbojet, ramjet, pulsejet and rocket power; straight wing, swept wing, and canard air frames; and visual, TV, heat-homing and 3 type of radar guidance for use as air-to-air, air-to-surface and surface-to-surface guided missiles and as target drones.


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## Njaco (Jul 20, 2008)

*20 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine _'U-558' _was sunk in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from an RAF Halifax Mk II of No. 58 Squadron and a USAAF B-24 Liberator of the 19th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy); both aircraft were based at St. Eval, Cornwall, England. Only 5 of the 50-man sub crew survived.

One man was lost (Matrosenobergefreiter Arthur List) during an air attack on _'U-195' _in the Bay of Biscay.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet offensive on the eastern front continued as the Bryansk Front (Popov) under heavy fire from the Luftwaffe, pushed the Germans out of Mtensk.

The STAVKA issued an order to all partisans units declaring a "rail war" against the German railway system. From now on every effort would be made to prevent supplies and reinforcements reaching the front. The Germans have been forced to use armoured trains to fight off partisan attacks and many units have suffered severe casualties on the way to the front. Now, the railways were going to become even more hazardous.

Walter Lehn of JG 51 (5 kills) went missing during combat and was presumed dead. Lt. Helmut Hanstein of 9./JG 3 (10 kills) also was listed as missing in action.

*GERMANY:* Oblt. Walther Dahl was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 3 and moved with the _Gruppe _to Munster to battle the Allied bombers.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 11: On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh Army and British Eighth Army continued to push northwest and north. The US 82d Airborne Division took Sciacca and Menfi; the US 9d Infantry Division cleared Santo Stefano Quisquina and the heights north of Mussomeli; the US 2d Armored Division, with British units, took Enna and drives on to Villapriolo. The Canadian 1 Division pushed to the Leonforte area; the British 51 Division attacked the German airfield near Sferro; 13 Corps was halted by strong opposition on the Catania Plain. Italian forces began to surrender en masse.

During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Aquino, Sicily, and Capodichino, Italy, Airfields while Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) medium and light bombers attacked vehicles, roads, and town areas around and in Randazzo, Santo Stefano di Camastra, Orlando, and Nicosia, Sicily. During the day, NASAF fighter-bombers attacked targets of opportunity in western Sicily while NASAF medium bombers struck Montecorvino Airfield. Joining the attack were USAAF Ninth Air Force B-25s which attacked Randazzo and Taormina; and RAF heavy bombers which hit Vibo Valentia Airfield.


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## Njaco (Jul 20, 2008)

*21 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine _'U-662' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the South Atlantic in the Amazon Estuary, by depth charges from a PBY-5A Catalina of US Navy Patrol Squadron Ninety Four (VP-94) based at NAF Belem, Brazil. Only 3 of the 47 sailors on the submarine survived; the PBY crew dropped life rafts for them and they were picked up by PC-494 after 17 days. Over a period of only few days this boat had been attacked by a USAAF B-24 Liberator while hunting convoy TF.2. Then came an attack by a B-18 aircraft and finally squadron's VP-94 Catalinas located the boat and after one unsuccessful attack another VP-94 aircraft managed to sink the persistent boat.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet offensive continued to roll forward as Russian forces capture Bolkhov.

Before leaving for the Western Front, two pilots with JG 3 - Hptm. Emil Bitsch, _Staffelkapitaen _of 8./JG 3 and Oblt. Werner Lucas, _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 3 - both reached 100 kills against the Russians.

Uffz. Hans-Joachim "Kroschi" Kroschinski of 2./JG 54 was wounded when his Fw 190A-4 was shot down by a LaGG-5.

*GERMANY:* Hptm. Hans "Gockel" von Hahn was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 103, taking over from Major Herbert Ihlefeld.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 12: US Rangers seized Castelvetrano and the airport; the US 82d Airborne Division took San Margherita and the US 3d Infantry Division tookCorleone; the US 45th Infantry Division, pushing northwest, took Valledolmo; and the US lst Infantry Division cleared Alimena. In the British 30 Corps area, the Canadian 1 Division took Leonforte and the British take Leonforte. The Allies claimed 40,000 prisoners, and that they control half the island.

During the night, Northwest African Tactical Air Force light bombers hit motor transport convoys in the Randazzo, Sicily area. This area was again hit during the day by about 20 Ninth Air Force B-25 Mitchells. Wellingtons of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) hit Crotone Airfield and the Naples marshalling yard. During the day, NASAF B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Grosseto Airfield.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel made an inspection of German defenses in Greece.


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## Njaco (Jul 22, 2008)

*22 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The unescorted _'Cherry Valley' _was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-66'_, while steering a zigzagging course at 15.5 knots. The torpedoes struck the starboard side between the #6 and #7 tanks. The explosions ripped open the #5, #6, #7 and #8 starboard and centre tanks. The engines and steering gear were not damaged and the tanker tried to escape at a reduced speed of 13 knots. _'U-66' _followed the tanker and fired a spread of three torpedoes at 1130; one was seen passing ahead and one other astern. The U-boat then surfaced to stop the vessel with gunfire. The tanker was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm and fired back, forcing the U-boat to break off the attack. The list to port was adjusted by emptying the #1 starboard tank and the _'Cherry Valley' _successfully escaped. She arrived at San Juan, Puerto Rico, under her own power, escorted into port by the HNLMS _'Jan van Brakel' _on 24 July. There were no casualties among the eleven officers, 40 crewmen and 28 armed guards. Eventually she was repaired and returned to service. 

At 1510, _'U-81' _torpedoed the _'Empire Moon'_, which was sailing in an unidentified convoy, escorted by HMS _'Stroma'_. The ship reached port safely.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Rudolf Gerecke of JG 54 (27 kills) was shot down and killed in combat against the Soviets.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 13: Patton's 2nd Armored Division drove into Palermo and completed the isolation of 45,000 Italian troops in western Sicily. German mobile forces were able to avoid the advance and withdraw in good order to the northeast. As advance units of Lt-Gen Patton's Seventh Army swept down from the mountains and raced along the coastal road towards this city, the Axis garrison fled in complete disorder. Patton's advance across Sicily was spectacular, with opposition weakening daily as the American strength grew. Now the race for Messina, in the east of the island, could really start.

The British Eighth Army, fighting in the shadow of Mount Etna, was facing a much more difficult task against the German paratroopers whose 88mm anti-tank guns were again proving a formidable weapon - particularly in hilly terrain. Canadians of Lord Tweedsmuir's Hastings and Prince Edwards Regiment managed to take the hill town of Assoro using a ruse employed by General Wolfe in his capture of Quebec almost 200 years ago. The town stood on a precipitous cliff face, and it was this that the Canadians scaled "in 40 sweating, tearing minutes", surprising the German defenders completely. The Canadians began to advance on the main objective, the town of Leonforte, which was cleared after street fighting which lasted all night.

In the air, Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light bombers hit Randazzo, the railroad at Falcone, the road west of Marina, Adrano, Paterno, Troina, and Misterbianco. During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed Capodichino Airfield and Salerno marshalling yard. During the day, 100+ B-17s bombed the Battipaglia marshalling yard and Foggia; B-26s hit a Salerno bridge and marshalling yard; and fighters fly a sweep over Maddalena Island, strafing factories, trucks, and small vessels.

A Rumanian Air Force pilot, disillusioned with his Luftwaffe superior officers, decided to defect and flew his Ju 88D-1/Trop photographic reconnaissance plane to Cyprus where he surrendered to the Allies. The British Royal Air Force turned over the Junkers, named _'Baksheesh' _to the U.S. Army Air Forces. After Wright Field test pilots flew the aircraft extensively, the USAAF stored it in the Arizona desert after the end of WWII. Shipped to the museum in January 1960, _'Baksheesh' _is painted in the Romanian Air Force markings it carried in July 1943.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The results of the first phase of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) are good according to a report of the British Joint Intelligence Committee. The report maintains the CBO has caused Germany to adopt a defensive air strategy resulting in more than half its fighter strength being employed on the Western Front at the expense of the Eastern and Mediterranean Fronts as well as causing considerable damage to transportation, the synthetic rubber industry, and the fuel, iron, and coal industries of the Ruhr.

[_from the diary of Forum member Hugh Spencer_] As an AC2 I was posted to No 2 Radio School, Yatesbury, Wiltshire to begin an 11 month wireless operators course, eventually leading to operating over Germany with 61 Squadron, Bomber Command.


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## Njaco (Jul 22, 2008)

*23 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Three German U-boats were sunk. _'U-613' _was sunk in the mid-Atlantic south of the Azores, by depth charges from the US destroyer USS _'George E. Badger' _(DD-196). _'U-527' _was sunk in the mid-Atlantic south of the Azores during support of _'U-648'_, by depth charges from a TBF Avenger of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in USS _'Bogue' _(CVE-9); 13 of the 53 crewman survived and _'U-648' _escaped.
_
'U-598' _was sunk in the South Atlantic near Natal, Brazil, by depth charges when Lieutenant (jg) Waugh, flying PB4Y-1 Liberator 107-B-6 of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Seven (VB-107) based at Natal, attacked a surfaced U-boat in conjunction with Lieutenant Ford, sinking the submarine. Waugh’s aircraft apparently sustained damage during the attack, plunging into the sea after his bombing pass, all hands were lost. The submarine was _'U-598'_, Kapitänleutnant Gottfried Holtorf commanding. Only one of the 44-men aboard the U-boat were saved.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet forces advanced in the region of Orel and finished mopping up German troops from the southern sector of the Kursk salient. The Germans have been pushed back to their original positions at Kursk. Fw. Uwe Krais of 10./JG 3 (17 kills) was killed in combat.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 14: Patton's attack continued as his spearheads turned toward Messina along the northern coastal road. His forces reached Termini Imerese. Other 7th Army forces captured Trapani and Marsala and mopped up in the western part of the island. The British Eighth Army's 30 Corps met firm opposition as it moved east from Leonforte.

In the air, RAF heavy bombers hit Reggio di Calabria Airfield in Italy while Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-25 Mitchells, and B-26 Marauders bombed Leverano and Crotone, Italy, and Aquino Airfield, Sicily. In Sicily, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium bombers and fighters bombed and strafed Misterbianco, transport in the Nicosia-Troina-Randazzo areas, and bridges and landing craft in the coastal area around Santo Stefano di Camastra and Orlando.

The British destroyers HMS _'Eclipse'_ and HMS _'Laforey' _sank the Italian submarine _'Ascianghi' _after she torpedoed the cruiser HMS _'Newfoundland'_. _'U-407' _fired a spread of two torpedoes at the Support Force East during the invasion of Sicily and heard one detonation. HMS _'Newfoundland' _was hit in the stern and lost her rudder, but managed to reach Malta, steering only by propellers. After emergency repairs, she went to the Boston Navy Yard where she was repaired from August 1943 to April 1944. The ship then crossed the Atlantic to the Clyde for a long refit until November 1944.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Oblt. Heinz Wurm of 1./SAGr 128 received a well-deserved _Deutsches Kreuz in Gold_.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 24, 2008)

*24 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine _'U-459' _was scuttled after being attacked by an RAF Wellington Mk XII 'Q' of No. 172 Squadron and a Wellington Mk XI 'V' of No 547 Squadron near Cape Ortegal, Spain. 41 of the 60 crewmen survived. _'U-459' _was a "Milchkuh" operating a fueling and replenishment service for 72 other U-boats.

*EASTERN FRONT:* German aircraft bombed Leningrad, killing 210 people.

*GERMANY:* Operation "Gomorrah" / The Hamburg Raids / Blitz Week: RAF Bomber Command continued its bombing campaign against German cities, hitting Hamburg with 780 bombers carrying 2300 tons of bombs, equivalent to the explosive power of the 5 most destructive raids on London. 347 Lancasters, 246 Halifaxes, 125 Stirlings and 73 Wellingtons attacked Hamburg, 12 aircraft lost. The aircraft dropped 2,284 tons of bombs in 50 minutes. Conditions over Hamburg were clear with only a gentle wind. The marking, a mixture of H2S and visual, was a little scattered but most of the target indicators fell near enough to the centre of Hamburg for a concentrated raid to develop quickly. The bombers attacked on a narrow front, known as a 'stream' instead of spread out. Wave after wave of British bombers broke through the German night defenses and left the Luftwaffe helpless to stop it. The bombs produced a firestorm, the first in history, in which the flames were visible for 200 miles. Temperatures in the centre reached 1400 degrees F and as the inferno sucked in more oxygen, winds reached an incredible 150 mph. The firestorms that engulfed Hamburg were the worst in its 750 year history. Bombing photographs showed that less than half of the force bombed within 3 miles of the centre of Hamburg and a creepback 6 miles long developed. But, because Hamburg was such a large city, severe damage was caused in the central and north western districts, particularly in Altona, Eimsbuttel and Hoheluft. The Rathaus, the Nikolaikirche, the main police station, the main telephone exchange and the Hagenbeck Zoo (where 140 animals died) were among the well-known Hamburg landmarks to be hit. Approximately 1,500 people were killed. This was the greatest number of people killed so far in a raid outside the area in which Oboe could be used. The RAF used a new tactic, causing the Luftwaffe its largest defeat of the night-fighter war to date. The lead RAF aircraft used the Laminetta method of disrupting German defenses by dropping thousands of tinfoil cut to the wavelength of German radar. The tinfoil or 'Window' ('Duppel') created massive echoes on the German receivers and chaos in German ground stations. Without the controllers, the night-fighters could only fumble about in the dark. Goring ordered Major Hermann and his experimental unit to take-off from Bonn-Hangelar airfield and attack the bombers. All 12 fighters took off to defend the city and they were able to destroy 12 of the bombers. Goring soon ordered all night-fighters to adopt the "Wilde Sau" tactics until German technical experts could defeat the effects of "Window".

13 Mosquitoes carried out diversionary and nuisance raids to Bremen, Kiel, Lubeck and Duisburg.

6 Wellingtons laid mines in the River Elbe while the Hamburg raid was in progress. No losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 15: In Sicily, the drive of the 45th Infantry Division on the northern coast continues as Cefalu was captured while the US 1st Infantry Division seized Gangi and headed toward Nicosia.

In the air, Ninth Air Force P-40s flew armored reconnaissance and fighter-bomber missions over the Adrano and Milazzo area. The attacks were concentrated against motor transport targets. In Sicily, Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighter-bombers hit barges, warships, and docks in the Messina-Milazzo area and transport northeast of Mount Etna. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s and B-25 Mitchells bombed the railroad yards at Bologna and B-26 Marauders hit the railroad yards at Paola.

33 Lancasters of RAF 5 Group returning from North Africa bombed Leghorn docks but the target was covered by haze and bombing was scattered. No losses.

The Italian Fascist Grand Council met for the first time since December 1939. The topic of debate was the continued leadership of Mussolini. In the end, the council voted 19-7 to remove el Duce from command of all Italian forces. The Fascist rebels were led by Dino Grandi, one of Mussolini's former close friends and admirers, Giuseppe Bottai and the Duce's son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano. What the Duce did not realize was that he was the target of a far wider plot involving Crown Prince Umberto and leading generals.

As the stench of burning still hung over the heavily-bombed suburbs of Rome, the Pope appealed to all combatants to avoid further bombing of the Eternal City. The Vatican denied that the Pope wrote to President Roosevelt condemning the raids - which badly damaged one church in the city. Vatican radio said:


> "The _Pope is impartial. He does not intend to increase the hatred between the opposing sides. However, Rome is unique and both sides should recognize this. The Pope knows that churches have been destroyed in England too." _



*NORTHERN FRONT:* The VIII Bomber Command flew Mission Number 75 to attack 3 targets in Norway. This was the Eighth Air Force's first mission to Norway and its longest (1,900 miles or 3,040 km round trip) to date. 167 B-17s hit the nitrate works at Heroya; 1 B-17 was lost. Work at the plant was disrupted for 3.5 months, and unfinished aluminum and magnesium plants were damaged and subsequently abandoned by the Germans. 41 B-17s bombed the port area at Trondheim without loss. One of the casualties was the German submarine _'U-622' _which was sunk near Trondheim. 84 B-17s were dispatched against the port area at Bergen but found heavy cloud cover and returned to base with their bombs. A number of Fw 190s belonging to 1./JG 11 attacked the formation of B-17s as they returned to England after having bombed the Trondheim harbour and Porsgrun. The Focke-Wulfs did not claim any bombers but lost 2 aircraft over the North sea south of Lister. One was piloted by Staffelkapitaen Hptm. Erwin Linkiewicz who was found washed ashore on the beach east of Skiveren on 12 August. Another fighter belly landed in a field south of Lild Strand. The landing was watched by a local boy, and when he came to the landing site he found the pilot sitting on the tail smoking a cigarette. The one lost battle-damaged USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress crash-landed in Sweden. Its ten-man crew became the first of nearly 1,000 American and other Allied airmen to be granted refuge in neutral Sweden during World War 2.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 25, 2008)

*25 July 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Eastern Front night-fighters lost Lt. Erberhard Gardiewski of 6./NJG 2 (5 kills) when he was shot down and captured by the Russians.

*GERMANY*: Operation "Gomorrah" Day 2: VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 76: Three locations in Germany were targeted. The three targets were:123 B-17s dispatched against the diesel engine works at Hamburg but due to cloud cover, 100 hit the shipyard. They claimed 38-6-27 Luftwaffe aircraft and 15 B-17s were lost. 59 B-17s were dispatched against the Kiel Shipyard but returned because of cloud cover. 141 B-17s were dispatched against the aviation industry at Warnemunde. 118 hit the Kiel Shipyard and claimed 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 4 B-17s were lost. A total of 19 heavy bombers were lost, mostly to effective formation attacks by German fighters. The raid on Hamburg was part of six Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) missions against that port city and followed a raid of the previous night during which nearly 750 Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers did tremendous damage to the target. 

The Hamburg formation was intercepted by III./JG 26. 3 bombers were shot down including one for Oblt. Mietusch of III./JG 26, who downed his first B-17. On the return flight, fighters from JG 11 bounced the formations and over the North Sea fighters from II. and III./JG 1 attacked the stragglers. Both Gruppen from JG 1 accounted for 3 more bombers but at a cost. The Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 1, Major Karl-Heinz Lessmann died crashing into the sea after an attack on the bombers. He dies with a final total of 37 kills. Numerous B-17s fell into the North Sea. A B 17F of the 94 BG, 410 BS, named ”Happy Daze” had crossed the Danish coast line on the return flight and was attacked by three FW 190 who damaged the B 17F. It ditch it in the sea and came apart just behind the radio cabin and sank in 15 seconds. The whole crew apart from Right Waist Gunner Sgt Thomas M. Brown managed to get out of the aircraft. He went down with the aircraft. For the next 19 hours they drifted around. During the night they could watch as well as hear the sounds of an attack on Hamburg. They sent up a balloon and radio signals were sent to England. They were found by two Lancasters that dropped a Lindholme dinghy. One hour later they received one more and at 18:00 another one which they then tied together. When the Lancasters disappeared a JU 88 showed up and circled the dinghies and then left without further action. On 27 July at 07:30 the Danish fishing boat FN 41 “Betty” rescued the crewmen.

A B 17F of the 100 BG, 350 BS from the Kiel raid named “Duration Plus Six” was hit. They ditched about 75 miles southwest of Esbjerg. Skipper Svend L. Petersen of fishing vessel E 475 of Esbjerg had only just set his trawl when he saw the aircraft ditch. He left the trawl and set course for the plane. Upon reaching the place where the B 17F had ditched they could take the four survivors onboard. Carey and Styles were unharmed while Lepper and Parson were badly injured, one of whom had broken both legs and both wrists. The fishermen dressed the wounds to the best of their ability, picked up the trawl and set course for Esbjerg where they arrived on 26 July.

A second night of RAF attacks against the Ruhr. 294 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes, 104 Stirlings, 67 Wellingtons and 19 Mosquitoes attacked Essen, 26 aircraft lost. The commander of the American VIII Bomber Command, Brigadier General Fred Anderson, observed this raid as a passenger in an RAF No. 83 Squadron Lancaster. This was an attempt to achieve a good raid on this major target while the effects of Window were still fresh. The raid was successful, with particular damage being recorded in Essen's industrial areas in the eastern half of the city. The Krupps works suffered what was probably its most damaging raid of the war. The next morning, Doktor Gustav Krupp had a stroke from which he never recovered. This saved him from being charged with war crimes after the war. 51 other industrial buildings were destroyed and 83 seriously damaged. 2,852 houses were destroyed, 500 people were killed, 12 were missing and 1,208 were injured. The 500 dead were recorded as follows: 165 civilian men, 118 women, 22 children, 22 servicemen, 131 foreign workers and 42 prisoners of war.

6 Mosquitoes went to Hamburg, 3 each to Cologne and Gelsenkirchen and 17 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians, no losses.

At a situation conference, Hitler unleashed his fury on his Luftwaffe adjutant, Major Christian with the words; "_Terror can only be broken by terror! Everything else is nonsense. The British will only be halted when their own cities are destroyed. I can only win the war by dealing out more destruction to the enemy than he does to us....In all epochs that has been the case, and it is just the same in the air. Otherwise our people will turn mad, and in the course of time lose all confidence in the Luftwaffe. Even now it is not fully doing its job..."_ He then ordered mass production of rockets for attacks on London to avenge Hamburg's bombing.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 16: Patton's headlong advance came to a screeching halt as the forces driving along the northern coast met stiff resistance. The US 9th Divison and the British 78th Division were landed to reinforce Sicily. The US Seventh Army made slow progress along the northern coastal road, while the British Eighth Army's 30 Corps took part in hard fighting in the Agira area. In an attempt to break the deadlock on his front, Montgomery launched a set piece attack by British and Canadian forces on Agira. 

In the air, Ninth Air Force B-25s bombed docks and shipping at Milazzo and almost 100 P-40s strafed and bombed Milazzo, Taormina, and Catania harbor. Meanwhile, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers, and fighters during night and day raids, attacked shipping and docks at Milazzo and in the Santo Stefano di Camastra-Orlando area, and hit roads and motor transport, bridges and armor concentration in the Orlando-Adrano-Troina-Nicosia areas.

A formation of Ju 52s were sent to the battle front to resupply German troops on Sicily. They attempted to land reinforcements on a coastal airstrip at Milazzo in the north of the island. In an effort to protect the Junkers, the Bf 109s of JG 27 and JG 77 engaged RAF Spitfires attacking the slow transports. But they couldn't prevent destruction. 21 Ju 52s and 4 Bf 109s were shot down. Among the losses was _Ritterkreuztrager _Lt. Heinz-Edgar Berres of I./JG 77 (53 kills) who was killed. Also killed was Ofw. Fritz Meikstat of 5./JG 27 after combat with a Spitfire near Reggio.

Benito Mussolini, the Fascist who led his country into a disastrous war, was stripped of his office by King Vittorio Emmanuel III after being outvoted by his former supporters on the Fascist Grand Council, following a two-day meeting. The king took command of the armed forces and appointed an anti-Fascist, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, as prime minister. The heavy-jowled Mussolini arrived back from his meeting with Hitler to find Rome bombed and rebellion in the air. He did not expect to be placed under armed guard after making a courtesy visit to the palace. The king was part of a far larger conspiracy to depose the dictator. Mussolini was content to ignore his rubber-stamp council; but he dared not ignore the king. Before the palace guard took him away in an ambulance, the king told him:


> "_My dear Duce ... my soldiers don't want to fight anymore ... at this moment, you are the most hated man in Italy._"


 Marshal Badoglio, a national war hero from the First World War, was declared Prime Minister and his first acts were to declare martial law, outlaw the Fascist Party, and incorporate the Fascist militias into the regular armed forces thus removing Mussolini's muscle from the political equation. Hitler, knowing this was in the works, ordered his pre-positioned forces into southern Italy to disarm the renegade Italians and secure the situation for his ends.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* German aircraft penetrated the York/Catterick/Church Fenton areas. Bombing was scattered and there were no casualties.

*WESTERN FRONT:* A Ju 88D-5 from 5(F)./122 was shot down by an Allied fighter. Oblt. Edwin Burgmeier and 3 others were all killed..


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 26, 2008)

*26 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine _'U-359' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the Caribbean south of Santo Domingo, by depth charges from a PBM-3C Mariner of Patrol Squadron Thirty Two (VP-32) based at NAS Coco Solo, Canal Zone. All 47 crewman of the U-boat perished.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Germans were pulling out of the great bastion at Orel. Having failed at great cost to cut off the Russian salient at Kursk, the Wehrmacht was having to withdraw from its own salient, 200 miles south of Moscow, in the face of a massive Soviet counter-offensive. Hitler reluctantly gave permission for Field Marshal von Kluge to withdraw his armies from the salient two days ago after it became apparent that they were in danger of suffering another defeat on the scale of Stalingrad. The Red Army has broken through the German's fortified lines east of Orel on a front 20 miles long and has defeated five German divisions. Both sides are also weighing the lessons, as well as counting the cost, of the great tank battle at Kursk. Each deployed tank-busting aircraft fitted with large-calibre cannon. On the German side, the Stuka, fitted with two 37mm flak cannon, and the Henschel Hs-129 with its 30mm cannon performed with great effect. The Russians replied with Sturmovik Il-2s fitted with deadly 37mm cannon which on one occasion reduced 70 tanks of the 9th Panzer Division to burning wrecks within 20 minutes.

Hitler ordered a number of Waffen-SS divisions sent from Russia to Italy, but only the 1st SS _'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' _(Adolf Hitler’s bodyguard), Panzerdivision was actually transferred. 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _and 3rd SS '_Totenkopf_' remained in the East. Those two divisions and the 3. Panzerdivision, which replaced _Leibstandarte_, were transferred to the 6. Armee area, where they conducted a counterattack from July 31 to August 2 that eliminated a strong Soviet bridgehead at the Mius River.

*GERMANY:* Operation "Gomorrah" Day 3: During US VIII Bomber Command's Mission Number 77, two targets in Germany and a convoy were hit. 24 B-17s were lost mostly to Luftwaffe fighters. In the first raid, 96 B-17s bombed rubber factories at Hannover losing 16 B-17s. 54 of 121 B-17s dispatched against Hannover bombed the U-boat yards at Hamburg. 119 B-17 and 2 YB-40 Flying Fortresses were dispatched against rubber factories at Hannover and 49 of 61 B-17s dispatched against Hannover hit a convoy and other targets of opportunity losing 6 aircraft. The fighters of JG 1 and JG 11 again intercepted the formations and shot down several bombers with II./JG 1 claiming 7 shot down by the Gruppe's pilots for the loss of 2 fighters. Shortly after mid-day, a group of B-17s heading for home came under attack from the fighters of II./JG 11 and Jasta Helgoland. The Germans managed to shoot down 5 bombers. The 5th Fortress was added to the victory tally of Uffz. Doelling of Jasta Helgoland. Jasta Helgoland's Uffz. Erich Ulmschneider recalled;


> "_Suddenly we heard the droning of engines coming from the northeast and then, plowing through the sky at an altitude of 4,000 meters we spotted a silhouette of an aircraft. It was a lone B-17 on iys way back to England. The bomber has probably been damaged and forced from its formation. It was unlucky enough to find itself flying right past our base on Helgoland. Technicians lept up onto the wing of my kite and cranked the inertia starter for all they were worth while I had never climbed into my cockpit so quickly - the last 'Toni' left the airfield at full throttle. I was coaxing and cursing my kite in the same breath. 'You lame duck, you beauty, you good 109, faster, faster!' As I closed to within 1,000 meters and prepared for an attack, I realized that the enemy had yet to make any defensive maneuvers, far less open with defensive fire. Something was up with that bomber, perhaps there were wounded crew aboard, since they would have surely noticed me by now. I got even closer to the Boeing. 400 - 500 meters more and I unleashed a burst of machine gun fire, stopped firing briefly and then let him have it from all barrels. Cease firing! Whats happening now! I could see very clearly black spots tumbling away from the Boeing and first parachutes popped open. The Boeing's captain must have realized the futility of this unequal fight and given the order to leave the plane. I sighed with relief, as I was ready for a fierce fight. Having counted 8 chutes and observed the Boeing plunge into the sea, I dove away back to Helgoland with an unbelievable feeling of relief and joy in my heart; 'You will not have them on your conscience!"_


6 Mosquitoes went to Hamburg, no losses.

After a heavy raid on the Krupp armaments works last night, Dr. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen suffered a stroke when he saw the burning ruins.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 17: Heavy fighting was reported in Sicily as attacks at Agira and Nicosia occurred. The German theater commander, General Kesselring, ordered preparations to begin for the evacuation of the island.

In Sicily during the night, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium bombers attacked Milazzo, Adrano, and Paterno; throughout the day light bombers hit Regalbuto at intervals, and fighter-bombers harassed shipping, rail, and road movements. Ninth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bombed Milazzo, Paterno, and Adrano while P-40s strafed and bombed Catania and shipping at Riposto harbor. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-26s bombed the Marina di Paola marshalling yard.

Marshal Badoglio was appointed head of Italy by the Italian King after the arrest of Benito Mussolini. The Marshal immediately excludes all Fascists from his new cabinet and dissolves the Fascist Party.

Hitler ordered defensive preparations in Greece, which he assumed would be the Allies' next landing site.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 27, 2008)

*27 July 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Polish government in exile received word of a new wave of mass murder in eastern Poland, as German forces cleared the area to set up new lines of defense. According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the Germans were expelling and murdering Poles from a belt 60 miles wide, settling ethnic Germans there in order to boost defenses. Lublin, Cracow and Radom were understood to be the centre of the killings, in which the Germans were accused of massacring the entire population, mainly peasants. Whole towns and villages have been emptied in the terror, and up to 100,000 people have fled to the forests for sanctuary, abandoning their farms and livestock. It was said that the SS were rounding up Polish civilians by cordoning off areas and using artillery and tanks to flush them out.

Joseph Stalin, the premier and dictator, issued Order Number 227 to motivate both the military and civilians in and around Leningrad; the order becomes known as the "Not one step backward" order. The order states that "_panic makers and cowards must be liquidated on the spot. Not one step backward without orders from higher headquarters! Commanders…who abandon a position without an order from higher headquarters are traitors to the Fatherland." _

*GERMANY:* 353 Lancasters, 244 Halifaxes, 116 Stirlings and 74 Wellingtons attacked Hamburg, 17 aircraft lost. The American commander, Brigadier-General Anderson, again flew in a Lancaster and watched this raid.The centre of the Pathfinder marking, all carried out by H2S on this night, was about 2 miles east of the planned aiming point in the centre of the city but the marking was particularly concentrated and the Main Force bombing 'crept back' only slightly. 729 aircraft dropped 2,326 tons of bombs. This was the night of the firestorm which started through an unexpected chain of events. The temperature was particularly high (30 centigrade at 6 o'clock in the evening) and the humidity was only 30%, compared with an average of 40-50% for this time of the year. There had been no rain for some time and everything was very dry. The concentrated bombing cause a large number of fires in the densely built up working class districts of Hammerbrook, Hamm and Borgfeld. Most of Hamburg's firs vehicles had been in the western parts of the city, damping down the fires still smoldering there from the raid of 3 nights earlier and only a few units were able to pass through roads which were blocked by the rubble of buildings destroyed by high explosive bombs early in this raid. About half way through the raid the fires in Hammerbrook started joining together and competing with each other for the oxygen in the surrounding air. Suddenly the whole area became one big fire with air being drawn into it with the force of a storm. The bombing continued for another half hour, spreading the firestorm area gradually eastwards. It is estimated that 550-600 bomb loads fell into an area measuring only 2 miles by 1 mile. The firestorm raged for about 3 hours and only subsided when all burnable material was consumed. The burnt-out area was almost entirely residential. Approximately 16,000 multi-storied apartment buildings were destroyed. There were few survivors from the firestorm area and approximately 40,000 people died, most of them by carbon monoxide poisoning when all the air was drawn out of their basement shelters. In the period immediately following this raid, approximately 1,200,000 people - two thirds of Hamburg's population- fled the city in fear of further raids.

3 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 6 Wellingtons were minelaying in the River Elbe. 1 Mosquito was lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 18: On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh Army reached Tusa and San Mauro and pushed toward Nicosia. The fighting at Agira and Nicosia is heavy and inconclusive. In the air, USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s attacked tactical targets in battle area in northeastern Sicily, and others hit shipping at Catania. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bombed the landing ground at Scalea while Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters and light bombers continued bombing and strafing of ports, shipping, bridges, landing grounds, and motor transport. In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the airfield at Capua and the railroad at Lioni. British PM Churchill stated that if Italy does not surrender, it will be "_scarred and blackened from one end to the other."_

Hitler ordered Mussolini's liberation and his restoration as puppet leader in a German-occupied Italy. Mussolini was moved from Rome to Ponza under heavy guard. 

*NORTH AMERICA:* It all started as a barroom dare, when two Army Air Corps pilots challenged each other to fly through a tropical storm. So, Maj. Joe Duckworth flew a propeller-driven, single-engine North American AT-6 "Texan" trainer into the eye of a tropical storm. Duckworth flew into the eye of that storm twice that day, once with a navigator and again with a weather officer. These were generally considered to be the first airborne attempts to obtain data for use in plotting the position of a tropical cyclone as it approached land. Duckworth's pioneering efforts paved the way for further flights into tropical cyclones.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission Number 5; 17 B-26Bs bombed Tricqueville Airfield, France.

A Halifax II belonging to RAF No. 138 Sqn. Bomber Command, was tasked to drop supplies and two agents in Denmark. Near Madum Lake 13 kilometres north west of Hadsund and 13 kilometres south south east of Volsted there would be resistance people from Aalborg waiting to receive four containers and a parcel plus two SOE agents Jens Peter Petersen (Code named Tripe) and Aage Møller Christensen (Code named Margarine). The Halifax dropped its load at 01:16 according to plan except that the first agent to go (Petersen) jumped 3 seconds prematurely. The containers were received all right but the parcel which contained a radio ended up in the middle of the lake. Also Christensen landed in the lake 60 feet from the shore.

At 01:23 Lt. Hermann Stock of 12./NJG 3 and his crew took off from Fliegerhorst Grove flying JU 88C-6 coded D5+FX. Flying at 3000 metres Stock spotted the Halifax in the light of the full moon but when it suddenly turned, he lost sight of it. He caught sight of it again at 300 metres about 800 metres away. The Halifax was still flying defensive but this time Stock kept it in sight. The Halifax, flown by W/C Richard Douglas (Dickie) Speares, flew very low and Stock who tried to get even lower noticed that his altimeter indicated that he was flying below zero due to being adjusted to Fliegerhorst Grove which was at 50 metres. The Halifax was still twisting and turning and since Stock was not able to get below it. Suddenly Stock heard a loud bang and thought that he had collided with the Halifax. The JU 88 was shaking violently and the engines were fluctuating between 800 and 2600 rpm while still flying at zero metres altitude. They were approximately 90 kilometres out to sea and were not very happy with the possibility of having to bail out. When they reached the coastline the funker tried to make radio contact with Grove but without success. They managed to find Grove and landed at 03:56 hours. When the crew got out of the JU 88 they saw the reason for their problems. The tips of the propeller blades were missing. After the combat W/Cdr ”Dickie” Speare continued towards England and landed at Tempsford at 05:22 hours.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 28, 2008)

*28 July 1943*

*GERMANY: *US VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 78: The aviation industry in Germany was targeted but bad weather hampered the raids. The targets were: 58 of 182 B-17 Flying Fortresses dispatched bombed the Fieseler Works at Kassel, Germany. They claimed 27-15-22 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s were lost. 37 of 120 B-17s dispatched bombed the Fw 190 plant at Oschersleben, Germany. They claimed 56-19-41 Luftwaffe aircraft; 15 B-17s were lost. This was the deepest US bomber penetration into Germany to date. The raid achieved good results however, 22 B-17s were lost as fighters scored first effective results with rockets. 105 P-47 Thunderbolts, equipped with jettissonable belly tanks for the first time on a mission, escorted the B-17s into Germany. Other P-47s, going more than 30 miles (48 km) deeper into Germany than they have ever penetrated before, met the returning bombers. They surprised about 60 German fighters and destroyed 9 of them; 1 P-47 was lost. Bf 109s from II./JG 11 and I./JG 1 intercepted the bombers. But 11 Messerschmitts of 5./JG 11, led by Hptm. Heinz Knocke, hung back away from the attack. Each of these fighters was carrying a 55lb bomb underneath the fuselage with timed fuses. The fighter-bombers set themselves at 3,000 ft above the bombers and after setting direction and range, released the bombs. One bomb exploded in the middle of a formation and 3 B-17s crashed together, destroyed. Free of the bombs, the fighters attacked. The fighters of II./JG 11, under Gunther Sprecht, scored 11 kills while JG 1 pilots claimed 8 bomber kills. The remaining B-17s were then attacked by I./Jg 26 who claimed 2 more bombers. The escorting P-47s of the US 4th FG then entered the melee over Holland, attacking about 45 Luftwaffe fighters. One P-47 was shot down by Hptm. Hermichen of I./JG 26 but fighter losses for the Germans was heavy. JG 1 and JG 11 lost 20 Fw 190s and Bf 109s shot down with 3 pilots killed while the fighters of I./JG 26 lost 3 Fw 190s.

4 Mosquitoes attacked Hamburg and 3 Dusseldorf. 17 aircraft laid mines in the Frisian Islands. No losses.

Goring gave orders to Milch that the aircraft industry would forthwith concentrate of defensive production. Milch then ordered the electronics industry to accelerate the production of radar units impervious to 'Window'. The objective was to be: "_To inflict losses on enemy night bombers in the shortest time amounting to at least 20 to 25%."_

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 19: On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh Army took Nicosia and pushed toward Santo Stefano di Camastra and the Canadians took Agira. Allied cargo vessels began arriving at Palermo, and Lieutenant General Harold R Alexander, 15 Army Group Commanding General, moved his HQ to Sicily. Allied surrender terms were broadcast to the Italians by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

In the air, Northwest African Tactical Air Force light bombers hit Regalbuto, Milazzo, and Centuripe; A-36 Apaches and P-40s hit heavy traffic on the Troina-Randazzo road, bridges and roads north and west of Cesaro, the landing ground at Falcone, and buildings near Randazzo. Almost 100 Ninth Air Force P-40s hit shipping at Catania and Santa Teresa di Riva, fly patrol over the Straits of Messina, and bomb encampments. 

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A Hurricane fighter operating from Milfield airfield, near Wooler, crashed at East Fenton, also near Wooler at 10.40. The plane took fire whilst in the air. The pilot baled out and was uninjured.

*WESTERN FRONT:* US VIII Air Support Command Mission Numbers 6 and 7: The primary targets were in Belgium and France. 18 B-26B Marauders were dispatched against the coke ovens at Zeebrugge, Belgium and 18 B-26Bs were dispatched against Tricqueville Airfield, France but the mission was recalled when the accompanying fighters did not join up.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 29, 2008)

*29 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Ofw. Hans Gryz of 1./SAGr 128 claimed a Liberator in the late afternoon. The big 4 engined aircraft was shot down into the sea from a height of only 10 meters. Ofw. Gryz' vistim was probably from RAF No. 224 Sqdrn.

*EASTERN FRONT:* In an attempt to relieve the pressure on German units between Kharkov and Orel, the Germans open an offensive by the 3.Panzerkorps (Heeresgruppe A ) along the Mius River north of Taganrog. The attack fails to make any impression on the Red Army forces in the area.

*GERMANY:* Operation "Gomorrah": 340 Lancasters, 244 Halifaxes, 119 Stirlings, 70 Wellingtons and 4 Mosquitoes attacked Hamburg, 28 aircraft lost. The marking for this raid was again all by H2S. The intention was to approach Hamburg from almost due north and bomb those northern and north-eastern districts which had so far not been bombed. The pathfinders actually came in more than 2 miles too far to the east and marked an area just south of the devastated firestorm area. The Main Force bombing crept back about 4 miles, through the devastated area, but then produced very heavy bombing in the Wandsbek and Barmbek districts and parts of the Uhlenhorst and Winterhude districts. These were all residential areas. 707 aircraft dropped 2,318 tons of bombs. There was a widespread fire area - though no firestorm - which the exhausted Hamburg fire units could do little to check. The worst incident was in the shelter of a large department store in Wandsbek. The building collapsed and blocked the exits from the shelter which was in the basement of the store. 370 people died, poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes from a burning coke store nearby. On the 3d night attack on Hamburg in a week, the Luftwaffe night-fighters, including Obstlt. Herrmann's special unit, again attacked the raiding bombers. 28 bombers were shot down with 10 victories going to the pilots of _Nachtjagdversuchskommando Herrmann_. Creditted with victories were Obstlt. Herrmann himself, Ofw. Lonnecker, Lt. F. Rubsam, Fw. W. Rullkotter, Uffz. H. Lovenich, Major von Buchwald and Uffz. Brinkmann - all from JG Herrmann. But the special unit also lost pilots. Hptm. Friedrich Angermann was killed in his Fw 190 by return fire from a RAF No. 467 Sqdrn Lancaster over Hamburg. Uffz. Helmut Fritz was killed when his Bf 109G-6 crashed near Oldenburg. With Hamburg in utter ruin, the evacuation of the city of 1,000,000 is ordered.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 79 targeted 2 locations in Germany. 91 B-17s bombed the shipyards at Kiel at 0901 hours while 48 attacked targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s were lost. 54 B-17s hit the Heinkel Works at Warnemunde at 0922-0924 hours. 4 B-17s were lost.

4 Mosquitoes went to Dusseldorf, 6 Wellingtons minelaying in the River Elbe and 9 Lancasters of 617 Sqdn dropped leaflets over Italian cities, no losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 20: On the ground the US Seventh Army almost completes the mop up of western Sicily, approaches Santo Stefano Quisquina, advances on Mistretta, and takes three islands off Trapani. The British Eighth Army opens an assault during the night of 29/30 July along an axis of Catenanuova-Adrano. The British 78th Division arrives at the front and attacks toward Paterno.

In the air, 200+ Ninth Air Force P-40's, the largest number of fighters operating in a day during the Sicilian campaign to date, attack Messina Riposto, shipping at Catania, Santa Teresa di Riva, Taormina, Milazzo, and in the Straits of Messina. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-26 Marauders hit Aquino Airfield while In Sicily, Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters and light bombers hit Regalbuto, Milazzo, shipping off Messina, and gun positions and motor transport in northeastern Sicily. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s bomb Viterbo Airfield.

A Me 410 of 2(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie to the western Sicilian harbours. The crew, of Lt Martin Schwarz (F)and Uffz. Franz Prandstötter (Bf) were recorded as missing.

*UNITED KINGDOM: *A third Me 410 from V./KG 2 fell to the guns of a Mosquito from RAF No. 256 Sqdrn.

*WESTERN FRONT: *US VIII Air Support Command Missions 8 and 9 targeted 2 airfields; 18 B-26B Marauders were dispatched against Schipol Airfield at Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The mission was aborted due to a navigational error while 19 B-26Bs attacked Ft. Rouge Airfield, France.


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## Hugh Spencer (Jul 30, 2008)

*30 July 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *The German submarine _'U-230' _laid mines off the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay in the US. Meanwhile the German Navy lost six submarines: _'U-43' _was sunk south-west of the Azores, by a Fido homing torpedo from a US Navy F4F Wildcats and TBF Avenger of Composite Squadron Twenty Nine (VC-29) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Santee' _(CVE-29). All hands on the U-boat (55 men) were lost. _'U-43' _was supposed to rendezvous with _'U-403' _and then go on and sow mines off Lagos, Nigeria.
_
'U-461' _was sunk in the Bay of Biscay north-west of Cape Ortegal, by a Royal Australian Air Force Sunderland Mk III of No. 461 Squadron based at Pembroke Dock, Wales. 15 of the 68 men on the U-boat survived. Amazing numbering coincidence. The Sunderland aircraft which sank _'U-461' _had the individual code letter U and so using the style of the RAF was listed in Squadron records as U/461. Thus U/461 sank U-461. The captain (pilot in command) of Sunderland U/461 was Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Dudley Marrows. The aircraft was based at the RAF flying-boat station Pembroke Dock. The attack also involved _'U-462' _and '_U-504'_, with other aircraft including two Liberators, two Halifaxes, and a Catalina. Both those boats were eventually sunk by surface ships on the same day. _'U-462' _was sunk by a Royal Air Force Halifax Mk II of No. 502 Squadron based at Holmsley South, Hampshire, England, and gunfire from the British sloops HMS _'Wren'_, HMS _'Kite'_, HMS _'Woodpecker'_, HMS _'Wild Goose' _and HMS _'Woodcock' _in the Bay of Biscay. _'U-504' _was sunk at 1543 hours in the North Atlantic north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from the British Sloops HMS _'Kite'_, HMS _'Woodpecker'_, HMS _'Wren' _and HMS _'Wild Goose' _.

'_U-591_' was sunk in the South Atlantic near Pernambuco, Brazil, by depth charges from a US Navy PV-1 Ventura coded "B-10" of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Seven (VB-127) based at Natal, Brazil. 28 of the 47 man crew survive including the captain. They are picked up by the gunboat USS _'Saucy' _(PG-65, ex-HMS Arabis).

*EASTERN FRONT: *Heeresgruppe A lost the initative in its attack to secure positions along the Muis River. Soviet forces launched limited counter-attacks against the German positions along the Mius River, thus ending the German attacks.

In a strange case of coincidence, the Luftwaffe lost 2 pilots named Jung against the Russians. Shot down and killed were Hptm. Harald Jung (20 kills) of 7./JG 51 and Hptm. Heinrich Jung (68 kills), _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 54. Hptm. Erich Rudorffer, forming IV./JG 54 in Konigsberg, was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _in his place.

*GERMANY*: B-17s of the US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 80 in two forces against the aviation industry at Kassel, Germany. In the first force, 94 B-17s bombed the Bettenhausen Fieseler Works and 6 B-17s were lost. In the second force 40 B-17s attacked the Waldau Fieseler Works and 6 B-17s were lost. 107 P-47 Thunderbolts with auxiliary tanks escorted these raids and they surprised the attacking Luftwaffe fighters over Bocholt, Germany as the enemy was not yet accustomed to fighter escort penetration beyond the coastal fringe. P-47 pilots claimed 25 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down; 7 P-47s were lost. As the bombers approached the target, fighters from I./JG 26 took off and intercepted the B-17s. One was shot down by Lt. Gohringer of Stab I./JG 26 while another went down under the guns of Fw. Ernst Christof of I./JG 26 for his 9th kill. But Fw. Christof was bounced two hours later by fighters from the Us 335th FS 4th FG over Schouwen, shot down and killed. On the return flight, the bombers were bounced by numerous fighters from all the Luftwaffe defensive zones. The first to attack were the Fw 190s of II./JG 26 who sent 2 of the B-17s down in flames, one credited to the _Gruppenkommandeur_, Major 'Wutz" Galland. The other bomber was credited to Hptm. Johannes Naumann of 6./JG 26 who destroyed his bomber southeast of Est. Another bomber was brought down by Uffz. Wiegand over Eupen and another by Flg. Hans-Walter Sander over St. Trond. Hptm. Hermichen of I./Jg 26 claimed a P-47 over the Dordrecht area. But the Luftwaffe suffered losses as the escort fighters from US 4th, 56th and 78th FGs joined the combat. The first "hat trick" or triple victory for the Americans in the ETO happened when Major Eugene Roberts of the 78th FG claimed 3 fighters destroyed. Capt. Charles London also of the 78th FG was given credit for 2 kills. But the 78th suffered when its CO, Lt. Col. Melvin McNickle was shot down and captured while his wingman, Lt. Byers was killed. JG 1 lost 8 Fw 190s shot down and 3 Bf 109Gs damaged in crash-landings, JG 2 lost 7 planes destroyed, JG 11 had one Bf 109G destroyed and 5 badly damaged, JG 26 had 4 planes badly damaged and JG 54 had 4 planes destroyed - a total of 8 Bf 109s and 16 Fw 190s shot down. 10 pilots of the Luftwaffe were killed, including Ofw. Hans Laun of I./JG 1 and 9 nine pilots were injured.

95 Halifaxes, 87 Stirlings, 82 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitoes were dispatched to Remscheid, a previously unbombed town on the southern edge of the Ruhr. Only 26 people had been killed in Remscheid, by stray bombs, in the past 3 years. This raid marked the true end of the Battle of the Ruhr. 15 aircraft were lost. The Oboe ground marking and the bombing of the comparatively small Main Force were exceptionally accurate and this was a most successful raid. Only 871 tons of bombs were dropped but the post-war British Bombing Survey estimated that 83% of the town was devastated. 107 industrial buildings were destroyed; the town's industry, generally, lost 3 months' production and never fully regained previous levels. 3,115 houses were destroyed, 1,120 people were killed and 6,700 were injured.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 21: Near Santo Stefano and Troina, US forces were fighting heavily. British forces captured Catenanouva, Sicily. German forces were trapped in the north-east.

A huge brawl developed over the island of Sardinia. AAF P-40s tangled with a large concentration of Bf 109s flown by young, inexperienced pilots. The P-40s were credited with the destruction of 21 Bf 109s for the loss of only one of their own. Post war analysis seems to indicate that only 5 or 6 Bf 109s fell to the Americans.

Thousands of workers threw down tools in Italy to march through the streets demanding peace. Soldiers charged with enforcing martial law - which prohibits strikes and demonstrations - refused to open fire. Guards stood back and watched as an angry mob stormed the Cellari prison and freed hundreds of anti-Fascist prisoners. Small knots of fanatical Fascists, one of them Mussolini's nephew, Vito, have barricaded themselves in Milan's Fascist headquarters, and there were reports of lynchings from other parts of the country. Events have moved at an extraordinary pace since Mussolini was deposed five days ago. Not one of Mussolini's ministers remains in Marshal Badoglio's new cabinet. Fascist prefects were being removed from their posts. Troops were being recalled from the Adriatic to enforce martial law, and there were reports of fighting between Italian and German soldiers in Trieste and Udine.

Adolf Hitler learned that Italy was buying time before negotiating surrender terms with the Allies in light of Mussolini's fall from power. When Mussolini was ousted from power and arrested by his own police, Hitler had gathered Göring, Goebbels,Himmler, Rommel, and the commander in chief of the German navy, Karl Doenitz, at his headquarters to reveal the plans of action he had already been formulating. Among them: (1) Operation Oak, in which Mussolini would be rescued from captivity; (2) the occupation of Rome by German forces and the reinstallation of Mussolini and his fascist government; (3) Operation Black, the German occupation of all Italy; and (4) Operation Axis, the destruction of the Italian fleet to prevent it from being commandeered for Allied use. Hitler's advisor urged caution because the Italian government had not formally surrendered. The Germans had received assurances from Mussolini's successor, General Badoglio, that Italy would continue to fight at Germany's side but, Hitler received a message from his security police chief in Zagreb that an Italian general had confided to a Croat general that Italy's assurances of loyalty to Germany were "_designed merely to gain time for the conclusion of negotiations with the enemy." _Hitler reacted swiftly, closing Alpine passes and ordering Field Marshal Rommel to assemble eight divisions to ensure that bridges and tunnels were not demolished. As Sicily was poised to fall, the next strategic move would clearly be the invasion of the Italian mainland. After Il Duce's downfall, Allied commanders would be anxious to move quickly before the Germans could establish strong defensive positions in the mountainous centre of the country.

While patrolling to the north of Corsica, a B-26 Marauder of No. 14 Squadron RAF based in Egypt and piloted by Group Captain Dick Maydwell. encountered a German Me 323, six-engined transport aircraft flying unescorted low over the sea. He maneuvered his B-26 to allow his gunners to open fire and three engines were set on fire. The massive aircraft, described by Maydwell's navigator as looking like "_a block of flats_", crash landed on the shore. The crew escaped unhurt and Maydwell held his fire.
_
'U-375' _was sunk in the western Mediterranean north-west of Malta, by depth charges from the US submarine chaser USS PC 624. All hands on the U-boat (46 men) were lost.

*WESTERN FRONT:* B-26B Marauders of the US VIII Air Support Command VIII flew Missions 10A and 10B against 2 airfields with the loss of 1 bomber. Because the main US bomb raid took Allied bombers over the JG 26 airfield at Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands, it was bombed by 11 aircraft and 1 B-26 was lost. The planes of JG 26 taking off to engage the bombers were met by escorting RAF fighters and lost 2 fighters. In the second mission, 24 B-26Bs were dispatched to Wevelghem Airfield at Courtrai, France but the mission was recalled because the escorting fighters were fog bound on the ground.

8 aircraft laid mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 1, 2008)

*31 July 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The 2nd SS _'Das Reich' _and 3rd SS '_Totenkopf_' Panzerdivisions, along with 3.Panzerdivision conducted a counterattack that eliminated a strong Soviet bridgehead at the Mius River. 

After several days of not gaining a victory, Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 finally brought down 2 Russian LaGG-5s during 2 separate missions, bringing his score past 40 kills. Although in years past, a score with this number of kills would bring the _Ritterkreuz _to the pilot, the immense combat kills on the Eastern Front required a rather large victory score before being awarded the coveted medal. Hartmann had to wait for his _Ritterkreuz_.

*GERMANY:* Due to an undercarriage failure, the Focke-Wulf Ta 154 'Moskito' V-1 crashed at Hannover-Langenhagen airfield.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 22: The US 45th Division captured Santo Stefano. Other US forces prepared to attack east along the coast and further inland press towards Troina. British and Canadian units to the south advanced on Regalbuto and Centuripe. They encountered fierce opposition at Regalbuto.

Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-26s bombed Adrano while Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters, light and medium bombers hit Paterno, Santa Maria di Licondia and Centuripe, the general area around Paterno, and vessels in the Milazzo-Orlando area. Ninth Air Force P-40s also hit shipping in the Milazzo area. 

Ordered back to Germany for Reich defense duties, II./JG 27 and II./JG 51 left the airfields at Foggia and Sicily, leaving behind their Bf 109s to be distributed among the remaining fighters of JG 3, JG 53 and JG 77.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* During the past month 1,313 aircrew of RAF Bomber Command were killed or became POW's.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Missions Number 11A, 11B, 11C and 11D against 4 airfields in France. 20 B-26B Marauders bombed Merville Airfield, 19 B-26Bs hit Nord Airfield at Poix 1122 hours with the loss of 1 B-26, 21 B-26Bs attacked Drucat Airfield at Abbeville and 18 B-26Bs bombed Tricqueville Airfield. Lille and Amiens, France were bombed by Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers, also fighter-escorted, in conjunction with the US raids.

Among the Luftwaffe pilots lost during the day was Lt. Hartwig Dohse (23 kills) of 5./JG 3 who was listed as missing in action. Newly returned from the Eastern Front, 7./JG 26 lost its _Staffelkapitaen _when Hptm. Gunther Kelch (13 kills) was killed in a flying accident.

Hptm. Wolrad Gerlach was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./SKG 10, taking over from Hptm. Edmund Kraus.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 1, 2008)

*1 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German Navy lost two submarines: _'U-383' _was sunk west of Brest, France, by depth charges from a Sunderland of RAF No. 228 Squadron based at Pembroke Dock, Wales. _'U-454' _was sunk in the Bay of Biscay north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from a Sunderland of the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 10 Squadron based at Mount Batten, Devonshire.

SS _'Bage' _was sunk by _'U-185' _off the Rio Real Estuary, Sergipe, Brazil. The ship had been sailing with convoy TJ-2 until she was ordered out of the convoy by the Brazilian cruiser '_Rio Grande do Sul'_ because the ship was making too much smoke.

'U-198' fired its last torpedo at Convoy BC-2 and hit the _'Mangkalihat' _. An earlier attack with two bow torpedoes had been unsuccessful. The crew abandoned ship because the engine room, boiler room and #3 hold were flooded. Ten crewmembers and eight passengers were lost. HMS _'Freesia' _took the ship in tow the next morning, while a skeleton crew reboarded the vessel. On 3 August, HMS _'Prudent' _came to assist and used her pumps to keep the ship afloat. In the early morning of 4 August, the tug took over the tow, but the _'Mangkalihat' _foundered during the day.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet submarine S-12 of the Baltic Fleet was sunk in the Gulf of Finland by German and Finnish craft off Keri.

The Germans withdrew from the Orel area.

Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 destroyed 5 Russian aircraft - 2 LaGG-5s and 3 Yak-7s - during air battles in the afternoon. His score was now at 46 kills. Lt. Hartmann's fellow pilot at III./JG 52, Gunther Schack got his 60th victory. Lt. Franz Schall of 3./JG 52 recorded his 10th victory when he shot down a Russian Il-2. Fw. Hans-Jorg Merkle of 1./Jg 52 went missing in action after combat with a pair of Yak-1s from 31 GIAP near Dmitrievka. 

8 Yak pilots engaged in an attack on a formation of Ju 87 Stukas, escorted by 6 Fw 190s. As the Russians made their attack, they were ambushed by 10 Bf 109s and 2 of the Yaks were shot down. One was flown by Guards Colonel Golyshev, while the other, carrying a white lilly painted on its nose, was Lydia Litvak's aircraft. She crashed near Dmitrievka in the Donets Basin. In her career, she was credited with 12 kills, 4 assists and 168 combat missions. Her combat career lasted less than a year and she was wounded twice in that time. She was 21 years old. The authorities suspected that she might have been captured, so they decided not to award her the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Only in 1979 was it determined that her aircraft had come down near Dmitrovka, a village in Shakhterski district and that she had been killed in action. 

*GERMANY:* Berliners at Sunday breakfast were shocked to hear a radio broadcast by Josef Goebbels calling on all citizens not vital to the war industry to evacuate the city. Up to now propaganda sources insisted that a major raid in Berlin was very unlikely, and this sudden announcement fueled rumors that the capital has been surrendered and this was the beginning of the end. Free travel permits were being issued to women, children, pensioners and the sick, together with ration cards and blankets.

Based upon a recommendation by a commission comprising _Generalluftzugmeister _Milch, Generaloberst Weise, _General der Nachtjagd_ Kammhuber, _General der Jagdflieger_ Galland and the _Gruppenkommandeur _of NJG 1, Major Streib, to explore the defensive options of Germany's fighters against the Allied bombings, Goering issued an official order with the words; "_The provision of day and night fighter defense will take priority over all other tasks." _Two solutions to this problem were proposed. Col. Viktor von Lossberg, a former bomber pilot, proposed tactics that would soon to known as _'Zahme Sau' _or Tame Boar. Night-fighters were meant to keep to their assigned control sector, but when it was found that a narrow bomber stream could saturate the relatively thin 'Kammhuber Line' of defensive sectors, a more free-ranging technique was introduced. The night-fighters would be released from the confines of their 'Himmelbett' radar zones and instead mix freely with the bomber streams. Once in the bulk of the enemy bombers they could choose their targets. The long-range Ju 88C-6b and Ju 88R-1 using FuG 227 Flensburg which homed in on Allied bomber 'Monica' tail-warning radars, were particularly suited to this role and began to equip many units. The second solution was to increase the fighters of Obstlt. Herrmann's special unit - soon designated JG 300 - with their mission to patrol directly over threatened cities. Goering phoned Obstlt. Herrmann and said that, "_Germany was in his hands..." _It was too late and not even the successful systems of the _'Zahme Sau' _or _'Wilde Sau' _could change the destiny of major German cities.

1./JG 11 and 10./JG 11 changed designations. 10./JG 11 then moved its Fw 190As from Husum to Aalborg-West and Lister. Oblt. Gunther Witt was appointed _Staffelkapitaen _of 10./JG 11.

*MEDITERRANEAN: *Operation 'Husky' Day 23: On the ground in Sicily, U.S. ground forces advanced east along the coast, approached Troina further inland, and began a movement to flank defenses. The British, to the south, penetrated into Regalbuto. The fighting was heavy around Troina.

In the air, 230+ P-40s, the largest Ninth Air Force total to date, attacked Adrano, the area near Randazzo, Messina, Milazzo, Taormina, and shipping in the Straits of Messina. During the night of 31 July/1 August, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons bombed Randazzo and Adrano and the next day, B-25 Mitchells hit Milazzo. Northwest African Tactical Air Force light and medium bombers hit Paterno, Randazzo, Adrano, Bronte, Santa Maria di Licondia, and motor transport in the Orlandoarea area. Northwest African Coastal Air Force Beaufighters scored hits on shipping between Sardinia and Italy. During the night of 31 July/1 August, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons dropped leaflets on Rome and Naples. During the following day, B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Capodichino Airfield.

*Operation "Tidalwave":* 177 B-24s, of the US IX Bomber Command, including B-24s on loan from the US Eighth Air Force in England, were dispatched in a low-level attack on the oil refineries at Ploesti and nearby Campina. Flying from bases at Benghazi, Liberators from the US 44th, 93d and 389th BGs of the US Eighth Air Force and from the 98th and 376th of the US Ninth Air Force were combined to create the mission force. Enroute to the target, the formations lost the lead navigator when the bomber he was in suddenly dove into the sea. A second B-24 - with the only other trained navigator on board - began circling the area and dropped from the formation, soon returning home and leaving the attack to continue with no trained navigators to guide the bombers. As a result only one bomber flight actually made all the navigation points and bombed the target while the rest of the B-24s made Ploesti in bits and pieces. Decimated by heavy AA fire surrounding the oil fields and on trains, the remaining bomber force was intercepted by fighters from I./JG 4 led by Hptm. Hans Hahn and IV./JG 27 led by Hptm. Alfred Burk, along with Romanian fighters and a few Bf 110s from Hptm. Lutje's IV./NJG 6 and mauled. 48 of the bomber force was shot from the skies and another 58 severely damaged. 10 aircraft were shot down by Romanian Bf 109s or IAR 80 fighters, 7 by Luftwaffe aircraft and the rest by flak. Only 35 of the survivors returned to base without any battle damage. One plane came back with 365 holes in the plane. Another returned with corn stalks in its engine cowling. Four “Congressional Medal of Honors” were won by participants in this heroic, but ultimately fruitless raid. While an estimated 42% of Ploesti's refinery capacity had been destroyed, the attack was not considered decisive. The Germans quickly repaired the damage and brought idle units at the refinery on-line.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Major Hans-Ehhehard Bob was promoted from III./JG 54 to the Eastern Front as _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./JG 51.

15 Stirlings and 14 Wellingtons laid mines off French Biscay ports without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 2, 2008)

*2 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *A Canadian 'Hampden' patrol aircraft from RCAF 415 Squadron attacked and damaged _'U-706'_, Kptlt. Alexander Von Zitzewitz, CO, in the Bay of Biscay north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain. An immediate subsequent attack by an American 'Liberator' patrol aircraft from USAAF 479 Squadron sank the submarine. There were 15 survivors from her crew of 57 men, including the commanding officer.

The German submarine _'U-106' _was sunk north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from a Sunderland of the Royal Air Force's No. 228 Squadron and a Sunderland Mk III of the Royal Australian Air Force's No 461 Squadron. Both squadrons were based at Pembroke Dock, Wales. 36 of the 58 crewmen on the U-boat survived. 

Six men on _'U-218' _were wounded during an attack from an RAF 547 Sqdn Wellington. The boat was damaged and had to abort its mine-laying mission and arrived in Brest 6 August.

*EASTERN FRONT:* German forces repelled massive Soviet attacks at Isjum and the Mius River line. Znamenskaya was liberated by the Soviet Army. The Russian 3rd Mountain Division, respectively 6th Mountain Battalion, took part in the defensive battles, the last positions being situated on the Black Sea shore, east of Anapa, near the city of Taman. German _General der Infanterie_ H. Zorn XXXXVI Pz.Korps was killed at Krassnaja.

Ofw. Georg Schwienteck of 2./JG 52 was injured during combat with 2 Russian IL-2s The Russian aircraft were destroyed, bringing the Lieutenant's score to 30. He later returned to base safely.

Lt. Heinrich Ehrler, _Staffelkapitaen _of 7./JG 5 in the northern part of the Eastern Front, was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for destroying 112 enemy aircraft.

Ofw. Gerhard Gorster of 3./JG 51 (25 kills) was killed in action. But another member of JG 51, Obfw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of IV./JG 51 destroyed 9 Soviet aircraft during the day to bring his score to 102 kills and the first pilot within the _Geschwader _to surpass Werner Moelders' 100 victory mark.

*GERMANY:* One of the more successful night-fighters, Hptm. Manfred Meuer of 3./NJG 1 was awarded the _Eichenlaub_. Major Helmut Lent, _Gruppenkommanduer _of IV./NJG 1 added the _Schwerten _(No. 32) to his _Ritterkreuz _for 65 night victories and 8 day victories. Lent was then appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of NJG 3 based at Stade.

329 Lancasters, 235 Halifaxes, 105 Stirlings, 66 Wellingtons and 5 Mosquitoes attacked Hamburg, 30 aircraft lost, among them Lancaster JA873 of 61 Sqdn. The crew lost were:- F/Lt B Laing, F/O C.C. Godley, F/O B. Fox, P/O T.A. Holman, Sgt R.H. Burn, Sgt W.F. Ardron, Sgt W.M. Grant and Sgt S.H. Mortimer. The bombing force encountered a large thunderstorm area over Germany and the raid was a failure. Many crews turned back early or bombed alternative targets. At least 4 aircraft, probably more, were lost because of icing, turbulence or were struck by lightning. No Pathfinder marking was possible at Hamburg and only scattered bombing took place there. Many other towns in a 100 mile area of northern Germany received a few bombs. A sizable raid developed on the small town of Elmshorn, 12 miles from Hamburg. It is believed that a flash of lightning set a house on fire here and bomber crews saw this through a gap in the storm clouds and started to bomb the fire. 254 houses were destroyed in Elmshorn and 57 people were killed, some of them refugees from recent raids on Hamburg.

5 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 6 Wellingtons minelaying in the River Elbe. 1 minelayer lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 24: On the ground in Sicily, US ground forces pushed slowly west while British troops gained control of Regalbuto and fought indecisively in the streets of Centuripe.

In the air, Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters, and light and medium bombers hit trucks, a dump and road junction in northeastern Sicily, docks and shipping at Milazzo, Messina and in the Reggio di Calabria, Italy area, and targets of opportunity (mainly motor transport) from Barcellona south to Adrano. Ninth Air Force P-40s attacked shipping in the Straits of Messina and off Milazzo.

U.S. General George S. Patton, Commanding General Seventh Army, slapped U.S. Army Private C.H. Kuhl in a hospital on Sicily.

*WESTERN FRONT: *The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command scheduled 4 missions against airfields without loss. 31 B-26B Marauders bombed Merville Airfield, France, 18 B-26Bs bombed Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer and an attack on Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands was cancelled. Mission 13B was a diversion.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 3, 2008)

*3 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Two German submarines were sunk by US aircraft: _'U-572' _was sunk northeast of Trinidad, by depth charges from a USN PBM-3 Mariner of Patrol Squadron Two Hundred Five (VP-205) based at NAS Guantanamo, Cuba. The submarine was on the surface and the U-boat crew shot the aircraft down during the bombing run; all hands on the aircraft and all hands on the submarine, 47 men, are killed.

'_U-706'_ was sunk at 0630 hours local in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from a USAAF B-24 of the 4th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) based at St Eval, Cornwall, England. There were 15 survivors of the U-boats 57 man crew. This submarine was earlier attacked by a Canadian Hampden patrol aircraft from RCAF 415 Squadron.
_
'U-66'_ was caught by Avenger and Wildcat aircraft from the escort carrier USS _'Card' _and 3 men were killed and 8 more wounded, including the commander. [Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve Kurt Schütze, Matrosengefreiter Erich Lorenz and Mechanikergefreiter (T) Heinz Nitsch].

*EASTERN FRONT: *The Soviet Voronezh and Steppe Fronts launched a fresh set of offensives on the Belgorod-Poltava axis aimed at the liberation of Kharkov. In heavy fighting, the Soviets broke the German lines to the west and forced the 4.Panzerarmee to withdraw. The weak German defenses between Belgorod and Tomarowka were virtually smashed as the German command was taken completely by surprise. While a German front to the east of Kharkov was intact, there was no front at all to the north and northwest. Small _Kampfgruppen _of exhausted 6., 19. and 11.Panzerdivisons fought desperately, slowing down the Russian advance. As was to be expected, the defenders of the eastern and northeastern approaches to Kharkov were soon driven back when the Russians struck through the Donets River.

Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 added to his score by downing a LaGG-5 and two Yak-7s during a morning mission and another LaGG-5 in the afternoon, bringing his score to 50 victories. But another Eastern front _Geschwader _lost its _Gruppenkommandeur _when Oblt. Gerhard Homuth of I./JG 54 (63 kills) was shot down by Russian fighters.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 25: On the ground in Sicily, US forces continued east along the north coast toward the Furiano River. At Troina, further inland, the enemy continued firm resistance.

In the air, USAAF Ninth Air Force B-25s bombed Adrano and its highway approaches; and 300+ P-40s, the largest Ninth Air Force total to date, attacked harbors and shipping at Milazzo and Messina, and gave direct support to British ground forces in the Catania-Bronte area. Northwest African Tactical Air Force light bombers hit tactical targets; and fighters, light and medium bombers hit shipping in the Straits of Messina and at Milazzo and attacked Adrano and Biancavilla and gun emplacements and bridges in the area.

The evacuation of Sicily by Italian forces began.

General Alexander, the Allied commander in the Med, told his air and naval commanders;


> "_Indications suggest that the Germans are making preparations for withdrawl to the mainland...We must be in a position to take immediate advantage of such a situation by using the full weight of the Naval and Air Power. You have no doubt coordinated plans to meet this contingency._"


In fact, they had not made plans to prevent the German evacuation, nor did they after this 'suggestion'. The Axis armies would successfully evacuate Sicily. The difficult terrain around Messina allowed small numbers of soldiers to hold the advance of Allied armies during the evacuation and the Navy had legitimate concerns about mines and shore batteries while operating in the Straits of Messina.

*NORTHERN FRONT: *Oblt. Theodo Weissenberger of 7./JG 5 was awarded the _Eichenlaub _as was Ofw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of IV./JG 51.

A Stirling belonging to RAF No. 75 Sqn Bomber Command was attacked by a German night fighter piloted by Hans Joachim Jabs of IV./NJG 1 and crashed at 03:51 hours into the North Sea 25 kilometres North West of Terschelling killing all onboard.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Major General William E. Kepner became Commanding General, US VIII Fighter Command.

A Halifax bomber operating from Melbourne airfield in Yorkshire was approaching its target area when an attack by a Junkers Ju 88 damaged the fuselage, both elevators were shot away and the rudders were shot to ribbons. Despite this the rear-gunner shot the Ju 88 out of the sky and the pilot got the Halifax back to its base, where he was awarded the DFC and the rear-gunner the DFM.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 12 Wellingtons of 6 Group laid mines off Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 4, 2008)

*4 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine _'U-489' _was sunk southeast of Iceland by an RCAF Sunderland Mk III, s/n DD859, of No 423 Squadron based at Castle Archdale, Northern Ireland. 53 of the 54 crewman on the U-boat survive. This supply U-boat had set out on its first patrol on 22 July, barely a fortnight before its sinking, and did not, consequently provide replenishment to any other U-boat. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet forces captured Orel. Fresh attacks were launched by the Steppe and Voronezh Fronts south of Kursk targeted at the 4.Panzerarmee and 8.Armee. The lines of the 52nd Corps were broken in the initial attacks.

Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 had another '5 in One Day' when he destroyed 4 LaGG-5s and a Yak-7 during combat over Varaovka. But Eastern Front _Geschwaders _lost another _Experte_. As he attacked a formation of Soviet IL-2s near Karatchev, Oblt. Hans Gotz of I./JG 54 (84 kills) was seen crashing his Bf 109 upside down into a wooded area and killed.

*GERMANY:* 5 Mosquitoes bombed the estimated positions of Cologne and Duisburg through cloud without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 26: In Sicily, British forces were fighting in the Catania area. The British crossed the Salso River with 2 divisions, while other forces prepared to drive on Catania and others continued toward Misterbianco. Other American forces were halted by fierce opposition at the Furiano River and Troina.

In the air, Ninth Air Force P-40s attacked shipping at Messina and supported ground forces at the north end of Mount Etna. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) medium and light bombers, and fighters attacked communications targets, gun positions, and storage areas in the Milazzo-Adrano-Biancavilla and Bronte-Riposto-Fiumefreddo areas. A number of NATAF aircraft hit rail sidings on the toe of Italy and attacked shipping off Messina, Sicily.

In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-17s bombed the submarine base at Naples in what Rome called "_the most barbarous and merciless_" raid so far: 150 people were killed. B-26s and B-25s hit the railroad bridge at Cantanzaro and rail-road at Paola.

The Canadian-built, British-registered cargo ship _'Fort La Montee' _(7,130 GRT) sank after a fire and explosion while in Algiers. _'Fort La Montee' _was loaded with a cargo of phosphorous. As soon as the fire was discovered, the ship was moved out of the harbor due to her hazardous cargo. The Acasta-class fleet destroyer HMS _'Arrow' _was standing by to render assistance when an enormous explosion destroyed the forward end of _'Fort La Montee'_. Over 100 lives were lost in _'Fort La Montee'_ and _'Arrow'_. A British submarine was eventually able to sink the after end of the freighter with gunfire. _'Arrow' _was declared a Constructive Total Loss.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 14. 33 B-26B Marauders bombed shipyards at Le Trait, France at 19:26 hours local without loss.

Lt. Karl Tauscher of 10./JG 11 was practicing high altitude air combat north of Fliegerhorst Aalborg West with another aircraft at 20-21:00 hours when his aircraft entered a shallow dive that suddenly changed to a steep dive. FW 190A-6 crashed at Egestedvej road in the Øster Halne parish killing Tauscher. The FW 190 was a 100% loss. The other aircraft returned to Fliegerhorst Aalborg West.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 5, 2008)

*5 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* At 2137 hours, USS _'Plymouth' _was hit by one torpedo from _'U-566' _about 120 miles SE of Cape Henry, Virginia. The gunboat had made a underwater sound contact while escorting a coastal convoy, just as the ship swung left to bear on the target she was struck just abaft the bridge. The ship rolled first to starboard, then took a heavy list to port with the entire port side forward of amidships in flames and sank within two minutes. The survivors were picked up by the US Coast Guard cutter USS _'Calypso' _in heavy seas and arrived in Norfolk on 6 August.

At 17.45 hours, the unescorted _'Efthalia Mari' _was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-177' _and sank after 8 minutes east of Madagascar. The ship had been spotted in the morning by using the Bachstelze autogyro. The Germans questioned survivors in a lifeboat before leaving the area.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Belgorod fell to General Konev's troops. The German 2.Panzerarmee suffered such severe losses that it was incorporated into the 9.Armee. Russia was celebrating the recapture of Orel, which had been in German hands since 1941. In Moscow a 120-gun salute was given at Midnight. The Russians, who fought hard all the way to the approaches to the city, expected a bloody street battle, but when their patrols moved cautiously in they found the suburbs deserted. The Germans, fearing being cut off, had fled. The fall of this German bastion removed the last threat to Moscow and opened the way for the next stage in the Russian advance. The tide of battle was now rolling towards Bryansk.

The German submarine _'U-34' _sinks at 2155 hours local at Memel after a collision with the German U-boat submarine tender _'Lech'_. 39 of the 43 crewmen survived. MV _'Majakovski' _(approx. 80 tons) was sunk by a mine laid on 31 July by _'U-212' _SE of Koglujew in the Kara.

The Germans started the final deportation of Jews from the Vilna ghetto with a transport to the Vaivara labour camp in Estonia.

Another 5 victories for 7./JG 52's Lt. Erich Hartmann, downing 3 LaGG-5s and 2 Yak-7s brought his score to 60 kills. Gunther Schack, also of III./JG 52, added 5 more planes destroyed to his credit during 3 sorties.

*GERMANY:* 5 Mosquitoes, out of 8 dispatched, bombed Duisburg and Dusseldorf without loss.

Oblt. Alfred Grislawski (109 kills) arrived at Jagdgruppe Sud's airfield at Erbenheim and was given command of Major Graf's special unit, 1./JGr Sud, serving as _Staffelkapitaen_.

Hptm. Manfred Meuer, _Staffelkapitaen _of 3./NJG 1 was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./NJG 5.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 27: The race for Messina and victory in Sicily was reaching the final stage. The British have fought their way around Mount Etna on both sides with the Highlanders fighting hard for Biancavilla as the XIII Corps advanced to take Catania, Misterbianco and Paterno, and XXX Corps advances towards Adrano. The Germans were leaving strong rearguards as they retreated northwards to Messina. The British were aided by forward landings by airborne forces fighting to save bridges from demolition.

The American Seventh Army used seaborne landings to bypass the Axis defenders along the north coast of the island. They opened an assault on the San Fratello ridge, and further inland gained positions overlooking Troina. The enemy withdrew from the town during the night.

In the air, USAAF Ninth Air Force B-25 _Mitchells _bombed the town, roads, and road junctions of Francavilla and shipping in the Straits of Messina. Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters and light and medium bombers attack troops, roads, and gun positions at Adrano and Troina and surrounding areas in support of Allied ground forces, hit motor transport behind enemy lines in Sicily and on the toe of Italy, and sank or damaged over 20 small vessels and barges at Milazzo and in the Straits of Messina; and Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, operating in 2 forces, hit the docks and railroad yards at Messina. B-25s bombed a switching station at Guspini, Sardinia.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* In a move which betrayed Germany's weakened position, the Swedish government announced that it would no longer allow the Swedish railways to be used to transport German troops and war material to Norway. The Swedes were forced to concede transit rights to the Germans in 1940 when the Nazi armies were sweeping to victory over most of Europe. Stockholm newspapers said that the government acted because a virtual state of war exists in Norway, with British commandos mounting raids and uniformed Allied guerrillas active.

A He 59D from 5. Seenotstaffel was sunk during a rescue of RAF pilots off Norway.

An Fw 200C-4 from I./KG 40 was reported missing near Nordkysten av Island, Norway and was probably shot down.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A Fairey Barracuda II of RAF No. 810 Squadron flying from HMS _'Illustrious'_, landed on the beach at Falcarragh, County Donegal. Due to bad weather the aircraft did not fly out until August 8th. RAF No.810 Squadron were at this time sailing to the Mediterranean on HMS _'Illustrious'_. Irish Army reports mentioned the aircraft being a Beaufort bomber but this was not operated by the RN at this time.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 6, 2008)

*6 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* At 0450 hours, the unescorted _'Fort Halkett' _was torpedoed and sunk by gunfire by _'U-185' _about 600 miles SE of Natal, Brazil. The master and 23 survivors landed south of Natal. The chief officer and 23 survivors were picked up by destroyer USS _'Goldsborough' _and landed at Recife. The second officer and ten survivors landed at Cabadello, Brazil.
_
'U-615_' was sunk by USN Mariner aircraft, Squadron VP-205/P-4. The boat was lost in a massive hunt in the Caribbean. It fought bravely for days against overwhelming odds before finally being sunk.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Konev’s forces drive to the outskirts of Kharkov taking Zolochev.

Despite achieving 19 kills since the beginning of the week, Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 destroyed only one Yak-1 shortly after 15:30 hours over Kharkov, flying from his new base at Kharkov-Rogan.

A Bf 109G-2 belonging to III./JG 5 was shot down by ground fire over Norway and the pilot, Uffz. Heinfried Wiegang, was injured. IV./JG 5 lost two FW 190s in accidents with both pilots, Uffz. Heinz Umland and Uffz. Paul Neugebauer, injured.

*GERMANY:* German civil defense officials ordered the partial evacuation of Berlin, fearing that that city would become the next Hamburg.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 28: The US 1st Infantry Division captured Tronia after heavy fighting. The "Big Red One" had a bitter, tough fight. They then pushed through the town and one mile (1.6 km) to the east before opposition halted them. The British were advancing on Adrana. They also took Biancavilla. During the night they took Adrano as the enemy pulled back.

In the air, 60+ USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bombed Bronte, Catania, and Randazzo and the area north of the Adrano-Biancavilla road; 20+ others bombed road intersections in Adrano and Bronte; and 100+ P-40s attacked shipping and shore targets in the Messina area while 30 others attacked shipping on the west coast. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed coastal roads near Messina; B-26s and B-25 Mitchells hit a road junction southwest of Badiazza and railroad bridges north of Gesso. Northwest African Tactical Air Force light and medium bombers hit roads, junctions, and buildings in the Troina, Adrano, Biancavilla, Tortorici, Bronte, Piranino, and Randazzo areas and the Bagnara, Italy area; and fighter-bombers hit shipping from Vibo Valentia south to the Straits of Messina.

At Tarvisio, Italy, the new Italian government met with German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and assured him that they would not be negotiating a separate peace with the Allies. But German troops started pouring in to take over the country's defences.

*NORTH AFRICA*: Luftwaffe bomber operations over North Africa in the weeks prior to the expected Allied landings on mainland Italy included a raid on Bizerta during the night.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Duisburg. 20 Stirlings and 14 Wellingtons went minelaying south of Texel and off Brest and the Biscay ports, 2 Stirlings lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 7, 2008)

*7 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Two German U-boats were sunk by US aircraft. _'U-117' _was sunk west of the Azores, while supplying _'U-66'_, by depth charges and a Fido homing torpedo from five USN TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Card' _(CVE-11). All hands, 62 men, on the U-boat were lost. 

'_U-615_' was attacked southeast of Curacao Island, Netherlands Antilles, on 6 August by a PBM-3S Mariner of Patrol Squadron Two Hundred Five (VP-205), based at NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The submarine was on the surface and returned fire shooting down the aircraft with the loss of all hands. A PBM-3C of VP-204, based at NS San Juan, Puerto Rico, then attacked causing moderate damage and forcing the submarine to dive. For the rest of the day and during the night, VP-204 flew continuous patrols over the area forcing the submarine to remain submerged. In the morning, _'U-615' _surfaced and a VP-204 aircraft attacked but was shot down with the loss of all hands. A second PBM attacked and caused moderate damage to both the sub and the aircraft but the PBM remained in the area until a USN PV-1 Ventura of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Thirty (VB-130), based at Edinburgh Field, Trinidad, arrived and both aircraft conducted a coordinated bombing and strafing attack sinking the sub. 43 of the 47 crewman survived and were picked up by a US destroyer the next morning. This was possibly the longest ongoing combat between a U-boat and aircraft. _'U-615's' _battle enabled many other U-boats in the Caribbean to surface and escape to the east. The aircraft were from the following squadrons; VP-204 (P-6 and P-8), VP-205 (P-2, P-11 and P-4) and VB-130 (Ventura B-5).

'_U-566_' shot down two PV-1 Ventura aircraft from VB-128. 

The _'Umvuma' _(Master John Newby Gibson), dispersed from convoy DN-54, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-181' _southwest of Port Louis, Mauritius. 17 crew members, one gunner and four passengers were lost. The master, 72 crew members, eight gunners and eight passengers were picked up by the salvage tug _'Maurice' _and landed at Port Louis.

*EASTERN FRONT:* After a short break, Lt. Erich Hartmann was back in action with multiple kills over Soviet aircraft. During a morning mission, he destroyed 2 Yak-1s. Two hours later he shot down 2 Pe-2 bombers and a Yak-1. He finished the day with 2 LaGG-5s, bringing his total for the day to 7 aircraft and a whole total of 68 kills for his scoreboard. But with success came tragedy. Fw. Heinz Kurten (15 kills) of 7./JG 52 was killed in a flying accident. Lt. Heinrich Hofemeier (96 kills) of I./JG 51 was hit by AA fire near Karatchev and killed.

*GERMANY:* 4 Mosquitoes bombed Cologne and 1 bombed Dusseldorf without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 29: British forces made good progress on Sicily, capturing Adrana and advancing toward Bronte. U.S. forces improved their positions on the north coast in the San Fratello region against heavy resistance. During the night, a small amphibious force landed on the coast 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Sant' Agata di Militello, greatly aiding progress along the coast. Other forces began a drive on Randazzo.

In the air, 150 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attacked Randazzo and 140+ P-40s attacked shipping at Messina and in the Straits, and shipping and shore-supply stores along the northeastern coast. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force medium and light bombers pounded Randazzo, the enemy's key withdrawal point. Maletto was also bombed. P-40s and A-36 Apaches strafed and bombed small craft between Sicily and mainland Italy, motor transport near Randazzo, a warehouse north of Messina, dumps on the toe of Italy, and vehicles and communications targets in the Sant' Agata di Militello, Bronte, Cesaro, Tortorici, Castiglione di Sicilia and Riposto areas. Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-25s in 2 forces hit the landing ground at Crotone while B-26 Marauders bombed the railroad bridge at Marina di Cantanzaro and highway bridge over the Angitola River.

In response to urgent political orders, 197 Lancasters of 1, 5 and 8 Groups were dispatched to attack Genoa, Milan and Turin. It is believed that every aircraft reached the target area. 195 crews returned and reported bombing. 2 aircraft were lost, one was LM339 from 61 Sqdn crewed by F/O E. Filmer, P/O H. Halkier, F/Sgt E.R. Smart, Sgt D. Brown, Sgt C.P. Southcott, Sgt D.W. Thirsk and Sgt F.E. West. Group Captain J.H. Searby of RAF No.83 Sqdn acted as Master Bomber for the bombing at Turin but with only limited success. This was a trial in preparation for the role he would play in the raid on Peenemunde later in the month. The only report available from Italy says that 20 people were killed and 79 were injured in Turin.

The _'Contractor' _(Master Andrew Brims) in convoy GTX-5 was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-371' _about 75 miles southwest of Sardinia. The master and three crew members were lost. 68 crew members and eleven gunners were picked up by HMS BYMS-2011 (J 811) (Lt L. Hutchinson), HMS BYMS-2014 (J 814) (SubLt R.R. Macintosh), HMS BYMS-2024 (J 824) (Skipper J. Hunt) and HMS BYMS-2209 (J 1009) (Lt J.G. Reeve) and landed at Malta.

The _'Fernhill' _(Master K.J. Neuberth Wie) was hit by one torpedo from _'U-757' _about 300 miles west of Sierra Leone, while she was proceeding alone after her convoy OS-52 had been dispersed off Bathurst, Gambia. The ship sank within five minutes, killing the three men on watch below and one British gunner. The survivors abandoned ship in lifeboats and rafts and were picked up two days later by an American merchant and taken to Freetown. The third engineer Nils Bremer Johannesen was taken prisoner by the U-boat, this was not noticed by the other survivors.

In combat against the Allies, the Luftwaffe lost Lt. Egon Graf von Beissel (6 kills) of 4./JG 77.

*WESTERN FRONT:* A Ju 88D-1 of 1.(F)/22 crashed at Nordkysten av Rolfsøy killing all onboard.

Oblt. Henny Passier of 1./SAGr 128 shot down a Sunderland. Twenty minutes later, Ofw. Gryz continued his run of success by claiming a Beaufighter, possibly from RAF No. 248 Sqdrn.


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## Njaco (Aug 8, 2008)

*8 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* In the morning _'U-262' _was awaiting refueling from _'U-664' _while _'U-760' _was being supplied in bad weather. At 10.11 hours, an Avenger/Wildcat team from USS _'Card' _located the boats and attacked _'U-262'_. The Wildcat (VC-1 USN, pilot Ens J.F. Sprague) strafed her while the Avenger (VC-1 USN, pilot Lt(jg) A.H. Sallenger) tried to attack with depth charges, but an AA hit in the bomb bay caused the ordnance to hung up and put the radio out of commission. Making a second run, the Avenger was hit again by AA fire and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire. The two manually dropped depth charges severely damaged _'U-262'_, but the pilot had to jettison the Fido homing torpedo and ditched the burning aircraft. The radioman went down with the Avenger, while the pilot and the gunner were picked up in the afternoon by USS _'Barry' _after being spotted by other aircraft from the escort carrier. The Wildcat was also shot down by the boat during another strafing run and crashed into the sea, killing its pilot. _'U-262' _had to abort her patrol due to the damages. _'U-664' _meanwhile, found the unalert escort-carrier USS _'Card' _in a darkness and attacked her with 3 torpedoes before the Americans noticed him and drove him under and attacked with depth charges causing no damages. 

A Beaufighter Ic belonging to RAF 2OTU Coastal Command crashed into the North Sea killing both crew members.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn of JG 52 scored his 150th kill while Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 brought his score to 70 kills when he downed a Yak-1 and a LaGG-5 during the day.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 30: Patton launched an “end run” on Sicily by landing a small amphibious force east of Sant Agata. This move surprised the Germans and they were forced to make a hasty withdrawal allowing the 7th Army forces to take Cesaro. To the east, British forces took Bronte and Acireale. Militello and Monte Camolato were also captured. 130+ P-40s hit shipping at Messina and provided ground support in NE Sicily as US and British forces pushed east and north. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light and medium bombers pounded Randazzo. Fighters hit road targets north of Etna, shipping in the Straits of Messina, and covered ground forces at Sant' Agata di Militello.

Feldmarschall Albert Kesselring ordered the evacuation of Sicily, code-named 'Unternehman Lehrgang', which had been under preparation since shortly after the fall of Mussolini. Kesselring did this without consulting Hitler, who entered no objection when word reached him the next day. Fearing that Allied landings might cut off the escape routes to Messina, the German Commander in Sicily, General Hans-Valentin Hube, had already begun evacuating the wounded and able-bodied men who could be spared from the rearguard fighting.

A week-long Allied bombing campaign against northern Italy commences. B-26s hit highway and rail bridges at Angitola, Italy, while P-38s strafed trains and other targets of opportunity SW of the town.

Mussolini was imprisoned on Maddalena Island, off northeast coast of Sardinia.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The USAAF's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Mission 15: 36 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to Nord Airfield at Poix, France but the formation was turned back by weather.


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## Njaco (Aug 10, 2008)

*9 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine _'U-664' _was sunk 570 miles (917 km) west of the Azores, by depth charges from 2 USN TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Card' _(CVE-11). 44 of the 51 crewman on the U-boat survived.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 has his score climb by 4 kills when he downed 3 Yak-1s and a LaGG-5 to bring his score to 74 victories.

*GERMANY:* 286 Lancasters and 171 Halifaxes attacked Mannheim. 6 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters were lost, including Lancaster W4236 QR-K of 61 Sqdn with part of the crew, Sgt N.T. Holmes, Sgt J. Kendall and Sgt G. Spriggs. The target area was mainly cloud covered and the Pathfinder plan did not work well. The resulting bombing appeared to be scattered. Mannheim, whose wartime officials must have produced some of the best air raid reports in Germany, sent 37 typed pages of details which showed that this raid caused considerably damage in and around the city. 1,316 buildings were classed as "totally destroyed" or "seriously damaged". 42 industrial concerns, some of them being quite large ones, suffered loss of production. The compensation claims for 9 of the factories totalled 43,815,000 Reichsmarks(£4,381,500). 269 people were killed and 1,210 were injured. There were 1,528 fires: 133 large, 417 medium-sized and 978 small fires. 8 ralway engines, 146 passenger carriages and 40 goods wagons were damaged. 144 farm animals were killed: 96 pigs, 18 goats, 15 cows, 12 horses, 2 oxen and a calf. It is a measure of the increased striking power of Bomber Command that all of the damage and casualties quoted above was caused by a medium-sized raid which is described in the Bomber Command Record Book as a 'scattered attack'.

6 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 10 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians without loss.

Some 20 high-ranking individuals banded together to form a group dedicated to the overthrow of National Socialism in Germany. Calling themselves the Kreisau Circle, after the Kreisau estate belonging to a leading member, Count Helmuth James von Moltke, they have drawn up a list of principles for post-Nazi reform. Among the points in this draft document are:


> "1. Justice, which has been trampled on, must be restored ...
> 2. Freedom of belief and freedom of conscience will be guaranteed ...
> 3. Destruction of totalitarian direction of conscience and acknowledgement of the inviolability of human dignity as the foundation for an order of peace and justice ...
> 4. The basic unit for peaceful co-existence is the family...
> 5. work must be so designed that it arouses the desire for personal responsibility rather than stultifying it..."



*MEDITERRANEAN:* Submarine HMS _'Simoom' _attacked Italian cruiser _'Giuseppe Garibaldi' _off La Spezia. The torpedoes missed the cruiser but hit and sank the destroyer _'Vincenzo Gioberti'_.

In secret negotiations between Hungry and Britain, it was agreed that RAF and American bombers flying on missions originating from Italy would not be fired on while over flying Hungry. In return, the British agreed that the Allies would not bomb Hungarian cities.

Operation 'Husky' Day 31: On the ground in Sicily, US troops reached Torrenuovo, and, to the south, drove the enemy back to the Simeto River between Cesaro and Randazzo.

In Sicily, B-25s hit Divieto and a nearby tunnel W of Spadafora San Martino, and attacked special points in the battle area of NE Sicily. P-40s hit shipping at Messina, Milazzo, and Palmi. NASAF B-17s bombed crossroads north of Messina, Sicily. NATAF bombers hit the Gesso road junction; fighters concentrated on highways and junctions and also hit all sidings and gun positions in areas around Linguaglossa, Floresta, Falcone, Patti, Orlando, Novara di Sicilia, and Milazzo.

In Italy, B-25s hit Cantanzaro and Soverato River bridges, B-26s attacked Angitola River bridges, P-40s swept over S Sardinia, and P-38s hit a lighthouse and other targets of opportunity in southern Italy.

From the 445th BS War Diary:


> "_The orderly room and practically the entire Squadron is already set up. The Operations building, which is in a Nissen hut, and the Officer’s mess hall are still under construction. This field was formerly occupied during the North African campaign by the Germans. There are several 88 mm anti-aircraft guns still as the Germans left them. There are also many evidences that the Germans were heavily bombed here as we can see wrecked fighters and bombers and bomb crates all over the field. There is also a lot of equipment in one of the olive groves along the edge of the landing field...." _



*NORTHERN FRONT:* A Ju 87D-5 of I./StG 5 was damaged during taxiing at Pori, Norway and the crew were uninjured.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* New Zealand fighter pilot Johnny Checketts of 611 Sqdn RAF, shoots down three Messerschmitt Bf109s in a single action. This will result in him being awarded the DSO. WWII air ace Johnny Checketts dies

*WESTERN FRONT:* The USAAF VIII Air Support Command Missions 16A and 16B. 72 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer, France. Clouds prevented bombing and only 1 aircraft hit the target at 1904 hours.

Eric Scavenius, the Prime Minister of Denmark, refused to accept German demands that alleged saboteurs should be sent to Germany for trial.


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## Njaco (Aug 10, 2008)

*10 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* After a short pause, Red Army forces continued their drive in the Orel area, capturing Khotinets. The attacks against Kharkov met heavy resistance compelling Konev to divert his attacks to surround the city. The skillful German defense did not impede the speed of the Soviet advance.

Oblt. Walter Nowotny was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 54.

*GERMANY:* 318 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes and 119 Stirlings attacked Nuremberg, 16 aircraft lost. The Pathfinders attempted to ground mark the city and , although their markers were mostly obscured by cloud, a useful attack developed in the central and southern parts of Nuremberg. The Lorenzkirche, the largest of the city's old churches, was badly damaged and about 50 of the houses in the preserved Altstadt were destroyed. There was a large fire area in the Wohrd district. Serious property damage, both housing and industrial, was caused and 577 people were killed.

9 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr and 18 Wellingtons went minelaying off Texel and in the Frisians, all without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 32: Patton launched a second amphibious “end run”, during the night. The US 3rd Infantry Division made an amphibious landing on the coast, outflanking the enemy east of Capo d'Orlando. The US 9th Infantry Division reached a point north of Bronte. The German’s were once again surprised, but counter attacks against the beachhead caused serious losses. In the end, the Germans were once again compelled to abandon their defenses and withdraw. US Seventh Army forces pursued the enemy to a point west of Naso near the Northern coast.

The Second Slapping Incident: While visiting the 93rd Evacuation Hospital, General Patton encountered another battle fatigue case, the second in a week. Private Paul G. Bennett, an artilleryman from the 13 Artillery Brigade was found by the General sobbing on his cot. When asked why he was at the hospital, Bennett replied,


> “_It’s my nerves, I can’t stand the shelling anymore.”_


Patton lost all control. Shaking with rage, he shouted at the man,


> “_Your nerves, Hell, you are just a goddamned coward, you yellow son of a bitch. Shut up that goddamned crying. I won’t have these brave men here who have been shot seeing a yellow bastard sitting here crying…You’re a disgrace to the Army and you’re going back to the front to fight, although that’s too good for you. You ought to be lined up against a wall and shot. In fact, I ought to shoot you myself right now, God damn you!”_


Patton then pulled his revolver from its holster and waved it in front of the terrified private. The base commander came in to settle the disturbance. Patton shouted at the man to not allow “cowards” into the hospital and slapped the private. Patton then turned to leave, but reversed course and struck Bennett again, this time hard enough to knock his helmet liner off.

B-25s attacked Randazzo, Sicily while P-40s bombed and strafed shipping on the SW coast of Italy and in the Straits of Messina.

Uffz. Max Bernhardt of 1./JG 51 (11 kills) was killed in action.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* A BV 138C-1 of 3./406 went missing, probably shot down by soviet aircraft in Norway. Another BV 138C-1 from 3./906, crashed after a catapult start at Tromsø.

A Bf 109G-2 from II./JG 5 was damaged in a crash landing at Svartnes, Norway. There were no injuries. Another Bf 109G-2 from 7./JG 5 was shot down by a Soviet P-39 at Ved Berlevåg and the pilot, Uffz. Alfred Leipersberger, went missing.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The award of a George Cross to Wing-Cdr John Samuel Rowlands (September 23, 1915 – July 23, 2006) a Welsh Royal Air Force officer, was gazetted for his great bravery in his two years of bomb and weapon-disposal work. The citation for his George Cross declared: "_For over two years, Wing Commander Rowlands has been employed on bomb-disposal duties and has repeatedly displayed the most conspicuous courage and unselfish devotion to duty in circumstances of great personal danger." _


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 11, 2008)

*11 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Three German submarines were sunk. _'U-468' _was sunk near Bathurst, Gambia, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk V of No 200 Squadron based at Yundum, Gambia. The Liberator was shot down by the U-boat crew. 7 of the 51 U-boat crewmen survived. F/O Lloyd Alan Trigg (b.1914), RNZAF, attacked this U-boat while on patrol. The U-boat fought back with its anti-aircraft guns, inflicting fatal damage on the aircraft. He died when his bomber was shot down by blistering anti-aircraft fire, but the U-boat sank soon after. (Victoria Cross).

'_U-525_' was sunk about 376 miles (605 km) west-southwest of the Azores, by depth charges and aerial torpedoes from a TBF Avenger and an F4F Wildcat of Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the US escort aircraft carrier USS _'Card' _(CVE-11). All hands on the U-boat, 54-men, were lost.

'_U-604_' was scuttled by her crew in the South Atlantic. The U-boat had been severely damaged by 4 Mark 47 depth charges from a USN PV-1 Ventura of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Nine (VB-129) based at NAF Ipitanga, Bahia, Brazil on 30 July. The crew of the PV-1 had spotted the U-boat on the surface and after attacking, the U-boat had submerged, resurfaced and submerged again. On 3 August, _'U-604' _was again attacked by PB4Y-1 Liberators of Patrol Squadron One Hundred Seven (VP-107) based at NAF Natal, Brazil and the destroyer USS _'Moffett' _(DD-362). The U-boat was so damaged that her crew scuttled her and they were taken aboard _'U-172' _and _'U-185' _for the voyage home. During the rescue _'U-172' _was attacked by an American Liberator aircraft from Squadron VB-107, one man from its crew was killed [Maschinenobergefreiter Fritz Schiemann]. 31 of the 45-man crew survived.

'_U-64_' was scuttled in the South Atlantic, after being badly damaged by depth charges from 2 American aircraft, a Ventura (VB-129) and a Liberator (VB-107). 14 dead and 31 survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Konev’s forces cut the main rail line leading into German held Kharkov. 30 miles west of Kharkov the Red Army cut the Poltava--Kharkov railroad.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 33: Last night another landing on Sicily, east of Cape Orlando, at Brolo was made by US forces. The Germans fell back quickly. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighter-bombers supported the US Seventh Army's landing east of Orlando, Sicily by attacking troop concentrations, gun positions, and communications lines leading to the area. On the ground in Sicily, US Seventh Army forces took Naso and pressed closer to Randazzo. Medium bombers supported the British Eighth Army by raiding the Fiumefreddo and Randazzo areas.

German forces began a six-day evacuation of Sicily. Over the next six days and seven nights, the Germans evacuated 39,569 troops, 47 tanks, 94 heavy guns, 9,605 vehicles and 2,000+ tons of ammunition to Italy from Messina. In addition, 60,000 Italian troops were evacuated.

In Sicily, 90+ B-25s bombed a bridge, roads, railway, and the city area in and about Randazzo. About 170 P-40s hit Randazzo, shipping at Milazzo and Messina, roads and trains near Messina, and troop movements and evacuations in NE Sicily.

In Italy, the Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) again hit communications targets on the toe of Italy; B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Terni, B-25s bombed the Angitola River bridges and B-26s and P-38s attacked a bridge at Cantanzaro.

An Me 410 of 2(F)./122 forced landed at Frosinone, and was 30% damaged.

Uffz. Gerhard Lober of Stab./JG 51 (8 kills) was killed in action.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* In Norway, a Bf 109G-2 of III./JG 5 crashed in a take-off accident with the pilot uninjured. A Bf 109G-6 of 6./JG 5 also crashed in a take-off accident but this time the pilot, Lt. Herbert Knigge, was killed.

A JU 88 belonging to 13./KG 30 on a training flight unintentionally hit the water near Fornæs lighthouse 5 kilometres south of Grenå, Denmark. The aircraft crashed in the sea 100 metres off the beach and was a 100% loss. Wop Gefr.Gerhard Leyer was injured but made it ashore while Pilot Uffz. Rudolf Wölfle, Navigator Fw. Siegfried Stadermann and Air gunner Gefr. Jacob Adler lost their lives. They were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery.

*WESTERN FRONT: *8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Duisburg. 23 Wellingtons minelaying off Brest, Lorient and St Nazaire. 1 Wellington lost.

Uffz. Friedhelm Dorf of 1./SAGr 128 had his aircraft suffer an engine failure during a non-combat flight and he died in the subsequent crash at Brest-Sud airfield.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 12, 2008)

*12 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Red Army encirclement of Kharkov continued as Soviet forces took Chuguyev and drove on Plotava. The Germans were forced to pull their last major tank force (the 3.Panzerkorps) out of the Taganrog area and move toward Plotava. Hitler ordered the construction of a fortified defensive line (Panther-Steelung) along the Dnepr River.

Stukas led by Hans-Ulrich Rudel attacked the Russian ground forces. Covering the Stukas was a flight of 8 Bf 109s from JG 52 led by Lt. Erich Hartmann. After shooting down 2 IL-2s, Hartmann's fighter was hit. He coaxed his damaged Bf 109 down for a belly-landing and removed the clock as per standing orders. His first sight was of a German truck that led him to believe he was within German lines. It turned out to be a captured vehicle being used by Russian infantry. He was quickly captured but faking a stomach pain allowed him to plan an escape. When the chance came, he jumped out of the moving truck and took off in a field of sunflower plants. The Russians gave chase but were unable to catch him and he made good his escape. He later rejoined his unit who had moved from Kharkov-Rogan to Peretschepino.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 34: The US Seventh Army continued to pursue the enemy east along the Northern coast. Further inland, US forces gained a favorable position from which to assault Randazzo, but the Germans withdrew during the night, precluding an attack. The British Eighth Army seized Maletto and Riposto.

In Sicily, 79 B-25s attacked Falcone, Patti, Novara di Sicilia, and Barcellona; P-40s bombed and strafed shipping at Messina. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) P-40s and A-36s hit shipping along the NE coast and in the Straits of Messina, attacked gun positions and vehicles at Capo Calava and east of Randazzo, and hit a bridge at Taormina and roads in the Maletto-Fiumefreddo areas. NATAF bombers attacked Patti, Falcone, Barcellona, and Nunziata.

In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-25s attacked landing grounds at Crotone, and B-26s hit Grazzanise Airfield; they claimed 9 fighters shot down. 

321 Lancasters and 183 Halifaxes raided Milan, 3 aircraft lost. Bomber Command considered that this was a successful raid. Milan only provided a general report which stated that, during August 1943, 4 major factories, including the Alfa-Romeo motor works, the main railway station and the La Scalaopera house were all badly hit and that 1,174 people died in air raids during 1943. Most of these results probably occurred on this night.

112 Stirlings, 34 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters attacked Turin, 2 aircraft lost. The raid was described by the crews involved as 'heavy and concentrated'. Turin reported only 18 people killed and 83 injured. One of the bravest Victoria Crosses was one on this night. A Stirling of 218 Sqdn was badly damaged by a burst of fire while approaching Turin. The navigator was killed and several members of the crew were wounded, including the pilot, Flight Sergeant Arthur Louis Aaron whose was struck in the face by a bullet which shattered his jaw and tore part of his face away. He was also injured in the chest and his right arm could not be used. The flight engineer and the bomb aimer took over the controls of the aircraft and set course for North Africa although one engine was useless, the pilot was out of action having been dosed with morphia and the navigator was dead. The Stirling reached the coast of Africa and Flight Sergeant Aaron insisted on returning to his seat in the cockpit to help prepare for the landing. Twice he tried to take over the controls and, although he had to give up this attempt, he continued to help by writing down instructions for landing with his left hand. He could not speak. Under Aaron's guidance, in great pain and at the limits of exhaustion, the Stirling landed safely at its fifth attempt at Bone airfield with its wheels up. F/S Aaron died 9 hours later. It was considered that he might have survived if he had rested after having been wounded instead of insisting on helping his crew. The wireless operator, Sergeant T. Guy and the flight engineer, Sgt M. Mitcham were each awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. It was later established that the machine gun fire which struck the Stirling was fired by a nervous tail gunner in another bomber. Flight Sergeant Aaron was 21 years old and came from Leeds.

Luftwaffe aircraft attacked convoy MKS 21 off the coast of Algeria, strafing and holing U.S. freighters SS _'Jonathan Elmer'_ and _SS 'Anne Bradstreet'_. U.S. freighter _'Francis W. Pettygrove' _was torpedoed and partially abandoned, the survivors that cleared the ship were taken on board RN minesweeper HMS _'Hythe'_. The rest of the crew and Armed Guard remained on board to prepare the ship for tow.

*UNITED KINGDOM: *A Hurricane fighter operating from Milfield airfield, in Northumberland crashed in a grass field at Kimmerston Farm, near Wooler, owing to engine trouble. The pilot was unhurt. The aircraft suffered damage to its propeller and undercarriage.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the first daylight Allied bombing raid in nearly two weeks, 330 B-17s from 16 Bomb Groups were sent to the Ruhr industrial area. One group of bombers, the US 1st BW became scattered and tried for other targets while the rest of the formations were dispersed by heavy flak around Solingen. The escorting P-47 fighters failed to provide effective cover for the scattered groups and the Luftwaffe engaged the bombers. Along with I. and II./JG 26 attacking the bombers were Major Graf's Bf 109s of Jagdgruppe Sud and fighters from all three _Gruppen _of JG 1. The Americans lost 25 bombers while the Luftwaffe lost 2 fighters, an Fw 190 from 8./JG 26 and another from II./JG 1. One of the victors was Uffz. Jan Schild who claimed his first victory despite being engaged in combat for over a year of operations through France, the Low Countries and the Eastern Front. Although he had claimed 4 previous 4-engined bombers, this was his first to be confirmed.

7 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 24 Wellingtons minelaying off Brittany ports. 1 Mosquito and 2 Wellingtons lost.


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## Njaco (Aug 13, 2008)

*13 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet Army captured Bolshaya and Danilovka in their advance. A new offensive began in the Smolensk area and Spas-Demensk, west of Kirov fell.

The new _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 54, Oblt. Walter Nowotny scored 9 kills over the Soviets during the day.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 35: On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh Army entered Randazzo without opposition. Coastal forces continued east toward Patti. NASAF B-17s bombed a marshalling yard at Lorenzi, and B-25s and B-26s hit a marshalling yard at Littoria; other B-25s hit a vessel off Pizzo. P-40s flew a sweep over Sardinia, strafing small boats, a power station, and railroad junction. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light and medium bombers bombed Piedimonte, Italy, Falcone, Sicily, and bridges north of Scaletta, Sicily. A-36s and fighters hit targets in NE Sicily, the Straits of Messina and on the toe of Italy, including Gioia Tauro, Italy and in Sicily, the Barcellona road junction E of Randazzo, the marshalling yard and trucks at Spadafora, trucks between Taormina and Baracca, and barges, ferries, and small vessels in the Strait of Messina.

80+ B-25s hit Piedimonte, Italy, Falcone, Sicily, and shipping at Messina, Sicily. 200+ P-40s attacked shipping and bridges along the SW Italian coast and hit shipping in the Straits of Messina.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The Luftwaffe experienced the loss of several aircraft in Norway through various reasons. A FW 190A-3 and a FW 190A-2 from IV./JG 5 were both lost in landing accidents at Sola. One pilot, Uffz. Wolfgang Kind, was injured. A Bf 109G-2 of III./JG 5 crashed for unknown reasons north of Kirkenes, wounding the pilot, Fw. August Lütking. A Ju 88D-1 from Wekusta 1 Ob.d.L. collided with a awire and crashed, killing the entire crew. Another Ju 88A-4 belonging to 12./KG 30 was damaged at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 61 B-24s hit the Messerschmitt works at Wiener Neustadt in the first Ninth Air Force raid on Austria. Almost no defending fighters intercepted the formation. Unknown to the Allies at the time, the factory was manufacturing rocket components.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 14, 2008)

*14 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Russian forces pushing on in ever increasing strength following the recapture of Bielgorod, have taken the southern outposts of the great Ukrainian city of Kharkov. The Germans defending the city were now in great danger of being cut off as Russian tanks worked their way behind their lines. The continuing Russian offensive, part of their master strategy after the great victory at Kursk, involved 120 Russian divisions. Many of these divisions were absolutely fresh and were thrown against Field Marshal von Manstein's battered army of only 42 divisions. The Russian commanders, General Konev and Vatutin, thrusting hard at the join in the German line between the 4.Panzerarmee and the _Kampfgruppe_, have split them apart and were pouring men through the gap. The apparently inexhaustible supply of Russian divisions was being supported by equally strong aerial formations. There were now 100 Russian air divisions, with 10,000 aircraft patrolling the battlefield. Faced by swarms of Russian planes, the Luftwaffe, forced to withdraw squadrons to defend Germany from Allied bombers, was finding it increasingly difficult to support the Wehrmacht. The question for the German high command now was where to find the reserves to stop the teeming Russians.

The Russian 3rd Mountain Division crossed the Kerch strait by ferries and regrouped in Crimea, and 6th Mountain Battalion was assigned to defend the southern shore of Azov Sea, in the gulf of Kazantip.

*GERMANY:* 7 Mosquitoes carried out a nuisance raid on Berlin without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 36: US and British units captured Randazzo, Sicily. US troops sped east along the coast to the Barcellona area.

NASAF P-38s swept the toe of Italy but find little enemy movement. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighters, and medium and light bombers hit a refueling depot at Nicola and near Gesso, Sicily, a road junction N of Palmi, Italy, shipping in the straits and along the W coast of Italy N to Gioia, and numerous targets of opportunity in NE Sicily and S Italy as the enemy continued an orderly evacuation from Sicily to mainland Italy across the Straits of Messina. B-25s attacked road junctions and vehicle concentrations along the NE coast of Sicily and bombed a crossroads N of Palmi, Italy. P-40s hit shipping in the Milazzo and Messina, Sicily areas and along the Italian coast in the Palmi area.

In the evening 134 British bombers attacked Milan, Italy. 140 Lancasters of 1, 5 and 8 Groups carried out another attack on Milan, claiming much further damage. 1 Lancaster lost. Perhaps only a general report was provided by the authorities.

On orders from General Eisenhower, Lt-Gen Patton apologized to soldiers whom he had struck in a hospital.

Submarine HMS _'Saracen' _suffered flooding after heavy depth charge attacks by Italian torpedo boats _'Euterpe' _and _'Minerva' _off Bastia. Unable to control buoyancy, the crew assemble in the control room to make their escape at the surface, and _'Saracen' _sinks after being abandoned.

German agents watched with more than usual suspicion earlier this week as a senior Italian general flew here for secret talks with the British ambassador. The subject was the new Italian government's anxiety to declare Rome an open city after a second day of heavy bombing by Allied aircraft. Simultaneously, another Italian general was meeting Field Marshal Rommel on the Italian frontier, apparently with the same object in mind. Although the new prime minister, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, announced the news to delighted Romans tonight, Allied sources in Algiers said that they had received no official confirmation that Rome would be "open". A spokesman said that a city could be regarded as "open" only when all ministries, government agencies, military organizations and war industries had gone.


> "_As long as Rome continues to be a German military communications centre, it will constitute a legitimate objective of Allied bombings," _


he said. Many cynical observers believe that Badoglio's declaration should be interpreted as proof that Italy will continue to fight on and has no intention of seeking peace with the Allies.

*NORTHERN FRONT: *A Bf 109G-2 of II./JG 5 was damaged in a landing accident at Salmijärvi, Norway and the pilot, Lt. Martin Stahlschmidt, was injured.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* While visiting Roosevelt in Hyde park, Churchill and FDR agreed that British and American scientists would completely share all efforts involved in the development of the atomic bomb.

Polish C-in-C General Sosnkowski visited RAF No. 315 (Polish) Sqdrn on its Squadron's Day. The 14th August was accepted as Squadron Day to memorize the most outstanding victory of the Squadron, when, on this day in 1941, in a fight over France, they destroyed 8 enemy aircraft, had one probable and another damaged, all without loss. Gen. Sosnkowski decorated 14 pilots with the Polish Cross of Valour, and 2 who were awarded the Virtuti Militari – the highest Polish military award. After lunch, the General addressed the Squadron in the Hangar in a very hearty speech, and then stayed to converse most freely with all ranks.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 61 B-24s, on loan from the US Eighth Air Force, bombed the Bf 109 factory at Wiener-Neustadt, Austria.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 15, 2008)

*15 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Popov’s Bryansk Front captured Karachev in heavy fighting.

Lt. Erich Hartmann of III./JG 52 destroyed a Pe-2 bomber and 2 LaGG-5s to bring his score to 78 kills.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Operation 'Husky' Day 37: On Sicily, Patton attempted for a third time to trap German forces facing him with an amphibious “end run”. This time, the Germans had already withdrawn before the sea borne force could land. US Seventh Army troops landed on the Sicilian north coast northwest of Barcellona during the night of 15/16 August to block the enemy withdrawal. The US 3d Infantry Division headed along the north coast to Spadafora. Meanwhile, British forces occupied Taormina. British Eighth Army troops completed a drive around Mount Etna as the Randazzo-Linguaglossa road was closed. Linguaglossa was taken.

In Sicily, B-25s hit shipping along the beaches of Sant' Agata di Militello; 180+ P-40s attacked shipping at Messina and in the Straits of Messina. Enemy forces withdrawing to mainland Italy were pounded severely by constant air attacks. German AA along the Straits around Messina damaged 28 of 96 Allied bombers trying to stop the evacuation.

In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-25s and B-26s bombed Sibari railroad junction and marshalling yard, and P-38s hit trains, troops, radar, and Staletti railroad tracks and tunnel. P-40s attacked a bivouac area near Monserrato, Sardinia.

199 Lancasters continued the offensive against Milan, claiming particularly concentrated bombing. 7 aircraft were lost, mostly to German fighters which were awaiting the bombers' return over France. Lancaster ED 722 of 61 Sqdn was lost, crew lost were P/O J.H. Miller, P/O W. Richards, F/Sgt E.H. Gunders, Sgt E.A. Hall and Sgt J.R. Harrison. Also, W5002 with crew F/O T. Downing, P/O C. Larnach, F/Sgt J.E. Walden, Sgt K. Brentnall, Sgt J. Griffin and Sgt G.A. Angwin. And DV186 with F/O F. Clough, P/O R. Steer, F/Sgt J.D. Pigeau, Sgt A. Hulmes, Sgt P. Salmond, Sgt R.A. Scott and Sgt H.F. Webster.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Ninety-one German bombers hit Portsmouth.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Italian officials meet with Allied representatives in Spain, offering to defect to the Allies as soon as the invasion of the mainland occurs. They must have forgotten their promise to Ribbentrop on the 6th.

The US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 19A, 19B and 20 against targets in France and the Netherlands. 31 B-26B Marauders bombed Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer France at 0959 hours. 36 B-26Bs were dispatched against Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands. They turned back at the Dutch coast aborting the mission. 19 B-26Bs attacked the marshalling yard at Abbeville, France at 1933 hours.

The VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 82 against Luftwaffe airfields in France and the Netherlands. 147 B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked Vlissingen Airfield in the Netherlands and Amiens and Poix Airfield in France at 1926-1931 hours. 143 B-17s bombed Merville, Lille/Vendeville and Vitry en Artois Airfields in France at 1925-1933 hours; 2 B-17s were lost.

Jagdgruppe Sud was officially renamed JG 50 and thrown into the latest Allied daylight attack - the attack on airfields in France.

An RAF Halifax crashes on a secret mission to supply the Maquis, killing crew and civilians and damaging property.

8 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 63 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel and off all the main Brittany and Biscay ports. 2 Wellingtons and 1 Stirling were lost.

A Wellington X belonging to PAF (RAF) 300 Sqdn Bomber Command was engaged in a mine-laying operation off the Frisian Islands. Four minutes before reaching the target area the starboard engine caught fire. The operation was however continued, but 20 minutes later the bomber was attacked by a German night fighter and crashed into the North Sea off Borkum. Pilot F/S M. Rech and W/Op-Air Gnr. F/S C. Poddany survived and managed to get into the aircrafts dinghy in which they drifted for eight days before being sighted and rescued by the German Kriegsmarine to become POW. Two Wellington bombers were lost on this night and Lt. Heinz Grimm of 12./NJG 1 claimed two Wellingtons off Vlieland at 00:07 and 00:36 hours.

Combat occurred over the Brest peninsula in the afternoon as Allied fighters swept the area. 'Circus 51' was flown by bomb carrying Whirlwinds of RAF No. 263 Sqdrn, escorted by various fighter units. The Whirlwinds were tasked with bombing Guipavas airfield. RAF No. 193 and 266 Sqdrns were to operate as a free-lance escort but the Whirlwinds were recalled due to bad weather. Not knowing the mission was scrubbed, No. 193 and No. 266 Sqdrns continued on to the Brest peninsula. Over the area, No. 266 Sqdrn spotted enemy aircraft approaching and 6 Typhoons turned to engage. No. 193 had turned to head home when it found No. 266 tangling with Fw 190s.

On the night of the 15th, two rangers from RCAF No. 410 Sqdn went out from Castle Camps (used as an advanced base for night Operations) on the Squadron’s first operation with bombs; their target was St.Dizier aerodrome. Lawrence and Wilmer dropped their two 250-lb bombs on the runway and, on the return flight, attacked a train near Paris. Cannon and machine-gun strikes were seen, followed by a vivid blue flash. The second crew, P/O R.D. Shultz and F/O V.A. Williams, did not reach St. Dizier, but had an exciting sortie nonetheless. First three locomotives and three freight cars were damaged between Clermont and Poix and a bridge was bombed; then, 20 miles off Beachy Head on the way home, they met another aircraft and closed to investigate. It proved to be a Do.217 whose under gunner opened accurate fire on the Mosquito. Schultz engaged in a long chase while the enemy pilot tried to shake off pursuit. His second burst hit around the Dornier's cockpit where fires broke out and burning debris fell away. Three, perhaps four, of the crew were seen to bale out. Then, as the Dornier turned toward the French coast in a shallow controlled dive, Schultz fired again. The starboard wing and engine broke away and, completely enveloped in flames, the bomber hit the sea where it continued to burn brightly. After taking some cine camera films of the scene and reporting the position of the crew, Schultz headed for home. En route he flew over an Air/Sea Rescue launch already on its way to the crash.

S/Ldr A. S. McIntyre was shot down and killed. F/Sgt Derek Erasmus, a Rhodesian and McIntyre's Number Two, attacked the Fw 190 and shot it down. He then attacked a number of German aircraft and claimed one damaged. He returned to base alone and belly-landed his damaged Typhoon at Portreath. Three other No. 266 pilots closed formation and headed for home at low altitude. Crossing the French coast they found aircraft approaching from the rear. The 3 Typhoons turned to engage but in doing so, F/O F. B. Biddulph stalled and crashed into the sea. The remaining two Typhoons then engaged the German aircraft and became separated. F/L Wright damaged one German fighter. P/O Haworth's two starboard cannon had jammed and 2 Fw 190s continually attacked him. He eventually managed to escape the German and return home.

1./SAGr 128 became involved in this combat along with some III./JG 2 Fw 190s. The German fighters 4 fighters but lost two pilots. Ofw. George Seivert and Ofw. Hans Gryz were both shot down and killed by No. 266 Typhoons.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 16, 2008)

*16 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Popov’s Bryansk Front continued to make good progress in the Smolensk area, capturing Zhidra, near Bryansk. Far to the south, the Southwest Front opened a fresh set of attacks against the Mius River line.

The pilots of III./JG 51 lost their _Gruppenkommandeur _, Hptm. Richard Leppla whe he was seriously injured in combat against the Soviets. But lost forever were 3 _Staffelkapitaen _of the _Geschwader _when they were killed during the day's combats.

A Ju 88D-1 from 4(F)./122 failed to return from the Krymskaya area and was believed to have been shot down by AA-fire.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 38: Montgomery attempted an “end run” on the east coast of Sicily but it failed to prevent the Germans from making a successful withdrawal. US reconnaissance forces entered Messina. Nearly 100,000 Axis troops were successfully evacuated from the island. Another 46 out of 96 Allied bombers trying to stop the evacuation were damaged by German AA guns in the straits including over 30 fighter-bombers.

86 US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the Messian area and 100+ P-40s hit shipping at Messina and in the Straits of Messina, as the enemy continued the withdrawal of rear guard troop to mainland Italy. Before midnight, US patrols entered Messina, which was under fire from the Italian coast.

The armed U.S. freighter SS _'Benjamin Contee' _was hit by an aerial torpedo 16 miles (25.7 km) north of Bone, Algeria. The ship was carrying 1,800 Italian POWS, 26 British guards and 7 US Army security men. the explosion kills 264 POWS and injures another 142. The ship was in no danger of sinking and later returned to service only to become a sunken block ship at Normandy 10 months later.

154 British bombers attack Turin, Italy during the evening. 103 Stirlings, 37 Halifaxes and 14 Lancasters attacked Turin, 4 aircraft lost. Crews claimed a concentrated attack on Turin, including damage to the Fiat motor works but the city's casualties were much lower than in recent raids, only 5 dead and 56 injured. This raid concluded the Bomber Command attacks on Italian cities which had commenced in June 1940.

Allied high command agreed that Italy should be the next target, quickly before a massive German build-up of forces could take place.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 179 B-17s and 1 YB-40 were dispatched to Le Bourget air depot in the Paris area. 171 hit the target at 0929-0937 hours and claimed 29-3-11 Luftwaffe aircraft. 4 B-17s were lost and 46 damaged. The mission was escorted all the way to the target by P-47s using drop tanks. 66 B-17s were dispatched to Poix and Abbeville Airfields. All 66 hit the targets at 0911-0923 hours and 38 aircraft were damaged with no casualties. 36 B-26s were dispatched to Bernay St Martin Airfield. 31 hit the target at 1117 hours and 2 aircraft were damaged.

JG 2 lost Ofw. Herbert Gumprecht (6 kills) of 11./JG 2 when he was killed in action.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 17, 2008)

*17 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 met with American Lend-Lease aircraft when he destroyed 3 Russian P-39s during afternoon missions. Combined with a LaGG-5 that was brought down in the early morning, Hartmann's score now stood at 82 kills.

*GERMANY:* The Regensberg / Schweinfurt Raid: On the one year anniversary of its first mission, the US VIII Bomber Command launched its most complex mission of the war. In an effort to destroy the production facilities of German fighters, over 350 bombers (formed into 2 divisions, the 1st and 3d BD) took to the skies in a dual effort to bomb both a Messerschmitt plant in Regensberg and the ball bearing plant at Schweinfurt. 376 B-17s were to make the initial penetration as one force then split with 230 B-17s attacking Schweinfurt and returning to England. The remaining 146 B-17s would attack Regensberg and then continue to Allied bases in Algeria. Timing was critical in an effort to divide the defending Luftwaffe forces. But events went badly from the beginning. While the Regensberg bound 3d BD was taking off, the Schweinfurt bound 1st BD was grounded by fog and unable to take-off for 3 hours. This meant that the forces would be attacking separately and German fighters, rather than being divided, could concentrate on each force, sequentially. Shortly after 10:00 hours the 3d BD crossed the Dutch coast and met the first of 3 Luftwaffe groups with about 60 fighters. The Fw 190s of II./JG 1 and JG 26 were the first to make contact and Major Borris, _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 26 destroyed the first bomber after a frontal attack. After this first encounter, 4 B-17s had been shot down and 2 more bombers fell to flak. Crossing into German airspace, the Luftwaffe waited until the escorts turned back and continued the attack. Over Wiesbaden, Major Graf's JG 50 sent 25 Bf 109s along with scores of Fw 190s and Bf 109s, some flown by instructors from training units in the area. Head-on attacks followed by attacks from the rear hit the 100th BG very hard. Oblt. Grislawski of 1./JG 50 downed 2 B-17s for his first victories in the west. More _Gruppen _of German fighters joined in the attack, including Bf 110s from II./NJG 1 and after 90 minutes, 14 B-17s were shot down. But the bombers reached their target and dropped accurately. The bomber formation continued on to Algeria loosing 7 more planes for a total of 24 bombers lost from a force of 146. Luftwaffe fighters landed and refueled and the OKL ordered more fighter _Gruppen _from the north and other areas to contact the Regensberg force on its return flight. But instead this mass of German fighters met the 1st BD on its way to Schweinfurt. Not waiting until the escorts left, the first fighters into the battle were from JG 11. Over 300 re-armed and refueled fighters from JG 1, JG 2, JG 11, JG 26, ZG 26 and 1./NJG 1 - twice as many fighters as those who flew against the morning bomber formations - met the Americans. Passing over Eupen, the worst fighter attacks occurred and 15 B-17s were lost. The air was full of blazing planes, cannon fire and rockets as the B-17s fought their way through, their formidable half-inch machine guns covering each other, closing up the formation as stricken aircraft staggered and fell out of position. The bombers suffered heavy casualties. The bombers made it to the target, released their bombs then turned for home, back through the cauldron of German fighters. Reaching Eupen, the first escorting P-47s arrived and tore into the German fighters. Fw 190s from II./JG 26 met the Thunderbolts of the US 56th FG and clashed over Lutych. Major Wilhelm-Ferdinand 'Wutz' Galland (55 kills), _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 26 was shot down and killed in a crash near Maastricht. Two more B-17s were shot down. III./JG 3 led by Hptm. Walther Dahl were in their first action since the Eastern Front and was attacked by Spitfires from RAf No. 222 Sqdrn., who had their best day since 1940. Five Bf 109s from JG 3 were shot down including _Ritterkreuztrager _Lt. Hans Schleef, who survived. Oblt. Dahl had to crash-land near Capperath. III./JG 1 claimed 12 bombers at a loss of 5 Bf 109s. The final loss to the American bombers was devastating. 60 B-17s were shot down and another 168 severely damaged. Most heavily hit were groups the 91st BG which lost 10 planes and the 381st BG which lost 11. Although the Allies claimed 288 German fighters destroyed, the Luftwaffe suffered 27 fighters lost. Heavy damage was caused at several of the Allied targets It took approximately 4 weeks to repair the damage at the Messerschmitt plant at Regensberg. Production of the Me 262 had to be relocated to Oberammergau near the Bavarian Alps. Delivering the temperamental Jumo 004 turbojets was even more troublesome.

The Peenemunde Raid: The RAF sent 324 Lancasters, 218 Halifaxes and 54 Stirlings to attack Peenemunde, the German research establishment on the Baltic coast where V-2 rockets were being built and tested, during the night. This was the first raid in which 6(Canadian)Group operated Lancaster aircraft. 426 Squadron dispatched 9 Mark11 Lancasters, losing 2 aircraft including that of the squadron commander, Wing Commander L. Crooks, D.S.O, D.F.C., an Englishman who was killed. The raid was carried out in moonlight to increase the chances of success. There were several novel features. It was the only occasion in the second half of the war when the whole of Bomber Command attempted a precision raid by night on such a small target. For the first time there was a Master Bomber controlling a full scale Bomber Command raid. Group Captain J.H. Searby of 83 Squadron, 8 Group, carried out this task. There were three aiming points - the scientists' and workers' living quarters, the rocket factory and the experimental station - and the Pathfinders employed a special plan with crews designated as 'shifters' who attempted to move the marking from one part of the target to another as the raid progressed. Crews of 5 Group, bombing in the last wave of the attack, had practiced the 'time and distance' bombing method as an alternative method for their part in the raid. The Pathfinders found Peenemunde without difficulty in the moonlight and the Master Bomber controlled the raid successfully throughout. As a diversion, 20 Mosquitoes were sent over Berlin, dropping massive amounts of flares as if Berlin was the target. 148 twin-engined nightfighters and 55 single-engined fighters - the first night with the _'Wilde Sau' _up in full strength - were dispatched. Searching the skies over Berlin, they found nothing except to be fired on by the city's flak batteries. Unfortunately, the initial marking and bombing fell on a labour camp for forced workers which was situated 1 1/2 miles south of the first aiming point but the Master Bomber and the Pathfinders quickly brought the bombing back to the main targets which were all bombed successfully. 560 aircraft dropped nearly 1,800 tons of bombs. 85% of this tonnage was high explosive. After the first bombs fell on Peenemunde, the fighters raced to intercept the bombers. Pouncing on the final wave of British bombers, several pilots increased their scores. Lt. Dieter Musset of 5./NJG 1 destroyed 4 bombers out of a group of 8. Major Ehle of II./NJG 1 claimed 2 bombers. Along with the _'Wilde Sau' _tactic, the _'Zahme Sau'_ tactic was also used for the first time. Another innovation used for the first time against the British bombers was the _'Schrage Musik' _gun installation. Mounted on Bf 110s from II./NJG 5, 2 MK-108 cannon fired obliquely upward from behind the cockpit and were used to good effect. Two of these aircraft found the bomber stream flying home from Peenemunde and are believed to have shot down 6 of the bombers lost on the raid. Uffz. Holker of 5./NJG 5 brought down 2 bombers using this arrangement. In total the RAF lost 40 bombers with another 32 damaged. Most of the casualties were suffered by the aircraft of the last wave, which included 61 Sqdn, when the German night fighters arrived in force. The groups involved were 5 Group which lost 17 of its 109 aircraft on the raid (14.5%) and the Canadian 6 Group which lost 12 out of 57 aircraft (19.7%). This raid set back the V-2 experimental programme by at least 2 months and reduced the scale of the eventual rocket attacks. Approximately 180 Germans were killed at Peenemunde, nearly all in the workers' housing estate and 500-600 foreigners, mostly Polish, were killed in the workers' camp where there were only flimsy wooden barracks and no proper air raid shelters. The losses were considered an acceptable cost for the successful attack on this important target on a moonlit night. Although the grounds of the rocket center were damaged, neither the vital testing blocks nor the construction drawings were destroyed. But the attack did cause a delay in another Luftwaffe project. A group of 30 pilots were due to arrive there to begin training to fly the Me 163. _Erprobungskommando 16_ (EK 16), an operational training unit commanded by Major Spate was formed in July 1943 and had 8 Me 163s to work up. The unit had to move to Bad Zwischenahn before the pilots arrived as a result of the bombing.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation 'Husky' Day 39: Patton’s 7th Army marched into Messina, followed closely by Montgomery’s 8th Army, thus completing the conquest of Sicily for the Allies. During the 39-day campaign, the Axis forces suffered 167,000 casualties (37,000 German, 130,000 Italian). Allied losses were 25,000. Most deemed this a great Allied victory, but in retrospective, it was a bitter one in that, had the Allied planning been more bold, they easily could have destroyed all of the forces on the island rather than allowing so many to escape. The Germans left in an orderly evacuation. The booty of captured weapons, fuel and ammunition was huge; but nothing could compensate for the sight of the civilian population emerging from cellars and other hiding places to see their beloved Messina almost flattened by not only Allied bombs and artillery but also, now, shells from the Italian mainland. The fall of Sicily paved the way for the stepped-up air offensive against Italy.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 18, 2008)

*18 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine _'U-403' _was sunk in the mid-Atlantic Ocean near Dakar, by depth charges from a French Wellington Mk XIII of the RAF's No 344 Squadron based at Quakram Airfield, Dakar, French West Africa. All hands, 49 men, on the U-boat were lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Oblt. Walter Nowotny of JG 54 claimed his 150th victory and was now number 16 on the Experten list. Following close behind was JG 52's Lt. Erich Hartmann who had 3 kills to bring his total to 85 victories.

*GERMANY:* In East Prussia, an early morning phone call from the chief of Luftwaffe operations staff, General Rudolf Meister to Generaloberst Hans Jeschonnek informed him that Peenemunde had been raided by the RAF. Jeschonnek called his personal adjutant Major Werner Leuchtenberg and ordered him to the rocket-testing ground. His secretary waited for the Generaloberst to join her at breakfast. After an hour, Frau Lotte Kersten called his room but received no answer. Going to his room, she found Jeschonnek dead of a pistol shot. A note found by Leuchtenberg stated in Jeschonnek's handwriting; "_I can no longer work together with the Reichsmarschall. Long live the Fuhrer!" _General Gunther Korten was named in Jeschonnek's place as the new chief of the general staff.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US cruisers and destroyers bombarded Palmi and Gioai Taura. P-40s attack motor transport between Scilla and Bagnara, and bombed shipping off Scilla. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) fighters and medium bombers hit barracks and railroad at Gonnesa, sank a small vessel in the Golfo di Sant' Eufemia and bombed and strafed a railway station, bridge, and tracks at Soverato, bridges and a road junction at Angitola, and highway and road junction at Staletti. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) air-planes hit gun positions and road and rail transport in S Italy.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 5, Hptm. Heinrich Ehrler, flew to Petsamo to fly with his old _Staffel_, 6./JG 5. Under his leadership it had become the famed "_Expertenstaffel_", a nickname earned when half of its pilots had been credited with dozens of individual scores within a short time. Taking to the skies in a Bf 109G-6 marked "Gelbe 12", Hptm. Ehrler scored 3 victories over Russian aircraft to bring his score to 115. But 6./JG 5 lost Fw. Christian Stolz when he was shot down by flak in his Bf 109G-6 over Motovski.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VIII Air Support Command in England flew Missions 25A and 25B against 2 Luftwaffe airfields without loss. 22 B-26B Marauders bombed the Vlamertinge Airfield at Ypres, Belgium and 32 B-26Bs attacked Woensdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands.

30 Wellingtons went on leaflet raids to France without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 19, 2008)

*19 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Aircraft of Composite Squadron Twenty Five (VC 25) from the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Croatan' _(CVE-25) attacked the German submarine _'U-134'_, northwest of the Azores, but the sub escaped.

*EASTERN FRONT:* After three days of heavy fighting, the Soviet Southwest Front broke through the German defenses on the Mius River line.

A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 4(F)./122 was shot down by a fighter in the Kuban bridgehead area.

Hptm. Max Stotz of II./JG 54 (189 kills) baled out of his damaged fighter over Vitebsk and was never seen again. At JG 53, Jens Bahnsen (18 kills) was killed in action against the Russians.

At Kutanikowo, Lt. Erich Hartmann of 7./JG 52 destroyed 3 more Russian aircraft including a Lend-lease P-39.

*GERMANY:* 8 Mosquitoes went to Berlin, 1 aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The US Ninth Air Force in North Africa sent about 70 B-24s to bomb the marshalling yard at Foggia, Italy. The Northwest African Strategic Air Force dispatched 150+ B-17s to bomb the Foggia marshalling yard, while almost 100 medium bombers hit marshalling yards at Sapri and Salerno. The bombers, and escorting P-38 Lightnings claimed 34 enemy planes shot down, against 8 losses.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* A Bf 109G-2 from 9./JG 5 was shot down by friendly fire north of Kirkenes. The pilot, Fw. Hans Thomann, was killed.

Ofw. Rudolf Trenkel of Erganzung-Jagdgruppe Ost was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for achieving 76 victories. The _Staffelkapitaen _of 12./JG 5. Hptm. Friedrich-Wilhelm Strakeljahn (9 kills), recieved the _Ritterkreuz _for his outstanding leadership.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* German bombs were scattered widely over the country, some falling in Yorkshire.
*
WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command in England both fly missions. The US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 27A, 27B and 28 against 3 Luftwaffe airfields in France without loss. 36 B-26B Marauders bombed Glisy Airfield at Amiens, 35 B-26s attacked Nord Airfield at Poix and 36 B-26s were dispatched to Bryas Sud Airfield but the target was obscured by cloud and the mission was aborted. Fighters from 4./JG 26 intercepted the escorting Typhoons and shot down 3 of the planes without loss.

The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 85 against 3 Luftwaffe airfields in The Netherlands. 38 B-17s attacked Gilze-Rijen and 55 hit Flushing, losing 4 B-17s. Escort was provided by 175 P-47 Thunderbolts of the 4th, 78th, 56th and 353d FGs who claimed 9-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft but 1 P-47 was lost. 45 B-17s were dispatched to Woensdrecht Airfield but weather prevented them hitting the target. Luftwaffe fighters from JG 26 went sent to intercept but the escorts gave them a rough time. 3 Fw 190s were shot down before reaching the bombers.

U.S. General Bedell Smith, Eisenhower's Chief of Staff, and British General Kenneth Strong arrived in Lisbon to continue discussions with the Italians about surrender negotiations. General Giuseppe Castellano heads the Italian delegation. Castellano wanted an agreement that would allow Italy to join the Allies and fight the Germans. He's shocked when the Allies insist on unconditional surrender.


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## Njaco (Aug 20, 2008)

*20 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet encirclement of Kharkov continued. Red Army forces captured Libedin, west of Kharkov. A Soviet Army spearhead in northern Ukraine plunged 75 miles (120,7 kilometres) beyond Kharkov and threatened to trap German forces in the wrecked city. Hitler ordered Kharkov to be held at all costs. Since losing 3,000 panzers and 1,200 planes during last month's disastrous Battle of Kursk, the outnumbered and outgunned Germans were unable to contain Soviet offensives along a 600-mile (965,6 kilometer) front from central Russia to the Black Sea.

*GERMANY:* At Peenemunde, the head of rocket research was found dead, shot by an unknown assassin.

The _'Wilde Sau' _units, formerly known as _JG Hermann_ were given a permanent unit designation, JG 300.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Ninth Air Force B-24s attacked a railroad station, marshalling yard, and air depot at Cancello Arnone. US Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26 Marauders and B-17s bombed marshalling yards at Villa Literno and Aversa. The P-38 escort also attacked Aversa. NASAF aircraft claimed 20+ enemy fighters shot down. Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26 Marauders hit the Capua and Aversa marshalling yards, while B-25 Mitchells bombed the Benevento marshalling yard.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* A state of siege was proclaimed throughout Norway. Army officers were rounded up for deportation to PoW camps in Germany, and the Oslo police commissioner was shot dead. Gunnar Eilifsen, the police commissioner, repeatedly disobeyed an order to provide men to arrest Norwegian women for compulsory labour in war industries. There was now widespread defiance of German rule. Of the 35,000 new workers demanded by the Germans only 4,000 were found.

Uffz. Karl Mayerhofer of II./JG 5 was injured when he had a landing accident in his Bf 109G-2 at Svartnes.

*UNITED KINGDOM: *The air echelon of the 22d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), 479th Antisubmarine Group, arrived at Dunkeswell, England from the US with B-24s. The ground echelon remained in the US, then moved to Utah in Sep 43 where it was inactivated.


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## Njaco (Aug 21, 2008)

*21 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-134' _was attacked by Wildcat and Avenger aircraft from the escort-carrier USS _'Croatan' _escorting convoy UGS 14. The boat escaped.

The Allies, while building up for Overload (D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944) established a new troopship convoy route called UT. This was a fast and heavily escorted convoy route averaging 15 knots.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet forces captured Zmiev, south of Kharkov. Field Marshal von Manstein warned Adolf Hitler that the Soviet Army's crunching offensives may overwhelm out-numbered German forces in the Ukraine. Wehrmacht intelligence determined 287 Soviet divisions were battering 52 German divisions.

Oblt. Walter Nowotny of JG 54 scored 7 kills over Russian aircraft.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Ninth Air Force B-24s attacked a railroad station, marshalling yard, and air depot at Cancello Arnone. US Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26 Marauders and B-17s bombed marshalling yards at Villa Literno and Aversa. The P-38 escort also attacked Aversa. NASAF aircraft claim 20+ enemy fighters shot down. NATAF fighter-bombers hit traffic on the Bovalino-Bagnara road.

The _'Lily' _was sunk by _'U-596' _with eight shells from her deck gun about 20 miles north-northwest of Beirut. At 12.42 hours, the _'Panikos' _was sunk by _'U-596' _with 25 rounds from the deck gun. And at 15.00 hours the _'Namaz' _was sunk by _'U-596' _with 13 rounds from the deck gun.

*NORTH AFRICA:* In Algeria, Maj. André Gilbert Kempster (b.1916), Duke of Wellington's Regiment, threw himself on a grenade which had rolled into his trench - he died instantly.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Riots, strikes and sabotage paralyzed Copenhagen and other Danish cities and towns. The Germans rushed 40,000 troops from Norway to quell the disturbances.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 21, 2008)

*22 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* German forces, threatened with encirclement at Kharkov begin to withdraw from Kharkov. Manstein has persuaded Hitler to relax his "stand firm" policy.

A Ju 88D-1 from 4(F)./122 was damaged in combat and belly landed at Fp.Bagerovo.

*GERMANY:* 12 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr and 6 to Hamburg. 47 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel without loss.

Albert Speer reported to Adolf Hitler on the damage to the rocket research facilities at Peenemünde. The extensive damage resulted in Germans moving the rocket testing to Poland, and production to central Germany. Hitler ordered that mass production of rockets be relocated to Blizna near Debice in Poland. The damaged buildings were successfully used as camoflage for continued work. An estimated two months of V-2 rocket output was lost, about 720 rockets, potentially saving 3600 lives. 

257 Lancasters, 192 Halifaxes and 13 Mosquitoes attacked Leverkusen. 3 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost. Lancaster DV228 of 61 Sqdn, which had survived the Peenemunde raid, was one of the losses with the crew of P/O J.A. Spencer, Sgt S.J. Banting, Sgt R. Horwood, Sgt E. Johnson, Sgt J. Punter and Sgt T.F. Watkins. The I.G. Farben factory at Leverkusen was chosen as the aiming point for this raid and it was hoped that some of the bombs would hit this important place. But the raid was not successful. There was thick cloud over the target area and there was a partial failure of the Oboe signals. Bombs fell over a wide area. At least 12 other towns in and near the Ruhr recorded bomb damage. Dusseldorf was the hardest hit of these other places. 132 buildings were destroyed and 644 seriously damaged. Solingen reported 40 people killed and 65 injured. Only a few bombs fell in Leverkusen where 4 people were killed. The I.G.Farben factory received only superficial damage in the acid department. 5 Germans were injured in the factory and 1 foreign worker was killed.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26s, with an escort of Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) A-36 Apaches, bombed the marshalling yard at Salerno, Italy; they claimed 26 enemy fighters destroyed.

The German submarine _'U-458' _was sunk southeast of Pantelleria, Italy, by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS _'Easton' _and the Greek destroyer HHMS _'Pindos'_. 39 of the 47 U-boat crewmen survived.

All fighter and medium bomber groups of the US Ninth Air Force were transferred to the US Twelfth Air Force.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* In an incident very similar to that of August 12th this year , yet another Hurricane operating from Milfield airfield, in Northumberland, crashed in a field at Kimmerston Farm, near Wooler at 17.00, owing to engine trouble. The aircraft damaged a fence on crashing and in turn suffered damage to its propeller and undercarriage.

Short S.25 Sunderland Mk. III, s/n DD848 assigned to No. 201 Squadron based at Castle Archdale, County Fermanagh, Ireland, crashed on the lower slopes of Mount Brandon on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry at 0530 hours. This aircraft had taken off at 0330 hours in a flight of four Sunderlands to fly ASW patrols in the South Atlantic. The aircraft was flying off course, below the minimum safety altitude and in low clouds when it crashed. Three of the 11 crewmen aboard survived.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VIII Air Support Command in England flew Missions 30A and 30B against 2 Luftwaffe airfields in France. 35 B-26B Marauders attacked Beaumont-le-Roger Airfield and 36 B-26's were dispatched to Nord Airfield at Poix. They all returned early when they were unable to contact the escort fighters, RAF Spitfires.

A V-1 was fired from a He 111 for testing purpose and landed on the Danish island of Bornholm, northwest of Bodilsker church at 13:05 hours. The yellow painted V-1 touched down in a grass field and bounced across a small road to end up in a turnips field belonging to Klippedam farm. This was reported to the police in Nexø and Constable Johs. Hansen and Explosive expert Lt. Captain Hasager Christiansen prepared to drive to the location. Not until they were ready to go did Hansen inform the Wehrmacht as was his duty. This gave them a 15 minute advantage which was used to take several pictures of the V-1 and to put down a very detailed description in writing. By 15:00 hours the wreck had been removed by the Wehrmacht. This material was soon after sent to London via Sweden.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 22, 2008)

*23 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The 40th Escort Group, consisting of sloops HMS _'Landguard'_, _'Bideford'_, _'Hastings' _and frigates HMS _'Exe'_, _'Moyola' _and _'Waveney' _were deployed on a U-boat hunt off Cape Ortegal. Light cruiser HMS _'Bermuda' _covered the whole operation. On the 25th, the Canadian 5th Support Group, consisting of frigates HMS _'Nene'_, _'Tweed' _and corvettes HMCS _'Calgary'_, _'Edmundston' _and _'Snowberry' _were deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group. While this was in progress the ships were attacked by 14 Dornier Do-217's and 7 Ju-88's with the new German weapon, the Henschel Glider Bombs, (the "Hs293 A-1"). Designed by the German Professor Herbert Wagner. HMS _'Landguard' _and _'Bideford' _were the first of the Allied and RN ships to be attacked and damaged by them. Several sailors were injured on _'Bideford' _and one sailor was killed.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Red Army forces entered Kharkov, the fourth, and last time the city would change hands in this war. The Germans attempted to launch a spoiling attack, but this was met by the newly reconstituted 5th Guards Tank Army and beaten back. Troops of General Konev's Steppe front took the city after Field Marshal von Manstein pulled his XI Corps out in defiance of Hitler's orders that Kharkov had to be held at all costs. Von Manstein had no alternative. His soldiers were about to be cut off by immensely superior Russian forces sweeping round the city, and he knew that the men of XI Corps were of more value to him than the shattered ruins of Kharkov. In the south, General Tolbhukin had broken the German line at the river Mius and was driving for the Donets bason with the aim of recovering the area's mineral riches and cutting off the German forces still in the Crimea and the Kuban bridgehead. The Germans admitted that a "Soviet spring flood" was pouring through a gap smashed in their lines at Mius. The fall of the city effectively ended the Battle of Kursk. A massive 224-gun salute by the Red Army thundered out in Moscow in celebration of the recapture of the principal city of the Ukraine.

The Soviet motor torpedo boat TK 94 sank the Finnish minelayer _'Riilahti'_ in the Baltic Sea. 24 men, including commander, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Lt.-Cdr Osmo Kivilinna were lost.

The crews of III./JG 52 moved yet again, leaving Kutanikowo for the airbase at Makejewka.

*GERMANY*: The Battle of Berlin: RAF bombers once again took to the night skies over Berlin. This was the opening of a new Bomber Command terror campaign which would come to be known as “The Battle of Berlin”. 335 Lancasters, 251 Halifaxes, 124 Stirlings and 17 Mosquitoes attacked Berlin, 56 aircraft were lost. The Mosquitoes were used to mark various points on the route to Berlin in order to help keep the Main Force on the correct track. A Master Bomber was used. He was Wing Commander K.H. Burns of RAF No.97 Squadron. Wing Commander Burns was blown out of his Lancaster when it was shot down near Berlin a week later and lost a hand. Bomber Command suffered its greatest loss of aircraft in one night so far in the war. The raid was only partially successful and was badly scattered but still managed to kill over 900 people. The Pathfinders were not able to identify the centre of Berlin by H2S and marked an area in the southern outskirts of the city. The Main Force arrived late and many aircraft cut a corner and approached from the south west instead of using the planned south south east approach. This resulted in more bombs falling in open country than would otherwise have been the case. The German defences, both flak and night fighters were extremely fierce. Much of the attack fell outside Berlin. 25 villages reported bombs with 6 people killed there and in the sparsely populated southern suburbs of the city. Despite this, Berlin reported the most serious raid of the war so far with a wide range of industrial, housing and public properties being hit. 2,611 individual buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. The worst damage was in the residential areas of Lankwitz and Lichterfelde and the worst industrial damage was in Mariendorf and Marienfelde. These districts are all well south of the city centre. More industrial damage was caused in the Tempelhorf area, nearer the centre, and some of those bombs which actually hit the centre of the city fell by chance in the 'government quarter', where the Wilhelmstrasse was recorded as having not a building undamaged. 20 ships on the city's canals were sunk. Casualties in Berlin were heavy considering the relatively inaccurate bombing. 854 people were killed. 684 civilians, 60 service personnel, 6 air raid workers, 102 foreign workers (89 of them women) and 2 prisoners of war. 83 more civilians were classified as missing. The city officials who compiled the reports found out that this high death rate was caused by an unusually high proportion of the dead not having taken shelter, as ordered, in their allocated air raid shelters. With the first of the Berlin raids, the 'Wilde Sau' concept was fully realized. Every available night-fighter including all servicable 'Wilde Sau' fighter became airbourne to intercept the Berlin raiders. On the ground, searchlights brilliantly lit up the sky and gun batteries had been issued incandescent rockets to launch, providing even more illumination. With the raiders illuminated by all this, the night-fighters destroyed 56 of the attacking bombers.

The fate of one Halifax lost on the Berlin Raid: Halifax V DK261 crashed near the island of Mandø on 24/8 1943

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit a marshalling yard at Bari and Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26 Marauders bombed the Battipaglia marshalling yard.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Quebec, Canada: The "Quadrant" conference between Mr. Churchill, President Roosevelt and the Canadian prime minister, Mr. Mackenzie King, and their staffs ended with a decision to press for a "second front" against Germany in France. This invasion, to be codenamed "Overlord", would be the top priority. The communiqué issued today said that "_the whole field of world operations_" had been surveyed, and the "_necessary decisions have been taken to provide for the forward action_" of Allied forces. Mr. Churchill had favoured a number of operations, against Norway and in southern Europe by continuing the offensive in Italy; the Americans wanted a frontal assault in France. A study was to be made of a landing in southern France. There were also strategic differences over the conduct of the war in South-east Asia, where the US generals want to invade Burma, while Mr. Churchill wants to attack Sumatra. Again the Americans won the argument, although the new South-east Asia Command (SEAC) to direct operations in Burma would likely be headed by a Briton. Preparations for a new offensive in Burma would now proceed, along with a second campaign behind Japanese lines by Brigadier Wingate's Chindits. Britain also approved US plans for the next stages of the Pacific War.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: On the slopes above Slieveglass, above Brandon village, Dingle Peninsula, a Short S.25 Sunderland III of RAF No. 201 Sqdn crashed at about 06:00 on a hill side. Several crewmen were killed. The wreckage was completely burned out except for the tail but was abandoned where it was after the recovery of some ordinance.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 40 Wellingtons went minelaying in the Frisians and off Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 25, 2008)

*24 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The US Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command was redesignated I Bomber Command and reassigned to the First Air Force after the USAAF and US Navy reached an agreement under which the USAAF withdrew from antisubmarine operations.

Two German submarines were sunk. _'U-134' _was sunk in the North Atlantic near Vigo, Spain by 6 depth charges from an RAF Wellington Mk XIV of No 179 Squadron based at Gibraltar. All 48 men on the U-boat were lost. _'U-185' _was sunk in the mid-Atlantic, by depth charges from 3 USN TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron Thirteen (VC-13) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Core' _(CV-13). 22 of the 51 crewmen in the U-boat survived.

*EASTERN FRONT:* On the first mission of the day, Hptm. Erich Rudirffer of II./JG 54 shot down 5 Russian aircraft. On the second mission he downed another 3 Russian aircraft to bring his total for the day to 8 kills. Uffz. Georg Kauper of 10./JG 5 went missing and was presumed killed.

*GERMANY:* SS Chief Heinrich Himmler was promoted to Reichminister of the Interior by Hitler. Neurath resigned as Protector of Bohemia and Moravia with Frisch as his replacement.

6 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 42 aircraft went minelaying off Brest and the Biscay ports without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighter-bombers hit a railroad tunnel and a cruiser offshore at Sibari, tracks and buildings at Castrovillari, and the town area at Sibari. RAF Desert Air Force airplanes strafed motor transport north of Reggio di Calabria and provided withdrawal cover for the NATAF fighter-bombers.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The USAAF's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command in England flew missions to France. US VIII Air Support Command Missions 33A and 33B: B-26B Marauders flew 2 diversions for the VIII Bomber Command B-17s. An air depot and airfields in France were targeted by the US VIII Bomber Command in Mission 86 Part I. 110 B-17s were dispatched to the Villacoublay Air Depot. 86 hit the target at 1800-1805 hours and claimed 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 42 B-17s were dispatched to the Conches and Evreux/Fauville Airfields and a B-17 was lost.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 86 Part II had 85 B-17s, which had flown to North Africa after attacking Regensburg, Germany on 17 August, dispatched to the Merignac Airfield at Bordeaux. 58 hit the target at 1157-1200 hours and claimed 3-3-10 Luftwaffe aircraft. 3 B-17s were lost. Nine B-17s returned to North Africa after encountering difficulties.

There were several bomb incidents in Copenhagen, Denmark and strikes in shipyards, courtesy of the Danish resistance.

A Bf 110G-2 of 8./ZG 26 collided with another Bf 110G-2 from 8./ZG 26 north of the Frisian islands and crashed into the North Sea with the loss of both crews.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 26, 2008)

*25 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine _'U-523' _was sunk west of Vigo, by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS _'Wanderer' _and the corvette HMS _'Wallflower'_. 37 of the 54-man crew of the U-boat survived. _'U-340' _rescued 5 Luftwaffe airmen off Spain. Shortly afterwards the boat was attacked by an aircraft and a few men were wounded, the boat being damaged.

German warships attack and sink two Swedish trawlers in Danish waters.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Red Army forces pursued the retreating Germans occupying Zenkov and Akhtyrka, west and north of Kharkov.

The Soviet _'Shkval' _(Senior-Lt V.S. Timofeev) struck two mines laid on 12 August by _'U-625' _in the east part of the Yugorskij Shar Strait in the Kara Sea and sank immediately. The ship provided a transfer of river ships from Pechora to Ob´ river.

*GERMANY:* The Arado 234 V3 jet bomber made its first flight. This aircraft had a pressurized cabin, an ejector seat and RATOG (Rocket Assisted Take-Off Gear).

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Foggia while about 135 Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and 140 P-38 Lightnings attacked satellite airfields at Foggia. The P-38s of the US 1st FG swept in on a low level attack and destroyed 43 Ju 88s, 1 Ju 52 and 1 Bf 109 along with dozens of others damaged for the loss of two Lightnings to flak. Unwilling to expose their aircraft and pilots to the free ranging Lightnings, the Luftwaffe found itself on the ground at Foggia when another 136 B-17s with P-38 escort blasted the complex into ruin. As many as 47 aircraft were destroyed on the ground. Major Johannes Steinhoff of Stab./JG 77, intercepting the Allied force, accounted for 4 P-38s destroyed while 3 B-17s fell to pilots from JG 53 and JG 3.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force was assigned to the role of bombing important Luftwaffe targets in Operation STARKEY, designed to contain enemy forces in the west to prevent their transfer to the Eastern Front, and to serve as a dress rehearsal in the Pas de Calais, France area for the invasion of western Europe. The Allies hoped to provoke the Luftwaffe into a prolonged air battle.

The US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 34A and 34B against two targets in France. 21 B-26B Marauders bombed the power station at Rouen and 31 B-26s attacked Tricqueville Airfield. They claimed 1-8-5 Luftwaffe aircraft.

In a military first, the Germans test a new guided bomb, the Hs293, in the Bay of Biscay. The Canadian 5th Support Group, consisting of frigates HMS _'Nene'_, _'Tweed' _and corvettes HMCS _'Calgary'_, _'Edmundston' _and _'Snowberry' _were deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group. While this was in progress the ships were attacked at 1415 hours by 14 Dornier Do-217s of Hptm. Molinus' II./KG 100 and 7 Ju-88s with the new German weapon, the Henschel Glider Bombs, (the "Hs293 A-1"). Designed by the German Professor Herbert Wagner, the device, launched from a bomber, was guided by radio signal from an airborne observer to the target. HMS _'Landguard' _and _'Bideford' _were the first of the Allied and RN ships to be attacked and damaged by them. Several sailors were injured on _'Bideford' _and one sailor was killed. The initial test failed to hit the ship, but the system did show great promise.

32 aircraft went minelaying off Brest and the Biscay ports without loss.


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## Njaco (Aug 26, 2008)

*26 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet submarine SC-203 was sunk near Cape Uret in the Baltic Sea by a torpedo from Italian submarine SB.4. All hands were lost.

*GERMANY:* Stalag 383, Bavaria: Two British prisoners made a daring escape from this camp yesterday by walking out of the gate wearing home-made German uniforms and carrying forged passes. The escapers, Lance-Sergeant Suggit of the 5th (Inniskilling) Dragoon Guards and Sergeant Beeson of the RAOC, had to bring their attempt forward a day because there was so much activity, masterminded by the escape committee, that their original plan would have clashed with an attempt by others to "go over the wire". They made their German uniforms from Australian tunics dyed green with dyes acquired from the camp theatre. Their badges were made of cardboard covered in silver paper, and their medal ribbons cut out of tin coloured with red and black ink. A friendly guard from Alsace lent them his papers so that they could be forged. At dusk tonight, with sandwiches in their fake holsters, they walked nonchalantly out of the gate.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* JG 5 lost several aircraft during the day. A Bf 109G-2 from II./JG 5 was damaged during taxiing at Petsamo and a Bf 110F-2 from 13.(Z)/JG 5 crashed at Kirkenes with no injuries. A Bf 109G-2 from I./JG 5 crashed and the pilot Obfhr. Benno Schmieder was wounded.

*MEDITERRANEAN: *The RAF's Desert Air Force (DAF) was assigned to the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF), along with US units of the Ninth Air Force which have been an operational part of DAF and Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force (NATBF).

80+ Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-17s, with P-38 escort, bombed Capua Airfield and 100+ fighter-escorted medium bombers hit Grazzanise Airfield and satellite field.

At 22.16 hours, _'U-410' _fired a spread of three torpedoes at the convoy UGS-14 off La Calle, Algeria, heard three hits and reported two ships sunk and another damaged. In fact, the _'John Bell' _and _'Richard Henderson' _were sunk. The _'John Bell' _(Master David Dunlap Higbee) had been in station #52, but changed the to station #32 in the afternoon as the convoy was reformed into four columns to pass through minefields. The ship was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side between the #4 and #5 holds in a compartment with aviation gasoline. The explosion ignited the cargo, the flames rose 25 feet above the holds and spread rapidly aft and slowly forward. The most of the eight officers, 35 crewmen and 29 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship immediately in five of the six lifeboats. But five armed guards on the stern had to jump overboard and swam to the boats. The ship was soon ablaze from stem to stern and burned for nine hours before sinking stern first. The survivors were picked up within 45 minutes by the British minesweeper HMS BYMS-23 and the South African armed whaler HMSAS _'Southern Maid' _(T 27) and landed at Bizerte on 27 August. The only casualty was an oiler who had been trapped in the shaft alley. The _'Richard Henderson' _(Master Lawrence Joseph Silk) had been in station #43, but changed to station #22 in the afternoon as the convoy was reformed into four columns to pass through minefields. The ship was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side, aft of the #5 hatch. The explosion destroyed the quarters of the gun crew, blew away the rudder and screw and flooded the engine room. As the vessel began to settle slowly by the stern, the engines were secured and the eight officers, 34 crewmen and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in six lifeboats. The ship sank by the stern after five hours. The next morning, three lifeboats made landfall at La Calle, Algeria. The remaining survivors in the other three boats were rescued by escort ships, among them the South African armed trawler HMSAS _'Southern Maid' _(T 27) and landed on 27 August at Bizerte, Tunisia.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* HQ 67th Fighter Wing arrives at Walcot Hall, England from the US. The wing will remain at this station until Oct 45. HQ 20th Fighter Group arrives at Kings Cliffe, England from the US. The group will remain at this station until Oct 45. The 359th and 360th Fighter Squadrons, 356th Fighter Group, arrive at Goxhill, England from the US with P-47's.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VIII Air Support Command Mission 35: 36 B-26's are dispatched to Caen/Carpiquet Airfield, France; all hit the target at 1846 hours; 1 B-26 is damaged beyond repair when it crashes on landing.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 27, 2008)

*27 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* USN Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Card' _(CVE-11) has a busy day with German submarines. TBF Avengers and F4F Wildcats attacked _'U-508' _but the sub escaped. Later, they sank _'U-847' _in the Sargasso Sea, by air-launched (Fido) torpedoes. All hands, 62 men, on the U-boat were lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet offensive contiued as the Central Front took Sevsk and Vatutin’s forces took Kotleva. Field Marshal von Manstein told Adolf Hitler that his Army Group South can't hold off the Soviet offensives in southern Russia and Ukraine. He urged falling back to the Dnieper, the largest river in the western Soviet Union. Hitler insisted the Donets area must be held.
_
'U-354'_ fired a single torpedo at a Soviet convoy consisting of four merchants and two patrol boats and heard a detonation after 1 minute 55 seconds and two further detonations five minutes after firing a spread of three torpedoes at 20.22 hours. The U-boat saw after the attack only two merchants and one escort and claimed the sinking of two ships. In fact, the _'Petrovskij' _was only damaged. 

*GERMANY:* 349 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes and 104 Stirlings attacked Nuremberg, 33 aircraft lost. The marking for this raid was based mainly on H2S. 47 of the Pathfinder H2S aircraft were ordered to check their equipment by dropping a 1,000 lb bomb on Heilbronn while flying to Nuremberg. 28 Pathfinder aircraft were able to carry out this order. Heilbronn reported that several bombs did drop in the north of the town soon after midnight. The local officials assumed that the bombs were aimed at the industrial zone. Several bombs did fall around the factory area and other bombs fell further away. No industrial buildings were hit. One house was destroyed but there were no casualties. Nuremberg was found to be free of cloud but it was very dark. The initial Pathfinder markers were accurate but a creepback quickly developed which could not be stopped because so many Pathfinder aircraft had difficulties with their H2S sets. The Master Bomber, whose name is not recorded, could do little to persuade the Main Force to move their bombing forward. Only a quarter of the crews could hear his broadcasts. Bomber Command estimated that most of the bombing fell in open country south-south-west of the city but the local reports said that bombs were scattered across the south-eastern and eastern suburbs. The only location mentioned by name was the Zoo which was hit by several bombs. 65 people were killed.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-17s bombed the Sulmona marshalling yard, and medium bombers hit the Benevento and Caserta marshalling yards. Nearly 150 P-38s escorted the bombers. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) medium and light bombers, and fighters attacked targets in S Italy, including Cantanzaro rail and road junction, guns near Reggio di Calabria, Sibari rail junctions, Cetraro marshalling yard, barracks at Tarsia, train and repair shops at Paola, and a barge at Diamante.

Fighting broke out between the Germans and elements of the Italian 15th Corps in Ljubljana, Slovenia after the Italians refused to withdraw from the city.

A British reconnaissance group found the toe of the Italian boot had been deserted by German and Italian forces and was open for invasion.

The Badoglio government secretly moved former dictator Benito Mussolini to a mountaintop resort in the Apennine mountains 70 miles (112.7 kilometres) east of Rome. For the past month, Mussolini's guards moved him from place to place to foil German rescue schemes.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* A Douglas DC 3 belonging to ABA Sweden on a Passenger flight to Bromma Sweden, crashed at Skagerak. Radio contact with the aircraft which was named ”Gladan” was lost at approx. 01:30 English time. It was believed that Lt. Karl Rechberger of 12./NJG 3 claimed this aircraft at 23:41 hours Danish time at 5100 metres altitude in Plan Quadrat FT-72 which is located west of Hirtshals. At 00:30 hours the crew of the rescue launch of Hirtshals were alerted and at 01:05 the boat with a German marine onboard left for a search South West of Hirtshals, presumably looking for a German aircraft. At 09:15 the launch returned to Hirtshals without having found anything.

*SOUTH AMERICA:* A Junkers Ju.52/3m, msn 5459, registered PP-SPD to the Brazilian airline VASP (Viacao Aerea Sao Paulo S.A.), struck a building and crashed at Rio de Janeiro; 3 of the 21 aboard the aircraft survived.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* An RAF Coastal Command Liberator Mk. V, RAF s/n BZ802, aircraft "V" of No. 86 Squadron based at Aldergrove, County Antrim, Ireland, crashed at Kilmacown, County Cork in poor weather. Seven crewmen were killed. 

The last Westland Wallace (K 4344) biplane target-tug was 'struck off charge' by the RAF.

The 77th and 79th Fighter Squadrons, 20th Fighter Group, arrive at Kings Cliffe, England from the US with P-38's. The squadrons will fly their first mission on 28 Dec 43.

*WESTERN FRONT:* US VIII Bomber Command Mission 87: 224 B-17s were dispatched to the German rocket-launching site construction at Watten, France and lost 4 B-17s. The bombers thoroughly destroyed the site. The mission escort consisted of 173 P-47s and they claimed 8-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 P-47 was lost and the pilot was listed as MIA. This was the first of the Eighth Air Force's missions against V-weapon sites (later designated NOBALL targets).

US VIII Air Support Command Missions 36A - 36B: Two missions were scheduled to targets in France. 36 B-26s were dispatched to the Poix Nord Airfield and 21 B-26s were dispatched to the Rouen Power Station but the mission was aborted because of bad weather and extremely heavy enemy fighter opposition.

47 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off La Pallice, Lorient and St Nazaire, 1 aircraft was lost.

Ex French president Lebrun was arrested by the Gestapo. Lebrun deferred to the National Assembly's 10 July 1940 vote approving Marshal Henri Petain as head of state and then he retired to Vizille in the Italian zone of occupation. He was arrested after the Germans moved in and deported to Austria from 1943 to 1945. He survived the war and met with de Gaulle shortly after the war ended to acknowledge the General's leadership.

A second operation using the new Luftwaffe guided missle weapon brought a better result that the first operation on 25 August. Sloop HMS _'Egret'_, HMCS _'Athabaskan'_, a Tribal-class destroyer, Capt. G.R. Miles, OBE, RCN, in company with three other British warships, was attacked in the Bay of Biscay by 16 German Dornier Do-217 bombers from II./KG 100, each carrying one HS-293 radio-controlled bomb. HMS _'Egret'_, the name ship of her class of sloops, was hit. When the smoke of the initial explosion cleared, all that could be seen of _'Egret' _was her upside down bow section. _'Egret' _was thus the first ship to be sunk by a guided missile. Three missiles were launched at _'Athabaskan'_. Two were near misses - one missed astern and the other skimmed over the bridge and landed to starboard. The third hit the port side abaft ‘B-turret’, flew straight through the wheelhouse and the CPO’s Mess, exited the starboard side and exploded after hitting the water. There was extensive damage from the missile, exploding cordite in the gun house, and shrapnel. Amazingly, only four men were killed and another 36 were wounded. _'Athabaskan' _was dead in the water for about two hours. She was transferred the survivors from _'Egret' _and detached for Plymouth, which she reached under her own power on 30 August after a very difficult voyage. Two German Do-217s were shot down and another was damaged in this engagement. _'Athabaskan' _was under repair until 01 Jan 44. HM ships _'Grenville'_, the flotilla leader for the U-class fleet destroyers, _'Rother' _and _'Jed'_, both River-class frigates, were undamaged in the engagement.


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## pbfoot (Aug 27, 2008)

HMCS Athabaskan was not a lucky ship she was sunk by freindly fire from an RN MTB late April 44 while battling a couple of KM Destroyers in the Channel


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## Njaco (Aug 29, 2008)

*28 AUGUST 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Red Army forces captured Lyubotin. Taganrog on the Sea of Azov was evacuated by German troops.
_
'U-18' _fired one torpedo at the TSC-11 _'Dzhalita'_, observed a hit under the aft mast after 1 minute 55 seconds and further detonations as the ship sank quickly by the stern about 25 miles northwest of Poti. The survivors were picked up by the Soviet coastal minesweeper SKA-0108.

Flying from his airbase at Makejewka, Hptm. Gunther Rall, _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 52 downed his 200th aircraft during his 555th mission, becoming the 3d Luftwaffe pilot to do so. But the _Geschwader _lost another _experte _when Lt. Berthold Korts of 8./JG 52 (113 kills) was listed as missing in action and believed killed.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s hit the Orte marshalling yard, and B-26s bombed Torre Annunziata. Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters escorted the NASAF bombers, hit a rail junction at Bagnara, bridge and town of Angitola, gun positions in the Villa San Giovanni-Reggio di Calabria areas, and a marshalling yard at Lamezia.

III./KG 100 was equipped with 'Fritz X' mounted Do 217K-2s and started operations over the Med.

A Me 410 from 2(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie. Two crew, Ofw. Alexander Kaschub and Uffz. Werner Kirchoff were missing.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The formation of USN combat units for the employment of assault drone aircraft began within the Training Task Force Command as the first of three Special Task Air Groups was established. The component squadrons, designated VK, began establishing on 23 October.

*UNITED KINGDOM: *US Eighth Air Force Major General William E Kepner succeeded Major General Frank O Hunter as Commanding General US VIII Fighter Command.

*WESTERN FRONT: *The Danish government of Prime Minister Erik Scavenius, resigned and the Danish Army was disbanded after the Danes refused to yield to a German demand that saboteurs be executed. General von Hanneken declared marshal law and moved in 50,000 troops as sporadic fighting was reported. Most of the Danish fleet was scuttled, preventing its capture by the Germans. 1 coast defence ship, 9 submarines, a tender, 3 minesweepers and 4 minelayers, were scuttled at Copenhagen and a coast defence ship was scuttled at Isefjord. A patrol boat, 3 motor minesweepers and 9 small auxiliary vessels sortied to Sweden; the German captured 3 minesweepers and 2 patrol boats.

Ofw. Addi Glunz of 4./JG 26 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _with 40 victories over western front aircraft.


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## B-17engineer (Aug 29, 2008)

*29 August 1943*

*GERMANY:* 4 Oboe Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 4 to Duisburg, 1 aircraft lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 30, 2008)

*30 August 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine _'U-634' _was sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, by depth charges from the RN sloop HMS _'Stork' _and the corvette HMS _'Stonecrop'_. All hands on the U-boat, 47-men, were lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The withdrawal in the south began as Taganrog on the Sea of Azoz was abandoned by the Germans. Further to the north, the Soviets rolled forward in the Smolensk area. The Soviet Army scored two more victories as it took Taganrog and Yelnya, a road center on central Russia's Desna river and moved to cut off the Germans in the Crimea. Since the defeat of German panzer divisions at Kursk, the Heer hasn't been able to halt the Soviet tanks that repeatedly have gouged huge holes in its defenses.
_
'U-18_' attacked the Soviet SKA-0132 with the 20mm AA gun and scored several hits before the U-boat had to break off the attack because a floodlight from the coast dazzled the Germans.

*GERMANY:* 297 Lancasters, 185 Halifaxes, 107 Stirlings, 57 Wellingtons and 14 Mosquitoes attacked Monchengladbach and Rheydt, 25 aircraft lost. This was a 'double' attack with a 2 minute pause after the first phase while the Pathfinders transferred the marking from Monchengladbach to the neighboring town of Rheydt. It was the first serious attack on both towns. The visibility was good and the Oboe assisted marking of both targets was described in Bomber Command's records as a 'model' of good Pathfinder marking. The bombing was very concentrated with little creepback. Approximately half of the built up area in each town was destroyed. Only short reports were available from Germany. Monchengladbach recorded 1,059 buildings destroyed - 171 industrial, 19 military and 869 domestic with 117 people killed. The town's telegraph office was the only building mentioned by name. The number of buildings destroyed in Rheydt was given as 1,280 with damage to the main railway station and many rail facilities being stressed and with 253 people being killed. A further 2,152 people were injured and 12 were missing but these last figures were combined ones for the two towns.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The German General Staff ordered Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's forces to occupy Italy if the Badoglio government surrenders.

B-17s of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force bombed Viterbo Airfield and B-25s hit the Civitavecchia marshalling yard. P-40s strafed a radar station at Pula, Sardinia. Also in Italy, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers attacked marshalling yards at Marina di Cantanzaro and Paola, and gun emplacements and bivouac south of Reggio di Calabria and A-36 Apaches bombed marshalling yards at Sapri and Lamezia.

In a massive air battle over Italy, 44 US P-38 fighters of the 1st FG, escorting B-26 medium bombers of the 319th and 320th BGs ran into 75 Luftwaffe fighters. The two fighter groups fought as the bombers went on to obliterate the marshalling yards at Aversa. The Americans lost 13 fighters to the German 9. This battle featured substantial inflated claims on both sides. Luftwaffe pilots from JG 53, JG 3 and JG 77 claimed to have shot down at least 32 P-38s and 2 Marauders. The 1st FG claimed 8 Bf 109s including one each from JG 77 and JG 53.

The _'Nagwa' _was shelled by _'U-596' _and sank within three minutes. 

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The 482d Bombardment Group (Pathfinder), a Pathfinder (PFF) group fitted with British Oboe and H2S and US H2X blind-bombing equipment, becomes operational.

*WESTERN FRONT:* A FW 190A-2 from 11./JG 5 crashed at Sola and the pilot, Uffz. Reinhard Neugebauer, was killed. A Bf 109G-2 from IV./JG 5 also crashed but the pilot survived. A FW 190A-4 from 10./JG 11 was 40% damaged when it overturned during landing at Fliegerplatz Aalborg Ost due to pilot error. The pilot was unharmed.

The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Mission 38: 33 B-26B Marauders bombed an ammunition dump at Foret d'Eperlecques near Saint-Omer, France without loss.

OTU crews made the first of a series of small raids in which they bombed ammunition dumps located in various forests of Northern France. A handful of Pathfinder aircraft marked each target and one of the purposes of the raids was to accustom OTU crews to bombing on to markers before being posted to front line squadrons. This raid was carried out by 33 OTU Wellingtons with the Pathfinders providing 6 Oboe Mosquitoes and 6 Halifaxes. The target was a dump in the Foret d'Eperlecques, just north of St Omer. The bombing was successful and a large explosion was seen. 2 Wellingtons were lost.

12 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 9 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians. 1 Mosquito was lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Aug 31, 2008)

*31 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army advanced south from Sevsk and captured Glukhov and Rylask.

Soviet submarine "Sch-130" of the Pacific Fleet was lost when it collided with "Shc-128" at America Gulf. (Later raised and went into service.) Soviet motor torpedo boat TK 94 sank the Finnish minelayer _'Riilahti'_. 24 men, including the commander, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Lt.-Cdr Osmo Kivilinna were lost. 

*GERMANY:* Battle of Berlin _cont_.: RAF Bomber Command dispatched 613 aircraft: 331 Lancasters, 176 Halifaxes, 106 Stirlings with nine Oboe Mosquitoes as route markers. 47 aircraft lost, among them was Lancaster JB132 which collided with Lancaster R5698 of 1654 HCU after the raid and crashed at Beasley Moreton, Nottinghamshire. The crew were S/Ldr D.C. Wellburn, F/Lt R.E. Davies, F/O R.L. Clarke, F/O T.F. Joyce, Sgt J. Blackett, Sgt J.R. Forrest, Sgt A. Paterson and Sgt J.K. Watson, from 61 Sqdn. The Stirling casualties were 16%. This raid was not successful. Many of the crews were tired, having had only a few hours sleep since the raid of the previous night. The force was easily tracked on its approach and at least 18 bombers were shot down by fighters. Twenty-two aircraft, mostly Stirlings and Halifaxes were shot down in the target area and during the initial 70 miles of the journey back to England. Approximately two thirds of the bombers lost were shot down by German fighters operating over or near Berlin. The use of 'fighter flares' dropped by German aircraft to 'mark' the bomber routes into and away from the target was noted for the first time in Bomber Command records. There was some cloud in the target area. This, together with difficulties with H2S equipment and probably the ferocity of the German defences, all combined to cause the Pathfinder markers to be dropped well south of the centre of the target area and the Main Force bombing to be even further away.The main bombing area eventually extended 30 miles back along the bombers' approach route. 85 dwelling houses were destroyed in Berlin but the only industrial buildings hit were classed as damaged, 4 severely and 3 lightly. The only important public buildings hit were the headquarters of the Berlin inland canal and harbour system, the state police hospital and some market halls. 66 civilians and 2 soldiers were killed, 109 people were injured nd 2,784 bombed out. After this raid Gauleiter Goebbels ordered the evacuation from Berlin of all children and all adults not engaged in war work to country areas or to towns in Eastern Germany where air raids were not expected. A total of 377 bombing photographs were examined. Only ten of the photos showed aircraft bombing in the center of Berlin. Most bombs fell in a long spread 30 miles south of Berlin, scattered in a wide area of the south. Sixty-eight people were killed in Berlin and 19 in the countryside.

30 Wellingtons with 6 Mosquitoes and 5 Halifaxes of the Pathfinders bombed an ammunition dump in the Foret de Hesdin and 6 Mosquitoes were sent to Brauweiler without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN: *Negotiations for Italy's surrender resumed near Syracuse, with General Giuseppe Castellano of the Italian General Staff pleading with the Allies to occupy Rome and protect King Victor Emmanuel and the Badoglio government. U. S. General Walter Bedell Smith insisted on unconditional surrender, with the armistice to be announced as a large Allied army lands in Italy. Smith refused to tell Castellano where the Allies would come ashore or how large the army would be. Disappointed by the unconditional surrender demand and fearful of the large numbers flooding into Italy, Castellano returned to Rome to confer with Italy's new head of state, Marshal Pietro Badoglio.

US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Pescara and claimed 9 enemy fighters destroyed. About 150 Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s blasted the Pisa marshalling yard, doing a large amount of damage. Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers bombed the Cosenza marshalling yard and road-railway junction in Cantanzaro during the morning, and in the afternoon bombed the area around Cosenza when clouds prevented hitting specific targets; and fighter-bombers hit Sapri railroad and seaplane base; and during the night light bombers hit the bivouac areas southeast of Reggio di Calabria.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The Luftwaffe suffered the loss of several planes in Norway. A Bf 109G-4 from IV./JG 5 and a Bf 109G-4 from 1.(F)/124 both crashed without injuring the pilots. A Ju 87D-5 from I./StG 5 crashed at Hosio, killing the pilot, Lt. Ernst Scharwat, and injuring Uffz. Rolf Jahn.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* During this month RAF Bomber Command losses, killed or POW, were 2,030.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command both fly missions against targets in France. The US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 41 and 42: 104 B-26B Marauders bombed the Rouen and Mazingarbe power stations, Poix/Nord and Lille/Nord Airfields and the Hesdin fuel dump. 1 B-26 was lost. 

The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 88 against two aviation locations. 105 B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked Glisy Airfield at Amiens and claimed 5-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft. 3 B-17s were lost. 149 B-17s were dispatched to the aircraft plant at Meulan. The plant was cloud covered and 1 B-17 hit a railway northeast of Rouen. These missions were escorted by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 2-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 P-47s were lost.

The Japanese submarine I-8 reached Brest from Singapore.


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## Njaco (Sep 1, 2008)

*1 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The USN assumed full responsibility for all airborne antisubmarine operations by US forces in the Atlantic and USAAF units were reassigned. The 5th and 13th Anti-submarine Squadrons (Heavy), 25th Antisubmarine Wing, ceased flying ASW patrols from Westover Field, Massachusetts and Grenier Field, New Hampshire respectively with B-24s. The 5th was redesignated the 827th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 Oct 43 and would arrive in Italy in Apr 44 with B-24s. The 13th was redesignated 863d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) and would arrive in England in Jan 44 with B-17s.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet troops made good progress around Smolensk and Vyazma capturing Dorogobuzh, east of Smolensk, and south around Taganrog.

On a morning bomber escort mission, Oblt. Walter Nowotny, _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 54, destroyed 4 attacking Soviet fighters. Quickly noticing another formation of Russian fighters, he attacked and shot down 2 more. As the dogfight carried him 180km over Russian lines, he closed in on a 7th victim, only to have his cannon jam, finishing off the Soviet with his machine guns. He made good his return by flying on the deck, right through flak thrown uo from a large town. Later that afternoon, on another sortie, he added 3 more during an in-and-out duel in the clouds, bringing his total for the day to 10 kills.

A Soviet IL-2s rear gunner shot down and killed Fw. Helmut Kabisch of 2./JG 52 (7 kills).

*MEDITERRANEAN:* NAAF P-40s bombed a zinc plant at Iglesias and strafed a factory north of Gonnesa while medium and light bombers hit Bova Marina, areas near Salina and Sant' Eufemia d'Aspromonte town area and a bridge at Oliveto.

All Administrative functions of the Army Air Forces elements of the Northwest African Air Force were transferred to the appropriate US Twelfth Air Force organizations. Operational control remained with the Northwest African Air Force. The 506th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), ceased operating from Benina, Libya with B-24s and returned to it's base at Shipdham, England.

II./KG 6 and II./KG 51 were both deployed to Greece and remained there through No. '43. Both were used exclusively in the Aegian and Dodecanese Island areas against British forces and did not take part in anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 30 RAF OTU Wellingtons with 6 Mosquitos and 5 Lancasters of the Pathfinders successfully bombed an ammunition dump in the Forêt de Mormal, 8 Mosquitos were sent to Cologne and Duisburg, 89 aircraft were minelaying in the Frisians, near Texel and off Brittany and Biscay ports. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.

7 aircraft of RAF No. 305 Sqdrn (Polish) took off for a night attack on enemy rail movements in France Belgium and all aircraft successfully carried out their tasks. RAF No. 317 Sqdrn (Polish) flew to Manston in the morning. Fourteen aircraft took off at 0850 hours led by S/LDR. KORNICKI, F. Several operations seemed probable but none did infact materialize, and the aircraft returned again to Fairlop at about 1600 hours. The weather was apparently too cloudy for bombers to operate. Two aircraft of “A” Flight carried out tests. Six aircraft escorted Mustangs to Bologne.
_
Geschwaderkommodore _Obslt. Walter Oesau introduced a new emblem that was to be used by all JG 1 _Gruppen _- a red winged '1' in a white diamond, which was enclosed in a black circle. II./JG 1 - like I./JG 1 - quickly adopted this symbol in place of their traditional markings


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 2, 2008)

*2 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Red army forces liberated Lisichansk and Kommunarsk in the Donets while to the north, Sumy and Glushkovo were recaptured.

Fw. Bernhard Hessel of 2./JG 51 (40 kills) was listed as missing in action.

Lt. Erich Hartmann was appointed _Staffelkapitaen _of 9./JG 52.

*GERMANY:* Hitler appointed Albert Speer, the minister of armaments and munitions, to the new post of Reich minister for arms and war production.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Almost 200 B-17s and B-25s of the US Twelfth Air Force bombed marshalling yards at Bologna, Trento, Bolzano, and Cancello Arnone; bombers and fighters escorting the B-25s claimed 28 enemy airplanes shot down; and tactical aircraft, including RAF and US Ninth Air Force airplanes, hit gun positions and other targets on the Italian toe, bombed rail communications at Bova Marina, Locri, Marina di Monasterace, Siderno Marina, Lamezia, and Catanzaro, and attacked barges in the Golfo di Sant' Eufemia and an ammunition dump at Saptri. Shortly after noon, fighters from II./JG 53 intercepted the Allied flight of bombers attacking the marshalling yards at Cancello Arnone but were bounced by the escorting flight of P-38s. 10 P-38s were shot down but at a cost. as Oblt. Franz Scheiss (67 kills) was shot down. Other German air units involved were JG 3, JG 53 and JG 77 and claimed at least 18 P-38s destroyed.

The Italian mainland defenses near Reggio were shelled by British battleships HMS _'Valiant' _and HMS _'Warspite'_.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force in England dispatched both the VIII Air Support Command and the VIII Bomber Command to attack targets in France. The VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 41 and 42: 216 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 5 targets in France (36 per target). The missions to a power station at Rouen and Poix/Nord and Lille/Nord Airfields were aborted due to weather but 35 B-26s hit a power station at Mazingarbe and 69 hit a fuel dump at Hesden. 1 B-26 was lost.

The VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 89 against airfields in France but because of unfavorable cloud conditions only part of one force was able to attack a target. B-17 Flying Fortresses were dispatched to airfields in northwestern France but the mission was abandoned at the French coast due to heavy clouds. 34 of 86 B-17s dispatched to Mardyck and Denain/Prouvy Airfields hit the target at 1922 and 1905 hours respectively. 182 P-47 Thunderbolts were dispatched to escort the bombers but they carried out fighter sweeps. 3 P-47's were lost.

30 Wellingtons, 6 Mosquitoes and 5 Lancasters successfully bombed an ammunition dump in the Foret de Mormal. 8 Mosquitoes were sent to Cologne and Duisburg. 89 aircraft were minelaying in the Frisian Islands, near Texel and off Brittany and Biscay ports. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.

Obfw. Kurt Welter was transferred from Blindflugschule 10 to 5./JG 301, a 'Wilde Sau' unit. Here he performed missions intercepting Allied bombers in a single-seat fighter at night.

Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix was appointed as _Jagdfliegerfuhrer _of Jafu 4 in place of Obstlt. Walter Oesau.

The crew of a Ju 88C-6 from Stab IV./NJG 3 were on conversion flight training when the pilot suffered from “Höhenkrankheit” which can best be translated as lack of oxygen and at approximately 18:00 hours belly landed in a turnips field belonging to Tage Sloth of Borre. Engineer Uffz. Hubert Groten was injured during the landing and was taken to Lazarett Viborg for treatment by Luftwaffe personnel arriving from Fliegerhorst Grove. The JU 88 was 25% damaged and was dismantled over the next 4-5 days and taken back to Fliegerhorst Grove.


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## Njaco (Sep 3, 2008)

*3 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT: *The Soviet offensive rolled forward as the Germans abandoned Putivl. Bovask in the Donets Basin was also liberated. The Bryansk/Kiev railway line was cut.

III./JG 5 lost two Bf 109F-4s during the day without the pilots being injured. Lt. Joachim Hamer of 7./JG 51 (35 kills) was listed as missing in action.

An He 111H-16 from 4(F)./122 crashed at Sarabus with 2 killed and 1 injured.

*GERMANY: *The Battle of Berlin continued. 316 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes attacked Berlin. Because of the high casualty rates among Halifaxes and Stirlings in recent Berlin raids the heavy force was composed only of Lancasters. 22 Lancasters were lost. The Mosquitoes were used to drop 'spoof' flares well away from the bombers' route to attract German night fighters. This raid approached Berlin from the north-east but the marking and bombing were, once again, mostly short of the target. That part of the bombing which did reach Berlin's built up area fell on residential parts of Charlotteburg and Moabit and in the industrial area called Siemensstadt. Several factories were hit and suffered serious loss of production and among 'utilities' put out of action were major water and electricity works and one of Berlin's largest breweries. 422 people were listed as killed - 225 civilians, 24 servicemen, 18 men and 2 women of the air-raid services, 123 foreign workers - 92 women and 31 men. 170 further civilians were 'missing'. The Berlin records also mentioned the deaths of another soldier and 7 'criminal' assistants when the 2 delayed-action bombs on which they were working exploded. These 'criminals' could earn remission of their sentences by volunteering for this work on unexploded and delayed-action bombs. (_For a short list and history of some of the RAF planes lost this night - Lancaster III W4988 crashed Larös North West of Helsingborg, Sweden 4/9 1943_) One million civilians have been evacuated from Berlin in the last month.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation Baywood: Following two days of heavy bombardment by four battleships, British troops of XIII Corps, Eighth Army crossed the Straits of Messina and landed in force on the European mainland north of Reggio di Calabria, on the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war. General Montgomery took no chances. Every available artillery piece as lined up on the Sicilian coast. Monitors, cruisers and destroyers rained shells ranging from six to 15 inches in size on beaches near Reggio di Calabria. Eisenhower had planned this invasion - Operation Baytown - to draw German forces away from Salerno, where large-scale landings were planned. Two Panzer divisions had been in the Reggio area, but the Germans had left by the time that the men of XIII Corps - the British 5th and Canadian 1st Divisions of the British Eighth Army - came ashore. There was little resistance; some Italian soldiers even volunteered to unload the landing craft. The invaders were fanning out quickly into the hilly countryside of Calabria, and the lack of roads, the rough terrain and the effects of German demolition work were causing problems in moving men and armour. Reggio, Catona, San Giovanni, Melito and Bagnara were captured by the end of the day. Meanwhile, convoys were preparing for the second stage of the invasion of Italy. The US Fifth Army, comprising the US VI Corps and the British X Corps, under the command of General Mark Clark, would hit the mainland at Salerno.

Ninth Air Force: B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Sulmona, Italy and claimed 11 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; 6 B-24s were lost. Twelfth Air Force: P-40s on a sweep over Sardinia hit Pula and Capo Carbonara radar installations. In Italy, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, fighters and RAF light bombers hit gun positions throughout the toe of Italy, attacked airfields at Crotone and Camigliatello and hit railway yards at Marina di Catanzaro and Punta di Staletti, troop concentration near Santo Stefano d'Aspromonte and road junctions and bridges at Cosenza.

On the Main Guard Square in Valletta, Malta the remains of a Gloster Sea Gladiator, labelled Faith and serialled N5520, was presented to the people of Malta. During this presentation, the Air Officer Commanding, Sir Keith Park, said,


> "_the famous fighter........the sole survivor Faith_". He then added, "_Faith has earned a place of honour in the Armoury'._



Near Syracuse, Sicily, Italian Guiseppe Castellano signed the capitulation of Italy. General Dwight Eisenhower's chief of staff Walter Bedell Smith signed on behalf of the Allies.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 44 without loss: 36 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 36 were dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and 69 were dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille. 

The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort was provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 were lost. 168 B-17s were dispatched to the Romilly sur Seine air depot, 28 hit the secondary target, the airfield at St Andre de L'Eure and 12 hit a target of opportunity, Fauvill Airfield at Evreux. They claimed 11-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s were lost. 65 B-17s were dispatched to Mureaux Airfield while 18 hit a dummy airfield near Dieppe and 65 B-17s were dispatched to an industrial area at Caudron-Renault near Paris. They claimed 15-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s were lost.

32 Wellingtons, 6 Mosquitoes and 6 Halifaxes went to an ammunition dump in the Foret de Raismes near Valenciennes. 44 Stirlings and 12 Halifaxes went minelaying off Denmark, in the Frisians and off the Biscay coast. 4 Mosquitoes went to Dusseldorf. 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington were lost.

After 15 months of training, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ship out by sea to England on the transport ship _'SAMARIA'_. This is the group in the TV drama "The Band of Brothers."

Ofw. Kurt Knappe of 10./JG 2 (56 kills) was killed in action.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 4, 2008)

*4 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Hitler partially corrected one of his stupidities by ordering the German 17.Armee to abandon Novorossisk and a tiny corner of the Kuban steppe, north of the Caucasus. For seven months more than 250,000 Germans and Romanians were uselessly cooped up in the Kuban because Hitler thought the Heer some day would go on the offensive again and capture the Caucasian oilfields. There was now a good chance the 17.Armee would be trapped and captured by the Soviet Army. 

*GERMANY:* 8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Duisburg. 25 Wellingtons and 13 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians, in the River Gironde and off Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.

Lord Haw-Haw tells Britain that;


> "_the final blow will be struck by Adolf Hitler." _



*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation Baywood Day 2: Allied troops landed between Reggio and Catona.

Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, bad weather prevented XII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses from locating their targets (airfields); P-38s sent to hit landing grounds at Grazzanise also failed to find targets, but attacked targets of opportunity in the general area; US fighter-bombers and RAF light bombers hit motor transport scattered along the Italian toe, and bombed gun positions northeast of Reggio di Calabria and roads and railroad junction in the Cosenza-Catanzaro-Nicastro area and at Colosimi.

The Luftwaffe finally made an appearance over the Allied invasion fleet near Messina and lost Oblt. Martin Laube of 5./JG 53 (10 kills) who was listed as missing in action. 

Lieutenant John Bridge (b. 1915), RNVR, was awarded the George Cross for leading the bomb disposal work at Messina with the Royal Navy's Port Clearance Party 1500. P1500 had started work on 25 August, attempting to make the port useable in time for the Allied invasion of mainland Italy. P1500's original officer and four others were killed at the start by booby-trapped depth charges. Under Bridge's leadership, over 250 booby-traps ashore, and forty in the water, were made safe. Bridge himself made 28 dives to disarm two large clusters of depth charges.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Uffz. Karl-Ernst Homann of 11./JG 5 was killed when his FW 190A-4 crashed for unknown reasons.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* At RAF conversion units (a training unit for pilots changing the type of aircraft they fly, usually heavier planes) the accident rate was high. Riccall airfield near Selby, was one such unit and in this month alone ten crashes were recorded. Although some of these took place outside the boundaries, they have, this once, been included as a pointer to the number of casualties caused by occurrences of this nature. The first was at 14.10 hours, caused by a Halifax bomber pilot, on a training flight, who collapsed the undercarriage as he tried to correct a swing on take-off. One of the crew was injured.

A. Plisnier of RAF No. 350 Sqdrn (Belgian) earned a DFC.

*WESTERN FRONT: *The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 47: 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 4 marshalling yards in France (36 B-26s to each target); 33 hit Courtrai marshalling yard, 33 hit the Deliverance marshalling yard at Lille, 34 hit the Hazebrouck marshalling yard and 23 hit the St Pol marshalling yard.

Lt. Elfried Eichhoff and Wop Gefr. Gerhard Köhler of II./LG 1 took off from Fliegerhorst Aalborg West with a fully loaded DFS 237 glider in tow. The purpose was to tow it to Stavanger in Norway where it would demonstrate a glider assault. The Ju 87 stalled shortly after take off and at 13:10 hours crashed in a field belonging to Farmer Røn of Vadum killing Lt. Eichhoff outright and severely wounding Gefreiter Köhler. Köhler was taken to Luftwaffe Lazarett Aalborg where he died on 6 September. On 13 September 1943 both Eichhoff and Köhler were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery. The pilot of the glider reacted quickly when the JU 87 stalled, and let go of the tow wire and landed safe in a field belonging to Farmer Therp a little southwest of the crash site.

Against the Allies Lt. Kurt Goltzsch of 8./JG 2 was severely wounded while Ofw. Walter Grunlinger of Stab./JG 26 (7 kills) was killed.

Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen was appointed commander of Luftflotte 2, giving up his duties as commander of Luftflotte 4.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 5, 2008)

*5 August 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The sectors of Bryansk and Donets find the Red Army making excellent advances against the defending Germans. Red army forces continued their attacks, liberating Artemovsk, Kuhtov and Mikhailovsky.

Another _experte _was lost over Russia. Hptm. Heinz Schmidt of 6./JG 52 (173 kills) went missing in action near Marker. There was a belief that he was possibly shot down by mistake by a Hungarian fighter.

*GERMANY:* 299 Lancasters, 195 Halifaxes and 111 Stirlings raided Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, 34 aircraft lost. The target area for this double attack was clear of cloud and the Pathfinder marking plan worked perfectly. Ground markers were placed on the eastern side of Mannheim so that the bombing of the Main Force, approaching from the west, could move back across Mannheim and then into Ludwigshaven on the western bank of the Rhine. The creepback did not become excessive and severe destruction was caused in both targets. Mannheim's normally detailed air-raid report did not give any specific details of property damage or casualties. It is probable that the raid was so severe that the normal report gathering and recording process broke down. The Mannheim records speak only of 'a catastrophe' and give general comments on the activities of the air-raid services and the behaviour of the population which are both described as 'vorbildlich' (exemplary). More detail was available from Ludwigshaven where the central and southern parts of the town were devastated. The fire department recorded 1,993 separate fires including 3 classed as 'fire areas' and 986 as large fires. 139 of the fires were in industrial areas. 1,080 houses, 6 military and 4 industrial buildings were destroyed and 8 more industrial buildings were seriously damaged including the I.G.Farben works. 127 peope were killed and 568 were injured. 10 of the dead were Flak troops. A further 1,605 people were described as suffering from eye injuries. The relatively small number of deaths may be an indication that many of the German cities were evacuating parts of their population after the recent firestorm disaster at Hamburg and other heavy raids.

4 Mosquitoes went to Dusseldorf. 25 aircraft went minelaying in the German Bight, near Texel and off Brest and Lorient, all without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation Baywood Day 3: Montgomery's Eighth Army was taking its time liberating the peninsula's toe. In three days with no opposition, the British have crawled 15 miles (24 kilometres) to Bagnara on Calabria's north coast. The Allies' main Italian invasion force sailed from North African ports and headed for Salerno, 25 miles (40 kilometres) south of Naples. More than 450 ships were carrying 69,000 American and British troops commanded by General Mark Clark, Commanding General U.S. Fifth Army. The Allies would land at Salerno on 9 September, and Clark confidently expected to take Naples five days later.

In the air, 130+ USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the airfield at Viterbo and the town of Civitavecchia; 200+ B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit landing grounds at Grazzanise. Weather hampered operations of the fighters and medium and light bombers of the Twelfth Air Force and RAF, and only a few targets (guns, roads, railroads, and troops) were attacked during missions over the toe of Italy. In Sardinia USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers and fighters hit the Pula radar station and town of Pabillonis.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The United States 101st Airborne Division troops leave New York by ship for Britain.

*WESTERN FRONT:* US VIII Air Support Command Mission 48: 3 marshalling yards were targeted. 72 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 2 marshalling yards at Ghent, Belgium; 31 bombed one yard and 32 bombed the second yard. The 36 B-26s dispatched to the marshalling yard at Courtrai, France were recalled due to weather.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 6, 2008)

*6 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet forces continued their drive through the Donets Basin in the Ukraine capturing the steel centers at Makeyevka and Kromatorsk, and chemical works at Slavyansk. In central Russia, the Soviets took the rail hub at Konotop and pushed toward Kiev and the Dnieper. The capture of these cities resulted in the separation of the German Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) and Heeresgruppe Sud (von Manstein). 

*GERMANY:* US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 91: Aircraft and bearing factories in and around Stuttgart, Germany were targeted but extensive clouds prevented all but a few B-17s from attacking the primary targets; 45 B-17s and a P-47 Thunderbolt were lost. Formations became separated and disorganized and attacked targets of opportunity in a wide area. Fighters from JG 50 shot down 4 B-17s during the raid. Credit for one bomber went to Major Graf and another to Oblt. Grislawski for the loss of 3 of the specially-equipped Bf 109s. One pilot was killed. Major Graf was shot down but survived a crash landing. Oblt. Walther Dahl of III./JG 3 brought down 2 of the bombers to bring his score to 53 kills.

257 Lancasters and 147 Halifaxes attacked Munich, 16 aircraft lost. The Pathfinders found that Munich was mostly covered by cloud and neither their ground-markers nor their sky-markers were very effective. Most of the Main Force crews could do no more than bomb on a timed run from the Ammersee, a lake situated 21 miles south-west of the target. The bombing was mostly scattered over the southern and western parts of the city. No report was available from Munich.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation Baywood Day 4: The British 8th Army continued creeping through southern Italy, taking Gioia Tauro on Calabria's northern coast. German demolitions caused more resistance than actual German troops. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, Commander in Chief South, ordered his 16.Panzerdivision to occupy hills surrounding Salerno, the site of the Allies' upcoming invasion.

In the air, the USAAF's Twelfth Air Force dispatches B-17s to hit Capodichino Airfield, Villa Literno marshalling yard, Gaeta harbor, and Minturno railroad facilities; weather prevented a B-17 attack on Pomigliano airfield. B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit Capua airfield and landing grounds at Grazzanise. US and RAF planes operated on a reduced scale, flying patrols and hitting railroads and targets of opportunity on the Italian toe.

HMS _'Puckeridge' _was escorting convoy NSM-1 from Gibraltar to Oran and was attacked by _'U-617' _with a spread of 4 torpedoes of which 2 hit the ship, causing her to sink about 40 miles east of Gibraltar. 129 men were rescued.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Unternehmen *Sizilien*. _'Scharnhorst' _together with the battleship _'Tirpitz'_, and the destroyers Z-27, Z-29, Z-30, Z-31, Z-33, _'Erich Steinbrinck'_, _'Karl Galster'_, _'Hans Lody' _and _'Theodor Riedel'_, left Altenfiord under the command of Admiral Kummetz, to attack the allied installations in the island of Spitzbergen.

A Bf 110G-2 from 13.(Z)/JG 5 collided with a P-39 in combat near Havningsberg. Crewmen Ofw. Hans Kolodziej and Uffz. Willi Schipper were both killed.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* 10 Me 410s of V./KG 2 along with 12 Fw 190s from other units, including SKG 10, were tasked to attack Cambridge during the night. One of the Fw 190s, flown by Helmut Breier was chased by S/L Howitt of RAF No. 85 Sqdrn and shot down south of Felixstowe. Another Fw 190 was chased by F/L Houghton of RAf No. 85 Sqdrn but was lost due to searchlight interference. However a Fw 190 flown by Hptm. Kurt Geisler of 3./SKG 10 crashed at Filey's Farm at Hawstead near Bury St. Edmunds. Hptm. Geisler was a former transport pilot and holder of the _Ritterkreuz _before becoming _Gruppenkommandeur _of 1./SKG 10 in March 1943 and had flown over 300 missions.

*WESTERN FRONT:* US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 50 and 51 without loss. 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the marshalling yards at Ghent, Belgium and Rouen, France. The Ghent mission was recalled when bad weather prevented the fighter escort from taking off. 66 B-26s hit Rouen and 126 B-26s bombed the marshalling yards at Amiens and Serqueux, France.

Squadron Leader Johnny Checketts, RAF No. 485(NZ) Sqdn. (Biggin Hill) flying a Spitfire IX, was shot down during a dogfight over France involving some 20 Focke-Wulf 190s. With no ammunition left, Checketts had no chance and his Spitfire was soon belching flames through the cockpit. Badly burned, he parachuted to safety and was looked after and hidden by the French for several weeks until he and 12 other escaping servicemen were crammed into a small fishing boat and smuggled across the channel back to England. He had burns to his face, legs and arms and was wounded in both legs, knees and arms.

During the Ameins raid, twelve aircraft of RAF No. 317 Sqdrn (Polish) led by S/LDR. KORNICKI took to the air to play the part of escort cover to the first “box” of two “boxes” of 36 Marauders in each. It was whilst whirling left that F/O. J. Walawski on the right hand wing, was left behind while weaving. He saw a Spitfire VII go diving past him and also six FW 190s at 8,000 feet above him at 25,000 feet. He dived down and came up again with a diving Bf109 and a pursued Spitfire Vb as he was giving emergency boost. He went in getting the Bf 109 into his sight at 200 yards and let him have it. The enemy aircraft pulled up and F/O. J. Walawski was able to give him another burst, using all his cannon shells and 400 rounds of .303 ammunition. This manoeuvre brought on a stall and spin and when he looked again he saw the Bf 109 crash on the ground and burst into flames. F/O. J. Walawski claimed it as destroyed

Luftwaffenpersonalamt issued an order for Jagdfliegerfuhrer 4 to be renamed _Jafu Bretagne_ and for the creation of a new Jafu 4 and for a Jafu 5, although there was evidence that Jafu 4 may have been using _Jafu Bretagne_ as early as July 1943. The headquarters of _Jafu Bretagne_ was initially located in a monastery in Rennes. Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix gave up his position as _Jagdfliegerfuhrer _of Jafu 4.


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## Njaco (Sep 7, 2008)

*7 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-596' _shelled the _'Hamidieh' _in the Atlantic for seven minutes. The sailing vessel caught fire and the stern sank after 20 minutes, but the fore part burned for about eight hours. 
_
'U-402' _shot down RAF Wellington aircraft, Squadron 172/D. Another two Wellingtons were also involved in the attack, one of them had to crash land.
_
'U-669' _was sunk in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from a Canadian aircraft (RCAF-Sqn. 407).

*EASTERN FRONT:* The German 17.Armee began the evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead across the Strait of Kerch to the Crimea. The Soviet Army captured Baturin, east of Konotop, and Zvenkov in the Kharkov sector. The Germans began evacuations at Stalino.

Hitler visited the HQ of Heeresgruppe Sud (von Manstein) were he was briefed on the disasters on that front. That afternoon, he flew back to Germany. It was the last time he would set foot on Soviet territory.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Operation Baywood Day 5: The British 8th Army tried to trap the German rearguard in the toe of the Italian boot. Commandos and infantry landed at Pizzo on Calabria's northern coast, but the Germans sidestepped them. Montgomery's army has advanced only 60 miles (97 kilometres) in five days.

U.S. Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor began a spy mission to see whether a surprise parachute drop by the 82d Airborne Division could capture Rome. Posing as a downed Allied airman, Taylor -- the 82d's artillery commander -- went to Rome and found it crawling with Germans. After meeting with Italian Prime Minister Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Taylor realized the 82d would be cut to pieces. He sent a secret signal to cancel the drop. Taylor then escaped.

In the air, USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed 2 satellite airfields at Foggia while B-25s and B-26s hit road and rail bridges at Saptri and Trebisacce and roads at Lauria. A-20s of the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force supported British landing on 7/8 September near Pizzo in an unsuccessful attempt to cut off enemy retreat up west coast of the Italian toe. Medium and light bombers, in an afternoon raids, bombed Crotone airfield and roadblock and gun batteries north of Catanzaro. USAAF P-40s hit the landing ground at Pabillonis and barges off Portoscuso.

HQ US Army Air Forces decided to transfer Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General Ninth Air Force, and his HQ staff from Africa to the United Kingdom and to reform the Ninth Air Force as a tactical air force in the European Theater of Operations by absorbing the VIII Air Support Command.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* At 12.00 hours a Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire was on a training flight when it went into a steep bank to starboard with smoke coming from the starboard outer engine, the pilot recovered at 9,000' but the plane then spun-in and exploded two miles S of the airfield. Ten were killed. At 17.05 hours at the same airfield a Halifax bomber had just landed when its undercarriage collapsed. The aircraft was a write off.

*WESTERN FRONT:* US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 52: In France, marshalling yards at Lille and St Pol were targeted but confusion at the rendezvous point caused one group and half of another to abort the mission. St Pol was hit by 81 B-26B Marauders. 

US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 92 in 3 forces: 105 B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Evere Airfield at Brussels, Belgium, 3 B-24s bombed Alkmaar Airfield at Bergen, the Netherlands and 19 hit a convoy off Texel Island and 147 B-17s were dispatched to attack V-weapon site at Watton, France, but weather was a problem and 3 groups aborted the mission but 58 hit the target. Strikes 1 and 2 were escorted by 178 P-47 Thunderbolt that claimed 3-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-47 was lost. The attacks greatly disrupted the German plan for this new “Blitz” against England.

One Section of Spitfires from RAF No. 306 Sqdrn (Polish) took off from Friston, and sighted a boat with one person in it 10 miles off Fecamp. The position was given and a Walrus arrived on the scene and picked him up. The person turned out to be a German sailor.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 8, 2008)

*8 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-760' _was sailing on the surface alongside _'U-262' _when they were attacked by an RAF Wellington Mk XIV of No. 179 Squadron based at Gibraltar about 150 miles (241 km) out of Cape of Finisterre. The _'U-760' _arrived at Vigo harbor and was put under the supervision of the Spanish Navy cruiser _'Navarra'_. After 24 hours the boat had not left the harbour (the neutrality laws allowed this time frame for emergency repairs) and it was interned. The boat was taken to El Ferrol where she remained until the end of the war. On July 23, 1945 _'U-760' _was taken to England for Operation Deadlight.

'_U-662_' was listed as missing in the Bay of Biscay, cause unknown. All hands, 52-men were lost.

'_U-669_' (Type VIIC) was listed as missing in the Bay of Biscay with all 52 crew on 8 Sept. There is no explanation for its loss.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Stalino, the vital industrial centre of the Donets basin, Krasnoarmeisk and Yasinovataya were liberated by the Soviets.

Soviet submarine Shch-203 of the Black Sea Fleet was sunk by mines off Cape Tarkhankutskiy, Sevastopol.

'_U-983_' was sunk north of Loba, after a collision with _'U-988'_. 38 of the 43 crewmen survived.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italian Prime Minister Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio sent a message to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Allied Expeditionary Force Mediterranean, repudiating the surrender terms with the Allies. The Italian government was beginning to feel apprehensive of letting Allies freely into Rome. Italy was still capable of fighting for the Allies. Eisenhower, upset over the lack of progress in the surrender talks, broadcast Italy's surrender over the radio at 1830 hours local. Italy was now placed in a tough situation, to either confirm the surrender, or face warring both the Allies and Germany. At 1945 hours local, Badoglio informed his country of the Italian surrender. Italians cheered and the Germans became infuriated. The main body of the Italian Fleet sailed from La Spezia and Genoa with 3 battleships, 6 cruisers, and 9 destroyers to surrender to the Allies.

The Germans decided to bolster the air units of Luftwaffenkommando Sud-Ost and rushed new units to the area. Units transferring were mainly III. and IV./JG 27 with Bf 109Gs, I. and II./StG 3 with Ju 87Ds, 11./ZG 26 with Ju 88Cs and elements of LG 1 and SAGr 126.

The British 8th Army liberated Locri. 

US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the landing ground at Foggia, as convoys approached Salerno to begin the Allied invasion of Italy (Operation AVALANCHE). 

In Italy, the US Twelfth Air Force sent about 130 B-17s to bomb Frascati; 160+ medium bombers hit a highway at Lauria and bridges at Trebisacce and Saptri; fighters hit Pabillonis, Sardinia, covered Allied forces near Pizzo, and bombed and strafed roads and vehicles in the Lamezia-Vibo Valentia-Pizzo-Catanzaro areas; and bombers hit roads and junctions in the Naples area during the night. 

*NORTHERN FRONT*: *Unternehmen Sizilien: *The German battleship _'Tirpitz' _plus the _'Scharnhorst' _and a destroyer flotilla shelled Barentsburg, Spitsbergen, Norway and then landed troops that destroy facilities at Gronfjord and Advent Bay. All of the German forces then returned to their bases in Norway.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The 44th and 93d Bombardment Groups (Heavy) resume operations in the UK after detached service in Africa; the 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy), previously diverted to Africa, becomes operational in the UK.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Missions 53 and 54 against targets in France. 68 B-26B bombed Nord Airfield at Lille and 68 B-26s bombed Vendeville Airfield at Lille. 1 B-26 was lost. 68 B-26s attacked Boulogne coastal defenses.

119 Wellingtons, 112 Stirlings, 16 Mosquitoes and 10 Halifaxes attacked Boulogne gun positions. 5 B-17's also flew the first American night bombing sorties of the war with RAF Bomber Command. Nos 4 and 5 Groups did not take part in the raid. There were no losses.
The target was the site of a German long-range gun battery and the marking was mainly provided by Oboe Mosquitoes, some of whom were experimenting with a new technique. But the raid was not successful. The marking and the bombing were not accurate and the battery did not appear to have been damaged.

The fighters of JG 26 lost another pilot when Fw. Edgar Dorre of 9./JG 26 (9 kills) was killed in combat.


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## Njaco (Sep 10, 2008)

*9 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Midget submarine "_Welman 10_" which was being operated by SOE sank alongside the depot ship HMS _'Forth'_. The commander (Lt B Pedersen of the Norwegian Army) made an unaided escape to the surface. There were no casualties.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russians took Bakhmach after an advance west from Konotop. The German 17.Armee began to pull out of its forward position in the Kuban. The Red Army had set out with a powerful thrust towards Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, which the Germans have turned into a major base. This followed the storming of the railway junction at Bakhmach after two days of fighting. Red Star, the army's newspaper, said "_we feel the beginning of the end."_

Lt. Wilhelm 'Willi' Batz of JG 52 scored his 20th victory while Oblt. Walter Nowotny of JG 54 finally reached the 200 kill mark.

*GERMANY*: Oberst Dr. Ernst Kupfer, _Geschwaderkommodore _of StG 2 was appointed the first _Waffengeneral der Schlachtflieger _with 5 _Schlachtgeschwader _under his command. They comprised 5 _Gruppen _equipped with Ju 87s, Hs 129s and Fw 190s. Oblt. Hans-Karl Stepp took his place as _Geschwaderkommodore _of StG 2.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Italian mainland is invaded in Operations *'Avalanche' *and *'Slapstick'*. Under protection of the USN's Task Force 80 (Vice Admiral H. Kent Hewitt), the Allied Fifth Army (Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, USA) landed on the assault beaches in the Gulf of Salerno in Operation *'Avalanche' *. Salerno had been chosen as the site for the invasion because it was the northern-most point to which the Allies could provide air cover from bases in Sicily. On the left flank, British Commandos and U.S. Rangers landed at Vietri and Maiori respectively with orders to advance northward and capture passes through the hills. The British 46 and 56 Divisions landed south of Salerno meeting strong German resistance but managed to get ashore. The U.S. 36th Infantry Division landed north and south of Paestum and took heavy casualties because of strong German resistance. Once ashore, the Americans met less resistance. On the right flank of the British X Corps the 56th British Infantry Division met no opposition as it disembarked on empty beaches, but has come under fierce counter-attacks from tanks as it advances on Montocorvino airfield. Others from the division reached the village of Battipaglia, but - despite the aid of naval gunfire - could not dislodge the Germans. Troops from the 46th Division were driving northwards along the coast road to Salerno itself. To the south of the Sele river - which divided the two Allied beach-heads - two regiments of the US 36th "Texas" Division were wading ashore when flares lit the entire scene. The Americans - many facing their first battle - came under withering fire from unseen German defenders and threatened to panic. Weeks of careful planning and rehearsal were forgotten as soldiers dived for cover and landing craft turned back towards the transports out at sea. While the Texas Division sorted itself out - making its way eventually to its first objective, one-and-a-half miles inland - three battalions of US Rangers succeeded in taking Chiunzi Mount during the night. By dawn they had taken the twin peaks overlooking the pass and the main highway to Naples.

Meanwhile, the British launched Operation *'Slapstick'*. The British 1 Airborne Division made an amphibious landing at Taranto and then captured the airfield at Foggia. In the hastily-improvised Operation *'Slapstick'*, six British warships entered port to land 3,600 British paratroopers on Italian soil. No Germans were to be seen, and the Italian garrison cheered as the British came ashore. Taranto was beyond the range of air fighter cover from Sicily, but the Allies wanted to secure a port to supply advances up Italy's eastern flank. They also wanted to ensure that Italian warships did not fall into German hands; but the Italian fleet is already under way to surrender at Malta.

German troops tried to occupy Bari harbor. Major General Nicola Bellomo, commander Commander in Chief IX Territorial Defence Command, formed a group of about 100 men and counter-attacked the German position, with himself personally leading the action. After two hours of fighting, the Germans were ousted out of Bari.

The Germans unleashed a new weapon of warfare which claimed as its first victim one of the Italian ships heading to surrender. The battleship _'Roma' _was hit by a "glider bomb" in the Gulf of Asinara off Sardinia and blew up soon after firing her first and last shots in battle. The ship was en route to Malta from the Italian naval base at La Spezia. The Germans have two types of glider bomb - the Ruhrstahl SD-1400 and the Henschel HS-293 - which were released from the air to hit targets on the ground. In effect, they were unmanned missiles which could be used against targets on land as well as at sea. Amongst the 1,523 dead on the _'Roma' _was Admiral Carlo Bergamini, commander of the Italian combined battle fleet (hence senior naval commander afloat in the Italian forces.)

One of the clauses of the armistice between the Allies and Italy specified that the ships of the Italian Navy, bearing black circular panels in sign of surrender, would sail to Malta to await their final destiny. The Italian ships sailed but did not bear the black circular panels. At 0300 hours local, three battleships, the _'Roma'_, the _'Vittorio Veneto' _and _'Littorio'_, left La Spezia along with 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers. Instead of sailing for Malta, they headed for the naval port of La Maddelena on Sardinia and were sighted by Allied aircraft at dawn. At 1340 hours, the Italians learned that the port had been occupied by the Germans and they turned south and headed for Malta. German aircraft sighted the fleet and attacked but miss. At the same time, 6 Dornier Do 217K-2s of II/KG 100 took off from Istres, France, armed with Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-1 (Fritz X) remote control bombs with a 320 kilogram warhead. The first attack came while the ships were about 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) southwest of Cape Testa, Sardinia. The first Fritz X was directed toward the _'Littorio' _and it fell near the battleship temporarily blocking the rudder; the crew went to auxiliary rudder and continued. At 1545 hours, a Fritz X struck _'Roma' _on the starboard side, goes through the hull and explodes in the water reducing the ship's speed to 10 knots. A second Fritz X hit _'Roma' _and exploded in the forward superstructure starting a fire. The ship listed to starboard and sank with 88 officers and 1,264 sailors. Other Italian ships lost were the cruiser _'Taranto'_, destroyers _'Maestrale'_, _'Corazziere'_, _'Nicole Zeno' _and FR 21 (Former French destroyer Lion) and Torpedo Boats _'Antonio Cascino' _and _'Procione'_, all of which were scuttled in various ports to prevent German capture. The destroyer _'Antonio Da Noli' _sank off Corsica after hitting a mine.

In the air, USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s hit the satellite airfield at Foggia in support of British airborne landings. The USAAF Twelfth Air Force sent 100+ B-17s to bomb bridges at Capua and Cancello Arnone, and 240+ B-25s and B-26s to hit railroad-bridges at Potenza and landing ground at Scanzano.

German forces entered Rome, brushing aside the Italian garrison and forcing the government to flee.

Iran declared war on Germany.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: *Unternehmen Sizilien: *The pride of the German fleet battered the shore installations and succeeded in putting the radio station out of action when troops of the German 349th Grenadier Regiment landed and blew up the Allied installations. The attacking force comprised two battleships, _'Tirpitz' _and the _'Scharnhorst'_, and ten destroyers. The _'Tirpitz' _was Germany's most powerful battleship, yet today's action was the first time that her heavy guns have been in action since she was built two years ago.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Operation *'Starkey' *(a rehearsal for the invasion of France), the US Eighth Air Force in England dispatched a record number of 330 heavy bombers against various targets in France. 20 B-17s bombed the industrial area at Paris and 48 others hit the secondary target, the Beaumont Suroise Airfield. They claimed 16-2-9 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 B-17s were lost. 59 B-17s bombed Tille Airfield at Beauvais, 37 B-17s attacked Nord Airfield at Lille, 52 B-17s bombed Vendeville Airfield at Lille, 51 B-17s hit Vitry-en-Artois Airfield, 28 B-24s bombed Ft Rouge and Longuenesse Airfields at St Omer and 35 B-24s attacked Drucat Airfield at Abbeville. All missions except the Drucat Airfield mission were escorted by 215 P-47 Thunderbolts that claimed 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 P-47's were lost. The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 55 against coastal defenses around Boulogne, France. 202 B-26Bs hit the targets and 3 B-26s were lost. Operation *'Starkey' *was a disappointment as the Luftwaffe refused to commit fighter defenses on a large scale, thus preventing possible destruction of many of their aircraft, which Allied air forces hoped to accomplish.

The Lockheed Ventura made its last operation with RAF Bomber Command.

Major Johannes Seifert returned toJG 26 as _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 26. Exiled to Bulgaria on a request from his mother (after his brother died), Major Seifert had appealed to General Galland for his return to combat duty. Galland agreed and returned him to his old unit at Lille.


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## Njaco (Sep 10, 2008)

*10 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces try their hand at amphibious landings hitting the Black Sea coast near Novorossiysk. The makeshift nature of the attack created a great deal of confusion among the Soviet units and unexpectedly heavy resistance and quick reaction from the Germans led to heavy losses. A similar assault in the sea of Azoz was conducted at Mariupol. It too was met by heavy resistance from Rumanian artillery units which caused heavy losses. Other Red Army forces took Barvenkovo, Volnovakha and Chaplino.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US front at Salerno was quiet and the front was pushed inland. Most of the German reserves concentrated in the British sector and local counterattacks recaptured positions lost that morning. Other German forces retreated north, intending to form a defensive line across Italy. Although now firmly established at Salerno, the Allies did not have enough room between the coast and the Germans to allow use of the ports at Salerno and Vietri. The U.S. 36th Infantry Division, set about capturing high ground from Ogliastro to Albanella. Meanwhile, the British X Corps pushed on at Battipaglia to capture Montecorvino airfield while 46 Division was to clear Salerno and the corridors through the Sorrento peninsula. However, at first light the Germans struck first, driving 56 Division out of Battipaglia but Montecorvino airfield was captured by 3 Coldstream Guards and 2/6th Queen's Regiment, 169 Brigade and Faiano fell without a fight. On X Corps' left, 46 Division troops ended the day in a stalemate with German forces at Cava di Tirreni. At the Gulf's southern end, the U.S. 45th Infantry Division went ashore virtually unmolested to supported the 36th Infantry Division - most defenders having been moved to the north against X Corps.

The British Eighth Army reached the Catanzaro 'neck' after an advance of about 100 miles (161 km). General Montgomery wished to pause here but was reluctantly persuaded to push forward to relieve pressure on the landings at Salerno. 1 Airborne Division's patrol from Taranto reached Monopoli on the Adriatic Coast and found it clear of Germans, but at Castellanata 10 Parachute Battalion had a sharp engagement in which the Divisional commander, Major-General G. F. Hopkinson, was mortally wounded. V Corps troops were now being shipped into Taranto from where they were intended eventually to come under Montgomery's command.

German reaction to the Italian surrender was predictably swift. Within hours of Eisenhower's announcement of the Italian surrender, General von Vietinghoff, the commander of the Tenth Army, moved paratroopers and a Panzer division to occupy Rome. Five Italian divisions stationed around Rome appeared ready to defend the city, but capitulated quickly as the German commanders put Unternehmen *'Achse' *(Axis) into force. Ironically, the Americans had been preparing a division-strong airborne landing in the city - but cancelled the operation when Marshal Badoglio protested.

US Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators bombed a satellite airfield at Foggia. US Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command medium bombers hit railroad and road junctions and road net in the Castelnuovo-Pescopagano-Cassino-Capua-Formia areas; B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked the Ariano intersection and highway bridge (and bridges and roads in the area), bridges near Botena and over the Tiber River southwest of Rome, and roads, buildings, and railroad facilities at Isernia; XII Air Support Command and RAF airplanes of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force blasted heavy road movement north from Lauria and covered beachheads in the Salerno area as the British Eighth Army increased pressure on its front in an effort to prevent the Germans from concentrating against the US Fifth Army's Salerno beachhead. During the night, B-25 Mitchells hit communications centers at Corleto, Perticara, Auletta and Saptri.

A heavy response from the Luftwaffe reached a peak at night when long-range bomber forces of the Luftwaffe flew about 100 sorties over the Allied bridgehead, the strongest reaction by the _Kampfgeschwadern _since the attacks on Malta in 1942. Units engaged were IV./JG 3, I., II. and III./JG 53, I./JG 77, III./JG 77, II. and III./SKG 10, II./SchG 2, II./LG 1, I. and II./KG 1, III./KG 54, I. and II./KG 76 and II./KG 77. Also involved flying from southern France were 3 Gruppen of KG 30, I. and II./KG 26 using Hs 293 glider bombs and II. and III./KG 100 using Fritz-X bombs.

Minelayer HMS _'Abdiel' _which was bringing in supplies and a holding force after the announcement of the Italian armistice, was sunk in the port of Taranto by German GS type magnetic mines laid the previous evening by MFP478 and S54 and S61. There were 48 casualties amongst the crew plus 120 soldiers.



> _"Be pleased to inform Their Lordships that the Italian Fleet lies at anchor under the guns of the Fortress of Malta."_


 With these words Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, signaled to the admiralty the total surrender of the Italian navy. Flying black flags of surrender and escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, units of the Italian fleet were anchored off Valetta's Grand Harbour. More ships were heading for Gibraltar and other Allied ports, removing the naval threat in the Mediterranean.

The Allies occuppied the Dodecanese island of Castelrosso.


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## Njaco (Sep 11, 2008)

*11 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German officers captured by the Red Army formed an anti-Hitler association, the "Bund deutscher Offiziere".

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The fighting at Salerno became more chaotic and piecemeal. Typical was the fight on the British 56 Division's front, where 167 Brigade and 201 Guards Brigade were subjected to sudden sharp attacks by infiltrating German units at the 'Tobacco Factory' between Battipaglia and Bellizzi. These attacks were beaten off, but neither British nor German troops were really sure of the situation. In 46 Division's sector, the fighting was also scrappy and disjointed. 139 Brigade was able to gradually relieve the Commando forces at Vietri sul Mare and on the left the US Rangers were reinforced and continued to hold their positions. A three-pronged push in the US VI Corps' sector by the 36th and 45th Infantry Divisions was held up in the left and center as troops of the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division filtered into the fighting on the plain.

In southern Italy, British 1 Airborne Division entered Bari and then Brindisi. General Bernard Montgomery, Commanding General Eighth Army, pushed forward units of the British 5 Division towards Castrovillari and Belvedere and the Canadian 1 Division towards Crotone. General Harold Alexander's Chief-of-Staff, Major General Alexander Richardson, arrived at Montgomery's headquarters to explain the crisis at Salerno and to offer men and equipment to threaten the South flank of the Germans facing Fifth Army.

The Italian’s on Rhodes surrender to the Germans.

In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command sent B-17s to bomb the Benevento marshalling yard and bridge and highway junction nearby; B-25s and B-26s hit highways and junctions at Castelnuovo, Ariano, Mignano, and Isernia; P-40s flew an uneventful sweep over southern Sardinia and USAAF and RAF aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force continued to provide beachhead cover in the Salerno area, hit road communications throughout the day, and attack road and rail bridges, junctions, airfield, and town areas at Saptri, Corleto, Perticara, Auletta, and Gioia del Colle.
.
German E-boats attacked the USN destroyer USS _'Rowan' _(DD-405) in the Gulf of Salerno. _'Rowan' _pursued and fired on the enemy, then, as her quarry pulled away, ceased firing and changed course to rejoin the convoy she was escorting back to Oran, French Morocco. Within 5 minutes a new contact was made, range less than 3,000 yards (2.7 kilometres). Again she changed course, to avoid torpedoes and bring her guns into position. As the range decreased to 2,000 yards (1.8 kilometres), _'Rowan' _was hit by a torpedo. She sank in less than a minute, taking 202 of her 273 officers and men with her.

Off the coast of Salerno in the morning, the USN light cruiser USS _'Savannah' _(CL-42) was struck by a remote controlled Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-1 (Fritz X) glide bomb launched by a Do-217K-2 of III/KG 100. It pierced through the armored turret roof of the Number 3 Gun Turret, passing through three decks into the lower handling room where it exploded causing a gaping hole in the bottom, and tore open a seam in the ship's port side. For 30-minutes, secondary explosions in the gun room hampered firefighting efforts; 197 crewmen were killed and 15 seriously wounded. The ship arrived at Malta on 12 September and then departed for the U.S. in December.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 56 against 2 locations without loss. 19 B-26Bs bombed the shipyard at Le Trait when the primary target was obscured by clouds and 32 B-26Bs attacked Beaumont le Roger Airfield.

A Ju 88A-12 from Blindflugschule 4 collided with a Ju 86 and crashed into the water of København southern harbour near the locks about 200 metre from the shore. The crew of four all died and were all laid to rest in København Bispebjerg Cemetery. The Ju 86 was damaged less than 10% and pilot Ofw. Rudolf Rowalowsky landed it safely at Fliegerhorst Kastrup.

In the late afternoon, in bad weather, W/O Grondowski of RAF No. 315 (Polish) Sqdrn was leading a section consisting of himself and two pilots, Sgt Zygmund and Sgt Kolek, in a local formation flight. Unfortunately, he led them away from the prescribed area, and lost them in the hills beyond Belfast. All three crashed within a short time of each other, W/O Grondowski and Sgt Kolek being killed. Sgt Zygmund had a lucky escape, for he was knocked out when his aircraft crashed, soon came round and was able to climb out of the wreckage and walk to the nearest road.


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## Njaco (Sep 13, 2008)

*12 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stary Kermenchik, in the Donets basin, was liberated by Russian units.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Hand-picked paratroopers crash-landed by glider on an Italian mountainside and snatched Mussolini to freedom. In a brilliant operation involving a hair-raising take-off down a rocky slope in a tiny aircraft, Il Duce was delivered safely to an airfield at Pratica di Mare. Hitler's order for the rescue of the former dictator was given to SS-SturmbannFührer Otto Skorzeny. He first had to locate Mussolini, whom the Italians had moved about since his arrest and fall of the 25th of July, to avoid a rescue attempt. Mussolini had been held under guard in a seaside boarding house and later in a villa on a Sardinian island. News of Italy's surrender, including the condition that he would be handed over to the Allies, was kept from him. Two weeks ago il Duce was moved to the Albergo di Campo Imperatore hotel, 7,000 feet up the Gran Sasso mountain in the Apennines, where he was guarded by carabinieri. The hotel is about 93 miles east-northeast of Rome at an altitude of 6,652 feet. The Italian Military Intelligence (SIM) attempting to hide the former leader from the German Intelligence agents. The only access was by cable car. An intercepted radio message gave Skorzeny the answer to his quest. But how was he to reach the hotel, normally only accessible by cable car? During a reconnaissance flight, Skorzeny saw a small lawn just behind the hotel and this was the spot on which he decided to land. A paratroop drop was out because of the altitude leaving only gliders to get the German troops into the hotel. At Practica di Mare Aerodrome Skorzeny, his Luftwaffe paratroopers from Fallsirmjager-Lehr-Battalion under the command of Major Mors and fifty SS men belonging to Skorzeny's unit, prepared for the operation which included occupying the railway terminal to prevent reinforcement by Italian troops. The raiding force were equipped with amongst other things explosives, laughing gas and forged British bank notes. The twelve DFS 230C-1 gliders, capable of carrying eight fully equipped soldiers, begin lifting off at 1230 hours local and shortly after, four of the twelve dropped out on the way for various reasons with the lead two disappearing. The "small lawn" Skorzeny had seen on his flight was in fact a small piece of very steep ground with a sheer drop at the end meaning that the gliders would have to crash land near the hotel. All gliders landed but one crash landed and injured all on board; Skorzeny's glider stopped short only a few yards from the hotel doors. He raced up to the hotel doors and kicked them in and preceded to put an Italian radio operator and his radio out of action. He made contact with Mussolini and declared "_Duce, I have come to rescue you!" _In four minutes the Italian dictator was outside the hotel and boarding a Fiesler Fi 156 Storch light aircraft ready to fly back to the aerodrome. Although the Fi 156 had only two seats, Skorzeny insisted that he wanted to fly back to base with Mussolini. This made the plane overloaded and 12 men held the plane on his place as the pilot ran up the engine. Finally he raised his arm and the men let go of the plane, the plane sped ahead, almost hitting a large rock, and finally disappeared over the edge. The plane landed in Rome and Mussolini and Skorzeny were flown to Vienna. The propaganda value of this mission was immense and Skorzeny and his SS men were featured in most of the media broadcasts. The truth is that the entire Gran Sasso mission was planned by Luftwaffe General Student and the Fallschirmjäger Lehr Battalion under the command of Major Mors. Only two gliders contained Skorzeny and his men from the Jagdverbande with the rest from the Fallschirmjäger Lehr Battalion. Skorzeny was responsible for Mussolini's safety and his delivery to Hitler but the mission itself was in overall command of the paratroops. Not surprisingly, they were somewhat annoyed when Skorzeny and the SS received all the kudos. Gen. Student even had the Luftwaffe make a film showing the paratroops version of events.

British Eighth Army forces on the toe of Italy captured Crotone and pushed north, and on the Taranto front occuppied territory up to north of Castelaneta. Fighting at Salerno was marked by the effective use of the Hermann Göring Panzer Division. In the Salerno beachhead, the Germans began their first major counterattack late in the day and the German 29th Panzergrenadier Division and 16th Panzer Division drove the British out of Battipaglia once more. The British unit in the Molina Pass was under heavy pressure from the Hermann Goering Panzer Division.

The US Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command sent B-17s to bomb the Mignano road defiles, the Benevento road bridge, and the Frosinone airfield; medium bombers hit Ariano (and trucks and road nearby), Isernia, and Castelnuovo and Formia road junctions; US and RAF aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force attacked motor transport movement, roads, and bridges in the Potenza-Auletta areas.

The German submarine _'U-617' _ran aground under British aerial attack by RAF Hudsons of No 48 and No 233 Squadrons and FAA Swordfish Mk IIs of No 833 and No. 886 Squadrons, all four based at Gibraltar, in the Mediterranean near Melilla. The wreck was destroyed by gunfire from the RN corvette HMS _'Hyacinth' _and the RAN minesweeper HMAS _'Woollongong'_. All 49 crewmen on the U-boat were able to evacuate the stricken sub and subsequently interned by the Spanish authorities. They were later repatriated to Germany.

*WESTERN FRONT:* A Ju 88 belonging to IV./NJG 3 was on a training flight when it hit the ground at Tværmose about two kilometres west of Fliegerhorst Grove. The Ju 88 disintegrated upon impact, a fire erupted and the wreckage was engulfed in flames. The aircraft was a 100% loss and the crew of three died.


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## Njaco (Sep 14, 2008)

*13 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Hptm. Gunther Rall, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 52 was awarded the _Schwerter_.

*GERMANY*: 5 Oboe Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 5 to Duisburg without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: At Salerno the Germans rapidly reinforced the battle area, and the Allied situation continued to deteriorate. German General Heinrich von Vietinghoff launched a major counter-attack against the Allied beachhead, albeit with divisions which were not yet fully reconstituted after the fighting in Sicily. The Hermann Goering and 15th Panzer Grenadier Divisions attacked the British X Corps, while elements of the 26th and 29th Panzer Grenadier and the 16th Panzer Divisions drove against the U.S. VI Corps and the lightly defended area along the Sele River. The Germans penetrated the American lines during the afternoon, overrunning a battalion of the 36th Infantry Division and threatening the rear of the Allied position. For a time, the situation was so precarious that Lieutenant General Mark Clark, Commanding General U.S. Fifth Army, directed his staff to begin planning to evacuate one of the two beachheads and land its forces on the other. American resistance stiffened along the Calore River as artillery, tank, and tank destroyer units held their ground, pouring shot after shot directly into the attacking Germans. By nightfall the German attacks faltered, and the Allies began to regroup. Seaborne reinforcements from Sicily could not arrive in time, and British Eighth Army advances were being slowed by heavily damaged roads and logistic problems. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Allied Expeditionary Force Mediterranean, had earlier made the 82d Airborne Division available to Fifth Army, and Clark requested its use. The airborne unit represented the only force that could move to the area rapidly enough to make a difference. During the night of 13-14 September, 80+ USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains dropped 1,300 soldiers of the 504th PIR into the beachhead ; these troops immediately moved into defensive positions bolstering the 36th Infantry Division. In southern Italy, the British Eighth Army continued to advance and took Cosenza.

In the air, RAF heavy bombers, under the operational control of the USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command, hit Potenza. B-17s of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command bombed roads in the Torre del Greco area, a highway at Sala Consilina, and a road junction, railway and bridge at Atena Lucana; B-25s attacked a viaduct, rail and road junctions, and rail lines in the Pompeii-Castellammare di Stabia-Torre Annuziata areas; XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches destroyed 25 to 30 vehicles near Potenza, and fighters maintained convoy patrol. USAAF and RAF light and medium bombers of the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force hit town areas, road junctions, and vehicles in the Auletta-Pompeii-Sala Consilina-San Severino Rota areas.

In Greece, fighting was reported between the Italian Acqui division and German units at Cephalonia. 1646 Italians would be killed in the fighting before they would surrender a week later.

A German Fritz X guided aerial bomb crippled British carrier HMS _'Uganda' _off Salerno, Italy. The Fritz X passed through seven decks and straight through her keel, exploding underwater just under the keel. The concussive shock of the Fritz X's underwater detonation close to Uganda's hull extinguished all her boiler fires, and resulted in sixteen men being killed, with Uganda taking on 1,300 tons of water. Damage control under Lieutenant Leslie Reed managed to get the ship moving with one engine. She was towed to Malta by USS Narragansett, where temporary repairs were made.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The US Eighth Air Force activated the 1st, 2d, and 3d Bombardment Divisions at Brampton Grange, Horsham St Faith and Camp Blainey respectively. They were formed from complements of VIII Bomber Command's 4 bombardment wings which were redesignated Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) effective this date; each bombardment division was organized into combat bombardment wings. Commanding Officers of the Bombardment Divisions were Major General Robert B Williams (1st), Brigadier General James P Hodges (2d), and Major General Curtis E LeMay (3d).

*WESTERN FRONT:* General Josef Kammhuber was appointed commander of all the Luftwaffe night-fighting units. But he was on shaky ground. Goering felt slighted by Kammhuber when he disagreed with the "Einsitzer" nachtjagd concept then taking root and also by not attending a crisis meeting held by Goering following the Hamburg raids.

20 year old Uffz. Herbert Schopel of 1./SAGr 128 was killed at Brest-Sud when his Fw 190A-5 suffered engine failure.

While flying over the sea the right hand engine of a Ju 88C-6 from 10./NJG 3 caught fire and Pilot Lt. Helmut Alberti turned back towards land. Engineer Gefreiter Otto Kramm however bailed out before the Ju 88 reached the coast and landed in the sea and died. The Ju 88 crashed at Vester Hjulskov in a field belonging to Farmer A. Thøgersen. Lt. Alberti had bailed out too late at too low an altitude as his body was found near the wreckage.


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## Njaco (Sep 14, 2008)

*14 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler ordered his armies to withdraw to the Panther Line, between Kiev and Vitebsk. The Germans announced they were evacuating Bryansk. The Russians were still up against a heavy rearguard action. Novorossiysk, in the Kuban, was also heavily contested.

Lt. Wilmans, wingman to the _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 52, flying a Bf 109, failed to return after combat near Turkenovka.

Oblt. Walter Nowotny of I./JG 54, scored his 204th victory, becoming the highest scoring _Experte _at this time. Also at JG 54, the _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 54, Hptm. Erich Rudorffer shot down 5 Russian planes.

*GERMANY*: 8 Lanasters of RAF No.617 Sqdn set out with a new 12,000 lb bomb (not the 12,000 lb Tallboy 'earthquake' bomb developed later) to attack the banks of the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Ladbergen. While the force was over the North Sea, however, a weather reconnaissance Mosquito reported that there was fog in the target area and the Lancasters were recalled. The aircraft of Flight Lieutenant D.J.H. Maltby, one of the original members of the squadron that had attacked the Ruhr dams, crashed into the sea and the crew were all killed. Maltby's body was washed ashore and is buried at Wickhambreux near Canterbury in Kent. The names of the other 6 crew members are on the Runnymede Memorial for the Missing.

8 Mosquitoes made a nuisance raid on Berlin, 1 aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: At Salerno, the Germans attacked the entire Allied front throughout the daylight hours, searching for weaknesses. Their efforts were unsuccessful. The British 7 Armoured Division began landing in the British X Corps sector, and the U.S. 180th Infantry Regiment, the remaining regiment of the 45th Infantry Division, landed behind VI Corps to become the Fifth Army reserve. During the night, C-47 Skytrains dropped the 2,105 men of the 505th Regimental Combat Team (505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 456th Parachute Field Artillery and Company A, 307th Engineers) south of the Sele River to strengthen the beachhead. By the evening, with more supplies ashore and reinforcements arriving, the crisis had passed. Although the two night airborne drops into the Salerno beachhead had been executed flawlessly, another airborne operation was less successful. The 640 men of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment jumped some 20 miles (32 kilometres) north of the British X Corps at Avellino during the evening to disrupt German resupply and communications lines. The paratroopers had been ordered to harass the Germans for about five days and then either to infiltrate to the beachhead or to link up with advancing forces. Of the 40 planes involved in the operation, only 15 dropped their cargo within 4 miles (6 kilometres) of the drop zone; 23 planes scattered paratroopers between 8 and 25 miles (13 and 40 kilometres) from the intended target, and the drop site of the remaining two planes was unknown. Of the 640 men who jumped, 400 made it safely back to Allied hands several days later after launching small raids in the German rear.

In the air, Allied heavy bombers, diverted from attacks on strategic targets in Germany, interdicted German units and supplies flowing toward the beachhead and struck German units in assembly areas and attacked positions. USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Pescara while RAF heavy bombers, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, hit Potenza. The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command sent B-17s, B-25 Mitchells, and B-26s to attack highways, road junctions and defiles, bridges, town areas, railroads, marshalling yard, barracks, and numerous targets of opportunity, including several gun positions, in or near Avellino, Pompeii, Torre Annunziata, Auletta, Baronissi, San Severino Rota, Battipaglia, and Eboli; USAAF and RAF fighter-bombers and light and medium bombers of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force flew well over 500 sorties, mainly against bridges, and towns in the battle area or around Battipaglia, Eboli, Potenza Torre Annunziata, Benevento, Auletta, and Avellino.
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In southern Italy, elements of the British Eighth Army entered Bari in the east and Belvedere in the west.

Free French commandos were landed on Corsica to form resistance groups to harass the Germans occupying the island.

The elite British Boat Service, a watery cousin to the SAS, landed on the Aegean island of Kos.

German Lieutenant General Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin received orders from Adolf Hitler to execute some 200 captured Italian officers. He refused.

Off Salerno, U.S. freighter SS _'Bushrod Washington' _was set afire by a Hs-293 rocket propelled glidebomb hit and was abandoned. Tug _'Hopi' _(AT-71) assisted boats with the latter's survivors. One Armed Guard sailor, four merchant seamen and ten stevedores perished in the explosion and fires. Fire-fighting efforts, however, ultimately proved unavailing for _'Bushrod Washington' _sank off Salerno, Italy.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: In Norway, Ofw. Erich Beulich of 7./JG 5 (10 kills) went missing in action. Fw. Franz Dorr was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 5.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Mission 57: 108 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the Woenisdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands and Nord Airfield at Lille, France; they were recalled due to weather.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 15, 2008)

*15 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Nezhin fell to Rokossovsky's troops. Dyatkovo was evacuated by the Germans.

*GERMANY*: An RAF Lancaster of No. 617 Squadron dropped the first 12,000-lb bomb on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. 8 Lancasters of RAF No. 617 Sqdn took off to carry out the postponed raid on the banks of the Dortmund-Ems Canal but the area was misty and 5 aircraft were lost including those of Pilot Officer L.G. Knight, another of the Dams Raid survivors, and the new squadron commander, Sqdn Ldr G. Holden. These heavy losses, and the losses of the Dams Raid, confirmed that low level attacks on German targets, even when away from major defended areas, were not viable with heavy bombers and this type of operation was not repeated. 617 Sqdn now started retraining as a specialist high-altitude-bombing unit.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: At Salerno the counterattack by the Germans was halted for them to regroup. HMS _'Valiant' _and _'Warspite' _joined the warships offshore in their bombardment of German positions. The British 8th Army continued its advance. British Eighth Army forces reached Saptri, threatening the enemy with entrapment between US and British forces.
Procida in Naples Bay was captured by the Allies.

Alexander replaced General Dawley of the British VI Corps.

US Ninth Air Force B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Potenza and attacked railroads and warehouses in the areas around Potenza, Altamura, Gravina di Puglia, and Matera. US Twelfth Air Force B-17s bombed highways and a railroad at Torre del Greco while B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit highways and road junctions at or near Torre Annunziata, Battipaglia, Eboli, Serre, Auletta, and Polla. The US XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements attacked buildings, railroads, highways and motor transport in support of US Fifth Army as German counterattacks astride Sele River subsided.

Much to the disapproval of their American allies, British troops have landed on Kos, a Dodecanese island only a mile from the Turkish coast. The 5,000-strong Italian garrison was fighting with them. Such was the low priority given to this operation that General Eisenhower refused the use of landing craft, and Britain's Special Boat Squadron was forced to requisition Greek fishing caiques to land in Kos. The SBS was joined by 120 men of the 11th Parachute Battalion dropped from Dakotas, before the main body of troops, the 1st Battalion Durham Light Infantry, flew in. The British and their Italian allies were under continual attack from the Luftwaffe, and troops from a Dakota were interned in Turkey after the aircraft was forced down on the sea by a Messerschmitt. Hitler diverted aircraft from all parts of the Mediterranean to the Dodecanese. Eisenhower, on the other hand, ruled that the Aegean "campaign" as no more than a British side-show.

Mussolini returned to power in Italy (at least the northern half). It was a political move and had little real impact.

German planes bombed Allied shipping off Salerno. U.S. freighter SS _'James W. Marshall' _was damaged by a glide bomb. Two tank landing craft (LCT) alongside caught fire, and the resultant blaze compelled the abandonment of the freighter. Thirteen of the ship's merchant complement perished as do 50 Army stevedores working cargo. Amphibious command ship _'Biscayne' _(AVP-11) provided aid for many survivors. Liberty ship _'William Bradford' _was strafed by German planes. There were no casualties among the freighter's merchant or Armed Guard complements. LCT-241 was sunk by an aerial bomb. LCT-209 was destroyed when the freighter _'Bushrod Washington' _exploded when the uncontrolled fires (started the previous day when the ship suffered a direct bomb hit) reached the 500-pound bombs stowed forward. LCT-19 was sunk by a rocket bomb.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A Halifax bomber flying from Croft airfield, County Durham, was abandoned by the crew at 12.45 after the pilots escape hatch blew off, causing loss of control. Six of the crew baled out, one stayed with the plane and was killed when it crashed at Stillington near York.

United States 101st Airborne Division troops arrived in England.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew 2 missions with the loss of 6 bombers. Mission 95, in 3 forces, was flown against aviation facilities in France. 87 B-17s attacked the Romilly-sur-Seine air depot and 139 B-17s attacked three targets. 40 hit the Caudron-Renault industrial area in Paris, 21 hit the Billancourt-Renault works and 78 hit the Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine works in Paris. They claimed 12-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft and 5 B-17s were lost, mostly by JG 2 and JG 26. 47 B-24s hit Chartres Airfield and claimed 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 B-24 was lost.

The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 58 against 2 airfields in France without loss. 72 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to Nord Airfield at Lille but the mission was aborted due to weather. 68 B-26Bs hit Merville Airfield at 1745 and 1748 hours.

209 Halifaxes, 120 Stirlings, 40 Lancasters and 5 American B-17s attacked Montlucon, 3 aircraft lost. This was a moonlit raid on the Dunlop rubber factory at Montlucon in central France. The Pathfinders marked the target accurately and the Master Bomber, Wing Commander D.F.E.C. Deane, brought the Main Force in well to carry out some accurate bombing. Every building in the factory was hit and a large fire was started. This appears to be the last occasion on which the Pathfinders used the Master Bomber technique until the spring of 1944. No report of the raid was available from France.

The Hamburg disaster in August and the increased US Eighth Air Force activity over Germany created a strong need for a more flexible command structure. A sweeping re-organization and complete restructuring of the system was called for and orders were issued. _Jagdfliegerfuhrer Bretagne _was reformed at St. Pol-Brias in northeast France (ex-Stab./Jagdfliegerfuhrer 2) under 4.jagddivision and later under II Jagdkorps. The Stab remained at St.Pol-Brias and from there controlled fighter defenses over northeast FRance and Belgium. Oberst Karl Viek was named as Jagdfliegerfuhrer. But re-organizing the Stab and communications system required time and the new organization became effective later. As a result of these changes, _General der Nachtjagd_ Josef Kammhuber was fired by Goering and this led to an intense focus on the entire _Nachtjagd _static defense system.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 16, 2008)

*16 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Miniature submarine X-9 was lost while on tow behind HMS _'Syrtis' _in the Norwegian Sea. She was believed to have foundered due to a broken 600-foot towrope which would have caused her to plunge to the bottom. There were no survivors from the 3-man crew. X-9 was one of 6 X-craft being towed to the north of Norway to conduct attacks against _'Scharnorst'_, _'Lützow' _and _'Tirpitz'_.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Novgorod Seversky and Romny, near Konotop, were liberated by Soviet forces during their advance on Kiev. After a week of very heavy fighting, Soviet ground forces met up with the beachhead at Novorossysk, capturing the town.

Alfred Kutenberger of JG 52 (23 kills) was killed in action.

*GERMANY*: 5 Mosquitoes went to Berlin without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Another German attack, under Vietinghoff, between Salerno and Battipaglia was driven off. Forward units of the US 5th and British 8th Armies linked up. The main bodies of these armies were still well behind. As advance units of the British Eighth Army linked up with the beleaguered US Fifth Army near the Salerno beach-head , the German commander of the Tenth Army, General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, ordered his Panzers to withdraw northwards. The beach-head was secure, but it was touch-and-go until the very end. Artillery and infantry of the British 201 Guards Brigade defeated German attacks against Bellizzi and Fosso, whilst attacks on the 23 Armored Brigade's positions were defeated by counter-attacks in the early afternoon. At one point, the US Fifth Army commander, General Mark Clark, had to order cooks, clerks, drivers and bandsmen to grab the nearest rifles and form a defensive line as German troops threatened to drive the Americans off the beach-head. When German reinforcements arrived from the south, Clark even contemplated withdrawing his armies from Salerno, but, instead, pulled back two miles while reinforcements were rushed in. There was every indication that the Germans had used up their energy and their units were battle weary. General Clark gave orders for the Allies to prepare for immediate pursuit if the enemy began to withdraw.

On the British Eighth Army's front, 5 Division reached Sapri and 1 Canadian Division near Spezzano. Units from these two divisions met at Castrovillari, whilst Canadian and 1 Airborne Division troops made contact 40 miles (64.4 km) south-west of Taranto. The Allied armies were at last in touch across the Italian peninsula from the Tyrrhenian coast to the Adriatic. 

US Ninth Air Force B-24s hit road junctions and a supply dump at Potenza, following a RAF raid of the previous night. US Twelfth Air Force B-17s hit bridges, rail line, marshalling yard, trains, and a railroad-highway intersection in the Benevento area, and roads and railway facilities in the Caserta area; medium bombers hit roads, railroads, junctions, and bridges at Isernia, Formia, Mignano, and Capua; XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers maintained continuous sweeps over the Salerno beachhead and surrounding battle zone while other US and RAF elements of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (fighters, light and medium bombers) blasted enemy aircraft, motor transport, troop concentrations and communications targets in the Contursi and Eboli areas.

HMS _'Warspite'_, providing gunnery support, was struck by two German glider bombs and sustained serious damage. She was hit three times, one of them striking near her funnel, ripping through her decks and causing immense damage, making a large hole in the bottom of her hull, and crippling much of _'Warspite' _as it did so. Casualties were minor; 9 killed and 14 wounded. Her appearance had dramatically changed in just a few moments, from an imposing battleship to one shattered and war scarred. She was soon on the journey to Malta, being towed by United States Navy (USN) tugs. The tow proved extremely difficult, and at one point she was drifting sideways through the straits of Messina having broken all the tow lines. She eventually reached Malta on 19 September and undertook emergency repairs there before being towed to Gibraltar.

British forces occupied the islands of Leros and Samos in the Aegean Sea. 

German planes bombed Allied shipping off Bizerte, Tunisia. U.S. freighter _'Edward P. Costigan' _was damaged by a near-miss of a bomb. There were no casualties to either merchant or Armed Guard complements. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Lockheed Hudson V crashed while on a fuel consumption test at Kinnagh, Ballycullane. All 3 crewmen died.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US VIII Air Support Command Mission 59: 67 B-26B Marauders hit Beaumont le Roger Airfield and Tricoueville Airfield without loss. 224 B-17s of the US VIII Bomber Command in 2 forces hit 5 targets with the loss of 11 aircraft. 131 B-17s bombed 2 targets in Nantes; 79 hit Nantes harbor installations and 52 hit Chateau-Bougon Airfield. They claimed 22-2-5 Luftwaffe aircraft while 7 B-17s were lost. Escort was provided by 79 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 93 B-17s hit La Pallice harbor installations, Larochelle/Laleau Airfield and Cognac/Chateaubernard Airfield. They claimed 22-3-8 Luftwaffe aircraft and 4 B-17s were lost. JG 2, Jagdgruppe Ost, II./ZG 1 and 1./SAGr 128 were all scrambled to intercept the bombers. During combat with the bombers near Brest, Oblt Heinz Wurm of 1./SAGr 128 was shot down and killed in his Fw 190A-5 by rear gunners in the B-17s. During his time in command of 5./BFGr 196 and 1./SAGr 128, Oblt. Wurm accounted for over half of his units aerial victories.

170 Halifaxes, 127 Stirlings and 43 Lancasters attacked the important railway yards at Modane on the main railway route from France to Italy. 5 American B-17s also took part. The markings of the target, situated in a steep valley, was not successful and the bombing was not accurate. No report was available from France. 3 aircraft were lost.

12 Lancasters, 8 from 617 Sqdn and 4 from 619, attempted to bomb the railway viaduct near Cannes on the coastal railway line leading to Italy but no direct hits were scored. 1 Lancaster of 619 Sqdn was lost. It came down in the sea off Portugal, possibly while trying to reach Gibraltar.

After having crossed the peninsula of Jylland on a outbound track, a Halifax from RAF No. 138 Sqdn was hit by fire from a German JU 88 night fighter piloted by Oblt. Hindelmeir of II/NJG 3. The port inner engine of the Halifax caught fire as did the belly fuel tank. Pilot F/S Lloyd A. Trotter RAAF feathered the engine and tried to climb to give the crew a chance to bail out. The Halifax would not climb and Trotter had to ditch the burning Halifax in the sea off Norsminde. Trotter, Flt. Engr. Sgt Sam Francis, F/S G T. Jones and Mug F/S Don “Shorty” R. Quinlivan RAAF and one more crewmember all managed to get out and inflated their Mae West. The last mentioned however drifted away from the others. The fire had been observed from Norsminde and a fishing vessel set to sea. Just before reaching the burning wreckage they saw a flashlight flashing SOS and found four flyers in the sea. They were helped onboard and sailed to Norsminde. Two of the flyers suffered from burns and were treated by a doctor. The German Wehrmacht arrived and the flyers were taken to the local hospital to have their burns treated.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 17, 2008)

*17 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet Army captued Bryansk, Trubchevsk and Bezhitsa along the Desna River in their advance. Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov also fell. The Red Army liberated Bryansk, sweeping aside six German infantry divisions before entering the city. They found it devastated. Von Manstein's men blew up virtually every factory before pulling out. The recapture of Bryansk, was, nevertheless, a major strategic victory, for it was the last German stronghold in Russia from which Moscow could be threatened. With six railway lines spreading from it, the city became the junction for the German occupation, feeding men and guns to the battlefields. Now the Russians would use the same tracks to push towards Smolensk, Gomel and Kiev. The Germans were now falling back towards the Dnieper, the next obvious defence line to counter the Russian advance.

*GERMANY:* 6 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 8 Wellingtons went minelaying off Brest without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* On the ground in Italy, US Fifth Army forces advancing on Altavila were pinned down. However, the enemy retired to the north, completing a withdrawal from the battleline during the night. The British Eighth Army began a general advance north toward Potenza and Auletta. Germany began to withdraw from the west coast, attacking Altavilla and Battipaglia to cover its tracks.

US Ninth Air Force B-24s attacked a marshalling yard, road junction, and rail junction at Pescara on the east coast while RAF heavy bombers again hit Potenza. US Twelfth Air Force B-17s and B-26 Marauders bombed airfields at Ciampino and Pratica di Mare; B-25 Mitchells attacked small craft and barges off the mouth of the Tiber River; P-38 Lightnings flew 27 dive-bombing missions against roads, junctions, railways, bridges, and targets of opportunity in the battle area and towns of Vallo della Lucania, Acerno, Nocera, Avellino, Gragnano Serre, Lioni, Fisciano, Monteforte Irpino, Cava de' Tirreni and Auletta; XII Air Support Command, Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force, and other elements of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force escorted naval vessels, and bombed rail and road junctions, motor transport, a marshalling yard, town areas, and various targets of opportunity in the Pompeii, Torre Annunziata, Salerno, Campagna, Sarno, Solofra, Montella, and Acerno areas.

The Allies attacked the III./JG 53 airbase at Ciampino. The _Gruppe _had no warning of the attack and many aircraft were destroyed and 10 pilots injured. One of those wounded was Hptm. Werner Gerth who commented,


> _"....the English four-engined bombers destroyed the entire Gruppe. It was terrible. Lying on the ground with no cover as bombs rained down on us...."_



*NORTHERN FRONT:* Miniature submarine X-8 was scuttled in the Norwegian Sea after it had been found necessary to jettison both her explosive side cargoes. There were no casualties. The X-craft were being towed from Shetland to Northern Norway to undertake attacks on _'Scharnhorst'_, _'Lützow' _and _'Tirpitz'_. 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Lt. Rickard Burdyna had arrived at Fliegerhorst Grove in July 1943 from the Night fighter school to serve with 11./NJG 3. In September he was due for leave, but pursued Lt. Hermann Stock to swap leave period with him as Stock already held the Iron Cross II class and Burdyna much wanted a chance to earn one for himself. Stock agreed to swap and left on leave. Lt. Burdyna attacked and claimed a Halifax of RAF No. 138 Sqdn over the island of Sjælland. His Ju 88 was however hit by return fire from the Halifax and it crashed in the Bjernede Skov forest seven kilometres east of Sorø. Lt. Burdyna died in the crash while his crewmen, Obgefr. Merten and Obgefr. Klotz, were severely wounded and taken to the hospital in Ringsted where they died later on the same day. The Halifax was damaged and pilot F/S T. Miecznik PAF tried to crash land the aircraft but hit a house which started a fierce fire. Sgt Wladyslaw Barzdo PAF, Pilot F/Lt Wizenty Wasilewski PAF, Wop F/S Julian Michalski PAF and Air Gnr.Sgt Wladyslaw Patlewicz PAF all died in the crash and were buried in Slaglille cemetery. Eleven persons were sleeping in the house which the Halifax hit. Three adults and 2 children died in the fire. F/S Tadeusz Miecznik PAF survived and was brought to Ringsted hospital suffering from a broken arm and leg. The Germans moved him to Germany but on 7 November, Marius Petersen and Jørgen Wibolt helped him escape thru the window of his room. He was taken to København and after two days he sailed to Sweden by Erling Kiær. The rear gunner Sgt Roman Puchala got out of the aircraft unharmed and was made a POW.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 18, 2008)

*18 SEPTEMBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN:* US freighter _'William Pepperell' _was attacked by German submarine _'U-260'_, but the torpedo detonated in the ship's torpedo streamer, causing only minor damage to the freighter herself. There were no casualties to either the 42-man merchant complement or the 26-man Armed Guard.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Priluki, Lubny and Romodan were retaken by the Soviets during their advance towards Kiev. In the south they took Pavlograd, Krasnograd, Pologi and Nogaysk.

*GERMANY:* 5 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 49 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Biscay ports without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Seventh Army forces took Altavilla, Persano, and Battipaglia without opposition. To aid in the impending breakout from the Salerno beachhead by British and American forces, it became increasingly important to take Potenza, a city which served as a road hub and thus provided a direct communications link between Taranto and Salerno. A force consisting of the West Nova Scotia Regiment with Calgary tanks, RCHA, engineers, machine gun and anti-tank detachments and commanded by Lt-Col Bogert (Boforce) was given the task of liberating this city.

Boforce left from Villapiani on September 17 then headed inland from Nova Siri, arriving at Sant Archangelo by dusk. There was no enemy opposition. Continuing the northward advance, Boforce moved into Corleto but rubble and blown bridges resulting from Allied bombing caused severe delays. The advance was stopped at Laurenzana by yet another recently destroyed bridge. This bridge was destroyed by retreating enemy. 

US Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit the marshalling yard at Pescara, Italy. US Twelfth Air Force B-17s bombed Viterbo Airfield and the Salerno-Avellino road, while B-25s and B-26s bombed the airfields at Ciampino and Pratica di Mare; B-25s fired 75mm shells at small vessels and a lighthouse near Capraia and between Pianosa and Corsica; P-38 Lightnings on detached service with the Northwest African Tactical Air Force strafed 4 satellite airfields at Foggia and bombed roads, railroads, bridges, and towns in the battle area.

Sardinia surrendered to the Allies.

British forces occupied the islands of Simi, Stampalia and Icaria in the Aegean Sea. German aircraft hit the British airfield on Kos.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The second prototype Hawker Tempest II fighter made its maiden flight.

The Political Warfare Executive took over Mussolini's National Fascist Radio frequency to broadcast a false message from an imitation "Mussolini".

A Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire was brought in for a heavy landing and a tail wheel sheared off. Another Halifax bomber from the same airfield force landed in a field near Lissett, after the starboard inner engine caught fire. Six of the crew were injured. Two more Halifax bombers from the same airfield crashed, the first near Finningley after both starboard engines caught fire at 17,000'. The pilot and two of the crew were killed and two others injured. The second crashed into a row of houses at Chapel Hill, Darrington, Yorkshire. The MOD gave the number of killed as six crew and four civilians, however an eye-witness, who owned one of the houses on which the bomber crashed, stated that eight airmen were killed. The same eye-witness was, with her very young baby, staying with her mother 50 yards away, when the plane crashed, unfortunately her baby suffered the effects of all the fumes from the wreckage and died later aged five months.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 61 and 62 against 3 installations. (1) 25 B-26B Marauders hit Tille Airfield at Beauvais. (2) 18 B-26Bs dispatched to the Rouen marshalling yard and 72 B-26Bs dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield were recalled because of failure to rendezvous with fighter escort and bad weather, respectively.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 20, 2008)

*19 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine _'U-341' _was sunk southwest of Iceland, by depth charges from an RCAF Liberator Mk III, s/n 586, aircraft "A" of No 10 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Gander, Newfoundland, flown by Flight Lieutenant R.F. Fisher and crew. All hands, 50-men, on the U-boat were lost. The aircraft was returning to Gander from Iceland after escorting Prime Minister Winston Churchill in HMS _'Renown' _from the Quebec Conference.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Yartsevo and Dukovachina NE of Smolensk fell to the Soviets.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Auletta and Potenza fell to the British 8th Army. The US Fifth Army gained firm control of the Salerno plain. The advance northwards by Boforce resumed in the morning. Progress was considerably slower than on the previous day; slowed by Teller mines along the route and small rearguard actions conducted by the retreating Germans. Potenza was reached in the evening and the West Novas mounted a night assault across the river (Basento)against a spirited defense. The Calgarys advanced as far as they could until stopped by demolished buildings and mined roadways. Once the obstructions had been removed under cover of darkness, the advance continued into the town on the morning of the 20th. The Germans hastily retreated. The capture of Potenza permitted a link up with elements of the British forces in Auletta 30km west of the Canadian positions. Simultaneous to the approach by Boforce on Potenza, two squadrons from 4 Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, assisting 1 Infantry Brigade made a dash for the sea along the line of the main route between Potenza and Taranto. This detachment made contact with and inflicted heavy casualties on an enemy force at Miglionico which lies approximately halfway between Potenza and Taranto.

US Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers and planes of other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements [US and RAF] concentrated on attacking roads and vehicles in the Benevento-Montesarchio-Contursi-Potenza-Avellino areas, and a railway station at Castelnuovo.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 63 and 64 against 2 airfields. 18 B-26Bs hit Nord Airfield at Lille but clouds prevented the 2nd group from bombing. 72 B-26s dispatched to Merville airfield were recalled due to weather.


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## Njaco (Sep 20, 2008)

*20 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine _'U-338' _was listed as missing in the North Atlantic in approximate position 57N, 30W. All 51 hands on the U-boat were lost.

German submarine _'U-238' _attacked New York-bound convoy ON 202, torpedoing U.S. freighters _'Frederick Douglass'_ and _'Theodore Dwight Weld'_. British rescue ship
_'Rathlin' _rescued all hands (40-men merchant complement, 29-man Armed Guard, and one female stowaway) from _'Frederick Douglass'_, which remained afloat until finished off later the same day by _'U-645'_. 'Theodore _Dwight Weld _' sank so quickly that 20 of the 42-man merchant complement and 13 of the 28-man Armed Guard perished. _'Rathlin' _rescued the survivors. Whilst escorting convoy ON 202, destroyer HMS '_Logan_' had her stern blown off by a Zaunkoenig fired by _'U-270'_. She was towed back to the UK by the tug _'Destiny'_, but was not repaired. Destroyer _'St Croix' _was torpedoed by _'U-305' _and brought to a stop. Another torpedo fired by the same U-boat sank her a few hours later. 80 survivors were taken aboard HMS '_Itchen_'. Flower class corvette HMS _'Polyanthus' _was sunk by _'U-952' _using a Zaunkoenig. There were 84 casualties.

U.S. freighter _'William Pepperell' _was again attacked by German submarine _'U-260'_, but with the same result as two days before. Again, there were no casualties and the ship ultimately reached port under her own power.

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Yeremenko's forces liberated Velizh, northwest of Smolensk. After weeks of bitter fighting, Kholm fell to Red Army forces. Heeresgruppe Sud began its withdrawl to the Melitopol-Zaporoshe line.

Lt. Erich Hartmann, _Staffelkapitaen _of 9./JG 52, claimed his 100th victory. German observers noted a LaGG-3 plunging earthwards while on the Russian side the loss of a Yak-7 of 288th Fighter Division of the 17th Army was reported. At least 11 victories were claimed over the sector where Hartmann was operating that day.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allies launched an assault on Naples as British and US units link up at Eboli and formed a solid line from Salerno to Bari. Canadian units of the British 8th Army entered Potenza. General Lucas took command of US VI Corps from General Dawley. The US Seventh Army started into the mountains north of Salerno.

The US Ninth Air Force flew its last mission to Italy. B-24s of 98th and 376th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) were dispatched to the Castelfranco Veneto marshalling yard. Clouds obscured the target, but the 98th Group dropped bombs on the estimated time of arrival. The 376th bombed a marshalling yard and airfield at Pescara during the return trip.

US Twelfth Air Force B-17s and B-26s bombed the Castelnuovo road junction, the town of Formia, the Torre Annunziata area roads, and roads and railroad southwest of Sarno; XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches attacked and dispersed enemy tank and troop concentrations forming near Nocera for a counterattack. Other USAAF and RAF aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force hit enemy movement in the Avellino-Naples-Potenza-Benevento-Calabritto-Pomigliano-Pescopagano areas.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* British commandos launched an attack on the German battleship _'Tirpitz' _at its anchorage in Alta Fjord. The six midget (4-man crew) submarines were sent against the anchorage. Three were lost before reaching the target, but the survivors succeeded in damaging the ship, knocking it out of action for six months.

*WESTERN FRONT: *8 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 20 Wellingtons went minelaying off Brest, Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 21, 2008)

*21 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* A Soviet Army spearhead reached the Dnieper River 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Kiev, and another force took Chernigov-on-the-Desna, a provincial capital northeast of Kiev. Since the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Army has liberated half the Soviet territory overrun by the Germans.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, in the British 15th Army Group area, General Sir Harold Alexander outlined plans for future operations in four phases: (1) consolidation of current positions on a line Salerno-Bari; (2) capture of Naples and Foggia; (3) seizure of Rome and neighboring airfields as well as the communications center of Terni; and (4) eventual capture of Leghorn, Florence, and Arezzo. 

In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions continued north over the mountains from Salerno toward the east-west Highway 7, meeting delaying opposition just south of Acerno and west of Oliveto, respectively. The 34th Infantry Division, whose 133dd Infantry Regiment was to reinforce VI Corps for the drive on Avellino, began landing at Paestum.

In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s hit a bridge and the town area at Benevento; B-25s and B-26s hit landing craft and a ferry near Elba Island and bridges at Cancello Arnone and Capua; B-24s on detached service from the Eighth Air Force in England, bombed Leghorn and Bastia; medium bombers and fighter-bombers hit town areas, troop concentrations, trucks and tanks, and targets of opportunity in the Solofra-Avellino-Benevento areas.

French troops, shipped across the Mediterranean from North Africa in the past nine nights, were advancing into the interior of Corsica. So far over 3,000 have come ashore. More were landing from the Free (Fighting) French cruisers _'Jeanne d'Arc' _and _'Montcalm' _and the destroyers _'Le Fantasque' _and _'Le Terrible' _every night. The Free French commandos were supporting 20,000 mostly communist resistance fighters, who rose up after the Italian surrender, took to the Maquis (the Corsican interior, a traditional hiding place for outlaws), and were now fighting a garrison reinforced to 26,000 men after the German evacuation of Sardinia. This was the first wholly Free French operation on French home territory.

'U-593' fired two spreads of two torpedoes at the convoy NSS-3 about 45 miles south of Salerno, heard one detonation from the first and observed one hit from the second spread and reported one freighter probably sunk and another damaged. However, only the _'William W. Gerhard' _(Master Olof J. Anderson) in station #13 was hit by one torpedo on the port side in the middle of the #1 hold. The explosion lifted the bow up, broke steam and water lines and buckled the deck. As the ship settled by the bow, a large crack appeared on both sides and caused the flooding of #3 hold. The eight officers, 38 crewmen, 30 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and 191 passengers (US and British Army personnel) abandoned ship in four lifeboats, four rafts and 15 floats. The crew was ordered by the escort commander to reboard the vessel and to stand by for a tow. The remaining survivors were picked up by the escort vessels and taken to Salerno on 22 September. One armed guard was killed by the explosion and another died of wounds aboard the British hospital ship HMHS _'Vita' _on 23 September. Three crew members and six armed guards were injured and hospitalized.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire, burst a tyre on take-off, the aircraft swung on landing and the undercarriage collapsed.

A Dornier Do 217K was held in a searchlight's beam and hit the ground at Out Newton near Withernsea, Yorkshire at 01.05, the crew were all killed.

*WESTERN FRONT:* 26 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Brest without loss.

The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 65: 44 B-26B Marauders hit the Tille Airfield at Beauvais at 0937-0938 hours; bad weather caused 20+ to abort; they claimed 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-26 was lost. 

Fw. Hans Dirksen of 8./JG 26 (5 kills) was killed in action.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 22, 2008)

*22 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German submarine _'U-229' _was sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS _'Keppel'_. All hands on the U-boat, 50-men, were lost.

Whilst escorting convoy (sic) OB.202 frigate HMS _'Itchen' _was torpedoed by _'U-666' _which caused her forward magazine to explode and the ship sank almost immediately. At the time she was carrying 80 survivors from _'St Croix' _as well as her own ship’s company. There were 147 casualties, and only 3 survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT*: There was fierce fighting at Poltava as the Germans began to pull out. Anapa in the Kuban and Novomoskovosk, north of Dnepropetrovsk, fell to the Soviet Army.

Oblt. Walter Nowotny was awarded the _Schwerter _(#37) and promoted to Hauptmann.

*GERMANY:* 322 Lancasters, 226 Halifaxes, 137 Stirlings and 26 Wellingtons attacked Hannover, its first major raid for 2 years. This was the first of a series of 4 heavy raids on this target with the loss of 26 aircraft. 5 American B-17s also took part, their first night raid on Germany. Visibility in the target area was good but stronger winds than forecast caused the marking and the bombing to be concentrated between 2 and 5 miles south south east of the city centre. It was not possible to obtain a German report but it is unlikely that serious damage was caused. 21 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid, dropping much Window and many flares and target indicators to simulate the arrival of a larger force. The losses on the Hannover raid, lower than the recent average, may have indicated that this tactic was partially successful. No aircraft were lost on this diversionary raid. 12 Mosquitoes went on a further diversion to Emden and 4 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians.

On his first "Wilde Sau" night mission with 5./JG 301, Obfw. Kurt Welter shot down 2 RAF bombers. Hptm. Martin 'Tino' Becker of 2./NJG 6 scored his first night victory.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: U.S. Fifth Army directed the British X Corps to seize Naples and U.S. VI Corps to secure the line Avellino-Teora. The VI Corps was to be prepared to continue to Benevento. In VI Corps area, the 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions overcame opposition barring their advance. The 3d occupied Acerno and the 45th Oliveto. In the British Eighth Army area, the Indian 8th Division arrived from Africa. In 5 Corps area, a special force (elements of the 78th Division and of the 4th Armoured Brigade), under 78th Division command, landed at Bari, during the night of 22/23 September, to drive to Foggia.

In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s bombed roads, railroad, and bridges at or near San Martino Sannita, Grottaminarda, Amorosi, and Mignano; B-25s attacked small vessels near Elba Island with 75mm cannon fire; tactical aircraft hit troop concentrations and gun positions near Serino and Santa Lucia di Serino, a road block at Nocera, town and roads at Fisciano, the town of Pagani, tanks and trucks between Acerno and Montella and in the Foggia area, vessels and docks at Manfredonia, the town of Camarella, and the landing ground at Capua.

The US Ninth Air Force flew its final mission from North Africa. B-24s bombed Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes and Eleusis Airfield in Greece. The bomb groups of IX Bomber Command subsequently were transferred to the US Twelfth Air Force.

After two weeks of heavy fighting, the Italian “Acqui” Division surrendered to the Germans. 1500 Italians died in the fighting. Of the survivors of the fighting on Cephalonia 5000 were murdered and the rest sent to labor camps.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The _'Tirpitz'_, in Altenfiord, was attacked by British midget submarines. These two man subs had been towed behind conventional fleet submarines from Loch Cairnbawn in Scotland to a point 150 miles from Altenfjord. They were code named "X-craft" and were powered by engines from London buses. Their only weapons were two detachable charges with clockwork detonators, dropped below the target. They had a crew of four. Six set out: two (_X-8_ and _X-9_) were lost in transit and one had to be scuttled, but three got through the mines and approached the target. Attacks on _'Tirpitz' _had been allocated to _X-5_, _X-6_ and _X-7_, with _X-8_ to make an attack on _'Lützow'_, and _X-9_ and _X-10_ to attack _'Scharnhorst'_. Since _X-8_ and _X-9_ were lost before reaching the Norwegian coast, the attacks intended to be made against _'Scharnhorst' _and _'Lützow' _were abandoned, and _X-10 _reallocated to make an attack on _'Tirpitz'_. Lt. Cameron in _X-6_ lost his periscope and attacked blind. He was sighted, but was too close to the _'Tirpitz'_ to be engaged by other than small-arms, and laid his charges before scuttling his boat. Lt. Place in _X-7_ was caught in nets, escaped, laid his charges under the ship, was caught in nets again, and then was blown free by the explosion, but _X-7_ was damaged and had to be abandoned. All of the X-6 crew were captured and brought aboard the _'Tirpitz'_, only the commander and one of the crew of _X-7_ were able to abandon their craft (the other two men lacking sufficient oxygen for their (DSEA) escape equipment) and taken prisoner, where they had the rather unusual experience of being able to witness their success at first hand. At 0812 hours, the 46,000-ton battleship was blown up. The blast lifted the ship several feet out of the water, disabling her three main engines and leaving her with a 15 degree list. Repair would disable _'Tirpitz' _until March, 1944. Submarine _X-10_, commanded by an Australian, Lt. Hudspethm attacked after _X-6_ but was sunk with all hands. _X-10 _had suffered from a number of faults which made her close to unnavigable underwater. When the crew heard the others' charges explode, on the morning of 22 Sept., they decided to abandon their part in the operation and made a successful rendezvous six days later with towing submarine HMS '_Stubborn_'. However, it was then decided to scuttle _X-10_, rather than risk the lives of a passage crew to bring the craft back to the UK under tow. The third midget submarine _X-5_ was last seen in close proximity to the _'Tirpitz' _but its precise fate was not known, but recent underwater discoveries at Kaafjord (at the head of the Altenfjord) now suggest that it, too, may have been successful in reaching its target. The 6 survivors of the operation remained POW's until the end of the war; both commanders were awarded the Victoria Cross.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A brand new Halifax bomber and operating from Melbourne airfield in Yorkshire started on the bombing mission to Hanover. On its run up to the target, it was attacked by a Messerschmitt Me 110, the crew were uninjured and there was no fire, but the damage to the aircraft became apparent as the flight progressed. The pilot ordered the instant release of all the bombs, as they were still in the target area, but the bomb doors would not open. A further check revealed that the radar set was out of action, a hole 5' by 3' was found in the fuselage and a cannon shell was found embedded in the bullet proof panel behind the pilot's head. The next problem was how to get rid of the 4,000 lb bomb and despite many attempts to get rid of it, it remained stuck. Arriving back over the airfield the CO ordered the crew to bale out. The pilot turned the aircraft towards Hull, over Patrington it circled while the crew baled out, he then set the automatic pilot, turned the plane towards the sea and baled out himself. Local army units were alerted, the crew collected and taken back to base to be debriefed. After the rear-gunner (the airman awarded the DFM on 3rd August) baled out, he landed close to the edge of a cliff, and as it was dark , he instinctively moved away from the sea, and as he struggled through three barbed wire fences he found himself on a country road, near to what he took to be a direction sign. Only when he read it did he realized he had just stumbled through a minefield. It read, 'DANGER - MINED LAND - KEEP OUT'.

*WESTERN FRONT:* USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 66 against 2 airfields. 72 B-26s were dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais but aborted due to bad weather, and 70 of 72 B-26s hit Fauville Airfield at Evreux.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 23, 2008)

*23 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* German minesweeper M-343 collided with _'U-962' _in Danish waters causing some damage to the U-boat.

Several ships were lost during Convoy ON-202. _'U-238' _sank SS _'Fort Jemseg'_, _'Oregon Express' _and _'Skjelbred' _in the convoy and _'U-952' _damaged SS _'James Gordon Bennett' _and sank SS _'Steel Voyager' _. Although reboarded when Canadian corvette HMCS _'Morden' _and Free French corvette _'Renoncule' _arrived to provide assistance, _'Steel Voyager' _was abandoned a second time when it became obvious that the ship could not be gotten underway. All hands (39-man merchant complement and 27-man Armed Guard) were taken on board the two corvettes.Corvette HMCS _'Morden'_ was then attacked by _'U-666' _. _'U-666' _fired a Gnat, which detonated after 8 minutes 21 seconds in the wake of 'HMCS _'Morden'_. At 02.01 hours, the U-boat fired another Gnat, which hit HMS _'Itchen' _(K 227) after 1 minute 10 seconds. The frigate blew up after the hit. Debris from the vessel was later found on the conning tower of the U-boat and on HMCS _'Morden' _.

'_U-422_' was attacked by a Liberator aircraft from 10 RAF Squadron. A few crewmembers were wounded and the boat was damaged. The boat was depth charged and gunned by the allied aircraft (reported by the boat as "Halifax"). Asking for medical assistance the boat finally met the tanker _'U-460' _on the 29th of September.

*GERMANY:* 312 Lancasters, 193 Halifaxes, 115 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitoes and 5 B-17s attacked Mannheim, 32 aircraft lost. The USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 102: 4 B-17s of the 422d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), bombed Mannheim with the RAF in a night attack. This raid was intended to destroy the northern part of Mannheim which had not been so severely hit in the successful raid earlier in the month. The Pathfinder plan worked well and concentrated bombing fell on the intended area, although later stages of the raid crept back across the northern edge of Ludwigshafen and out into the open country. The following buildings were destroyed in Mannheim: 927 houses, 20 industrial premises, 11 schools, 6 public buildings and a church. A large number of other buildings were damaged and approximately 25,000 people were bombed out of their homes. 102 people were killed and 418 were injured. There were more than 2,000 fires. Local records, provided on this night by Herr Erwin Folz and not from the local authorities, show that the later stages of the bombing crept back across the Rhine to the northern part of Ludwigshafen, where the I.G. Farben factory was severely damaged, and the to the smaller outlying towns of Oppau and Frankenthal. Ludwigshafen suffered 47 people killed and 260 injured. A firther 8,000 people were bombed out of whom 4,289 were foreign workers. The centre of the small town of Frankenthal was completely burnt out and 38 people were killed there.

21 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid on Darmstadt without loss. The diversionary purpose of this raid was not achieved because Darmstadt was too close to Mannheim and the German nightfighters could see the main attack only 20 miles away quite clearly. But the small force of bombers caused much damage in this university town which had little industry and which had not been seriously bombed before. 273 buildings were damaged and 147 people were killed. 6 Mosquitoes went to Aachen.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The U.S. Fifth Army began a general advance. The British X Corps, making the main effort, attacked toward the Nocera-Pagani Pass on the left with the 46th Division. The 56th Division drove northward on the Salerno-San Severino road but firm enemy opposition made progress slow. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions continued northward, hampered more by extensive demolitions than by the enemy. Engineers were playing an important role in keeping routes of advance open. The British Eighth Army drove the enemy from Altamura.

In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26s bombed bridges at Cancello Arnone and 3 miles (4,8 km) northeast of Capua; light bombers and fighter-bombers attacked motor transport, roads, railroads, town areas, gun positions, and targets of opportunity in the areas of San Severino Rota, Avellino, Sarno, Torre Annunziata, Aversa, Nocera, Resina, Serino, Pompeii, and Camarella.

Free French forces occuppied Bonifaccio, Corsica. They now controlled more than half of the island.

Three British sergeants were sentenced to death by firing squad, and 189 corporals and other ranks were given long prison sentences, for mutiny after the Salerno landings. The men, from the 51st Highland Division and the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, all of whom were wounded in North Africa, had been rushed to the beach-head without proper orders. In the past their divisional commanders had said that they could insist on their right to rejoin their old battalions, so they refused to join the English country regiments. The sentences were suspended when the men agreed to fight with the new units.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 100 against three targets: 46 B-17s bombed the Nantes port area and claimed 22-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft. 55 B-17s hit Meucon Airfield at Vannes and 53 63 B-17s hit Bastard Airfield at Kerlin claiming 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 B-17 was lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 24, 2008)

*24 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Heavy fighting was in progress in the vicinity of Smolensk and Roslavl. The Soviet Army captured Borispol, east of Kiev while Army Group Center prepared to abandon Smolensk and Roslavl.

'_U-711_' used its deck gun to attack the Soviet radio station Blagopolucya on the island of Nova Zemlja in the Barents Sea.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the British Eighth Army's 5 Corps area, 78th Division patrols reached the Ofanto River. In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s hit roads, railways, bridges, and junctions at Grottaminarda, Maddaloni, Benevento, Avellino, Capua, Cancello Arnone, Amorosi, Ponte, and Mignano, and attacked a destroyer between Corsica and Elba Island; B-24s on detached service from the Eighth Air Force bombed the marshalling yard at Pisa; US and RAF planes attacked vehicles, roads, troop concentrations, and gun positions around Santa Lucia di Serino, Serino, Caserta, Benevento, Camarella, Baronissi, Nocera, Montemarano, and San Severo.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* _'U-387' _put a weather reporting unit ashore on Spitsbergen in the Arctic Sea.

16 Mosquitoes of the RAF Banff Wing attacked and sank the _'Biber' _and _'Storfsund' _off of Hjeltefjord. Accurate flak was encountered with one Mosquito landing at Banff minus a large chunk of leading edge.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ 20th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) transfers from Horsham St Faith to Hethel, England. HQ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) and it's 552d, 553d, 554th and 555th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) transfer from Boxted to Great Dunmow, England with B-26's.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 69 and 70 against 2 airfields without loss. 71 B-26B Marauders hit Fauville Airfield at Evreux and claimed 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft while 66 B-26Bs hit Tille Airfield at Beauvais.

4 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 39 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and south of Texel, 1 Stirling lost.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 25, 2008)

*25 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* At the end of the Battle of Convoys ONS-18 and ON-202, 20 U-boats have sunk 36,422 tons of merchant shipping and three escorts; British ships sank three U-boats and damaged a further three.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Smolensk and Roslavl fell to the Soviets of General Popov's Bryansk Front. This was perhaps the most important success of the Russian Army since the end of the Battle of Kursk. The general German retreat from here south had been forced by the Russians. It was been ordered to stop at the Dniepr River. The retreat, long urged by Manstein, was too late to be of great value to the Germans. Describing the action which liberated Smolensk after several days of heavy fighting, Moscow reported that Popov's men broke into the northern suburbs and drove the Germans back street by street until the city was cleared. The Germans admitted that Smolensk had fallen, but claimed that it was evacuated by their rearguard in the face of advancing Russian forces "_after completing the most important and necessary measures and demolition of important military installations_."

Berlin Radio reported that bad weather prevented the Luftwaffe from intervening in the battle and that "_the German formations were faced with the extremely difficult task of holding their positions against the numerically superior enemy_."

Roslavl, 37 miles south-east of Smolensk, also fell to the Red Army, and fighting was now raging along a 300-mile front on the eastern approaches to the Dnieper. Stalin promised to award Russia's highest decoration, the Hero of the Soviet Union, to any soldiers who force crossings of the Dnieper, and there were reports that small bridgeheads had been established in the Rzhintsev/Kanev region, south of Kiev. It was likely that these bridgeheads were made by Cossack horsemen who specialized in river crossings, swimming their horses across at night, above and below German strongpoints, and then attacking from the rear. The Russians pointed out that the Germans had not yet been able to hold a river line, and did not expect them to hold the Dnieper. But the Russians also have their problems. A paratroop drop on the western bank met with disaster.

In the Orel area, Hptm. Walter Nowotny, _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 54 and at that time, the highest scoring ace in the Luftwaffe, shot down his 235th enemy aircraft.

*GERMANY:* 8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Dusseldorf and 10 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Gen Bernard Montgomery began regrouping the British Eighth Army to strengthen the eastern flank. V Corps, which was to include the 5th, 1st Airbourne, and the Indian 8th Divisions, was initially to remain in the Taranto area while XIII Corps, with the 78th Division on the right and the Canadian 1st Division on the left, continued an advance. V Corps was later to move forward behind XIII Corps and secure its left flank.

In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force dispatched about 90 B-17s to bomb the Bologna marshalling yard; 14 others attacked the Bolzano railroad bridge; B-25s and B-26s bombed airfields at Pisa, Lucca, and Bastia/Borgo, a highway at Mignano, a road junction at Maddaloni, and railroad and road bridges at Cancello Amone, Caiazzo, and Ponte; USAAF and RAF fighters attacked Serino (causing a roadblock), troop concentrations at Sarno, gun positions, troops, and vehicles near Nocera, Aquino airfield, a storage dump north of Foggia and a dredger at Termoli. 

CSM Peter Harold Wright (1916-1990), Coldstream Guards, took charge of an assault on a hill after losing most officers. He silenced three gun posts in securing the position. (Victoria Cross).
_
'U-667_' shot down RAF Wellington, Squadron 179/F in the Gibraltar Straits. Minesweeper USS _'Skill'_was sunk after being torpedoed by _'U-593' _south of Capri, Italy.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 71: 68 B-26B Marauders hit Longuenesse Airfield at St Omer without loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 26, 2008)

*26 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet troops penetrated the suburbs of Kiev. A decision was made to withdraw the Spanish Blue Division from the Eastern front.

Ofw. Josef Kociok, a 33 victory night-fighter, collided with the Russian DB-3 he had just shot down over Kertsch. When he and his crewman, Fw. Wegerhoff jumped out of their Bf 110G-2, Kociok's parachute did not open and he fell to his death. Ofw. Kociok of 10(N)./NJG 1 formerly flew with ZG 76 and the old II./SKG 210, achieving 21 night kills, 15 of them in 12 days. Posthumously he was promoted to Leutnant. 

*GERMANY:* 5 Mosquitoes went to Aachen and 4 each to Cologne and Hamborn without loss. The 5 Mosquitoes attacking Aachen were carrying out the first trials of Mark 11 Oboe but the equipment failed and bombs were released visually or on dead reckoning.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British X Corps met no resistance due to German withdrawals. The demolitions and booby traps proved to be plenty of resistance. Advance units from the US XIII Corps 8th Army entered Canosa on the Ofanto River. The U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps continued its efforts to break out into the Neapolitan plain; enemy positions were beginning to weaken under its blows. To reinforce the west flank, the U.S. 82d Airborne Division was transferred to Maiori by sea and, under X Corps control, took command of the Rangers. VI Corps was handicapped by autumn rains as well as demolitions, but the 45th Infantry Division took Teora and the junction of Highways 7 and 91. In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps patrols reached Canosa. The 15th Army Group was directed by General Dwight Eisenhower to secure air bases in Rome area. The 1,432 men of the US 100th battalion entered combat.

In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters, and light and medium bombers patrolled the battle zone, escorted convoys, carried out bombing and strafing sweeps against motor transport in the Benevento-Melfi area and north of Foggia, bombed the Pomigliano landing ground, and hit the town of Sarno and military concentrations to the north. Bad weather prevented heavy bomber missions.

The island of Corfu surrendered to a German force that has recently landed there.

German Ju-88 bombers sank destroyers HMS _'Intrepid' _and HS _'Vasilissa Olga' _in Leros, Dodecanese. 

*UNITED KINGDOM: *At 10.45 hours, a Halifax bomber on a training flight from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire, crash landed, ½ a mile N of Riccall, after a three engine overshoot.
*
WESTERN FRONT: *The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 103 against targets in France with the loss of 1 B-17. 40 B-17s hit Champagne Airfield at Reims and 55 B-17s were dispatched to the Paris area but abandoned the mission after crossing the enemy coast. 63 B-17s dispatched to Meulon Les Mureaux and Citroen in the Paris area were prevented from bombing by the weather. 72 B-26B Marauders of the US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command were dispatched to Conches Airfield during Mission 72 but were recalled due to weather.

Major Herrmann stepped down as _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 300 and was replaced by Oblt. Kurt Kettner.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 26, 2008)

*27 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Two German submarines were sunk. _'U-161' _was sunk in the South Atlantic near Bahia, Brazil, by depth charges from a USN PBM-3 Mariner of Patrol Squadron Seventy Four (VP-74) based at Natal, Brazil. All 53 hands on the U-boat were lost; 2 crewmen in the PBM were wounded by AA fire from the U-boat. _'U-221' _shot down an RAF Handley Page Halifax aircraft (Sqdn. 58/B) but was sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the same aircraft, an RAF Halifax Mk II of No 58 Squadron based at Holmsley South, Hampshire, England. All 50 hands on the U-boat were lost. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviets reached the suburbs of Dnepropetrovsk. In the Kuban, the Russians captured Temryuk, their last port. There was a general withdrawl of all German forces in the Ukraine to positions on the west bank of the Dnepr.

*GERMANY:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew 2 missions. Mission 104: The port of Emden, Germany was the target. In the first pathfinder (PFF) mission, 2 of 3 H2S equipped pathfinder B-17s lead the mission. 246 B-17s hit the Emden industrial area and targets of opportunity and claimed 32-7-24 Luftwaffe aircraft. 7 B-17s were lost while escort was provided by 262 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 21-2-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 was lost.

312 Lancasters, 231 Halifaxes, 111 Stirlings, 24 Wellingtons and 5 B-17s attacked Hannover with the loss of 38 RAF aircraft and 1 B-17. The use by the Pathfinders of faulty forecast winds again saved the centre of Hannover. The bombing was very concentrated but fell on an area 5 miles north of the city centre. No details were available from Germany but RAF photographic evidence showed that most of the bombs fell in open country or villages north of the city. One of the lost Lancasters was ED314 QR-Y from 61 Sqdn but only one aircrew is recorded, Sgt E. Fraser.

21 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes of 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid on Brunswick which was successful in drawing off some night fighters. 218 people were killed in Brunswick - 51 Germans and 167 foreigners. 1 Lancaster was lost.

9 Mosquitoes went on another diversion to Emden, 5 Mosquitoes on Oboe tests to Aachen (3 were successful) and 19 aircraft minelaying in the Kattegat and the Frisians without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Foggia greeted the advance units of the British 8th Army. The airfields were now in Allied hands. The capture of Foggia brought with it the massive airbase, allowing the Allies to stage future raids throughout the Balkans and southern Germany and Poland. The main body of the 8th Army was still not ready. Canadian units captured Melfi, Italy. The people in Naples began an insurrection against Germans, which would last through to the end of the month.

Weather almost halted US Twelfth Air Force operations; XII Air Support Command fighters strafed Viterbo Airfield and Bracciano seaplane base, bombed a road junction at San Servero, and strafed a locomotive and the train station; other Northwestern Tactical Air Force aircraft hit trucks in the Benevento area.

The Germans took full control of the island of Corfu having wiped out the Italian garrison.

Destroyer HMS _'Intrepid' _was damaged by two air raids on the port of Leros and abandoned. Considered to be beyond repair, she capsized. There were 15 casualties.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* JG 5 lost no less than 5 Bf 109G-2s from I./JG 5, II./JG 5 and IV./JG 5 during take-off accidents at Herdla, Norway. Luckily, only Fw. Hans Fiebrandt was injured.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 73 and 74 against 2 airfields in France. 65 72 B-26B Marauders hit Tille Airfield at Beauvais and claimed 4-6-4 Luftwaffe aircraft. 68 of 72 B-26's hit Conches Airfield and 1 B-26 was lost.

The _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./NJG 1, Hptm. Hans-Dieter Frank - a _Ritterkreuz _holder with 55 kills - was killed in action during the night.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 28, 2008)

*28 September 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: A Bf 109F-4 from 9./JG 5 was shot down and Uffz. Hans Link was made a POW.

*GERMANY:* A prototype high-speed U-boat, _'U-792'_, was launched; this was the first of four experimental submarines of this type. These boats were powered by a Walter gas turbine using hydrogen peroxide in a stabilized form called Perhydrol. The boats were used for training and reached a speed of 25 knots submerged. The Walter boats were extremely complex to build and maintain; also, they relied on an uncertain supply of Perhydrol, a fuel that was highly flammable. Perhydrol is stabilized [they hope] 95% hydrogen peroxide. It broke down into steam, which ran the turbine, and oxygen, which was used with additional fuel. 

Adolf Hitler issued Directive 50: preparations for the movement of 20th Mountain Army to Northern Finland and Northern Norway in case Finland withdraws from the war, or collapses like Italy.

8 Mosquitoes attacked Cologne and Gelsenkirchen without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British X Corps arrived on the plain of Naples at Nocera and continued their advance. The US VI Corps advanced near Avellino and captured Teora, Italy. The US Fifth Army was ready for an assault on Naples and Avellino while Caistellamare di Stabia, Nocera, and Sala Consilina were taken.

Weather prevented completion of US Twelfth Air Force B-17 missions against the Bologna marshalling yard and the Bolzano railroad bridge, except for a B-17 which bombed Bolzano. Tactical aircraft operations were also severely curtailed by weather but fighter-bombers bombed and strafed motor transport in the Benevento-Caserta area.

A Bf 110 of 2(F)./122 was lost east of Corsica – possibly shot down by a Cptn Gauthier of GC II/7. Crew status unknown. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: At 2000 hours, a Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire collided with a tree after take-off. The bomber landed safely.


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## Hugh Spencer (Sep 29, 2008)

*29 September 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* '_U-532_' sank SS '_Banffshire_'. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Kremenchug and Rudnya fell to the Soviets. The Red Army took control of the Smolensk to Vitebsk railway, in the north-west, and occupied Kremenchug in the south, the last German strong point on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, and continue to close in on Kiev to the northwest.

*GERMANY:* 213 Lancasters, 130 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitoes attacked Bochum, 9 aircraft lost. The Oboe-assisted Pathfinder plan worked perfectly and led to accurate and concentrated bombing. In the Bochum air-raid area, which included 3 small towns near by, 527 houses were destroyed and 742 were seriously damaged. The Altstadt is mentioned as having been particularly hard hit. 161 people were killed, including 33 foreign workers and prisoners of war, and 337 people were injured.

11 Mosquitoes went to Gelsenkirchen and 14 Lancasters went minelaying off Danzig, Gdynia and Pillau in the Baltic without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The attack against Avellino by the US Fifth Army, 3rd Div began during the night. The US X Corps advance passed Pompeii. US Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bombed bridges at or near Piana, Castelvenere, Amorosi, and Cancello Amone; P-38 Lightnings bombed Ausonia defile and a bridge near San Apollinare; US and RAF tactical aircraft hit the town of San Giorgio del Sannio and roads in the area S of Benevento. 

General Eisenhower and Marshal Badoglio sign the full armistice agreement on HMS _'Nelson' _at Malta. But why HMS _'Nelson'_? In the words of A.B. Cunningham:


> "_The British and American Governments were anxious that the full terms of surrender should be signed by Badoglio with some ceremony. I suggested that one of the battleships of Force "H" at Malta should be the scene of the signing, and Eisenhower asked me to make the arrangements. My first inclination was to hoist my flag in my old ship, the RODNEY; but on second thoughts I decided that the NELSON, Admiral Willis's flagship should be the place of meeting". _



*NORTHERN FRONT:* During the night of 29/30 September, three RAF Bomber Command Lancasters laid mines in the Baltic Sea off Gdynia.

*WESTERN FRONT: *Another Luftwaffe night-fighter was lost. Hptm. August Geiger of 7./NJG 1 (54 kills) was killed in action.


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## Hugh Spencer (Oct 1, 2008)

*30 SEPTEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* '_U-960_' fired one FAT torpedo at the convoy VA-18 40 miles west of Russkij Island and heard a detonation after 5 minutes 50 seconds. The _'Arkhangel´sk' _(Master G.G. Ermilov) was hit in hold #2 and settled on even keel, but after a minute broke in two before the bridge and sank within 5 minutes. 15 crew members were lost and 27 picked up by the Soviet minesweeper T-886 (No 31), but two of them later died.

'_U-309_' lost a crewmember in the North Atlantic while working out on the deck.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army continued to steamroller westwards. It announced the capture of Rudnya, in the northwest and of Kremenchug, the important rail junction on the east bank of the Dnieper, 140 miles south of Kiev. Huge forces were now massing for the final phase of the assault on Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine. Russian guns were shelling Gomel, and further north the Red Army advanced six miles towards another important German base, Mogilev in White Russia. Unofficial reports from Moscow said that a fierce battle was also going on in the outskirts of Zaporozhe, at the southern end of Dnieper bend, some 50 miles from the town of Dnepropetrovsk. This meant that the Russian forces have now reached every important place along the Dnieper and that the Germans were fighting hard to maintain a toehold on the eastern bank. More importantly, the Russians expanded their bridgeheads on the western bank south of Kiev and began to link them up to form a solid base.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Advance units of X Corps reached Naples. Allied troops have fought their way to the gates of Naples to find that the population had risen against the German garrison. Hundreds were killed in street fighting which was finally put down. Outside the city, the British V Corps surrounded Vesuvius; and the US VI Corps took Avelino. Naples seemed certain to fall, but this anticipated triumph did not still the concern voiced by many US (and some British) commanders at the slowness of General Montgomery's Eighth Army in coming to assist the US Fifth Army at Salerno.

US Twelfth Air Force P-38 Lightnings, B-25s, and B-26 Marauders bombed road and rail and road bridges at Ausonia, Piana, Castelvenere, Amorosi, and Capua, and carried out sweeps from Bastia to Elba Island; 7 B-25s hit Benevento and surrounding rail and road communications; XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers carried out strafing and bombing missions north and northeast of Naples as Avellino fell to the US 3d Division.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps becomes the Women's Army Corps, a regular contingent of the U.S. Army with the same status as other army service corps.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* '_U-711_' suffered a man lost during landing in Narvik.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The underground newspaper defence de la France published the first photographs of Nazi concentration camps. In a bold and hazardous night operation, Danish fishermen were smuggling almost all of Denmark's over 7,000 Jews across the stormy Oresund Strait to the safety of Sweden. The voyage costs £100 for each person; the price of failure is death. The Gestapo and Danish Nazis had begun the roundup and deportation of Danish Jews. Among the refugees were the Nobel prize-winning atomic scientist Niels Bohr and his wife. Bohr came ashore from a Danish fishing boat at Helsingborg; he went straight to Stockholm to beg the Swedish government to help his fellow Jews. The Swedes promised asylum to all who reached their shores and sent a protest note to Germany. Swedish opinion was outraged by the latest persecutions. Even the explorer Sven Hedin, known for his German sympathies, called them "deplorable". Pastoral letters from bishops condemning the Germans have been read out in Danish churches.

A French agent, Andre Comps, steals blueprints of a V1 launch site to send to London.

A JU 88C-6 from crashed 12./NJG 3 near Fliegerhorst Grove. The plane was too low and hit some trees in Guldborgland Plantation when it was on the final turn for landing. It crashed to the ground and a fire erupted and engulfed the wreckage that was a 100% loss.


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## Hugh Spencer (Oct 2, 2008)

*1 October 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* '_U-703_' sank SS '_Sergej Kirov'_ in Convoy VA-18.

'_U-532_' sank SS '_Tahsinia_'.

'_U-410_ 'sank SS '_Fort Howe_' and damaged SS '_Empire Commerce_' in Convoy MKS-26.

'_U-402'_ was attacked by a Ventura aircraft (VB-128, US Navy) but suffered no damage.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Under Vatutin, in the north and Konev, in the south, Russian forces crossed the Dniepr River in numerous places around Kremenchug. They quickly improvised bridges to assist in their advance. This action would continue over the next 5 days. During first week of the month, three Soviet army groups apply strong pressure against the German line along the Dnieper River bend and succeed in establishing small bridgeheads in the vicinity of Kiev, Kremenchug, and Dniepropetrovsk.

MS "TSch-896"/No. 42 (ex-RT-308 "Krasnii Onejanin") - was sunk by _'U-960'_, close to Mikhailov Peninsula, in Karsk Sea.

In the Archdiocese of Posen in Poland, 74 Catholic priests have been shot or have died in the concentration camps, and 451 are being held in prisons or camps. Of the 441 churches in this diocese only 30 are still open for Poles.

*GERMANY*: 243 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 5 Group attacked Hagen, 2 Lancaster lost. This raid was a complete success achieved on a completely cloud covered target of small size with only a moderate bomber effort and at trifling cost. The Oboe skymarking was perfect and severe damage was caused in Hagen. There was the usual housing damage but 2 of the town's 4 industrial areas were severely hit and a third suffered lesser damage. Hagen reported that 46 industrial firms, not individual buildings, were deatroyed and 166 were damaged. In his post-war interrogation, Albert Speer stated that the destruction in Hagen of an important factory making accumulator batteries slowed down the output of U-boats considerably. Speer did not mention this raid specifically but Hagen was not heavily attacked again until December 1944. Other details from the Hagen report: 3,480 fires of which 100 were large and 715 medium-sized, 241 German and 25 foreigners killed, 2,386 Germans and 135 foreigners wounded and 30,000 people bombed out. At the same time as the main attack on Hagen was ending, 12 Oboe Mosquitoes were dispatched to attack a steelworks at Witten, northwest of Hagen, for training purposes. 8 Mosquitoes bombed at Witten and 2, whose Oboe equipment failed, dropped their bombs on the fires burning in Hagen. No aircraft were lost.

In the third attack from the Mediterranean on behalf of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO), B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force and B-24s on detached service from the USAAF Eighth Air Force in England, bomb two targets: 73 bomb the aircraft industry at Wiener-Neustadt and 26 bomb a tank factory at Steyr. The B-17s, sent against an airplane factory at Augsburg, Germany, failed to locate the target, and bombed several alternate targets and targets of opportunity in Austria, Italy, and off Corsica and Elba Island. The attack by US Twelfth Air Force bombers was the 3d operation against Reich targets from bases in the Med. The plan was for 4 BGs to attack the Messerschmitt installations at Augsburg. In addition, 5 groups of B-24s were to attack the W.N.F. aircraft works at Wiener Neustadt. Unable to locate the targets at Augsburg because of weather, they dropped their bombs on targets of opportunity including Gundelfingen, the rail-yards at Prato and Bologna and German transport barges between Elba and Corsica. The B-24s had greater fortune, dropping 187 tons on the W.N.F. installations at Neustadt. Both forces endured strong fighter opposition. The B-24s encountered intense flak and strong fighter forces to and from the target, including Bf 110s equipped with WGr. 21 rocket mortars and Me 210s with 3.7cm BK cannons. 14 B-24s were lost and a further 52 damaged.

Colonel Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg was posted in Berlin as chief of staff in the Replacement Army. 

In an effort to bolster the fighting groups defending the homeland, Oblt. Anton 'Toni' Hackl, formerly of II./JG 77 and recently recovered from wounds, was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 11 based at Oldenburg.

The 'Wilde Sau' units were increased as JG 301 was formed in Neubiberg with Hptm. Richard Kamp appointed as Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 301, Hptm. Graf Resugier as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 301 (formed in Altenburg from parts of II./JG 300) and Hptm. Manfred Mossinger as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 301 (formed in Zerbst.). II./JG 301 did not have its own aircraft until November and until then, shared those used by I./JG 11. Obstlt. Helmut Weinrich was appointed as Geschwaderkommodore.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Naples, fell to the US 5th Army. At the cost of 12,000 British and American casualties in a 21-day campaign. Allied troops entered the wrecked city today. Allied bombs and German engineers have systematically destroyed everything of possible military value in Naples. The port - the Allies' prime target - was a mass of twisted wreckage, the harbour choked by sunken ships and the industrial area almost flattened. The stench of raw sewage hung over everything. The retreating Germans blew up the drainage system and the aqueduct that brought fresh water to the city. The population of more than a million people was threatened with mass epidemics and it had to be fed. British tanks of Lt-Gen Richard McCreery's X Corps were the first to enter the city (King's Dragoon Guards, part of the US Fifth Army), but already they were moving on northwards to the Volturno river where the Germans were establishing a defensive line. The American 82nd Airborne Division moved into Naples to police the city. Even though the bulk of German forces had retreated north, the fight from Salerno to this city was never easy. To reach the plain of Naples, Allied troops had to cross rugged terrain easily defended by small German demolition detachments - aided by heavy rain that washed away bridges and flooded roads. With the major ports of Taranto and Bari in Allied hands, Montgomery was preparing a major offensive in the east against Foggia, following on from the occupation of the Foggia airfields by the British Eighth Army. The Germans were placing much reliance on a new weapon: the radio-controlled glider bomb which crippled HMS _'Warspite' _at Salerno and sank the Italian flagship _'Roma'_. After his success with the delaying actions in Italy, Kesselring is ordered, by Hitler, to hold a defensive line south of Rome.

With the collapse of the Foggia airfield, the Luftwaffe transferred several units to airfields around Rome and elsewhere. IV./JG 3 returned from Sardinia, III./JG 77 flew to Rumania, II./JG 53 went to Austria, I./JG 51 went to soiuthern Germany while I./JG 4 went to northern Italy from Rumania.

US Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders hit communications targets in the Capua, Grazzanise, Arce, and Mignano areas; and Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and XII Air Support Command medium and light bombers, and fighter-bombers hit the Benevento town area and marshalling yard, the bridge at Capua, and motor transport, trains, and railroads mainly in the Isernia area and north to Avezzano.

*NORTH AMERICA:* President Roosevelt announced the resignation of Admiral William H. Standley as Ambassador to Russia and named W. Averell Harriman as his successor.

The authorized complement of fighters in USN Essex Class carrier air groups is raised, increasing the total aircraft normally on board to 36 fighter, 36 scout bombers and 18 torpedo bombers. The authorized complement for small aircraft carrier (CVLs) air groups is established at the same time as 12 fighters, nine scout bombers and nine torpedo bombers and revised in November 1943 to 24 fighters and nine torpedo bombers and remained at that level through the war.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A report by the intelligence section of the US Eighth Air Force in England showed that despite recent efforts of the Allies to destroy the German aircraft industry, fighter production had expanded greatly and enemy fighter strength on the Western Front had increased.

During September 1943 1,211 RAF aircrew were lost, killed or POW.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Danes begin to smuggle the bulk of the Jewish community, 7,300 people, across the Oresund Strait to Sweden.


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## Hugh Spencer (Oct 3, 2008)

*2 October 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* '_U-168_' sank SS '_Haiching_'.

'_U-223_' damaged SS '_Stanmore_' beyond repair in Convoy MKS-27.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Erich Hartmann, _Staffelkapitaen _of 9./JG 52 claimed 4 victims - 2 LaGG-5s, a Pe-2 bomber and a Russian Lend-lease P-39 to bring his score to 121 kills.

*GERMANY:* 349 B-17s were dispatched to the industrial area of Emden, Germany led by 2 B-17 pathfinders. 339 hit the target and claimed 15-6-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17s were lost. Escort was provided by 227 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 5-3-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. In addition to the above, 21 B-24 Liberators were dispatched to Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands. The target was obscured by clouds and the mission was aborted.

294 Lancasters and 2 B-17s attacked Munich, 8 Lancasters lost including ED718 of 61 Sqdn with its crew - F/Lt C. Cleveland, F/Lt G. Hamilton, Sgt E.G. Bartlett, Sgt P.S. Camsell, Sgt F. Ellick and Sgt N.J. Wheeler. Visibility over the target was clear but the initial marking was scattered. Heavy bombing developed over the southern and south-eastern districts of Munich but later stages of the raid fell up to 15 miles back along the approach route. Most of this inaccurate bombing was carried out by 5 Group aircraft which were again attempting their 'time and distance' bombing method independently of the Pathfinder marking. The 5 Group crews were not able to pick out the Wurmsee Lake which was the starting point for their timed run. Brief reports from Germany stated that 339 buildings were destroyed, 191 people were killed and 748 were injured. No other details were available. During the night attack on Munich by the RAF, 16 bombers were claimed by pilots from NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 5, NJG 6, JG 300, JG 301 and others out of 24 lost during the raid. Among the victors were Oblt. Heinz Schnaufer of 12./NJG 1, Major Helmut Lent of Stab./NJG 3 and Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Mueller of Stab./JG 300 but lost was Hptm. Rudolf Sigmund of Stab III./NJG 3 who was killed. Major Lent was wounded during his attack on a Stirling and his injuries kept him from combat duty until November.

8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Gelsenkirchen while 117 aircraft went minelaying at various places from Lorient to Heligoland. 1 Halifax minelayer was lost.

The Ar 234 program suffered a serious setback when the Ar 234V-2 crashed due to an engine failure, killing the pilot. Since September 4 prototypes of the jet were flying.

The Bf 109Gs of Hptm. Gunther Specht's II./JG 11 moved from Jever to Marx.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In U.S. Fifth Army’s British X Corps area, the U.S. 82d Airborne Division moves into Naples to police it while an advance is being continued to the Volturno River, a natural barrier covering Naples. In the VI Corps area, while the 3d Infantry Division drives northward toward the Volturno River on the left flank of the corps, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions, the 45th on the right, are moving along separate routes toward Benevento, an important road junction. To hasten the advance along the Adriatic coast in the British Eighth Army area, the 2d Special Service Brigade (commandos) of XIII Corps lands, during the night of 2/3 October, near Termoli and secures the town and port; they soon join the 78th Division, which, moving north along the coast, secures a bridgehead across the Biferno River.

Fighter-bombers of the XII Air Support Command attacked motor transport, roads, and bridges during armed reconnaissance missions from the Volturno Valley north to Isernia and west to Benevento.

During the night of 2/3 October, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack two targets: 30 attack the Coast Road at Formia and 30 bomb the pontoon bridge at Grassanise.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Icebreaker '_Sisu_' is damaged by magnetic mine at Melkki sea-lane just off Helsinki.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* During low-level evasive action, a Junkers Ju 188E, hit the water and crashed on to a mudbank, ½ mile from the Spurn Lighthouse, Spurn Head, Yorkshire at 23.40. The crew were all killed.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The USAAF's Eight Air Force flew three missions. 72 B-26 Marauders were dispatched to the Longuenesse Airfield at St. Omer, France but because of cloud cover, only 6 hit the target. The remainder refrained from bombing because the target was in occupied territory.


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## Njaco (Oct 3, 2008)

*3 October 1943*

*GERMANY:* 223 Halifaxes, 204 Lancasters, 113 Stirlings and 7 Mosquitoes attacked Kassel, 24 aircraft lost including Lancaster W4279 from 61 Sqdn with crew Wing Commander W. Penman, squadron commander, F/Lt E. Mitchell, F/Lt D. Thomson, F/Lt D. Wilkinson, P/O M. Root-Reid, P/O K. Stephenson and W/O M. Braines. This raid did not proceed according to plan. The H2S blind marker aircraft overshot the aiming point badly and the visual markers could not correct this because their view of the ground was restricted by thick haze. German decoy markers may also have been present. The main weight of the attack thus fell on the western suburbs and outlying towns and villages. But, even so, large fires were started at both the Henschel and Fieseler aircraft factories, at the city's main hospital and at several other important buildings. The eastern suburb of Wolfshanger was devastated. Kassel's casualties were 118 dead - 68 civilians, 12 military and 38 foreigners - and 304 injured. Musgrove, in his excellent book , Pathfinder Force, records that a large ammunition dump at Ihrigshausen, just north of Wolfshanger, was hit by a chance bomb load and the resulting explosions attracted further bombs; photographs taken later showed 84 buildings in the military location destroyed and a great mass of craters. The outlying townships of Bettenhausen and Sandershausen were also severely hit but details for these places were not available. During the RAF raid on Kassel, Hptm. Rudolf Sigmund of Stab III./NJG 3 (28 kills) was shot down and killed. Obfw. Kurt Welter of 5./JG 301 destroyed 2 bombers during his 3d mission of the night.

10 aircraft on a diversion to Hannover, 12 Oboe aircraft to Knapsack power station near Cologne and 4 aircraft went on Mark 11 Oboe trials to Aachen without loss.

WAAF Photographic Interpretation Officer, F/O Babington-Smith, discovered evidence of the V1 flying-bomb. It was photographed by a Mosquito of No. 540 Squadron during a sortie over Peenemünde, Germany.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the U.S. Fifth Army’s VI Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division takes Benevento and establishes a bridgehead across Calore River. Meanwhile, elements of the US 5th Army captured Aversa and Maddaloni. During the early morning hours, British commandos land and occupy Termoli in Italy. The Germans reacted quickly by counterattacking with the 16th Panzer Division. The commands successfully held out until relief came when a linkup with the British 78th Division was made. The Canadian 1st Division, hampered by terrain, is within 55 miles (89 kilometers) of Vinchiaturo.

The Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command dispatched B-26s, B-25s, and P-38s to bomb railroad, highway, and pontoon bridges, an overpass, and road junction at Capua, Castel Volturno, Piana, Arce, Mignano, and Isernia; P-38s also hit shipping between Corsica and Italy. XII Bomber Command fighter-bombers hit motor transport in the battle area as US Fifth Army troops took Benevento.

The marshalling yard at Civitavecchia is bombed by 46 RAF aircraft of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group during the night of 3/4 October without loss.

U-class submarine HMS _'Usurper' _was lost after leaving for a patrol off Algiers on 24 September. It was thought that she may have been sunk in minefield QB.192 in the Gulf of Genoa, or been the victim of an attack by UJ.2208 on this date. There were no survivors.

Corsica is liberated by Free French troops.

As the British occupied more islands in the Aegean Sea, they began to pressure Turkey to enter the war. In an effort to force Turkey to remain neutral, the Germans launched Operation Polar Bear, a series of attacks in these islands. The first attack came from paratroops landing on the island of Kos. Ju 88s of Einsatzkampf Gruppe Ju 88/Gen.d.Fl.Ausb supported the operations.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Miniature submarine X-10 was scuttled in the North Sea after meeting up with HMS _'Stubborn' _on 28 September. With no working compass, a periscope propped in the up position and the weather worsening, Flag Officer Submarines ordered that it be scuttled rather than risk the lives of the transit crew who would otherwise have to bring it back to the UK. There were no casualties.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* USS '_Rodgers_' (DD-254), was commissioned as HMS '_Sherwood_' (I-80), as part of the bases-for-destroyers deal. Now stripped of usable parts she has been paid off at Chatham and towed to the Humber Estuary and beached today. She will be used as a target for RAF rocket-equipped Beaufighters. Her hulk is scrapped in 1945.

*WESTERN FRONT:* USAAF Eighth Air Force' VIII Air Support Command flies two missions: 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Vendeveille Airfield at Lille, France, but weather prevents their hitting the target and 72 B-26Bs are dispatched to Tille Airfield, Beauvais with 63 hit the target at 1724-1727 hours; a B-26 is lost.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force VIII Air Support Command sends 131 B-26B Marauders to three airfields: 71 bomb Schiphol Airfield, Amsterdam; 34 hit Woensdrecht Airfield ; and 26 bomb Haamstede Airfield at 1120-1136 hours.

7 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians. During the night, six RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over France.


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## Hugh Spencer (Oct 4, 2008)

*4 October 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* North of the Azores, aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC 9) in the escort carrier USS _'Card' _(CVE-11) attacked three German submarines, _'U-264'_, _'U-422'_, and _'U-455'_, rendezvousing with a Milch cow, _'U-460'_. _'U-460' _and 'U_-422' _were sunk respectively by F4F Wildcats and TBF Avengers. All hands were lost on _'U-422' _and there are 2 survivors of the 64 aboard _'U-460'_. This action in the central Atlantic allowed convoy UGS 19 to pass through the vicinity unmolested by U-boats.

Southwest of Iceland, German submarine _'U-279' _was caught on the surface and sunk by depth charges from a USN PV-1 Ventura of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Eight (VB-128 ) based at NAF Reykjavik, Iceland. The sub sank with all hands. _'U-389' _(Type VIIC) was sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from a British B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/X). 50 dead.

_'U-539' _shot down a RAF Liberator aircraft (Sqn 120/V.) in the Atlantic. Lost with this aircraft was Wing Commander R M Longmore, the commanding officer of the 120 Squadron.

RAF Hudson aircraft (Sqn 269/S) attacked 'U_-731'_. The commander and 5 more men were wounded and the boat was damaged. The boat did not have to abort its patrol.

*GERMANY:* US VIII Bomber Command Mission 108: 4 targets in Germany and a diversion were flown. 12 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 4 B-24s were lost. Escort was provided by 223 P-47 Thunderbolts and they claimed 19-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft. 104 B-17s were dispatched to the Wiesbaden industrial area. 15 aircraft hit Wiesbaden and 77 hit the industrial area at Frankfurt and claimed 19-3-15 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s were lost. 37 B-17s bombed Frankfurt and claimed 18-8-22 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s were lost. 115 B-17s were dispatched to the Saarlautern industrial area. 67 hit Saarlautern and 38 hit Robinson Airfield in St Dizier, France. They claimed 37-7-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s were lost. 47 B-17s bombed the Sarreguemnines and Saarbrucken marshalling yards and 38 B-24s flew a diversionlosing 4 B-24s. Among the pilots lost by the Luftwaffe was Major Erwin Clausen, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 11 who shot down his 14th 4-engined bomber - a B-24 over the North Sea - and his 132d enemy aircraft overall before losing his life.

162 Lancasters,170 Halifaxes, 70 Stirlings, 4 Mosquitoes and 3 B-17s attacked Frankfurt with 10 aircraft lost plus 1 B-17. This was the last RAF night-bombing raid in which American aircraft took part but individual B-17s occasionally carried out bombing flights in following weeks. Clear weather and good Pathfinder marking produced the first serious blow on Frankfurt so far in the war with extensive destruction being caused in the eastern half of the city and in the inland docks on the River Main; both of these areas are described in the Frankfurt report as having been a 'sea of flames'. Many city centre type buildings are also mentioned as being hit. The new Rathaus had its roof burnt out. No overall figures were given for casualties, the only mention being a tragedy at an orphanage housed in the former Jewish hospital where a bomb scoreda direct hit on the basement shelter killing 90 children, 14 nuns and other members of staff. In the following days the main railway station was packed with people trying to leave Frankfurt.

66 Lancasters carried out a diversionary raid on Ludwigshafen without loss but the marking and bombing were scattered.

12 Mosquitoes attacked Knapsack power station, 1 Mosquito went to Aachen and 5 Stirlings went minelaying in the River Gironde, all without loss. The Mosquito attacking Aachen was carrying out the first operational trial of the G-H blind bombing equipment but the trial was not successful.

A Bf 110G-3 of 5./ZG 76 was shot down near Lammersdorf. the pilot, Lt. Hans Metzen and his Wop, Uffz,. Gunther Barth were both killed. Lt. Metzen had an identical twin brother, also a pilot in the Luftwaffe. Sadly, Fhj-Fw. Jakob Metzen was killed in action on 14 February 1945 at Manze while serving in Gren. Regt. 1238.

Capt. Walker M. Mahurin, 63d FS/56 FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downs three Bf 110s (raising his score to six e/a destroyed) near Duren, Germany between 1132 and 1140 hours. Mahurin goes on to shoot down 19.75 German plane, one Japanese plane, 3.5 Mig 15s in Korea for a total of 24.75 destroyed.

After these raids Reichsmarschall Goering became disturbed when told how the Luftwaffe had failed to prevent the raid including a protest by a local party Gauleiter who made claims that the Allied bombers filled the perfectly clear skies over his town with no German fighters in sight. The Gauleiter protested very loudly about the fact that the "terror bombers" were not intercepted. Goering finally issued the following directive to all Reich defense units:


> 1. There are no meterological conditions which would prevent fighters from taking off and engaging in combat.
> 2. Every fighter pilot taking off in a machine not showing any sign of combat or without having recorded a victory will be prosecuted by a court martial.
> 3. In the case where a pilot uses up his ammunition, or if his weapons are unusable, he should ram the enemy bomber.


Goering also demanded that the efforts of all the fighter units in Jagdkorps I in Holland be directed first and foremost against the four-engined Allied bombers, all Zerstroer units were to attack unescorted bombers and that the equipping of the Wr 21cm underwing rocket mortars to fighters on the front be accelerated. Generalfeldmarschall Milch tried to convince Goering that this order would create a feeling of oppression among the Luftwaffe pilots, to which Goering responded;


> "_They don't need to feel oppressed! They just need to go in to 400 meters instead of 1000 meters. And they need to shot down 80 bombers just for once, not 20! Then all the feelings of oppression will disappear and I'll gladly take my hat off to them!"_


In a letter to a friend on the Eastern Front, Obstlt. Hans 'Fips' Philipp, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1, reflected on the hardships the fighter pilots had facing the Allied bombers;


> "_You cannot imagine how hard one has to crack the whip here. On the one hand we live very comfortably - plenty of girls, everything you could wish for. On the other, the fighting in the air is extraordinarily hard. Hard, not so much because the enemy is numerous and the Boeings so well armed, but more because one is suddenly torn from the comfort of a deep armchair and the almost relaxed atmosphere of the field. Against 20 Russians trying to shoot you down, or even 20 Spitfires, it can be exciting, even fun. But curve in towards 40 Fortresses and all your past sins flash before your eyes. And when you yourself have reached this state of mind, it becomes that much more difficult to have to drive every pilot of the Geschwader, right down to the youngest and lowliest NCO to do the same."_


The orders were finally put to rest and virtually forgotten about.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The liberation of Corsica was complete. The Germans completed their conquest of Kos capturing 1400 British and 3150 Italians. Even more important was the destruction of the northern most British airfield in the Aegean. The losses amongst the communist guerrillas and the Fighting (Free) French regular troops were light - partly because the Germans were not seriously fighting to hold on to the island. Fighting between the German garrison, reinforced by troops from Sardinia, and communist guerrillas has been going on since the Italian surrender. Regular Free French troops under General Henri Martin arrived 20 days ago, with only a few hundred landing each night. Furnished with motor and mule transport by the Italian troops on the island, his men seized the island's spine, pushing the Germans back to their bridgehead at Bastia, from which they withdrew today. The Germans had no intention of holding Corsica; their concern was purely to secure an orderly withdrawal. Under Commander von Liebenstein, who had organized the German evacuation of Sicily, they brought out 26,000 men, 3,200 vehicles, 5,000 tons of stores and 1,200 PoWs, in a movement described by the German News Agency as "an operational and organizational masterpiece." Participating in the expulsion of the Germans are patriots, Battalion du Choc (shock battalion), Moroccan Goums, the knife-wielding irregular troops, of the 4th Moroccan Mountain Division, and a small U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) party.

Adolf Hitler decided not to withdraw to Northern Italy, but to prepare a firm defense called Winterstellung from rivers Garigliano and Rapido in the west, and the river Sangro in the east.

100+ US XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the Pisa marshalling yard and Bolzano bridges; B-25 Mitchells and B-26s attacked the airfield at Argos, road defiles at Terracina and Isernia, a highway overpass at Mignano, and shipping at Bastia; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force aircraft hit road and rail junctions on the main road north from Capua; XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers hit trains, roads, railroads, and vehicles near Isernia, Avezzano, Pescara, and Isolella.

_'U-596' _fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy XT-4 about 60 miles west of Derna, heard three detonations and claimed three ships probably sunk. In fact, only the _'Marit' _(Master Sverre Caspersen) had been hit. The explosion destroyed one lifeboat and killed one Indian crew member working on deck. The tanker developed a heavy list to starboard when the oil in the destroyed tanks on the port side ran out into the sea. Trimming the vessel by letting out water from #1 tank on the starboard side proved to be useless and the surviving seven Norwegian officers, five British gunners and 41 Indian crew members abandoned ship in three lifeboats. The ship sank 30 minutes after the crew left. The survivors were picked up by an escort vessel and taken to Benghazi, where four injured men were brought to a hospital, but one of the gunners later died of wounds.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* *Operation LEADER*, the only USN carrier operation carried out in northern European waters during WW II, caused "appreciable losses" to two convoys off the Norwegian coast and to shipping in the harbour of Bodo, Norway. The task force, consisting of RN ships and the USN aircraft carrier USS _'Ranger' _(CV-4), reached the launch position off Vestfjord before dawn completely undetected. At 0618 hours, Carrier Air Group Four (CVG-4) in USS _'Ranger' _launched 20 SBD Dauntless dive bombers of Bombing Squadron Four (VB-4) and an escort of 8 F4F Wildcat fighters of Fighting Squadron Four (VF-4). One division of dive bombers attacked the 8,000-ton freighter SS _'LaPlata'_, while the rest continued north to attack a small German convoy. They severely damaged a 10,000-ton tanker and a smaller troop transport and sink two of four small German merchantmen in the Bodö roadstead. A second attack group of 10 TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Four (VT-4) and six Wildcats of VF-4 destroy a German freighter and a small coaster and bombed yet another troop-laden transport. Three Ranger planes were lost to antiaircraft fire. In the afternoon, USS _'Ranger' _was finally located by three German aircraft, but her combat air patrol shot down a Junkers Ju 88 and a Heinkel He 111 and chased off the third. The Ju 88D-1 was from 1.(F)/22 and the entire crew went missing while a He 115B from 1./406 wa also missing, probably shot down by aircraft from VF-4.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Admiral Pound resigns as British First Sea Lord due to ill health. Admiral Fraser refuses the position, and it is accepted by Admiral Andrew Cunningham.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US VIII Air Support Command Mission 79: 25 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to Nivilliers Airfield at Beauvais and Fauville Airfield at Evreux, France; they returned to base without bombing.


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## Njaco (Oct 5, 2008)

*5 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:*_ 'U-336' _was sunk in the Straits of Denmark southwest of Iceland, by rockets fired by an RAF Hudson. (Sqdn. 269/F). 50 dead (all crew lost).

'_U-188_' sinks the SS '_BRITANNIA_'.

Patrol Squadron Six (VP-6 CG), was established as a U.S. Coast Guard squadron under U.S. Navy operational control at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland. Squadron personnel have actually been arriving since 23 July 1943, by Naval Air Transport Service. Upon arrival they commence training and indoctrination in cold weather operations. The squadron’s home port is Narsarssuak, Greenland, code name Bluie West-One (BW-1). Upon establishment it came under the administrative control of the USN’s Fleet Air Wing Nine (FAW-9). Personnel matters continue to be handled by Coast Guard Headquarters. The squadron flew the PBY-5A Catalina, with ten aircraft (one designated as a spare), 22 officers and 145 enlisted men, including eight enlisted pilots. Operational flights begin on 13 October 1943, after the first three PBY-5A Catalinas arrive at Narsarssuak. Two of the squadron’s nine operational aircraft are detached to NAS Argentia. These aircraft and crews are rotated frequently to allow maintenance and repair work to be done on the other seven. At Narsarssuak all the squadron’s aircraft sit outside and all maintenance, refueling and arming takes place in the open regardless of weather conditions because it is found that moving aircraft from warm hangars to the cold outside results in condensation and subsequent freezing in fuel pumps, controls and instruments. Herman Nelson F-1 portable heaters are needed to warm the engines and the aircraft interiors before starting. Crews are relieved every 12 months, with relief crews staggered every four months. The USAAF provides aerology support and daily weather briefings.
**
*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army captured Aversa and Maddaloni. Advance units of X Corps reached the Volturno River. Heavy fighting between the British 78th Division and the 16th Panzer Division continued at Termoli, bringing the advance of the British 13th Corps (8th Army) to a halt.

Lieutenant General James H Doolittle assumed command of the Twelfth Air Force during the absence of General Carl Spaatz. One hundred twenty four USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the Bologna marshalling yard with the loss of one aircraft; B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bomb the Formia road, a road loop north of Mignano, and the Isernia chokepoint; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force, XII Air Support Command, and RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) aircraft bomb numerous targets in and north of the battle area, including heavy traffic in the Isernia area, gasoline dumps at Alfedena, trains at Termoli, and towns of Venafro and Isolella. During the night of 5/6 October, 51 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack Grossetto Airfield.

German troops complete the evacuation of the island of Corsica.

German bombers attacked convoy UGS 18; a near-miss damaged the U.S. freighter _'Cotton Mather' _about 15 miles north of Cape Tenes, Algeria. There were no casualties among the 53-man merchant complement and the 27-man Armed Guard and the ship reached Algiers under her own power.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ 356th Fighter Group transfers from Goxhill to Martlesham, England.


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## Njaco (Oct 7, 2008)

*6 OCTOBER 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Two Russian armies take Nevel on the boundary between Army Groups North and Centre.

LD "_Kharkov_", DD "_Vesposchadnii_" and DD "_Sposobnii_", of the Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla were all lost to German aviation. In Kuvshinskaya Salma, the Floating Base "Mayak" of the Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla was also sunk by the Luftwaffe.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Caserta fell to the US 5th Army, which then advanced to the Volturno River. The U.S. Fifth Army reaches the south bank of the Volturno River, successfully concluding another phase of the Italian campaign. In the British X Corps area, the 56th Division takes Capua. In the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps area, the 78th Division gains firm control of Biferno bridgehead at Termoli.

US XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the Mestre marshalling yard while B-26 Marauders hit a highway chokepoint at Isernia, the highway at Mignano, and road junction at Formia; P-38s strafed Araxos Airfield in Greece; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force planes on road-blocking missions hit targets at Teano, at Alfedena, between Cassino and Capua, and near Sessa Aurunca; US XII Air Support Command P-40s and A-36 Apaches attacked roads and vehicles north of the US Fifth Army battle zone and patroled the Naples area.

German troops, some with "shopping lists" from Hermann Göring , were systematically looting the museums and churches of Rome and carrying off priceless works of art to Germany. Manuscripts and old masters were being removed wholesale by the men who came here to "guard" the city against the Allies. And not only works of art were leaving Italy for the Reich: thousands of former Italian soldiers were being rounded up and taken to Germany as forced labourers. As Germany intensified its control over its former Axis partner, Nazi paratroopers ringed the Vatican, and one report claimed that the pope sent a sealed letter to each of his Italian cardinals to be read only in the event of his arrest.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: A Bf 109G-2 crashed in Norway and Uffz. Richard Fleischmann of 5./JG 5 was killed.


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## Njaco (Oct 7, 2008)

*7 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* U.S. freighter _'Yorkmar'_, in convoy SC 143, was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-645'_. Of the 39-man merchant complement, 11 drown in the abandonment; 2 of the 28-man Armed Guard perish as well. Canadian corvette HMCS _'Kamloops' _and British frigate HMS _'Duckworth' _rescued the survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Nevel, a rail center north of Vitebsk, and Taman fall to Soviet forces. A lull in fighting begins along the Dniepr River south of Kiev as the Soviet forces pause to bring up supplies and build bridges. German resistance is stiffening all along the line and the progress of Red Army is becoming less spectacular.

*GERMANY*: An order was issued by the Luftwaffe for the establishment of a number of night ground-attack groups within the service. Thus a number of Störkampfstaffeln (Harassing Squadrons) already operating were put on a more organised footing. The main equipment of these units were the Arado 66 and Gotha 145 two seat trainers equipped to carry 2 and 4 kg anti-personnel bombs.

343 Lancasters attacked Stuttgart, 4 aircraft lost. The first aircraft to be equipped with A.B.C. (night fighter communications jamming - “Cigar” ) from 101 Sqdn operated on this night. The German nightfighter controller was confused by the Mosquito diversion on Munich and only a few night fighters reached Stuttgart at the end of the attack. The target area was cloud covered and the H2S Pathfinder marking developed in two areas. Many bombs fell in various parts of Stuttgart where 344 buildings, mostly dwelling houses, were destroyed and 4,586 buildings were damaged. In the city centre 4 hospitals, a museum (the Lindenmuseum) and the garrison church were hit and 36 people were drowned in an underground air raid shelter at the main railway station when a water main was damaged by a bomb and burst. Total casualties in Stuttgart were 104 killed and missing, 300 injured. The town of Boblingen, 10 miles to the south west, must have been under the second group of markers. 350 houses were hit and 60 people were killed here.

16 Lancasters carried out a diversionary raid without loss and claimed hits on the Zeppelin factory.

10 Mosquitoes went to Munich, 7 to Emden, 5 to Aachen and 79 aircraft went minelaying from Brest to Heligoland. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The U.S. Fifth Army begins preparations for an assault across the Volturno River. The crossing date is set tentatively at the night of 9/10 October and later postponed to the night pf 12/13. The U.S. VI and British X Corps improve positions along the southern bank of the river. In the British Eighth Army’s XIII Corps area, another brigade of the 78th Division, the last to arrive in Italy, lands in the Biferno bridgehead as the Germans retire across Trigno River. Fighting between the 16.Panzerdivision and the British 78th Division at Termoli ended as the Germans pulled back behind the Trigno River. Montgomery did not follow closely.

Bad weather cancelled many operations. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force medium and light bombers struck roads, railway, junction, and town areas in the Capua and Guglionesi regions while RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers hit trucks in the Termoli-Vasto areas.

A German convoy of 7 small ships bound for Kos in the Aegean Sea was intercepted by 2 cruisers - the _'Penelope' _and the _'Sirius' _- and 2 destroyers. The British Task Force sank 7 transports and one destroyer. As the British force withdrew through the Scarpanto Straits, "_Penelope' _was damaged by attacks from Ju 87s and Ju 88s.

Tank landing craft LCT-215 and LCT-216 sank after breaking in half in heavy seas off coast of North Africa; LCT-196 broke in half in heavy seas off coast of North Africa; the after section was scuttled by British surface ship but the forward section was towed to Bizerte, Tunisia.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack two targets: 24 bomb Kastelli Airfield while 11 bomb Maritza Airfield on Rhodes.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Another Bf 109G-2 crashes in Norway and this time Uffz. Fritz Hüllenhütter from 2./JG 5 was killed.

_'U-703' _picked up three survivors from Hope Island in the Arctic Sea. The three people (two men and a woman) were the last survivors from the Soviet steamer _'Dekabrist'_, which had been sunk on 5 Nov 1942 by a JU-88 aircraft. The entire crew had escaped to this island. In May 1943 they were detected by an He-111 aircraft and on 24 July, 1943, _'U-354' _picked up the ship's master, leaving the remaining survivors behind but providing food and vitamin tablets. When 'U_-703'_ reached the island in September, three of those stranded still lived. The U-boat crew enjoyed watching these people, with the help of lots of food and care, come slowly back to human civilization after living nearly a year on such an island.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 110. During the night, 4 B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped 240,352 leaflets over Paris.


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## Hugh Spencer (Oct 8, 2008)

*8 October 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* An escort of Convoy SC-143 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, to U.K.) and three German Type VIIC submarines tracking the convoy are sunk by aircraft in the North Atlantic.

The escort Polish destroyer ORP '_Orkan_' (ex HMS '_Myrmidon_') sunk by '_U-378_'. The destroyer is struck by a torpedo and sinks about 578 nautical miles south-southwest of Rekjavik, Iceland in position 56.30N, 26.26W. There are only 23 survivors of the crew of 198.

RCAF Sunderland patrol a/c from RCAF 423 Sqn attacked and sank '_U-610_', KptLt Walter Freiherr Von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen, CO, in the North Atlantic, in position 55.45N, 024.33W. Although 15 men were seen in the water after '_U-610_' was sunk, no survivors were recovered and her crew of 51 men was lost.

The commander of '_U-603_' became so ill that he was incapacitated, leaving the U-boat unable to act against the enemy.

_'U-419' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 86/R). 48 dead, 1 survivor. _'U-643' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from 2 British Liberator aircraft (Sqdns. 86/Z and 120/T) . 30 dead, 18 survivors in captivity. _'U-762' _was bombed by a Liberator aircraft from 120 RAF Squadron. Three crewmembers were wounded, and the boat was slightly damaged. 

*GERMANY*: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 111: 4 locations in Germany were targeted. On this mission the Eighth Air Forces used, for the first time, airborne transmitters (Carpet equipment) to jam German radar. The B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24s were escorted by 274 P-47 Thunderbolts from 6 different fighter groups. They claimed 12-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft and lost 30 bombers and 3 P-47s. 105 B-17s bombed the shipyard at Breman, 53 B-17s bombed the industrial area at Breman, 43 B-24s bombed the U-boat yards at Vegesack and 156 B-17s bombed the city of Bremen and targets of opportunity. One of the Luftwaffe's over 200-kill club, Obstlt. Hans 'Fips' Philipp, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1, was killed in action against the escorting P-47s of the 78th FG over Nordhorn. The last transmission from Obstlt. Philipps was;


> "Reinhardt, attack!".


Fw. Reinhardt was Philipps' wingman on this day. Obstlt. Philipp had 178 kills on the Eastern Front and 29 on the Western Front including the Battle of Britain flying with JG 76 and JG 54. His death was claimed by Robert S. Johnson but some said it was the gunners in the B-17 he was attacking that got him. Major Hermann Graf replaced him as acting Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1. Also killed was the Staffelkapitaen of 1./ZG 1, Oblt. Rudiger Ossmann. Oblt. Hermann Horstmann was made Staffelakpitean of 1./ZG 1. The battle also made JG 1 aware that their brightly marked Fw 190s with checkerboard designs on the cowlings were very similar to the markings of the US 78th FG which had a checkerboard design of their own. It was because of this similarity that flak units had a hard time distinguishing friendly from enemy fighters. The markings were changed soon after. On the bomber escort mission, the USAAF 334th FS were bringing up the van. They saw over thirty Luftwaffe aircraft above and in the sun. The US fighters orbited to gain altitude but were continually bounced by sections of four to eight Germans. This broke up the squadron and drew it away from the bombers. No enemy aircraft attacked the bombers. During the fighting Ralph Hofer chased a Bf 109 at 400 feet above the Zuider Zee, trying to get it off another P-47. The P-47 was shot down, but Hofer shot down the Bf 109. Duane Besson shot down two Bf 109s, bringing his score to six. Maj. Roy W. Evans, CO of the 335 FS/4 FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downed a Bf 109 near Oldenburg at 1455 hours. He scored one more victory to end the war with six kills.

282 Lancasters, 188 Halifaxes, 26 Wellingtons and 8 Mosquitoes attacked Hanover, 27 aircraft lost including Lancaster DV239 of 61 Sqdn, crew - F/O H.E. Carrott, F/O E.A. Thomas, P/O M. Thompson, P/O R. Coulson, F/Sgt R. Cramp, Sgt D. Hydes and Sgt W.S. Smith. This was the last Bomber Command raid in which Wellingtons took part when aircraft of Nos. 300 and 432 Squadrons were used. RAF No. 300(Polish) and 432(Canadian) Squadrons provided the 26 Wellingtons which operated on this night; they all returned safely. In total Wellington's based in the United Kingdom have dropped 42,440-tons of bombs. The German controller guessed correctly that Hanover was the target and many night fighters arrived before the attack was over. Conditions over Hanover were clear and the Pathfinders were finally able to mark the centre of the city accurately. A most concentrated attack followed with a creepback of only 2 miles, all within the built-up area. This was probably Hanover's worst attack of the war. RAF reconnaissance showed that the important Continental rubber factory and the Hanomag machine works were badly hit.

95 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes and 7 Lancasters attacked Bremen. This was a diversionary raid on a larger scale than ever before. The bombing was scattered but this was a subsidiary aim of the operation. 3 Stirlings were lost.

10 Mosquitoes went to Castrop-Rauxel, 7 to Berlin and 1 to Duren.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army captured Larino and Guglionesi as the advance on Biferno, Italy. The US 5th Army finished its advance to the Volturno River and began planning the next attack for October 12.

Twelfth Air Force aircraft attacked targets in Greece. XII Bomber Command B-24s bombed Tatoi and Eleusis Airfields at Athens, airfields at Kastelli and Heraklion Airfields on Crete, and Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes; B-25 Mitchells also hit Eleusis airfield; P-38s flew convoy cover, patrols, and sweeps over the Aegean Sea. In Italy, the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and RAF Desert Air Force aircraft hit a bridge at Minturno and a road junction and military concentration at Termoli.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Lancaster bomber operating from Linton on Ouse airfield near York, had to be abandoned over Hutton le Hole near Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire, when the controls jammed. The crew jumped to safety, but a farmer was killed when the bomber crashed at Spaunton in Yorkshire and the bomb load blew up.

RAF No. 453 Squadron (Spitfire) flying from Perranporth, Cornwall, intercepts eight Me110s over the Channel, shooting down five of them, two fall to Flt. Lt. Russell Leith.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 80: 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to Vendeville Airfield at Lille and Chievres Airfields in France. The mission was abandoned due to thick haze and generally unsuitable weather.

17 Stirlings went minelaying in the River Gironde and off La Pallice without loss.

Gruppenkommodore Major Erich Simon of Stab. IV./NJG 3 took of from Fliegerhorst Grove in a Ju 88C-6 in search for mine laying aircraft. A Stirling was returning after having dropped mines in the sea of Kattegat when it at 01:00 hours was attacked by a Ju 88. Major Simon was closing in from astern and below when he was observed by Rear gunner Sgt S. Etridge who instructed Pilot Wing Commander G. E. Harrison to Corkscrew. Major Simon closed further in and moved to port beam low, and W/Cdr Harrison turned port to allow both Rear gunner Sgt Etridge and Mid upper gunner Sgt C. W. Buffham a chance to open fire. They did so and both reported to have hit the Ju 88 that turned away and was seen to catch fire. It fell in flames and was seen to hit the sea where it burned for some time. Only Engineer Obergefreiter Erwin Schröder managed to get out of the falling Ju 88 and landed by parachute in the sea and entered his dinghy. Major Erich Simon and Wop Uffz. Hans Vogel went down with the Ju 88. They did not survive.


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## Njaco (Oct 12, 2008)

*9 OCTOBER 1943*
*
EASTERN FRONT: * The forces of General Ivan E. Petrov, Commander of the North Caucasas Front, complete the occupation of the Kuban. The German 17.Armee completed the evacuation of the Kuban Peninsula moving across the Strait of Kerch into the dubious safety of the Crimean Peninsula. 225,000 German and Romanian soldiers and 27,000 civilians made the withdrawal. Most of the German 17.Armee has escaped to the Crimea. They are sent to reinforce the German line south of Zaporozhye.
*
GERMANY*: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 113 against 2 targets in Germany and 2 in Poland; 26 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost. One group made a feint to Woensdrecht, another to Leeuwarden, both in the Netherlands. A diversionary strike was made on Anklam, Germany, then the main attack force of 246 B-17 and B-24 bombers attacked Gdynia and Danzig in Poland, and destroyed the Focke-Wulf aircraft plant at Marienburg in East Prussia. 106 B-17s hit the industrial area in Anklam, Germany and claimed 65-19-47 Luftwaffe aircraft. 96 B-17s hit the industrial area in Marienburg, Germany claiming 9-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 41 B-24s hit the U-boat yards at Danzig and the port area at Gdynia, Poland claiming 7-3-4 Luftwaffe aircraft and 109 B-17s hit the port area at Gdynia, Poland claiming 41-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft. Five fighter Geschwaders, 2 Zerstorer Geschwaders and 3 Nachtjagdgeschwaders were involved in the interceptions.

One of the most heavily involved were fighters from JG 11. One Bf 109 belonging to Stab II./JG 11 belly-landed in a field southeast of Faaborg and another from III./JG 11 landed in a field southeast of Toftlund due to a lack of fuel. Uffz. Karl-Heinz Kutzera of II./JG 11 crash-landed near Nykobing Falster after being hit by return fire from the bombers. Uffz. was wounded and taken to hospital. 13 pilots from JG 11 were confirmed for kills. But Lt. Michael Widmann of 2./JG 11 was missing after combat near Fehmarn. Lt. Harry Peltzer of 1./JG 11 attacked the bombers from the rear and was hit by defending gunfire. He crashed near Vojens and was killed.

JG 54 was also heavily involved. Four pilots were confirmed for kills but the Geschwader lost several pilots as well. Fw. Fritz Ungar of 9./JG 54 landed his Bf 109 near Arvlund because of a lack of fuel. Another Bf 109 from 7./JG 54crash-landed at Fliegerhorst Kastrup as did Fw. Emil Hecker from 9./JG 54 who took a bullet through the cockpit and was injured. Oblt. Fritz Brock also from 9./JG 54 crash-laned near Nykobing Falster and was uninjured.

The NJG contributed to the gain and loss columns as well. 15 Nachtjagdflieger made claims for kills including Hptm. Borchers of Stab III./NJG 5, Oblt. Muller of IV./NJG 3 and Major Rolf Jung of Stab I./NJG 2. But they, too lost aircraft and crews. Lt. Heinz Knittel of 8./NJG 2 crashed his Bf 110G-2 near Store Heddinge, killing Lt. Knittel. Another Bf 110 from I./NJG 2 ditched in 4 feet of water off shore of Storstrommen. The crew was found standing on the wing by the Danish police and taken ashore.

From the Zerstorergeschwaders, Lt. Richard Heller of 8./ZG 26 claimed 3 B-17s while Fw. Josef Scherkenbeck of 9./ZG 26 claimed 2 Fortresses.

6 Mosquitoes attacked Berlin without loss.

Hptm. Egon Albrecht, Staffelkapitaen of 1./ZG 1, succeeded Hptm. Karl-Heinrich Matern (12 kills, RK, KIA 8/10/43) as Gruppenkommandeur of II./ZG 1.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied intelligence warned General Eisenhower and top Allied commanders that the Germans have decided to defend Rome and the southern two-thirds of the Italian peninsula. Intelligence discovered that three elite German divisions have reinforced Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's 10th Army along the Volturno River, 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Naples. Intelligence also learned the Germans were using Italian labourers to prepare a stronger position -- called the Gustav Line -- 85 miles (136.8 km) south of Rome.

XII Bomber Command B-17s bomb airfields at Larissa, Athens and Salonika, Greece, and Argos, Italy. B-24s hit Pediada Airfield at Kastelli, Crete. P-38s fly a sweep between the island of Corfu, Greece and Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, and escort shipping in the Karpathos Straits between Carpathos and Rhodes. In Italy, the XII Air Support Command does not operate, but the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and the RAF's Desert Air Force hit traffic in the Termoli and Montenero areas, guns north of Capua, a HQ at Palata, and roads and railroads north of Naples.

While providing air cover for RN warships that bombarded German installations in the Dodecanese Islands, two P-38 pilots of the 37th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, achieved "ace" status. Major William L. Leverette, Commanding Officer of the 37th, downed seven Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers in a single pass to become an ace. This was the highest single-mission score in either the European and Mediterranean Theater of Operations in World War II. He ended the war with 11 confirmed victories. The second pilot was 2d Lieutenant who downed five JU-87s to become an "instant ace." These were his only victories of the war. II./StG 3 lost 9 Ju 87D-3/Trops when they were intercepted during the mission against Royal Navy ships in the Aegean. Seven crashed into the sea and 2 made emergency landings on Rhodes. 4 crewmen were killed and 7 listed as missing in action.

In company with HMS _'Panther'_, cruiser HMS _'Carlisle' _was severely damaged by the Ju 87 dive bomb attacks and had to be taken in tow by _'Rockwood'_. She reached Alexandria but was considered to be beyond economic repair and declared a constructive total loss. There were 20 casualties. Destroyer HMS _'Panther' _was sunk in the attacks that damaged HMS _'Carlisle' _at the same position.

At 0036 hours, destroyer USS _'Buck' _(LCDR M. Klein, lost) was on patrol off Salerno, when she was hit in the bow by a Gnat fired by _'U-616'_, causing the forward magazine to explode and sank within four minutes. Destroyer USS _'Gleaves' _and landing craft HMS LCT-170 picked up the survivors.

*NORTH AMERICA:* General Henry H. "Hap"Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, recommends to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in Italy be divided into two air forces, one strategic and one tactical, to increase the power of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). It has already been decided that Italian-based aircraft will assist in offensive to knock out Germany.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 81: 66 B-26B Marauders bombed the Woensdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands. This awas the final Eighth Air Force B-26 operation - the B-26s would be transferred to the US IX Bomber Command, Ninth Air Force on 16 October.


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## Njaco (Oct 12, 2008)

*10 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *The Atlantic entrance to the PANAMA Canal was mined by a German submarine.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Dobrush, east of Gomel, was liberated by Soviet forces.

Ofw. Karl Fuchs of 3./JG 54 (67 kills) was killed in combat.

With the war's tide turning, the Franco government ordered the Spanish 250th 'Blue' Division home. A few thousand volunteers, however, refused to abandon the struggle against Communism and enlisted in a so-called "Blue Legion" that was attached to the German 121st Infantry Division.

*GERMANY*: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 114: 236 B-17s hit the railroads and waterways in and around Munster, Germany plus targets of opportunity at Coesfeld, Germany and Enschede Airfield in the Netherlands, claiming 183-21-51 Luftwaffe aircraft. 30 B-17s were lost. 39 B-24s flew a diversion without loss or casualties. The B-17s were escorted by 216 P-47 Thunderbolts and claimed 19-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. A P-47 was lost. This was recorded as one of the most brutal battles of the war as the Allied fighter cover left the bombers 9 minutes from the IP when an estimated 200 Luftwaffe planes entered the battle. The air battle lasted about 45 minutes in which the standardized attack pattern of single-engined fighters attacked head-on while Bf 110s and Me 410s used rockets to hit the bombers from the rear. In about 25 minutes, 30 bombers were lost. It was during this battle that it was first reported that D0 217s attacked with "lateral" firing weapons. The Luftwaffe also lost aircraft as 26 Fw 190s from JG 1 and JG 26 were shot down. Maj. David C. Schilling, 56th FG's operations officer, USAAF, achieved aces status when he downed an Fw 190 near Altenberg, Germany. Maj. Schilling ended the war with 22.5 kills. 1st Lt. Robert S. Johnson 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieved ace status by downing a Bf 110 and a Fw 190 near Munster, Germany. He ended the war with 27 kills and was the second highest scoring US fighter ace in the ETO, sixth highest of all US fighter pilots. Capt. Walter C. Beckham, 351th FS/353d FG, USAAF, achieved ace status when he downed an Me 210 and two Bf 110s near Munster, Germany. Beckham ended the war with 18 e/a destroyed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The U. S. 45th "Thunderbird" Infantry Division edged close to German defenses along the Volturno River by taking Pontelandolfo, a mountain town 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Benevento.

The Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and RAF's Desert Air Force concentrate on gun positions on both the US Fifth and British Eighth Army battlefronts; vehicles, railroads, and town areas also are hit; the attacks take place northeast of Capua, at Guglionesi, at Cassino and Mondragone, between Rome and Terracina, and around the Termoli-Isernia-Pescara areas.

A time bomb killed 12 in a cathedral just before ranking U.S. officers arrived for Mass.

Adolf Hitler's decision to fight for Rome doomed Churchill's plan to take the Dodecanese Islands in the eastern Mediterranean and open a supply route to Turkey and the Soviet Union. During a strategy conference, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his top commanders realized they didn't have enough men and equipment for two Mediterranean campaigns; one in Italy, the other in the Dodecanese. Ike angered British Prime Minister Winston Churchill by refusing to send part of his forces to the islands.

P-38s escorted shipping off Rhodes, hit Antimachia Airfield in the Dodecanese Islands, and attacked vessels in the harbors of Corfu, Greece, and Kotor, Yugoslavia, and off Tivat, Yugoslavia, and hit targets of opportunity in the Aegean Sea and along its eastern coastline. Twelfth Air Force B-17s bombed 2 airfields at Athens, while B-24s hit Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes and Calato and Heraklion Airfields on Crete.

Partisans attacked German forces in Trieste, a large port near the Italian-Yugoslav frontier. The partisans penetrated into several of the city's suburbs and ignited a fierce battle.

Submarine HMS _'Trooper' _was not heard from after leaving Beirut for a patrol west of the Dodecanese on 26 September. She may have been mined, or the victim of an accident. There were no survivors, all 60 crew becoming casualties.

_'U-73' _set an agent ashore on Cape Khanis in the Mediterranean.

Destroyer HS _'Miaoulis' _rescued the crew of the destroyer HMS _'Panther'_.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The 360th Fighter Squadron, 356th Fighter Group, transfers from Goxhill to Martlesham, England with P-47's. The squadron will fly it's first mission on 15 Oct.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Oberst Walter Oesau of JG 2 was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1, relieving Major Hermann Graf who had taken over the Geschwader after the death of Obstlt. 'Fips' Philipp on 8 October.


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## Njaco (Oct 12, 2008)

*11 OCTOBER 1943

EASTERN FRONT*: Novobelitsa on the outskirts of Gomel was liberated by the Soviets.

Hptm. Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 54 shot down 7 Russian aircraft in only 7 minutes to bring his total past 100 victories.

Lt. Gunther Kurz of Stab II./JG 52 (33 kills) was killed in combat.

Lt. Rudolf Wagner in a Bf 109G-6 collided in aerial combat with Uffz. Helmut Neu in a Bf 109G-6 near Yarzevo. Lt. Wagner survived with injuries while Uffz. Neu was listed as missing in action. Both pilots were serving with 10./JG 51 at the time.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British V and XIII Corps were now in the line of the 8th Army. They paused while Montgomery finished his reorganization plans.

US XII Bomber Command B-25 Mitchells bombed Garitsa Airfield, Greece and P-38s hit a vessel in the Corfu harbor on Corfu Island. In Italy, US XII Air Support Command and Northwest Tactical Bomber Force operations were cancelled or aborted due to weather, but RAF Desert Air Force fighters hit trains, trucks, and gun positions near Montesilvano and Vasto.

Partisans battled to within 23 miles (37.0 km) of Belgrade and raided Zagreb, Croatia's capital.

HMS _'Hythe' _(J 194) (LtCdr Leslie B. Miller, RN) was hit by a Gnat from _'U-371' _and sank off Bougie, Algeria.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Advanced Amphibious Training Base, Falmouth, Cornwall, England, was established.


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## Njaco (Oct 12, 2008)

*12 OCTOBER 1943
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: * The BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC swung firmly in favour of the Allies when Dr. Salazar, the Portuguese leader, revealed that British land, sea and air forces arrived in the Azores. The islands, strategically placed in mid-Atlantic, would be used for the aerial protection of merchant shipping plying between the United States and Britain. The move came after weeks of secret talks between Britain and Portugal. Though the two countries had a treaty relationship that dated from the 14th century, Dr. Salazar, in close co-operation with Franco's Spain, remained cautiously neutral between the Allied and Axis powers. The Azores pact reflected the growing certainty among neutrals that Hitler would eventually lose the war. The US, though not a signatory to the pact, would use the islands for joint military operations with Britain. Air cover by RAF Catalina and Wellington aircraft based in Britain and Newfoundland left a gap - which would now be closed - of several hundred miles in mid-Atlantic, where the U-boats assembled to prey on Allied shipping. The German consulate in the Azores was being closed and all German citizens were being evacuated. On the Portuguese mainland diplomatic links would continue.

Aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Card' _(CVE-11) broke up another German U-boat refuelling rendezvous when they attacked _'U-488' _about 600 miles (965.6 km) north of Flores Island, Azores and damaged _'U-731'_. This was the second attack on submarines refuelling; the first was on 4 October. An Avenger aircraft (VC-9) from escort carrier USS _'Card' _attacked _'U-378' _with a Fido homing torpedo but the boat managed to outmanoeuvre it.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army began the attack on the Volturno line. Due to weather, inadequate roads and German demolitions the Allied advance was limited to major roads until spring. The British X Corps operating along the coast made little progress, being faced by determined German counterattacks. Lucas’ US 6th Corps made more progress but poor weather and determined resistance limited advances.

US XII Bomber Command operations were cancelled by weather. In Italy, the US XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements operated on a reduced scale, hitting road junctions at Vasto and Fossacesia, Aquino Airfield, motor transport on the Itri-Pico road and on a road north of Rome in the Bolsena and Capranica areas, roads near Tarquinia, rail facilities at Cisterna di Latina, trains between Pescara and Benedello, and guns and troops near Cercemaggiore.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In the evening, 4 Ju 88S-1s of III./KG 6 took-off for a nuisance attack on London. Two aircraft attacked the city without results. The other two aircraft broke off the attack due to engine problems. One bomber had an aerial combat with RAF night fighters from RAF No. 151 Sqdrn over London. Several hits on a Ju 88 from 7./KG 6 convinced the pilot to order his crew to bail out. Two parachutes were seen. These 2 crewmen, Uffz. Kurt Emmert and Ogfr. Kurt Abramowski have been listed as missing ever since. The pilot then ascertained that the aircraft was still flyable and headed for home base.


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## Hugh Spencer (Oct 13, 2008)

*13 October 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine _'U-402' _was sunk by a Mark 24 Acoustic Torpedo (FIDO) from TBF Avenger and F4F Wildcat aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Card' _(CVE-11). All hands in the submarine, 50 men, are lost. Avenger aircraft from escort carrier _'Card' _also dropped a Fido on_ 'U-603'_, but the U-boat was not damaged.

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Feodor Tolbukhin's army fought its way into Melitopol in the Ukraine, a way station on the Moscow-to-Crimea railroad. Tolbukhin's attack threatened to cut off the German-Romanian 17th Army in the Crimea and ignited a fierce 10-day battle.

Paul Finkler of JG 54 (20 kills) was killed in combat against Russian planes.

*GERMANY*: Lee "Shorty" Gordon becomes the first American prisoner-of-war to successfully escape from a German camp. He escaped from Stalag VIIA on a bicycle yelling the only German he knew, "Heil, Hitler". Gordon, from southern California, was serving as a ball turret gunner with the USAAF's 305th Bomb Group when his B-17 was shot down over Wilhelmshaven on February 26, 1943. He survived the parachute landing, but was quickly captured by German troops. After two failed escape attempts, Gordon tried again, trading identification tags with an Australian POW to gain access to the outdoor work area of the Moosburg camp where he bribed guards with coffee and cigarettes and hid in a bathroom stall until dark. He then hopped a fence when a guard's back was turned and walked out of the camp, Doyle said. Gordon rode freight trains to France, where he made contact with a Resistance group that helped him reunite with the Allied forces. He told the story of walking into a French cafe in "Escape From a Living Hell," a 2000 History Channel documentary:
"The waitress walked up to me. I looked at her and I said, 'I'm an American.'"
More than a year later, on Feb. 27, 1944, Gordon arrived in England.

A new I./ZG 26 was formed at Bad Lippspringe from I./ZG 1 and a new II./ZG 26 was formed at Hildesheim near Hannover from III./ZG 1.

4 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 4 to Duisburg without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Italy declared war on Germany. Less than five weeks ago, Italy was Hitler's ally. Today it is his enemy. The Italian ambassador in Madrid, Spain handed Italy's declaration of war to his German counterpart for transmission to Berlin. The declaration, signed by Italy's new leader, Marshal Badoglio, did not make Italy one of the Allies as such. With war crimes charges pending against some Fascist leaders and generals, Italy officially became no more than a "co-belligerent". However, Badoglio called on all Italian soldiers to;


> "_fight against the Germans to the last man." _


In a letter to General Eisenhower, Badoglio said:


> "_By this act, all ties with the dreadful past are broken, and my government will be proud to be able to march with you on to the inevitable victory."_


There was debate as to whether Italian forces would be used against the Germans in Italy. However, they were fighting with the British in the Aegean and served to garrison Sardinia and Corsica. One tricky problem remained to be resolved: the thousands of Italian PoWs in Allied hands.

Six American and British divisions of Mark Clark's Fifth Army attacked German defenses along the Volturno River, 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Naples. The US 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions established three bridgeheads on the north side of the Volturno. They had been bitterly resisted by three German divisions. The attack had begun yesterday, but rain, mud and the swollen river provided sterling assistance to the Germans who had retreated to the river following the Allied capture of Naples on 1 October. The rainy season began a month earlier than usual, slowing the Allied advance and giving the Germans more time to prepare their defences here and further north along the rivers Liri and Rapido.

US XII Bomber Command B-25s and B-26 Marauders bombed the town of Alife, a road junction at Sessa Aurunca, and airfield at Tirana; XII Air Support Command, supplemented by RAF Desert Air Force fighters, supported the US Fifth Army, which during the assault crossing of the Volturno River on a 40-mile (64 km) front during the night of 12/13 October. Fighters and fighter-bombers hit troop and tank concentrations, trains, trucks, and communications the lines in the forward areas, especially around Ortona, Giulianova, and Campobasso. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force light bombers joined in the attacks, hitting road junctions in the Vairano, Carinola, Dragoni, Vasto, Terracina, and Minturno areas.

Yugoslav partisans struck at the German industrial empire at Zeneca, wrecking several of the huge Krupp factories including the biggest steel works in the country. The partisans claimed to have destroyed 27 railway engines and 150 wagons. Street fighting was also reported in Zeneca and other towns. German reinforcements were said to be rushing to the district. A partisan communiqué revealed that the Italian Venezia division - which, a few days ago, had been fighting against the partisans - had come over to the Yugoslav side.

Lt. Helmut Hansel of Stab./JG 77 (8 kills) was killed in action.

Destroyer _'Bristol' _(DD-453) was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-371'_, 70 miles west-northwest of Bone, Algeria.


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## Njaco (Oct 14, 2008)

*14 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: '*_U-455_' collides with '_U-631_' and suffers heavy damage.
*
EASTERN FRONT: *German forces evacuated the Zaporoshe bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnepr river and it fell to the Russians. The railroad from the Crimea to Melitopol was cut by the Red Army.

Major Walter Nowotny shot down his 250th Russian plane. Before war's end, four other German pilots would surpass Nowotny's score.

The 600 inmates of the Sobibor extermination camp, mainly women working in the small tailors' workshop, revolted against the camp regime and staged an astonishing escape attempt. The revolt was spearheaded by a group of White Russian Jewish partisans led by Aleksandr "Sacha" Pieczerski, a 34-year old Russian Jew who had served as a political commissar in the Red Army. The Jews were armed with a few guns and hand-grenades, stolen from the SS barracks, and a handful of knives and hatchets. The mutiny started in the afternoon during the routine inspection of the prisoners' huts. The rebels killed 11 guards, then shouted "Hurrah" to signal a mass breakout. In the chaos that followed, the guards shot 200 inmates dead. Others perished in the minefield that surrounds the camp; estimates of the number who escaped successfully vary from 100 to 300. Pierczerski and his second-in-command, Leon Feldhandler, were thought to be among those who did escape to join the partisans. A small group of Dutch Jews was apparently trying to get home. In a camp where deportees stood only a one in 40 chance of avoiding immediate death in the gas chambers, today's breakout was a brave attempt to shorten the odds.

*GERMANY*: *Black Thursday*: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 115: 229 of 291 B-17s were dispatched to hit the city area and ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany, in 2 groups; the first group bombed at 1439-1445 hours, the second group at 1451-1457 hours. They lost 60 aircraft shot down, 7 damaged beyond repair and 138 damaged. There was no appreciable reduction of supplies of ball-bearings to German industry. The factories had previously been attacked on August 17, resulting in a disastrous loss of aircraft. The second mission turned out no different, and has become known as Black Thursday due to the heavy loss of men and aircraft. The weather hampered the Bomber formations rendezvous, and as a result the wrong formations were in the wrong position. Much of the American formations were spread out, offering little protection for each other; an invitation for attacking fighters. The Germans had suspected a deep penetration raid because of the substantial raid traffic. Jagddivision 3 was positioned to meet the bombers as they crossed the coast. The P-47s tried to protect the scattered bomber groups and succeeded in downing 7 Bf 109s for a single loss, and the only P-47 loss of the day. Over the Netherlands JG 1 and 26 made repeated attacks. The 305th Bomb Group lost 13 of its 16 B-17s in minutes. After dropping their bombs the American bombers were almost immediately attacked by German fighters, having landed, refuelled and rearmed, struck again. JG 11 shot down 18 B-17s during this period. Finally, the B-17s reached the coastline of Europe and relative safety, some of them so heavily damaged that though they brought their crews home, they would never fly again. Out of 2,900 men in the crews, about 650 men did not return, although 65 survived as POWs. Five were killed and forty-three wounded in the damaged aircraft that made it home, and 594 were listed as Missing in Action. Only thirty-three bombers landed without damage. The 306th Bomb Group was hard hit, losing 100 men, of which 35 died on the mission, or of wounds, and 65 were captured. The 305th Bomb Group lost 130 men, with 36 killed. The 87 percent loss rate had left the group devastated. The bomber crews claimed to have shot down 288 German aircraft, postwar analysis showed the real figure to have been 27. This raid, on Schweinfurt, would be the last Allied daylight air raid deep within Germany until the arrival of the long range fighter escorts. The lesson was that the Fortresses could not live in the air over Germany without fighters for protection. A Ninth Air Force was therefore to be formed on 16 October to provide escort cover for bombing attacks and, in the longer term, a future invasion of Europe.

Only 29 of 60 B-24s were able to form up in poor weather. They abandoned their planned mission and fly a diversion towards Emden, Germany.

Capt. Frank E. McCauley, 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieved ace status (5.5 kills) when he downed a Bf 110 near Aachen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The battle along the Volturno River continued. The Fifth Army expanded its bridgeheads across the Volturno River. The US 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions pushed 4 miles (6.4 km) beyond the river.

US XII Bomber Command B-25s hit Argos Airfield and B-17s bombed the Terni marshalling yard. Other B-17s and B-24s attacked a bridge at Giulianova, the town area of Piano-Vomano and railroad and highway bridges north of Pescara and along the eastern coast of Italy. Weather hindered tactical aircraft operations, but the US XII Air Support Command and RAF Desert Air Force hit trains and vehicles and flew patrols from north of the Volturno River to Formia and north of Pescara.

Submarine HMS _'Trooper' _was sunk by a German Q-ship off the island of Kos in the Greek Aegean.

An Me 410A-1 from 2(F)./122 was shot down by Spitfires near Bari while reconnoitering along the route Termoli-Bari. The crew of Lt Werner Hirschfelder (F) and Obgfr. Helmut Seidel, were reported missing.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* '_U-737_' destroys a landing stage off Grummanntbyan with a demolition charge.

General der Artillerie Alfred Jodl arrives Finland to present the German view of the present military-political situation. He explains that the Italian surrender has no significance and that Germany will hold its positions around Leningrad.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The 55th FG, USAAF, (P-38s) and 356th FG, USAAF, (P-47) made their combat debut in a pair of fighter sweeps over the Frisian Islands (Netherlands). The 55th was the first P-38 unit to operate from the UK since all P-38 units were committed to Operation TORCH in 1942. It was also the first 8th Fighter Command unit to actually enter combat with P-38s.


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## Njaco (Oct 15, 2008)

*15 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The 1.Staffel of Fernaufklarungs-Gruppe 5 [German for Long Range Reconnaissance Group] with Ju 290A-2s and -3s joined operations over the Atlantic.

The SS _'Essex Lance' _(Master Arthur Henry Dean), a straggler from convoy ONS-20, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-426' _southeast of Cape Farewell. Earlier _'U-842' _(Heller) reported that they had sighted the _'Essex Lance'_, but were unable to attack the ship. The master, 43 crew members and eight gunners were picked up by the British rescue ship _'Accrington' _and landed at Halifax on 26 October.

_'U-371_' damaged SS _'James Russell Lowell_' beyond repair in Convoy GUS-18.

*EASTERN FRONT*: _'U-23' _fired one torpedo at a small convoy of two steamers and a coastal minesweeper and observed a hit in the bow of the first steamer. The U-boat had followed the ships since several hours off Kodor and then tried to attack the second steamer, but was chased away by gunfire from the vessel and the escort. TSC-486 _'Sovetskaja Rossija' _was damaged in this attack.

Oblt. Helmut Fickel was made Adjutant in III./SG 2. He accompanied Rudel on many of his most difficult and dangerous tank raids and was himself successful in these attacks.

Hans Grubert of JG 54 (5 kills) was killed in action. Oblt. Anton 'Toni' Hafner of JG 51, newly returned from injuries suffered in January, downed 3 Russian fighters to bring his score to 100 victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British units of General Mark Clark's Fifth Army finally broke German defenses and pushed across the Volturno river, some on pontoon bridges built by combat engineers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. The 1st Canadian Corps took Vinchiaturo. US XII Air Support Command and other elements of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force hit roads, railroads, bridges, junctions, railway facilities, town areas, and motor transport at or near Piedimonte, Vairano, Termoli, Petacciato, Sparanise, and Civitanova, and hit gun positions and communications in the general battle area north of the Volturno River.

Twelfth Air Force B-25s of the US XII Bomber Command hit airfields at Salonika and Megalo Mikra in Greece.

_'U-616' _encountered the British submarine HMS _'Untiring'_, which fired three torpedoes without success.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff accepted General Henry H. "Hap" Arnolds's proposal to split the Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean into two air forces; the Twelfth Air Force will become a tactical air force while the new Fifteenth Air Force will become a strategic air force.

_'U-371' _fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy GUS-18 off Cape de Fer, Algeria and heard three hits. Mehl reported one ship sunk and another probably damaged. In fact, the _'James Russell Lowell' _(Master Richard Newton Forman Jr.) in station #85 was hit by three torpedoes. The first struck on the rudder, carrying it and the rudder post away. The second struck on the port side at the #3 hold and blew off the hatch cover, created cracks in the hull on both sides and flooded the hold and engine room. The third torpedo struck at the #1 hold, blew the hatch cover off and flooded the hold. The engines were secured immediately and the eight officers, 38 crewmen and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in four lifeboats, which stayed near the ship. About one hour later, the British armed whaler HMS _'Southern Sea' _(FY 326) appeared and took the master on board for a conference. 30 minutes later the merchant crew went back on board and the whaler took the ship in tow. As weather conditions worsen, all but the master and two men abandon ship once more. 

British scientists recovered German guided bomb parts from nine Dorniers Do 217 bombers abandoned at Foggia, Italy, including tranceivers and control panels, allowing technical analysis.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: British General Pownall was appointed Chief of Staff; US General Wedemeyer was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to Admiral Mountbatten at South East Asia Command. HQ U.S. Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom (USAAFUK) was activated to exercise supervision over and provide coordination between the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces in the UK. Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker was appointed Commanding General in addition to his duties as Commanding General Eighth Air Force. HQ Ninth Air Force moved from North Africa to England and Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton assumed command. Although the Ninth Air Force was scheduled to provide tactical support to Allied ground forces after the Normandy invasion, the Ninth's fighters will support the Eighth Air Force in its strategic missions over Europe.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Eight Typhoon Mk Ibs of RAF No. 257 (Burma) Sqdrn took off at 15:03 hours to take part in 10 Group's 'Rodeo 41'. The aircraft swept over the Brest penisula and met 4 Fw 190s with long-range tanks flying 500m above the Typhoons. One Focke-Wulf was shot down by F/O S.J. khin and F/Sgt D.C.J. Calman. F/O Khin also claimed one Fw 190 damaged. Ofw. Helmut Hasse of 1./SAGr 128 was shot down and killed by the pair of Typhoons at Tal-ar-Groas, south of Brest. The RAF squadron also spotted 2 Bf 110s and gave chase but could not catch them.

A sweeping re-organization and complete restructuring of the Jagdwaffe command structure was called for and this was implemented this day. The Luftwaffe disbanded XII Fliegerkorps and formed two Jagdkorps and the renumbered most of the Jagddivisionen. XII Fliegerkorps became I.Jagdkorps and a new II.Jagdkorps was created. The necessary orders for the re-organization were issued on 15 September but re-organizing the Stabe and the communication system required time and the new organizations thus became effective on 15 October.


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## Hugh Spencer (Oct 16, 2008)

*16 October 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* U.S.-built destroyer escorts transferred under Lend-Lease to Great Britain (HMS _'Byard'_, HMS _'Bentinck'_, HMS _'Berry'_, HMS _'Drury'_, and HMS _'Bazely'_) entered combat for the first time as escorts for convoy O, Nova Scotia. 20. The British classify the ships as "frigates."

German U-boats had a bad day when they attacked two Allied convoys in the North Atlantic. Eight U-boats were sunk or damaged by RAF patrol planes and RN warships while the Germans sank only one merchant ship. The three boats sunk were: _'U-470' _sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft "C" of No. 59 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland, and Liberator and Liberator Mk. III, aircraft "E" of No. 120 Squadron based at Reykjavik, Iceland. Two of the 48 crewmen on the U-boat survived. _'U-844' _was sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft "S" of No. 59 Squadron and a Liberator, aircraft "L" of No. 86 Squadron; both squadrons were based at based at Ballykelly, Ireland. All 53 hands on the submarine were lost. _'U-844' _had shot down an RAF Liberator aircraft, Squadron 59/S near Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-20. The aircraft was damaged and had to ditch near HMS _'Pink'_. _'U-964' _was sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF Liberator, aircraft "Y" of No. 86 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland. Three of the 50 U-boat crewmen survived. _'U-231' _pulled from the water five men from the just-sunk '_U-964'_. One of them, the commander ObltzS Hummerjohann, was already dead, and a second survivor died some minutes after his rescue, so only three men of _'U-964' _survived.

_'U-448' _shot down RCAF Sunderland aircraft, Squadron 422/S near Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-20. _'U-448' _and _'U-281' _were both involved in the attack and the former was so damaged she had to abort her patrol. One man was killed and two wounded.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Vatutin’s forces launched attacks out of the Bukrin bridgehead south of Kiev. The attacks were met by several German panzer divisions. Fighting was severe and the Germans defeated the Russian tanks and infantry. In the southern Ukraine, a group of Red armies led by General Ivan Konev crossed the Dnieper, bursting through German defenses and pushing toward Krivoi Rog, a steelmaking center.

*GERMANY*: 9 Mosquitoes went to Dortmund, without loss. One of the aircraft was carrying out a G-H trial but its equipment failed and it had to bomb by dead reckoning.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German forces, in Italy, facing the US 5th Army finished their fighting retreat to the Barbara Line as scheduled by Kesselring.

Twelfth Air Force P-38s bombed a vessel in Leukas Channel off the west coast of Greece. In Italy, US XII Bomber Command B-25s bombed the marshalling yard and rail lines, railroad tunnel, highway underpass, warehouses, industrial buildings, and gas works in or near Bologna; US XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements provided close support to the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies; fighters and light and medium bombers hit communications centers of Venafro, Vairano, Sparanise, Latina, Alife, and the town of Pietravairano; roads, railroads, and junctions in the areas southeast of Rome to the bomb line, between Vasto and Pescara, and at Mondragone; gun positions, trucks, and military concentrations near Vinchiaturo, Boiano, and Termoli; landing ground of Cisterna di Latina; and several other targets in the area between Rome and Ancona.

Chief of the Rome SIPO office, SS-Obstbf., Herbert Kappler, organised an 'Aktion' against the Jewish community. 1,259 Italian Jews were arrested.

Monks at Monte Cassino in Italy began removing the archive and library, following a German warning that it would soon be in the line of fire.

*NORTH AFRICA*: The 4th and 5th New Zealand Brigades begin a movement from Port Tewfik. Egypt to Italy.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USN accepts its first helicopter, a USAAF Sikorsky YR-4B-SI Hoverfly at Bridgeport, Connecticut. The USN receives three and designates them XH, Nova Scotia.-1s.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Headquarters, 9th USAAF, was formally reactivated at Sunninghill Park, England, following its transfer from Egypt. Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton resumed his duties as commanding general. US IX Bomber Command was reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Samuel E. Anderson. US IX Fighter command was reactivated under the temporary command of Lt. Col. Ray J. Stecker. US IX Air Support Command was reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry J. Miller. A new US IX Troop Carrier command was activated under the command of Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Giles. All four B-26 groups were transferred to the 9th AF from the 3d Medium Bombardment Wing when it was disbanded. US IX Troop Command assumed control of all 8th AF troop carrier units. The US IX Troop Carrier Command was activated at Cottesmore with Brigadier General Benjamin F Giles as Commanding General; the 315th Troop Carrier Group (34th and 43d Troop Carrier Squadrons with C-47s) were transferred from the Eighth Air Force; and the 434th Troop Carrier Group and its 71st, 72d, 73d and 74th Troop Carrier Squadrons that arrived on 9 Oct were also assigned.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hptm. Rolf Hermichen was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 11.

During the night of 16/17 October, eight RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over northern France without loss.


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## Njaco (Oct 19, 2008)

*17 OCTOBER 1943
*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: '_U-540_' (Type IXC/40) is sunk east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from 2 British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 59/D and 120/H). 55 dead (all crew lost).

'_U-631_' (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS '_Sunflower_'. 53 dead (all crew lost).

'_U-841_' (Type IXC/40) is sunk in the North Atlantic east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS '_Byard_'. 26 dead, 26 survivors.

In the evening of this day a Liberator aircraft attacked '_U-281_' with bombs and machine guns, wounding three crewmembers.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces shatter the Dniepr River line defenses with attacks near Kremenchug. They crossed the Dniepr River south of Gomel and captured Loyev.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allied campaign slowed to a crawl in the face of bad weather and fierce German rearguard actions. During the next month, Clark's Fifth Army and Montgomery's 8th Army will creep forward about a mile (1.6 km) per day, fighting mud, mines and booby-traps and Germans entrenched on the high ground. Cold and hungry front-line infantrymen build rock shelters to protect themselves from snipers and shellfire. By mid-November, the Fifth Army will be so bloodied and exhausted that Clark will order a two-week halt to rest and recuperate. The Germans were methodically withdrawing to three south-of-Rome defence lines called Barbara, Bernhard and, the toughest, Gustav. Units of the US 5th Army captured Liberi and Alvignono.

In the air, weather prevented operations by the US XII Bomber Command. US and RAF units of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force operated at a reduced pace. Light and medium bombers hit the towns of Teano and Alife and motor transport at Benedello, Penna, and Pedesso; fighter-bombers bombed and strafed troops, trucks, guns, train stations, and a bridge near Vinchiaturo, Benedello, Teramo, and Sparanise; other fighters strafed locomotives south of Ancona.

The British cruiser HMS _'Sirius' _was deployed in the Aegean with HM Destroyers _'Pathfinder'_, _'Eclipse' _and _'Beaufort'_. Reinforced with HMS _'Aurora' _and destroyers in support of military operations the ships bombarded Cos harbour. Under heavy and sustained air attack, _'Sirius' _was hit by a 250 Kg bomb south of Scarpanto Strait on the quarterdeck and had a further 4 near misses causing fires aft. There was major damage to armament and radar aerials from splinters. 14 of ship's company were killed and 30 wounded.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Barrage balloon broke away from moorings at Dunston and crashed on a row of houses in Delaval Street, Scotswood Road. One or two injured, two chimney stacks and slates etc were damaged.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 8 Mosquitoes went to Berlin, 2 to Aachen and 2 to Hamborn. 54 Stirlings and Wellingtons went minelaying in the Frisians and off Biscay ports, no losses.


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## Njaco (Oct 19, 2008)

*18 OCTOBER 1943
*
*EASTERN FRONT*: Fighting around Melitopol continued as the Soviets penetrated to the centre of town.

British, American, and Soviet foreign ministers met in Moscow, Russia, over 13 days. They established the European Advisory Commission, to elaborate a joint Allied plan for Germany.

Ofw. Werner Kloss of 5./JG 3 (18 kills) was killed in combat.

*GERMANY*: During the night, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 360 Lancasters to attack Hannover; 349 aircraft attack the city with the loss of 18 aircraft, 5.0 per cent of the force. The target area is covered by cloud and the Pathfinders are not successful in marking the position of Hannover. The raid is scattered, with most bombs falling in open country north and north-west of the city. This raid concludes the current series of raids on Hannover. Bomber Command has dispatched 2,253 sorties in four raids and ten USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress sorties had also been flown; 1,976 aircraft claimed to have bombed in the target area. Only one raid has been completely successful but that had caused severe damage. One hundred ten bombers are lost on the raids, 4.9 per cent of those dispatched. One of the Lancasters lost on the Hannover raid is the 5,000th Bomber Command aircraft lost on operations since the start of the war. By the end of this night, the bombers have flown approximately 144,500 sorties, 90 per cent of them by night, and lost 5,004 aircraft, 4,365 by night and 639 by day, over German territory, crashed in the sea or shot down over England by German Intruders or “friendly” defences.

RAF Bomber Command also dispatches Mosquitos to attack targets: ten bomb a blast furnace at Duisburg, eight hit Emden, seven hit Berlin, three bomb a zinc factory at Stolberg and one bombs Dusseldorf.

For the past month, Allied planes have been trying to wreck German troop and supply trains to Italy but the Germans are organizing their trains in Austria and making high-speed night runs to depots near the front lines.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army, after a brief rest period to regroup and resupply, launched its offensive toward the Trigno River while the US 5th Army captured Gioia. The slowly advancing US 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions took two dozen Italian towns and villages as the Germans retreated toward their mountainous Barbara defence line, 35 miles north of Naples. For the past month, Allied planes have been trying to wreck German troop and supply trains but the Germans were organizing their trains in Austria and making high-speed night runs to depots near the front lines.

US XII Bomber Command dispatched B-25 Mitchells to bomb the marshalling yard at Skoplje, Yugoslavia; P-38s followed with a strafing mission, damaging or destroying several locomotives and vehicles. In Italy, US XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches hit the Venafro railroad yards, and other fighter-bombers hit gun positions, troops, and railway stations in or near Boiano, Petacciato, and Vairano. Fighters strafed airfields around Rome and also hit Viterbo, Grosseto, and the seaplane base at Bracciano, and attacked trains on the Rome-Orte and Rome-Naples, Italy lines. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force light bombers bombed the road and railway near Cassino, the town of Carpinone, the road junction at Castiglione della Valle, and roads, bridges, and motor transport near Minturno and Chieti.

Nazi deportations of Italy's Jews to the extermination camps began when 1,007 Roman Jews were despatched to Auschwitz. The operation against the ghetto in Rome began on 26 September when the German authorities - in control of most of Italy since the surrender - threatened to arrest 200 ghetto inhabitants unless 110 pounds (50 kg) of gold was produced within 36 hours. The whole city gave gold to save them. On Saturday 16 October, the Jewish Sabbath, the arrests began. Today the first transportation left for Auschwitz.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: 228 US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders dispatched to bomb 4 airfields were recalled before attacking because of unfavourable weather. Six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Texel Island without loss.

Several thousand disabled Allied and German prisoners were swapped at Goteborg, Sweden, and Barcelona, Spain.

French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, who escaped from a POW camp six weeks ago, was one of seven Frenchmen flown to Britain from hiding in France.


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## Njaco (Oct 19, 2008)

*19 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: US freighter _'Delisle'_, in convoy WB 65, fouls a mine laid by German submarine _'U-220' _as the merchantman lies to, 15 miles out of St. John's, Newfoundland, rescuing survivors of British freighter _'Penolver'_. _'Delisle' _suffered no casualties and was abandoned by the 32-man crew and 7-man Armed Guard, and three sailors from _'Penolver'_. British trawler HMS _'Miscou' _rescued the survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Pyatikhatki, west of Dnepropetrovsk was under Soviet attack as was Krivoy Rog from the Kremenchug bridgehead. North of Kiev, Soviet units were consolidating their bridgeheads. Manstein was juggling units and attempting to reinforce to allow his forces holding the bend in the Dniepr River time to retreat.

The foreign ministers of the "Big Three" Allied powers - Cordell Hull, Eden and Molotov - sat down together in the Kremlin to tell one another, in the words of an official spokesman;


> "_....frankly and freely what is on each others' minds"._


 The talks, which were expected to last for ten days, will conclude with a firm pledge that the US, Britain and the Soviet Union would not consider any separate peace negotiations with Germany. Postwar co-operation between the Big Powers to guarantee peace and security would also be discussed. An outline plan for the creation of an international organization, open to all peace-loving states, was drafted and was expected to be approved. In a separate meeting in London the US and Britain promised Stalin big increases in military aid in the next eight months: 2,700,000 tons will arrive via Soviet Pacific ports, 2,400,000 tons via the Persian Gulf and 1,000,000 tons by Arctic convoy.

Luftwaffe ace pilot Erich Hartmann was shot down and taken captive by Russian soldiers. However, he pretended to be wounded and when the opportunity arises he escaped.

SS General Odilo Globocnik, SS and police leader in the Lublin District of the Generalgouvernement, announces the end of Aktion Reinhard Operation REINHARD, the code name for the German plan to murder Polish Jews, and dissolution of the camps. Most SS personnel involved in Aktion Reinhard are transferred to the Adriatic coastal operation zone to fight the partisans and select and deport the Jews of that area.

*GERMANY*: The German War Office contracted the Mittelwerk to produce 12,000 V-2 rockets. Mittelwerk was the underground WWII rocket and aircraft factory operated by the government Mittelwerk GmbH company and which consisted of 2 main tunnels 1.6 km long. Mittelwerk GmbH also headed V-2 rocket development sites at Schlier (Project Zement) and Lehesten. General Emil Leeb, head of the Army Weapons Office, issued War Contract No. 0011-5565/43 to Mittelwerk GmbH for 12,000 A-4 missiles at 40,000 Reichsmarks each. Initially V-2 rockets were shipped to depots for storage prior to use, but faults from short-term aging required 500 partially-defective V-2s to be cannibalised, with parts returned to the Nordhausen plant. One such defect was that the bearing bushings of the servomechanisms swelled during storage due to moisture.

Major Gunther von Kornatzki persuaded certain powers to let him form an experimental air unit based on the Wehrmacht's Sturm units who got in close to enemy units and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He envisioned a unit designed to break up the heavily armed four-engined bombers of the Allies. After consulting with Reichsmarschall Goering and others about the idea (Goering was still angered by the 4 October Allied raid on Frankfurt when no fighters intercepted the bombers), General Galland issued the following;


> "_German fighters have been unable to obtain decisive successes in the defense against American four-engined formations. Even the introduction of new weaponry has not appreciably changed the situation. The main reason for this is the failure of the formation leaders to lead up whole formations for attack at the closest possible range. Goering has therefore ordered the establishment of a Sturmstaffel whose task will be to break up Allied formations by means of an all-out attack with more heavily armed fighters in close formation at the closest range. Such attacks that are undertaken are to be pressed home to the very heart of the Allied formation whatever happens and without regard to losses until the formation is annihilated."_


It was left up to Major von Kornatzki to form the new unit. General Galland's staff began to scour the fighter bases looking for volunteers and eventually ended up with 15 pilots, enough to make a staffel. They were sent to Berlin to meet with Major von Kornatzki, who explained the purpose of the unit, given the name 'Sturmstaffel 1'. The unit soon adopted the Fw 190 modified with additional armour. The pilots also initially wore specially-designed steel helmets but these were found to be impracticable.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The German units holding Dragoni, a village 28 miles (45.1 km) north of Naples, escaped just before the attack by the US 34th Infantry Division started. The offensive by the US Fifth Army (Clark) along the Volturno river bogged down due to bad weather and in the face of the skillful German defenses.

The Northwest African Air Force began an air offensive against railroad bridges in Italy in the hope that the Germans will have to rely on coastal vessels and motor transport. During a low-level raid, US XII Bomber Command B-24s bombed bridges at Porto Civitanova, south of Porto Sant' Elpidio, north of Pedaso, and north of Cupra Marittima; fighters, fighter-bombers, and light bombers of the US XII Air Support Command, Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force, and RAF Desert Air Force attacked the town of Boiano, gun positions and troop concentrations on the outskirts of town, and an ammunition dump and railroad tunnel nearby, Viterbo and Tarquinia landing fields, the towns of Cassino and Anzio, the railroad north of Pesaro and near Pineto, trains near Barisciano, troops near Mintumo, and vehicles at several points.

USAAF B-25s and RAF Beaufighters attacked German convoys north of Crete, sinking the transport _'Sinfra' _which, unbeknownst to the attackers, was transporting POWs. The ship was carrying 2,700 British and Italian prisoners; only 566 survive.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Third (London) Protocol, extending through 30 June 1944, is signed. It promises 2.7 million tons (2,5 metric tonnes) to USSR via the Pacific route and 2.4 million (2,2 million) by either the northern Soviet ports or the Persian Gulf. 

*NORTHERN FRONT*: The USN heavy cruiser USS _'Tuscaloosa' _(CA-37), accompanied by a US and three British destroyers, transported Norwegian troops and equipment to Spitsbergen Island to re-establish bases destroyed in the German raid of 8 September 1943. A second Allied force, with aircraft carrier USS _'Ranger' _(CV-4) included, provided cover for the operation.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ 359th Fighter Group and it's 369th Fighter Squadron arrives at East Wretham, England from the US with P-47's. The group will fly it's first mission on 13 Dec 43.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The exchange of thousands of sick and seriously wounded British and German PoWs began at the Swedish port of Gothenburg. Most of the British were captured in 1940 at Dunkirk; others were taken in last year's raid on Dieppe, including Canadians. Germans from Rommel's Afrika Korps were still in desert uniform. This was the first PoW exchange between Germany and Britain of the war; negotiations for an earlier exchange in 1941 were broken off by Germany, which this time asked for the exchange: 5,000 Germans and 5,400 British and Imperial forces were now going home.


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## Njaco (Oct 21, 2008)

*20 OCTOBER 1943*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-378' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft (VC 13) of the US escort carrier USS _'Core' _escorting convoy UGS 20. 48 dead, 1 survivor in captivity. 

_'U-532' _damaged SS _'British Purpose' _in Convoy BM-71.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russian attacks from Bukrin bridgehead were bloodily repulsed. Soviet forces met determined resistance from von Manstein’s Army Group south. The attacks were stopped cold with heavy losses.

Oblt. Anton 'Toni' Hafner of JG 51 shot down 5 Russian aircraft boosting his score to 106 victories.

*GERMANY*: 358 Lancasters attacked Leipzig, 16 aircraft lost. This was the first serious attack on this distant German city. Weather conditions were very difficult - Bomber Command records describe them as 'appalling' - and the bombing was very scattered. No report was available from Leipzig but it is unlikely that much damage was caused by the 271 aircraft which bombed in that area. _(Hugh Spencer)_

28 Mosquitoes went to Berlin, Cologne, Brauweiler and Emden. 12 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisias. 2 Mosquitoes lost. _(Hugh Spencer)_

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 116. The industrial area at Duren, Germany was the primary target. 97 of 170 B-17's hit the primary target bombing from 30,000-feet (48,000 m) because the cloud tops were at 29,500-feet (47,200 m). The 1st Bombardment Division used Oboe PFF for the first time but the equipment failed and 60 aircraft returned to base without bombing. 3BD bombed from 30,000 feet. Three gunners in a 385th BG B-17 died through failure of oxygen equipment. The totals were 4-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft claimed; 9 B-17's lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 10 damaged. Casualties were 4 KIA (including 3 gunners who died from oxygen system failure), 2 WIA and 85 MIA. The _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 26, Oblt. Mietusch claimed his 15th victory, a B-17 over Cambrai.

During the night, Ofw. Gerhard Herzog of 2./NJG 1 (9 kills) was shot down and killed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, Alife falls to the 34th Infantry Division and Piedimonte d'Alife to the 45th Infantry Division. While the 3d Infantry Division continues northward toward Mignano in the region west of the Volturno River, the 34th Infantry Division is to drive on Capriati al Volturno in the region east of the river. The 133d Infantry Regiment opens a drive on St. Angelo d'Alife.

In Italy, US XII Bomber Command B-17s, B-26s, B-25s and P-38s bombed the Rome-Casale landing ground, Marcigliana and Cerveteri Airfields, railroad bridges at Montalto di Castro, Grosseto, and 13 miles (21 km) SE of Orvieto, and the marshalling yard at Nish, Yugoslavia obstructing the Belgrade-Sofia line. The US XII Air Support Command, NATBF, and other aircraft of the NATAF devoted most of their efforts to bombing gun positions, trucks, and rail and road communications S of Vasto, at Mignano, N of Cassino, in Cassino and Chieti, at Castropignano, Carpinone, Arce, Tratella, and at various other points along highways and railroads. Fighter-bombers also hit shipping along Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, claiming 2 vessels sunk.

HQ 62d Fighter Wing transferred from Palermo, Sicily to Naples, Italy. The 527th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 86th Fighter-Bomber Group, transferred from Serretella Airfield to Pomigliano, Italy with A-36's.

*NORTH AFRICA*: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Cairo from Moscow, U.S.S.R., and discusses strategy for southeast Asia with Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander Southeast Asia Command.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Rye Hill barrage balloon, which was flying, was struck by lightning. Balloon and cable fell on a house in Summerhill Street knocking down a chimney stack, making a hole in the roof and damaging one or two bedrooms. A heavy shower of rain added to the damage.

London: A meeting of Allied representatives of 17 countries at war with the Axis, agreed today to set up a Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes. It's chairman will be Viscount Simon, the British lord chancellor and head of the judiciary in England and Wales. Assisted by a team of lawyers, he will sift evidence provided by Allied governments. The Soviet Union, although not represented at today's meeting, will be asked to co-operate with its inquiries. 

HQ 358th Fighter Group and it's 365th, 366th and 367th Fighter Squadrons arrived at Goxhill, England from the US.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 117: During the night of 20/21 October, five B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 876,960 leaflets over Roen and Paris at 2211-2217 hours. 42 of the 1st Bombardment Division's aircraft hit Woensdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands as a target of opportunity; and 70 B-24's flew a diversion. 

The bombers of I./KG 6 became the first operational Gruppe in the Pathfinder role, flying Ju 188Es.


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## Njaco (Oct 21, 2008)

*21 OCTOBER 1943*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN: *While serving as a Flak boat '_U-271_' was attacked by two Avengers from USS '_Core_' and one man from its crew died.

'_U-68_' sank ASW trawler HMS '_Orfasy_'.

Standing out of New York Harbor, the USN destroyer USS '_Murphy_' (DD-603) is struck on the portside between the bridge and forward stack by U.S. tanker SS '_Bulkoil_' 265 miles (491 kilometers) east-southeast of Ambrose Lightship, New York. The forward half of the ship sheared off and slowly sank, taking 38 officers and men with it. The after section is kept afloat and is towed into New York Navy Yard where, following a seven--month repair job and replacement of the entire bow, the veteran warship rejoins the fleet.

*EASTERN FRONT*: SS troops surrounded the Minsk ghetto for one last time. 2000 Jews were loaded into trucks and taken away to be shot. The buildings were blown up, just in case someone was hiding in them. The last inhabitants of the ghetto perished on this last day of the tragedy. Only the ruins would bare witness to the horrible and inhuman crimes committed against the tens of thousands of Jews of the Minsk Ghetto.

*GERMANY*: During the night of 21/22 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Mosquitos: five bomb Emden, three bomb the Bruderich steelworks at Düsseldorf and one each bomb Aachen and Dortmund. There are no loses.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: _'U-431' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the Mediterranean off the coast of Algiers by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 179/Z) 52 dead (all crew lost).

German planes attacked convoy MKS 28, strafing and torpedoing U.S. freighter _'Tivives' _about 15 miles off Cape Tenes; one of 48 merchant seamen and one of the 25-man Armed Guard perished in the ensuing abandonment as the ship sank swiftly. Free French-manned corvette HMS _'LaMalouine' _rescued the survivors, who also included the six-man staff of the convoy commodore and one passenger.

Colonel Arthur Thomas took command of the US XII Air Force Service Command.

In Italy, US XII Bomber Command B-17's hit a railroad viaduct at Terni and rail and road bridges in Albania. B-24's hit Orvieto railroad bridge; B-26's and B-25's bombed bridges at Montalto di Castro and NW of Acquapendente and the railroad at Orbetello; P-38's bombed a radar station at Pellegrino and the marshalling yard at Skoplje, Yugoslavia; RAF and US NATAF light and medium bombers concentrated on Cassino, hitting the town, a bivouac area nearby, and railroad to the S; vessels along Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia were also attacked; US XII Air Support Command fighters and fighter-bombers patroled the Naples area and attacked numerous roads, railroads, bridges, junctions, trucks, gun emplacements, and other targets in the battle area. 

A Ju 88A-4trop from 1(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie to the SE of Rhodes. Lt Christoff Hammann and three crew were MIA. A Me 410 from 2(F)./122 also failed to return.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Minesweeper HMCS '_Chedabucta_' (J 168) collides with the cable ship SS '_Lord Kelvin_' in the Gulf of St. Lawrence about 32 nautical miles (59 kilometres) west-southwest of Rimouski, Quebec. This collision is due to an officers' lack of skills and a moment's confusion on the part of the crew; one crewmen is lost. The U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender USCGC '_Buttonwood_' (WAGL-306) tows '_Chedabucto_' towards Ile du Bic, Quebec. She survives the collision. but after survey is declared to be a constructive total loss. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Admiral Pound is dead. He had resigned as British First Sea Lord on October 4. Admiral Sir John Cunningham succeeds Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in command of Royal Navy units in the Mediterranean.

A Halifax swung and crashed into the Pyrotechnics store on take off from Croft airfield, County Durham, at 20.24 hours. Another Halifax from Croft airfield, County Durham, crashed at 01.35 at Church House Farm, South Cowton in Yorkshire, killing the crew of five.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Bad weather caused 72 B-26s sent to bomb Evreux/Fauville Airfield in France to abort the mission.

On a transfer flight, Ofw. Max Schinzel of I./JG 5 lost orientation due to bad weather and after having circled Rindum a couple of times he belly landed his Bf 109G-6 at 17:45 hours. During the landing an 11 year old Danish boy was hit by a wing and ended up in a ditch with a broken leg and concussion. Ofw. Schinzel was also injured by the landing and they were both taken to the hospital in Ringkøbing for treatment where they were bedded in the same room.


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## Njaco (Oct 22, 2008)

*22 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: During the night, the _'Litiopa' _(Master Trygve Olsen) heard twice that depth charges were dropped by her sole escort, HMS _'Orfasy' _(T 204), but then a heavy explosion nearby shook the tanker. At 23.53 hours, the trawler had been hit by one torpedo from '_U-68'_, exploded and sank with all hands. At the same time, the U-boat had fired two torpedoes at the tanker but missed. She was missed again with a FAT at 00.40 hours on 22 October and at 02.11 hours by a T-3 torpedo, which apparently exploded only 50m behind the U-boat. At 04.27 hours, _'U-68' _began shelling the _'Litiopa' _for 20 minutes with all weapons. A coup de grâce at 04.48 hours malfunctioned as circle runner and the U-boat reopened fire at 04.59 hours. Another two coups de grâce were fired at 05.41 and 05.52 hours but both missed, so the shelling continued from 06.00 until 06.27 hours. In all 58 rounds from the deck gun were fired of which at least 50 had been hits and the U-boat left the burning and sinking tanker in the dawn. The crew had abandoned ship in four lifeboats, which were separated in the dark, but in the morning two of them returned to their ship, which was still floating, but badly damaged and on fire. Later ammunition started to explode and by noon the tanker was listing and eventually sank. The remaining two boats arrived at Robertsport that day, while the two others joined them the next day.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russians cut the railway which provided the Germans with their main escape route from their stronghold of Dnepropetrovsk in the Dnieper Bend. General Malinovsky's men were now advancing on Krivoi Rog and were threatening to encircle almost a million Germans in the sweep of the river. The Germans were well aware of the danger facing them. The Berlin correspondent of the Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau reported that the situation was "_extremely serious_" and that the Germans would be "_compelled to retreat to avoid further encirclement_." But while the Germans appreciated the threat of the Russian advance there seemed to be little that they could do about it except retreat and keep on retreating. They confidently expected to hold the Dnieper line. They scattered leaflets telling the Russian soldiers:


> "_Germany has clad the west bank of the Dnieper in concrete and shod it with iron. We have created an Eastern Rampart there, impregnable as is our Western Rampart on the Atlantic Coast. You are being sent to your deaths. Death awaits you at the Dnieper. Stop before it is too late."_


 But the Russians did not stop. Many of them died, but they crossed the Dnieper.

*GERMANY*: Continuing with their near nightly bombing of German cities, RAF Bomber command hits the city of Kessel in a particularly devastating raid. 569 bombers, all of them four engine heavy Lancasters or Halifax bombers. The main-force attack was covered by a feint attack by 36 aircraft on Frankfurt which began five minutes before the main raid. German air defence were not fooled and the RAF lost 43 aircraft, 7.6 per cent of the force. Despite initial errors in marking the center of town, the raid was remarkably concentrated and accurate. The pathfinders clearly marked the target area (Martinsplatz in central Kassel) so well that within five minutes the whole ancient town was illuminated. Within the next 80 minutes the waves of bombers dropped at least 1,800 tons of high explosives and incendiaries. The combination of high explosives and incendiary bombs created a firestorm smaller but reminiscent of the one in Hamburg in July. Each building in the city center was hit by at least two liquid white phosphorus incendiary bombs and several of the 460,000 magnesium fire-sticks rained on the city. The firestorm was well underway before police could provide communications for the fire brigades, but even then destruction of the city's water pipes made it impossible to extinguish the inferno. Over 11,000 blocks of housing were destroyed or heavily damaged displacing over 100,000 people. 5,600 people were killed and another 2,800 were missing and presumed dead. Kassel, which had a pre-raid population of 236,000 (1939), burned for seven days. The three Henschel aircraft plants were seriously damaged and this set back the production of V-1 bombs.

German forces began using a new radar device for night fighters called SN-2.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army crossed the Trigno River. In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 133d Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division takes a road junction south of St. Angelo d'Alife, from which the German rear guards have withdrawn, and prepares to attack the town. In preparation for a general advance on Rome (the line Pasture-Evasion-Rome), the 78th Division of British Eighth Army’s V Corps crosses a battalion over the Trigno River during the night.

USAAF bombers used Italian airfields for the first time to launch attacks on targets on Austria. US XII Bomber Command B-26s bombed railroad bridges N and SE of Omvieto; B-25s hit a railroad bridge S of Grosseto and Eleusis Airfield,Greece; The US XII Air Support Command, along with other elements of the NATAF, hit town areas, highways, vehicles, gun positions, railroad communications, strongpoints, and targets of opportunity at or near San Salvo Teano, Venafro, Cantalupo el Sannio, Isernia, Cassino, Montenero, and Boiano. Aquino Airfield was also bombed.

The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) approved the plan, submitted by General Henry H "Hap" Arnold and the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), to create a new Air Force (the Fifteenth) in Italy from part of the Twelfth Air Force to be used in strategic bombing against Germany as well as in support of ground operations.

Whilst engaged in diversionary tactics associated with the landing of stores at Leros, Greek 'Hunt' "_Adrias_" was badly damaged off Kos on mines laid by the German "_Drache_", and as sister ship destroyer HMS _'Hurworth' _goes to her aid, was also mined East of Kalymnos. There were 80 survivors who came ashore in Turkey and were soon repatriated.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Labrador, Canada, the German submarine _'U-537' _arrived at Martin Bay, tasked with setting up an automatic weather station. The weather station consisted of various measuring instruments, a 150-watt transmitter and ten canisters containing batteries weighing 220 pounds (99.79 kg). For the next day, the crew of the submarine manhandled the equipment ashore via rubber boats and the station was set up 400 yards (366 meters) inland on a 170-foot (52 meter) hill. The submarine departed by 1740 hours local the next day and the weather station began operating normally. However, a few days later, the frequency used by the weather station was apparently jammed although nobody has claimed credit for it and there is no evidence that the Allies knew about the station.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: General Laycock became the British Chief of Combined Operations.

It is on this night that an RAF ground radio station in England, probably the one at Kingsdown in Kent, started its broadcasts with the intention of interrupting and confusing the German controllers' orders to their night fighters. The Bomber Command Official History describes how, at one stage, the German controller broke into vigorous swearing, whereupon the RAF voice remarked;


> "The Englishman is now swearing."


To this, the German retorted,


> "It is not the Englishman who is swearing, it is me."



*WESTERN FRONT*: About 60 B-26s bombed Evreux/Fauville Airfield in France; 140+ others aborted missions against other airfields because of bad weather.

During the night, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 aircraft to lay mines: eight lay mines in the Frisian Islands and seven drop off Texel Island.


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## Njaco (Oct 26, 2008)

*23 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:*_ 'U-196' _under Korvkpt Kentrat completed- from 13 March, 1943 to 23 Oct, 1943 - the longest patrol a submarine in WWII ever did (225 days at sea).

_'U-274' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Iceland by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS _'Duncan' _and _'Vedette'_, and by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 224/Z). 48 dead (all crew lost).

HMS The Royal Navy cruiser _'Charybdis' _and destroyer _'Limborne' _were sunk by German MTBs T23 and T27 of the German 4th Torpedo Flotilla, in the English Channel off the coast of France. 462 sailors were lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: After 10 days of heavy street fighting, Melitopol falls to the Russian Army. They also reach a point 20 miles from Krivoy Roy and are making good progress. Dnepropetrovsk also fell as tank spearheads reached Krivoi Rog.

Jewish women from Warsaw at Auschwitz-Birkenau attacked the SS on the threshold of the gas chamber, killing one and injuring several others. The rebellion started in the undressing room, where a woman seized the revolver of SS Sergeant-Major Josef Schillinger, one of the camp's most sadistic and feared guards, and shot him dead. The other women mauled their oppressors, scalping one and tearing the nose off another. They escaped the gas chamber. But their triumph was brief. Commandant Rudolf Hoess had the rioters removed from the room one by one, and shot.

_'U-23' _fired one torpedo at SS _'Tanais' _lying at anchor off Poti. The explosion blew debris into the air and broke the ship in two. The stern sank immediately and the bow sank a few minutes later.

*GERMANY*: A growing number of technical aids have been developed to help in the battle against the German night fighters. Last night for the first time "Corona" was used: confusing orders, readings from newspapers, even parts of Hitler's speeches were broadcast from England on the fighters' frequency to interfere with the German voice-control.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 56th Division captured Sparanise. In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, opens an assault on St. Angelo d'Alife but is unable to take it.

In Italy, US XII Bomber Command B-26s bombed railroad and road bridges at Marsicano and Montalto di Castro; P-38's hit the airfield at Tirana; B-25's hit a bridge in Albania; the US XII Air Support Command, RAF Desert Air Force (DAF), and NATBF attacked troop concentrations in the Spinete area, and town areas, vehicles, trains, railroads, highways, bridges, and gun positions at or near Gaeta, Pescara, Vasto, Isolella, Sulmona, Isernia, Vairano, and Ancona. During the night, 50 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack a railroad bridge at Civitanova with the loss of one aircraft.

Minesweeper HMS _'Cromarty' _was sunk by a mine, in the Straits of Bonifacio.

German planes raid shipping off Naples; U.S. freighter SS '_James Iredell'_ is hit by three bombs that set alight the ship's gasoline cargo. Although the ship is abandoned and the fire burns for 64 hours until it is ultimately put out, there are no casualties among the 44-man merchant crew, the 28-man Armed Guard or the 28 passengers.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The prototype Vickers Windsor made its first flight at Farnborough, Hampshire. It was originally designed to fulfill spec B.5/41 for high-altitude heavy bomber with a pressure cabin and a speed of 345mph at 31,000 feet while carrying 12,000-lb of bombs. Interestingly this aircraft also had remote control 20mm Hispano cannon installed to fire rearwards from the outer engine nacelles.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill issues a directive outlining the mission of Admiral Louis Mountbatten as Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *Operation Pointblank,* the Anglo-US strategic bombing offensive against Germany, was growing in intensity and technical complexity. RAF Bomber Command now had over 700 operational heavy bombers, compared with just under 300 at the end of 1942, and was pounding German cities by night. Yesterday US chiefs of staff agreed to establish a new bombing force in Italy, the Fifteenth Air Force, which will strike at targets which the Eighth cannot reach from England. A growing number of technical aids have been developed to help in the battle against the German night fighters. Last night for the first time "Corona" was used: confusing orders, readings from newspapers, even parts of Hitler's speeches were broadcast from England on the fighters' frequency to interfere with the German voice-control.


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## Njaco (Oct 26, 2008)

*24 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *_'U-566' _(Type VIIC) was scuttled in the North Atlantic west of Leixoes, after being damaged by 6 depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 179/A). 49 survivors.

The unescorted SS _'Siranger' _(Master Amund Utne) was hit on the starboard side at #1 hatch by a Gnat from _'U-155' _and sank by the bow after 30 minutes. The ship had been spotted at 03.50 hours and missed by two torpedoes at 09.10 hours. The 41 crew members and four passengers abandoned ship in three lifeboats, one of which had to row back to rescue an American passenger who had jumped overboard. The U-boat then surfaced and asked two men in one of the boats to come aboard. An engineer was later allowed to return to the boat, but the wounded third mate Otto Friis Hansen was kept as prisoner of war. A tendon in his wounded forearm was shortly thereafter operated by Stabsarzt Dr. Franzen on board of the U-boat. He was landed at Lorient on 1 Jan, 1944 and sent to the POW camp Milag Nord near Bremen.

The commander of _'U-505'_, Kptlt. Peter Zschech, committed suicide while under a heavy depth charge attack. This was the only such case in the war. The IWO, Meyer, saved the boat and brought it back to port.

German E-boats attacked a convoy off Norfolk sinking one trawler for the cost of three of their craft.

*GERMANY*: USAAF XII Bomber Command B-24 Liberators attack two targets: 23 bomb aviation industry targets at Wiener-Neustadt and 12 hit the marshalling yard at Ebenfurth. B-24s of the 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy) hit Wiener-Neustadt, Austria; the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) failed to complete the mission because of clouds.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Sant Angelo was liberated by the US 34th Division. In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 133d Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division takes St. Angelo and commanding ground beyond without opposition.

Whilst carrying 200 soldiers to reinforce the garrison on Leros, destroyer HMS _'Eclipse' _was mined East of Kalymnos. There were 140+ casualties.

In Italy, medium bombers hit Tirana Airfield, a railroad bridge N of Orvieto, and a viaduct at Terni; the US XII Air Support Command, NATBF, and RAF DAF attacked communications and shipping targets, hitting vessels, vehicles, trains, roads, bridges, and the town areas in and around Formia, Sora, Chieti, Minturno, Sessa Aurunca, Popoli, Terracina, between Ancona-Pedaso, Frosolone (just before it was taken by allied ground forces), and along the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia. During the night, 70 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the airfield at Guidonia.

'_U-453_' laid a field of 23 mines off Brindisi (Italy); the minefield did not account for any sinkings.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 200 B-26s bombed airfields at Montdidier, Beauvais/Nivillers, and Saint-Andre-de-L'Eure, France. After attacking the B-26s, Hptm. Kurt Ebersberger, _Staffelkapitaen _of 4./JG 26 (30 kills) was bounced by RAF Spitfires and forced to bail out of his damaged airplane. He was too low for the parachute to work and he fell to his death. Oblt. Wolfgang Neu took his place as _Staffelkapitaen_.

During the night, RAF Bomber Command Stirlings and Wellingtons lay mines in two areas: six drop mines in the Frisian Islands and five lay mines off Texel Island without loss.


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## Njaco (Oct 26, 2008)

*25 OCTOBER 1943*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN:* HMCS _'Skeena'_, a River-class destroyer, A/LCdr. Patrick 'Pat' Francis Xavier Russell, RCN, CO, was wrecked at Videy Island, near Reykjavik, Iceland. _'Skeena' _was blown ashore in a 100-knot gale while at anchor. Fifteen of the 21 crewmembers lost (all ratings) were drowned in an attempt to reach the shore using Carley Floats after the ship struck the rocks offshore. The remainder of the crew was evacuated later in a heroic effort by RNVR Patrol Service seamen using a "breeches buoy" under the direction of an Icelander, Einar Sigurdsson. As the storm increased in intensity, the shore authority signaled to the commander of the 11th Escort Group, Cdr. James D. "Chummy" Prentice in HMCS '_Qu’appelle_';


> "_Enter harbor, if you so desire." _


The Navigating Officer of _'Skeena'_, Lt. Peter G. Chance, was dismayed at a subsequent order by Commander, Cdr. Prentice, for the four ships of the group to go to anchor in the bay behind Videy Island. Lt. Chance went so far as to ask to be relieved of his duties as Navigator and strongly expressed his opinion that it was safer to remain at sea than to go to anchor, under the prevailing conditions. The CO agreed with his navigator but followed his orders and directed Lt. Chance to anchor the ship "_in the best location_," in the centre of the basin, about 800 yards from the shore in all direction. The ship was anchored in 12 fathoms of water with six shackles of cable paid out to the starboard anchor, the port anchor let go "under foot," and with both boilers maintained at Immediate Notice for steam. The two ‘Canadian’ River-class destroyers, _'Skeena' _and _'Saguenay'_, were fitted with a single centreline capstan whereas the British versions of the type were fitted with two capstans, making it impossible to work both anchors at once. Only one light was occasionally visible on shore for fixing but the intensity of the storm obscured it for long periods. Ground clutter rendered the radar useless for fixing. Approximately one hour after setting the anchor watch, the ship began to drag her anchors and, although "half ahead" and "full ahead" was ordered on both engines, the ship struck the shore forcefully. The ship broached port side to, and began listing to starboard into the oncoming waves, which broke over the ship up to the height of the bridge. Both of the ship's boats were smashed in attempts to lower them. Soon afterwards, the ship’s back was broken, rupturing fuel tanks and hull plating. This damage released a large amount of fuel oil, which soon mixed with the snow and made decks and the rocks on the shore extremely slippery. The loss of life occurred when the order "Standby to Abandon Ship" was taken to mean "Abandon Ship." Although some managed to get to shore, the majority of the crew remained onboard until the morning, when the storm abated, making it possible to get ashore safely. The Commanding Officer and the Officer of the Watch, Lt. William M. Kidd, the First Lieutenant, were both tried by Courts Martial and were found guilty of "hazarding" and "stranding" the ship. _'Skeena' _was broken up for scrap after the war but the barge that contained most of her remains sank en route to the breaker’s yard.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Forces under Malinovsky attacked across the Dniepr at Dneporoetrovsk and Dnierodzerzhinsk. Holding a defensive position on the Dniepr River has been a major problem for the Germans.

_'U-23' _captured three people from a fishing boat and then sank the boat with hand grenades.

Hptm. Hans-Ulrich Rudel of 1./StG 2 was awarded the Swords to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied commanders decided that the initiative must be retained in Italy in order to pin down German forces there and prevent them from massing for a counteroffensive before the spring 1944. The US Fifth Army, with positions north of the Volturno River firmly established, was ready for a drive against German delaying positions in the mountains from Mt. Massico on the west coast to the Matese mountains on the right boundary. In the VI Corps area, the 135th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division moved forward to take up pursuit toward Ailano.

USAAF XII Bomber Command P-39 Airacobras strafed and bombed the landing ground at Podgorica; the US XII Air Support Command, Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force (NATBF) and RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) concentrated on blocking roads and destroying bridges; town areas, vehicles, radio stations, trains, and vessels were also attacked; targets attacked were in or near Frosinone, Formia, Gaeta, Cetraro, along the Sangro River, Kuna, west of Lagosta Island and south of Rome; Tarquinia Airfield was also bombed.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: JG 5 lost several pilots. Fw. Fritz Wawrzin of 10./JG 5 was killed in his Bf 109G-1 in a crash of unknown reasons as was Uffz. Hans-Georg Pötter of 4./JG 5. Uffz. Walter Gocht of 11./JG 5 was killed in his Fw 190A-4, also in an unknown crash.

_'U-956' _shelled targets on the shore of Spitsbergen with her gun. Land-based artillery returned the fire but did not score a hit on the U-boat.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The anti-Nazi Clandestine Radio, Soldatsender Calais begins transmitting from Crowborough, Sussex. The station carries a program of news bulletins and entertainment for the German forces and adopts the convention of speaking as a German soldiers` station situated somewhere in France. The program is transmitted on three shortwave frequencies and on the medium wave band. The medium wave broadcast is from 2000 to 0500 hours while the shortwave broadcast began at 1830 and ended at 0800 hours. A staff of 50 radio technicians operate the medium wave transmitter as well as two 100 kilowatt shortwave transmitters for U boat crew and other German seafarers.

*WESTERN FRONT*: At Burg-Magdeburg, I./KG 50 was re-designated II./KG 40 and moved to Bordeaux-Merignac with its compliment of He 177As with Hs 293 misslies working in the anti-shipping role.

During the night, 19 RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines in the Kattegat without loss.


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## Njaco (Oct 28, 2008)

*26 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* At 1205 hours an RCAF 10 Sqdn Canso patrol a/c attacked '_U-91_' Kptlt. Heinz Hungershausen, CO, inflicting no damage.

'_U-420_', OLtzS. Hans-Jürgen Reese, CO, went missing in the North Atlantic. All of her 49 crewmembers were lost. The exact cause of her loss remains a mystery.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 5(F)./122 was transferred from Luga-Gostkino to Pskov-South on or about this date.

*GERMANY*: At Oberpfaffenhofen, one of the Luftwaffe's most bizarre shaped aircraft, the Dornier Do 335 'Pfeil', flew for the first time piloted by Flugkapitaen Hans Dieterle. The design had 2 engines sharing the same thrustline - one pulling and one pushing. It was also the first aircraft to feature an ejection seat.

The RAF launched a heavy night raid against Stuttgart, while the US 8th Air Force, in its greatest effort to date, delivered a devastating daylight attack on Bremen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After a week of living on locust beans and jam, British survivors of the ill-fated Kos invasion climbed aboard a caique and made their way to the Turkish coast. They had fought hard, but constant attacks by Stukas, German artillery and 4,000 German infantrymen forced men of the 1st Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry, to disperse. The SS have shot 90 Italian officers for collaboration.

In Greece, B-25s and P-38s of the US XII Bomber Command attacked the airfields of Salonika/Sedhes and Megalo Mikra. In Italy, US XII Air Support Command and RAF DAF fighters and fighter-bombers attacked gun emplacements and road junctions in the battle area along the E coast and in the center of Italy, also destroying many vehicles and parked aircraft in the Ancona area, where railroad facilities were also hit; a schooner at Porto Civitanova was left smoking; medium bombers of the NATBF bombed Terracina and an ammunition dump.


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## Njaco (Oct 28, 2008)

*27 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: '_U-218_' laid 18 mines off the Port of Spain, but no sinkings resulted from this field.

'_U-354_' set a weather reporting team ashore on Hope Island.

*EASTERN FRONT*: South of Nikopol on the Nogaysk Steppe, the Germans mounted a series of counterattacks to save their access to the Crimea. Field Marshal von Kluge was invalided and removed from command of Army Group Center after he was severely injured in a car crash.

*GERMANY*: In Austria, 150+ B-17s and B-24s of the US Twelfth Air Force bombed Wiener-Neustadt and railroad tracks and installations and bridges at Friedberg and Ebenfurth.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army captured Montefalcone. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 78th Division makes a futile attempt to expand the bridgehead across the Trigno River. Their failure is largely due to heavy rainfall. The 78th Division expanded its bridgehead over the Trigno River during the night. German defenses here were still holding. In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division is ordered to attack on 28 October since elements of the 135th Infantry Regiment are being held up by German rear guards on a hill south of Ailano. 

Major Roy Farran led a detachment of 2 SAS which was dropped north of the River Tronto behind the German lines. Over the next five days his small force blows up the railway line, cut telephone communications and destroyed enemy transport.

Weather severely curtailed NATBF missions and US XII Air Support Command operations in support of ground forces. Fighter-bombers attacked Gaeta, Italy and bombed small vessels on the Dalmatian coast at Opuzen, Yugoslavia.

HQ 57th Fighter Group and it's 65th and 66th Fighter Squadrons transferred from Foggia to Amendola, Italy with P-40s. The 315th and 316th Fighter Squadrons, 324th Fighter Group, transferred from Menzel Heurr, Tunisia to Cercola, Italy with P-40s.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) is authorized by the US War Department. (War Department Circular 269-1) for issue to individuals recommended by a regimental commander or higher authority who had performed in infantry units in combat. The same circular authorized the establishment of the Expert Infantry Badge. If 65 percent or more of a unit's personnel had the CIB, the unit could be awarded a Combat Infantry Streamer for its guidon. Award of the CIB was made retroactive to service on or after Dec. 7,1941.

First women Marines report for duty on West Coast, Camp Pendleton.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Finnish submarine Iku-Turso (kapteeniluutnantti Eero Pakkala) torpedoes and sinks the Soviet submarine Shtsh 320 in Gulf of Finland.

German submarine '_U-354_' sets a weather reporting team ashore on Norwegian Hopen Island located about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) southeast of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night, 21 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons drop leaflets over the country.


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## Njaco (Oct 29, 2008)

*28 OCTOBER 1943*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN: *_'U-220' _(Type XB) was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from two Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier USS _'Block Island'_. 54 dead. _'U-256' _was attacked at the same time, but escaped unharmed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, the 46th and 7th Armoured Divisions begin an attack on Mt. Massico and Mt. St. Croce. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division finds that the Germans have abandoned the hill south of Ailano. In the British Eighth Army area, heavy rainfall forces General Bernard Montgomery commander of the Eighth Army, to postpone a planned attack by XIII Corps along the axis Vinchiaturo-Isernia. V Corps continues unsuccessful efforts to expand the Trigno bridgehead in the coastal sector.

A US POV-1 aircraft from VB-127, searching for U-boats out of Agadir, French Morrocco, was attacked by a Spanish HS-132 fighter. The US aircraft fight back and managed to drive the Spanish aircraft to make a forced landing. 

An Me 410A-1 from 2(F)./122 was accidently damaged by German Flak, wounding both crewmen.

Weather prevented most US Twelfth Air Force operations planned for the day. No missions were flown by the US XII Bomber Command. In Italy, US XII Air Support Command A-36s hit several highways and bridges in advance of the battleline and attacked gun positions in the Vairano area and transportation targets in the Rome area.

The 346th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, transferred from Rerhaia, Algeria to Sardinia with P-39s.

*WESTERN FRONT*: An RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) aircraft brought back a photograph of a German V1 "flying bomb" launch site at Abbeville, in northern France. Although the British had reasonable knowledge of the V2 rocket, it was only in the last two months that they became aware that the Germans have been working on the V1. This photographic sortie was mounted as a result of a report by a local French agent and confirmed that the Germans were constructing launch sites in northern France for a V1 offensive against England.


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## Njaco (Oct 29, 2008)

*29 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: *While tracking fast Convoy ON 208 (U.K. to North America), German submarine '_U-282_' (Type VIIC) is sunk about 601 nautical miles (1 113 kilometers) southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from British destroyers HMS '_Vidette_' (D 48) and HMS '_Duncan_' (D 99) and the British corvette HMS '_Sunflower_' (K 41). All 48 crewmen on the sub are lost.

'_U-220_' (Type XB) is sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from two Avenger aircraft of escort carrier USS '_Block Island_'. 54 dead.
_
'U-415' _was attacked by a Wellington aircraft in the North Atlantic and suffered slight damage.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army attacks against the German 4.Armee between Orsha and Vitebsk intensified. The hard pressed Germans contained the Soviet advances in heavy fighting. Colonel General Gotthard Heinrici, Commander of the 4.Armee, organizes German defenses between Orsha and Vitebsk, while under this new Soviet attack. This is the beginning of his rise as one of the best defensive tacticians in the German Army.

Uffz. Otto Kittel of 2./JG 54 was awarded the Ritterkreuz for achieving 123 victories. Oblt. Erich Hartmann, Staffelkapitaen of 9./JG 52 finally was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 121 victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Cantalupo was captured by units of XIII Corps British 8th Army. In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, 34th Infantry Division continues to pursue the Germans northward, the 135th Infantry Regiment taking Pratella and Prata. Elements of 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Infantry Division, protecting the right flank of the VI Corps, reach Gallo. The3d Infantry Division continues north on the left flank of corps in region west of the Volturno River. In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps begins an attack toward Isernia, the 5th Division leading off in a downpour of rain during the night.

In Italy, 100+ US XII Bomber Command B-17s, escorted by P-38s, bombed the Genoa marshalling yard and also hit the Sampierdarena marshalling yard, San Giorgio instrument factory, and ordnance, electric, and fitting plants and bridges at Genoa-Ansaldo; the US XII Air Support Command, NATBF, and RAF DAF were forced by bad weather to abandon several missions in support of ground forces. Troops and gun positions were attacked on 2 occasions and several bridges were hit; Giulianova harbor and shipping were successfully attacked.


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## Njaco (Oct 31, 2008)

*30 OCTOBER 1943*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-415' _shot down RAF Wellington aircraft (Sqn 612/C). No survivors from aircraft, the boat had to abort its patrol due to damages sustained.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet units reached Genichesk. This cuts one of the German exits from the Crimea.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Mondragone fell to units of the US 5th Army. This marked a penetration of the Barbara Line. The hilly terrain and tenacious defence slowed the other units of the Army inland.

In Italy, US XII Bomber Command B-24s bombed the Genoa marshalling yard and nearby Sampierdarena and Genoa-Ansaldo steel works; B-17s bombed Savona and Varazze, Porto Maurizio, and the Imperia marshalling yard; weather reduced the efforts of NATAF elements; NATBF B-25s bombed Frosinone; fighter-bombers, mainly of the US XII Air Support Command, hit bridges, junctions, shipping, marshalling yard, gun positions, and vehicles at several locations, including Giulianova, Ancona, Ortona, Sessa Aurunca, Mignano, and Cassino.

The British cruiser _'Aurora' _met HM Destroyers _'Petard'_, _'Belvior' _and _'Beaufort' _during their passage with personnel and vehicles for military units at Leros. During passage to Turkish waters for transfer of troops and despite availability of air cover, they came under heavy and sustained attacks by Ju 87 and Ju 88 aircraft, until _'Aurora' _was hit by a 500 Kg bomb abaft the after funnel. Extensive damage to after structure including armament with fires caused by detonation of ammunition. 47 personnel killed and 30 wounded.

Two Ju 88A-4s of Einsatzkampf Gruppe Ju 88/Gen.d.Fl.Ausb were shot down by Beaufighters from RAF No. 227 Sqdrn west of Kastellorizon Island off the southeast coast of Turkey. 8 crewmen went missing. Three other Ju 88s were shot down by Beaufighters near the convoy 'Nettle'.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The Moscow Conference ended. Groundwork was laid for conference of President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin at Teheran, Iran. Although a tripartite conference (American-British-Soviet), the Chinese representatives have participated in some phases. Conferees agree to demand “unconditional surrender” of Germany and establish a world organization for peace (the U.N.). Discussions lead to establishment later in London of European Advisory Commission to study and make recommendations on problems relating to termination of the war in Europe. Other agreements included the decision that China should join the alliance as the fourth major power.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Five USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Maupertus Airfield, 6.9 miles (11 kilometers) east of Cherbourg.


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## Njaco (Oct 31, 2008)

*31 OCTOBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-584' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic, by a Fido homing torpedo from aircraft (VC-9) of the US escort carrier USS _'Card'_. (Previously, in June 1942, _'U-584' _had landed a saboteur team of 4 men on the shores just south of Jacksonville, Florida; one of two such teams that landed within a week of each other on the US east coast. The boat then returned safely to Brest on 22 July.) Other VC 9 aircraft attacked _'U-91' _at the same rendezvous point, but she escaped unharmed.

_'U-732' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the mid-Atlantic near Tangier by depth charges from the British anti-submarine trawler HMS _'Imperialist' _and the destroyer _'Douglas'_. 31 dead, 18 survivors.

_'U-306' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic northeast of the Azores by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS _'Whitehall' _and the corvette _'Geranium'_. 51 dead (all crew lost). The Destroyer _'Borie' _(DD-215) damaged German submarine _'U-256' _north of the Azores.

_'U-262' _fired two T-3 and two FAT torpedoes at the combined convoy MKS-28/SL-138 (combined since 24 Oct) and heard four detonations. The U-boat also fired one Gnat at a destroyer, a detonation was heard after 6 minutes 30 seconds and sinking noises. Franke claimed one steamer and one destroyer sunk and another steamer damaged. In fact, only the _'Hallfried' _in station #24 of convoy SL-138 was hit by two torpedoes on the port side. The first struck forward of the bridge and the second sank the vessel immediately. Only three able seamen survived and were picked up by the British destroyer HMS _'Wrestler'_.

The unescorted _'New Columbia' _(Master Frederick Bradley Kent) was hit in the foreship by one FAT torpedo from _'U-68' _southwest of Bingerville, Ivory Coast. She sank by the bow after being hit in the engine room by a second FAT torpedo at 21.44 hours. The master, 54 crew members, ten gunners and 19 Kroomen were picked up by the British merchant _'Conakrian' _and landed at Lagos. Lauzemis thought after he had questioned the crew that he had sunk the _'Troilus'_.

U.S. airship K 94, en route from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, catches fire and crashes 35 miles north of Cape Borinquen, Puerto Rico.

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Tolbukhin, the commander of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, captured Chaplinka, 15 miles north of Perekop, which guarded the north-western entrance to the Crimea. With the main road cut and the railway under fire, this meant that the Germans in the Crimea were virtually cut off by land from the rest of their forces in Russia. It was estimated that there were about 150,000 German and Romanian troops occupying the Crimea, plus the bulk of the Seventeenth Army which had been withdrawn from Taman across the Keren Straits. They were all now in danger of being left behind as the Russians pushed forward along the Black Sea towards Kherson. The Germans enjoyed one great advantage, however, their navy ruled the Black Sea, with the Russians too fearful of Stuka attacks to risk their ships. While this remained the case Hitler was unlikely to sanction an early evacuation on the grounds that the divisions still in the Crimea will tie down major Russian forces to guard against an attack in their rear. This reasoning did not please Field Marshal von Kleist, who would rather get his men, guns and tanks to safety.

_'U-24' _fired one torpedo and observed a hit on a patrol or minesweeping boat after a running time of 28 seconds. SKA-088 was lost 60 cables south of Gagra.

*GERMANY*: During the night, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 Mosquitos to bomb four cities: six hit Emden, four each bomb Cologne and Oberhausen and three attack Dusseldorf. One aircraft is lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Teano was captured as the British X Corps advanced towards Monte Santa Croce. The Germans have lost their Italian allies; but they have the rain on their side, a steady remorseless deluge that turned the small fordable rivers of summer into fierce-flowing torrents and made every mountain track a treacherous quagmire. The infantry have the worst of it. Supplies were plentiful in the rear echelons, but for the men in the frontline of this campaign, life became a matter of finding shelter in a slit trench or gully and eating "nourishing" K-rations or bully beef cold from the tin. Hot meals were no more than a memory for thousands. And the Germans were fighting a skilled defensive battle with the aid of their new ally. Bridges were demolished, culverts were mined and booby traps were everywhere. Villages were flattened to deny shelter to the Allies. The advance continued, however, but at a desperately slow speed. Earlier this month, the US Fifth Army managed to cross the Volturno river under an artillery barrage and smoke screen. By 14 October, a four-mile-deep bridgehead had been established. In the east, General Montgomery paused to regroup the Eighth Army; as he did so, four German divisions moved up to oppose him.

The Italian 1st Motorized Group became the first large Italian formation to fight with the Allies. They were assigned to the 5th Army.

In Italy, B-26s hit Anzio; B-25s attacked docks and shipping at Civitavecchia; P-38s strafed and bombed Tirana airfield; weather canceled all NATAF attacks except for 11 P-40s which bombed and strafed a tanker off Split, Yugoslavia, leaving it burning. US XII Air Support Command fighters flew an uneventful naval escort.

*NORTH AFRICA:* HQ US 1st Fighter Group and it's 71st Fighter Squadron transferred from Mateur to Djedeida, Tunisia with P-38s.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: This morning saw the return of a blockade runner from Sweden, a 1,200 mile run. A convoy consisting of the five warships turned fast freighters, _'Hopewell' _(ex 'MGB 504'), _'Nonsuch' _(ex 'MGB 505'), _'Gay Viking' _(ex 'MGB 506'), _'Gay Corsair' _(ex 'MGB 507') and _'Master Steadfast' _(ex 'MGB 508'), sailed from the Humber a few days ago. The _'Gay Viking' _developed engine trouble and was left behind, the others pressed on, but repeated sightings of enemy aircraft led Binney to believe the operaton had been compromised and he ordered the ships to return to the Humber. In the meantime the _'Gay Viking' _unaware the her consorts had turned for home, was underway and making for the Skagerrak, by early morning her commander, Captain Whitfield brought her into Lysekil. _'Gay Viking' _put to sea on the return leg on the evening of the 29th and reached home this morning.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the Antheor viaduct in France.


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## Njaco (Nov 2, 2008)

*1 NOVEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: During a storm, the surfaced German submarine '_U-405_' (Type VIIC) is sunk about 640 nautical miles (1 184 kilometers) north-northwest of Lagens Field, Azores Islands, by ramming, small arms fire and depth charges from the USN destroyer USS '_Borie_' (DD-215); all 49 crewmen in the sub are lost. USS '_Borie_' is part of the hunter-killer group built around the escort aircraft carrier USS '_Card_' (CVE-11). Twenty seven crewmen on the destroyer are lost and the ship is too badly damaged by the collision to be towed to port, so the destroyer USS '_Barry_' (DD-248) fires three torpedoes which miss. A TBF-1 Avenger of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in USS '_Card_' drops four depth charges and '_Borie_' sinks at 0954 hours on 2 November.

SS _'Tioga' _(715t) was sunk by a U Boat, SE of the Farne Islands.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet units captured Perekop during their advance to Armiansk isolating the Crimea. Part of the Soviet 56th Army was landed in the Crimea near Enikale. Soviet forces captured Chaplinka, sealing off the Crimean peninsula from land communications, trapping the German 17th Army. The German's only line of communications was across the Black Sea to Romania. Red Navy forces landed on the Kerch peninsula.

The Moscow Declaration was published. The governments of USSR, UK, and USA declared they regarded Germany's annexation of Austria null and void.

A U.S. Military Mission to the Soviet Union is organized under Major General John R. Deane to establish American airfields in the USSR for shuttle bombing of Axis territory.

*GERMANY*: 589 RAF aircraft - 344 Lancasters, 233 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos were ordered to Düsseldorf. 18 aircraft - 11 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes - were lost, 3.1 per cent of the force. The main weight of the raid fell in the centre and south of the city with extensive damage both to housing and to industrial premises. 38 Lancaster IIs - Nos 3 and 5 Groups - made the first large-scale test of the G-H blind-bombing device and attempted to bomb the Mannesmann tubular-steel works on the northern outskirts of Düsseldorf while the main raid was taking place. 5 had to return early and 2 more were lost; the equipment in 16 other aircraft failed to function leaving only 15 aircraft to bomb the factory on G-H. The device later became a most useful blind-bombing device when it was produced in sufficient numbers for a major part of Bomber Command to be fitted with it. 52 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid on Cologne without loss. Other operations were 13 Oboe Mosquitos to a Krupps foundry at Rheinhausen and 2 Mosquitos to Dortmund, 23 aircraft of No 3 Group minelaying in the Frisians, 27 OTU sorties. 1 OTU Whitley lost.

H2S was used for the first time to assist the minelaying force and is an indication that a start had been made in equipping Main Force squadrons with H2S.

A further Victoria Cross was awarded for an action during the Düsseldorf raid. The Lancaster of Flight Lieutenant William Reid, No 61 Squadron, was twice attacked by night fighters before the target was reached. The aircraft suffered extensive damage, which put most of its guns out of action; the navigator was killed and the wireless operator fatally injured. Flight Lieutenant Reid was wounded in both attacks and his flight engineer was also hurt but Reid pressed on for the remaining 200 miles to the target and his bomb aimer, Sergeant LG Rolton, obtained an 'aiming point photograph'. The return flight was full of problems. The cockpit windscreen was shattered and the oxygen supply failed. The pilot lapsed into semi-consciousness and the injured flight engineer, Sergeant JW Norris, had to do some of the flying. Flight Lieutenant Reid recovered to take over for the emergency landing in misty conditions which took place at Shipdham in Norfolk, even though he could not see properly for blood running into his eyes from a head wound. One leg of the Lancaster's under-carriage collapsed but the landing was otherwise successful. Flight Lieutenant Reid was awarded the Victoria Cross but the Squadron Operations Record Book does not say whether other crew members were decorated.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US General Spaatz took command of all US Air Forces in the Mediterranean. The Fifteenth Air Force was activated, with HQ at Tunis, Tunisia and Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle as Commanding General. With the activation of the Fifteenth AF on this date, the units of the US XII Bomber Command transferred to the new air force. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force (NATBF) aircraft bombed shipping in harbors of Ancona, Italy and Split, Yugoslavia, hit a tunnel mouth near Antrodoco, Italy, and attacked scattered gun positions and motor transport on both the US Fifth and British Eighth Army fronts. The US XII Air Support Command hit numerous bridges and junctions and the town of Pontecorvo, Italy. The Royal Air Force (RAF) Desert Air Force (DAF) hit inland roads and vehicles in advance of the battleline, shipping at Split, Yugoslavia and the town of Carpinone, Italy. In Italy, B-l7s bombed the town and harbor of La Spezia and a railroad bridge at Vezzano; B-25s hit marshalling yards at Rimini and Ancona. Fighters flew escort.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, British X Corps continues to clear the Mt. Massico-Mt. St. Croce hill mass on the western flank of the Fifth Army. The 56th Division takes Roccamonfina. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division reaches Capriati al Volturno.

Stab./122 was transferred from Frosinone to Perugia. 4(F)./122 was transferred to Odessa.

*NORTH AMERICA*: USAAF 73d Squadron is disbanded at Pyote AAFld, Pyote, Texas.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* I./JG 11 in Norway lost a FW 190A-5 and a Bf 109T during accidents. No pilots were injured.

The first in a new series of Arctic convoys sails from Kola Inlet.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: During early Nov, HQ 479th Antisubmarine Group and it's 4th, 6th, 19th and 22d Antisubmarine Squadrons (Heavy) transferred from Dunkeswell to Podington, England. HQ 401st Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Deenethorpe,England from the U.S

A progress report, assessing results of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO), estimated that 19 important German towns and cities have been virtually destroyed, 19 severely damaged and 9 more effectively damaged. A joint report of the British Ministry of Economic Warfare and Air Ministry lntelligence Branch claimed that 10 percent of the total war potential of Germany has been destroyed.

The US Ninth Air Force comes under operational control of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) which is activated on this date to provide the tactical air force for the invasion of W Europe (Operation OVERLORD).


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## Njaco (Nov 2, 2008)

*2 NOVEMBER 1943*
*
ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The unescorted _'Baron Semple' _(Master Philip Jarvis Carnie) was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-848' _northwest of Ascension Island. The master and 61 crew members were lost.

The German 5th S-Boat Flotilla (Cdr Klug) attacked the British convoy CW 221 off Hastings in the first torpedo attacks since August. SS _'Dona Isabel' _(1,179t) cargo ship, Blyth to Portsmouth, was sunk by E Boats as was SS _'Foam Queen' _(811t).

Destroyer _'Borie' _(DD-215), damaged in battle with _'U-405' _the previous day (during which the destroyer had rammed the enemy submarine), 1,000 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland, was scuttled by TBF (VC 9) from escort carrier _'Card' _(CVE-11), after an attempt to scuttle _'Borie' _with gunfire, by the destroyer _'Barry' _(DD-248 ), failed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red army continued its attacks in the southern Ukraine capturing Kakhovka and stopping a German counterattack at Krivoii Rog.

*GERMANY*: In its first mission, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force joins in the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) against Germany with a damaging attack on the Bf 109 aircraft assembly factory at Wiener Neustadt by 113 heavy bombers. The Germans put up strong fighter and antiaircraft opposition and 11 bombers are lost. The bombers claimed 50+ attacking fighters destroyed.

Berlin: Goebbels writes that "we are in danger of slowly bleeding to death in the East."

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army stepped up operations to cross the Trigno River. The 7th Armored Division from the British X Corps reached the Garigliano, close to the Gustav Line. In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, patrols of the 7th Armoured and 46th Divisions reach the Garigliano River. The U.S. VI Corps prepares to cross two divisions, the 4th and 34th Infantry Divisions, over the Volturno River. Advance elements of the 45th Infantry Division, the 180th Infantry Regiment, cross below Sesto Campano, during the night of 2/3 November. In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps begins their main assault across the Trigno River, during the night of 2/3 November. Firm resistance is being overcome with the help of artillery and naval gunfire.

_'U-340' _was sunk near Tangier, by depth charges from sloop HMS _'Fleetwood'_, destroyers HMS _'Active' _and _'Witherington' _and by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqn 179/R). 1 dead and 48 survivors.

The Canadian 5th Armored Division was shipped to Italy.

In Italy, NATBF light and medium bombers hit gun positions and an ammunition dump on the British Eighth Army front, railroad facilities at Aquila, and the coast road at Terracina; at night, light bombers hit Penna Point and Zara, Yugoslavia; US XII Air Support Command and RAF DAF fighters and fighter-bombers attacked gun positions and ammunition dumps along the British Eighth Army front, hit gun positions S of Isernia, bombed Fondi, and attacked several bridges and junctions in advance of the US Fifth Army front; numerous trucks and a train also were strafed.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The British blockade runner to Sweden, _'Master Standfast'_, commanded by Captain George Holdsworth, was captured by the Germans off Lysekill by the German patrol trawler V-1606. She was later commissioned as the German motor minesweeper RA-11. Captain Holdsworth later died of wounds in Frederickshaun, Denmark, a number of the crew were made prisoners of war.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The 406th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Eighth Air Force, transferred from the U.S. to Alconbury, England without personnel or equipment. The squadron will be equipped with B-24s and begin CARPETBAGGER operations (dropping supplies to partisans) on 5 Jan 44.


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## Njaco (Nov 4, 2008)

*3 NOVEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: '_U-593_' sank SS '_Mont Viso_' in Convoy KMS-30.
*
EASTERN FRONT*: A massive Russian offensive from Dnieper bridgehead North of Kiev erupted. 

As Soviet attacks drove closer to the facility, the Germans decided to murder the remaining 17,000 Jews in the Maideanek concentration camp, located 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the center of Lubin. Five SS factories in the Lublin area were closed and the Jewish workers shot: over 17,000 were machine-gunned into prepared graves. This was "*Bloody Wednesday*" and marked the end of Operation Harvest Festival.The slaughter starts at 0700 hours when a never-ending line of naked Jews are force-marched into a huge trench dug within the Krempecki Forest near the precincts of the camp. They are ordered to lie down flat, layer upon layer, to be machine-gunned to death. At 1800 hours, petrol (gasoline) is poured over the bodies and set alight. Within the next few weeks a further 34,000 perished.

*GERMANY*: The Largest Allied daylight air raid to date on Wilhelmshaven. USAAF VIII Bomber Command Mission 119. 539 of 566 B-17's and B-24's dispatched to the Wilhemshaven, Germany port area hit the target at 1307-1335 hours. They claim 21-3-24 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17's are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair, and 47 damaged; casualties are 12 WIA and 70 MIA. The mission includes 11 Pathfinders, 9 using new H2X blind-bombing device (first time on a US mission) and 2 using H2S. This is the first Eighth Air Force blind-bombing mission in which the aiming point is completely destroyed and is also the Eighth's first 500-plane mission. 333 P-47's and 45 P-38's escort the bombers with the P-38's escorting the heavy bombers almost the entire trip and see their first real ETO combat, claiming 3-5-5 Luftwaffe aircraft.

During the night, RAF Bomber Command sends 589 aircraft, 344 Lancasters, 233 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos, to bomb Dusseldorf; 527 aircraft bomb the city with the loss of 15 aircraft. The main weight of the raid fell in the centre and south of the city with extensive damage both to housing and to industrial premises. Meanwhile, thirty eight Lancaster Mk. IIs make the first large-scale test of the G-H blind-bombing device and attempted to bomb the Mannesmann tubular-steel works on the northern outskirts of Düsseldorf while the main raid was taking place. Five had to return early and two more were lost; the equipment in 16 other aircraft failed to function leaving only 15 aircraft to bomb the factory on G-H. The device later became a most useful blind-bombing device when it was produced in sufficient numbers for a major part of Bomber Command to be fitted with it. In other raids, 58 Lancasters and Mosquitos carry out a diversionary raid on Cologne without loss; ten Oboe Mosquitos bomb a Krupps foundry at Rheinhausen and two Mosquitos bomb Dortmund. Four other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. Flt-Lt William Reid (1921-2001), RAFVR, piloted a Lancaster bomber on a raid on Düsseldorf. The plane was attacked by a German fighter over the Netherlands and badly damaged. Reid was wounded in the head, shoulders and hands. A second attack killed two of the crew, wounded Reid again, and knocked out the oxygen supply. He flew on to his target for 50 minutes, losing blood. His windshield was also shattered, and the bitter cold added to his troubles. He managed to fly home in a dizzy condition from bleeding. Two crew members assisted him on the flight home and the plane returned safely. (Victoria Cross)

Adolf Hitler issued Directive 51, in which he warned of an Allied landing in western Europe, by spring of 1944. He ordered the strengthening of the western defences near England and in Denmark, noting that an Allied landing would be more troublesome than Russian advances in the East.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fighting in Italy was heavy as the British 8th Army tangled with the German 16.PanzerGrenadier Division at San Salvo. The British 5th Corps forced Germans from Trigno, who withdrew to the Sangro River. US forces took Sessa Aurunca from the 16.Panzerdivision, which was transferred to the Eastern front. In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 4th Ranger Battalion crosses the Volturno River in the 45th Infantry Division zone at 1800 hours local to block Highway 6 northwest of Mignano, but is stopped short of objective. The 45th Infantry Division continues crossing the Volturno River. The rest of the 180th Infantry Regiment, upon crossing southeast of Presenzano at 2000 hours, drives northwest toward Rocca Pipirozzi. After strong artillery preparation, the 34th Infantry Division begins to cross the Volturno River during the night.

The eight USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchell groups transferred to the Fifteenth Air Force on 1 November are transferred back to the Twelfth Air Force.

Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force aircraft hit a dump at Cupello, the railway station at Cesano, a road junction at Alfedena, the town areas of Ceprano and Palmoli, and numerous vehicles. USAAF XII Air Support Command and RAF Desert Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers attack gun positions at Cupello, landing grounds near Pescara and Ancona, the airfield at Cisterna di Latina, the Ceccano railroad yards, the town of Pozzilli, roads in the Venafro-Cassino area, and several bridges and junctions. Many of the days missions are flown in direct support of the British Eighth Army's advance.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings escort USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a raid against Araxos Airfield, 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) south of Araxos. The target is well covered and several parked airplanes are destroyed.

_'U-340' _(Type VIIC) was sunk at 0430hrs near Tangier, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS _'Fleetwood'_, the destroyers _'Active' _and _'Witherington' _and by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 179/R). 1 dead, 48 survivors.

Monks at Monte Cassino in Italy completed removing the archive and library. Most of the monks also left.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The second Consolidated XB-32 has had stability problems and in an attempt to resolve this problem a Consolidated-designed 19.5 foot (5.9 m) vertical tail is added and flown today on the third XB-32, s/n 41-18336.

The first "official" flight by the prototype Grumman (Model G-51) XF7F-1 Tigercat, BuNo 03549, is made at Bethpage, Long Island, New York.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: II./JG 5 lost 3 Bf 109G-2s during landing accidents in Norway. No pilots were injured.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris proposed to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that sustained aerial bombing of Berlin would cost 400-500 aircraft, and cost Germany the war. Churchill authorized commencing the Battle of Berlin.

The 612th and 613th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 401st Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrive at Deenethorpe, England from the U.S. with B-17's. They will fly their first mission on 26 Nov.

London says that Finland is an Axis power and the principle of unconditional surrender applies also to Finland.

*WESTERN FRONT*: USAAF VIII Bomber Command Mission 120. During the night of 3/4 Nov, 2 B-17's drop 1.5+ million leaflets on Antwerp at 1915 hours and Rotterdam at 2008 hours.

Sixty five USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Schiphol Airfield 7 miles (11 kilometers) west of Amsterdam. Seventy one USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb the airfield at Saint-Andre-de-L'Eure while 71 others attack Triqueville Airfield.

During the night, 22 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. H2S blind-bombing equipment is used for the first time to assist the minelaying force and is an indication that a start had been made in equipping Main Force squadrons with H2S.


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## Njaco (Nov 21, 2008)

*4 NOVEMBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German E-boats and mines are still capable of taking a toll of coastal shipping. On the night of the 4/5 November, Channel convoy CW-221 loses three ships off Beachy Head, Sussex, England, to E-boat attack.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Steppe Front (Vatutin) launched fresh attacks out of their bridgeheads over the Dniepr River north of Kiev. The Germans are forced to yield additional ground along the Dnieper River as Soviet troops press forward to its mouth opposite Kherson. Red Army units open a major offensive in the Kiev area, pushing south from the Dnieper River bridgehead and threatening the city with encirclement.

*GERMANY*: 24 RAF Mosquitos attacked a chemical works at Leverkusen, causing fires and a large explosion, 4 Mosquitos went to Aachen, 36 aircraft minelaying at various places from Lorient to the Kattegat. 4 minelaying Stirlings were lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the U.S. Fifth Army's area, British X Corps, with Mt. Massico and Mt. St. Croce hill masses under its control, prepares for assault on Mt. Camino by the 56th Division. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 2d Battalion of 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, clears Rocca Pipirozzi and digs in on a ridge to the northwest; and makes contact with the 4th Ranger Battalion at Cannavinelle. The 3d Battalion of the 179th Infantry Regiment, upon crossing the Volturno River south of Venafro, attacks and captures Venafro. The 34th Infantry Division's 133d Infantry Regiment seizes St. Maria Oliveto while the 168th takes Roccaravindola. In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps troops enter Isernia without opposition. V Corps takes the St. Salvo ridge, the Germans having made a general withdrawal in the area. Full lateral communications are now in place between both Allied Armies through Isernia, Italy.

In Italy, B-17s bombed railroads between Montalto di Castro and Orbetello, between Orbetello and Talamone, and between San Vincenzo and Cecina; bomb-carrying P-38s, escorted by others, hit a tunnel N of Terni and strafe Montalto di Castro. US XII Air Support Command and RAF fighters and fighter-bombers hit trucks and trains in the Sora-Avezzano area, the airfields of Furbara and Tarquinia, and small vessels off Pescara, Italy and Solta, Yugoslavia.

Brigadier General Donald A Davison took command of the US XII Air Force Engineer Command (Provisional), following the command's assignment to the Twelfth Air Force on 1 Nov.

*NORTHERN FRONT*: Ten RAF Bomber Command Sirlings lay mines in the Kattegat, the body of water between Sweden and Denmark, with the loss of four aircraft.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The 354th FG, destined to be the first US fighter group in the ETO or MTO to be equipped with the P-51, arrived in England by ship without aircraft. They will fly their first mission on 1 Dec. This is the first fighter group assigned to the US Ninth Air Force. HQ 445th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Tibenham, England from the US HQ Ninth Air Force issued a letter ordering a small detachment of HQ, the US IX Air Force Engineer Section, to assume the functions of a command under Colonel Karl B Schilling, thus beginning the creation of US IX Engineer Command. The 614th and 615th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 401st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), arrive at Deenethorpe, England from the U.S. with B-17's. They will fly their first mission on 26 Nov. The 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group, arrives at Mount Farm, England from the U.S. with F-5's.

At Sparty Lea, Swinhope, a 44 year old man was killed when a rogue barrage balloon exploded.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off French ports: six lay mines off Lorient and five each lay mines off Brest and St. Nazaire.


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## Njaco (Nov 21, 2008)

*5 NOVEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: German submarine '_U-848_' is sunk about 253 nautical miles (469 kilometers) west-southwest of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic by depth charges from two USAAF B-25 Mitchells of the 1st Composite Squadron and three USN PB4Y-1 Liberators of a detachment of USN Patrol Squadron One Hundred Seven (VB-107), both units based on Ascension Island; all 63 crewmen are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The attacks by the Steppe Front sweep west and south of Kiev. Meanwhile, South Front (Tolbukhin) closes on the lower Dniepr River. The Soviet advance cuts the Kiev-Zhitomir railroad and overrun the area between the lower Dniepr River and the Crimea. This gave credence to the threat to encircle Kiev.

*GERMANY*: During the night, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb six targets: ten hit the Vereinigte Stahl armaments factory at Bochum; five hit Hannover; four attack the Rheinmetall armaments factory at Dusseldorf; three bomb Hamburg; and one each hit the Hoesch Stahl steel plant at Dortmund and the city of Heligoland.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 121. Two targets in Germany were hit with the loss of 8 B-17's and 3 B-24's. 323 of 374 B-17's and 9 of 11 B-17 pathfinders hit the marshalling yard and oil plants at Gelsenkirchen, Germany at 1313-1350 hours; they claimed 6-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17's were lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 223 damaged. Casualties were 4 KIA, 35 WIA and 84 MIA. The B-17's were escorted by 47 P-38's and 336 P-47's; they claimed 18-6-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 P-47's were lost and 1 was damaged beyond repair; casualties were 4 MIA.

104 of 118 B-24's hit the marshaling yard at Munster at 1349-1358 hours; they claimed 21-3-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24's were lost, 1 was damaged beyond repair and 43 damaged; casualties were 7 KIA, 22 WIA and 31 MIA.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army began attacks on the Reinhard Line. The British 76th Division assaulted Monte Camino and the Us 3rd Division attacked near Mignano. Hube's XIV Panzer Corps has much help from the terrain and worsening weather in their defence. The British 8th Army takes Palmoli and Torrebruna.

A single bomb is dropped on the Vatican by an unknown plane. Many believe that this was a message from German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to Pope Pius XII to provide a reminder of how the mission of the popes so often comes into conflict with the earthly ambitions of nations and politics. After the war, investigators determined the attack was planned by Italian Fascist Robero Farinacci, in an attempt to discredit the Allies.

With the sun just rising over Torre Aningiatria, a port southeast of Naples, German bombers descended on Allied shipping. The port was of strategic importance because the Allies can unload the massive quantities of supplies they need to drive the Germans out of Italy. Canadian seaman, Somer James' ship offers choice prey. Loaded with ammunition, the _'Empire Lightning' _was moored to a dock piled with high-octane fuel when the bombs began to find their targets. One struck the fuel, setting it ablaze and threatening both the _'Lightning' _and other freighters moored fore and aft. The ship could be saved only be a careful combination of dropping some of its lines and doubling others, so it can be manoeuvred away from the fire. The captain called for volunteers. Amidst the pandemonium, only Mr. James, who was not yet 22, stepped up. He donned a heavy jacket and lifebelt and went on deck alone. With the captain shouting instructions down at him from the bridge, with fire raging alongside and with high explosives beneath his feet, he ran the length of the ship from one mooring point to another and did his best to handle the massive hemp lines alone. The entire operation lasted about three hours, but, in the end, he managed to get the ship out of harm's way, its sides scorched by fire. Yet, he didn't stop at that. Once the _'Lightening' _was secured, he helped move a number of barges loaded with dangerous cargo that had also caught fire. The action later won him both the British Empire Medal and the Lloyd's Medal for Bravery, an unusual double honour. While 29 other Canadian merchant sailors won the BEM for bravery during the Second World War, and some won the Lloyd's medal, none received both awards for the same event.

The Headquarters of the Canadian Corps and the 5th Canadian Armoured Division arrived at Italy.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: An Eighth Air Force training officer arrived to assist HQ US IX Fighter Command in setting up a comprehensive training system for fighter pilots. The training was based on the Eighth Air Force system; the Eighth Air Force and Royal Air Force (RAF) cooperated with the US Ninth in instituting this program.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Peugeot factory at Sochaux was sabotaged by the resistance. Judged by the British Ministry of Economic Warfare as the 3rd most important target in France, this factory made tank turrets. Industrial sabotage was being used with greater success than Allied bombing at the Peugeot plant which was producing war equipment on the Germans' orders. Following the RAF raid on 14 July, which proved to be as unsuccessful as it was bloody, Harry Ree, a member of Britain's clandestine Special Operations Executive, persuaded Armand Peugeot to sabotage the facilities of the plant with the help of his own engineers. The manufacturing of turrets for tanks has been interrupted indefinitely.

Adolf Hitler assigned Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel the task of inspecting the Atlantic Wall.

Over 150 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb construction works at Mimoyecques, France; poor visibility causes one group to bomb the area SW of the primary targets; bad weather causes numerous aborts.

During the night, the USAAF Eighth Air Force's. VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 122: five B-17 Flying Fortresses drop over one million leaflets over Paris, Amiens, Rouen and Caen at 1917-2005 hours.

During the night, 27 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons dropped leaflets over France.


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## Njaco (Nov 21, 2008)

*6 NOVEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: Captain F. J. Walker's 2nd Escort Group, built around HMS '_Tracker_' ( D 24) sinks two U-boats. '_U-226_' sunk at 0700hrs in the North Atlantic east of Newfoundland, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS '_Starling_', HMS '_Woodcock_' and HMS '_Kite_'. 51 dead (all hands lost). '_U-842_' sunk at 1400hrs in the western North Atlantic, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS '_Starling_' and HMS '_Wild Goose_'. 56 dead (all hands lost).

*EASTERN FRONT*: Celebrations for tomorrow's anniversary of the 1917 Revolution started early today with the news that Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, has been liberated after more than two years of German rule. The battle to free the city was launched by General Vatutin three days ago, Vatutin first tricked von Manstein into thinking that he was going to attack out of the bridgehead across the Dnieper at Bukrin and then, when the Germans concentrated at Bukrin, made his assault out of the smaller lodgement at Lyutezh. The Russians ripped a great hole in the German lines and swung west behind Kiev. It rapidly became obvious that the Germans would not be able to hold the city. Von Manstein pulled out most of his men, leaving only the 88th Infantry Division behind as a rearguard. The 88th, outnumbered and outgunned, was cut to pieces and its few survivors were straggling back to the German lines having lost all their heavy equipment. The fall of Kiev marks not only a psychological victory for the Russians but also an end to a short series of successful German counter-attacks. They had virtually wiped out 7,000 paratroopers dropped across the Dnieper; they had foiled an early breakout from Bukrin and administered a severe check at Krivoi Rog, where they killed 10,000 Russians and captured 5,000. Now the Red Army was once again sweeping westwards.

The inexhaustible supplies of men and materials emerging from the depths of Russia have ground down the Germans. The Red Army now fields 6.5 million men against 4.3 million Germans. The Russians have 5,600 tanks against the Germans' 2,600. They have 90,000 guns against 54,000, and 8,000 aircraft against 3,000. But it is a matter of quality as well as quantity. Russian tanks and aircraft now match the once superior German equipment. The Russians have also learnt how to fight a modern war. New commanders have emerged to use new tactics.

*GERMANY*: During the night, RAF Bomber Command sends Mosquitos to bomb six targets: seven hit the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory at Bochum, four attack Duisburg while two attack the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory at Duisburg, two each attack Dusseldorf and a steel factory at Hamborn, and one each bombs Grounau and Recklinghausen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German armour was being raced eastwards to counter a major threat to the Gustav Line by the British Eighth Army which stormed Vasto yesterday, meeting fierce resistance from General Herr's tanks. British destroyers were giving supporting fire from the Adriatic as British and Canadian troops advanced along the coast. The 8th Indian Division had reached Palmoli and the US Fifth Army was reported to be ten miles from Capua, a key point on the road to Rome, held up by torrential rain as well as the Germans. In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, the 56th Division continues an attack toward Mt. Camino, elements taking Calabritto. In the U.S. VI Corps' the 3d Infantry Division sector, the 7th Infantry Regiment is still fighting for Mt. Ia Difensa; efforts of the 15th Infantry Regiment to take Hill 253, the southeast nose of Mt. Lungo, are unsuccessful, as are those of the 30th Infantry Regiment to take Mt. Rotondo. To the east, the 45th and 34th Infantry Division batter at hills and mountains with little success.

German planes attacked the Naples-bound convoy KMF 25A. Destroyer USS _'Beatty' _sank after being torpedoed by German aircraft off Cape Bougaroun, Algeria. 12 of her crew were lost with the ship. Troopship SS _'Santa Elena' _was sunk by German torpedo-bombers off the coast of North Africa. The ship was carrying 1,800 Canadian Army personnel, including 99 nurses from No. 14 Canadian General Hospital. Fortunately, no lives were lost. However, the ship sank with a large amount of equipment, including all of the hospital's gear.

The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers strike gun positions, bridges, and roads around Mignano, vehicles north of Cassino, and a train north of Aquino Airfield. Other Northwest African Tactical Air Force) fighters attack numerous road and rail transport targets throughout Italy north of the battleline. Four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack the Fiora River bridge, three bomb a bridge north of Orbetello, and 11 P-38 Lightnings attack a bridge south of Orvieto. P-38 Lightnings escorted by others, hit approaches to a bridge near Monte Molino, and the escorting fighters afterwards strafe Tarquinia Airfield, a train north of Civitavecchia, and vehicles between Montefiascone and Vetralla.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) accede to request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Force, for retention of landing craft. Twelve U.S. and 56 British Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) due to depart from the Mediterranean are to remain until 15 December. A further extension, until 15 January 1944, is subsequently granted.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command, which has transferred from Bengasi, Libya, establishes headquarters at Marks Hall, Essex, England.

A Hurricane fighter operating from Milfield airfield, in Northumberland crashed into a field on Milfield Desmense Farm about 1 mile W of the RAF station at 12.05. The pilot was slightly hurt.

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the night, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Texel Island. RAF Bomber Command dispatches Wellingtons to lay mines off coastal ports: nine each lay mines off Brest, Gironde and Lorient, eight off St. Nazaire, five off La Pallice, three off St. Jean de Luz and two off Bayonne. An additional 15 aircraft drop leaflets over northern France.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 123. Two B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 440,000 leaflets over Paris at 0241-0250 hours.


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## Njaco (Nov 21, 2008)

* 7 NOVEMBER 1943*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* '_U-123_' was attacked by a Mosquito aircraft from the RAF No.618 Squadron suffering 1 man dead and 2 wounded.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet advance reached Fastov, 40 miles west of Kiev, where the Germans had a quickly positioned defence line. The commander of the 44th Soviet Army was captured when he accidentally drove into the German frontline at Nikopol.

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 124. Three targets in Germany were hit without loss. Poor weather restricted operations. 53 of 59 B-17's bombed the Wesel industrial area at 1124-1125 hours; 4 B-17's were damaged; casualties were 1 KIA and 2 WIA. 60 B-17's were dispatched to the industrial area at Duren; 37 hit the primary target at 1114 hours and 20 hit Randerath, the secondary target, at 1114-1125 hours; 2 B-17's were damaged. 2 of 3 B-17 pathfinders escorted the B-17's dispatched to Duren but an Oboe PFF failure resulted in the bombs being widely scattered. The bombers were escorted by 283 P-47s; they claimed 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 P-47's were lost; casualties were 6 MIA. F/O Robert E. Sheehan, 63 FS/56th FG went MIA in his P-47D after mechanical failure near Doesburg. Lt. Edwin O. Carlson, 357 FS/ 355th FG, was killed in his P-47D "On the Ball" after he collided with Lt. James A. Westphal, 357 FS, near Montdidier. Lt. Westphal was made a POW. Also captured were Capt. Walter H. Kossack, 358 FS, who ran out of fuel and bellied in near the French coast and Lt. William E. Roach, 358 FS, who also ran out of fuel in his P-47D "Beetle" and landed at Caen. F/O Chester W. Watson, 358 FS ran out of fuel and bailed out over the English Channel and was killed.

_(One for Lucky!) _The B-17 "Hard Luck" had a serial number ending in "13". It arrived at Thorpe Abbotts on Friday, 13 Aug. 1943. It was assigned to the "hard luck" 100th BG (H). While not superstitious, the crew had second thought when, on mission "13", they found their plane parked on hardstand "13". The mission to Duren turned out to be a milk run.

The 78th FG flew US VIII Fighter Command's first group double escort mission with A and B fighter formations.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The U.S. Fifth Army continues to battle the Germans in the mountains of the Winter Line but makes little headway. In the VI Corps sector, the 34th Infantry Division organizes Task Force A under Brigadier General Benjamin F. Caffey, consisting of the 135th Infantry Regiment and supporting units, for a drive on Montaquila.

NATBF bombers hit gun position along the British Eighth and US Fifth Army fronts, shipping at Ancona, Italy harbor, and the town of Ulcinj, Yugoslavia; Durazzo, Albania was bombed at night. XII Air Support Command and other fighters of the NATAF hit the harbor and shipping at Split and a train near Metkovic, Yugoslavia, and attacked bridges, road junctions, town area, and trucks in the Mignano-Cassino and Pontecorvo, Italy, areas.

Troop transport _'Santa Elena'_, struck by aerial torpedo while in convoy KMF 25A the previous afternoon, suffered further damage when accidentally rammed by damaged Dutch transport _'Marnix Van St. Aldegonde' _(then under tow). The cumulative damage from the torpedo and the collision nullifies the efforts to tow the crippled _'Santa Elena' _to port and she sinks that morning. Four of the 133-man merchant crew perish in the abandonment, but the 44-man Armed Guard survives intact.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax V was on a night time training flight when it was diverted from its base but appears to have gotten lost. All crew (RAAF) were killed in the subsequent crash in Galway county.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 200+ B-26's dispatched to attack airfields at Montdidier and Meulan-Les Mureaux, France were forced to abort the mission because of bad weather. The B-26's were escorted by 54 P-38's and 49 P-47's of the Eighth Air Force; 2 P-38's were lost. Maj. John C. Wilkins, HQ Sqnd. 20th FG, took off late and was never seen again. Capt. Herbert W. Cumming, 79 FS, was hit by an Fw-190 and went down over the Channel.

6 Mosquitos to Essen, 35 aircraft minelaying off the French coast from Brest to southern Biscay, 7 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.


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## Njaco (Nov 21, 2008)

*8 NOVEMBER 1943*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces continued to drive the Germans away from Kiev, capturing the important rail junction and supply head of Fastov, 30 miles west of Kiev.

*GERMANY*: Hitler visited Munich for his annual Beerkellar speech and promised the German people that he would retaliate for the "terror bombing" of the Reich by Britain.


> "_Even if for the present we cannot reach America_," he said, "_thank God that at least one country is near enough for us to tackle, and on that country we are going to concentrate. The hundreds of thousands of our bombed-out people will become the advance guard of revenge." _


He appealed to the German people not to lose their nerve and crack. He denounced "scoundrels" who wished for peace. He also spoke that;


> _ "..our hour of revenge is nigh!", _


...refering to flying bomb and rocket weapons nearing a state of readiness.

7 RAF Oboe Mosquitos bombed Cologne and Duisburg without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The battles in the US 5th Army sector continued with no success on either side. German forces launched counterattacks against the advancing US 5th Army. The attacks were easily stopped, but forced a temporary halt in the Allied drive north.
British General Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief 15th Army Group, orders the U.S. Fifth Army to plan for an amphibious operation on the west coast. In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, the 56th Division withstands strong counterattacks at Calabritto and seizes a hill to the northeast. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3d Infantry Division is still unable to scale Mt. la Difensa, but the 3d Battalion of 15th Infantry Regiment takes Hill 253 and the 3d Battalion of 30th Infantry Regiment reaches the top of Mt. Rotondo. The 45th Infantry Division continues to fight for the mountains north of Venafro and Pozzilli. The 3d Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, opens an assault on the hills between Pozzilli and Filignano. The 34th Infantry Division’s Task Force A takes Montaquila. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 78th Division gains the heights overlooking the Sangro River from its mouth to Paglieta.

Gruko Maj. Orlowski, Hptm. Karl-Heinz Hilbig and Ofw. Albert Kelbsch were reported MIA northeast of Pescara on the east coast of Italy in a Ju 88D-l belonging to 1 (F)/123 that was believed shot down by a pair of P-38 Lightnings. 1/Lt Clarence F. Musgrave; 65FS/57FG made a claim for a Ju 88 in the area in his P-40.

Weather cancels all XII Air Support Command missions except fighter patrols. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force aircraft and RAF Desert Air Force fighters fly only six missions, hitting gun positions along the battleline, vehicles west of the Sangro River, and trains at Civitanova and Pescara. Eighty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Turin ball bearing factory, marshalling yard, and nearby motor and aircraft engine works with the loss of one aircraft. P-38 Lightnings provide escort as far north as Imperia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The decision was made to form the No. 100 Group of the RAF. Its role, under Bomber Command, would be to wage the radio counter-measures war against the German air defences and so reduce bomber casualties. Under Air Vice-Marshal E. B. Addison's command, it would be located at airfields in northern Norfolk, its squadrons being mainly equipped with Halifaxes and Mosquitoes.

Advanced Amphibious Training Base, Plymouth, England, was established. It will be one of the bases used in the buildup for the cross-channel invasions that will begin in June 1944; the command will not be disestablished until 7 December 1945.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*9 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Indian Division captured Castiglione.

General De Gaulle becomes President of the French Committee of National Liberation.

In Italy, B-24s attacked the Villarperosa ball-bearing works at Turin and B-17s hit the Genoa-Ansaldo steel works. P-38's provided escort. The NATBF bombed Formia and Itri as a diversion to the naval bombardment of Formia and Gaeta. US XlI Air Support Command fighter-bombers attacked roads and bridges in the Mignano-Ceprano area while other NATAF fighter-bombers hit shipping in the harbor at Split, Yugoslavia and rail targets in the Rome-La Spezia area and vessels, radio stations, and gun emplacements off the coast of Albania.

*EASTERN FRONT*: West of Kiev the Soviet forces were advancing toward Zhitomir.

*GERMANY*: 18 RAF Oboe Mosquitos bombed blast furnaces at Bochum and a steelworks at Duisburg. No aircraft were lost.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*10 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army achieved a breakthrough near Gomel in Belorussia.

The Kremlin, feeling secure in victory announced the creation of two new decorations: the Order of Victory - large ruby star encrusted with 91 diamonds - for senior officers, and the Order of Glory for other ranks.

Ambassador Litvinov stated in Moscow that the principle of unconditional surrender did not include Finland. This was in response to the Nov 3 announcement in London that unconditional surrender did apply to Finland.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Lieutenant Maurice L. Britt, U.S. Army, 3d Infantry Division in the face of German hand grenades and close-range machine-pistol, machinegun and rifle fire, inspired and led a handful of his men in repelling a bitter counterattack by approximately 100 Germans against his company positions north of Mignano.

The Allied Control Commission was formed, to yoke the Italian economy into the overall Allied war effort.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-966' _ was sunk in the Bay of Biscay near Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from British, American and Czech Wellington and Liberator aircraft (Sqn 612/B, 311/D, VB-103/E, VB-110/E). 8 dead and 42 survivors. Spanish fishing trawlers rescued the survivors.

313 Lancasters of RAF 5 and No 8 Groups were sent to attack the railway yards at Modane on the main line between France and Italy. The Pathfinder marking, in difficult conditions, was slightly beyond the target but 200 aircraft brought back photographs to show that their bombs fell within 1 mile of the target and the railway system was seriously damaged.

Around 60 B-26s of the US IX AF bombed Chievres airfield, Belgium. As they crossed over France, bad weather caused the force sent to bomb the Lille/Vendeville airfield to abandon their mission, though a few bombers managed to bomb other targets in the area. A force of 72 B-26s dispatched to attack Montdidlier airfield also suffered numerous aborts because of the weather. 6 bombers managed to bomb the airfield at Amiens/Glisy.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*11 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In their advance on Zhitomir, Soviet forces crossed the Teterev River and captured Radomyshl.

Lt. Anton 'Toni' Dobele of I./JG 54 was killed in a collision with another German fighter over the airfield at Smolensk. Lt. Dobele was a member of the "Nowotny Schwarm", one of the most feared formations in the Luftwaffe. With Walter Nowotny as _Schwarmfuhrer_, the other members included Uffz. Karl 'Quax' Schnorrer, Nowotny's wingman and Rudolf Rademacher. Lt. Dobele had a final victory score of 94 kills.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The unescorted _'Pompoon' _(Master Edward Condell) was hit by one torpedo from _'U-516' _about 75 miles north of Cartegnea, Colombia. The torpedo struck amidships on the port side and broke the ship in two. Both ends sank with the midship part sinking first on both ends. The 23 crew members and four armed guards on board had no time to launch a lifeboat. Five survivors managed to rescue themselves on a raft that had floated free, but one of them died the next day and was buried at sea. In the afternoon of 3 December, the four survivors (a messman and three armed guards) were picked up by a Panamanian ship and were taken to Cristobal where they were hospitalized in serious condition.

In another attack on the French transport system, 124 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters of RAF 4,6 and No 8 Groups bombed marshalling yards at Cannes and railway installations on the main coastal line to Italy. 4 Halifaxes were lost. The night was clear and the Pathfinders marked the target from 5,000ft but the railway yards were not hit at all and the railway workshops suffered only blast damage. No 617 Squadron resumed operations after its period of high-level training with the new 'Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight'. 10 Lancasters each dropped one 12,000lb bomb on the railway viaduct at Anthéor but no hits were recorded.

Lt. Hans Joachim Kannegiesser of 10./JG 11 crashed in his Fw 190A-4 during landing at Fliegerplatz Aalborg Ost and was killed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Montgomery's forces occupy Casalanguida in their advance on the Sangro River.

Destroyer HMS _'Rockwood' _was hit by an Hs.293 glider bomb and had to be towed to Alexandria where she arrived on 19th November, but was not repaired.

*CONVOY 'UNTRUE*': A Ju 88 of 1(F)/33 made contact with a convoy, KMS-31, codenamed 'UNTRUE', 45 miles west of Alboran Island, reporting on the convoy's composition and the weather in the area. Two more Ju 88s shadowed the ships throughout the day. At 16:46 hours, the convoy was reported to consist of 15 merchant vessels and 4 destroyer escorts. Defense of 'UNTRUE' was by pairs of P-39s patrolling about 3 miles outside the convoy while a single Walrus provided close anti-sub cover. By the time of the German attack there were 15 aircraft distributed a various heights and in various positions up to 15 miles north of the convoy.

Luftwaffe attacks commenced at 18:20 hours and the ships' flak opened fire. The first German wave consisted of 10 to 12 Do 217s from II./KG 100 at 3,000 feet. The first of the Dorniers ran in from dead ahead, into the setting sun and launched its Hs 293s. Explosions were seen 500 yds ahead of the leading escort but no ships were hit. The next 9 Do 217s approached from the west on the starborad quarters by _ketten_. Two of the II./KG 100 aircraft turned back early and there were at least 2 casualties. 20 minutes later, 12 to 15 He 111s from III./KG 26 approached from landward in a single formation at 300 feet. Flares were dropped and the Heinkels spread out over the convoy prior to to dropping their torpedoes in 2 attacks. One He 111 banking steeply to port after releasing its 'fish' was destroyed by AA fire from 2 ships. The Ju 88s of I./KG 26 also took part.

The _'Indian Prince' _was torpedoed and sank undertow 5 hours later. _'Birchbank' _was hit and blew up and the Belgium oiler _'Carlier' _went missing, presumed to have blown up. A French oiler, _'Nivose' _was hit but continued in the convoy and the SS _'Takliwa' _had also been damaged but was able to continue. The Flower Class corvette, HMS _'Oxlip' _reportedly had her steering gear damaged but this was repaired and she continued.

The Luftwaffe's losses from this operation were 6 He 111H-11s of III./KG 26 and 2 Ju 88A-4s from I./KG 26. A Beaufighter intercepted 2 Do 217s an the return flight, reporting 2 cannon strikes on the wing of the first. It attacked the second bomber with its .303 guns before losing it in a cloud. Two aircraft were claimed shot down by the convoy and a dinghy was reported by German aircraft.

*GERMANY*: 29 RAF Mosquitos went to Berlin, Hannover and the Ruhr, 45 aircraft minelaying from Brest to the Frisian Islands, 6 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax and 1 Wellington lost from the minelaying force.

Obstlt. Hermann Graf was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 11.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*12 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: US Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton takes command of the US Ninth Air Force. HQ Ninth Air Force issued Tables of Organization for the US IX Fighter Command, authorizing 2 air support divisions, 5 fighter wings, 1 reconnaissance group, 21 fighter groups, and 65 fighter squadrons. 3 combat wings were activated for the US IX Bomber Command: the 97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) at Marks Hall which will control light bomber groups; the 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium), formerly the 3d Bombardment Wing, at Earls Colne; and the 99th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium), formerly the 44th Bombardment Wing (Heavy), at Great Dunmow.

A Halifax bomber based at Leeming, returning from an air raid on Cannes was running short of fuel, so the pilot made an emergency, rather rough, three-engined landing at Marston Moor airfield near York, as it was taxiing round the perimeter track, the pilot opened the bomb doors, as he did so he felt a bump. At the control tower he examined the bomb doors and found that they were badly damaged, so he decided to walk round the perimeter track where he found a live 1,000 lb bomb lying there. An aircraftsman with a rifle and fixed bayonet was put on guard and he was later seen patrolling around it, but as far away from it as possible. The plane was refuelled and was flown back to its base - after the crew had breakfasted.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces continued their drive out of Kiev, entering Zhitomir. This was an important rail center on the last rail line available to the Germans east of the Pripet marshes. German resistance grew more serious as reinforcements arrived to begin patching up their shattered lines. The Russians captured Korostyshev. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allied advance was at the Germans _'Reinhard' _Line. The British 56th Division was forced to withdraw from some positions on Monte Camino.

The Germans launched a division-sized combined sea borne and airborne invasion of the British held island of Leros in the Aegean Sea. The British defenders were subjected to heavy air attacks from Stuka dive-bombers as the RAF was unable to provide support to the distant outpost. Heavy fighting ensued.

The Luftwaffe was up again looking for convoys. 62 aircraft with HE bombs and 12 Hs 293 glide bombs searched throughout the day for enemy ships in the Aegean and near Rhodes. There was an attack by 4 Do 217s with 8 Hs 293s on enemy shipping. A mine-sweeper had 4 near misses before being hit by aircraft from 5./KG 100 with 3 killed and a great deal of damage but she did not sink. The destroyer HMS 'Rockwood' was hit and although the bomb did not explode it still put her out of commission. The Hs 293s ultimately did not sink anything.

In Italy, B-26s attacked railroad bridges and tracks in the Montalto di Castro and Orbetello areas, but heavy cloud cover prevented effective hits on the targets. P-38s flew an air-sea rescue patroled off the mouth of the Semeni River in Albania. NATBF light bombers hit guns, troops, and railway facilities near Palena, the town of Atina, and the road at Acquafondata. Medium bombers hit the Berat/Kucove airfield and an oil refinery in Albania after failing to locate targets near Athens, Greece.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-508' _and US Navy Liberator aircraft (Squadron VB-103/C) engaged in a deadly duel. Both the aircraft and the boat perished. The aircraft was forced to ditch a few miles away from where the u-boat sank due to three damaged engines caused by the attack of a Ju-88 squadron. According to one of the survivors, Frank Kittle, the first report that came back to Dunkeswell was that the U-boat and the B 24 crew all perished. 57 men died from the u-boat.

Grand Admiral Donitz complained that in the Atlantic;


> "_...the enemy holds every trump card ... (he) knows all our secrets!_"


President Roosevelt embarked in the battleship _'Iowa' _(BB-61) at the start of his journey that would include his presence at conferences at Teheran and Cairo.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*13 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Having captured Zhitomir, the Soviets began moving north toward Korosten.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: While the British 8th Army continued its advance, capturing Atessa; General Clark advised Alexander that the US 5th Army's attacks should be halted.

Destroyer HMS _'Dulverton' _was in the Aegean north of Rhodes looking for landing forces when she was hit by an Hs293 glider bomb and sank within two hours. There were 109 survivors.

Weather limited air operations to air-sea rescue patrols which were hampered by overcast. In Italy, NATBF light bombers hit Palena and Atina and later bombed Civitavecchia harbor and a road W of Terracina; US XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers, along with RAF DAF airplanes, bombed Giulianova harbor and shipping, roads leading to the battle zone, and landing grounds of Aquino, Frosinone, and Marcigliana; fighters hit train and trucks in the Pescara-Rieti area.

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 130: 79 of 159 B-17s, 61 of 109 B-24s and 3 of 4 B-17 PFF aircraft hit the port area at Bremen and targets of opportunity in the Kiel-Flensburg area. 100+ aircraft aborted the mission due to weather. Twenty-four B-24s were sent to Bremen with the 576th leading and escorted by 45 P-38s. Fifteen reached the target with 8 having to abort due to mechanical difficulties and 1 because of weather prior to target. Results were not observed. Enemy defenses again were quite heavy and Group losses high. Some 50-75 single and twin-engine fighters pressed home attacks and anti-aircraft fire was some of heaviest and accurate seen on these early missions. The Group lost 4 aircraft; one due to enemy fighters and 3 to flak. An additional 6 B-24s were damaged. Group gunners claimed 7 enemy aircraft, but the unit suffered an additional 43 casualties, 40 crew-members MIA and 3 injured. This was to be one of the costliest raids to the Group in men and aircraft losses during the early missions of World War II.

9 RAF Mosquitos attacked Berlin, 8 Oboe Mosquitos were sent to blast furnaces at Bochum. No losses.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ 354th Fighter Group and it's 353d, 355th and 356th Fighter Squadrons transferred from Greenham Common to Boxted, England with P-51's. They will fly their first mission on 1 Dec.

SS _'Cormount' _(2,841t) cargo ship, London to Blyth, was sunk by a mine off Harwich.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*14 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Marshal Petain, having tried and failed to reintroduce a measure of legitimacy and thus free France and himself from the head of government, Pierre Laval, and his collaborationist clique, was now virtually a German prisoner. Petain planned to say in a speech that he represented legitimate authority in France, and that on his death power would revert to the National Assembly. However, the contents of the speech were communicated to Hitler, who ordered Petain not to give it. Instead, the Germans planned to launch a campaign of repression and terror against the Resistance, exploiting what was left of Marshal Petain's reputation.

In a freak accident, President Roosevelt, Generals Marshall and Arnold, Admirals Leahy and King, plus scores of distinguished politicians, and army, naval and air force strategists came under fire while traveling to the the Tehran Conference on board the battleship _'Iowa'_. While running a torpedo drill, the US destroyer _'William D. Porter' _was targeting the _'Iowa's' _#2 magazine, a live torpedo was ejected and headed for the battleship. After maneuvering, the torpedo detonated 1200 feet aft of _'Iowa' _in her wake turbulence. When the incident was concluded, Air Force General Hap Arnold leaned over to Fleet Commander Admiral King and asked;


> "_Tell me Ernest, does this happen often in your Navy?"_



*GERMANY*: _'U-794'_, the Germany navy's first true submarine, goes into service at Kiel: it has a _Schnorkel _to provide the engines with oxygen while it is submerged.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans began counterattacks against Vatutin's forces around Zhitomir. The 7.Panzerdivision spearheads the attacks which throw the Soviet spearheads into disarray.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Indian Division with the 2nd New Zealand Division captured Perano.

B-25s, escorted by Fifteenth Air Force P-38s, bombed the Sofia, Bulgaria marshalling yard; the P-38s claimed 5 enemy aircraft destroyed. In Italy, US XII Air Support Command operations were curtailed by weather, and only battle area patrols were flown; RAF DAF fighter-bombers hit trains on the E coast of Italy near Avezzano, along the Dalmatian coast SE of Metkovic, Yugoslavia, and at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia; fighters strafed the airfields at Furbara and Tarquinia, Italy.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*15 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory is made C-in-C of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The British Special Operations Executive landed six agents in France and took 12, including Francois Mitterrand, back to Britain.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army stopped their attacks by order of General Alexander. The German defensive positions were not giving way. The guns were silent along the entire Italian line. The invading armies were exhausted. The plight of the defenders was no better. Both the British and Americans have given their all in the Fifth Army sector. On 5 November the British 56th Infantry Division attacked Monte Camino, a barren 3,000-foot mountain which the Germans had covered with mines and booby-traps. At the half-way point, they faced a series of brutal counter-attacks by the 15.Panzergrenadier Division but held on. They were finally forced to retire through sheer exhaustion. The US VI Corps suffered days of attacking elusive German defenders. It was only then that General Mark Clark gave the order to withdraw.

SS men rounded up nearly 2,000 Italian workers in the industrial suburbs of Milan and held them as hostages against further sabotage. Even so, explosions continued to rock this northern city and other forms of sabotage have become widespread. Milan's population has already been fined £1 million; more communal punishments have been threatened. Resistance continues to grow against the German occupiers and Fascist collaborators. Six Fascists were killed in ambushes in the Florence district. It was inevitable that Italy's Jewish population should bear the brunt of Nazi fury. At least 7,500 Jews were being rounded up in Rome and herded in trains bound for German death camps. Hundreds more were being sheltered from the Gestapo in Rome's labyrinth of catacombs where Christians once sheltered from persecution.

_'U-565' _fired a spread of three torpedoes at the convoy TE-16 and heard one hit after 2 minutes 2 seconds, but could not observe the result due to the escorts. At 11.12 hours, the U-boat fired a coup de grâce at a damaged tanker and observed a hit in the stern, but the HMS _'Seminole' _remained afloat, was salvaged and repaired.

The HMS _'Quail' _(G 45) struck a mine laid on 11 November by _'U-453' _off Bari. She was towed into the harbour of Bari but the damage was too extensive to warrant repairs.

B-24's bombed Eleusis airfield in Greece while B-25s attacked the Kalamaki airfield at Athens. P-38s provideed escort. The P-38s from the 82d FG fought off attacks by Bf 109G-6 fighters of IV./JG 27, damaging 6 in addition to downing a Fw 190 and a Ju 87. Bf 109s from IV./JG 27 made claims of 4 P-38s and then 2 hours later of another 10 Lightnings although only 2 P-38s were lost. Lt. James McClure of the 71st FS/ 1st FG was killed. Hptm. Joachim Kirschner of Stab IV./JG 27 claimed to have shot down 3 P-38s during the day plus a B-25 south of Lebadeia. Fw. Heinz Bartels claimed 4 P-38s bringing his score to 70 kills.


*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces counterattacking against the Steppe Front recaptured Zhitomir. The attack was now being executed by the elite 48.Panzerkorps (7 divisions in all).

*GERMANY*: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler ordered that Gypsies and "part-Gypsies" are to be put;


> "_...on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps._"


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*16 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: North of Zhitomir the Soviet advance continued. The German force which was involved in a counterattack from the south was very small, but small penetrations gave the appearance of a larger force.

Lt. Wilhelm 'Willi' Batz of JG 52 scored his 40th victory.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After five desperate days of fighting, the bulk of the British survivors of the 234th Brigade surrender to the Germans on Leros, ending effective resistance on the island. The Germans took 3500 British soldiers prisoner along with nearly 6000 Italians who did not participate in the battle. The Allies decide to evacuate all the islands except Castelrosso.

B-25s bombed the airfields at Sibenik, Yugoslavia and Eleusis, Greece; the latter mission was escorted by Fifteenth Air Force P-38s.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-280' _sunk SW of Iceland, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqn 86/M). 49 dead (all hands lost).

Germany's dream of developing an atom bomb comes to an end as 160 US heavy bombers hit the hydro-electric plant at Vermork, Norway. Twenty civilians were killed in the attack which missed the plant. However, the damage done to the rest of the facility was so severe that the Germans abandoned further production of "heavy water".

In France, B-17s bombed the Istres-Le-Tube airfield, and B-26s hit Salon-de-Provence airfield. P-38s escorted the B-26s.


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## Njaco (Nov 24, 2008)

*17 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Novodichi fell to the Soviets during their advance on Korosten. North, near Gomel, they also continued the advance. German counterattacks south of Zhitomir succeeded in breaking the Soviet lines at several points.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Grand Admiral Dönitz took personal charge of a U-boat assault on convoy SL-139/MKS-30, comprising 66 Allied merchant ships.

*GERMANY*: 66 Lancasters and 17 Halifaxes of RAF No 8 Group were sent on a purely H2S blind-bombing raid to Ludwigshafen without any target indicators being dropped. Few details were available about the results of the bombing but it was believed that the attack was accurate and the IG Farben factory was hit. Because of misleading instructions broadcast from England to the German night-fighter pilots, most of the fighter force landed early and only 1 Lancaster was lost. But Major Walter Ehle - a 36 victory night-fighter with NJG 1 (33 night kills) - was killed in action over St. Truiden.

21 RAF Mosquitos attacked Berlin, Bochum, Bonn and Duisburg.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: B-17s hit the airfield at Eleusis, Greece, destroying several parked airplanes and scoring many hits on hangars, other buildings, and runways; P-38s escorted the B-17s as well as NATAF B-25s attacking the airfield at Kalamaki, Greece.


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## Njaco (Nov 25, 2008)

*18 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*GERMANY*: The *Battle of Berlin *has begun which will last until March 24, 1944. This well publicized campaign consisted of 16 major attacks on the German capital plus attacks on other targets. 9000+ sorties will be flown and over 600 aircraft will be lost. In the first mission, 440 Lancasters and four Mosquitos were dispatched to attack the German capital; 402 aircraft bombed the city. Few German fighters intercepted the force but nine Lancasters were lost, 2.0 per cent of the force. Berlin was completely cloud-covered and both marking and bombing were carried out blindly; Bomber Command could make no assessment of the results. A major diversionary raid by 395 aircraft, 248 Halifaxes, 114 Stirlings and 33 Lancasters, was made to Mannheim and Ludwigshafen; 325 aircraft hit the targets. German fighters successfully engaged the bomber force and 23 aircraft, 12 Halifaxes, nine Stirlings and two Lancasters, were lost, 5.8 per cent of the force. Cloud was present over the target area and much of the bombing was scattered. 21 people were killed, 154 injured and 7,500 bombed out. Many bombs fell outside the city and the local report listed much damage and loss at farms. Mannheim was raided by 395 aircraft - making this Bomber Command's heaviest night of operations so far in the war. This was the last major raid on the much-bombed city of Mannheim for 15 months. Other raids to five cities were made by Mosquitos, eight each bombed the Krupps armaments plant at Essen and the city of Frankfurt-am-Main; six hit Aachen; two attacked Groningen and one bombed Hannover.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Aircraft of the USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Troop Carrier Command carried paratroops of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division in a rehearsal of cross-channel operations. This was the first of an extended series of training exercises to be conducted prior to the Normandy invasion.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Five USAAF Eighth Air Force VIII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses flew Mission 133 dropping 980,000 leaflets over Paris, Orleans, Chartres, Rennes and Le Mans between 2015 and 2041 hours. During the night of 18/19 November, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons laid mines off three Bay of Biscay ports: five aircraft laid mines off Brest and four each off Lorient and St. Nazaire. Seven other aircraft dropped leaflets over northern France.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 132: 78 B-24 Liberators hit Kjeller Airfield 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Oslo; nine B-24s were lost. Four other aircraft bombed Rygge Airfield 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) east of Rygge. 18 bombers were claimed between fighters from JG 11, JG 5 and NJG 3. Lt. Friedrich Feuchter and Uffz. Reinhold Gullert from 10./JG 11 were both killed.

Whilst escorting combined convoys MKS.30 and SL.139, sloop HMS _'Chanticleer' _had her stern blown off by a Zaunkoenig fired by _'U-515'_. There were 28 casualties. She was towed to the Azores and paid off, but subsequently recommissioned as _'Lusitania' _and served as a base ship at Horta.

The 3000 ton British freighter _'Penolver' _stuck a mine off Newfoundland. Within minutes, 14 of her crew were rescued by the US merchantman _'De Lisle'_, which shortly thereafter struck a mine and was sunk.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Fighting on the eastern front remained heavy west of Kiev as Korosten and Ovruch were captured by the Soviets. To the north, the rail line out of Gomel to the west was cut as the Red Army captured Rechitsa. German forces in Gomel were imperiled by rapid expansion of the Rechitsa salient. Soviet troops forced the Dnieper River near Cherkassy, southeast of Kiev, and take Ovruch, northwest of Kiev. Meanwhile German attacks south of Zhitomir continued to make progress. 

_'U-18' _fired two torpedoes and observed two hits on the _'Josif Stalin' _off Lazarevskoje and reported the sinking of the ship after 20 minutes, however the tanker was only damaged.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Greece, 50 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lightning escort, bombed Eleusis Airfield near Athens; two aircraft wer lost. P-38 Lightnings also escorted USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium and light bombers of the XII Air Support Command and RAF aircraft in an attack on Larissa Airfield, 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) east of the city of Larissa.

In Italy, USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium and light bombers of the XII Air Support Command and the RAF attacked a billeting area at Rivisondoli and road, railway and town area west of San Vito Chietino and at Lanciano. Defended points and gun positions along the battleline were also attacked.

In Yugoslavia, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers hit a ship in the Krka River, trains at the Knin marshalling yard and between Knin and Kosovo, the landing ground at Sinj, harbor and vessels at Sibenik. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings escorted transports dropping supplies to partisans.

The _'Empire Dunstan' _(Master Norman Ramsay), dispersed from convoy KMS-31, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-81' _southwest of Taranto. Two crew members were lost. The master, 29 crew members, seven gunners and three passengers were picked up by the Norwegian merchant _'Lom' _and landed at Taranto.


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## Njaco (Nov 25, 2008)

*19 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 'Fido', a secret device to clear fog from runways was used for the first time to help bombers returning from the Rühr to land.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 135: six B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped 2.316 million leaflets on Amiens and Reims, France; Brussels and Ghent, Belgium; and Amsterdam and The Hague, The Netherlands. Over 100 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders dispatched to attack airfields in France aborted the mission when bad weather prevented rendezvous with the fighter escorts.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 134: 110 B-17 Flying Fortresses and three B-17 pathfinder force aircraft were dispatched to Gelsenkirchen but the malfunction of blind-bombing equipment and the weather caused the force to attack targets of opportunity on the German-Dutch border.

During the night of 19/20 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 25 aircraft to lay mines off coastal ports: four lay mines off St. Nazaire, three each lay mines off La Pallice and Lorient, and two each lay mines off Brest and Le Havre. Eleven other aircraft dropped leaflets over northern France.

_'U-211' _ was sunk east of the Azores, by depth charges from a British Wellington Mk. XIV aircraft (Sqn 179/F). 54 dead (all hands lost).

*GERMANY*: Leverkusen was bombed by 266 RAF Bomber Command aircraft, 70 Halifaxes, 86 Stirlings and ten Mosquitos; only four Halifaxes and one Stirling, 1.9 per cent of the force, were lost; very few German fighters were operating, probably because of bad weather at their airfields. The target was the I.G. Farben chemical plant but failures of equipment prevented most of the Oboe marking being carried out and other Pathfinder aircraft were unable to mark the target properly in difficult weather conditions, leading to bombs being scattered over a wide area. At least 27 towns, mostly well to the north of Leverkusen, recorded bombs. Leverkusen's own records show only one high-explosive bomb in the town! Mosquitos were also sent to bomb four cities: six hit Duisburg, two bomb Rheinhausen, and one each attacked Bonn and Dusseldorf.

In Berlin much of the fashionable Wilhelmstrasse has been destroyed and 131 people died, but factories were undamaged. Sir Arthur Harris, the chief of Bomber Command, recently told Mr Churchill:


> "_We can wreck Berlin from end to end ... It will cost between 400 and 500 aircraft. It will cost Germany the war._"


 In the latest raid bombers followed pathfinders over cloud cover all the way. Most did not see the target, releasing their loads (often one big bomb of 4,000 pounds or more) at an aiming point marked by a burning flare. Hopes that the USAAF would join in the Berlin campaign were unfulfilled. American fighter escorts lacked the range to reach Berlin.

Major Manfred Mossinger was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 301. 3./JG 301 transferred to Bad Woerishofen from Gardelegen.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German forces entered Zhitomir and heavy street fighting resulted. The Soviets, realizing how exposed their position was against this strong thrust made limited and organized retreats to more defensible lines while continuing their attacks west of Kiev. Red Army forces abandoned Zhitomir to avoid being trapped there.

Liaison vessel _'Pukkio' _was damaged by bomb off Suursaari in the Baltic Sea.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, Indian 8th Division sector, the Germans completed a withdrawal across the Sangro River into prepared defensive positions. The British 8th Army was stopped cold.

The First Special Service Force, made up of American and Canadian troops, landed in Italy. The men of this crack unit have completed a rigorous training course in wilderness survival, skiing, mountain climbing, parachuting and hand-to-hand combat.

A-36 Apaches and P-40s of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command bombed a bridge east of Cassino and the bridge and village of Pontecorvo, and, along with RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) fighter-bombers, hit strongpoints around the village of Barrea while supporting ground forces. Fighters (mostly RAF DAF) also strafed trucks and trains around Rieti.

S class submarine HMS _'Simoom' _was lost in the Mediterranean with all 48 crew after leaving Port Said on 2 November. She may have been the victim of a mine, or of an attack by _'U-595' _albeit in a position well away from Simoom’s route. This was the last British submarine to be sunk in the Mediterranean during WW2.


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## Njaco (Nov 25, 2008)

*20 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: A new attack by the Soviets began near Cherkassy as they crossed the Dniepr River. The Red Army achieved a breakthrough near Kremenchug in the Ukraine, and advanced toward Kirovograd.

_'U-768' _was sunk in the Gulf of Danzig after a collision with _'U-745'_. 44 survivors (No casualties).

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army commenced Operation Encroach toward Rome, Italy. Heavy rains dulled Montgomery's planned attack across the Sangro River to a limited effort. The 36th Brigade was the only unit to cross.

The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command and RAF Desert Air Force fighters carried out uneventful armed reconnaissance; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force aircraft bombed the Porto Civitanova railway junction, Pedaso, Giulianova, and Loreto.

With the loss of Leros, British forces began a hasty withdrawal from the exposed Aegean island of Samos. The Germans occupied Samos in the Dodecanese Islands, after the British evacuated. This ended the British campaign. The British have taken a beating and their effort will later be described as quickly improvised with insufficient forces.

Einsatzkampf Gruppe Ju 88/Gen.d.Fl.Ausb was disbanded at Athens/Eleusis and its assets returned to bomber schools or re-assigned to other units.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Donitz called off his U-boats, as the combined convoys MKS.30 and SL.139 were protected by 19 warships and a 24-hour air cover: three U-boats have been sunk. German submarine _'U-536' _was sunk about 453 nautical miles (839 kilometers) northeast of Lagens Field, Azores Islands, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Nene' _(K 270) and the Canadian corvettes HMCS _'Snowberry' _(K 166) and _'Calgary' _(K 231); 17 of the 55 crewmen survive. _'U-618' _shot down a RAF Liberator aircraft (Sqn 53/N). The entire aircrew was lost. _'U-648' _shot down a RCAF Sunderland aircraft (Sqn 422/G). The entire aircrew, 11 men, were lost.


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## Njaco (Nov 25, 2008)

*21 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The commander of _Oberfehlshaber Sud_, Luftwafffe Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring was dismissed from his duties and assigned as commander of _Oberfehlshaber der Heeresgruppe C_ - commander-in-chief of all German forces in Italy.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bombed gun emplacements at Gaeta. USAAF and RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers hit strongpoints in the Santa Maria Imbaro and Poggiofiorito areas and fighters carried out patrols and reconnaissance along the battleline along the Corigliano and Sangro Rivers. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-26 Marauders bombed the harbor at Civitavecchia, a bridge at Fano, and marshalling yard at Chiusi. P-38 Lightnings provide escorted to the latter target.

German forces finish taking Samos capturing 4800 British soldiers.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans advanced through Zhitomir and now attacked toward Korosten.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Captain-class frigate HMS _'Foley' _and sloop HMS _'Crane' _sank _'U-538' _with depth charges in the North Atlantic, south-west of Ireland. There were no survivors from her crew of 55 men. Both _'Foley' _and _'Crane' _were members of Support Group 7. This was the second U-boat to be sunk by US-built DE's operated by the RN. 'U_-538'_ was a long-range Type IXC U-boat built by Deutsche Werft AG, at Hamburg. Commissioned on 10 Feb 43. _'U-538' _conducted one operational patrol and had not sunk any ships. This event demonstrated the combined effect of emerging new technology and inexperience on the part of the U-boat commanders. New commanders, particularly when charged with the larger and less manoeuvrable Type IX boats, were at a definite disadvantage when attacked by well-equipped ships from a proficient ASW group. The USN's DE's were widely regarded as the best ASW escorts of the war. Their high endurance, speed and sea kindliness, combined with the best weapons and sensors of their type, made them highly effective. RN sloops and the River-class frigates also had good endurance and sea characteristics but were slower and had numerous technological limitations. The Type IX U-boats were most effective when employed in remote areas of operation where organized convoy systems were not in effect. These submarines were used with outstanding success in the first phase of Operation 'Paukenschlag' (Drumbeat) off the US eastern seaboard, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the South Atlantic and in the Indian Ocean. Many Type IX's served as replenishment boats for the smaller, medium-range Type VII U-boats.

German attacks continued on the Allied convoy SL 139/MKS 30. 25 He 177s of II./KG 40 took off to attack the Allied convoy. 20 aircraft attacked the convoy at 17:00 hours with 40 Hs 293s from between 400 and 600 meters. One ship, the _'Delius' _was hit and set on fire and another ship, the freighter _'Marsa' _was sunk. During the attack a Coastal Command Liberator from 224 Sqdrn arrived from an anti U-boat patrol and not only interrupted the attack but took on the bombers with its own defensive guns, forcing the Germans to break off the attack and head for home. Greater successes were thwarted by the escort's AA fire. The crew of Oblt. von Berg from 5./KG 40 were reported missing while 5 of the crew of Ofw. Freyer from 4./KG 40 were killed in a crash at St. Christoly. _'U-648' _shot down a RAF Liberator a/c (Sqn 53/A) near Convoy SL-139. _'U-155' _was badly damaged in an attack by enemy aircraft.


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## Njaco (Nov 25, 2008)

*22 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF Bomber Command sent 14 Wellingtons to lay mines: eight lay mines in the Frisian Islands and four lay mines off Texel Island. During the night of 22/23 November, an RAF Bomber Command bomber dropped leaflets over France.

Whilst undertaking operation *Barbara*, midget submarine Welman 46 (one of four such craft on the operation) which was commanded by Lt. B Pedersen of the Norwegian Army was spotted making an approach to the Laksevåg floating dock at Bergen and was captured. This was the only instance of operational use of the Welman submarines: Welman 45, 47 and 48 were abandoned by their operators (who were all later recovered to the UK by MTB). Lt. Pedersen made three escapes from a naval PoW camp but his fourth was frustrated by the arrival of the British Army in May 1945. Welman features may have been used in the German Biber miniature submarines.

*GERMANY*: *Battle of Berlin*: Harris' bombing campaign against Berlin continued. RAF Bomber Command dispatched 764 aircraft, 469 Lancasters, 234 Halifaxes, 50 Stirlings and 11 Mosquitos, to bomb Berlin; 670 aircraft bomb. This was the greatest force sent to Berlin so far but it was also the last raid in which Stirlings were sent to Germany. Bad weather again kept most of the German fighters on the ground and the bomber force was able to take a relatively "straight in, straight out" route to the target without suffering undue loss. Twenty six aircraft, Lancasters, ten Halifaxes and five Stirlings, were lost, 3.4 per cent of the force. Berlin was again completely cloud-covered and returning crews could only estimate that the marking and bombing were believed to be accurate, In fact, this was the most effective raid on Berlin of the war. A vast area of destruction stretched from the central districts westwards across the mainly residential areas of Tiergarten and Charlottenburg to the separate suburb city of Spandau. Because of the dry weather conditions, several "firestorm" areas were reported and a German plane next day measured the height of the smoke cloud as 6,000 meters (19,685 feet). It was estimated that 175,000 people were bombed out. 2000 civilians were killed, including 500 who died when an air raid shelter took a direct hit from a 4000lb bomb. Interesting entries among the lists of buildings destroyed or severely damaged were: the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church), the Charlottenburg Castle, the Berlin Zoo, much of the Unter den Linden, the British, French, Italian and Japanese embassies, the Ministry of Weapons and Munitions, the Waffen SS Administrative College, the barracks of the Imperial Guard at Spandau and, among many industrial premises, five factories of the Siemens electrical group and the Alkett tank works which had recently moved from the Ruhr. In secondary raids, 12 Mosquitos were dispatched to hit three targets: six bombed the city of Leverkusen, four attacked the I.G. Farben chemical plant at Leverkusen and one bombed the city of Hannover.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Halifax bomber had just taken off from Croft airfield, County Durham, and had reached 500' when it suddenly dived into the ground at Blue Anchor Farm, Scotch Corner at 19.26. Six of the crew were killed and one was injured.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British bridgehead on the north side of the Sangro River was now 5 miles wide and 2,000 yards deep. Getting supplies across the river due to the rain was a very arduous task and the hold on the bridgehead remained tenuous.

Over 100 USAAF Twelfth Air Force XII Air Support Command P-40s, B-25 Mitchells, and RAF Baltimores, attacked strongpoints in the Lanciano-Fossacesia area, concentrating on gun positions. P-40s also hit roads and railways at Fabriano, the towns of Viticuso and Vallerotonda, and as far north as Urbino; A-36 Apaches hit chemical works, harbor and railroad yards at Civitavecchia and bombed the village of San Vittore del Lazio. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-26 Marauders, escorted by P-38 Lightnings, hit the railroad center at Foligno, scoring numerous hits; others attacked a bridge at Ciciana. During the night, forty three RAF aircraft of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bombed Ciampino Airfield while one aircraft dropped leaflets over the battlefield.

Minesweeper HMS _'Hebe' _was mined off Bari, in an area that had been swept twice the previous day. There were 38 casualties and 72 survivors of whom 38 had received fractures due to being thrown into the air by the explosion. 

*NORTH AFRICA*: The SEXTANT Conference between U.S. President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston S Churchill and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek begins in Cairo. Talks last until 26 November and concern Operation OVERLORD (the overall plan for the invasion of western Europe), the possibility of expanding operations in the Mediterranean, and future operations against Japan. It is decided to make an amphibious landing and offensive in Burma (Operation CHAMPION) and to base B-29 Superfortresses in the China-Burma-India Theater (Operation TWILIGHT). They discuss Burma and China plans without making any decisions. They also do not prepare a plan for the upcoming discussions with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Teheran, Iran.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: A Brazilian expeditionary force is to be sent to Europe, the Brazilians announced today. At least 60,000 men will cross the Atlantic to assist the Allied fight on European soil. Brazil's air force, though heavily engaged in the defence of Brazil's extensive coastline, will also send a contingent to Europe. Brazil declared war on the Axis powers on 22 August last year, after a series of U-boat attacks on several merchant ships in Brazilian waters.


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## Njaco (Nov 25, 2008)

*23 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Seven RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bombed Texel Island. Eighty three USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bombed Berck-sur-Mer and Longuenesse Airfields at Saint-Omer.

The unescorted _'Elizabeth Kellogg' _(Master Norman Thomson Henderson) was hit by one torpedo from _'U-516' _150 miles north of Cristobal. The torpedo struck on the port side at the #4 tank amidships. The explosion ruptured the #2, #3 and #4 port tanks and threw burning oil all over the ship. The ship caught fire from the bridge to the poop deck and killed all the deck officers. Flames shot through the ventilators into the engine room and prevented the watch below from throttling down the engines. The survivors of seven officers, 29 men and twelve armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, two .50cal and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in two lifeboats, two rafts and others jumped into the water. The burning tanker with engines full speed astern and her rudder hard aport made large circles around the survivors. The master, four other officers, three men and two armed guards died in the attack. The after magazine exploded after six hours, broke her back and the fire burned out after about twelve hours. An aircraft spotted the stopped tanker, took a picture and reported the position. The American tug USS _'Favorite' _(IX 45) and several escort vessels were sent to salvage the ship, but the vessel sank before they arrived. On 24 November, the Army tanker USAT Y-10 picked up six survivors and the submarine chaser USS SC-1017 the remaining survivors. All were landed in Cristobal the same day.

_'U-648' _was sunk NE of the Azores, by depth charges from frigates HMS _'Bazely'_, _'Blackwood'_, and _'Drury'_. 50 dead (all hands lost).

*GERMANY*: *Battle of Berlin*: RAF bombers returned to the city, killing 1,315 people in a raid in which the Germans tried to confuse the RAF by using a woman's voice to direct their fighters; the RAF responded by using a woman's voice to direct the bombers. 383 aircraft, 365 Lancasters, ten Halifaxes and eight Mosquitos, to continued the attack on Berlin; 322 bombed the target. The bombing force used the same direct route as had been employed yesterday. The German controllers made an early identification of Berlin as the probable target; their single-engined fighters were gathered over the city before the arrival of the bombers and other fighters arrived a few minutes later. Fake instructions broadcast from England caused much annoyance to the German who was giving the "running commentary;" the Germans started using a female commentator but this was promptly countered by a female voice from England ordering the German pilots to land because of fog at their bases. "Spoof" fighter flares dropped by Mosquitos north of the bomber stream also caused some diversion of German effort. Bomber crews noticed that flak over the target was unusually restrained, with the German fighters obviously being given priority. Twenty aircraft, all Lancasters, were lost, 5.2 per cent of the bomber force. The target was again cloud-covered and the Pathfinders carried out skymarking, but many of the Main Force crews aimed their bombs through the cloud at the glow of 11 major fires still burning from yesterday. Much further destruction was caused in Berlin. In other raids, four Oboe Mosquitos attacked Cologne while one each attacked the Knapsack power-station near Cologne and the city of Emden without loss.

A test flight of the first true jet fighter aircraft, the Me-262 was made for Hitler at Insterburg, East Prussia. Hitler inexplicably declared that the plane must be capable of carrying bombs. This remarkable aircraft could have potentially turned the tide of the air war over German in favor of the Nazis had it gone into production earlier.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the U.S. Fifth Army's II Corps area, the 1st Special Service Force, a highly trained group of Canadians and Americans under Colonel Robert T. Frederick, was attached to the 36th Infantry Division. Weather limited USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations to fighter patrols of the battle area.


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## Njaco (Nov 26, 2008)

*24 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 136: seven B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped 2.4 million leaflets over Lille, France; and Brussels, Antwerp, Charleroi and Ghent, Belgium. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bombed Toulon harbor, sinking light cruiser _'Jeanne de Vienne'_, destroyer _'Aigle' _and sloop SG 21.

The unescorted _'Melville E. Stone' _(Master Lawrence J. Gallagher) was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-516' _about 100 miles northwest of Cristobal. The ship was less than seven hours in sea when the torpedoes were spotted by a lookout. The first torpedo struck on the port side in the settling tank and the second hit ten seconds later near #4 hold. The explosions opened large holes in the side and extensively damaged the main and auxiliary engines. As the ship settled rapidly on an even keel, the ten officers, 32 crewmen, 23 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and 23 passengers (military personnel) abandoned ship immediately in rough seas. Two of the lifeboats capsized from the suction created by the ship, which sank within eight minutes and several men drowned, including the master. Three boats got away and later picked up men from rafts and debris. The survivors were later spotted by an aircraft, which dropped flares so that the American submarine chasers USS SC-1023 and USS SC-662 could pick them up. Five officers, seven crewmen, two armed guards and one passenger were lost.

Survivors of U.S. tanker _'Elizabeth Kellogg'_, torpedoed by German submarine _'U-516' _on 22 November 1943, were rescued by submarine chaser SC-1017 and Army tanker Y 10. Eight of the tanker's 36-man merchant complement and two of the 12-man Armed Guard perished with the ship.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The U.S. Fifth Army outlined a final plan of attack to begin about 2 December. The first phase called for the capture of the Mt. Camino-Mt. Ia Difensa-Mt. Maggiore area, to be preceded on 1 December by the capture of Calabritto. In the second phase, Mt. Sammucro was to be cleared in conjunction with a drive west along the Colli-Atina road. The third phase was to be an attack into the Liri Valley. In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps captured Castel Alfedena. The corps bridgehead north of the Sangro River was now firmly established.

Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force bombers, along with RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers, in close support of the British Eighth Army, hit gun positions and defended points in the Fossacesia area. The USAAF Twelfth Air Force XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches, in support of the U.S. Fifth Army, hit roads northwest of the battleline, and bombed the harbor at Civitavecchia. During the night, RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group aircraft bombed four targets: Six bombed a ball bearing plant in Turin with the loss of one aircraft; and one each bombed a highway at Gallinaria, a railroad at Genoa and a highway at Savona. Seventeen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lighting escorts, bombed the marshalling yard at Sofia with the loss of two aircraft.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German attacks at Korosten increased, forcing the Soviets to fall back.


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## Njaco (Nov 26, 2008)

*25 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Propaisk was liberated by the Soviets in their attacks near Mogilev and Gomel.

Obstlt. Dietrich Hrabak became the 337th soldier to be awarded the _Eichenlaub _for achieving 118 kills.

14(jabo)./JG 5 took part in a large combat over northern Finland. Two jabostaffel pilots made victory claims. Uffz. Rudolf Gerndt claimed an Airacobra southeast of Petsamo airfield and Ofw. Richard Luy claimed an IL-2 east of the airfield. 23 other claims were made for destructions of IL-2s and other fighters by III./JG 5 pilots.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-600' _was sunk in the North Atlantic north of Punta Delgada, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Bazely' _and HMS _'Blackwood'_. 54 dead. _'U-849' _was sunk in the South Atlantic West of the Congo estuary, by depth charges from a US Liberator aircraft (VP-107/B-6). 63 dead (all hands lost).

On a fighter sweep over Lille with 6./JG 26 and 8./JG 26, Major Johannes Seifert's Fw 190 was seen colliding with a P-38 from the US 55th FG, dive away out of control and crash. His body was found still strapped in the wreckage of his plane. He was posthumously promoted to Oberstleutnant. His final score was 57 kills.

*GERMANY*: At Erfurt airfield, a speed test of the new Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito A0/U-1 resulted in a top speed of 620 kph with the aircraft fully armed. Also tested at this time was the Ta 154V-3, the first Moskito powered with the Jumo 213 engine. But the V-3 was too heavy because of its 4 20mm cannon, 30mm MG 108 high-speed cannon and FuG 212 Lichenstein C-1 Matratzen antenna array that its top speed was 75kph slower than expectations.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: II./JG 77 was re-equipped with the Macchi 205. The machine was fast and good to fly except for a tendancy to enter a spin easily when losing speed in tight turns. A further disadvantage was the fitting of an Italian radio. Despite talking over a powerful transmitter, it was barely possible to communicate with the aircraft. Finally, refueling and rearming were very intricate, so that establishing operational readiness was very protracted.


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## Njaco (Nov 26, 2008)

*26 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army has driven the Germans out of Gomel, north of the Pripet Marshes, and was chasing them along a 100-mile front in White Russia. This powerful and well-timed blow now cracked the Wehrmacht's winter line, and the Germans were forced out of the deep belts of well-equipped dugouts where they had intended to spend the winter in comparative comfort. Now they were being hounded into the marshes and forests where the snow was deep and the partisans lie in wait for the unwary. The German high command admited that the Russians were;


> "_..trying to interfere with our disengaging movements."_



*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British transport HMT _'Rohna' _was sunk by a German guided bomb in the Mediterranean Not wanting to give the enemy any information about its success, the American and British military did not acknowledge the sinking. The secrecy prevailed even after the war. About 2,200 American servicemen boarded the _'Rohna'_, which had been designed to carry 100 passengers in comfort, in Oran, Algeria. The largest single unit was the 853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, which was going to India to build runways. The _'Rohna' _left Oran and joined a convoy sailing from Great Britain. Since the departure was on Thanksgiving Day, the crew provided a holiday repast that didn't stay down long as the ship rolled through the swells. Seasickness, however, would be the least of their problems.

At 4:30 p.m. the next day, German bombers based in occupied France attacked the convoy. The attack lasted for an hour, and most soldiers saw none of it. All were ordered below, in many cases levels below deck. In additional to conventional bombs, German aircraft had Henschel 293 guided bombs. The large explosive was fitted with aluminium wings, rudders and rocket propulsion, and the bombardier guided it with radio signals. At about 5:15 p.m., a guided bomb struck the _'Rohna' _near the waterline on the port side, blowing a hole through both sides of the ship. It hit near where much of the 853rd was berthed. About 300 were killed by the blast itself. It is impossible to determine how many survived but couldn't get out of the ship before it sank. Attempts to abandon ship were disastrous. Many of the lifeboats and rafts were frozen by rust or paint to their moorings. Instead of life vests, which would hold heads out of the water if the wearer was unconscious, soldiers had inflatable life rings. Many drowned while wearing them. Seas were rough enough to inhibit visibility, and night fell shortly after the attack. Five ships criss-crossed the water searching for survivors, who bobbed in and out of sight of the searchlights. The 853rd had 30 officers and and 93 enlisted men when the _'Rohna' _left port. Now, 495 were gone, and 14and of the survivors were injured. As well, 134 British and Australian officers and Indian crew members died. The total death toll was 1,149. But the British, French and American defending aircrew made the following claims; 6 He 177A-3s lost and 3 He 177A-3s were destroyed in crash landings, all from II./KG 40. A further aircraft was claimed destroyed by the AA gunners aboard an LCI. The defenders lost a single Beaufighter.

Two Macchi 205s of II./JG 77 were scrambled on a recon flight of a castle where a partisan HQ was suspected.

*GERMANY*: *Battle of Berlin*: RAF Bomber command again sends bombers against Berlin, striking the city center. 443 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos to Berlin and Stuttgart (diversion). Both forces flew a common route over Northern France and on nearly to Frankfurt before diverging. The German controllers thought that Frankfurt was the main target until a late stage and several bombers were shot down as they flew past Frankfurt. Only a few fighters appeared over Berlin, where flak was the main danger, but the scattered condition of the bomber stream at Berlin meant that bombers were caught by fighters off track on the return flight and the casualties mounted. 28 Lancasters were lost, 6.2 per cent of the force, and 14 more Lancasters crashed in England. The weather was clear over Berlin but, after their long approach flight from the south, the Pathfinders marked an area 6-7 miles north-west of the city centre and most aircraft bombed there. Because of Berlin's size, however, most of the bombing still fell within the city boundaries and particularly on the semi-industrial suburb of Reinickendorf; smaller amounts of bombing fell in the centre and in the Siemensstadt (with many electrical factories) and Tegel districts. 2-3000 civilians were killed in the raid. In addition, the Berlin Zoo was heavily hit, killing most of the animals but several large and dangerous animals - leopards, panthers, jaguars, apes - escaped and had to be hunted and shot in the streets. The diversionary raid on Stuttgart was carried out by 157 Halifaxes and 21 Lancasters. 6 Halifaxes lost, 3.4 per cent of the force. The bombing was very scattered and caused little damage but part of the night-fighter force was drawn off from the Berlin operation.

At Intersburg during an inspection of the new Me 262 jet fighter with the designer, Professor Willy Messerschmitt, Adolf Hitler asked the professor if the new jet could carry bombs. Messerschmitt gave him the answer that he had given Goring on 2 November. After being told it could carry 2200lb or 1100lb bombs, Hitler proclaimed that he had found his 'blitzbomber' that could keep the Allies off the beaches whenever the landings would happen. From this point on - in Hitler's mind - the Me 262 was expected to be a fighter-bomber and not the fighter so desperately needed. Messerschmitt ignored the 'will' of the Fuhrer and busily worked to put the machine into production as a fighter. Milch, upon reading intel reports on US bombers also pressed on with production of the Me 262 as a fighter. Though Milch made agreeable noises about building a fighter-bomber, little or nothing was done to that end.

350 B-17s, 77 B-24s and 13 B-17PFF aircraft attacked the port of Bremen. 22 B-17s and 3 B-24s were lost but only 4 to defending fighters. 128 B-17s were dispatched to Paris but aborted because the target was covered in cloud. These missions were escorted by 28 P-38s and 353 P-47s with the loss of 4 Thunderbolts.

Hptm. Wilhelm Fulda succeeded Hptm. Graf Resugier as Gruppenkommandeur of II./301.


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## Njaco (Nov 27, 2008)

*27 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*GERMANY*: *Battle of Berlin*: Sir Arthur Harris, the chief of Bomber Command, stated that the RAF will bomb the city until the heart of Nazi Germany stops beating. The capital was probably the most intensively bombed city anywhere, hit this year by 12,000 tons of explosive, of which 5,000 have been dropped in the past few days. Much of administrative Berlin has been hit, including the Air Ministry, Admiralty, Hitler's Chancellery and his train. The Führer was not in town, but dispatched fire engines to his capital from Brandenburg and Potsdam. Despite this, and the efforts of the army to create fire-breaks by blowing up buildings, fires spread rapidly.

Among several armaments factories hit was the Allkett tank factory. The greatest loss of life occurred when a bomber crashed onto a building, killing 92 people in the air-raid shelter. A Swede told journalists:


> "_The Berlin we know has ceased to exist." _


*MEDITERRANEAN*: A British tank brigade crossed the Sangro River to offer further support to British forces north of the river. Tanks of the 4th Armoured Brigade and transport were brought across the Sangro River. In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps prepared to attack in the Adriatic coastal sector, weather conditions at last permitting close air support.

During the day and night, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters, light and medium bombers and aircraft of the associated RAF units of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force attacked enemy positions, gun emplacements, roads, vehicles, railroad facilities, and targets of opportunity in the Lanciano-Fossacesia-Castelfrentano-Casoli area. B-25 Mitchells also bombed Porto Civitanova. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lightning escort, bombed three targets: 51 bombed the marshalling yard at Rimini with the loss of two aircraft; 39 bombed the marshalling yard at Grizzano; and 16 bombed a railroad bridge over the Reno River 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Bologna.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bombed Sibenik, Yugoslavia.

A Me 410 from 2(F)./122 failed to return from a photo recce over the Naples area, but in fact got lost on the return leg to Perugia and landed at Montecorvino airfield, which was then in Allied hands. The Me 410 was captured intact and found to have on board a treasure trove of valuable signal documents. Fw. Hans Beyer (F) and Uffz. Helmut Hein (Bf) captured.

*NORTH AFRICA*: At a meeting of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) delegation to the Cairo Conference, U.S. Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander in Chief, U.S. China-Burma-India Theater of Operations (CBI); Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek; Commander in Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC); and Deputy Commander in Chief SEAC, revealed that Chiang Kai-Shek was unwilling to fulfill his commitments agreed to at Cairo and wanted Stilwell to hold out for an airborne assault on Mandalay, Burma, (Operation TOREADOR) and 10,000 tons (9 072 metric tonnes) a month over the Hump.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The USN placed an order for two prototype Grumman (Model G-58 ) XF8F-1 Bearcats.

The one and only Martin (Model 170) XPB2M-1R Mars flying boat transport was delivered to the USN's Transport Squadron Eight (VR-8 ) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. On 30 November, this aircraft carried a 13,000 pound (5 897 kilogram) cargo load on a 4,375 mile (7 041 kilometer) nonstop flight from NAS Patuxent River to Natal, Brazil.

Brigadier General Kenneth B Wolfe becomes Commanding General XX Bomber Command.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-238' _rescued two pilots from a Wellington aircraft (172 Sqn RAF), which was shot down by _'U-764'_.

A Ju 88A-4 belonging to 11./KG 30 hit trees in the hills east of Eode Molle, south of Gravlev, crashed to the ground and was engulfed in flames, killing the crew of four.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The fighters of JG 52 lost another experte when Paul Eberhardt (20 kills) was killed in action against the Russians.


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## Njaco (Nov 30, 2008)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Further confirmation of the existence of the V1 Flying-Bomb was made during a photographic reconnaissance mission by a No. 540 Squadron Mosquito. 

_'U-542' _was sunk north of Madeira by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft with "Leigh light" (Sqn 179/H). 56 dead (all hands lost).

10 RAF Mosquitos flew to Essen and 1 to Duisburg, with 10 aircraft conducting minelaying off Brest and Cherbourg.

B-26s were recalled over S France due to bad weather; the medium bombers and their fighter escort claimed 5 fighters destroyed in combat over the French coast.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Northwest of Gomel near Zhlobin, the Russian Army advanced.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army began an offensive to again cross the Sangro River. Montgomery declared that;


> "_..the road to Rome is open_"


...as the Eighth Army launched its heavy attack across the Sangro. Aircraft and artillery bombardment was heavy in preparation. The attack was spearheaded by the Indian 8th Division and heavily supported by artillery and air assets. The German 65th Infantry division defending the area took heavy losses and withdrew in disorder before German reinforcements restored the situation. By the end of the day the British 8th Indian Division almost reached Mozzogrogna.

HMS _'Birmingham' _ was torpedoed and very seriously damaged by _'U-407' _off the coast of Cyrenaica. The cruiser managed to reach Alexandria, where temporary repairs were carried out. In June 1944, she sailed to the USA for permanent repairs and returned to service in November 1944.

In Yugoslavia, B-25s bombed warehouses, docks, marshalling yards, barracks, shipping, and other targets at Sibenik, Zara, and Dubrovnik; RAF DAF fighters strafed trains between Dubrovnik and Metkovic.

*IRAN*: Beginning today Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, with their respective staff, met in Teheran. Lasting for four days the meetings confirmed the Overlord plan in May of 1944 and the Anvil plan for southern France. Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan after the war in Europe was over. This conference will become controversial in US Politics, because the American accommodations were bugged by their hosts. Roosevelt also hesitated to appear to Stalin as too close to Churchill. This hesitation was claimed to have allowed the Soviets more concessions than otherwise would have been allowed.


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## Njaco (Nov 30, 2008)

*29 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Finland made an offer for peace based on borders of 1939. The Soviet Union refused to discuss the peace on these terms.

_'U-20' _fired a spread of two torpedoes at a convoy consisting of a tanker escorted by one torpedo boat and four patrol boats off Gogra in the Black Sea. No detonation was heard, so Grafen assumed that they had missed. In fact, one torpedo hit the _'Peredovik' _but was a dud and only made a small hole into the hull.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army continued its attacks across the Sangro River. Mozzogrogna and Fossacesia fell.

Privates Mikio Hasemoto and Shizuya Hayashi of the US 100th Infantry Battalion displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity beyond the call of duty at Cerasuolo. (Medal of Honor, Posthumous for Hasemoto)

B-25s bombed Sarajevo, Yugoslavia and road and rail bridges at Giulianova, Italy. US, South African Air Force (SAAF), and RAF light bombers hit enemy strongpoints at San Vito Chietino and the Castelfrentano-Lanciano-Fossacesia areas; Allied fighter-bombers bombed enemy forward positions around Fossacesia and Lanciano of Italy. 70 B-26s bombed the airfield and marshalling yards at Grosseto; B-24s, with P-38 escort, bombed the Furbara area; many other medium and heavy bombers were prevented from bombing targets by bad weather.

The US 27th, 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons, 1st Fighter Group, transferred from Djedeida, Tunisia to Monserrato, Sardinia with P-38s.

*NORTH AMRICA*: 412th Fighter Group was activated at Muroc Army Air Base, California. It was to operate the Bell P-59 Airacomet jet to (1) conduct tests and engage in experimental work with the two American jets and (2) as an operational training unit (OTU) to train pilots and other personnel for duty with jet aircraft.

The effort to modify a B-29 bomber to carry a nuclear bomb was completed.

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command *Mission 140*. 154 of 360 B-17s hit the port of Bremen, Germany and targets of opportunity in the area. Unfavorable cloud conditions and malfunction of blindbombing equipment caused 200+ B-17s to abort. They claimed 15-11-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 B-17s were lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 43 damaged. The B-17s were escorted by 38 P-38s and 314 P-47s who claimed 15-4-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 P-38s and 9 P-47s were lost. The Fw 190s of JG 1 attacked the bombers and in doing so lost one of their most successful pilots, Oblt. Heinrich Klopper (94 kills), Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 1 and formerly from 11./JG 51, who was killed.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 142: 1 B-17 dropped two 2,000 pound (907 kg) bombs and 1 photoflash on Emmerich, Germany with no casualties.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In France, 53 B-26s bombed Chievres airfield; 71 B-26s were sent to bomb Cambrai/Epinoy airfield aborted the mission due to bad weather. US VIII Bomber Command Mission 141: 8 B-17s dropped 1.6 million leaflets over Paris, Reims, Le Mans, Orleans, Chartres, Amiens and Rouen, France with no casualties.

Aircraft (VC 19) from escort carrier _'Bogue' _(CVE-9) (from convoy UGS 24 or 27) sank the German submarine _'U-86' _about 385 miles east of Terceira, Azores. _'U-238' _and _'U-764' _survived the air attacks.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Hurricane fighter based at Brunton airfield, in Northumberland crashed in a field near The Thirlings, Wooler at about 09.30. It had developed engine trouble and was burnt out on crashing. The pilot was killed.


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## Njaco (Nov 30, 2008)

*30 NOVEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army cleared the ridge north of the Sangro River, denying the Germans positions to observe and bring down fire on the British bridgeheads. The US 5th Army begian diversionary attacks on the lower Garigliano River to assist the 8th Army. These will precede an assault on Monte Camino.

In Italy, B-26s attacked the Monte Molino railroad bridge, Montalto di Castro, and areas around Bastia and Torgiano; accuracy was severely hampered by overcast; B-24s, with P-38 escort, bombed Fiume through the overcast. A-20s, operating in conjunction with light bombers of the SAAF and RAF attacked ground installations and defended areas around Lanciano, Fossacesia, Orsogna, Castelfrentano, and Guardiagrele; fighter-bombers, [US, RAAF, SAAF and RAF] hit pre-arranged targets in the battle area, and by hitting targets of opportunity on roads between Lanciano to Mozzagrogna aid in defeating a counterattack against the US 34th Infantry Division on Monte Pantano.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Army suffered a 2nd significant setback as they withdrew from Korosten.

At JG 52, Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn gained his 200th victory and Lt. Wilhelm 'Willi' Batz scored his 50th victory.

*WESTERN FRONT*: RAF No 192 Squadron, flying from Foulsham, inaugurated No 100 (Bomber Support) Group's operations by dispatching 4 Wellingtons on radio-countermeasures (RCM) flights. No aircraft lost.

Aircraft (VC 19) from the escort carrier _'Bogue' _(CVE-9) damaged German submarine _'U-238' _east of the Azores.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 144: 6 B-17s dropped 1.4075 million leaflets on Paris, Rouen and Tours, France; and Krefeld and Opladen, Germany during the evening; no casualties.

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command *Mission 143*. 349 B-17s, 29 B-24s and 3 PFF B-17s were dispatched to the industrial area at Solingen, Germany. 270 B-17s, the B-24s and 2 PFF B-17s aborted the mission due to cloud formations which caused assembly difficulties and required flying at altitudes not feasible for the B-24s. 79 B-17s and 1 PFF B-17 used blind-bombing equipment to hit Solingen plus 1 aircraft dropped on Wermelskirchen. They claimed 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s were lost; 3 were damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged. This mission was escorted by 20 P-38s and 327 P-47s; they claimed 0-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 and 5 P-47s were lost and 1 each damaged. Fw. Ernst Florian (13 kills) of Stab I./JG 1 was killed in action.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ 361st Fighter Group and it's 374th, 375th and 376th Fighter Squadrons arrived at Bottisham, England from the US with P-47s. They will fly their first mission on 22 Jan 44. HQ 362d Fighter Group and it's 377th, 378th and 379th Fighter Squadrons arrived at Wormingford, England from the US with P-47s. They will fly their first mission on 8 Feb 44. HQ IX Fighter Command arrived at Middle Wallop, England from Libya. HQ 357th Fighter Group arrived at Raydon, England from the US.


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## Njaco (Dec 2, 2008)

*1 DECEMBER 1943*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army was the target of additional air and ground harassment by the Germans. These attacks occurred as the 5th Army was preparing to take the offensive. The Canadian 1st Division began replacing the British 78th Division along the Moro River, Italy.

In Italy, 100+ B-17s bombed the Turin ball bearing works and marshalling yard; escorting P-38s battled enemy fighters without either losses or victories. The B-17's claimed 2 enemy fighters shot down. B-24s and other P-38s were recalled because of weather. B-26s, with fighter escort, attacked bridges and railroad facilities at Aulla, Cecina, and Sestri Levante. B-25s bombed gun positions in the Sant' Ambrogio area; fighter-bombers, including some Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft, hit trucks, gun positions, and other military targets E of Casoli, at Lanciano, near Guardiagrele, W of Mignano, W of Minturno, and near Chieti. Several of these missions were in support of the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies.

Sixteen Macchi 205s from II./JG 77 along with fighters from 8./JG 53 were scrambled against a formation of Allied bombers. But before the bomber formation could be intercepted, several of the Italian-made planes had to abort, one because of an oxygen failure, one went into a spon and two more broke away from the fight. The remaining Macchis bounced the bombers and their P-38 escorts. A fierce battle ensued with Uffz. Adolf Funke of 6./JG 77 destroying a P-38 near Valditacca. Ofw. Alfred Seidl of 8./JG 53 claimed 3 Lightnings near Tuscania to reach 24 kills.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops crossed the river Ingulets, and drove to within six miles of Znamenka. The German attacks in the Zhitomir area intensified forcing the Soviets to withdraw from Korosten.

Moscow claimed that Byelorussian partisans have killed 282,000 German soldiers since war broke out.

*GERMANY*: The German program of long-range weapons, flying bombs and rockets was complete. Adolf Hitler approved orders to prepare and carry out their use against England.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 145: The industrial area at Solingen, Germany was the target. 206 of 215 B-17s, 69 of 78 B-24s and 5 of 6 B-17 PFF aircraft hit the target and claim 4-5-5 Luftwaffe aircraft. 19 B-17s and 5 B-24s were lost, 2 B-17s and 1 B-24 were damaged beyond repair and 85 bombers were damaged. The mission was escorted by 42 P-38s and 374 P-47s, claiming 20-4-7 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 P-38s and 5 P-47s were lost, 1 each were damaged beyond repair and 3 P-47s were damaged.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 175+ B-26s bombed airfields at Chievres, Belgium; and Cambrai/Epinoy, Lille/Yendeville, and Cambrai/Niergnies, France. 28 P-51s executed a sweep over NW France, marking the first Ninth Air Force fighter operation from the UK. The entire Geschwader of JG 26 were alerted when the bombers came. Caught taking off from his airfield at Cambrai, Hptm. Helmut Hoppe (24 kills) _Staffelkapitaen _of 5./JG 26, along with his wingman, were shot down by Canadian Spitfires. Catching up to the Spitfires near Arras, Ofw. Glunz shot down 2 of the Canadian fighters including the aircraft that had just shot down Hptm. Hoppe.

Operations commenced for _Sonderkommando Kunkel _- about 6 weeks before the unit was officially formed on 15 jan 1944. This unit, commanded by Hptm. Fritz Kunkel, used Ju 88C-6 and R-2 aircraft - equipped with Lichtenstein and FuG 227 Flensberg airborne interception radar - against Allied aircraft operating over the Bay of Biscay during the night. It operated under the direct command of _Fl.Fu. Atlantik_. The main targetswere RAF minelaying aircraft. Crews for _Sonderkommando Kunkel _were drawn from I. and III./ZG 1.

19 RAF Stirlings and 12 Halifaxes were sent to the Frisians and to the east coast of Denmark. 2 Stirlings were lost. Tragedy happened when several bombers returning from the minelaying operations off Denmark were diverted to RAF Acklington because of poor weather conditions. A Stirling from 75 Squadron based at Mepal, on its second approach, crashed into the farmhouse of Cliff House Farm, Togston near Amble, killing five children of the Robson family - Sheila, 19m, William, 3, Margery, 5, Ethel, 7, and Sylvia, 9 - and all of the aircraft's crew except the mid upper gunner, 20 year-old Sgt Kenneth Gordon Hook. Despite serious injuries Sgt Hook was flying again two months later and by the end of the war he had flown more than 75 operational missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal at the end of 1944 and remained in the RAF until 1977 when he retired with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The 362d, 363d and 364th Fighter Squadrons, 357th Fighter Group, arrived at Raydon, England from the US with P-51Bs. They will fly their first mission on 11 Feb 44. The 708th, 709th, 710th and 711th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 447th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrived at Rattlesden, England from the US with B-17Gs. They will fly their first mission on 24 Dec.


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## Njaco (Dec 2, 2008)

*2 DECEMBER 1943*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: *The Raid On Bari*: In the early morning, Obstlt. Werner Hahn flew an Me 210 recon plane over the Adriatic town of Bari, in preparation of a raid on the seaport. Bari, located on the Adriatic side of the Italian peninsula, was a major shipping port for the Allies and Obstlt. Hahn's recon reported about 30 ships in the harbour. Convoys had constantly been shipping into Bari, creating a log-jam of ships in the harbour. Every available docking space was occuppied,and the dockyards had become such a beehive of activity that unloading was carried on into the night under the glare of lights.

And with the conditions in the harbour as bad as they were, another convoy had arrived just that morning. A bomber's dream target had been set up. On the afternoon of this very day, Air-Marshall Sir Arthur Cunningham held a press conference in his HQ in the city. In answer to several pointed questions regarding the lack of air protection above the seaport, the Marshall answered with a supreme air of confidence;


> "_I would regard it as a personal affront and insult if the Luftwaffe would attempt any significant action in this area_!"


What the Air Marshall had failed to take into account was the fact that the RAF fighter planes scattered on airfields throughout Italy were tabbed for escorting duties with bombers and not on defensive missions. And to add to the problems, only one solitary flak battery was in position within the city.

At 18:30 hours, 105 Ju 88s flying from airfields in Italy and Yugoslavia, attacked the harbour. Surprise was complete as the Luftwaffe used tinfoil strips to confuse any radar and most of the ships' crews were on shore leave. To further escape detection, the German squadrons based in the north of Italy flew only feet above the water straight down the full length of the Adriatic. Shortly before they came in sight of the city, they climbed steeply to bombing altitude. At landfall, the planes threw down a string of chandelier flares, instantly lighting up the city and harbour in a bright, flickering glare. Oblt. Gustav Teuber, leading in the first wave, could not believe his eyes - the scene below, brilliantly lit, cranes busily lifting cargo, the east jetty crowded with ships. There was a beam of light at the lighthouse, many lights along the dock bordering the city and scattered lights along Molo Foraneo and Molo Pizzoli. Accustomed to wartime blackouts, Bari harbour looked like Berlin's _Unter den Linden_ on a New Year's eve to Oblt. Teuber as he roared in.

Within seconds the flak guns of the lone battery in the city, along with guns onboard merchant ships, opened up on the raiders, undetecable in the darkness beyond the blinding flares. Converging streams of tracers rose into the sky, increasing in volume until no plane caught in the basket weave of fire could long survive. Then down came the bombs, the first one missing the harbour, crashing instead into the old section of the city.

Fires broke out in several places, adding more light for the German pilots sweeping in over the packed shipping moored at dockside and anchored in the harbour. With more light on the target, the bomb-aimers were able to cirrect their aim and began to 'walk' their bombs across the harbour, hitting one vessel after another. The first ship hit was the _'Joseph Wheeler'_. Seconds later, the _'John L. Motley' _shuddered under the hammer blow of a 200kg bomb, crashing through #5 hatch. Debris from _'John L. Motley' _damaged the gasoline tanker _'Aroostook' _(AOG-14), and set fire to _'Lyman Abbott'_. With the _'Joseph Wheeler' _now burning fiercely, the _'John Boscom' _anchored next to it, made an effort to pull away. Escape, however, was out of the question. Two other ammo-laden ships had drifted into its exit path. And then when the stern lines burned away, the _'John Boscom' _began to drift towards the furiously blazing _'John L. Motley'_. _'John Boscom's' _skipper gave the order to abandon ship. No sooner had it been given then 4 bombs struck the ship from fore to aft.

Everywhere ships were on fire. There was even fire on the water. Flaming patches of oil and other debris floated shoreward, threatening to engulf several lifeboats filled with survivors from the stricken ships. _'John M. Schofield' _and _'Grace Abbott' _were damaged by flying fragments; the former suffered no casualties among the crew while the latter had only one merchant seaman wounded from among her 41-man civilian and 28-man Armed Guard complement. _'Samuel J. Tilden' _was hit by two bombs and caught fire; 17 of the 209 embarked troops perished as the soldiers abandoned ship.

Not far away at Berth 29, a fierce fire broke out near the stern of the _'John Harvey'_, a ship that carried as part of its cargo 100 tons of mustard gas. All around it, other ships were burning. _'John Harvey'_, moored originally between _'John L. Motley' _and _'Joseph Wheeler'_, was showered by burning debris, and caught fire herself, drifting into the harbor. The crew of the _'John Harvey' _fought to extinguish or at least contain the blaze but it soon became obvious they were fighting a losing battle. Moments later, the gallant efforts of the crew and chemical techs ended in a titanic blast that literally blew the ship to pieces and vaporized the men. All across the harbour, people were picked up bodily by the pressure wave and hurled about. Huge, twisted sheets of boiler plate, smaller metal fragments, parts of machinery and whatever else was in or on the frieghter, shot out in a wide arc and rained on the other ships. The monstrous blast passed right over the tanker SS _'Pumper'_, flinging the wreckage onto other ships further out in the harbour. One small Yugoslavian vessel simply disappeared. The Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman _'Fort Athabasca' _(7,132 GRT), loaded with ammunition and, when fires broke out after the ship was struck, an enormous explosion killed the entire crew of 39 men.

As the last of the Ju 88s dropped their bombs, they flew out over the Adriatic and the entire German strike force headed for home. The ground fire had relatively been light and not one Allied plane had appeared in the sky over Bari. Two Ju 88s had gone down in the sea, Uffz. Karl-Heinz Hellwig's of 3./KG 30 and Fw. Walter Klein's of 1./KG 54. 17 Allied ships were sunk and another 8 were damaged, causing Bari to be dubbed "the second Pearl Harbour". About 1,000 military and civilian people were exposed to the mustard gas and 69 military personnel died within weeks. Most of the dead and injured were stricken by gas escaping from the _'John Harvey' _as they swam through the water.

Allied *Operation Bluecoat* began in Italy. A massive artillery bombardment preceded this attack. Over 900 guns opened fire on Monte Sammucro. On the left was British X Corps, with objective Camino. On the right was the US II Corps, with objective La Difensa. Over two days, 200,000 shells were fired. The US 5th Army attacked with units of the British X Corps and the US II Corps on Monte Camino. Two battalions of the 2nd Regiment of the American/Canadian First Special Service Force began climbing the north-east face of Monte la Difensa. Their objective was to clear German positions there and on Mount Remetanea.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAF No. 139 Squadron RAF began operations with the Mk XX Mosquito. These aircraft were built in Canada.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The American P-51D made its first combat mission, flying a fighter sweep over Belgium.

The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) authorized AEAF to attack "sky sites" in the Pas de Calais area and on the Cherbourg Peninsula in France, which RAF photography and British intelligence have virtually identified as missile-launching sites.

*GERMANY*: 458 RAF aircraft - 425 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos, 15 Halifaxes - continued *the Battle of Berlin*. There were no major diversions and the bombers took an absolutely direct route across the North Sea and Holland and then on to Berlin. The Germans identified Berlin as the target 19 minutes before Zero Hour and many fighters were waiting there. Incorrectly forecast winds scattered the bomber stream, particularly on the return flight, and German fighters scored further victories here. A total of 40 bombers - 37 Lancasters, 2 Halifaxes, 1 Mosquito - were lost, 8.7 per cent of the force. 460 (Australian) Squadron lost 5 of its 25 Lancasters on this raid, including the aircraft in which two newspaper reporters were flying. These were Captain Grieg of the Daily Mail and Norman Stockton of the Sydney Sun. The inaccurate wind forecast caused great difficulties for the Pathfinders, who were not able to establish their positions correctly. The bombing photographs of the Main Force suggested that the attack was scattered over a wide area of southern Berlin and the countryside south of the city. The Berlin report confirms this but adds that some useful damage was caused in industrial areas of the eastern and western districts, with two more of the Siemens factories, a ball-bearing factory and several railway installations being badly hit. Damage elsewhere was light, only 136 buildings being destroyed.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 146: 1 B-17 flew an Oboe test over Huls, Germany dropping two 2,000 pound (907 kg) GP bombs and 1 photoflash bomb. 4 B-17s dropped 2.09 million leaflets on Bremen, Oldenburg and Hamburg, Germany. No casualties on either mission.


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## Njaco (Dec 4, 2008)

*3 DECEMBER 1943*

*GERMANY*: Göring ordered concentrated air attacks on British ports and industry;


> "_...to avenge the terror attacks of the enemy_."


527 RAF aircraft - 307 Lancasters, 220 Halifaxes - were sent to Leipzig and 9 Mosquitos in a feint attack on Berlin. Despite the loss of two pressmen on the previous night, the well-known American broadcaster, Ed Murrow, flew on the raid with a 619 Squadron Lancaster crew. He returned safely. The bomber force took another direct route towards Berlin before turning off to bomb Leipzig. German fighters were in the bomber stream and scoring successes before the turn was made but most of them were then directed to Berlin when the Mosquito diversion opened there. There were few fighters over Leipzig and only 3 bombers were believed to have been lost in the target area, 2 of them being shot down by flak. A relatively successful raid, from the point of view of bomber casualties, was spoiled when many aircraft flew by mistake into the Frankfurt defended area on the long southern withdrawal route and more than half of the bombers shot down on this night were lost there. 24 aircraft - 15 Halifaxes, 9 Lancasters - were lost, 4.6 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders found and marked this distant inland target accurately and the bombing was very effective; this was the most successful raid on Leipzig during the war. A large area of housing and many industrial premises were severely damaged. One place which was hit by a large number of bombs was the former World Fair exhibition site, whose spacious buildings had been converted to become war factories, the largest buildings being taken over by the Junkers aircraft company.

In one of the first night battles between the new Ju 88G-1 night-fighter and RAF Mosquitoes, 3 Ju 88s are shot down along with 2 Mosquitoes.

*EASTERN FRONT*: South of Gomel, Dovsk was captured by the Soviet Army. Further south they drove west of Cherkassy. German positions in the Gomel area crumbled as Red Army forces moved toward Rogachev.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British X Corps was almost at the summit of Monte Camino. The US II Corps took the summit of nearby Monte Maggiore. The British 8th Army captured San Vito. Heavy fighting was reported around Orsogna as the German 26th Panzer Grenadiers attacked the New Zealand 2nd Division. The Grenadiers succeeded in the fierce counterattack and the New Zealand Division fell back. The US First Special Service Force last night took the strongly held German position at Monte La Difensa and Monte La Rementanea. Several previous assaults had failed so instead the Force's 2nd Regiment scaled the 200-foot cliff on the rear of Monte La Difensa during the night. This took the defenders by surprise. They then took Monte La Rementanea. This first action by the force cost it more than 500 casualties.

Abandoned U.S. freighter _'Samuel J. Tilden'_, damaged in the German air raid on Bari, Italy, the night before, was scuttled by two torpedoes from British warships.

B-24s, with fighter escort, hit the Rome/Casale airfield in Italy; B-26s and escorting P-38s wererecalled due to weather. Other P-38s escorted a supply mission to Yugoslavia. B-25s bombed the harbor and marshalling yard at Sibenik, Yugoslavia. In Italy, fighter-bombers, along with RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) airplanes, hit tanks and trucks in the Guardiagrele-Lanciano areas. Other fighter-bombers attacked a vessel at Sibenik, Yugoslavia and vehicles and trains N of Rome. Anzio and Nettuno, Italy were also bombed.

The Twelfth Air Force transferred its entire II Air Service Area Command with all of its subordinate units to the Fifteenth Air Force, where it shortly became the XV Air Force Service Command. This was a major step toward making the Fifteenth a separate, self-sufficient air force.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: The unescorted _'Touchet' _(Master Jesse Field Bird) was hit on the port side by a torpedo from _'U-193' _in the Gulf of Mexico while steaming at 16.5 knots. The torpedo struck the bow ten feet aft of the stem and opened a 20 feet long hole. The tanker was equipped with a torpedo indicator that warned the crew but the turn to port was too late, after the hit the engine was first secured while turning to the opposite direction and then ordered full ahead in an attempt to escape. Due to the flooding the bow settled and forced the ship to stop, when another torpedo warning sounded but this was apparently a dud hitting the port side amidships. The most of the ten officers, 40 crewmen and 30 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in six lifeboats, only the armed guard officer and ten of his men remained behind and manned the 5in stern gun. At 08.22 hours, a coup de grâce hit the engine room on the starboard side and caused the ship to sink stern first at 11.00 hours. The men still on board had to jump overboard and swam to a raft but the suction of the sinking ship was so strong that all except one armed guard drowned. On 5 December, the 43 survivors in four boats were picked up by the Norwegian steam merchant _'Lillemor' _(Master Bernt Belland) and landed them the next day at Pensacola, Florida. The same day, USS _'Falgout' _(DE 324) picked up eleven survivors from another boat and on 6 December, the remaining 16 survivors in the last boat were picked up by USS _'Raven' _(AM 55) and landed in Galveston on 8 December.

A German Ju-52 plane began to sweep magnetic mines (British type) off Kotka.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A note from Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal, RAF, to the CCS stated that *OPERATION POINTBLANK*, the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) of the USAAF and RAF against the Luftwaffe and the German aircraft industry, was 3 months behind in relationship to the tentative date for *OPERATION OVERLORD*, the overall plan for the invasion of Europe, which had been set for 1 May 44. This brought more pressure on the US Eighth Air Force to destroy industrial plants of importance to aircraft production.

The 365th and 366th Fighter Squadrons, 358th Fighter Group, transferred from Goxhill, England to Leiston, England with P-47Ds. They will fly their first mission on 20 Dec.

A Halifax bomber on a training flight from Croft airfield, County Durham, crashed ½ mile south of runway No 3 at Dishforth airfield at 21.31. This was due to the steam from a nearby railway and poor visibility. Five of the crew were killed and one injured.


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## Njaco (Dec 4, 2008)

*4 DECEMBER 1943*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hawker Typhoons of Nos. 198 and 609 Squadrons RAF shot down 11 Do-217s near Eindhoven in one sweep. This was the last pure fighter operation of the Typhoon.

The _'Libertad' _in convoy KN-280 was hit by two of four torpedoes from _'U-129' _and sank quickly. The U-boat observed how the escort of three destroyers rescued survivors instead of hunting the attacker.

The Staffelkapitaen of 9./JG 3, Lt. Wilhelm Lemke (131 kills) was killed in combat. Lemke was shot down and killed in aerial combat with P-47s of 487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, USAAF. His Bf 109 G-6 (W.Nr. 410 558 ) “Black << + -“ crashed at Dodewaard, 18km west Nijmegen. He recorded 125 victories over the Eastern Front, including 28 Il-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft. Of his six Western front victories, three were four-engine bombers.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 147: 4 B-17s dropped 800,000 leaflets on Rouen, Lille and Paris, France. US VIII Bomber Command Mission 148: 4 B-17s dropped 800,000 leaflets on Le Mans, Orleans, Tours and Laval, France. 203 B-26s dispatched to attack the airfields at Chievres, Belgium and Lille/Vendeville, France aborted the mission due to bad weather.

A Ninth Air Force directive established Operation CROSSBOW (operations against German missile launching sites) for the US IX Bomber Command and provided a list of targets to be attacked immediately. In the words of the directive, *Operation CROSSBOW* was;


> "_...to designate Anglo-American operations against all phases of the German long-range weapons programme -- operations against German research, experimentation, manufacture, construction of launching sites, and the transportation and firing of finished missiles, and also against missiles in flight, once they had been fired."_


 *Crossbow *bombing included use of Tallboy bombs and Operation Aphrodite drones, particularly against the "Heavy Crossbow" installations Watten, Wizernes, Mimoyecques, Siracourt, Söttevast, Martinvast. After developing bombing techniques at the Air Corps Proving Ground in the United States, Operation Crossbow extensively bombed the launching sites and storage depots for the V-1 flying bomb.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Making his first journey outside Russia since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Stalin came to Tehran to hear Churchill and Roosevelt explain their plans for a cross-Channel invasion of France in the spring or summer of next year. A communiqué from the conference, which ended on 1st December, says that the three leaders;


> "_...have concerted plans for the destruction of the German forces. We have reached complete agreement as to the scope and timing of the operations which will be undertaken from the east, west and south._"


This makes it clear that the Italian campaign will continue, though resources may be diverted to the French campaign. Stalin was not too pleased when Churchill said a landing in France depended upon Germany being prevented from bringing up substantial reinforcements during the first two months after the assault. The Soviet leader wondered aloud whether an invasion would ever happen. Roosevelt was gratified to hear Stalin promise that;


> "_...the moment Germany is defeated..._"


...the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan. This promise is judged to be so sensitive that the three leaders decided not to enter it in the record of the Tehran talks.

Another casualty of the Bari raid was a Me 410 from 2(F)./122 that was shot down while on a recon mission to obtain photographic evidence of the bombers success. Oblt. Josef Schumm (F) and Uffz Heinz Kummer were killed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German 17.Armee, isolated on the Crimean peninsula, launched desperate attacks against Soviet beachheads around Kerch.


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## Njaco (Dec 9, 2008)

*5 DECEMBER 1943*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Attacks and counterattacks marked the continued fight for possession of the summit of Monte Camino. The Indian 8th Division crossed the river Moro, pushing towards the supply port of Ortona.

At the Cairo Conference, President Roosevelt decided on General Dwight D Eisenhower as the Supreme Allied Commander for Operation OVERLORD, the invasion of W Europe.

Weather hampered medium bomber operations, but B-25s managed to bomb a bridge at Pescara, Italy and marshalling yard and shipyards at Split, Yugoslavia. In Italy, US fighter-bombers and fighters (and a number of other Allied airplanes) hit gun positions S of Chieti, Italy, a vessel in Poljud, Yugoslavia harbor (near Split), trains and trucks W of Aquino, bridges near Mignano and Ladispoli, the town of Arezzo, airfields at Piombino and Aviano, and building S of Garda Lake.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *Operation Crossbow*, the effort to bomb the V-1 launch sites along the French coast, began. 52 B-26s bombed Ligescourt, Campagne-les-Hesdin, and Saint-Josse, France. 200 others were forced to abandon the mission because of heavy cloud cover over the targets, including V-weapon sites which the Ninth had scheduled to attack for the first time. Ninth Air Force P-51s from the 354th Fighter Group flew their first escort mission, accompanying Eighth Air Force heavy bombers in a raid against targets in the area near Amiens, France.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 149. Airfields in France were targetted; 8 B-17s and 1 B-24 were lost. 216 B-17s were dispatched to La Rochelle/Laleu, St Jean D'Angely, Paris/Ivry, Paris/Bois and D'Colombes airfields; none hit the target due to weather; 1 B-17 was damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. 96 B-24s were dispatched to Cognac/Chateaubernard Airfield; 2 hit St Nazaire; 1 B-24 was lost and 7 damaged. 236 B-17s were dispatched to the Bordeaux/Merignac air depot; 1 hit the target and they claimed 12-5-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17s were lost and 19 damaged. These missions were escorted by 34 P-38s and 266 P-47s plus 36 Ninth Air Force P-51s; 1 P-47 was lost and the pilot was MIA.

Norwegian freighter _'Lillemor' _rescued 43 survivors from tanker _'Touchet'_, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-193' _on 3 December 1943; shortly thereafter, destroyer escort _'Falgout' _(DE-324) picks up 11 more men from the lost ship.


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## Njaco (Dec 9, 2008)

*6 DECEMBER 1943*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Monte Camino, fell to the British 56th Division after a fierce struggle. The First Special Service Force captured Hill 907 below Monte Camino. The British 8th Army continued their advance up the Moro River. Canadian forces began an assault across the Moro River on three fronts. The main force was centered across from San Leonardo, with two smaller diversionary assaults near Villa Rogatti, and near the coast of the Adriatic sea.

In Greece, 45 B-24s bombed Eleusis Airfield while 56 B-17s hit Kalamaki Airfield; other B-17s returned to base with bombs because of a heavy overcast; the heavy bombers and escorting P-38s claimed several enemy fighters shot down; 1 B-24 was lost to flak.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: Submarine "S-55" sunk supposedly mined or by surface ASW ships, close to cape Nordcap.

Konev’s forces continued to advance in the Ukraine as the Red Army took Znamenka, cutting the rail line to Smela.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Minesweeper _'Raven' _(AM-55) rescued 16 survivors from tanker _'Touchet'_, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine _'U-193' _on 3 December 1943. All told, the entire merchant complement of 50 men survives _'Touchet's' _loss, but ten of the 30-man Armed Guard were lost with the ship.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The public were informed that on this day 'Air raid sirens will be tested at 10.00 today throughout Northumberland, The Raiders Passed signal will be sounded for one minute, then the Alert for one minute, and finally the Raiders Passed signal again. The test will not be made in any district in which an actual Alert has been sounded during the preceding fortnight.


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## Njaco (Dec 9, 2008)

*7 DECEMBER 1943*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAF Air Marshal Harris claimed that he will win the war over the next several months with new support for the continuing attacks on Berlin and other German targets. His plan was to make 15,000 missions with 40 squadrons of Lancaster heavy bombers which will be operational in the next three months dropping 13,850 tons of bombs a month and;


> "_...produce in Germany a state of devastation in which surrender is inevitable_".


*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army, with II and VI Corps, attacked the towns of Monte Sammucro and San Pietro in the Mignano Gap. The German defenders absorbed the attack well. American artillery fire on San Pietro commenced as the 2nd and 3rd battalions of US 143rd Infantry Division approached San Pietro, but were thrown back by intense German fire. A company of the US 143rd Infantry climbed the east face of Sammucro, reaching the top by first light. The British 8th Army attacked Orsogna. Canadians made it across the Moro river near the Adriatic Sea and commenced south-west toward San Leonardo. The last German defender left the area of Mount La Difensa. The First Special Service Force suffered 511 casualties of a force of about 1500.

B-25s and A-36s bombed the harbor and town of Civitavecchia; B-25s also attacked Pescara, hitting the railroad, road, and town area; A-36s, P-40s, and RAF DAF fighters hit a gun position W of Orsogna, the towns of Viticuso and San Vittoria, and a bridge at Civitella Roveto.

*GERMANY*: 11./JG 11 was formed in Lister from _Jagdstaffel Helgoland _with Oblt. Herbert Christmann as _Staffelkapitaen_, 11./JG 11 and 10./JG 11 (Hptm. Siegfried Simsch as _Staffelkapitaen_) were known as _Kommando Skagerrak _with a detachment stationed at Kjevik flying Bf 109Ts.


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## Njaco (Dec 10, 2008)

*8 DECEMBER 1943* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Field Marshal Rommel and his staff continued to tour the Danish coast as they began their inspection of the West Wall. They are scheduled to get a permanent headquarters location around December 20th. Rommel's assignment came to him on November 5th when he visited the Fuehrer at the Wolf's Lair in Bavaria. Hitler had a great idea. Citing von Rundstedt's troubling summary of October 25th, stating that the Atlantic Wall was anything but formidable, Hitler told him of his plan: Rommel was to inspect the Western coast and a) Verify or disavow von Rundstedt's troubling report, and b) provide suggestions for improvement. Rommel was to take his displaced army group staff (designated "Heeresgruppe Bz.b.v."-- Army Group B-For Special Purposes) and tour the coast. The idea was originally Gen. Jodl's. Someone had to go and check out von Rundstedt's report, and Rommel figured it would end up being him. This way, Jodl wouldn't have to go, and Rommel would be "gainfully employed" again. Besides, who knew more about fighting the Western Allies (including the Americans) than Rommel? So now the tireless Desert Fox was once more on the move, inspecting and formulating ideas for better defenses.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russian units cut a 2nd rail line out of Znamenka.

Uffz. Helmut Weiser from 5./JG 5 was killed in an aerial battle near Moskva. Kurt-Reinhrad Fischer (33 kills) of JG 54 was also killed in action.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The French 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division joined the Allied line. Allied units were being moved. Rather than fighting in Italy, they were transported to Britain for use in Overlord. Canadian artillery began a barrage of the Moro Valley, in preparation for infantry of the 1st Division to assault it in the morning. The 2nd and 3rd battalions of US 143rd Infantry Division approached San Pietro again, but were thrown back again. Over a 36-hour period, losses were 60 percent.

120+ B-24s and B-17s attacked Tatoi and Eleusis airfields in Greece, and railroad bridges near Orbetello Lake and the town of Porto Santo Stefano in Italy. In Italy, B-26s hit Spoleto viaduct, Orte marshalling yard, and Civitavecchia harbor; other B-26s aborted the mission because of weather. B-25s bombed bridges, industrial targets, marshalling yard, and town areas of Pescara, Ancona, and Aquila; A-20s hit gun emplacements and bivouac area near Sant' Elia Fiumerapido; other A-20s, operating with RAF and SAAF aircraft attacked troop concentration and gun positions near Miplinnico; fighter-bombers of the AAF, RAF, RAAF, and SAAF bomb targets in support of ground troops near Orsogna; A-36s and P-40s hit communications targets (roads, railroads, bridges) at Avezzano, Frosinone, Viticuso, Gaeta, and Sant' Elia Fiumerapido.


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## Njaco (Dec 10, 2008)

*9 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allies further consolidated their lines around Monte Camino after repulsing a series of German counterattacks. The British X Corps took Rocca d'Evandro to complete the capture of Monte Camino. The Canadian 1st Division infantry launched an attack on the Moro Valley, to clear out German forces while engineers built a bridge across the Moro River at San Leonardo.

In Italy, B-25s bombed railway and road bridges at Giulianova, tracks at Pescara and Teramo, and a marshalling yard and ironworks at Terni; A-20s hit gun positions and bivouac area at Sant' Elia Fiumerapido; A-36s and P-40s attacked Orsogna and coastal targets in support of the British Eighth Army, Avezzano marshalling yard and villages along the US Fifth Army front, troops at San Pietro Infine and Viticuso and nearby gun positions, viaduct and railway bridge E of Guidonia airfield, crossing at Furbara, and trains and trucks in the Rome area.

Brigadier General George H Beverley took over as the new Commanding General, US XII Troop Carrier Command (Provisional).

P-38s carried out weather reconnaissance over the Adriatic Sea; B-17s of the 2d and 99th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) were recalled because of weather; all groups of the 47th (B-24) and 42d (B-26) Bombardment Wings cancelled operations.

The SS _'Cap Padaran' _(Master Edward Garner) in convoy HA-11 was torpedoed and damaged by _'U-596' _northeast of Cape Spartivento, Italy. The vessel was taken in tow, but the line parted and she sank after her back broke. Five crew members were lost. The master, 180 crew members and eleven gunners were picked up by the British armed trawler HMS _'Sheppey' _(T 292) (SubLt B.F. Wimbush) and landed at Augusta, Sicily.

Following the Teheran and Cairo conferences, President Roosevelt reembarked in battleship _'Iowa' _(BB-61) at Dakar for the return voyage to the United States.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Medorovo fell to the Soviet Army. They then moved on to attack Znamenka itself.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Rommel continued his inspection of Atlantic coast defenses, visiting Denmark and Copenhagen. That afternoon, Rommel called on General von Hannecken, the Wermacht commander in Denmark.

3 RAF Wellingtons flew RCM sorties without loss.

A B-17G from the US Air Transport Command crashed at Truskmore Mtn., nr. Ballaghtrillick and Cliffony in Ireland while on a ferry flight from the USA. Survivors were treated for a short time in Sligo but quickly transferred across the border. Engines were removed from the scene by Irish Aer Corps in November 2005.

An He 111 was flying target for the searchlight at Marine Flak Abteilung 814 near Hansted when it suffered from engine failure. It landed in a field about 7 kilometres west of Thisted. The crew including Feldwebel Krarp, Unteroffizier Lübke and Gefreiter Halbart were unhurt.

*GERMANY*: General Adolf Galland persuaded the RLM to activate an experimental jet fighter unit to be known as _Erprobungskommando _(EKdo) 262, based at Lechfeld outside of Augsburg and with a planned establishment of 20 pilots. Command was given to Hptm. Werner Thierfelder, _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./ZG 26. It was thought that those with Bf 110 twin-engined experience would be able to convert to the new jet easily. The unit started with only one jet, Me 262V-5, which didn't arrive until April 1944. EKdo 262 was composed of 2 staffeln and one Stab unit.


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## Njaco (Dec 10, 2008)

*10 DECEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Znamenka was finally captured by the Red Army. Konev began a new series of attacks to the north of Znamenka.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Canadian troops joined the attack on Ortona. The Canadians encountered stubborn German defences at "The Gully" crossing of the Old Highway 16 en route to the "Cider" crossroads with Highway 538, south of Ortona. The British 8th Army crossed the Moro River.

Hitler himself reputedly selected the small Italian hill town of San Pietro on the slopes of Monte Sammucro to be the perfect example of a German position, dominating as it did the vital Liri Valley which formed their defensive Gustav Line. For four days the battle raged as US forces struggled to push the Germans from their carefully sited pill boxes. Troops of the 143rd Infantry Regiment managed to reach the barbed-wire defences, but they were cut down by the machine-gun and mortar fire, and sustained 300 casualties before being retired. Tanks were now being called up.

German U-boats _'U-223'_, _'U-593' _and _'U-73' _attacked convoy KMS 34 in the Mediterranean.

In Italy, P-40s and A-36s attacked oil tanks, warehouses, railroads, and vessel at Civitavecchia, the town of Acquafondata, and with RAF, SAAF, and RAAF airplanes, hit tactical targets along the British Eighth Army front, and later strafed road traffic in the Canosa Sannita-Chieti area. Fighters also bombed a vessel in the harbor at Split, Yugoslavia. B-24s, with fighter escort, bombed a marshalling yard at Sofia, Bulgaria; P-38s flew weather reconnaissance in the Sofia and Zara, Yugoslavia areas. B-26s hit bridge approaches W and E of Ventimiglia, Italy.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 25 RAF Mosquitos flew to Leverkusen and 2 to Krefeld, 4 OTU sorties. No losses.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 150: 1 B-17 was dispatched on an OBOE test flight but turned back due to an oxygen leak; two 2,000 pound (907 kg) bombs and a Photoflash were jettisoned off the French coast. In the second part of this mission, 6 of 6 B-17s dropped 1.2 million leaflets on Rouen, Paris, Caen and Amiens, France and Ghent,
Belgium at 2026-2102 hours. No losses.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 20 German aircraft attacked 4 Ninth Air Force airfields in the UK (Gosfield, Andrews Field, Earls Colne, and Great Dunmow), killing 8 and wounding 20+ men. A Do 217 from 2./KG 2 was destroyed during an attack on Chelmsford. The Dornier had taken off from Eindhoven to attack a ball bearing factory when it was found by a Mosquito from RAF No. 410 Sqdrn. It was shot down and one crewmember survived to become a prisoner of war.


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## Njaco (Dec 14, 2008)

*WESTERN FRONT*: A remarkably simple piece of equipment, a "drop-tank" made out of corrugated paper, started to arrive at US fighter bases in England and revolutionized the air war over Europe. Fighters fitted with these British-produced tanks, which carry 75 gallons of fuel, now escort the American heavy bombers on their daylight missions far into Germany. The newly-introduced Mustang fighters equipped with two of these tanks each can fly 600 miles from their bases and still take on the German fighters at over 400mph.

Field Marshal Rommel and his staff concluded their tour the Danish coast, their special train ending up in the Silkeborg railroad station. Coastal positions were unimpressive. Although the vital, strategic major ports each have a well-rounded defence plan, a good deal of the defensive positions were either incomplete or not even started. And a port is what the Allies would need as soon as possible, if the landing was to have any hope of success.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 152: 4 of 4 B-17s dropped 800,000 leaflets on Laval, Rennes, Le Mans and Nantes, France; no casualties.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied momentum began to wane as their attacks in the US 5th Army sector continued with no significant gains.

German U-boats _'U-223'_, _'U-593' _and _'U-73' _attacked convoy KMS 34 in the Mediterranean. Frigate HMS _'Cuckmere' _was torpedoed by a Gnat from _'U-223' _while escorting the convoy and has to be towed to Algiers, where she was found to be beyond repair.

In Italy, P-40s and A-36s attacked Anzio, Nettuno, Viticuso, San Vittore del Lazio, Pontecorvo, Acquafondata, the railway siding at Arce, tracks and junction N of Ostia, and railway between Ostia and Lido di Roma. Weather caused abandonment of B-25 operations.

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 151: 437 of 490 B-17s and 86 of 93 B-24s hit the industrial area at Emden and claimed 86-22-23 Luftwaffe aircraft. 15 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost, 1 B-17 was damaged beyond repair and 120 B-17s and 18 B-24s were damaged. This mission was escorted by 31 P-38s, 313 P-47s and 44 Ninth Air Force P-51s. They claimed 21-0-7Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 were lost; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 werre damaged beyond repair and 3 P-47s were damaged. Emden suffered 1000 civilians dead and 12,000 homeless. 18 RAF Mosquitos attacked Duisburg and 1 Wellington flew an RCM sortie without loss.


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## Njaco (Dec 14, 2008)

*12 DECEMBER 1943* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Destroyer HMCS _'Athabaskan' _departed Loch Ewe as part of the close escort for the 19-ship convoy JW-55A, bound for the Kola Inlet. A RN battleship and several other fleet units formed the distant escort due to the threat of attack by the German battlecruiser _'Scharnhorst'_.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Erwin Rommel was appointed to command Heeresgruppe B. He was now responsible for organizing the “Atlantic Wall” defenses from Holland to the Bay of Biscay, under the overall command of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt.

Aircraft (VC 19) from escort carrier _'Bogue' _(CVE-9) damaged the German submarine _'U-172' _south-southwest of the Canary Islands; _'U-219' _escaped.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 153: 4 B-17s dropped 800,000 leaflets on Paris, Amiens and Orleans, France; no casualties.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 36th Infantry Division attacked Monte Lungo, making little headway and taking heavy loses.

Destroyer HMS _'Tynedale' _sank after being hit by a Zaunkönig fired from _'U-593' _off Bougie. A few hours after the _'Tynedale' _sinking, _'U-593' _made a second attack and sank the destroyer HMS _'Holcombe' _with another Zaunkönig. _'U-593'_was chased by several escort vessels, being sunk after a 32-hour chase in the western Mediterranean in Bougie Bay, by depth charges from the US destroyer USS _'Wainwright' _and the British escort destroyer HMS _'Calpe'_. 51 survivors (No casualties).

Weather curtailed operations. In Italy, B-25s bombed the road, railroad, and landing ground at Terracina; P-40 and A-36 fighter-bombers hit trucks along roads in the Chieti-Francavilla area and bombed the town of Itri; fighters fly patrols and reconnaissance over the battle area.

*GERMANY*: RAF Mosquito sorties: 20 to Essen, 9 to Düsseldorf, 1 to Osnabrück, 4 RCM sorties, 4 OTU sorties. 1 Mosquito was lost on the Essen raid, claimed by Hptm. Manfred Meuer of I./NJG 1 to bring his score to 60 kills.

The Luftwaffe got a chance to examine a B-17 up close. During a mission to Rouen, the B-17 'Wulf Hound' of the US 303d BG landed intact in a French field. Restored to flying condition, the bomber was used by KG 200.


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## Njaco (Dec 14, 2008)

*13 DECEMBER 1943* 

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 154; the port area at Bremen and Kiel, Germany were hit; 5 aircraft were lost. This was the first mission where more than 600 aircraft were dispatched. 171 of 182 B-17s dispatched to Bremen hit the target and 1 B-17 was damaged beyond repair and 30 damaged. 367 of 403 B-17s, 93 of 107 B-24s, 12 B-17 PFF and 6 B-24 PFF aircraft were dispatched to Kiel. Heavy frosting and poor visibility disrupted the formation and 78 B-17s hit targets of opportunity in Hamburg. The remaining aircraft hit Kiel and 7-3-17 Luftwaffe aircraft were claimed. 4 B-17s and 1 B-24 were lost; 1 B-17 was damaged beyond repair and 136 B-17s and 4 B-24s were lost. These missions were escorted by 31 P-38s, 322 P-47s and 41 Ninth Air Force P-51s that claimed 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 were lost, 1 P-38 and 1 P-47 were damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 was damaged. P-51s escorting the heavy bombers reached the limit of their escort range for the first time. The torpedo boat T 15 and minesweeper R 306, were sunk, among other shipping at Kiel.

16 RAF Mosquitos flew to Düsseldorf, 1 to Bonn, 25 OTU sorties. No losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Yugoslavia, B-25s bombed an oil depot, harbor, warehouses, and railway yard at Sibenik and Split. In Italy, P-40 and A-36 fighter-bombers attacked defended points in the Miglionico area; quays, roads, railway yard, and gun emplacements at Terracina; and bridges at Pontecorvo and W of Isolella; town areas and bridges at and near Atina and Acquafondsta were also hit.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 155: 5 B-17s dropped 1 million leaflets on Le Mans, Rennes, Tours, Nantes and Chartres, France; no
losses.

Nearly 200 B-26s attacked Schiphol Airfield in The Netherlands. Monday, December 13, 1943, 386th Bomb Group Mission Number 55.

_'U-172' _was sunk in the mid-Atlantic after a 27 hour fight west of the Canary Islands, by depth charges and Fido homing torpedoes from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft (VC-19) of the American escort carrier USS _'Bogue' _and by some 200 depth charges from destroyers USS _'George E Badger'_, _'Clemson'_, _'Osmond Ingram' _and _'DuPont'_. 13 dead and 46 survivors. The Destroyer '_Osmond Ingram' _(DD-255) was damaged by gunfire from the German submarine '_U-172'_.

_'U-391' _was sunk in the Bay of Biscay north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqn 53/B). 51 dead (all hands lost).

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The old airfield at Shipton a few miles N of York was reactivated in WW2 to house the RAF's No 60 Maintenance Unit. The purpose of this unit was to provide spares and collect crashed aircraft from the surrounding area. They were kept very busy and operated many miles from base, sometimes in arduous conditions, as this extract from the Station Records will show:


> "_13th December 1943; Halifax Aircraft DT 578. Category 'E2' at Whernside (about twenty miles W of Ripon). Main site of crash 2,600' high, aircraft scattered over a considerable area; salvage operations handicapped by extremely bad weather and extreme cold, visibility often only 20 yards. The climb each day from billets to scene of crash took about 1½ hours. To date, salvage is almost complete and it is estimated salvage party will return to unit by 6th January 1944."_


An Fw 200 C-3 from 7./KG 40 crashed at Ballydrennan, Ireland. Having flown around the west coast for some time the aircraft made a forced landing having run low on fuel and with engine problems. The crew were interned in Curragh that night.


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## Njaco (Dec 16, 2008)

*14 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment began a one-hour artillery barrage of German positions, in preparation for an attack toward Casa Berardi. South of Ortona, C Company of the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment captured Casa Berardi overlooking The Gully at the south-west end, allowing firing on German positions in The Gully.

Capt. Paul Triquet (1910-80), Canadian Army, with the few remaining men of his company, broke through the fierce enemy defence of a town and held off heavy attacks until relieved. (Victoria Cross)

300 Allied bombers raid Athens.

Lt (A) Rene Irving Whitley "Terry" Goddard, RNVR, a Canadian from Ottawa, Ontario, serving a member of the British Fleet Air Arm, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The citation in the London Gazette read:


> "_For outstanding bravery and skill in many successful sorties against enemy shipping in the Mediterranean while operating from Malta and North Africa." _


Goddard later transferred to the RCNR and then to the RCN. He served in HMCS HAIDA (08 Sep 47) before being promoted to LCdr (O) and appointed as CO of 826 Sqn on 28 Jan 48. His other appointments included service in HMCS Magnificent commencing 08 Apr 52, and staff appointments at NSHQ in 1953 and SACLANT in 1954. Promoted to Cdr (O) on 01 Jan 55, he was appointed to NSHQ as the Assistant CNS for Air Warfare on 01 Aug 60. He also served in the Personnel Branch before being sent on exchange in 1963 to EASTLANT HQ. Cdr Goddard retired some time in 1965 or 1966 (exact date unknown).

150+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escorts, bombed Greece. The B-24s hit the Tatoi air depot at Athens; the B-17s hit the Kalamaki and Eleusis air depots at Athens and the docks and shipping at Piraeus. The heavy bombers claimed 10 fighters shot down.

In Italy, medium bombers hit Orte, concentrating on the marshalling yard; light bombers attacked road bridge SW of Pontecorvo in front of US Fifth Army lines; P-40 fighter-bombers hit bridges S of Roccasecca and E of Atina; A-36s destroyed a bridge at Ceprano and bombed railroad yards, the town area, and highway at Sora, and docks and town area of Civitavecchia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army, pursuing its tactics of keeping the Germans on the wrong foot, launched a major attack on Nevel, in Byelorussia. The Germans abandoned some positions in the face of an assault by six divisions and two tank corps. Meanwhile, south of Kiev, General Konev's men stormed Cherkassy, the German stronghold on the west bank of the Dnieper, and were nearing Smyela, the vital junction 16 miles south-west of Cherkassy. The Germans were in full retreat, being harried from the air by Sturmoviks. One of the reasons for the defeat of the German 8.Armee at Cherkassy was the transfer of many of its tanks to von Manstein's attempt to retake Kiev. At first successful, this attempt inflicted many casualties on General Vatutin's First Ukrainian Front, but was halted by mud and Vatutin's artillery 25 miles from the Ukrainian capital. General Hoth was sacked for his failure to take Kiev. The Germans wre also active attacking and capturing Radomyshl (near Malin). Now, both sides were gathering men and guns for the winter offensive which was bound to follow once the frost has hardened the ground.

Near Bjelvi, Hptm. Heinrich Krafft, Gruppenkommanduer of I./JG 51, was shot down by AA fire and survived a crash-landing. But after being captured, he was beaten to death by Russian troops.


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## Njaco (Dec 17, 2008)

*15 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army advanced toward San Pietro and Nomte Lungo, attacking along the length of the Reinhard Line. Sixteen American tanks attempted to advance into San Pietro. A few hours later, four surviving tanks withdrew. Seven were destroyed, five immobilized. The newly arrived Free French 1st Moroccan Division performed well in its combat debut; the Moroccan troops secured the San Michel Pass, but the Germans put up strong resistance. US II Corps began an attack toward Montte Lungo and San Pietro. Hollywood director John Huston, serving as a US Army lieutenant, filmed the battle. The US VI Corps were also advancing.

B-17s with P-38 and P-47 escorts, bombed marshalling yards at Bolzano, Italy and Innsbruck, Austria. B-24s, with P-38 escort, attack Avisio, Italy viaduct. All targets suffered considerable damage. B-25s and A-20s bombed roads at Pontecorvo and N of Frosinone; fighter-bombers blasted gun positions along the US Fifth Army front.

In Yugoslavia, B-25s bombed the airfield at Mostar and A-36 and P-40 fighter-bombers attacked vessels, vehicles, and parked aircraft N and E of the Peljesac Peninsula, near Mostar, and at the Zemonico landing ground.

*GERMANY*: 4 RAF Mosquitos flew to Bochum and 4 to Leverkusen, 3 RCM sorties. No losses.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Ninth Air Force comes under operational control of the AEAF. A new directive for tactical bomber operations lists reduction of enemy fighter forces as the basic objective. A Ninth Air Force planning staff, composed of officers who have had service with the Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC), is set up in London.

An FW 190A-2 from 12./JG 5 was shot down by a Mosquito VI from RAF No. 333 Sq. over Norway. Uffz. Willi Sürth was killed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Killed in action this day was Major Hubertus von Bonin (77 kills), _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 52. Major von Bonin was a former _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 54 and also flew with JG 26,


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## Bernhart (Dec 17, 2008)

"US II Corps began an attack toward Montte Lungo and San Pietro. Hollywood director John Huston, serving as a US Army lieutenant, filmed the battle."

I have a copy of that film very interesting


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## Njaco (Dec 19, 2008)

*16 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Two battalions of the US 142nd Infantry Division captured Monte Lungo, leaving San Pietro exposed; the Germans launched strong counter-attacks to mask their withdrawal.

After having sunk a merchant ship from convoy GUS-24, near Oran, _'U-73' _was sunk herself by depth charges and gunfire from destroyers USS _'Woolsey' _(DD-437, Gleaves class) and USS _'Trippe' _(DD-403, Benham class). There were 34 survivors from the crew of 50, including the commanding officer, Helmut Rosenbaum.

A basic directive for IX Bomber Command training is issued on this date. Since most of IX Bomber Command's combat units have been operational for some time earlier under the VIII Air Support Command, extensive training will not begin until after the first of the year when inexperienced units begin to arrive.

In Italy, B-24s attacked a railroad bridge and tunnel at Dogna and the railroad between Dogna and Chiusaforte; escorting P-38s strafed trains and oil tanks between Portogruaro and Latisana; B-17s, escorted by P-38s and P-47s, bombed the Padua marshalling yard and rail junction; rail lines, rolling stock, and buildings were damaged extensively. A-20s attacked gun positions near Mignano; P-40s and A-36s hit gun batteries and strongpoints along the British Eighth Army front S and E of Chieti, gun emplacements and troop concentrations all along the US Fifth Army front, especially NE and S of Cassino, and also bombed Roccasecca and docks at Civitavecchia. The fighters of JG 27 lost Fw. Ernst Hackl of 12./JG 27 (8 kills) after a flight against the Allies.

During the night Hptm. Alfred Held of 12./NJG 3 (9 kills) was killed.

In Yugoslavia, B-25s bombed shipping at Zara and the harbor and marshalling yard at Sibenik; P-40s and P-47s hit a vessel S of Zara and strafed targets of opportunity on the Peljesac Peninsula.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet attacks continued as Novoseltsy, southeast of Cherkassy was captured.

Retribution for German atrocities in former occupied areas of Russia has begun. The first war crimes tribunal was at Krasnodar in July, where eight Germans were shot for a horrific catalogue of crimes. Today three Germans and a Russian who worked for them were facing a military tribunal in a theatre in this war-ravaged city. The indictment says that 30,000 were killed in the Kharkov area during the occupation.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The unescorted _'McDowell' _(Master Henry David Barrow) was hit by a Gnat from _'U-516' _about 30 miles north of Aruba. The torpedo struck the port side at the screw, destroying the propeller and shaft and disabling the main and auxiliary engines and the steering gear. The ship settled by the stern rapidly, but the crew did not abandon ship. At 11.32 and 11.33 hours, two coups de grâce hit the disabled tanker. The first at the #7 port wing tank and the second at the #4 tank, this caused the ship to sink stern first within five minutes. The ten officers, 35 crewmen and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in five lifeboats and a raft. Two crewmen drowned. The boats were spotted by an aircraft about one hour later, the American steam tanker _'Fairfax' _picked up 63 survivors and landed them at Aruba. The chief cook died from injuries ashore on 22 December. About 16.00 hours, the remaining eight survivors were rescued by USS YMS-56 and landed at Aruba.

47 RAF aircraft - 26 Stirlings, 12 Mosquitos, 9 Lancasters - carried out raids on 2 flying-bomb sites near Abbeville. Neither raid was successful. The larger raid, by the Stirlings on the Tilley-le-Haut site, failed because the Oboe Mosquito markers could not get any closer than 450 yards from the small target. The 9 Lancasters of 617 Squadron which attacked the second site, in a wood at Flixecourt, dropped their 12,000lb bombs accurately on the markers placed by the only Oboe Mosquito operating at this target but the markers were 350 yards from the flying-bomb site and none of the 617 Squadron bombs were more than l00 yards from the markers. No aircraft lost.

US freighter _'Blue Jacket'_, mistaken for a German blockade runner while proceeding toward her destination of Cardiff, Wales, was engaged in a running surface gunnery action by three British frigates. Armed Guard gunfire keeps the "friendly" ships at bay, saving the American merchantman. Once the mistake was realized, one of the Allied warships provides medical assistance; of the 56 merchant seamen and 33 Armed Guards, only seven men were injured. There were no fatalities.

*GERMANY*: 483 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos flew on a main raid to Berlin and 5 further Mosquitos dropped decoy fighter flares south of Berlin. The bomber route again led directly to Berlin across Holland and Northern Germany and there were no major diversions. The German controllers plotted the course of the bombers with great accuracy; many German fighters were met at the coast of Holland and further fighters were guided on to the bomber stream throughout the approach to the target. More fighters were waiting at the target and there were many combats. The bombers shook off the opposition on the return flight by taking a northerly route over Denmark. 25 Lancasters, 5.2 per cent of the Lancaster force, were lost. Many further aircraft were lost on returning to England. Berlin was cloud-covered but the Pathfinder skymarking was reasonably accurate and much of the bombing fell in the city. In the city centre, the National Theatre and the building housing Germany's military and political archives were both destroyed. The damage to the Berlin railway system and to rolling stock, and the large numbers of people still leaving the city, were having a cumulative effect upon the transportation of supplies to the Russian Front; 1,000 wagon-loads of war material were held up for 6 days. The sustained bombing had now made more than a quarter of Berlin's total living accommodation unusable. On their return to England, many of the bombers encountered very low cloud at their bases. The squadrons of 1, 6 and No 8 Groups were particularly badly affected. 29 Lancasters (and a Stirling from the minelaying operation) either crashed or were abandoned when their crews parachuted. The group with heaviest losses was No 1 Group with 13 aircraft lost; the squadron with heaviest losses was 97 Squadron, No 8 Group, with 7 aircraft lost. Major Scnaufer of NJG 1 destroyed 4 of the bombers, including the 'Master of Ceremonies' - the lead bomber that guided the bomber streams. Hptm. Manfred Meuer of I./NJG 1 destroyed 2 bombers.

2 Beaufighters and 2 Mosquitos of 141 Squadron, recently transferred from RAF Fighter Command to No 100 Group, inaugurated Bomber Command's Serrate operations in patrols near the routes of the Berlin raid. (Serrate was a device which homed on to the radar emissions of a German night fighter.) 1 Mosquito made contact with an Me110 and damaged it with cannon-fire. The crew of this first successful Bomber Command Serrate patrol was Squadron Leader FF Lambert and Flying Officer K Dear.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 156: the port area at Bremen, Germany was the target. 402 of 479 B-17s, 133 of 141 B-24s and 10 of 11 PFF aircraft hit the target and claimed 18-11-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 B-17s wer lost; 2 B-17s and 2 B-24s were damaged beyond repair; 128 B-17s, 22 B-24s and 5 PFF aircraft were damaged. The mission was escorted by 31 P-38s, 131 P-47s and 39 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 was lost, 1 P-38 was damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 damaged; casualties were 1 KIA and 1 MIA.


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## Njaco (Dec 20, 2008)

*17 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US 5th Army units captured Monte Sammucro. After 10 days of bitter and bloody fighting, the US 2nd Corps (5th Army) captured San Pietro in Italy. The Germans began to withdraw from San Pietro and other nearby positions. It needed tanks, artillery, mortars, phosphorous grenades and outright guts to take San Pietro. As the townsfolk emerged from their cellars to view their shattered town, the stiffening bodies of young American infantrymen were being placed in white cotton bags, with their identification discs tied to their combat boots. Some wept for fallen comrades; others stared vacantly ahead. No more than 100 Panzergrenadiers caused 1,500 American casualties here. The US 36th Division incurred 1200 casualties, and 2000 non-battle losses. One in ten villagers died. There were hundreds more San Pietros to come. The battle was the topic of a famous documentary film by John Huston. Upon review of the film, military authorities of the day criticized it for its harsh realism and the release was cut by 40%. The full length film survives intact today and is one of the best films of its kind available today.

In Italy, A-20s struck an artillery concentration near Sant'Elia Fiumerapido; All B-25 missions were abortive; A-36s and P-40 fighter-bombers bombed positions at Monte Trocchio, Cervaro, and Cardito, and the marshalling yard, barracks, warehouses, and docks at Nettuno and Anzio. In Yugoslavia, P-40s and P-51s, with SAAF escort, strafed a vessel near Trpanj.

Oblt. Joachim Kirschner, _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./JG 27, and his flight of five Bf 109Gs were spotted over Ston by six P-40 and seven P-47 Thunderbolts of the US 57th FG (according to others sources by Spitfires) which shot down three Bf 109 including his Bf 109G-6 WNr. 20618 over Metković. Kirchner managed to bail out but on the ground was captured by Yugoslav partisans from 29th Herzegovina division who sentenced him to death. He was shot by firing squad. Oblt. Joachim Kirchner carried out over 600 combat missions and had 188 air victories out of which 21 were US and British and 167 were Soviet aircraft. He was a former _Staffelkapitaen _of 5./JG 3. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The unescorted HMS _'Kingswood' _(Master Frederick H. Parmee) was hit by one of two torpedoes fired by _'U-515' _southwest of Kotonu, Dahomey in the Bight of Benin. The ship was sunk by a coup de grâce at 20.28 hours. The master, 40 crew members and seven gunners landed 10 miles west of Dahomey on 19 December.

The US Ninth Air Force planning group joined the 21 Army Group, AEAF, and the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force in preparation of the air section of the initial joint plan (Operation NEPTUNE) for Operation OVERLORD (the invasion of Normandy). This began planning which later resulted in a massive Ninth Air Force plan for moving the Ninth into battle on the continent of Europe.


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## Njaco (Dec 20, 2008)

*18 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Monte Lungo fell to units of the US 5th Army. The Germans responded with heavy counterattacks. The US 36th Division entered San Pietro, the leading role in this attack was played by the 1st Italian Motorized Brigade, the first substantial Italian ground unit to fight for the Allies. The Germans continued to withdraw due to the pressure of the US VI Corps.

In Italy, P-40 fighter-bombers attacked positions in Tollo, Canosa Sannita, and Orsogna, and strafed a schooner off Trogir; A-36s hit defended areas near Cassino and at Viticuso, a supply dump and gun emplacement near Tenacina, and positions at Monte Trocchio.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Winston Churchill informed President Franklin Roosevelt that the British War Cabinet favored Bernard Montgomery for commander of the land forces in the invasion of Europe. General Henry H "Hap" Arnold sent to Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal (RAF) an announcement of the US air officers for top commands in Europe in 1944. The list included Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker, Allied Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO); Lieutenant General John K Cannon, Twelfth Air Force; Lieutenant General Nathan F Twining, Fifteenth Air Force; General Carl Spaatz, US Strategic Air Forces (USSAFE); Lieutenant General James H Doolittle, Eighth Air Force; and Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton, Ninth Air Force.

B-26s of the US Fifteenth Air Force bombed Var River bridges, destroying a highway bridge and damaging a railroad bridge; other B-26s had less success against the Antheor viaduct, although there were several near misses.

An FW 58 from 10. Seenotstaffel was shot down by a Mosquito VI from RAF No. 333 Sq. B-Flight over Norway. The entire crew of 3 were killed. An FW 190A-3 from 12./JG 5, flown by Uffz. Paul Fleischhauer, went missing near Bergen.


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## Njaco (Dec 20, 2008)

*19 DECEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Four SS troopers (three Germans and one Russian) were hung for atrocities committed during the occupation of Kharkov. The three German war criminals, Langheld, Retelav and Ritz and their Russian accomplice Bulanov, were accused and guilty of taking part in the murder of thousands of Russian citizens in “gas vans”. 50,000 Russians turned out to witness the execution.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Austria, about 50 B-24s attacked the Messerschmitt plant at Augsburg and and about 100 B-17's hit the marshalling yard at Innsbruck. P-38s and P-47s provided partial escort. 9 heavy bombers were lost; US aircraft claimed 37 fighters shot down. Lt. Walter Hagenah of 10./JG 3, finally got his 7th kill, a B-24, after nearly a year without any victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, P-47s of the 325th Fighter Group, dispatched for escort duty, missed the rendezvous with the heavy bombers and instead strafed Ancona Airfield, truck convoys at Porto Civitsnova, a train near Senigallia, and a vessel at Roseto degli Abruzzi; B-26s bombed the Perugia railroad installations and marshalling yards at Castiglione della Valle and Foligno. B-25s bombed the Terni marshalling yard and the Orte marshalling yard and airfield; A-20s attacked road, bridge, and the town of Orte and hit Cassino; P-40s bombed Orsogna, Sant' Elia Fiumerapido, and dump near Arce, and hit shipping at Split, Trogir, and Solin, Yugoslavia. A-36's hit railroad and harbor area at Civitavecchia, Italy.


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## Njaco (Dec 21, 2008)

*20 DECEMBER 1943* 

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 159: The port area at Bremen, Germany was hit again. 357 of 407 B-17s, 103 of 127 B-24s and 12 of 12 PFF aircraft hit the target and claimed 21-14-23 Luftwaffe aircraft; 21 B-17s and 6 B-24s were lost; 3 B-17s were damaged beyond repair; 213 B-17s and 34 B-24s were damaged. Window-metal foil strips which, when dropped from an airplane, provided an echo which confused radar locating equipment, was used for the first time on an Eighth Air Force mission. This mission was escorted by 26 P-38s, 418 P-47s and 47 Ninth Air Force P-51s who claimed 19-3-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s were lost; 1 P-47 was damaged beyond repair and 5 P-47s were damaged. The Luftwaffe sent fighters from JG 1, JG 11, JG 26, JG 54, ZG 26, JG 2, JG 3, JG 27 and EKdo. 25. The first pass by the Germans was just at the IP southeast of Delmenhorst and bombers were hit by flak over the target. A second fighter attack began just after bombs away. Flak was heavy and accurate. I. and III./ZG 26 were very active with WR 21cm rockets, protected by single-engined fighters. The chaos was so great that B-17 crews reported that He 111s had attacked them as Bf 110G-2s were sitting out of bomber gunner range, lobbing rockets then closing in on the cripples. The 445th Bomb Group suffered it's first combat loss when 2Lt 'Buck' Patterson's aircraft was downed.

The mission would have been recorded in the logbooks as just another mission if not for a unique event that wasn't revealed until decades later. Lt. Charles Brown was a B-17 pilot with the 379th BG and this was his first combat mission. After the bomb run, Brown and his B-17 - named 'Ye Old Pub' - were in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. Before 'bombs away', Brown's B-17 took hits that shattered the plexiglass nose, knocked out the #2 engine, damaged #4 - which frequently had to be throttles back to prevent overspeeding - and caused damage to the controls. Coming off target, 'Ye Old Pub' became a straggler. Almost immediately, the lone and limping B-17 came under fire from a series of attacks from 12 to 15 Bf 109s and Fw 190s that lasted for more than 10 minutes. The bomber's 11 guns were reduced by the extreme cold to only the 2 top turret guns and one forward nose gun. The tailgunner was killed and all but one of the crew were incapacitated by wounds or the frigid air. Lt. Brown had taken a bullet fragment to his shoulder. With 3 seriously injured onboard, he rejected bailing out or crash landing with the alternative a thin chance of reaching England. While nursing the battered bomber toward home, Lt. Brown noticed a Bf 109 flying off his wing. The pilot waved then flew across the B-17's nose and motioned for Brown to land in Germany, which Brown refused to do. After escorting them for several miles out over the North Sea, the Luftwaffe pilot saluted, rolled over and disappeared.

Earlier, after Brown's B-17 had flown over his airfield, Oblt. Franz Steigler of 11./JG 27 was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When neared the bomber, Oblt. Steigler couldn't believe his eyes. In his words, he;


> "_...had never seen a plane in such a bad state_."


The tail and rear section was severely damaged and the top gunner was all over the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere. Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the bomber and looked at Lt. Brown. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane. Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved to Lt. Brown to turn 180 degrees. Franz then escorted the stricken plane over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted and turned away, back toward Germany.

'Ye Old Pub' did make it across 250 miles of storm tossed North Sea and landed at Seething near the English coast, home of the 448th BG, which had not yet flown its first mission. When Franz landed, he told his CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea and never told the truth to anybody. Lt. Brown and the remainder of his crew told all at their briefing but were ordered never to talk about it. More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown and Franz Steigler met in the USA at a 379th BG reunion, together with 25 people who were alive - because Franz never fired his guns that day.

650 RAF aircraft - 390 Lancasters, 257 Halifaxes, 3 Mosquitos attacked Frankfurt at night. The German control rooms were able to plot the bomber force as soon as it left the English coast and were able to continue plotting it all the way to Frankfurt. There were many combats on the route to the target. The Mannheim diversion did not draw fighters away from the main attack until after the raid was over but the return flight was quieter. 41 aircraft - 27 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters - were lost, 6.3 per cent of the force. The bombing at Frankfurt did not go according to plan. The Pathfinders had prepared a ground-marking plan on the basis of a forecast giving clear weather but they found up to 8/10ths cloud. The Germans lit a decoy fire site 5 miles south-east of the city and also used dummy target indicators. Some of the bombing fell around the decoy but part of the creepback fell on Frankfurt causing more damage than Bomber Command realized at the time. Part of the bombing somehow fell on Mainz, 17 miles to the west, and many houses along the Rhine waterfront and in southern suburbs were hit. Luftwaffe night-fighter Major Wilhelm Herget claimed 8 victories in 50 minutes during the battle. 44 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of 1 and No 8 Groups carried out a diversionary raid on Mannheim but most of the bombing fell outside the city. No aircraft were lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Convoy JW.55B departed Loch Ewe with 19 ships intent on making for the Kola Inlet. The convoy escort was comprised of the destroyers HMS _'Onslow'_, HMS _'Onslaught'_, HMS _'Orwell'_, HMS _'Scourge'_, HMS _'Impulsive'_, HMCS _'Haida'_, HMCS _'Iroquois'_, HMCS _'Huron'_, HMS _'Whitehall'_, and HMS _'Wrestler'_, minesweeper HMS _'Gleaner'_, and corvettes HMS _'Honeysuckle' _and HMS _'Oxlip'_.

A Vickers Wellington XIV from RAF No. 304 (Polish) Sqn hit mountain at night returning from U-Boat patrol over the Sea of Biscay on the slopes above Slieveglass, above Brandon village, Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. The whole crew perished: F/Sgt Adamowicz, Sgt Kuflik, Sgt Pietrzak, Sgt Kowalewicz, Sgt Lugowski and Sgt Czerniawski and were buried in Northern Ireland.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The unescorted _'Phemius' _(Master Thomas Arthur Kent OBE) was torpedoed by _'U-515' _about 30 miles south of Accra, Gold Coast and sunk by a Gnat coup de grâce. Three crew members, one gunner and 19 passengers were lost. The radio officer was taken prisoner by the U-boat. The master, 67 crew members, ten gunners and 14 passengers were picked up by FFL _'Commandant Drogou' _(J 3040) and landed at Takoradi.

_'U-850' _was sunk in the mid-Atlantic west of Madeira, Portugal, by depth charges and Fido homing torpedoes from 5 Avenger and Wildcat aircraft (VC-19) of the American escort carrier USS _'Bogue'_. 66 dead (all hands lost).

8 RAF Lancasters of 617 Squadron and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos attempted to bomb an armaments factory near Liege but the Mosquito marking was not visible below the clouds and the Lancasters did not bomb; 1 Lancaster was lost. 6 Mosquitos to Rheinhausen and 5 to Leverkusen, 8 RCM sorties, 2 Beaufighters on Serrate patrol, 23 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians, 38 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Spanish dictator Francisco Franco ordered the “Blue Division” disbanded and returned from the Russian front to Spain. Over 40,000 Falangists (Spanish Fascists) fought beside their German comrades during their two years in the Soviet Union.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied counter-intelligence forces arrested 28 Nazi spies in Italy including the ringleader “Grammatico”.


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## Njaco (Dec 21, 2008)

*21 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army met stiff German resistance near Ortona, and the US 5th Army was heavily engaged at Monte Sammucro. The battle for Ortona began, with the Canadian Seaforth Highlanders and Loyal Edmonton Regiment moving into the outskirts of the town. After finally crossing "the gully" the Canadians believed that the town would come easily. The Germans thought not. They evacuated the Italian town and began blowing up a large part of the town, the rubble blocking the Canadian tanks but leaving certain pathways that were set up for killing fields for the Germans against the Canadians. As the Canadians moved in, the Germans set up booby traps everywhere. Italian houses have common walls, so the Canadians would go in one, go to the top, blow a hole in the common wall, and descend on the Germans. This was called "mouseholing."

first elements of the Polish II Corps landed at Taranto, Italy. They were commanded by Lieutenant General Wladyslaw Anders and Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Zygmunt Szyszko-Bohusz.

In Italy, B-25s bombed Terracina; P-40s hit the same target and also bombed positions and munitions factory S of Sant' Elia Fiumerapido; A-36s bombed positions, a fuel dump, and munitions factory in the Cervaro area, and hit trains, a seaplane base, a radar station, trucks, and other targets in the Rome-Civitavecchia area.

Lieutenant General John K Cannon took command of the US Twelfth Air Force.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German bridgehead across the Dniepr River near Kherson was captured by the Russians.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A British Beaufighter (Sqdn 404/H) was shot down by _'U-1062'_. The Beaufighters were from Sqdn. 144 and 404, probably 8 of them, 4 carried torpedoes, the rest as flak suppressors.
_'U-284' _was scuttled in the North Atlantic south-east of Greenland by her crew after suffering major damage from floating ice; her sister boat, _'U-629' _rescued the entire crew and brought them back to base at Brest on 5 January 1944.

84 B-26s bombed V-weapon sites and other targets in France.

*GERMANY*: 9 RAF Oboe Mosquitos flew to the Mannesmann factory at Düsseldorf and 4 to the Knapsack power station, 4 OTU sorties. No losses.


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## Njaco (Dec 22, 2008)

*22 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The 2nd Canadian Brigade of the British 8th Army has entered Ortona. Heavy street fighting broke out from house to house between the German 1st Parachute Division and the 1st Canadian Division.

Major General Paul L Williams re-assumes command of the XII Troop Carrier Command (Provisional).

In Italy, P-40s and Spitfires of the Twelfth Air Force, RAF, SAAF, and RAAF hit strong points in the Tollo-Miglianico-Chieti areas; P-40s blasted bridge, locomotives, trucks, and railroad tracks at and near Tortoreto and Benedello; P-47s strafed targets of opportunity in the area around Zara, Yugoslavia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 14,284 Spanish soldiers were repatriated to Spain; 3,000 volunteered to continue fighting with the Nazis in the Legion Azul [Blue Legion].

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 161: Marshalling yards at Osnabruck and Munster, Germany were targeted; 22 US bombers were lost. Heavy cloud conditions along with a malfunction of Pathfinder equipment resulted in a large number of heavy bombers failing to attack targets. 147 of 225 B-17s, 87 of 121 B-24s and 2 PFF aircraft hit Osnabruck and claimed 18-8-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s and 12 B-24s were lost; 2 B-17s and 1 B-24 were damaged beyond repair; and 21 B-17s and 11 B-24s were damaged. 164 of 177 B-17s, 30 of 43 B-24s and 3 PFF aircraft hit Munster; 3 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost, 1 B-17 was damaged beyond repair, and 29 B-1's were damaged. The bombers were escorted by 40 P-38s, 448 P-47s and 28 Ninth Air Force P-51s. They claimed 15-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s and 2 P-47s were lost and 1 P-47 was damaged. Among the pilots lost by the Luftwaffe were Egon Falkensamer (9 kills) of JG 11 and Hptm. Harry Koch (30 kills) of 6./JG 1.

9 RAF Mosquitos flew to Frankfurt and 2 to Bonn, 2 RCM sorties, 16 aircraft minelaying off Biscay ports, 21 OTU sorties. No losses.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 163: 1 B-17 dropped two 2,000 pound (907 kf)general purpose bombs and 1 Photoflash on Cologne, Germany at 2020 hours; no casualties.

A new unit was established to test the Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito. Based at Erfurt, the unit was designated _Truppen Erprobungskommando 154 _(EKD 154).

*WESTERN FRONT*: Convoy JW.55B was discovered by Luftwaffe Reconnaissance aircraft.

RAF light bombers attacked numerous NOBALL (V-weapons) targets in France in conjunction with the Osnabruck-Munster raids. 51 RAF aircraft - 29 Stirlings, 11 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos, 3 Halifaxes - were sent to attack 2 flying-bomb sites between Abbeville and Amiens. 1 site was bombed accurately but the other could not be located. No aircraft lost. 210 B-26s sent to bomb special targets in France were recalled because of bad weather.

Orders were issued for General Carl Spaatz to take command of US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSAFE). Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker, Eighth Air Force Commanding General, was to Command Allied Air Forces in the MTO, after remaining in the UK until mid-Jan to advise Spaatz and Lieutenant General James H Doolittle, the new Commanding General, Eighth Air Force.


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## Njaco (Dec 23, 2008)

*23 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army has seized most of Ortona from the Germans after a house to house fight. Inland, Arielli fell to other 8th Army units.

General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny arrived at Algiers to take command of the French First Army.

B-26s hit the viaduct at Antheor, France and railroad bridge and marshaling yard at Imperia, Italy. The Ventimiglia, Italy railroad bridge was attacked; the bridge was not hit but the overpass, tunnel, tracks. and transformer station nearby were damaged.

P-40s and P-47s attempt to support Yugoslav partisans resisting the German invasion of Korcula Island off the Peljesac Peninsula, but bad weather prevented location of targets.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Convoy RA.55A departed the Kola Inlet with 22 ships. The Escort was comprised of destroyers HMS _'Milne'_, HMS _'Meteor'_, HMS _'Ashanti'_, HCMS _'Athabaskan'_, HMS _'Musketeer'_, HMS _'Matchless'_, HMS _'Opportune'_, HMS _'Virago'_, , HMS _'Beagle'_, and HMS _'Westcott'_, minesweeper HMS _'Seagull'_, and corvettes HMS _'Dianella'_, HMS _'Poppy'_, and the Norwegian _'Acanthus'_. The close cruiser escort, under VA Burnett, was HMS _'Belfast'_, HMS _'Norfolk'_, and HMS _'Sheffield'_, while the distant covering force, under CinC Home Fleet Adm Fraser, was the battleship HMS _'Duke of York'_, cruiser HMS _'Jamacia'_, and the destroyers HMS _'Savage'_, HMS _'Saumarez'_, HMS _'Scorpion'_, and the Norwegian _'Stord'_. The German 5th S Boat Flotilla conducted an unsuccessful probing sortie against the convoy.

Escort carrier _'Card' _(CVE-11) and destroyer _'Decatur' _(DD-341) were attacked unsuccessfully by German submarine _'U-415' _as they steam toward Horta, Azores, from escorting convoy GUS 24. Destroyer _'Schenck' _(DD-159), in _'Card's' _screen, attacked and probably damaged another enemy boat in the vicinity, _'U-645' _. FM aircraft from _'Card' _located blockade runner _'Osorno'_, bound for the Gironde Estuary. The German submarine _'U-471' _unsuccessfully attackd the battleship _'Arkansas' _(BB-33) screening convoy TU 5 in the North Atlantic, 300 miles west of Rockall Bank. An RAF 120 Sqn Liberator aircraft then attacked _'U-471' _and wounded three men.

92 P-47s were dispatched to Gilze-Rijen Airfield in The Netherlands; 2 squadrons dive-bombed the target while the 1 squadron provided escort; no casualties.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: It was announced that Eisenhower would be the Supreme Allied Commander; that Tedder RAF would be his deputy; that Montgomery would command 21st Army Group (British Second and Canadian First Armies), and that Spaatz would command the US Strategic Air Forces.

HQ 453d Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 732d, 733d, 734th and 735th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) arrived at Old Buckenham, England from the US with B-17s. They will fly their mission on 5 Feb 44. HQ 71st Fighter Wing arrived at Aldermaston, England from the US. HQ 363d Fighter Group and it's 380th and 382d Fighter Squadrons arrived at Keevil, England from the US without aircraft. They will be equipped with P-51s and fly their first mission on 24 Feb 44. The 386th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, arrived at Gosfield, England from the US with P-47s. They will fly their first mission on 22 Feb 44.

Just before midnight a Halifax bomber broke up in the air after being abandoned by four of the crew and crashed into houses near 57 Kent Road, Harrogate, around Oakdale Golf Course and the Power Station. Three of the crew were killed.

*GERMANY*: 12 RAF Mosquitos flew to Aachen, 9 to Duisburg and 7 to Leipzig, 4 RCM sorties, 3 Beaufighters on Serrate patrols, 7 OTU sorties. 1 Beaufighter was lost.

379 RAF aircraft - 364 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos, 7 Halifaxes were sent to Berlin. The bomber casualties were not as heavy as on recent raids, partly because German fighters encountered difficulty with the weather and partly because the German controller was temporarily deceived by the Mosquito diversion at Leipzig. The main force of fighters only appeared in the target area at the end of the raid and could not catch the main bomber stream. 16 Lancasters were lost, 4.2 per cent of the force. The Berlin area was covered by cloud and more than half of the early Pathfinder aircraft had trouble with their H2S sets. The markers were scattered and sparse.


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## Njaco (Dec 24, 2008)

*24 DECEMBER 1943* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 164: 23 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France were hit. 478 of 526 B-17s 192 of 196 B-24s hit the targets and 2 B-24s were damaged beyond repair and 85 B-17s were damaged. This was the largest number of aircraft carrying out attacks of any Eighth Air Force mission to date and the first of its major strikes against missile sites. The heavies were escorted by 40 P-38s, 459 P-47s and 42 Ninth Air Force P-51s; 2 P-38s were damaged beyond repair and 2 P-51s were damaged; no casualties. 60+ B-26s attacked NOBALL (V-missile sites) targets in Pas de Calais area of France. 30+ B-26s aborted due to bad weather.

Whilst reinforcing US TG.21, HMS _'Hurricane' _(from escort group B.1) was torpedoed by _'U-415' _and rendered dead in the water, but in no danger of sinking. Later she was scuttled on the instructions of CinC Western Approaches to avoid attracting more U-boats into the area.

Escort carrier USS _'Card _(CVE-11)'s screen continued to battle concentration of U-boats. Destroyer USS _'Schenck' _(DD-159) sank the German submarine _'U-645'_, in the North Atlantic NE of the Azores -55 dead (all hands lost) -, but USS _'Leary' _(DD-158 ) was hit by 3 torpedoes and sunk by _'U-275' _and _'U-382'_, 585 miles west-northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain. 97 of her crew of 149 were lost.

The HMS _'Dumana' _(Master Archibald Richard George Drummond), escorted by the British armed trawlers HMS _'Arran' _and _'Southern Pride'_, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-515' _west of Sassandra, Ivory Coast. The vessel sank in a short time, dragging some of the lifeboats down with her before they could be released. Three officers, seven crewmembers, 20 lascars, two gunners and seven RAF personnel were lost. The master, 107 crewmembers, seven gunners and 15 RAF personnel were picked up by the escorts and landed at Takoradi on 25 December.

No RAF bombing raids were carried out on Christmas Eve but 35 Halifaxes were sent minelaying in the Frisians and returned without loss.

British General Sir Bernard Montgomery learned he would become Commander-in-Chief of 21st Army Group, the British and Canadian forces invading North-West Europe.

*GERMANY*: Over Fassberg No. 605 Squadron RAF shot down their 100th enemy aircraft. They were on a night intruder mission equipped with the de Havilland Mosquito VI.

During the RAF attack on Berlin during the early morning hours, the Luftwaffe night-fighter force suffered losses. Wilhelm Brockerhoff (6 kills) of NJG 3 was killed as was Oblt. Lenz Finster (10 kills) of 4./NJG 1.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russian 1st Ukraine Front under Vatutin, launched a massive assault west of Kiev. The defending German 4.Panzerarmee would be penetrated deeply due to overstretched German units and the lack of reserves. The aim was to destroy the German salient on the Dnieper and open Galicia and Romania. Berdichev was captured.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German merchantman _'Nicoline Maersk' _was intercepted by destroyer FS _'Le Fantasque' _in the Western Mediterranean and was run aground by her crew near Tortosa, Spain.

In Italy, 100+ B-26s dispatched to bomb the Pisa, Italy marshalling yard failed to locate the target due to overcast. 24 B-26s bombed the marshalling yard at Cecina.

Weather severely hampered Twelfth Air Force operations. P-40s failed to locate the target, a vessel at Ugljan Island, Yugoslavia, but shot down 1 airplane in the Adriatic Sea.


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## Njaco (Dec 25, 2008)

*25 DECEMBER 1943* 

*GERMANY*: The main weight of the RAF's Christmas raid on Berlin 23/24 December fell on the city's south-eastern suburbs, as well as on a ball-bearing factory at Erkner, 15 miles away. The bombs killed 178 Berliners, compared with 104 aircrew killed and 16 taken prisoner. RAF PoWs were made to clear rubble after what was the month's second big raid. Nine days ago 438 Berliners and 279 slave workers (186 women, 65 men and 28 youths from eastern Europe) died during an attack on rail networks; so did 294 German airmen.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army launched an offensive in the Ukraine along the Kiev-Zhitomir highway, aiming to prise open German ranks now defending Galicia and Romania. In the Vitebsk sector Gorodok was captured, the Vitebsk-Polotsk rail line cut and German defensive positions were on the brink of collapse. The year thus ends, as it began, with Russia in the ascendant: a year which started with Stalingrad, ended the Russians' long retreat and humiliating the seemingly invincible Germans. Since then the Russians defeated the Germans at Kursk, recaptured Kharkov for the second time, liberated Kiev, cut off the German 17.Armee in the Crimea, crossed the Dnieper and broken Hitler's "Eastern Wall". This has, however, been not only a year of victories, but also a year in which the awesome reserves of the Soviet Union have been mobilized. The Russians produced excellent aircraft in great numbers - no fewer than 2,900 a month during 1943, of which 2,500 were combat planes. Added to them were 16,000 heavy or medium tanks, 3,500 light tanks, 4,000 mobile guns and 130,000 guns of all calibre during the year. As well as the Russians' own strength there was also the help sent from the west: mechanized divisions go into battle in American lorries; Soviet pilots fly Airacobras and Kittyhawks; generals scan intelligence decrypts. All this strength was now being welded together into a formidable fighting machine. Stalin planned to clear the Ukraine, destroying the Wehrmacht in a series of "cauldrons" before marching on Poland, Romania and Germany itself. The Germans were still fighting skillfully, but Russia now had the power.

*WESTERN FRONT*: At 1900 hours German Rear-Admiral Bey sailed with _'Scharnhorst' _and five destroyers, Z-29, Z-30, Z-33, Z-34, and Z-38 of the 4th Flotilla (Captain Johannesson), toward convoy JW-55B. Spotted by German air and U-Boat searches, Admiral Bey was unaware of the British force which was conducting distant escort, including _'Duke of York'_. In the interest of maintaining radio silence, _'Scharnhorst' _had not been using her radar, and although the need to do so had passed, no instruction was issued to make it operational, thus her blindness was self inflicted. By contrast the 3 British cruisers had been tracking by radar (which _'Scharnhorst' _would not have been able to detect) for some 50 minutes before HMS _'Belfast' _fired the first starshell, thus announcing the presence of enemy forces.

German blockade runner _'Osorno' _arrived off the Gironde Estuary, met by six destroyers and six torpedo boats. Although _'Osorno' _had run the gantlet and avoided damage from her foes, she fouled on the submerged wreckage of sunken German auxiliary vessel _'Sperrbrecher 21'_, necessitating the blockade runner's being beached.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-26s pounded the Pisa-Porta Nuova area, scoring especially damaging hits in the marshalling yards. B-17s hit the Bolzano marshalling yard; and B-24s hit the Pordenone marshalling yard and targets of opportunity at Vicenza. B-17s of 2 groups failed to locate targets due to bad weather, and many fighters ticketed for escort duty failed to rendezvous with heavy bombers in the overcast skies. A-36s bombed road, trucks, and the town area at Pontecorvo, Italy. P-40s, with a few SAAF Spitfires, hit a motor launch in Peljesac Channel of Yugoslavia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: For RAF No. 303 (Polish) Sqdrn, at 11.30 hrs in the morning all personnel came to the Maintenance Hangar to attend a mass. The American and English guests were delighted with the Polish Christmas carols. At noon all met in the Airmens Mess for dinner. The dinning room was splendidly decorated, the Christmas tree stood in the middle, decorated with many coloured ornaments. After a nice English tradition the Officers served the meals. They all mingled freely. From time to time a melodious voice from loud-speaker started a carol, and the hum of laughter and voices turned into singing a nice tune.


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## pbfoot (Dec 25, 2008)

Ortona still raged on for another 3 days each platoon taking part in the battle was rotated out for a XMAS dinner 

_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MonsK4TFqkU_
note the soviet observers towards the end who were brought in to watch


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## Njaco (Dec 28, 2008)

*26 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German defenders were cleared from Monte Sammucro. B-26s bombed marshalling yards at Prato, Empoli, and Pistoia, Italy.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 1st Ukrainian Front captured Radomyshl and over 150 other places in the Kiev salient.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'Scharnhorst' _and her escorting destroyers searched for Convoy JW-55B, north of Norway. Visibility was poor throughout the morning, the seas were heavy and _'Scharnhorst's _radar was out of order. They find the British cruisers providing distant escort under Admiral Burnett. Admiral Bey breaks off to circle north for the convoy and detaches the destroyers into a scouting line. At 0834 _'Scharnhorst' _was detected by the heavy cruiser HMS _'Norfolk' _from a distance of 30,000 meters (32,800 yards). Shortly afterwards the light cruisers _'Belfast' _and _'Sheffield' _of "Force I" (Vice-Admiral Burnett) also obtained contact. At 0924, the _'Belfast' _opened fire on _'Scharnhorst' _from 11,900 meters (13,000 yards), and was followed by _'Norfolk' _at 0930. _'Scharnhorst' _replied with her after turret but obtained no hits. _'Scharnhorst' _was hit by two 20.3cm projectiles from HMS _'Norfolk'_. One shell struck the battery deck but failed to explode. The other hit the foretop and disabled the radar apparatus (FuMo 27). _'Scharnhorst' _turned away southeast at 30 knots and then north again. Visibility improved somewhat near noon and action with the British cruisers resumed. Shortly after 1200, _'Scharnhorst' _ran once again into the cruisers of "Force I", this time re-inforced by four destroyers from the convoy escort, _'Musketeer'_, _'Martchless'_, _'Oppirtune' _and _'Virago'_, and opened fire at about 1230 with her main and secondary batteries. In this second engagement, the HMS _'Norfolk' _was hit twice by 28cm shells. Turret "X" was put out of action after a hit in the barbette, while another shell disabled the radars and killed seven men. The _'Sheffield' _was hit by splinters. At 1241, believing she was receiving fire from a battleship, _'Scharnhorst' _turned away south and ceased fire. At 1617, the battleship _'Duke of York' _of Force II (Admiral Fraser) obtained radar contact with _'Scharnhorst' _from 42,500 meters (46,480 yards), and after closing the range to 10,900 meters (11,920 yards) opened fire at 1648. Being without radar Bey was surprised. Almost immediately the _'Scharnhorst' _was hit by a 35.6cm projectile in turret "Anton" which was put out of action. Another shell from _'Duke of York' _demolished the hangar. At 1657, _'Belfast' _and HMS _'Norfolk' _opened fire. _'Scharnhorst' _was repeatedly hit but managed to increase the distance with "Force II" to 19,600 meters (21,435 yards). At 1820, a 35.6cm projectile passed through _'Scharnhorst's _upper belt and reached the No.1 Boiler room (section IX) that became a total loss. The speed dropped to 22 knots. At 1850, the destroyers of "Force II" closed on and obtained one torpedo hit on _'Scharnhorst's _starboard side and three more on the port side. Speed dropped to 20 knots. _'Duke of York' _and _'Jamaica' _opened fire again at 1901 from 9,600 meters (10,500 yards) obtaining numerous hits. _'Scharnhorst' _still fired back with turrets "Bruno" and "Cäsar" but obtained no hits. At 1912, the cruisers of "Force I" opened fire. Thereafter cruisers _'Jamaica' _and _'Belfast' _launched all their torpedoes, and destroyers _'Musketeer'_, _'Opportune' _and _'Virago' _19 more. The _'Scharnhorst' _finally capsized and sank at 1945. Only 36 of her crew of 1968 survived.

The unescorted SS _'Chapultepec' _was spotted in hazy weather by _'U-530' _about 90 miles NE of Cristobal. The tanker’s acoustic torpedo detector noticed the torpedo fired but seconds later struck just abaft the stem. The explosion destroyed the forepeak tank and damaged nearby compartments. The ship immediately began a series of short zigzags at full speed and then returned to normal pattern after ten minutes. The tanker settled by the head, but the cargo was shifted until the vessel was on even keel. On the afternoon of the 26 December, the tanker arrived at Cristobal and discharged her cargo the next day. Two men of the ten officers, 43 men and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) on board reported injuries. The _'Chapultepec' _later steamed to Galveston for dry-docking and repairs. Subsequently, U.S. tanker _'Esso Buffalo'_, en route from Aruba, N.W.I., to the Canal Zone (ultimate destination: Melbourne, Australia), most likely accidentally ramed _'U-530' _at 10°25'N, 78°28'W. There were no casualties among the 47-man merchant complement or the 28-man Armed Guard. 

A Ju 290A-3 belonging to 2./FAGr 5 crashed in Spain.


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## Njaco (Dec 28, 2008)

*27 DECEMBER 1943* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The following appointments were announced - Gen. Sir Bernard Paget, Commander in Chief, Middle East; Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied invasion forces under General Eisenhower; Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Allied Naval Commander in Chief; Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Allied Air Commander in Chief under General Eisenhower. Canadian General Andrew McNaughton was removed from command of the 1st Canadian Army in Europe.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied aircraft sink the German blockade runner _'Alsterufer' _in the Bay of Biscay by RAF No. 311 (Czech) Sqdrn Liberator "H" BZ 796. The 2,700-ton German blockade-runner which went to the bottom, was caught and sunk after a determined and prolonged effort of the part of many aircraft and squadrons of the Command. The German was first sighted at 945 hours by Sunderland "T" of RAF No. 201 Sqdrn and was shadowed for four hours. Meanwhile at 1135 hours another Sunderland, "Q" of RAF No. 422 Sqdrn. made contact and went in to attack. The aircraft overshot the target on the first run, but raked the enemy´s decks with machine-gun fire. The next attack was lethal. At 1607 hours Liberator "H" of RAF No. 311 (Czech) came in low on the starboard beam and used every available weapon. About an hour later two more Liberators, "F" and "L" RAF No. 86 Sqdrn, attacked with 500-lb bombs, but without result. The captain of Liberator "H" of RAF No. 311 (Czech) P/O Oldrich Dolezal (155129) and navigator F/O Zdenek Hanus (127086) were both awarded immediate DFC´s.

Adolf Hitler ordered troops to concentrate on the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, expecting the main Allied attack in mid-February.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 165: 7 B-17s dropped 1.392 million leaflets on Paris, Lille, Evreux, Rouen and Caen, France at 1735-1812 hours; no losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German forces retreated from Ortona, Italy, as Canadian forces completed taking the town.

In Italy, B-26s hit viaducts at Zoagli and Recco and attacked, but fail to hit, the marshalling yard at Poggibonsi. A-36s attacked targets in Italy, hitting a factory and railroad at Anagni, harbor and railroad facilities at Civitavecchia, a bridge at Pontecorvo, and several gun positions and vehicles.

B-25s attacked a vessel near Zara, Yugoslavia.


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## Njaco (Dec 28, 2008)

*28 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: With the Canadian 1st Division close to Highway 16 northwest of Ortona, Italy, German defenders withdrew from the city. Canadian troops fought their way through a wall of fire to oust a German division from the Adriatic seaport. Flame-throwers were rushed to the 200,000 Germans estimated to be fighting to save Rome. Like so many Italian towns in the wake of warring armies, Ortona was a ruin. But the shattered and burntout wreckage of buildings was ideal for the German defenders - in this case hardened Nazi Waffen-SS men who had to be winkled out one by one by infantrymen with tank support. However, Ortona finally fell. The remaining Germans retreated to hill positions north-west of the town. The town was a key objective in the Eighth Army's drive along the eastern coast of Italy. It was the eastern anchor of Field Marshal Kesselring's defensive Gustav Line. The fight bcame big news and was dubbed "Little Stalingrad" in the media. The 1st Canadian Infantry would not forget the 2600 lost there when the bells of the Saint Thomas of the Apostle Church finally chimed the end of the Battle for Ortona. But the Allied advance was slow. Each valley running from the Apennines to the sea has to be fought for. There were hundreds of valleys, and the few roads available have been heavily mined by the retreating Germans. Heavy rain and snowstorms were other problems.

A Me 410 from 2(F)./122 was shot down by a fighter from 5th FS (52nd FG) near Elba Is. Ofw Paul Lachmitt (F) injured, Uffz Helmut Schwarz (Bf) killed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet advance south of Kiev continued to gain ground. First Ukrainian Front continued its advance capturing Korostyshev and Kateyvka.

The _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 52, Hptm. Gerhard Barkhorn destroyed 7 Soviet aircraft in one day.

*WESTERN FRONT*: British cruisers _'Enterprise' _and _'Glasgow' _were met by 11 German destroyers and torpedo boats sent to meet the blockade runner _'Alsterufer'_, which was sunk by two Coastal Command Liberators and a Sunderland yesterday. PB4Y (VB 105) on patrol over Bay of Biscay found the five German destroyers and six torpedo boats. The British cruisers sank 3 German destroyers in a two and a half hour running battle, and the rest withdraw. Captain H. Grant of HMS _'Enterprise' _described how shells were;


> "_...whizzing around the ship between the masts and skimming the bridge_".


However, the only damage to his ship was to the wireless aerial. HMS _'Glasgow' _, however, suffered worse damage. The victory over much superior numbers was the more surprising because five of the German force were of the new "Narvik" class. They were virtually mini-cruisers and their 5.9 inch guns had more hitting power than the six inch guns on the much older _'Enterprise' _. After the loss of the _'Alsterufer'_yesterday the destroyers decided to take the shortest route back to harbour, but ran into a gale which slowed them down considerably and provided and opportunity for the cruisers to get in among them. Of 15 PB4Ys dispatched as a strike force, six (five from VB 105 and one from VB 103) contacted the enemy force and attacked it, resulting in the sinking of German destroyers Z 27 and torpedo boats T 25 and T 26, the survivors of which were rescued by the British ships, an Irish steamer, and four Spanish destroyers.

Adolf Hitler issued orders forbidding withdrawal of personnel or material from France, Belgium, or Holland areas.

The 20th Fighter Group (P-38 ) became operational, making a total of 11 operational fighter groups in the Eighth Air Force. The US VIII Fighter Command has flown over 17,500 sorties and destroyed more than 200 aircraft. The US VIII Bomber Command was charged with forming and training a special organization (the Radio Counter Measure Unit) to use radio countermeasures against enemy defenses; 24 specially equipped B-17s were to operate in support of both night and day raids.

*GERMANY*: 10 RAF Mosquitos were sent to Duisburg, 9 to Düsseldorf, 1 to Cologne, 11 OTU sorties. No losses.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 167: A B-17 dropped two 2,000 pound (907 kg) bombs and a Photoflash bomb on Dusseldorf, Germany in an Oboe test. US VIII Bomber Command Mission 168: 6 B-17s dropped 2.84 million leaflets on Hannover, Osnabruck, Hildsheim, Germany; Zwolle, The Netherlands; and Amiens, France. No losses.


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## Njaco (Dec 30, 2008)

*29 DECEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Korosten and Chernyakhov northwest of Kiev fell to the Soviets as did Skvira to the southwest, in a massive Ukrainian breakthrough.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British 9 Commando raided the area near the mouth of the river Garigliano.

Submarine FS _'Protee' _was sunk by German aircraft while on patrol between Toulon and Marseilles.

In Italy, B-26s attacked the marshalling yard and bridge at Certaldo, the marshalling yards at Poggibonsi and the viaduct at Bucine, and a bridge in the NW part of Orvieto; B-17s blasted marshalling yards at Ferrara and Rimini. A-36s attacked the railway station at Ferentino, harbor and railroad yard at Civitavecchia, and truck park near Aquino.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Destroyers HMCS _'Haida'_, _'Huron' _and _'Iroquois' _arrived at the Kola Inlet with Convoy JW-55B.

_'U-530' _was forced to return to base after being rammed by the tanker _'Esso Buffalo'_.

_'U-515' _saved 33 survivors from the sunken German torpedo boat T 33.

*GERMANY*: 712 RAF aircraft - 457 Lancasters, 252 Halifaxes, 3 Mosquitos - returned to Berlin. A long approach route from the south, passing south of the Ruhr and then within 20 miles of Leipzig, together with Mosquito diversions at Düsseldorf, Leipzig and Magdeburg, caused the German controller great difficulties and there were few fighters over Berlin. Bad weather on the outward route also kept down the number of German fighters finding the bomber stream. 20 aircraft - 11 Lancasters, 9 Halifaxes - were lost, 2.8 per cent of the force. Berlin was again cloud-covered. The Bomber Command report claiming a concentrated attack on skymarkers is not confirmed by the local report. The heaviest bombing was in the southern and south-eastern districts but many bombs also fell to the east of the city.

As part of the RAF raid on Berlin, several diversions were flown. 8 Mosquitos went to Magdeburg, 6 to Düsseldorf, 5 to Leipzig, 4 to Bristillerie - a suspected V-weapon site near Cherbourg - and 3 to Leverkusen, 6 RCM sorties, 2 Beaufighters on Serrate patrols, 5 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians and off French ports, 4 OTU sorties. No losses.


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## Njaco (Dec 30, 2008)

*30 DECEMBER 1943* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Vatutin's forces smashed German defenses south of Kiev advancing 30-60 miles along a 180-mile front. Kazatin fell to the Red Army in the Kiev sector.

The _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 52, Hptm. Gerhard Barkhorn destroyed 2 Soviet aircraft to bring his score to 228 kills.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-618' _saved 21 survivors from the sunken German destroyer Z-27. After the war these men became honorary members of the crew and took part in their annual meetings.

_'U-545' _fired four torpedoes at the convoy ON-217 and heard four detonations. Mannesmann thought that he had hit four ships, but the only ship hit was _'Empire Housman'_. _'U-545' _observed one ship sinking on 1 January. On 30 December, _'U-744' _attacked also the convoy ON-217 and reported one ship damaged, it is possible that the already damaged _'Empire Housman' _was hit.

10 RAF Lancasters of RAF No. 617 Squadron and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attempted to destroy a V1 site which had been missed on an earlier raid, but the markers were 200 yards from the target and, with the Lancasters' bombs well grouped around these, the site was again undamaged. No aircraft lost.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 170: 5 B-17s dropped 1 million leaflets on Antwerp, Ghent, Lens, Belgium and Cambrai, France at 2319-2340 hours; no losses. In France, about 100 B-26s bombed Saint-Omer Airfield and V-weapon sites on the French N coast. About 100others aborted missions because of bad weather.

Eight Spitfires of RAF No. 341 (Free French) Sqdrn took off from Perranporth. After crossing the Channel at low altitude, S/Cheft Pierre Gallay saw 4 aircraft at 4 o'clock at sea level. The CO, Capt. L. Christian Martell was told about the aircraft and the formation turned into them, identifying 4 Fw 190s. One of the Focke-Wulfs broke and climbed, followed by Capt. Martell and S/Chef Gallay. Capt. Martell fired a short burst and hit the Fw 190 in the fuselage but it then disappeared into some cloud. Capt. Jacques Soufflet fired several bursts at another Fw 190 but did not see any damage caused. After diving back to low altitude, Capt. Martell fired at a second Fw 190 which flew away trailing smoke. The squadron then reformed and was heading home when S/Lt. R. Borne spotted an Fw 190 and chased it. He opened fire and saw several pices of the tail come off. He chased it for about 4 more minutes before having to break off and head for home. This Fw 190 was damaged and smoking heavily and Borne claimed it as probably destroyed. The Fw 190s were from 1./SAGr 128 and only one was damaged in the combat.

Obstlt. Josef Priller was made acting _Jagdfliegerfuhrer _of _Jagdfliegerfuhrer Bretagne_, controlling fighter defenses over northeast France and Belgium.

*GERMANY*: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 169: The port area and oil refinery at Ludwigshafen, Germany were hit. 502 of 530 B-17s 145 of 168 B-24s, and 11 of 12 PFF aircraft attacked the target and claimed 12-4-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 14 B-17s and 9 B-24s were lost, 4 B-17s and 1 B-24 were damaged beyond repair and 106 B-17s and 11 B-24s were damaged. The mission was escorted by 79 P-38s, 463 P-47s and 41 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 8-3-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 P-47s and 2 P-51s were lost, 1 P-47 was damaged beyond repair and 5 P-47s were damaged.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-17s bombed the marshalling yards at Rimini and Padua; 2 B-17s were lost on the the Rimini mission; The B-17s and escorting P-38s and P-47s claimed the destruction of 9 fighters during air battles in the Padua-Vicenza area, off the coast E of Ravenna, and S of Aquila; B-26s hit the Borgo San Lorenzo marshalling yard and viaduct, the marshalling yard at Viareggio, and a road junction near Roccasecca. A-20s hit Atina; P-40s and A-36s supported ground forces, hitting targets in the Chieti-Miglianico area; vessels were hit at Crkvice, Yugoslavia, railway sidings near Frosinone, gun positions near Arce and W of Minturno, and the town areas of Sant' Elia Fiumerapido, Ferentino, and Atina were bombed.

B-25s bombed Zara, Yugoslavia, hitting a junction, railway station, repair shops, warehouse, and harbor.


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## Njaco (Dec 31, 2008)

*31 DECEMBER 1943* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th and British 8th Armies were now battering fruitlessly against the German defenses.

In Italy, P-40s and Spitfires of the AAF, RAF, RAAF, and SAAF, struck infantry and heavy artillery around Tollo, Orsogna, Miglianico, Ripa, and Teatina in support of the British Eighth Army. A-36s bombed the town of Formia and hit gun positions.

The Macchi 205s of II./JG 77 were taken out of service and operations were then flown using the _Gruppe's _old Bf 109s.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Vatutin's 1st Ukrainian Front retook Zhitomir, 80 miles west of Kiev. To the north they cut the road to Orsha and have Vitebsk essentially surrounded.

*WESTERN FRONT*: There were no RAF bomber operations on New Year's Eve; 2 Stirlings laid mines off the Dutch coast and returned safely.

Winston Churchill shows Bernard Montgomery plans for the invasion of Europe. Montgomery argued that three divisions on 25 miles of Normandy was too small, and too restricted in area. On the beach at the seaside village of Luc-sur-Mer (France), British No. 1 Combined Operation Pilotage and Beach Reconnaissance Party emerged from a midget submarine to take samples of the sand, to determine if it could support trucks and tanks of an invasion.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 171: Various targets in France were hit; 19 B-17s and 6 B-24s were lost. 200 of 236 B-17s and 57 of 60 B-24s hit the Bordeaux-Merignac, Cognac-Chateaubernard and Landes Bussac Airfields. They claimed 17-13-27 Luftwaffe aircraft; 18 B-17s and 5 B-24s were lost, 8 B-17s and 2 B-24s were damaged beyond repair and 103 B-17s and 5 B-24s were damaged. 57 B-17s were dispatched to hit a blockade running ship at Gironde but could not find the target; 1 B-17 was damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged. 87 of 94 B-24s hit the St Jean D'Angely Airfield. They claimed 9-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 was lost, 3 were damaged beyond repair and 5 damaged. 120 of 125 B-17's hit the industrial areas at Paris-Ivry and Bois-Colombes. 1 B-17 was lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 49 damaged. Around 200 B-26s bombed V-weapon sites in the French coastal area. These missions were escorted by 74 P-38s, 441 P-47s and 33 Ninth Air Force P-51s. They claimed 9-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38, 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 were lost; 1 P-38 and 6 P-47s were damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 was damaged. Luftwaffe units scrambled to intercept included jagdgruppe Ost, Jagdgruppe West, JG 2 and JG 26 along with elements of 1./CAGr 128 who lost Lt. Karl Albers when he crashed at Brest-Sud on take-off.

The total bomb tonnage dropped by the US Eighth Air Force in Dec 43, 13,142 tons (14,486 tonnes), was for the first time exceeded that dropped by the RAF Bomber Command.


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## Njaco (Jan 2, 2009)

*1 JANUARY 1944*

*GERMANY*: 15 RAF Mosquitos flew to Hamburg, 11 to Witten, 7 to Duisburg, 4 to Bristillerie and 1 to Cologne, 6 RCM sorties, 14 OTU sorties. No losses.

421 RAF Lancasters were dispatched to Berlin. Despite a Mosquito 'spoof' raid on Hamburg, German fighters were directed on to the bomber stream at an early stage and were particularly active en-route to Berlin. 28 Lancasters were lost, 6.7 per cent of the force. Major Prince Heinrich von Sayn-Wittgenstein of Stab III./NJG 1 destroyed 6 of the RAF bombers.

Erprobungskommando 16 (EK 16) received delivery of the first three of twelve Me 163B-0's. These aircraft were not flight-tested with their rocket engine. All had problems. During the first student test flight, Fw. Alois Wörndl was killed in a subsequent crash landing. Commanded by Major Späte and tasked with the training of thirty pilots and ground personnel, by January EK 16 had 500 people on strength. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The “Desert Fox”, Erwin Rommel, returned to the front as commander of Heeresgruppe B. He was placed in charge of the defense of northwest France - north of the Loire River, including the Atlantic Wall defenses at Normandy.

USSAFE was established for operational control of the US Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces.

Parts of I./JG 300 were used to form the 1st Staffel of NJG 11.

1./SAGr 128 became Jagdkommando 1./128, handing over its final 5 Ar 196A-3s to other units and receiving 11 Fw 190s, including 2 Fw 190A-6s. During January 1944, Jagdkommando 1./128 lost one Fw 190A-6 and a Fw 190G-2 to other causes and one Fw 190G-3 to enemy action.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A complete reorganization of USAAF units in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) tiikplace: US Army Air Forces, North African Theater of Operations (USAAFNATO) was redesignated AAF Mediterranean Theater of Operations (AAFMTO); XII Air Force Services Command became AAF Services Command Mediterranean Theater of Operations (AAFSCMTO); III Air Services Area Command (Special) became XII Air Force Services Command; II Air Services Area Command became XV Air Force Services Command; XII Air Force Engineer Command (Provisional) became AAF Engineer Command, Mediterranean Theather of Operations (Provisional); and XII Air Force Training Command was changed to XII Air Force Training and Replacement Command. The XII Bomber Command,Twelfth Air Force was reorganized as an medium bomber organization, 3 B-25 groups and the 3 B-26 groups of the 42d Bombardment Wing (Medium), under Brigadier General Robert D Knapp. The 3 remaining B-26 groups of the Fifteenth Air Force were transferred to the Twelfth Air Force, leaving the Fifteenth with 6 heavy bomber [2d, 93d, 97th, 99th, 30lst, 376th Bombardment Groups (Heavy)] and 4 fighter groups (1st, 14th, 82d, and 325th), or 4 B-17, 2 B-24, 1 P-47, and 3 P-38 groups.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: At 12.40 a Halifax bomber based at Topcliffe airfield near Thirsk, crashed after an undershoot. The pilot and co-pilot were on three engined circuits and landing practice and the pilot aimed to land short in order to avoid a contractors working party, when a gust of wind caught the aircraft, causing the accident. The crew were uninjured.


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## Njaco (Jan 2, 2009)

*2 JANUARY 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: General Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief 15th Army Group, ordered the U.S. Fifth Army to mount an amphibious operation below Rome (Operation SHINGLE) between 20 and 31 January; shortly before the assault landing at Anzio. The Fifth Army was to thrust sharply toward Cassino and Frosinone while the British Eighth Army was to keep the Germans pinned down in its sector by exerting pressure and employing deceptive measures.

In Italy, B-25s bombed the Terni marshalling yard and iron works and nearby barracks; P-40's and Spitfires from the AAF, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), South African Air Force (SAAF), and Royal Air Force (RAF) blasted snowbound vehicles in the Aveziano-Popoli area, warehouses at San Benedetto de Marsi and gun positions and defended areas around Chieti; A-36s hit Civitavecchia harbor and marhalling yard to the S of town, the Anagni marshalling yard and nearby pun positions, and other targets of opportunity; B-26s bombed bridges at Riva Santo Stefano and Ventimiglia, the marshalling yard at Arma di Taggia, and bridge over the Var River.

*WESTERN FRONT:* _'U-445' _was attacked in the North Atlantic by five bombs from an RAF Halifax aircraft. One crewmember was badly wounded and the boat suffered some damage. During an attack by two Liberators (RAF Sqn 224/C/G) on _'U-625'_, the Commander, Kptlt. Hans Benker, and one man were lost overboard. The boat, on its return leg of the patrol, was damaged and returned to Brest on 6 Jan.

_'U-539' _was the first U-boat to depart on a combat patrol equipped with the Snorkel breathing device. This boat was fitted with a Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus.

PB4Y (VB 107) sighted and tracked the German blockade runner _'Weserland'_, en route from Japan to Germany, 595 miles south-southwest of Ascension Island. Destroyer _'Somers' _(DD-381) intercepted _'Weserland' _and opened fire. _'Somers' _ was able to sink the German blockade runner and recovered 130 survivors.

*GERMANY*: 383 RAF aircraft - 362 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos, 9 Halifaxes - returned to Berlin. RAF bombers scored a direct hit on Hitler's Chancellery in Berlin, nearly destroying the building. German fighter controllers followed the bombers all the way to the target. Night fighters were sent to a radio beacon between Hannover and Bremen but these fighters missed the bomber stream and did not come into action until they were directed to Berlin. Most of the bomber casualties were in the Berlin area. 27 Lancasters were lost, 10 per cent of the force. The casualties included 10 Pathfinder aircraft; No 156 Squadron, from Warboys, lost 5 of its 14 aircraft taking part in the raid. Oblt. Paul Szameitat, a night fighter from 5./NJG 2 (29 kills) was lost over Buckeburg.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 1st Ukrainian Front captured Radovel.


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## Njaco (Jan 4, 2009)

*3 JANUARY 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The French Expeditionary Force started fighting in the US Fifth Army. Lieutenant General Nathan F. Twining became Commanding General, Fifteenth Air Force. Brigadier General Edward M Morris assumed command of the US XII Fighter Command.

In Italy, B-17s escorted by P-38s, bombed the Villarperosa ball bearing works and Lingotto marshalling yard and Fiat motor works in the Turin area. P-47s flew top cover for the B-17s as far as the Italian coast, then turned and carried out an uneventful sweep over the Rome area. Eight Bf 109s of II./JG 77 and 13 MC 205s of I./Ital. JGr were scrambled against the 110 B-17s and 150+ P-38s attacking the ball-bearing plant at Villarperosa. Contact was made and the attack on the bombers was only possible with individual aircraft because of the strong escort. Four P-38s were claimed including 2 for Gefr. Ness and Fw. August of I./JG 77. Five more Lightnings and four B-17s were effectively damaged. One Bf 109 was hit in the engine and the pilot, Lt. Heinrich, baled out slightly wounded. P-40s and A-36s bombed gun positions near Cassino, the Anagni railroad station, a village near Vicenza, the railway and trains between Ceccano and Segni, and the harbor at Civitavecchia; P-40s, with SAAF and RCAF Spitfires, hit 100+ vehicles in the Avezzano-Sulmona area; other P-40s, with AAF, RAF, SAAF, and RAAF fighters, hit targets in the Filetto-Tollo areas in support of ground troops.

In Yugoslavia, B-25s bombed a troop concentration area at Prijedor, and hit Split and Sibenik.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Winter offensive continued to close on the old Polish border capturing Olevsk and Novograd-Volynski.

_'U-1003' _collided with _'U-237' _off Danzig. _'U-1003_' suffered some damage.

*NORTH AMERICA:* After returning from her third convoy duty, the _'Turner' _was anchored off Sandy Hook, New Jersey waiting to go to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs. The next morning, a series of unknown explosions rocked her ammunition storage areas, turning the ship into an inferno. Another explosion ripped the bottom out of the _'Turner' _and she sank by the stern taking with her 15 officers and 138 ratings. 165 survivors were taken to the hospital at Sandy Hook, their lives saved by blood plasma being flown in from New York. CDR Frank Erickson flies plasma in a Coast Guard HNS-1 helicopter from Brooklyn to a hospital in Sandy Hook, NJ in the first recorded mission of mercy conducted by a rotary wing aircraft.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-373' _was attacked by a British Wellington aircraft in the North Atlantic. The boat suffered heavy damage and was forced to return to base.

SS _'Empire Housman'_, straggling from the Convoy ON-217, was again torpedoed by _'U-744' _and foundered two days later. One crewmember was lost. The master, 37 crewmembers and seven gunners were picked up by the armed trawler HMS _'Elm' _and rescue tug HMS _'Earner' _and landed at Reykjavik.

Montgomery returned to England to take command of British forces for the coming cross channel attack.

*GERMANY*: Solingen and Essen were attacked by 8 RAF Mosquitos. No losses.

US Eighth Air Force Special Night Operation: 1 B-17 was dispatched on an Oboe test against Germany but turned back due to an oxygen failure in the tail gun position.


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## Njaco (Jan 4, 2009)

*4 JANUARY 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Attacks by the Allied 5th Army, specifically the British 46th Div, against the Gustav line, began on a 10 mile front. P-40s hit a bridge and trains and flew patrols over the battleline in Italy.

100+ B-17s were dispatched to bomb the Dupnica area of Bulgaria; 29 bombed the target area, but heavy cloud cover caused 77 B-17s to return bombs to base; P-38s escorted the B-17's the total distance to and from targets; P-47s provided escort part way. In Yugoslavia, B-25s bombed the Brodac town area and marshalling yard, and the town of Travnik.

The aircrew of I./JG 4 began hip-hopping across Italy, first moving from Lavariano to Perugia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: On the southern front in the Ukraine, the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the old Polish-Russian border in Volhynia. Hitler refused von Manstein's plea to pull troops out of the Dnieper Bend in order to free soldiers for the northern front.

Uffz. Josef Brenner of 12./JG 5 went missing South of Bremanger in his Fw 190 A3 and was presumed dead.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied aircraft started Operation *Carpetbagger*, regular supply missions to partisans in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Italy. RAF Bomber Command's records for this night contained their first mention of this type of operation, although Nos 138 and 161 Squadrons had been carrying out such operations for 2 years under nominal Bomber Command control. 18 Halifaxes and 1 Hudson of Nos 138 and 161 Squadrons made flights on this night and 6 Stirlings from No 214 Squadron also operated. No aircraft were lost. The Stirling flights represented a new type of work for the Stirling squadrons, which had recently been relieved from bombing raids to Germany. During the evening, 4 B-17s dropped 800,000 leaflets on Orleans, Lorient, Rouen and Tours, France with no losses. This was the first US Carpetbagger operation from Tempsford, England.

Light cruiser _'Omaha' _(CL 4) and destroyer _'Jouett' _(DD-396) intercepted the German blockade runner _'Rio Grande' _about 55 miles northeast of the coast of Brazil. Gunfire and scuttling charges sank _'Rio Grande'_.

80 RAF aircraft - 57 Stirlings, 12 Mosquitos, 11 Lancasters - flew to two flying bomb sites, one in the Pas de Calais and one at Bristillerie, near Cherbourg. Both targets were attacked effectively and no aircraft were lost.

258 B-26s bombed NOBALL targets (V-weapons sites) in France. Weather made bombing difficult, and results ranged from unknown to good.

*GERMANY*: 13 RAF Mosquitos flew to Berlin, 3 to Krefeld and 2 to Cologne, 4 RCM sorties, 40 aircraft conducted minelaying off Lorient and Brest, 8 OTU sorties. No aircraft were lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 174: 2 targets in Germany were hit; 19 bombers and 2 fighters were lost. 371 of 439 B-17s and 115 of 130 B-24s were dispatched to the port area at Kiel; 7 B-17s and 34 B-24s hit targets of opportunity and claimed 4-12-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 B-17s and 6 B-24s were lost; 2 B-17s and 3 B-24s were damaged beyond repair and 111 B-17s and 16 B-24s were damaged. 70 P-38s and 42 Ninth Air Force P-51s escorted and claimed 1-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 and 1 P-51 were lost and 1 P-38 was damaged beyond repair. Kiel was hit in the face of moderate flak and light enemy aircraft opposition. Excellent P-38 escort was afforded over the target and fires were observed in the city after the bombing.

68 of 75 B-17s hit Munster and 2 B-17s were lost, 1 was damaged beyond repair and 35 damaged. 430 P-47s escorted and claimed 7-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 was damaged.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: US XIX Air Support Command was activated at Middle Wallop England with Major General Elwood R Quesada in command; XIX will support Patton's Third Army in Europe.


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## Njaco (Jan 14, 2009)

*5 JANUARY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Polish government in exile issued a statement towards co-operating with the Soviet Union now that the Red Army has advanced in strength into Polish territory. The declaration made it clear that the Polish underground movement has been instructed to co-operate with the Red Army only in the event of a resumption of Polish-Soviet relations. It thus reflected the tension that existed between the Poles, who fear Moscow's intentions and the Soviet Union, which had not yet recognized the Polish London based government in exile.

*WESTERN FRONT*: PBM-3S (VP 203) found the German blockade runner _'Burgenland' _and summoned the light cruiser _'Omaha' _(CL 4) and destroyer _'Jouett' _(DD-396). Gunfire and scuttling charges sank the _'Burgenland'_.

An Eighth Air Force report concluded that the US daylight strategic bombing program against Germany would be threatened unless steps were taken to reduce the enemy's fighter force, which has increased in strength in the West as a result of a step-up in production, strengthening of firepower, and transfer of a larger percentage of fighters to the Western Front.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 176: Four targets were hit costing 24 bombers and 12 fighters. 119 of 131 B-17s and 96 of 114 B-24s hit the shipyard and industrial area at Kiel, Germany plus 10 aircraft hit targets of opportunity. They claimed 41-6-13 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s and 5 B-24s were lost, 3 B-17s and 1 B-24 were damaged beyond repair and 61 B-17s and 15 B-24s were damaged. This mission was escorted by 70 P-38s and 41 Ninth Air Force P-51s who claimed 22-1-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 P-38s were lost. 112 of 117 B-17s hit the Bordeaux/Merignac Airfield in France and claimed 50-10-9 Luftwaffe aircraft. 11 B-17s were lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 49 damaged. This mission was escorted by 76 P-47s who claimed 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-47s were lost, 1 was damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. 78 of 79 B-17s hit the Tours Airfield in Francea and claimed 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 was lost and 10 damaged. This mission was escorted by 149 P-47s who claimed 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 was damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. 73 of 78 hit targets of opportunity at Neuss, Geilenkirchen, Dusseldorf and Wassenburg, Germany where they claimed 2-5-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17s were lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 22 damaged.

The bullet-riddled body of Denmark's leading poet and dramatist, Kaj Munk, was found in a Jutland wood, several hours after he was abducted by a German-Danish Nazi gang known as the Peter-Gruppe. Munk, who was 45, regularly denounced the Nazis from his pulpit in the church at Vedersoe, in West Jutland, where he was priest.

*GERMANY*: 13 RAF Mosquitos flew to Berlin and 25 to four other targets, 1 Mosquito RCM sortie, 1 Beaufighter Serrate patrol, 6 Lancasters minelaying off Swinemünde. No losses. The Beaufighter sortie on this night was the last Serrate flight by this type of aircraft; all later Serrate patrols were carried out by Mosquitos.

348 RAF Lancasters and 10 Halifaxes flew in the first large raid on Stettin since September 1941. The Mosquito diversion at Berlin successfully kept most of the German fighters away from the main force of bombers. 16 aircraft - 14 Lancasters, 2 Halifaxes - lost, 4.5 per cent of the force. Hptm. Georg-Hermann Greiner of 10./NJG 1 downed a Lancaster for his 14th victory.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army under General Mark Clark became operational.

In Italy, A-36s hit gun positions N of Mignano and on the S slope of Monte Porchia. Weather canceled other operations.

II./JG 51 landed at Caselle from Lavariano with 21 Bf 109s. After a one day stay at Perugia, I./JG 4 moved to Viterbo.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops recaptured Berdichev, south-west of Kiev.


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## Njaco (Jan 14, 2009)

*6 JANUARY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The RAF and USAAF announced their joint development of jet aircraft.

The master plan for an Allied invasion of north-west Europe, which has been codenamed "*Overlord*", was being drastically revised after examination by General Montgomery, the ground force commander under General Eisenhower. On first seeing the COSSAC plan, Montgomery said that the Germans would have no difficulty in containing such a small landing area, and severe congestion would follow when reinforcements were brought in. He took his objections to Eisenhower, who agreed with him. In three days this week at St. Paul's school - his old school in West London - his 21st Army Group HQ, Montgomery hammered out a plan for five divisions to land on a 50-mile from the river Orne to the Cherbourg peninsula. A third airborne division will join the two already assigned to flank protection. The new plan called for a greatly expanded force of landing craft, so D-Day would be delayed for a month, to the end of May.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Thrusting west in a great salient from Kiev, General Vatutin's First Ukrainian Front crossed the pre-war border of Poland and chased the Germans to the gates of Sarny, an important junction on the railway from Kiev to Warsaw. Vatutin was giving the Germans no chance to recover. He was pushing on in overwhelming strength, and in a special communiqué this morning the Soviet High Command said that his men have killed more than 3,000 Germans and knocked out 83 tanks and 68 field guns. Many prisoners have been taken. The Russians have advanced 400 miles since the opening of their campaign last July. If they achieve similar results this winter, then they would be in not only Poland but East Prussia, the heartland of German militarism.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-270' _shot down a RAF No. 206 Sqn B-17 Fortress 206/U. The boat was damaged during the attack and returned to port.

The Gunboat _'St. Augustine' _(PG-54) was sunk in a collision with the U.S. merchant tanker _'Camas Meadows'_, 73 miles south- southwest of Cape May, New Jersey.

Lieutenant General James H Doolittle assumed command of the US Eighth AF, replacing Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker who would go to Italy as Commanding General Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF). General Carl Spaatz assumed command of USSAFE and named Major Generals Frederick L Anderson and Hugh J Knerr as Deputy Commanding Generals for operations and administration.

US Eighth AF Mission 177: During the evening, 5 B-17s dropped 984,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Valenciennes, Cambrai and Reims, France without loss.

During combat with a Sunderland of TAF No. 228 Sqdrn, Lt. Erich Stain of Jagdkommando 1./SAGr 128 was shot down and killed in his Fw 190G-3. However the Sunderland was then shot down about 190 km west of Brest by another Jagdkommando 1./SAGr 128 Fw 190.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US freighter _'William S. Rosecrans' _dragged an anchor during a storm south of Naples, Italy, and struck a mine that started a fire that doomed the ship. She sank later that afternoon but there were no casualties to either the merchant complement or the 27-man Armed Guard, who were all rescued by British naval vessels.

Control of US Fifteenth Air Force operations against targets of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) was placed under USSAFE.

In Italy, B-26s bombed Pontedera hitting the marshalling yard and Piaggio aircraft factory there, the Lucca marshalling yard, and the railway N of Follonica; P-40 and A-36 fighter-bombers attacked gun positions in the Cervaro-Monte Trocchio area and near Aquino, the town of Cervaro, the railway at Civitavecchia, trains N and E of Rome, the Velletri train station, and the town of Fondi.

After another one day stay, this time at Viterbo, I./JG 4 moved to Osa (Littorio).

*GERMANY*: 16 RAF Mosquitos flew to Duisburg, 2 to Bristillerie and 1 each to Dortmund and Solingen, 57 aircraft minelaying off Biscay ports, 10 OTU sorties. No losses.


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## Njaco (Jan 16, 2009)

*7 JANUARY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied advisers parachuted in to France to train Resistance fighters for guerrilla warfare after the invasion of Europe. French resistance fighters bombed the electricity generating facilities at Tulle.

35 B-26s bombed the Cherbourg/Maupertus Airfield. Bad weather restricted further operations.

Whilst in the tow of submarine HMS _'Syrtis'_, miniature submarine X-22 was run down by her and sunk, when _'Syrtis' _reversed course to search for a man washed overboard. All 3 of the crew of X-22 were lost. Location: Pentland Firth, Scotland.

River class frigate HMCS _'Waskesiu' _was narrowly missed by a Zaunkönig torpedo, which carried on to strike sistership HMS _'Tweed'_. River class frigate HMS _'Tweed' _took a Zaunkönig hit from 'U-305' (Kapitanleutnant Rudolf Bahr) and sank within two minutes. There were 52 survivors. Both were part of Escort Group 6, which had been carrying out 'offensive ASW sweeps' in the Bay of Biscay.

_'U-343' _shot down RAF 36 Sqn Wellington. The boat survived a swamp operation, shooting down one of its attackers.

*GERMANY*: 351 of 382 B-17s and 69 of 120 B-24s hit the I G Faren Industrie plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany and claimed 30-6-17 Luftwaffe aircraft. 5 B-17s and 17 B-24s were lost, 2 B-17s and 2 B-24s were damaged beyond repair and 104 B-17s and 18 B-24s were damaged. 71 P-38s, 463 P-47s and 37 Ninth Air Force P-51s escorted and they claimed 7-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 and 5 P-47s were lost and 1 P-47 was damaged. Major James Stewart of the USAAF, better known as the star of "The Philadelphia Story", brought his Liberators back intact from the daylight mission on Ludwigshaven, despite being set upon by enemy fighters. Stewart, leading 48 bombers of 445th Group based at Tibenham in Norfolk, had completed his mission when he saw that the 389th Group, the lead group of the raid's original 420 bombers, had taken a wrong bearing home, across German fighter airfields in France. Radio contact was lost, so he decided to follow and gave fire cover. Owing to Stewart's action, only eight of the strayed Liberators were lost.

6 RAF Mosquitos flew to Krefeld and 5 to Duisburg, 1 aircraft on a Resistance operation, 28 OTU sorties. The Resistance operation aircraft - a No 138 Squadron Halifax - crashed in England soon after taking off, killing all 10 men on board, probably 7 crew and 3 passengers.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British X Corps and the US II Corps have broken through the Germans' winter defensive line. The village of San Vittore fell yesterday and, after a vicious battle, the Germans were driven off Monte Porchia. But the British 46th Division was forced back after several attempts to get its tanks across the flooded river Peccia. General Mark Clark was anxious to draw off the maximum number of German reserves before the seaborne landings at Anzio planned for January 22. The Germans have meanwhile established defensive positions at the far end of the Liri valley - in the mountains overlooking Cassino.

In Italy, B-17s, with P-38 escort, bombed an aircraft factory at Maribor and a torpedo factory at Fiume. The P-38s battled a superior number of enemy fighters over the Maribor area and 3 P-38s were lost and several were missing. 4 fighters were claimed destroyed, with 1 probably downed and 4 damaged, during the fierce half-hour fight. B-25s struck Perugia Airfield; A-20s hit defenses in close support of the US Fifth Army; B-26s hit the marshalling yards at Foligno and Arezzo and attacked a bridge at Roccasecca; A-36s hit gun positions, trucks, and trains in the Cervaro-Aquino-Cassino area, bombed the Aquino station, and hit the Velletri railway yards; P-40s gave close support in the Monte Maio, Monte La Chiaia, Monte Porchia, and Cedro Hill areas as the US Fifth Army drove toward the Rapido River.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 2nd Ukrainian Front began meeting serious opposition as its spearheads began to surround Kirovograd.


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## Njaco (Jan 18, 2009)

*8 JANUARY 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army captured Kirovograd. Three German divisions were surrounded by Konev’s 2nd Ukrainian Front at Kirovograd. They began an immediate breakout and abandoned the city to the Red Army. The Soviet 67th Tank Brigade scored a substantial victory when it overran the headquarters of the German 47.Panzerkorps.

Pilots of I. and III./JG 52 were in the air near Kirovograd against units of 5 VA, including 7 IAK, equipped with lend-lease Airacobras. A fierce battle ensued when groups of Yaks from 6 and 427 IAPs and Airacobras from 205 IADs took off and engaged a formation of He 111s possibly from KG 55, being escorted by Bf 109s from I./JG 52. During this battle, none of the Airacobras were lost. A second encounter began when Airacobras from 69 GIAP/304 IAD came on the scene. A pair of P-39s including Starshiy Leytenant Belyaev, claimed one Bf 109 near Kirovograd. Belyaev was himself attacked by a pair of Bf 109s but he escaped back to his airbase. Lt. Erich Hartmann of 9./JG 52 claimed 3 P-39s while Fhj.Fw. Herbert Bachnick, also of 9./JG 52 and Ofw. Walter Jahnke of 2./JG 52 each claimed one.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-426' _was sunk west of Nantes, France, by depth charges from an Australian Sunderland aircraft (RAAF Sqdn. 10/U based at Mount Batten). 51 dead (all hands lost). This is remarkable because this was one of the first Sunderlands to have increased bow armament of four extra machine-guns to combat the 37 and 20mm guns mounted in the conning towers of U-boats. The aircraft opened fire at 1,200 yards and succeeded in knocking out all the u-boat gunners before attacking with depth charges.

_'U-757' _(OLtzS Friedrich Deetz, CO) was sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Iceland, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Bayntun' _and the Canadian corvette HMCS _'Camrose'_. 49 dead (all hands lost). The escort for Liverpool Convoy OS-64 detected _'U-757' _as she closed to attack. A series of 8 depth charge attacks were conducted by _'Camrose' _and _'Bayntun' _supported by HMCS _'Snowberry' _and _'Edmunston'_. The sound of a submarine blowing tanks was heard after the last attack but then the contact faded and was lost. Wreckage was found on the surface and the action ceased. The convoy arrived safely at Freetown 26 Jan 44 with all of its 38 merchantmen.

_'U-343' _shot down an RAF No. 179 Sqn aircraft.

Light cruiser _'Marblehead' _(CL-12) rescued 72 survivors of the sunken German blockade runner _'Rio Grande'_. Destroyer _'Winslow' _(DD-359) rescued 35 survivors of sunken German blockade runner _'Burgenland'_.

During the evening, 5 B-17s dropped 2.292 million leaflets on Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium; and Rennes, Brest and Nantes, France without loss.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAF No. 269 Squadron became operational at Davidstow Moor airfield, Cornwall. They were the first squadron to be equipped with lifeboat carrying Lockheed Hudsons for the ASR role.

*GERMANY*: RAF Mosquito operations: 10 to Frankfurt, 8 to Solingen, 3 to Aachen, 2 to Dortmund. 2 aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 449th and and 450th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) with B-24's become operational, giving the Fifteenth AF a total of 8 heavy bomber groups.

In Italy, A-20s hit railway stations at Frosinone and in the Colleferro-Segni area; B-26s bombed marshalling yards at Grosseto and Lucca; P-40s supported the US Fifth Army in the mountains E and SE of Cassino, and, with A-36s, hit railway targets S of Rome at Aquino, Frosinone, Palestrina and Castelforte; other P-40s hit Avezzano, and A-36s blasted trains and vessels in the vicinity of Tarquinia.

B-24s bombed the airfield at Mostar, Yugoslavia. B-17s hit the Reggio Emilia aircraft factory; P-38s and P-47s flew escort. B-25s bombed the harbor, warehouses, and railway at Metkovic, Yugoslavia.


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## Njaco (Jan 18, 2009)

*9 JANUARY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: American and British bombers seconded from their attacks on German cities, today began the first full week of Operation *Carpetbagger*, and extensive campaign to arm the resistance movements of Europe in preparation for the forthcoming invasion. The bombers, their bomb-bays filled with canisters containing Sten guns, ammunition, explosives, mortars and wireless sets, have been parachuting their loads into dropping zones in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. It was estimated that enough weapons have been dropped to arm 20,000 fighters. Special orders were sometimes supplied by fast Mosquito bombers a few hours after the request had been placed by radio.

Two German soldiers were shot dead in Lyon, France by partisans. In retaliation, the Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, ordered the murder of 22 French civilians.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US troops launched a final assault on the German winter line, striking at Cervaro and Monte Trocchio.

Prime Minister Winston S Churchill and General Charles A De Gaulle met at Marrakesh, French Morocco. They discussed cooperation of a French expeditionary force in invasion of Europe and the degree of authority of the French inside France after the invasion.

B-17's hit the docks and shipping at Pola, Yugoslavia. _'U-81' _ was sunk at Pola by US bombs. Raised on 22 April 1944 and broken up. 2 dead, unknown number of survivors. U-boat pens there were hit and 4 men from _'U-407' _killed and 1 wounded.

US freighter _'Daniel Webster' _was damaged by a German aerial torpedo during an air attack on convoy KMS 37 while en route from Gibraltar to Augusta and Naples.

In Italy, B-25s attacked the marshalling yard and docks at Ancona; P-40s hit tanks and trucks at Palena and S of Sulmona, and positions and vehicles near Cervaro; and A-36s hit positions in the same area.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet offensive continued to roll forward as the Red Army captured Polonnoye and Aleksandrovka.


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## Njaco (Jan 18, 2009)

*10 JANUARY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: RAF No. 605 Sq. RAF shot down their 101st enemy aircraft, a Junkers Ju 188 raiding London during the 'little blitz'.

Bernard Montgomery suggested to Dwight Eisenhower to cancel plans for Operation *Anvil*, the simultaneous landing on south France, to free up resources for the North-West Europe invasion.

HQ 366th Fighter Group and 390th Fighter Squadron arrived at Membury, England from the US with P-47's.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Vatutin's 2nd Ukrainian Front cut the Smela to Kristinovka rail link, and annihilated a German pocket north of Kirovograd.
Obstlt. Helmut Bruck, _Geschwaderkommodore _of StG 77, flew his 800th mission.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 181: During the evening, 5 B-17s dropped 4.8 million leaflets on Orleans, Chateauroux, Rouen, Le Mans and Tours, France without loss.

Early in the afternoon, a Ju 88A-4 belonging to 11./KG 30 collided with another Ju 88A-4 over the northwestern dispersal area of Fliegerhorst Aalborg and crashed to the ground southeast of Biersted killing the entire crew. The other Ju 88 also was lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: B-17s bombed Sofia, Bulgaria causing considerable damage in the marshalling yards. B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Skoplje, Yugoslavia. P-38s and P-47s provided escort. Around 60 Luftwaffe fighters attacked the Sofia force and a fierce air battle ensued; 2 B-17s were lost; they claimed 28 aircraft shot down.

In Italy, B-25s hit San Benedetto de Marsi; P-40s, with RAF, SAAF, and RAAF airplanes, hit communications, gun positions, trucks, and tanks at numerous points in and NW of the battle area; other P-40s gave close support to ground forces in the Chieti area; and A-36s hit trucks, tanks, trains, and other targets of opportunity N of Rome.

*GERMANY*: Erprobungskommando 26, a special unit equipped with the Hs 129 anti-tank aircraft and Bf 109Gs, was formed at Udetfield out of previous SchG units. New powerful weapons were tested, mounted on aircraft including the unlikely PaK 40 anti-tank gun mounted on the Hs 129s. The unit was led by Major Eggers.


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## Njaco (Jan 19, 2009)

*11 JANUARY 1944* 

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 182 (*Operation Pointblank*). As part of the strategic bombing of the German aircraft industry, the USAAF raids 3 aviation industry targets in Germany; fierce opposition estimated at 500 Luftwaffe fighters was encountered and 60 bombers and 5 fighters were lost. 177 B-17s were dispatched to Oschersleben; 139 hit the primary and 20 hit targets of opportunity and claimed 174-32-63 Luftwaffe aircraft; 34 B-17s were lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 83 damaged. 114 B-17s were dispatched to Halberstadt; 52 hit the primary and 55 hit targets of opportunity; they claimed 35-11-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17s were lost, 1 was damaged beyond repair and 42 damaged. 177 P-47s and 44 Ninth Air Force P-51s escorted; they claimed 29-11-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47s were lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 4 P-47s and 1 P-51 were damaged. One of the victors for the Luftwaffe was Oblt. Zehart of the newly established _Sturmstaffel 1_, which was that unit's first victory.

Over Oschersleben, Major James H Howard, a P-51 pilot of the 354th Fighter Group, shot down an Me 110 and then found himself the lone escort for a B-17 group being attacked by 30 Luftwaffe aircraft. For the next 30 minutes, he kept turning into the enemy fighters and firing until only one gun was firing. Toward the end of this engagement 3 of his guns went out of action and his fuel supply was becoming dangerously low. Despite these handicaps and the almost insuperable odds against him, Col. Howard continued his aggressive action in an attempt to protect the bombers from the numerous fighters. By this time, he was credited with 2-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft and saved the B-17's. Major Howard was awarded the Medal of Honor.

234 B-17s and 138 B-24s were dispatched to Brunswick; 47 B-17s hit the primary, 114 hit Osnabruck, 25 hit Bielefeld, 22 hit Peine, 10 hit Herford and 1 hit Nienburg; no B-24s hit the primary, 58 hit Meppen, 1 hits Lingen and 7 hit other targets; they claimed 19-17-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; 16 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost, 1 each damaged beyond repair and 47 B-17s and 7 B-24s damaged. This mission was escorted by 49 P-38s and 322 P-47s; they claimed 2-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 and 2 P-47s were lost and 1 P-47 was damaged. Among the PFF aircraft were 4 B-24s, this being the first time B-24s were used in this capacity.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: B-17s, with P-38 escort, bombed the harbor at Piraeus, Greece; they destroyed 8 attacking fighters; 6 B-17s were lost in midair collisions in the heavy overcast.

In Italy, B-26s attacked the iron and steel works at Piombino during the night of 10/11 Jan; during the day, B-25s bombed Falconara (hitting the railroad junction) and railroad yards at Fabriano; P-40s and A-36s blasted defenses and gun positions in Cervaro-Monte Trocchio, a gun position N of Minturno, the towns of Sora and Isola del Liri, road traffic in the Macerata-Aquila-Popoli area, and railroad facilities at San Giorgio del Sannio.

Count Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law and the former foreign minister, was led in front of a firing squad in the prison here today and shot for treason. Four other fascist ex-leaders were executed with him and 13 others were sentenced in their absence on 8 January. Ciano's "crime" was to vote with his fellow-Fascists to oust Mussolini from office last July. Ciano and his wife, Edda, were lured to Bavaria last August by a report that their children were in danger. They had been promised safe conduct to Spain - only to be handed to Italy's new puppet Fascist government. Marshal Emilio de Bono, once one of the Duce's stauncest supporters, was also shot.

Two staffeln of II./JG 77 arrived at Caselle from the south, under the command of Oblt. Hrdlicka, Staffelkapitaen of 5./JG 77.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The first US attack with forward-firing rockets was made against a U-boat by two TBF-1C Avengers of Composite Squadron 58 (VC-58 ) from the escort carrier USS _'Block Island' _(CVE-21).

*EASTERN FRONT*: Oblt. Gerhard Beckh, Gruppenadjutant of IV./JG 51 was killed in a midair collision with a Fw 190 near Winniza-West.


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## Njaco (Jan 19, 2009)

*12 JANUARY 1944* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After capturing Cervaro, US forces pushed forward towards Cassino.

In Italy, P-47s flew a fighter sweep in the Rome area, strafing the marshalling yard at Teramo and buildings between the Tronto and Tesino Rivers. B-25s and B-26s bombed the Giulianova railway bridge and attacked a dam and road bridge; A-20s hit San Donato; P-40s attacked a vessel in the Krka River of Yugoslavia, hit enemy defensive positions at San Biagio Saracinesa, Sant' Elia Fiumerapido, Monte Trocchio, and Atina, and bomb Vallerotonda; A-36s attacked the Avezzano railroad yards, a village near Atina, railroad facilities at Cisterna di Latina, and numerous trucks and train cars in the Rome area.

General de Gaulle flew into Morocco to meet the British prime minister at the villa where he had been convalescing for a few weeks. Mr. Churchill was in fine form, and when de Gaulle asked him if he still painted he replied:


> "_I am too weak for that, but I am strong enough to wage war_."


 The two imperious leaders made jokes at each other's expense but managed to agree on Franco-British co-operation for victory.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces captured Sarny in Poland.

Oblt. Anton Hafner of JG 51 downed 3 Russian fighters and Oblt. Sigurd Haala of 10./JG 54 claimed an IL-2. Two Bf 109s of 10./JG 54 were lost to enemy fire over Orianenbaum on the southern bank of the Gulf of Finland. Uffz. Leonard Gerkens and Uffz. Hans-Julius Nolke were listed as missing in action.


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## Njaco (Jan 21, 2009)

*13 JANUARY 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: While serving as a Flak boat, _'U-621' _was attacked by an RAF 59 Sqn Liberator and suffered 1 man killed and 6 wounded. Matrosengefreiter Heinz Thomas was mortally wounded and later buried at sea. The commander decided to abort the patrol. _'U-621' _took ten days to limp back to Brest.

_'U-231' _(Type VIIC) was sunk northeast of the Azores, by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn 172/L). 7 dead, 43 survivors.

82 RAF aircraft - 59 Stirlings, 13 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - attacked flying bomb sites at Ailly, Bonneton and Bristillerie without loss. 193 B-26s of the US Ninth Air Force bombed NOBALL (V-weapon)targets in France. Fighter pilots report being tracked by AA rockets. 11 RAF Mosquitos flew to Magdeburg and 6 to Berlin, 9 RCM sorties, 2 Serrale patrols, 29 aircraft minelaying off Brest and in the Frisians, 36 OTU sorties. No losses.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In northern Scotland, an imaginary British Fourth Army was created, to fool the Germans into thinking an invasion of Norway was being planned. Code name was 'Fortitude North'.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The long awaited attacks by the Leningrad and Volkov Fronts to relieve Leningrad began. The attack was supported by a major offensive against Novgorod. The operation was intended in destroying Heeresgruppe North.

*GERMANY*: 496 RAF Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were sent on the first major raid to Brunswick of the war. 38 Lancasters were lost, 7.6 per cent of the force. The German running commentary was heard following the progress of the bomber force from a position only 40 miles from the English coast and many German fighters entered the bomber stream soon after the German frontier was crossed near Bremen. The German fighters scored steadily until the Dutch coast was crossed on the return flight. 11 of the lost aircraft were Pathfinders. Brunswick was smaller than Bomber Command's usual targets and this raid was not a success. The city report describes this only as a 'light' raid, with bombs in the south of the city which had only 10 houses destroyed and 14 people killed. Most of the attack fell either in the countryside or in Wolfenbüttel and other small towns and villages well to the south of Brunswick.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-17s bombed Centocelle and Guidonia airfields and B-24s hit Perugia airfield. P-38s provided escort, and P-47s flew top cover for the B-17 missions. The heavy bombers destroyed several fighters in aerial combat. B-25s and B-26s bombed Guidonia, Centocelle, and Ciampino airfields; A-20s struck the town of Atina. AAF, RAF, SAAF, and RAAF fighter-bombers hit shipping along the Dalmatian coast at Sibenik and in the Krka River of Yugoslavia. A-36s hit the town and railway yards at Isola del Liri, a factory at Colleferro, docks at Formia, railroad yards at Valmontone, and a railway station SE of Frosinone. P-40s hit Sant' Elia Fiumerapido, San Biagio, Saracinesa, and a rail and road junction near Villa Latina.


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## Njaco (Jan 21, 2009)

*14 JANUARY 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army took Mozyr and Kalinkovichi, near Gomel, and renewed attacks around Novgorod to relieve Leningrad.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Destroyers _'Bulmer' _(DD-222) and _'Parrott' _(DD-218 ) damage the German submarine _'U-382'_, 560 miles west-northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 183: 356 of 374 B-17s and 156 of 178 B-24s hit 20 of 21 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France; 19 B-24s hit targets of opportunity; they claimed 8-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17s and 1 B-24 were lost, 1 B-24 was damaged beyond repair and 66 B-17s and 9 B-24s were damaged. 98 P-38s, 504 P-47s and 43 Ninth Air Force P-51s escorted; they claimed 14-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 were lost, 1 P-47 was damaged beyond repair and 9 P-47s and 1 P-51 were damaged.

During the evening, 4 B-17s dropped 840,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Cambrai and St. Omer France without loss.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 185: 2 B-17s were dispatched to Wesel, Germany for a night test of Oboe Mk II; 1 aircraft aborted and 1 dropped 2 tons of high explosive bombs on the target without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Around 200 B-24s and B-17s attacked the town area and airfield at Mostar, Yugoslavia. P-38s provided escort throughout the missions, and P-47s joined the B-17s at the target and covered the flight back to base.

In Italy, B-25s struck the Pontecorvo bridge; A-20s offered close support to US Fifth Army forces in the Monte Trocchio area; P-40s blasted Loreto tank repair shops; P-40s and A-36s hit defenses in the San Giuseppe, Sant' Elia Fiumerapido. and Monte Trocchio areas; A-36s also attacked road and buildings E of Minturno, the town of Isola del Liri, and the harbor at Anzio.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Hurricane fighter operating from Milfield airfield, in Northumberland crashed at Rosedean Farm, Wooperton, Northumberland. It was totally wrecked and the pilot was killed. The plane was flying low when the propeller hit the ground, it then hit a hedge, travelled 200 yds and crashed into some trees surrounding the farm.


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## Njaco (Jan 21, 2009)

*15 JANUARY 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-377' _ was sunk in the North Atlantic, by one of its own circling Zaunkønig (T5) acoustic torpedos. 52 dead (all hands lost). Note that it has previously been recorded that _'U-377' _was sunk in the Atlantic by rockets and depth charges from aircraft of the US escort Carrier USS _'Santee'_. It has also been recorded that it was Sunk on 17 January 1944 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 49.39N, 20.10W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS "_Wanderer_" and the British frigate HMS "_Glenarm_". 

Dwight Eisenhower began his command of Operation *Overlord*. Erwin Rommel took command of the German 15th and 17th armies.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Canadian-owned, British-registered Victory-class freighter _'Fort St Nicholas' _(7,154 GRT), Captain Kenneth H. Pengelly, Master, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-410'_, OLtzS. Horst-Arno Fenski, Knight's Cross, in the Gulf of Salerno. There was no loss of life from the 63 crewmembers and four passengers onboard.

The US 2nd Corps captured Monte Trocchio in Italy. Meanwhile, French troops captured Monte Santa Croce.

Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker, USAAF, assumed command of MAAF and Army Air Forces, MTO (AAFMTO), replacing Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur Tedder, RAF, and General Carl Spaatz, who along with Air Vice Marshall Sir Arthur Coningham, RAF, and numerous other American and British officers departed for the UK.

In Italy, B-24s bombed the Prato marshalling yard and industrial area, and also hit roads in the area and dropped several bombs on the town of Pistoia. B-17s concentrated on railroad yards and bridges in the Florence area at Certaldo, Poggibonsi, Montalto di Castro, Arezzo, Civitavecchia, and near Porto Civitanova and Orvieto, and hit scattered targets of opportunity. Fighters escorted all the missions. B-25s attacked the Foligno railway junction; B-26s bombed bridges at Orvieto. P-40s of the 79th Fighter Group and RAF 239 Wing hit the San Valentino station in a joint attack; A-36s and other P-40s, in support of US Fifth Army forces, hit gun positions and strongpoints, especially at Picinisco and Atina; P-40s on armed reconnaissance hit the railroad W of Frosinone station and strafed the Ceccano station and railway cars.

*EASTERN FRONT*: A mid-winter thaw drastically slowed the Red Army operations in the Ukraine.


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

*16 JANUARY 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Steam tanker _'Vaijan Kutur´e' _(ex-Nikolaj Janson) was sunk by _'U-20' _in the Black Sea.

Lt. Franz Schall of 3./JG 52 shot down 3 Russian fighters to reach a score of 32 kills.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US freighter _'Sumner I. Kimball'_, straggling from New York-bound convoy ON 219, was sunk by _'U-960'_. There were no survivors from either the 40-man merchant complement or the 29-man Armed Guard.

TBF (VC 13) from escort carrier _'Guadalcanal' _(CVE-60) sank the German submarine _'U-544' _in the mid-Atlantic

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Czechoslovakian forces in Britain proposed to the Soviets to send Czech pilots in Soviet fighters to assist a future uprising in Slovakia. The idea was approved.

A Halifax bomber based at Topcliffe airfield near Thirsk, crashed shortly after take-off at 20.58 at Catecliffe Wood near Thirsk, killing all nine on board.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British General H. Maitland Wilson became Supreme Commander, Mediterranean.

B-24s attacked the Osoppo, Italy landing ground and the town of Zara, Yugoslavia; they claimed 9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 was lost.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bombed the marshalling yard and choke points at Terni; B-26s attacked the marshalling yard and bridge at Orte; A-20s bombed the town of Atina; P-40s attacked bridges in the San Giorgio del Sannio area and gun emplacements near Cassino; Sant' Angelo in Theodice and Picinisco; A-36s hit the railway junction at Cecina, road and railway S of Siena, and the town areas of Avezzano and Formia.

*GERMANY*: US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bombed the Messerschmitt factory at Klagenfurt, Austria and the landing ground at Villaorba, Italy. Escorting P-38s claimed 9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-38s were lost.


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

*17 JANUARY 1944* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Eisenhower appointed General Omar N. Bradley to command the US Army in the field under him. British Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder was appointed Deputy to Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British X Corps of the US 5th Army began Operation *Panther *with attacks along the river Garigliano against the German 14.Panzerkorps. The ancient town of Cassino, near the Rapido River, was a strategic point in the German Gustav Line, a defensive front across central Italy and based at the Rapido, Garigliano, and Sangro rivers. Taking Cassino would mean a breach in the German line and their inevitable retreat farther north. By evening the British X Corps had crossed the Garigliano River, forming a strong bridgehead around the town of Minturno. Canadian forces attempted an attack on German defences over the Arielli River. It was a disaster, with 185 Canadians killed or wounded.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-377' _was sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Ireland, by depth charges from destroyer HMS _'Wanderer' _and frigate HMS _'Glenarm'_. 52 dead (all hands lost).

_'U-305' _was sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS _'Wanderer' _and the frigate _'Glenarm'_. 51 dead (all hands lost).

*EASTERN FRONT*: Slugging through deep mud, Soviet forces captured Slavuta.


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

*18 JANUARY 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet attacks in the Vitebsk area were met by stiff resistance and generally failed to make an impression. German forces from Heeresgruppe Mitte repelled the repeated Soviet attacks. Further to the north, Red Army forces were completing the encirclement of Novgorod, south of Leningrad.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British attacks (10th Corps of US 5th Army) established a bridgehead over the Garigliano River that drew German reserves away from Anzio.

US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s attacked marshalling yards, a bridge and an airfield in the Florence, Italy area; P-38s and P-47s provided close escort. US Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit the harbor, tin mills, steel works, power house, and blast furnaces at Piombino, and bombed the Montalto di Castro railroad and bridge; B-25s hit the town and railway viaduct at Terni, and A-20s blasted gun positions in the Minturno area; P-40s hit trains, wharves and vessels in the Ploca and Metkovic, Yugoslavia areas; A-36s and P-40s pounded troops, trucks, and gun positions in the Minturno area and near Pontecorvo and Atina, hit a gasoline dump at Pignataro Interamna, a warehouse at Fontana Liri, a factory at Ceprano, the rail and road junction at Avezzano, and railway at Santa Marinella.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Halifax bomber based at Topcliffe airfield near Thirsk, suffered a failure in the port outer engine, the plane subsequently overshot and crashed into some trees, _ of a mile SE of the airfield at 10.12. Of the eight man crew, two were killed and three injured. Just a few minutes later at 10.30 another Halifax from the same airfield, flying at 1,100' in fog, crashed into a hillside at Black Hambleton near Osmotherley. All six crew were killed.


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

*19 JANUARY 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: German military patrols swept through the deserted streets of Copenhagen, occupied all the city's police stations and disarmed and arrested the entire police force. The move, ordered by SS Lt-Gen Gunther Pancke, followed the capture by a German patrol vessel of a boatload of refugees fleeing to Sweden. The Germans believed the Danish police had been aiding the escape of wanted Danes. Last week, the chief of the police passport department and his assistant fled to Sweden to escape arrest.

_'U-641' _was sunk was in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS _'Violet'_. 50 dead (all hands lost).

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops of the 59th Army took Novgorod, and pushed on to Estonia. In a co-ordinated offensive by the garrison troops and the armies of the Volkhov front, the Russians have torn a 25-mile gap in the German siege lines. In doing so they have smashed seven enemy divisions and captured 37 of the long-range guns which have been systematically bombarding the city in an attempt to fulfill Hitler's threat to destroy it when it was first besieged in September 1941. As the Volkhov Front surrounded German forces at Novgorod, the Germans began a break out attack.

The Soviet attacks around Leningrad intensified as 42nd Army attacking out of the city linked up with 2nd Shock Army attacking toward the city. Columns of grim-faced Russian soldiers swung through its battered streets heading south to Krasnoye Selo or out across the ice of Kronstadt Bay to Oranienbaum where a pocket of Russians held out since the first days of the siege. The pocket was reinforced in great secrecy before the battle opened a week ago. Men of the 2nd Shock Army were ferried in by boat at night. They hid by day, and when they came storming out they took the Germans by surprise.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British forces established bridgeheads on the north side of the Garigliano. Backed by naval gunfire, troops of the British X Corps led by General Richard McCreery crossed the lower Garigliano river in landing craft and established vital bridgeheads on the northern bank. Minturno fell to the US 5th Army, which now attempted to cross the heavily defended Rapido river. The 56th Division succeeded in the crossing; however fierce German fire stopped a crossing by the 46th Division. German commander, General von Vietinghoff, was transferring two armoured divisions to face the new threat.

In Italy, US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s hit airfields at Perugia, Iesi, Centocelle, and Ciampino; P-38s flew close escort for all the missions while P-47s flew top cover over Ciampino and Centocelle and carried out a sweep over the Rome area. US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bombed Rieti Airfield; B-26s hit the airfield at Viterbo; A-20s attacked the marshalling yard at Colleferro; P-40s bombed and strafed 2 schooners at Makarska, Yugoslavia; A-36s hit guns, trucks, and trains N of Rome and fly 70+ sorties against rail, communications and troop positions in the US Fifth Army battle area as the Garigliano bridgehead expands; P-40s also hit defended positions in the battle area and near Scauri, Tremensuoli, and Alvito.


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

*20 JANUARY 1944* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Canadian-built, British-registered cargo ship _'Fort Louisbourg' _(7,130 GRT) was damaged by bombs while alongside the Surrey Commercial Docks, at London. Two of her crewmembers were lost in this incident. _'Fort Louisbourg' _was a North Sands-class freighter built by Canadian Vickers Ltd., at Montreal, PQ She was completed in Apr 42. Fort Louisbourg was one of 90 North Sands-class freighters built in Canada for American order under the Hyde Park Declaration and subsequently provided to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease Agreement. The ship was managed by Wm. Thompson and Co. (The Ben Line), of Edinburgh, Scotland, for the British government. Twenty-two of these ships were sunk and another seven were damaged.

General Carl Spaatz, as Commanding General USSAFE, formally assumed administrative responsibility for all USAAF units in the UK. His HQ was located at Bushy Park, formerly Eighth Air Force HQ.

*WESTERN FRONT*: British coastal guns sank the German blockade-runner _'Münsterland' _. _'Münsterland' _(which had made his way from Japan) from Boulogne to Calais, was sunk by the radar guided heavy Dover batteries since the ship had given his cargo offboard and wasn't able to manoeuvre fast enough to avoid the hits. The ship ran into a well-prepared ambush because the British realized that the Germans waited for the flash of the guns before making a sharp alteration of course, so they fired a salvo from the smaller guns which had no chance of actually reaching the ship, but which induced the _'Munsterland' _to run into the fire of the heavy guns. All in all Dover batteries fired 46 salvos.

_'U-263' _sank near La Rochelle whilst carrying out deep dive tests. All 51 members of the crew were lost. During an attack on two merchants on 20 Nov,1942 convoy escorts had dropped some 119 depth charges on the boat causing so much damage that Nölke had to abort his mission and return to France. During the return on the 24th a British Hudson aircraft (Sqdn 233/Q) straddled the boat with 4 depth charges causing extensive damages to the already weak boat. She was told to head for El Ferrol, Spain but managed to limp back to La Rochelle, with assistance from the returning _'U-511' _and covered by Ju-88 aircraft, reaching the base on the 29th. She then spent 13 months in repair and rebuilding. Her loss occurred when she was performing tests after the repairs had been completed, but not (it would now seem) at great depth , since _'U-263' _has been located lying at 27m depth near La Rochelle, France and is a dive site.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 186: during the evening, 4 of 5 B-17s dropped 960,000 leaflets on Lille, Brest, Caen and Chartres, France without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops advancing south-west from Pulkovo and south-east from Oranienbaum joined up, encircling the Germans around Leningrad and sealing off the corridor to Finland. Novgorod fell to the Soviet 59th Army.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US 2nd Corps in Italy attacked German defenses across the Rapido River south of Cassino, but the attck was a failure.

In Italy, US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s bombed airfields at Guidonia, Centocelle, and Ciampino; P-38s provided escort and P-47s carried out sweeps over the targets. Other P-47s escorted transport airplanes on a mission to Yugoslavia. US Twelfth Air Force B-26s bombed the Viterbo marshalling yard and attacked a bridge at Pontecorvo; B-25s attacked railroads in the Carsoli area; A-20's give close support to the US 5th Infantry Division in the Minturno area; British and US P-40s followed RAF light bombers in a raid on the Popoli station; A-36s pounded a rail and road crossing at Viterbo and P-40s hit communications at Frosinone, Palestrina, and Carsoli, where a traffic block was created; A-36s and P-40s flew nearly 200 sorties in support of the US Fifth Army ground forces as the 36th Infantry Division began an assault across the Rapido River in the Theodice area; and P-40s hit targets along the British Eighth Army front.

*GERMANY*: 769 RAF aircraft - 495 Lancasters, 264 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - returned to Berlin. It was the heaviest blow yet directed at Hitler's capital, with bombs falling at 80 tons a minute. One plane dropped its bombs 30 miles from the city, by chance wrecking a factory of the Todt Organisation. 35 aircraft - 22 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters - were lost, 4.6 per cent of the force. RAF No 102 Squadron, from Pocklington, lost 5 of its 16 Halifaxes on this raid, 2 more crashed in England and the squadron would lose 4 more aircraft in the next night's raid. The bomber approach route took a wide swing to the north but, once again, the German controller managed to feed his fighters into the bomber stream early and the fighters scored steadily until the force was well on the way home. The diversions were not large enough to deceive the Germans. The Berlin area was, as so often, completely cloud-covered and what happened to the bombing is a mystery. The Pathfinder skymarking appeared to go according to plan and crews who were scanning the ground with their H2S sets believed that the attack fell on eastern districts of Berlin. No major navigational problems were experienced. No photographic reconnaissance was possible until after a further 4 raids on Berlin were carried out but the various sources from which the Berlin reports are normally drawn all show a complete blank for this night.

In 11 major attacks on the city since the "*Battle of Berlin*" began on 18 November, the RAF has dropped 17,000 tons of bombs. Some 1,300 acres of buildings, equal to twice the area of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London have been destroyed. Despite the damage the results of this sustained onslaught were not as great as the RAF expected on either German morale or production - and its own losses were becoming unacceptably high.

12 RAF Mosquitos flew to Düsseldorf. 4 to Kiel and 3 to Hannover, 6 RCM sorties, 5 Serrate patrols, 29 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off French ports, 20 OTU sorties. No losses.


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

*21 JANUARY 1944* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Eisenhower held a first meeting with his commanders to plan the Allied invasion of France. Eisenhower accepted the revised plan for Operation *Overlord*, with five divisions landing on fifty miles of Normandy beaches. Americans were to land on the west, aiming for Cherbourg, Brest, and ports around the Loire estuary. British and Canadian forces were to land on the east near Caen, seizing Caen on the first day. D-Day was set for June 5.

*Unternehmen Steinbock*: By the end of 1943, the terrible pounding that the RAF was inflicting on Germany's cities had reached intolerable levels. In late November, Goering had ordered the young bomber expert, Dietrich Peltz, to prepare for a retaliation offensive against London under the code name of 'Steinbock' or Ibex. He promised that units detailed for these attacks would receive a full compliment of crews and aircraft. The Reichsmarschall had asked Peltz whether he would accept Do 217s in the bombing force and Peltz replied that he would welcome anything that would carry a bomb. That was precisley what he got. Over December and early January, the Germans accumulated a conglomeration of 550 aircraft on the airfields of France for the offensive; Ju 88s, Ju 188s, Do 217s, Me 410s, Fw 200s and even 35 brand new He 177s. The widely differing capabilities of these aircraft and the limited navigational and flying skills of the crews ed Peltz to make the attack as simple as possible. Specially trained Pathfinders, equipped with various marking devices, would locate and mark the target; the other bombers would hopefully bomb on these markers.

Goering opened the offensive on 21 January with a typical gesture. He left Berlin to assume personal command of the operation. He might have saved himself the trouble as the offensive got off to a bad start. The Luftwaffe launched 447 bombers in 2 waves, guided by Ju 88 and Ju 188 guide aircraft dropping flares against the English capital, London. Included in the force were I./KG 40 and I./KG 100 using He 177 bombers. Using 'Duppel' - the German equivalent to 'Window' - the force returned to their bases after the bombing, reloaded and refueled and set off again. Navigation was poor, the pathfinder system broke down and out of 268 tons of bombs dropped over England, only 32 tons landed in London. The raiders lost 10% of the bomber force involved including one of the new He 177 bombers from I./KG 40 which was shot down by a RAF Mosquito night-fighter and crashed near Hasslemere in Surrey. Unlike the Night Blitz of 1940 / 41 and to a lesser egree, the Baedeker Raids of 1942, the night defenses now had the upper hand. Large numbers of radar controlled AA guns, 'Z' rocket batteries and searchlights, together with a well-equipped night-fighter force directed by an efficent Ground Controlled Interception radar system, took a very heavy toll of the attackers.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The key communications and supply center at Mga was captured by advancing Soviet forces in the Leningrad area.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 36th Infantry division suffered severe losses while attempting to establish a bridgehead over the Rapido River while the invasion force for Anzio steamed out of Naples.

*GERMANY*: 648 RAF aircraft - 421 Lancasters, 224 Halifaxes, 3 Mosquitos - flew on the first major raid to Magdeburg. The German controller again followed the progress of the bomber stream across the North Sea and many night fighters were in the stream before it crossed the German coast. The controller was very slow to identify Magdeburg as the target but this did not matter too much because most of the night fighters were able to stay in the bomber stream, a good example of the way the _'Tame Boar' _tactics were developing. 57 aircraft - 35 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters - were lost, 8.8 per cent of the force; it is probable that three quarters of the losses were caused by German night fighters. The Halifax loss rate was 15.6 per cent! The heavy bomber casualties were not rewarded with a successful attack. Some of the Main Force aircraft now had H2S and winds which were stronger than forecast brought some of these into the target area before the Pathfinders' Zero Hour. The crews of 27 Main Force aircraft were anxious to bomb and did so before Zero Hour. The Pathfinders blamed the fires started by this early bombing, together with some very effective German decoy markers, for their failure to concentrate the marking.

22 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of 5 and 8 Groups carried out a diversionary raid to Berlin; 1 Lancaster lost.

During the RAF raids the Luftwaffe night-fighter force suffered a series of severe blows. Major Prince Heinrich zur Sayn-Wittgenstein, _Geschwaderkommodore _of NJG 2 was shot down over Schoenhausen after destroying five of the bombers. His final score was 88 kills, all at night. Obst. Gunther Radusch was named as _Geschwaderkommodore _of NJG 2 in the Prince's place. Near Magdeburg, _Gruppenkommanduer _Hptm. Manfred Meurer of I./NJG 1, flying the He 219 night-fighter was killed in a collision with an RAF bomber. His final score was 65 kills. His radioman, Uffz. Gerhard Scheibe - who was also killed - was the first radio operator of the Luftwaffe night-fighter force to be awarded the coveted _Ritterkreuz_. Major Paul Forster was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./NJG 1 in Hptm. Meuer's place.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 111 RAF aircraft - 89 Stirlings, 12 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - carried out raids on 6 flying bomb sites in France without loss. 8 RAF Mosquitos went to Oberhausen and 5 to Rheinhausen, 8 RCM sorties, 5 Serrate patrols, 8 Wellingtons minelaying off St Nazaire, 16 OTU sorties. No aircraft were lost. Total effort for the night including the raid on Magdeburg: 843 sorties, 58 aircraft (6.9 per cent) were lost. The number of aircraft lost was the heaviest in any night of the war so far.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 187: 36 V-weapon sites in France, 34 in the Pas de Calais area and 2 in the Cherbourg area, were targetted; 24 were attacked by 302 of 597 B-17s and 68 of 198 B-24s; 15 B-17s and 9 B-24' hit targets of opportunity (2 V-weapon sites and 3 airfields); they claimed 5-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-24s and a B-17 were lost, 3 B-24s were damaged beyond repair, and 103 B-17s and 41 B-24s were damaged. This mission was escorted by 49 P-38s, 531 P-47s and 48 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 6-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-2-0 on the ground; 1 P-47 was lost, 1 was damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. 119 US Ninth Air Force B-26s also bombed V-weapon sites in France.

Major Heinz Bar with 179 victories was assigned to 6./JG 1 after falling out of favor with Goering. He reported to the Staffel as an ordinary pilot. He was joined there by Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt who was appointed Staffelkapitaen of the Fw 190 equipped 6./JG 1. As Burckhardt was used to flying the Bf 109, he had difficulties in coming to terms with the heavier Fw 190.


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## Njaco (Jan 25, 2009)

*22 JANUARY 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Convoy JW-56B sailed for Murmansk. Destroyer HMCS _'Huron' _departed Loch Ewe as part of the close escort for a 15-ship convoy to the Kola Inlet. In the summer of 1942, all subsequent Arctic convoys to Russian sailed in the winter months, taking advantage of foul weather and reduced daylight to conceal their movements from German aerial reconnaissance. This was very successful and subsequent losses were negligible.

US General Dwight Eisenhower ordered George Patton to take command of the US 3rd Army in Britain.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allied landings began at Anzio. The US VI Corps (US 5th Army) landed a two-division force consisting of the US 3rd and British 1st Infantry Divisions behind the German Gustav lines at Anzio, 30 miles south of Rome.

In the inky blackness, British and American troops of VI Corps, taking part in Operation *SHINGLE*, boarded landing craft from a convoy of 243 ships that arrived off this small port on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Heavy opposition was expected when the landing craft hit the beaches. Yet there was no slaughter when the Allied army came ashore. Anzio was deserted, a ghost town; the inhabitants evacuated; there were no defenders. As evening fell on Anzio, nearly 50,000 men and 3,000 vehicles landed with the loss of 13 men, mostly from mines. The road to Rome, 32 miles to the north, was open. Intelligence reported that there were few, if any, German defenders on the route. The German reaction by General Kesselring was quick, but a scarcity of troops forced desperate improvisation to contain the Allied force.

But with the memory of the near-debacle at Salerno still fresh in his mind, US commander, Major-General John Lucas was determined to build up his beach-head defences before venturing forth. He had calculated on a rugged defence, and ordered his army to dig in to fight off counter-attacks. Lucas's commander, General Mark Clark, arrived with General Alexander. The British commander was all for pushing forward with strong mobile forces. Clark advised Lucas not to "_stick his neck out_". Winston Churchill, ever an enthusiast for this invasion, cabled Alexander to say:


> _"Am very glad you are pegging out claims rather than digging in_."


Lucas established his headquarters in an underground wine cellar and showed no sign of pegging out claims.

In Italy, maximum aerial support was given to the Allied landings at Anzio; fighter-bombers, light and medium bombers directed efforts toward isolating the landing area by cutting roads, bridges, and railroads and obstructing towns in the surrounding region, at Valetri, Valmontone, Colleferro, Ceprano, and Fondi and hitting traffic and communications throughout the area; fighters maintained a patrol over shipping and beachhead and successfully intercept several enemy fighter-bomber missions directed against the landings. Unescorted B-17s and B-24s bombed the Terni and Arezzo marshalling yards, Pontedera marshalling yard and airfield, a road and rail junction NW of Frascati, Terracina road defile and Pontecorvo bridge and town area; P-38s strafed targets in the Arce-Frosinone area, including several vehicles and train cars; P-47s on a sweep over the Rome area encountered several fighters, and claimed 5 shot down; 2 P-47s were lost.

Hptm. Wilhelm Steinmann replaced Hptm. Franz Hahn as _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 4. He then moved with the unit when it transferred from Osa (Littorio) to Fabrica di Toma.


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## Njaco (Jan 25, 2009)

*23 JANUARY 1944* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 50,000 men were now ashore at Anzio. Lucas continued to cautiously expand the beachhead against feeble resistance. Kesselring decided that his strong positions at Cassino could be maintained so long as reinforcements promised from OKW reserves arrived as scheduled. In all, eight divisions from France, northern Italy and the Balkans were on the move to Anzio. The Luftwaffe was able to hit the beachhead and landing zone with several air raids.

The initial German response to the major threat posed the landing was to strike against shipping and hinder the Allied build-up. 135 long-range bombers were rapidly moved to Italy from northwest Germany, France and Greece including 45 aircraft that came from I. and III./LG 1 in Greece, 55 aircraft combined from II., III./KG 30 and I./KG 76 from the Western front, 5 aircraft of II./KG 100 out of southern France and 30 aircraft from the reofitting I./KG 30 and II./KG 76. Included were aircraft that had recently participated in Unternehmen Steinbock. Simultaneously, the anti-shipping force in southern France was reinforced by 50+ Do 217s and He 177s, operating from as far away as Bordeaux, using the Hs 293 bomb. The German bombers went into action and the intial anti-shipping effort was not very successful as a number of bombers were lost. A He 177 from 4./KG 40 was shot down by Beaufighters off Cape Corso. A formation of 40 to 50 German bombers was intercepted enroute to Rome by a flight of 4 Spitfires. In the battle that ensued, 6 bombers were shot down with no loss to themselves. The bomber formation turned around and never reached their target.

Supporting the landing with gunfire, HMS _'Jervis' _and her sister ship, _'Janus'_, were attacked by enemy aircraft using Henschel Hs 293 glider bombs. Both were hit; _'Janus’' _forward magazine exploded, sinking her with the loss of nearly 160 of her crew; _'Jervis’' _bow was blown off, leaving her to be towed stern-first to safety. Astonishingly, not one of her crew were harmed in this incident, and she was able to rescue over 80 of _'Janus’' _crew. The loss of the destroyer _'Janus’' _ was a sad blow. She and _'Jervis' _had fired over 500 rounds of 4.7", of the first two days of Anzio, a figure typical of many destroyers which indicated the enormous amount of help given by these ships during those critical days in Italy.

In Italy, B-17s bombed road bridges at Pontecorvo and Ceprano, railroad line and bridge at Falconara, Marittima, and marshalling yards at Poggibonsi and Siena; P-47s escorted the B-17s to the latter 2 targets; B-24s bombed Rieti Airfield, Porto Civitanova marshalling yard, and targets of opportunity, including a bridge near Cagli, marshalling yard N of Perugia, and landing strip S of Iesi; P-47s and P-38s carried out sweeps in wide areas around Rome and Florence, reaching out to Viterbo, Rieti, Orte, and Terni. B-26s bombed the area S of Avezzano while B-25s hit the town of Avezzano and road junction at Monte Cornacchia; A-20s bombed Vallecorsa with good results; A-36s attacked Vallecorsa, road junctions at Fondi and in the Priverno area, the town of Ceccano, and railroad at Sezze; P-47s bombed the bridge at Skradin, Yugoslavia; RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) fighters strafed tanks and trucks on the British Eighth Army front, and XII Air Support Command fighters covered the US Fifth Army's Anzio beachhead during the day.

Pte George Allen Mitchell (b.1911), London Scottish, took two gun posts alone and led two further assaults before being killed - by a soldier who had surrendered. (Victoria Cross)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Nearly 200 B-26s bombed V-weapon sites in the French coastal area. 37 RAF Mosquitos were dispatched to 6 different targets, 3 RCM sorties, 9 aircraft minelaying off Cherbourg, Brest and Le Havre. No aircraft were lost.


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## Njaco (Jan 27, 2009)

*24 JANUARY 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 1st and 2nd Ukraine Fronts began a major offensive. The Red Army attacks in the north gathered momentum as Pushkin and Pashovsk were captured and the important rail line between Narva and Krasnogvardeisk was cut. The Soviets, having regrouped and replenished supplies opened with a fresh set of attacks south of Kiev. 1st Ukrainian Front launched a major attack on the left wing of the German 1st Panzer Army positions near Korsun. Later in the day, similar attacks began by the 2nd Ukrainian Front to the south. Zhukov was coordinating the two offensives in the hope that the Germans would be trapped in their desperate and seemingly meaningless desire to hold some part of the Dnepr River.

German submarines attacked the Murmansk-bound convoy JW 56A. U.S. freighter SS _'Penelope Barker' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-278' _about 115 miles (185 kilometres) from North Cape, Norway. 10 merchant sailors and 5 Armed Guard men (of the 43-man merchant complement and the 28-man Armed Guard, respectively) perished in the explosions. British destroyer HMS _'Savage' _rescued the survivors

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Battle of Cassino began. The US 100th Infantry Battalion fought in the first two assaults. The rest of the US 5th Army battered itself against the Gustav line with the Free French Corps attacking Monte Santa Croce, north of Casino, and the US 2nd Corps striking across the Rapido River near Caira. Adolf Hitler ordered the Gustav Line in Italy to be held at all costs.

Allied troops paused at Anzio, giving Germany time to bring up reinforcements. The beachhead was slowly expanded (now 24 miles wide and 7 miles deep) against little resistance.

Luftwaffe aircraft attacked and sank the British hospital ship _'St. David' _and also damaged the destroyer USS _'Plunkett_' (DD-431) and minesweeper USS _'Prevail' _(AM-107); an aerial torpedo damaged the destroyer USS _'Mayo' _(DD-422). Capt. Jenkin Robert Oswald Thompson (b.1911), RAMC, after four years of gallant service on hospital ships, went down with the _'St. David' _ while trying to save a trapped patient. (George Cross).

During another Luftwaffe air raid on Allied shipping at Naples, U.S. freighter SS _'F.A.C. Muhlenberg' _was damaged by a bomb and by a near-miss of a bomb; the ship's crew and port firefighting crews extinguished the fires. Seven crewmen were killed.

Weather canceled all US Twelfth Air Force medium and light bomber operations. In Italy, fighters maintained cover over the Anzio beachhead (Anzio and Nettuno were captured during the day) and encountered increased air attacks. 3 fighters were claimed destroyed in aerial combat, while 1 Allied fighter was lost. A formation of He 111s and Ju 88s were attacked by 4 British fighters and lost 2 He 111s and a Ju 88. P-40 fighter-bombers hit the road at Penne, while A-36s bombed Velletri and the road junction E of town, and hit other communications targets.

US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bombed the airfield and town area at Skoplje, Yugoslavia. In Bulgaria, B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Vrattsa and the Dolno Tserovene area, both targets of opportunity. P-38s escorted the B-24's while P-47s accompany the B-17s.

Luftwaffe transfers to the Italian front continued. II./JG 77 transferred to Siena with 31 Bf 109s and came under the operation of Fliegerfuhrer Luftflotte 2. III./JG 53 stopped in Lagnasco with 26 Bf 109s. 2 of the Bf 109s ran into one another and another damaged its undercarriage. 9 Bf 109s then took off to join II./JG 77 at Siena.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 191: 857 B-17s and B-24s were put into the air with intentions of bombing transportation and industrial targets at Frankfurt-Heddernheim, Frankfurt/Main and Russelsheim. Most bombers had trouble forming up in bad weather and only 563 of the 857 airborne were dispatched; all of the B-24s were recalled. Because of worsening weather all groups were recalled at 1020 hours but 58 B-17s bombed the Zukunft Power Station near Eschweiler; they claimed 1-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17s were lost. Escorting were 101 P-38s, 535 P-47s and 42 Ninth Air Force P-51s; the fighters were assigned area patrol, protecting all bombers as they passed through their designated area but this was abandoned when the bombers were recalled; they claimed 19-4-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 2P-51s were lost and 6 P-47s were damaged.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The RAF and USAAF in the United Kingdom, agreed to place most of the available P-51s in the US Eighth Air Force for long range escort of heavy bomber's. Eventually the Eighth was to be equipped almost exclusively with P-51s, with the P-38s and P-47s to be transferred to the US Ninth Air Force.

175+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s attacked V-weapon sites in the coastal area of France.


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## Njaco (Jan 27, 2009)

*25 JANUARY 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: SS _'Fort Bellingham'_, a Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-360'_, Kptlt Klaus Becker, CO, and _'U-957'_, OLtzS Gerhard Schaar, (Knights Cross), CO. Thirty-nine members of her crew were lost. _'Fort Bellingham' _was proceeding to the Kola Inlet, Russia, as part of the 20-ship Convoy JW-56A. She and 2 other ships were sunk from this convoy. The destroyer HMS _'Obdurate' _was damaged by a Gnat from _'U-360' _while escorting the convoy JW-56A to North Russia. The U-boat missed the damaged destroyer with a coup de grâce. Convoy JW-56A arrived on 28 Jan 44. In total - including the U.S. freighter SS _'Penelope Barker' _sunk the day before - the 3 ships' cargoes amounted to 21,650 tons of military stores.

The attacks by Soviet forces around Korsun met serious resistance. The 1st Ukrainian Front met heavy resistance but continued to move toward Zvenigorodka. The 4th Guards and 5th Guards Tank Armies (2nd Ukrainian Front) were met with very serious resistance and suffered heavy casualties from concentrated German artillery support. The Red Army captured the railway junction at Krasnogvardeisk, south-west of Leningrad.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German forces in the Casino area launched counterattacks against the Free French Corps, wiping out their gains from the previous day.

Off Anzio, the motor minesweeper YMS-30 was sunk by a mine and the submarine chaser PC-676 was damaged by near-miss of a bomb.

In Italy, B-17s bombed targets of opportunity (highways and railroad bridges) at Pedaso, SE of Pedaso, at Stazione di Monte Silvano and on the Vomano River NW of Pescara; other B-17s returned bombs to base after finding targets obscured by bad weather. B-25s bombed Valmontone; B-26s hit the Sezze marshalling yard, the Sezze-Bassiano road, Amelia, and Rieti marshalling yard; A-20s attacked Terelle; A-36s hit Civita Castellana, Itri, Velletri, and railroad rolling stock in the area; P-40s hit Velletri and Belmonte in Sabina and strafe trucks E of Fondi; P-40s and P-47s hit shipping in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, and nearby road and rail traffic. British fighters of the RAF DAF hit bridge approaches at Popoli, near the British Eighth Army front.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 76 RAF aircraft - 56 Stirlings, 12 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - attacked flying bomb sites in the Pas de Calais and near Cherbourg without loss. Nearly 150 US Ninth Air Force B-26s, airborne to bomb V-weapon sites in France, were forced to abandon the missions because of heavy clouds. During the evening, 5 US Eighth Air Force B-17s dropped 1.2 million leaflets on Caen, Reims, Chartres, Chateauroux and Brest, France without loss.

*GERMANY*: In an Oboe Mk II test, the Oboe equipment failed 3 minutes before the target (Aachen, Germany) and the B-17 dropped on the ETA; the B-17 was damaged by flak. 14 RAF Mosquitos also flew to Aachen, 18 OTU sorties. 1 OTU Wellington was lost.


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## Njaco (Jan 27, 2009)

*26 JANUARY 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The attack at Leningrad continued to move forward as Krasnogvardeisk was captured. The Germans were showing signs of collapse on this front. Slightly to the south, the Red Army opened an offensive to clear the Moscow-Leningrad rail line. Heavy fighting flared up at Tosno and Lyuban.

German submarines continued attacks against Murmansk- bound convoy JW 56A. Ten U-boats attacked the convoy, sinking three merchant ships. _'U-716' _fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes on the convoy JW-56A, heard two hits and reported one ship with 7000 tons sunk and another of 7000 tons damaged. In fact, only the _'Andrew G. Curtin' _in station #61 was hit by one torpedo on the starboard side between the #2 and #3 holds. The watch below secured the engines as the ship settled by the head and listed to starboard. The deck cracked forward of the #3 hold and extended across the vessel. As the Liberty ship sank, the crack widened and the bow soon hogged about 25°. The complement of eight officers, 35 men and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in some confusion in one raft and four lifeboats aft of the crack. Two crewmembers drowned and one armed guard died in the explosion. The survivors observed the _'Andrew G. Curtin' _breaking in two before sinking. In less than 30 minutes, HMS _'Inconstant' _picked up the survivors and landed them later in Murmansk. The USS PTC-39 was on transfer from the USA to North Russia aboard the 'Andrew _G. Curtin' _and was lost. During operations against the convoy _'U-360' _and _'U-601' _collided, resulting in slight damage to both boats.

5(F)./122 transferred from Pskov-South to Jelgava (Mitau) in Central Latvia and remained there under FAGr.1 until July 1944.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army made headway against the Gustav Line as the Free French Corps captured Colle Belvedere and the 2nd Corps finally established a secure position across the Rapido River.

Off Anzio, mines sank Infantry landing craft LCI-32 and damaged tank landing ship LST-422. During a German air raid on shipping off the invasion beaches, U.S. freighter _'John Banyard' _was damaged by near-miss of aerial bomb. While there were no casualties to those on board (including the 27-man Armed Guard), the ship would later be written off as a total loss. Off Nettuno, a German fighter plane crashed into freighter _'Hilary A. Herbert' _shortly before the freighter was further damaged by the near-miss of a bomb. Beached to prevent her loss, _'Hilary A. Herbert_' was later repaired and returned to service.

In Italy, A-20s attacked Cisterna di Latina, toward which the US Fifth Army's VI Corps was moving; A-36s and P-40s flew harassing attacks against roads and railroads, bombing at Belmonte in Sabina, Cisterna, Itri, Ceccano, Frosinone, Poggio Mirteto and at points around these towns; A-36s destroyed a fuel dump and several trucks and artillery caissons in the Ceprano-Priverno area.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 144 B-26s scheduled to bomb V-weapon sites in France were recalled because of bad weather.


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## Njaco (Jan 31, 2009)

*27 JANUARY 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The blockade of Leningrad was lifted. This continued for 872 days and took the lives of over a million people. The news was announced by General Govorov, the planner and commander of the onslaught which drove the Germans away from the beleaguered city. In an order of the day he announced:


> "_The city of Leningrad has been completely freed from the enemy blockade and the barbaric artillery shelling."_


 Leningrad suffered grievous damage. Many of its fine buildings were destroyed by shelling and bombing. In the occupied southern suburbs the retreating Germans looted and set fire to buildings, and left the bodies of partisans hanging from the trees. Now, as they celebrated their release, their liberators werer rushing on to the west in great strength, outnumbering Field Marshal von Kuchler's weakened Army Group North in men, arms and aircraft. The Red Army was now approaching the German defence zone codenamed "Panther", which ran south from the Gulf of Finland, along the river Narva and the banks of Lakes Peipus and Pskovskoye, to the town of Ostrov.

The Germans were beginning to collapse as Tosno and Valosovo both fell to Red Army advances. The battle around Korsun continued to rage as the 2nd Ukrainian Front captured the important road junction at Shpola. Fighting on the northern side of the bulge was heavy and 1st Ukrainian front made limited advances.

*WESTERN AFRICA*: The government of Liberia declared war on Germany and Japan.

*WESTERN FRONT*: USAAF Captain James Stewart was promoted to the rank of Major.

In France, US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bombed airfields at Salon-de-Provence and Montpellier-Frejorgues; B-24s hit Istres-Le-Tube Airfield; P-38s flew escort.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Churchill laid down two priorities for Bomber Command: first to bomb targets on the continent, and second, to drop supplies to resistance fighters.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Free French Corps was once again hit by serious German counterattacks and was pushed back.

German air opposition to the landings at Anzio began to increase; submarine chaser SC-534 was damaged by a near- miss of a bomb. Adverse weather conditions caused damage to one large infantry landing craft (LCI[L]) and eleven tank landing craft (LCT).

In Italy, B-25s attacked roads at Velletri, the railway at Colleferro and marshalling yard at Orte; B-26s bombed bridges at Ceprano and marshalling yard at Terni; A-20s gave close support to the US Fifth Army attack near Terelle; A-36s bombed railways and buildings at Poggio Mirteto, Ceccano, and Ciampino, hit rail and road traffic S of Rome, and, with P-40s, hit the town of Piedimonte; 70+ P-40s provided close support to Fifth Army forces in Cisterna di Latina and Atina, bombing gun positions; Allied fighters over the Anzio beachhead successfully met increased enemy air effort, claiming 28 aircraft downed in aerial combat.

*GERMANY*: 515 RAF Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos were dispatched to Berlin. The German fighters were committed to action earlier than normal, some being sent out 75 miles over the North Sea from the Dutch coast. A number of elaborate feints and diversions had some effect; Half of the German fighters were lured north by a Heligoland mining diversion and action in the main bomber stream was less intense than on recent nights. 33 Lancasters were lost, 6.4 per cent of the heavy force. The target was cloud-covered again and skymarking had to be used. Bomber Command was not able to make any assessment of the raid except to state that the bombing appeared to have been spread well up and down wind. The bombers dropped 1887 tons of ordnance, again inflicting severe losses on the city's population. Estimates were that 6000 people perished in the attack.

Extensive RAF operations were carried out in support of the Berlin raid. 80 Stirlings and Wellingtons flew to the Dutch coast and laid mines there, 21 Halifaxes did the same near Heligoland, both hoping to draw the German fighters up early. 9 aircraft flew RCM sorties and 12 Mosquitos flew Serrate patrols. 18 Mosquito-bomber aircraft dropped imitation 'fighter flares' away from the main bomber routes to and from the target. 140 aircraft were thus engaged in various operations in support of the main raid. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 1, 2009)

*28 JANUARY 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-271' _was sunk west of Limerick, by depth charges from a US Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator aircraft (VB-103/E, based in St. Eval, Cornwall under operational control of RAF No. 19 (General Reconnaissance) Group, RAF Coastal Command). The PB4Y crew caught _'U-271' _on the surface and dropped six depth charges causing the sub to settle by the stern and sink. 51 dead (all hands lost).

_'U-571' _was sunk west of Ireland, by depth charges from an Australian Shorts Sunderland MKIII aircraft (RAAF-Sqdn 461/D, out of Pembroke Dock, Wales). 52 dead (all hands lost). Unlike many U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, _'U-571' _did not suffer any casualties until the time of her loss.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 195: 54 B-24s in 2 groups were dispatched to the Bonnieres V-weapon site in France; 2 Gee-H equipped PFF aircraft led each group; due to technical difficulties, the second formation was ordered to follow the lead and bombed the same target as a secondary; 4 minutes before the target the leader of one section accidentally released and the following 11 aircraft did likewise; 31 hit the primary; 1 B-24 was damaged. 122 P-47s provided escort without loss. Gee-H was more accurate than H2X but was of use only against targets within the 200-mi (320 km) beacon range; later, aircraft were equipped with both devices.

During the evening, 5 B-17s dropped 1.36 million leaflets on Amiens, Rouen, Cambrai, Reims and Caen, France without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Korsun Pocket was formed: The spearheads of the Soviet 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts linked up as forward elements of the 6th Tank Army and 5th Guards Tank Army entered Zvenigorodka. 56,000 Germans from the 11th and 42nd Corps (8th Army) were trapped in the salient at Korsun. Hitler insisted that the now surrounded positions on the Dnepr River be held and forbid a breakout attempt. Von Manstein, commanding Heeresgruppe South, began to assemble an armored force to break into the encircled troops. Red Army attacks in the north gained momentum as the German 18.Armee was ordered to abandon positions held since the fall of 1941 and retreat to the Luga River line. Soviet forces took Lyugan.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Off Anzio, motor torpedo boat PT-201 - that has Lieutenant General Mark Clark, Commanding General of the U.S. Fifth Army, on board - was damaged by friendly fire from minesweeper _'Sway' _(AM-120); submarine chaser SC-534 was damaged by near-miss of a bomb.

In Italy, US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s, with fighter escorts, bombed Aviano Airfield and Verona marshalling yard; B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Ferrara. US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attacked the Orte marshalling yard; B-26s hit bridges at Orvieto and Montalto di Castro; A-20s bombed Cisterna di Latina with good results; P-40s and P-47s bombed the Popoli road junction, and A-36s hit railroad, road, and gun positions in the Cassino-Vicenza-Velletri areas, the Colleferro marshalling yard, and Atina town area; P-40s hit Terelle, Belmonte in Sabina, and Cisterna; Allied fighters over the Anzio area claimed 21 aircraft shot down.

*GERMANY*: 677 RAF aircraft - 432 Lancasters, 241 Halifaxes, 4 Mosquitos were again sent to Berlin. Part of the German fighter force was drawn up by early diversions and the bomber approach route over Northern Denmark proved too distant for some of the other German fighters. The German controller was, however, able to concentrate his fighters over the target and many aircraft were shot down there. 46 aircraft - 26 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters - were lost, 6.8 per cent of the force. The cloud over Berlin was broken and some ground-marking was possible but the Bomber Command claim that this was the most concentrated attack of this period is not quite fully confirmed by German records. The western and southern districts were hit but so too were 77 places outside the city.

63 RAF Stirlings and 4 Pathfinder Halifaxes carried out minelaying in Kiel Bay 5 hours before the main Berlin operation; this was the first time that Pathfinder aircraft helped a minelaying operation. 6 Mosquitos bombed Berlin 4 hours before the main attack and 18 Mosquitos bombed night-fighter airfields at Deelen, Leeuwarden and Venlo. 4 Mosquitos carried out a diversionary raid to Hannover and 6 more Mosquitos flew Serrate patrols at the same time as the main raid. 2 Stirling minelayers and 1 Serrate Mosquito were lost from these operations. 16 OTU Wellingtons carried out leaflet flights to France without loss.

During the night, 1 US Eighth Air Force B-17 on an Oboe Mk II test dropped 2 tons of bombs on Emmerich, Germany.


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## Njaco (Feb 3, 2009)

*29 JANUARY 1944* 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: With his entire command (69,000 troops, 240 tanks, 500 guns) now ashore, Lucas made plans to break out of the Anzio beachhead. Regrettably, the Germans massed 8 divisions (grouped under the 14.Armee) against him. To the south, the US 2nd Corps made some progress in expanding their positions across the Rapido River.

The cruiser HMS _'Spartan' _was anchored in Anzio Bay to provide air defence for the amphibious landings. As night fell, approximately 35 minutes after sunset, the invasion force was subjected to a German glider bomb attack. Four enemy aircraft, flying at about 5,000 feet and a few miles inland made the attack. _'Spartan' _was one of those targeted and engaged the aircraft when an Hs.293 glider bomb hit close to her aft funnel at 17.56 and started fires which could not be controlled. The bomb was engaged at close range by anti-aircraft fire and it was at first thought that the bomb would miss astern. However, the weapon altered course during the final stage of its approach and struck the ship at the after end of B funnel. A large fire broke out at the point of impact. The projectile passed through the ship and exploded on the port side, immediately flooding B boiler room. A secondary fire broke out by the port torpedo tubes. By 1900 the ship was listing 30 degrees and, shortly afterwards, the order was given to abandon ship. The list increased to 35 degrees and _'Spartan' _sank at 1915, in six fathoms of water. For an hour the crew fought to save her before the order was given to abandon ship. Ten minutes later she settled on her beam in just over 30 feet of water, taking 5 officers and 41 ratings with her. There were 18 other casualties, and 523 survivors. The rescue tug ATR-1 was damaged by a near-miss of bomb. The freighter _'Alexander Martin' _was damaged by strafing but there were no fatalities among the ship's complement (including the 24-man Armed Guard). Off Nettuno, freighter _'Samuel Huntington' _was sunk by bombs; three merchant sailors died in the explosions, one would die of his wounds later. Her survivors were rescued by tank landing craft LCT-277. There were no casualties among the 39-man Armed Guard; the ship would later be written off as a total loss.

In Italy, B-24s bombed the Siena marshalling yard through overcast; B-17s bombed marshalling yards at Ancona, Fabriano, Rimini, and Bologna; P-47s swept over the Rome and Florence areas. B-25s bombed San Benedetto de Marsi marshalling yard; B-26s hit bridges N of Rome; P-47s bombed a munitions factory at Bussi sul Tirino; P-40s and A-36s, in support of US Fifth Army forces, bombed positions in the Anzio beachhead area and hit enemy forward road and rail communications; fighters on patrol over Anzio met little air opposition.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces cleared the important railway line between Moscow and Leningrad.

General Model replaced Field Marshal von Kuchler as commander of Germany's Heeresgruppe North. Hitler, incensed over Kuchler's orders allowing 18.Armee to retreat from the vicinity of Leningrad before it was surrounded, replaced the commander of Heeresgruppe North with General Model. Model's new command continued to collapse as the Volkhov Front took Chudovo and 2nd Baltic Front overran Novosokolniki.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Allies opened a new escape route, codename "Shelburne", for downed Allied airmen. Thirteen USAAF airmen escaped from Plouha, France to Dartmouth, England on British MTBs.

An Fw 200 of 12./KG 40 was shot down by fighters near Somerville. Four of the crew perished in the crash and four survived.

80+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s bombed V-weapon sites in coastal France.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Because of the transfer of so many Luftwaffe bombers to the Med, General Peltz who was in charge of the 'Steinbock' attacks, was only able to use 35 He 177s for operations against England. This night a total of 285 bombers were dispatched against London.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 198: Led by PFF aircraft, 675 B-17s and 188 B-24s were dispatched to hit the industrial area at Frankfurt, Germany; 590 B-17s and 170 B-24s hit the primary target; 46 B-17s bombed Ludwigshafen due to a deviation from planned bomb route; they claimed 75-27-48 Luftwaffe aircraft; 24 B-17s and 5 B-24s were lost, 2 B-17s and 3 B-24s were damaged beyond repair and 116 B-17s and 19 B-24s were damaged. This was first Eighth Air Force mission in which more than 700 aircraft attacked targets. Escort was 89 P-38s, 503 P-47s and 40 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 47-6-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-38s and 10 P-47s were lost, 1 P-38 was damaged beyond repair and 3 P-38s and 1 P-47 were damaged. Raimund Koch of III./JG 3 shot down a B-17 near Kaiserlautern but his plane suffered damaged and he was forced to bail and survive. Bruno Bolowski, also from III./JG 3 was hit bt return fire from a B-17 near Scharzerden. Bolowski lost control and crashed into the Fortress, flown by Lee E. Anthony and both machines crashed to the ground. Bolowski was found 2 says later hanging dead from a tree.


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## Njaco (Feb 3, 2009)

*30 JANUARY 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: U-Boat attacks were conducted againt the convoy JW.56B south of Bear Island, Norway. Whilst escorting the convoy, the destroyer HMS _'Hardy' _was struck by a torpedo fired by _'U-278' _(Kapitanleutnant Joachim Franze) and her magazine exploded. There were 40 casualties. _'U-957' _had fired two Gnats at the escorts of the Convoy JW-56B and heard two detonations, which were claimed by Schaar as hits on two destroyers, but they were end-of-run detonations. At 0357, _'U-278' _had fired a Gnat that struck HMS _'Hardy'_. This hit was observed and claimed by _'U-957' _and also by _'U-472'_, which had fired a Gnat at 0357 hours, but missed KNM _'Stord'_. At 0420, _'U-957' _fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes at two corvettes, which laid stopped (probably the destroyer HMS _'Venus' _rescuing survivors from the torpedoed destroyer HMS _'Hardy'_) and heard one detonation after four minutes, but no destroyer had been hit at this time. _'Hardy' _had been seriously damaged and had to be sunk by a coup de grâce by HMS _'Venus'_. This detonation was heard by _'U-601'_, which thought that her Gnat, fired at 0524 had hit this destroyer. The U-boat then crossed the sinking position of _'Hardy' _and sighted an oil slick and debris. _'U-314' _(Type VIIC) was sunk in the Barents Sea southeast of Bear Island, Norway, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS _'Whitehall' _and _'Meteor'_. 49 dead (all crew lost).

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Air Ministry head Charles Portal replied to a letter from Bomber Command head Arthur Harris, that Bomber Command must comply with orders that his bombers be used for operation *Overlord*.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Lucas' offensive out of the Anzio beachhead opened with a disaster. Darby's Rangers (1st, 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions) were ordered to spearhead a night attack against the key German position at Cisterna. The attack went badly as the infiltration groups (1st and 3rd battalions) broke into separate groups in the confusing terrain. Upon reaching the town, the Rangers were brought under a horrific fire. The Germans brought forward the tanks of newly reformed Herman Goring Panzerdivision. The 1st and 3rd Rangers were cut off and pushed into a small perimeter. They fought throughout the day but lacked heavy weapons, and ammunition to prolong the battle. By the evening, they surrendered or were dead. All but 6 of the 767 men from the two battalions were lost.

Heavy fighting continued along the Gustav Line as the US 34th Division held its bridgehead over the Rapido River against counterattacks while the British 50th Division (10th Corps) took Monte Natale.

In Italy, B-17s hit airfields and landing grounds at Villaorba, Maniago and Lavariano; B-24s bombed Udine Airfield and Fier radar station; P-38s escorted the B-17s on the Villaorba and Maniago missions and P-38s and some RAF Spitfires escorted the B-24s on the Udine mission; P-47s carried out a sweep over the Villaorba area; the B-24s and fighters claimed 60+ aircraft shot down and a larger number destroyed on the ground. B-25s hit road junctions at Valmontone and Genzano di Roma, and bombed the town of Monte Compatri; weather cancelled all B-26 operations and several B-25 missions. A-20s hit the town of and road junction near Cori, and XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers hit Sora; US and RAF fighters hit barges and fishing boats off Zara and Trojica, Yugoslavia; fighters on patrol over Anzio met no air opposition.

*GERMANY*: 534 RAF aircraft - 440 Lancasters, 82 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - returned to Berlin. There were no preliminary diversions on this night and the attempt by the German controllers to intercept the bomber stream over the sea failed. The bombers were, therefore, well on the way to Berlin before meeting any fighters but the Germans were then able to follow the bomber stream until well into the return flight. 33 aircraft - 32 Lancasters and 1 Halifax - were lost, 6.2 per cent of the force.

22 RAF Mosquitos went to Elberfeld and 5 to Brunswick, 8 RCM sorties, 7 Serrate patrols, 12 Stirlings minelaying in the River Gironde, 22 OTU sorties. No losses.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 200: 623 B-17s and 154 B-24s were dispatched to hit aviation industry plants in Brunswick, Germany but cloud cover prevented visual bombing; 597 B-17s hit the secondary target, the city of Brunswick and 2 others hit targets of opportunity; the B-24s found dense smoke and contrails over the secondary and 104 bombed Hannover and 39 hit other targets of opportunity; the bombers claimed 51-7-27 Luftwaffe aircraft; 18 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost, 3 B-17s were damaged beyond repair and 104 B-17s and 11 B-24s were damaged. Escort included 635 P-38s, P-47s and Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 45-15-31 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s and 2 P-47s were lost, 2 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 2 P-51s were damaged.

On the whole, 30 January had to be chalked up as a failure for the Luftwaffe day-fighter units assigned to home defense. Five pilots from 4./JG 11 were killed, 6./JG 11 had 3 lost and Stab II./JG 11 lost one aircraft. Fw. Nowotny from 5./JG 11 was killed and Lt. Heinz Knocke and Ofw. Raddatz were shot down but both survived. II./JG 11 were transferring to Arnhem when they were bounced by Spitfires. The only success for JG 11 was Major Specht who managed to destroy a Spitfire. In total 30 aircraft were lost from III./JG 1, II./JG 26, III./JG 26, II./JG 27 and III./JG 301. But Sturmstaffel 1 was getting better against the Allied bombers. Uffz. Willi Maximowitz destroyed a bomber over Hannover and Major Erwin Bacsila downed a B-17.

Major Iro Ilk was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 300.

10./JG 301 was formed at Targsorul-Nou.

In a night Oboe Mk II test, 1 US Eighth AF B-17 dropped 2 bombs on Duren, Germany.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2009)

*31 JANUARY 1944* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The total number of bombers involved in *Unternehmen Steinbock* was fewer than the 600 claimed by Germany (an RAF assessment was 200), but the raids seemed to confirm to the Allies intelligence reports that the Germans were still building aircraft at a rate which made good their losses. Such a situation would cast doubt on the belief of Sir Arthur Harris that strategic bombing alone would end the war. This claim was also under fire after the heavy losses which the RAF has suffered (as well as inflicted) in the raids on Berlin.

SS _'Emerald' _(736t) cargo ship, North-East port to Poole, was sunk by E Boats, SE of Beachy Head.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-592' _was sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS _'Starling'_, _'Wild Goose' _and _'Magpie'_. 49 dead (all hands lost).

US Eighth Air Force Mission 203: 74 of 74 B-24s hit a V-weapon site construction at St. Pol/Siracourt, France; 2 aircraft were damaged beyond repair; no losses. The B-24s were escorted by 114 P-47s.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 204: 70 of 75 P-47 fighter-bombers, escorted by 47 P-38s and 87 P-47s bombed Gilze-Rijen Airfield, The Netherlands; they claimed 13-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 P-38s were lost, 1 P-38 was damaged beyond repair and 2 P-47s damaged.

Hptm. Hermann Segatz was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 1 after Hptm. Walter Hoeckner was posted to Stab I./JG 4.

US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s with P-38 escort, hit Klagenfurt Airfield, Austria; they claimed 16 aircraft shot down.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Swift German reaction to the Anzio landings was threatening to turn the tables completely on the huge Allied army which landed nine days ago. The element of surprise was gone. Instead of the dash to Rome, activity has been limited to cautious attacks with heavy Allied casualties. Field Marshal Kesselring has now pulled reserves from all over Italy to ring the beach-head. US Rangers waded four miles in darkness along a half-dry irrigation canal to attack the village of Cisterna, but were detected at the last moment and came under withering tank fire. Only six men survived. The British 24 Guards Brigade met stiff resistance on the night of 29-30 January at the small hamlet of Carroceto, where the 29th Panzergrenadier Regiment was dug in and waiting; and the Sherwood Foresters suffered huge casualties in an assault on Campoleone. The US 5th Army made some progress against the Gustav Line as 2nd Corps captured Caira and the Free French Corps captured Monte Abate.

US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bombed airfields at Aviano and Udine, Italy; P-38s and P-47s provided escort. Obstlt. Johannes Steinhoff, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77 and Lt. Klinker were scrambled against the 80 B-17s heading to Udine. One B-17 was shot down by Lt. Klinker but his Bf 109 was damaged and he had to bale out, unhurt.

In Italy, A-20s bombed Artena and road junction N of town; P-40s and A-36s, operating E of the Anzio battle area, hit a road junction at Sezze, the town of Fondi, and junction and town area at Priverno; P-47s bombed San Benedetto de Marsi; the XII Air Support Command flew 250+ sorties over the Anzio beachhead; air opposition was absent.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet's opened a new offensive against Nikopol. 3rd Ukrainian Front spearheaded the attack along the lower Dnepr aimed at the industrial and transportation hub. The attacks around Leningrad continued as Red Army forces reached Kingisepp.


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## Njaco (Feb 6, 2009)

*1 February 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff agree to postpone Operation *Overlord *by a month.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army continued to attack on the eastern front. Kingisepp fell in the north and spearheads were at the Estonian border. Model attempted to launch counterattacks at Luga and Utorgosh, but they failed to make an impression.

Major Fritz Kurschera, chief of the Gestapo in Poland was assassinated by the Polish underground.

4./SG 5 was formed from 14(Jabo)./JG 5 at Petsamo.Losses for 14(Jabo)./JG 5 were slight during the winter of 1943 /44 and by the end of 1943, the unit had flown over 1,000 sorties and had sunk 39,000 tons of shipping. The new 4./SG 5 operated under Luftflotte 5 until May 1944 when it became 1./SG 5. 14 (Jabo)./JG 5 had a difficult role and its success can be attributed to the pilots and their leader, "Straks" Strakeljahn. Flying old Fw 190s, the unit suffered a number of losses, particularily to AA fire but exacted revenge by attacking shipping in the Murmansk area.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Jagdkommando 1./SAGr 128 was redesignated 10./ZG 1, equipped with Ju 88C-6s at this time. 1./128, operating from Brest with 7 Fw 190s, worked alongside other units under Fliegerfuhrer Atlantik. 8./JG 2 periodically flew with 1./128 as did the best known of the Bay of Biscay German formations, V./KG 40 with its Ju 88s. Another unit was the Me 410 equipped 7./ZG 1.

Colonel Clarence E Crumrine temporarily took command of the XIX Air Support Command, replacing Major General Elwood R Quesada. The latter assumed command of the IX Air Support Command which assumed control of all fighter and reconnaissance units of the IX Fighter Command.

*GERMANY*: 12 RAF Mosquitos were sent to Berlin, 3 to Aachen and 3 to Krefeld. 3 Serrate patrols. 1 Mosquito lost on the Berlin raid.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German planes carried out torpedo attack on convoy UGS 30, and the freighter _'Richmond P. Hobson' _was damaged. There were no casualties among the crew (including the Armed Guard) and the ship reached Port Said, Egypt, on 10 February. Freighter _'Edward Bates' _was torpedoed 65 miles from Oran and was abandoned; one of the 46-man merchant complement was killed, but there were no casualties among the 38-man Armed Guard or the seven passengers.

US Fifteenth Air Force Operations were limited to a fighter sweep of the Orvieto-Viterbo, Italy area by P-47s and to photo and weather reconnaissance. US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bombed the Albano Laziale road junction; P-40s bombed Cori, while A-36s hit Poggio Mieteto and P-47s attacked the station at San Valentino; fighters cover the Anzio battle area.


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## Njaco (Feb 8, 2009)

*2 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Lucas called off attacks to break out of the Anzio beachhead as it became obvious that the Germans were in great strength and preparing their own counter attack. Unknown to the Allies, the Germans had intended on launching those attacks this very day, but the Allied attacks had disrupted those plans.

In Italy, B-25s attacked the Marino road junction and A-20s bombed Norma; A-36s and P-40s bombed villages, road junctions, trucks, trains, parked aircraft, supply dump, and the Viterbo road during several fighter-bomber missions; P-40s on patrol over the battle areas attacked Cisterna di Latina and Formia.

Sailing vessel _'Yahia' _rammed and sunk by _'U-453' _in eastern Mediterranean.

US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s, with Spitfire escort, bombed the radar station at Durazzo, Albania.

Major General Gordon P Saville became Commanding General, XII Air Support Command.

*GERMANY*: 7 RAF Mosquitos flew to Rheinhausen and 6 to Elberfeld, 2 RCM sorties, 5 Serrate patrols, 50 Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay. The Kiel Bay mining operation was a ploy to draw up German fighters, even though no major bombing raid was planned. No aircraft were lost from these operations.

At Flensburg/Schleswig-Holstein 9./KG 1 was redesignated 14(Eins.)./KG 3. This unit was a highly specialized train-busting Staffel. The crew were trained to fly day or night along railways and bomb or shoot up trains, railway stations and marshalling yards. They were also used against tank concentrations. The unit was equipped with the cannon-armed Ju 88P.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the north, Red Army forces entered Estonia and captured Vanakula. To the South, 4th Ukrainian Front joined the offensive against Nikopol, threatening to surround the German 6.Armee defending the area.

Marshall Josef V Stalin agreed to provide 6 bases for US aircraft in the USSR.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 205: 95 of 110 B-24s hit V-weapon construction sites at St Pol/Siracourt and Watten, France; 2 B-24s were lost, 1 was damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged. 183 P-47s escorted the B-24s without loss. US Ninth Air Force 36 B-26s attacked Triqueville Airfield, France. Eighth Air Force escorts were 34 P-38s and 44 P-47s. No losses.


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## Njaco (Feb 8, 2009)

*3 February 1944*

*GERMANY*: 7 RAF Mosquitos flew to Krefeld, 4 to Dortmund and 3 to Cologne, 6 RCM sorties, 1 Serrate patrol, 35 aircraft minelaying off French Channel and Atlantic ports, 4 OTU .sorties. No aircraft lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 206: 553 of 671 B-17s hit the port area at Wilhelmshaven, Germany; another 56 hit the Emden area; and 1 hits Oldenburg; 1.8 million leaflets were dropped by B-17s; 193 B-24s were dispatched but they aborted the mission over the Zuider Zee due to clouds; 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft were claimed; 4 B-17s were lost, 1 B-24 was damaged beyond repair and 47 B-17s were damaged. Escort was provided by 74 P-38s, 508 P-47s of the Eighth and Ninth Air Force and 50 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 8-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 P-47s and 1 P-51 were lost, 3 P-47s were damaged beyond repair and 13 P-47s were damaged. The accommodation ship _'Monte Pasqual' _was sunk and the minesweepers M 18 and M 19 were damaged by the attack.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German forces began a counterattack at Anzio. Hitler had ordered that the Anzio beach-head "_must be crushed in the blood of British soldiers_". As dusk fell last night those soldiers were suffering a massive artillery barrage as the German 14.Armee prepared a full-scale counter-attack on the British salient. Every German gun was trained on the "thumb" created by the British 1st Division on 30 January in an abortive attempt to reach Campoleone. "Anzio Annie", a 14-inch railway gun, was used to devastating effect. However, the Germans' latest secret weapon - "Goliath", a radio-controlled miniature tank packed with explosive - failed under small-arms fire. German forces made probing attacks against the British 1st Division, attacking the exposed position around Campoleone. By mid-morning the "thumb" was nearly severed. Over 1,400 men had been lost. The Germans suffered similar losses, but showed no sign of letting up. To the south, the US 5th Army was reinforced by the New Zealand Corps and was deployed opposite Cassino.

In Italy, B-24s, finding the primary target obscured by bad weather, bombed targets of opportunity (railroad yards and stations) at Stimigliano and Sulmona; other B-24s returned to base without bombing; P-47s flew a fighter sweep over the Prato-Pontassieve area. US Twelfth Air Force Medium bomber missions were all aborted. In Italy, A-36s hit roads and other targets S of Rome, destroying or damaging numerous trucks and bombing the towns of Sezze and Fondi as US ground forces met strong resistance in their drive toward Cassino; P-47s hit Manopello and railroad facilities at Sulmona; and fighters patroled the Anzio area.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Victory salvoes were crashing out in Moscow as the Russians celebrated victories all along the front. In a special order of the day Stalin announced the trapping of ten German divisions in the Dniepr Bend in the biggest encirclement since Stalingrad. Meanwhile, in the north, General Govorov's troops crossed the Estonian border in their great Leningrad offensive.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The 358th Fighter Group at Raydon became operational with P-47s. This was the first of 17 fighter groups which were to be added by 9 May 44 to the Ninth Air Force, which previously had only 1 fighter group, the 354th at Boxted with P-51s.

52 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bombed V-weapon sites on the W coast of France. Weather caused 100+ other aircraft to abandon the mission.


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## Njaco (Feb 10, 2009)

*4 February 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-453' _shot down a SAAF 17 Sqn Ventura. _'U-519' _shot down a RAF 172 Sqn Wellington. The U-boat was possibly lost in this attack. _'U-763' _shot down two Liberators from RAF 53 Sqn. One at 0821, the second at 2211.

28 RAF aircraft were minelaying in the Bay of Biscay, 49 aircraft - 27 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes, 3 Lysanders, 2 Hudsons - flew on Resistance operations. This was the first widespread use of the No 3 Group Stirling squadrons for Resistance operations work. No aircraft lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 209: 7 of 7 B-17s dropped 319 bundles of leaflets on Lorient, Tours, Nantes, Raismes, Lille and Cambrai, France and Antwerp, Belgium at 2102-2132 hours without loss.

Major General Otto P Weyland became Commanding General, XIX Air Support Command.

In France, US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bombed Antheor viaduct and Toulon harbor; B-24s were forced by bad weather to return bombs to base; many of the B-17s returning from the Toulon raid were forced to land at various friendly fields because of unsafe flying conditions.

The Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 1, Hptm. Walter Hockner, was transferred to JG 4. Hptm. Hermann Segatz (33 kills) took over II./JG 1.

*GERMANY*: 9 RAF Mosquitos were sent to Frankfurt, 5 to Elberfeld and 1 to Aachen, 2 Serrate patrols.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 208: 589 B-17s and 159 B-24s were dispatched to attack industry and railroad yards at Frankfurt/Main, Germany; 346 B-17s and 27 B-24s hit the target; due to weather and navigational problems, 122 B-17s hit Giessen, 51 B-17s hit Wiesbaden, 17 B-24s hit the Trier area, 15 B-24s hit the Arloff area, 2 B-24s hit the Russelheim area, 1 B-24 hits Grafenhausen, 1 B-24 hits Darmstadt, 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 hit Koblenz and 26 B-24s and 23 B-17s hit unknown targets; they claimed 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 18 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost, 2 B-17s and 1 B-24 were damaged beyond repair and 359 aircraft were damaged. Escort was provided by 56 P-38s, 537 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 44 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 8-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 was lost, 1 P-47 was damaged beyond repair and 5 P-38s and 4 P-47s were damaged.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German forces opened up serious attacks against the British 1st Division, forcing them back. To the south, the US 34th Infantry Division captured two important peaks near Colle Sant'Angelo.

In Italy, weather prevented all medium, light and fighter-bomber missions; P-40s and Spitfires maintained patrols over the Anzio area, where a strong German counter-offensive had been launched during the night of 3/4 Feb.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Von Manstein massed four panzer divisions and an ad hoc heavy tank brigade under Bake and opened his counterattack to relieve their comrades at Korsun. The forces was denuded of the full strength of 24.Panzerdivision at the last minute as Hitler personally intervened and sent it south to help at Nikopol. In the end the 24.Panzerdivision would waste it's fuel and supplies slugging through mud marching to no purpose.


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## Njaco (Feb 10, 2009)

*5 February 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-763' _shot down an RAF 502 Sqn Halifax. _'U-963' _shot down an RAF 53 Sqn Liberator.

29 RAF Stirlings and 17 Halifaxes flew on Resistance operations, 19 Halifaxes minelaying off Oslo and Fredrijkstad in Norway, 15 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling lost on Resistance operations work.

In view of the previous decision to concentrate most of the training activities of the Eighth Air Force in the VIII Air Force Composite Command, a decision was made to transfer HQ from Limavady, County Derry, Ireland, to Cheddington, England, to bring it closer to the combat crew training stations over which it was to be given supervision. Most of the transfer was completed between 7 and 15 Feb.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 210: Airfields in France were targetted. 103 B-17s were dispatched to Chateauroux/Martinerie and Avord Airfields with 50 hitting each target; 121 B-17s were dispatched to Chateaudun (61 bomb) and Orleans/Bricy (60 bomb) Airfields; 182 B-17s were dispatched to Romilly-sur-Seine air depot but 133 hit Villacoublay; 103 B-24s were dispatched to Meslay Airfield (90 bomb) and 8 hit Chateaudun; they claimed 5-0-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-24s were lost, 3 B-17s and 1 B-24 were damaged beyond repair and 39 B-17s and 31 B-24s were damaged. Escort was provided by 92 P-38s, 496 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 46 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 6-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47s were lost, 1 P-38 and 1 P-47 were damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 and 1 P-47 were damaged.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 211: 5 of 5 B-17s dropped 300 bundles of leaflets during a CARPETBAGGER mission on Ghent, Monceau-sur-Sambre, Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium at 2026-2037 hours without loss.

Around 180 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attacked 6 V-weapon sites in N France.

*GERMANY*: 18 RAF Mosquitos went to Berlin, 7 to Duisburg and 1 to Hannover, 3 Serrate patrols.

*EASTERN FRONT*: As the German counterattack to relieve the Korsun pocket continued, 1st Ukrainian Front continued to drive west against the greatly depleted 4.Panzerarmee, capturing Rovno and Lutsk. The German forces inside the pocket were designated Group Stemmermann (after the senior commander). The Germans began air resupply missions to their trapped forces and had limited success. Soviet attacks began to reduce the pocket. To compound difficulties for both sides, the temperature plummeted to well below zero throughout the battle area.

Hptm. Alois Lechner, Gruppenkommandeur of I./NJG 100, was awarded the _Ritterkruez_.

An Fw 190 from 10./JG 5 went missing near Herdla/Gossen and Robert Merkl was lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-25s bombed Terni marshalling yard, and A-20s hit the Lanuvio and Piedimonte areas. P-40s and A-36s hit road junctions at Cisterna di Latina, Vetralla, and Velletri, bombed the towns of Vetralla, Ardea, and Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi, and attacked motor transport at several points, including areas N, NE and SE of Rome.


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## Njaco (Feb 10, 2009)

*6 February 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: 150 heavy Soviet bombers attacked Helsinki as a part of Stalin's plan to soften Finland to separate from Germany and conclude peace. Thanks to the efficient Finnish air-defences, mostly equipment purchased from Germany, the damage to the city was limited, but still 103 people were killed.

The attacks by 3rd Ukrainian Front captured Manganets and Apostolovo east and west of Nikopol, threatening to cut off the Germans there.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Both on the Cassino front and on the beachhead south of Rome, Allied troops were forced to withdraw under heavy German counterattacks.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-177' _was sunk in the South Atlantic west of Ascension Island, by depth charges from a USN VB-107 Sqn Privateer. 50 dead and 15 survivors.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 212: Airfields in France were targetted but weather forces 400+ bombers to abort the mission. 189 B-17s were dispatched against the Romilly-sur-Seine Air Depot and 60 hit St Andre de L'Eure Airfield and 40 hit Evreux/Fauville Airfield; 303 B-17s were dispatched to Nancy/Essay and Dijon/Longvic Airfields but only 60 hit Caen/Carpiquet Airfield; 150 B-24s were dispatched to St Pol/Siracourt V-weapon site but 37 hit Chateaudun Airfield and 9 hit the Eclimeux V-weapon site; they claimed 3-3-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s were lost, 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 were damaged beyond repair and 43 B-17s and 7 B-24s were damaged. Escorting were 85 P-38s, 506 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 47 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 11-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-7 on the ground; 3 P-38s and 1 P-47 were lost, 1 P-38 and 2 P-47s were damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 and 1 P-47 were damaged. Uffz. Artur Beese of 9./JG 26 was killed.


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## Njaco (Feb 13, 2009)

*7 February 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler ordered German troops trapped in the Korsun pocket to break out. Group Stemmermann, under continuous pressure from Soviet attacks, contracted its perimeter, abandoning Gorodische and Yanovka, and prepared for a breakout attack. Meanwhile, the break-in attack continued against very heavy resistance.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The first schnorkel equipped German U-boat entered the Atlantic.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The German attacks at Anzio intensified as the British positions at Aprilla and "The Factory" were hit hard. The British 56th and US 45th Infantry Divisions were landed at Anzio and moved to the front.

At Anzio, Maj. William Philip Sidney (b.1909), Grenadier Guards, led two attacks which forced off the enemy; later, he refused to have wounds seen to until the position was secure. (Victoria Cross)

Destroyer _'Ludlow' _(DD-438) was damaged by dud shell from a German shore battery off Anzio, Italy.

In Italy, B-26s bombed the bridge approach S of Manziana; B-25s hit the Viterbo marshalling yard and, in support of US Fifth army troops, bombed the town of Cisterna di Latina as the enemy counterattack began in the Anzio area; A-20s hit Piedimonte and the road junction and railway station at Campoleone; A-36s hit San Stefano al Mare and nearby railroad siding, Pontecorvo and Belmonte in Sabina, plus several targets of opportunity and targets in support of ground forces in the battle areas; P-40s attacked an observation tower at Littoria, trucks at Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi, Campoleone, a railroad gun, the Sezze railroad yards, Cisterna di Latina and gun positions in battle areas. Fighters encountered heavy aircraft activity over the Anzio battle area and claimed 16 shot down. Three Bf 109s from Stab JG 77 were scrambled and made contact with 20 P-47s in the Padova-Verona area. After combat, Uffz Wolters belly-landed north of Treviso unhurt. Fw. Eckhardt Kruger from 1./JG 77 went missing in action near Verona. No Thunderbolts were claimed by the German fighters.

*GERMANY*: 19 RAF Mosquitos were dispatched to Frankfurt, 8 to Elberfeld, 5 to Krefeld, 2 to Aachen and 1 to Mannheim, 4 Serrate patrols. No losses.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Halifax bomber crew from Rufforth airfield were detailed for three engined daylight exercises using the airfield at Lissett near Bridlington. After several successful landings they were again in the circuit at 600' with the starboard outer engine shut down, the undercarriage down and on the final approach, when the starboard inner engine exploded. All that, plus the obvious loss of power made the outcome dependent on the pilot's skill. The bomber hit the ground in a landing attitude, lost the undercarriage in a ditch, cut through several hedges and demolished a number of lighting poles, coming to rest 30 yards from the back door of a farmhouse at Harpham Farm, near Lissett. The following encounter is copied, almost word for word from 'Action Stations 4.' by Bruce Barrymore Halpenny. " The farmer rushed from the house and called out,


> _'Is anybody hurt?_'


 On being told the crew were shaken-up but unharmed he replied,


> 'What _about my bloody turnips? - seven of you buggers in the last week!_'


 Doug Bancroft, the pilot of the crashed Halifax recalls,


> _'Sure enough, when I looked over his fields there were six or more aircraft scattered about, either with their tails in the air or on their bellies with broken backs'_.


Doug hadn't made a friend and later, when they were posted to Lissett their sleeping quarters were just outside this farmers gateway. The farmer passed them many times on his way to the mess for the pig scraps but he always left them to walk the mile or so - rain, snow or sunshine. Not all their enemies were in Germany!


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Feb 16, 2009)

Hey NJ. I think Uffz Wolters is one of my relitives, not sure, but a possibility. Shot down and belly landed north of Treviso.


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## Njaco (Feb 24, 2009)

*8 February 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: 12 Lancasters of RAF No 617 Squadron, led by its new commanding officer Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, attacked the Gnome Rhone aero-engine factory at Limoges in France. This was a very important raid. No 617 Squadron had been experiencing difficulty in finding a useful role after the Dams Raid nearly 9 months earlier. Low-level precision raids on targets in Germany had been too costly. High-level precision bombing on small targets in France and Belgium had been unsatisfactory, despite marking by Oboe-equipped Mosquitos. For this attack, Cheshire was given official permission to attempt low-level marking of this target, which had many French civilian houses near by. The factory was undefended, except for 2 machine-guns, and Cheshire made 3 low-level runs in bright moonlight to warn the French factory workers to escape. On his 4th run, he dropped a load of 30lb incendiaries from between 50 and 100ft. Each of 11 other Lancasters then dropped a 12,000lb bomb with great accuracy; dropped for the first time, 10 bombs hit the factory and the remaining one fell in the river alongside. The factory was severely damaged and production almost completely ceased. There were few if any casualties among the French people. No Lancasters were lost. Despite the success of the low-level marking, it was never adopted by the Pathfinders, but was used on raids by No 617 Squadron and No 5 Group.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 214: 53 of 54 B-24s hit the V-weapon site at Siracourt, France while 57 of 73 B-24s hit the V-weapon site at Watten, France; 41 B-24s were damaged. Escort was 89 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s. 88 of 236 B-17s hit the marshalling yards at Frankfurt, Germany using blind-bombing techniques; 107 other B-17s hit targets of opportunity; they claimed 1-3-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 B-17s were lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 108 damaged; escort was provided by 77 P-38s, 435 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 41 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claimed 16-1-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 4 P-51s were lost, 1 P-47 was damaged beyond repair and 4 P-47s were damaged.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 215: 6 of 6 B-17s dropped 360 bundles of leaflets in a CARPETBAGGER operation over Caen, Rouen, Paris, Rennes and Amiens, France.

HQ US Ninth Air Force extended IX Bomber Command's choice of targets considerably, although first priority for Operation *POINTBLANK *missions [the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) of US and RAF air forces against the Luftwaffe and German aircraft industry] and next priority for Operation CROSSBOW (code name for operations against German V-weapon sites) targets was maintained.

In a morning raid, nearly 200 B-26s attacked V-weapon sites and targets of opportunity in NW France. In an afternoon raid, 100+ B-26s bombed V-weapon sites and military instsllations in the same general area, most of the B-26s attacking Breck-sur-Mer. This was the IX Bomber Command's first 2-mission day.

*EASTERN FRONT*: At Korsun, the Soviets offered Group Stemmermann the opportunity to surrender. It was refused. To the south, 3rd Ukrainian Front captured Nikopol as the Germans beat a hasty retreat from the trap.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The German counterattack at Anzio continued to hit the British 1st Infantry Division. The British reluctantly gave ground under the pressure but held the key positions of Aprilia and "The Factory".

In Italy, B-25s bomb Cisterna di Latina; B-26s hit the Siena marshalling yard and warehouses, and a railway bridge NE of Civita Castellana; A-20s bomb Piedimonte; A-36s attack gun positions near Ausonia, tracks between Rome and Orte, and the town of Veroli, and fly strafing and bombing sweeps in the Anzio battle area against motor transport, gun positions, road junction E of Cisterna di Latina, and the town of Pontecorvo; P-40s hit Roccasecca, Castello, Caprile. Piedimonte, Aquino and other targets, including a supply dump and gun positions; P-47s bomb Atina; Desert Air Force (DAF) fighters (US and RAF) destroy a large number of trucks near Sora. B-24s bomb airfields at Viterbo, Tarquinia, Orvieto, Piombino and Prato; B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Verona; P-38s and P-47s escort the Orvieto, Piombino, and Prato missions.


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## Njaco (Feb 24, 2009)

*9 February 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Ninth Air Force: 133 B-26s bomb V-weapon sites in coastal France, marshalling yards at Tergnier, France and targets of opportunity in the area. This marks the first of the IX Bomber Command raids on marshalling yards.

The British submarine HMS _'Venturer' _torpedoes and sinks German submarine _'U-864' _in the North Sea, with the loss of 73 lives. This is the first time a submarine destroys another submarine while both are submerged.

A Spitfire bombing a freighter in Nice harbour was attacked by 4 Fw 190Ds - the new modified German fighter with an inline engine as opposed to the old radial engined Fw 190s. Two Spitfires were lost, Lt. Hoover bailing out. When 6 Spitfires were sent to search for Lt. Hoover, they were also attacked by the new 'Doras', which downed another Spitfire before losing one of the new machines. Ofw. Siegfried Lemke of 1./JG 2 claimed 4 Spitfires for the day.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Germans continue to launch attacks against the Anzio beachhead, once again hitting the British 1st Infantry Division hardest. In heavy fighting, Aprilia is lost to the Germans, but "The Factory" continues to be held.

Weather grounds all US Fifteenth Air Force aircraft with exception of 1 P-38 which flies a weather reconnaissance mission. In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s, in close support to US Fifth Army forces, attack motor transport and troop concentrations in the Campoleone area while A-20s blast another troop concentration to the W; P-40s hit Cisterna di Latina and gun positions; A-36s and P-40s pound concentration points of a counterattack against the Fifth Army beachhead in the Anzio area, strike along the main Fifth Army front, and attack the villages of Piedimonte and Aquino and gun positions near Cassino and Ausonia.

*GERMANY*: The RAF dispatched 16 Mosquitos - 8 to Elberfeld, 7 to Krefeld and 1 to Aachen. 1 aircraft lost on the Krefeld raid.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans redouble their efforts to fly supplies into the Korsum Pocket, delivering about half the daily requirement the trapped forces needed. Exit flights were able to evacuate some of the seriously wounded.


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## Njaco (Feb 24, 2009)

*10 February 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: As the ring around the trapped German forces at Korsun tightens, 1st Ukrainian Front continues its offensive capturing Shepetovka.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 21 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 4 to Aachen, 2 Wellingtons on RCM flights, 21 aircraft minelaying off Brittany and Biscay ports, 26 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 217: In a CARPETBAGGER mission, 5 of 5 B-17s drop 260 bundles of leaflets on Rennes, Caen, Rouen and Amiens, France and Antwerp, Belgium at 2111-2145 hours without loss. 114 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack V-weapon sites in coastal France, airfields at Poix and Beauvais/Tille, a bridge at Le Crotoy, and a coastal battery N of the Conch River.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 216: 141 of 169 B-17s hit the industrial area at Brunswick, Germany and 2 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 42-30-61 Luftwaffe aircraft; 29 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 52 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 3 WIA and 295 MIA; escort is provided by 64 P-38s, 357 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 45 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 56-1-40 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-2 on the ground; 5 P-38s and 4 P-47s are lost, 1 P-38 and 1 P-51 are damaged beyond repair and 6 P-47s are damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 1 WIA and 9 MIA. The Luftwaffe sent 350 fighters to attack the force. One of the successful experten assing to their scores was Hptm. Georg-Hermann Greiner of 10./NJG 1 flying a day mission.

27 of 81 B-24s hit the Gilze-Rijen Airfield, The Netherlands; dense contrails and frost prevent most aircraft from attacking; 4 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; casualties are 26 KIA and 14 WIA; escort is provided by 91 P-47s without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-17s bomb Albano Laziale, Cisterna di Latina and Cecina; B-24s strike Campoleone and Velletri; P-38s bomb and strafe the Tivoli, Vicovaro, and Monterotondo area; P-47s fly uneventful sweeps over Cisterna di Roma and Albano; numerous heavy bombers are forced to abort operations because of unsafe flying conditions. Light and medium bomber missions are aborted because of bad weather. In Italy, P-40s and A-36s support an unsuccessful attempt of the US Fifth Army's 1st Infantry Division to stem an attack in the Carroceto area; P-47s fail to locate their target (Sora) and drop bombs on targets of opportunity.


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## Njaco (Feb 24, 2009)

*11 February 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 218: 94 of 201 B-24s bomb the Siracourt V-weapon site in France with PFF equipment; the remaining aircraft were assigned individual targets without PFF and were unable to locate their targets; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 1 WIA and 10 MIA; escort is provided by 85 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47's and 41 P-51s without loss.

Most of the 139 B-26s dispatched to attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in N France are recalled because of bad weather; 35 manage to bomb the marshalling yard at Amiens.

*GERMANY*: The primary target for 223 B-17s is the marshalling yard at Frankfurt, Germany; 157 hit the primary, 32 hit Ludwigshafen, 19 hit Saarbrucken and 4 hit other targets of opportunity; they claim 3-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 124 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 26 WIA and 51 MIA; escort is provided by 82 P-38s, 486 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47's and 38 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 30-2-28 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-1-4 on the ground; 8 P-38s, 4 P-47's and 2 P-51s are lost, 2 P-47's and 1 P-51 are damaged beyond repair and 2 P-38s and 4 P-47's are damaged; casualties are 14 MIA. The mission was costly for the 20th FG, as 8 of their 48 pilots sent out were lost. All the pilots in the 79th FS 'White Flight' did not return as well as 2 other 79th pilots and an addistional 2 pilots from the 77th FS' 'White Flight'. Hptm. Eduard Tratt of Stab II./ZG 26 claimed 3 of the P-38s.

11 RAF Mosquitos to Brunswick, 8 to Elberfeld, 4 to Aachen and 4 to Duisburg, 2 RCM sorties, 5 Serrate patrols, 52 aircraft minelaying off French Channel and Atlantic ports, 27 aircraft on Resistance operations, 6 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

German Admiral Wilhelm Canaris is relieved of his Abwer command.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Having finally assembled an effective force, 3rd Panzerkorps begins its attacks to relieve the German forces trapped at Korsun.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Heavy fighting continues at Anzio as the Germans continue their attacks. The Allied troops give ground, loosing "The Factory". For the first time, talk turns to plans to evacuate the beachhead. Further to the south, The US 34th Division makes one last attempt to take the monetary at Cassino. It fails. The exhausted American forces are replaced by Indian and New Zealand troops at Casino.


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## Njaco (Feb 24, 2009)

*12 February 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces capture the important communications center of Luga, 100 miles southwest of Leningrad as their offensive continues to drive Heeresgruppe North west. In the south, The German relief force heading toward Korsun meets ever stiffening resistance.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fighting at Casino pauses as the entire US 2nd Corps is replaced by the New Zealand Corps. At Anzio, the British 1st Infantry Division is also withdrawn due to exhaustion. Lucas orders the construction of a last ditch defensive perimeter. Since January 20, Allied casualties number 14,375, with German casualties at 6,444.

In Italy, B-17s and B-24s strike troop concentrations and highways in the Cecina area and near Lake Nemi. Bad weather causes all other missions to abort. US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack gun positions at Campoleone and the surrounding area; B-26s hit Cecina; A-36s hit aircraft and trucks on the landing ground and in the area near Fahrica di Rorila, attack troops in the area, bomb gun positions SW of Roccasecca, and hit the towns of Fondi and Lanuvio; P-40s attack Gisterna di Roma, Sezze station and road junction, Cori and gun positions NW of Atina.

During the night JG 77 Geschwaderstab's dispersals and the technicians billets in Belvedre were simultaneously attacked and set on fire by gangs of partisans. On the airfield, the sentries had to save the Bf 109s from the fires. Bottles of petrol were thrown at the aircraft. A dispersal hut, 2 Storches and a Saiman could not besaved as was a Fw 58. One Uffz. was able to pull the cabin and engines away from the flames.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 10 Lancasters of RAF No 617 Squadron attempted to bomb the Anthéor Viaduct, an important railway link between France and Italy but, as on two earlier raids, were not successful despite low-level runs by Wing Commander Cheshire and Squadron Leader Martin. The sides of the valley were very steep and the target was defended by guns which damaged both of the low-level aircraft. Flight Lieutenant RC Hay, the bomb aimer in Martin's aircraft and the Squadron Bombing Leader since No 617's formation, was killed.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 220: 97 of 99 B-24s hit the V-weapon site at St Pol/Siracourt, France; 29 B-24s are damaged; no losses or casualties; escort is provided by 84 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47's and 41 P-51s; no claims, losses or casualties.

Lt. Herbert Jarmer was shot down and killed by friendly AA fire north of Cap du Raz and became 10./ZG 1's first combat loss.

*GERMANY*: 8 Mosquitos to Elberfeld and 4 to Duisburg, 3 Serrate patrols, 25 Halifaxes and Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians and off Cherbourg. 1 Halifax minelayer lost.

Major Friedrich-Karl Muller was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of _Sturmgruppe _IV./JG 3.


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## Njaco (Feb 25, 2009)

*13 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied forces, mistakenly assuming that the Germans occupy the monastery at Cassino warn the Italian monks that the dominant feature will be bombed.

In Italy, B-26s bomb the Bucine viaduct; B-25s and A-20s support Fifth Army forces N and E of the Anzio beachhead, blasting an ammunition dump and troop and vehicle concentrations; P-40 and A-36 fighter-bombers give support in the same areas, hitting troop concentrations, a railway tunnel, buildings, vehicles, a supply dump, and gun positions.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces continue their offensive out of the Leningrad area capturing Polna and Lyady. To the south, the trapped Germans at Korsun contract their perimeter and concentrate forces for a breakout attempt. The break-in force meets heavy resistance and makes little headway.

1./JG 302 transferred to Finland and formed Einsatzkommando Helsinki (Jafu Ostland). Its home airfield for 3 months was Helsinki-Malmi. Leaders of this unit were Hptm. Richard Lewens, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 302 and later Hptm. Karl-Heinz Dietsche. The primary duty of this unit was to protect the capital city of Finland against the air raids of Soviet bombers and also to train and share their nightfighting experiences to Finnish pilots.

JG 52's Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn became the third pilot to reach 250 kills.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) accepts revision of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) Plan. The targets are reduced to a number that can be decisively attacked and target lists are revised to keep up with the effort of the Germans to relocate vital industrial plants. Disruption of communication lines and reduction of the Luftwaffe are high priority aims included in the CCS directive on this date.

Reichsmarschall Goering was at Rheine to watch He 177 bombers of 2. and 3./KG 100 set off to bomb England as part of *'Unternehmen Steinbock'*. Of the 14 bombers that taxi out, 13 were able to take off, 8 soon returned with overheated or burning engines, 4 reached London but only 3 came back.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 221: V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France are hit; 266 of 277 B-17s hit 12 sites and 138 of 192 B-24s hit 5 sites; 12 B-24s hit targets of opportunity; they claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost, 2 B-17s and 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair, and 74 B-17s and 57 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 7 KIA, 23 WIA and 24 MIA. Escort is provided by 189 P-47s and 43 P-51s; they claim 6-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost and 4 P-47s damaged; no casualties.

182 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack V-weapon sites in the coastal area of France; 16 others bomb secondary targets in the area.


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## Njaco (Feb 25, 2009)

*14 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Adolf Hitler orders a heavy counter-attack on Anzio, Italy.

In Italy, US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s attack the marshalling yards at Modena, Brescia, and Verona and several targets of opportunity including the airfield and Piaggio aircraft factory at Pontedera and railroad bridges and lines at Parma, Sassuolo, Rubiera, and S of Vicenza; B-17s and escorting P-47s claim 20 fighters shot down; B-24s bomb the marshalling yards at Mantua, Verona, Massa Lombarda, Fenara and Arezzo, and targets of opportunity including the Pisa and Prato marshalling yards, airfields at Pisa and Pontedera, and road-rail junction near Vaiano.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb the Perugia marshalling yard, A-20's hit Grottaferrata; A-36s attack guns in the Pontecorvo area, railway yards at Civita Castellana and Frosinone, motor transport near Genzano di Roma, airfield at Furbara, and Ferentino railway station, some of the missions being in direct support of the US Fifth Army main front; P-40s bomb and strafe troop concentrations N and E of the Anzio beachhead, scoring hits on tanks, motor transport and guns near Cisterna di Roma, Cori and Rocca di Papa; P-47s hit Colleferro and dump at Valmontone; P-40s score direct hits on a vessel and fuel dump in the Rogoznica area.

The Twelfth Air Force loses several of its operational units, the 12th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 33d and 81st Fighter Groups being moved to India, and the 52d Troop Carrier Wing and its 4 groups being sent to England.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heavy fighting continues at Korsun as the relief force meets ever stiffening resistance and makes little headway. The perimeter of the pocket continues to shrink as the Soviet forces capture Kosun-Sevchenkosky against the determined resistance of the SS Walloon Brigade.

Lt. Karl-Hein Froschek of 14(Jabo)./JG 5 was wounded by AA fire. He was the unit's last casualty before it changed to 4./SG 5.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: General Dwight D Eisenhower establishes HQ Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC) comes under control of SHAEF.

The Free French minesweeping trawler _'Cap D'Antifer_' was torpedoed by an E Boat off the Humber.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 222: 48 P-47s are dispatched to Eindhoven Airfield in the Netherlands; the primary target is overcast and 46 of 48 hit Gilze-Rijen Airfield without loss.

10./ZG 1 was based at Brest and during a non-combat mission, Lt. Heinz Bichler went missing after crashing into the sea south of Morgat.


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## Njaco (Feb 25, 2009)

*15 February 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Halifax bomber based at Leconfield airfield, near Beverley, was returning from ops when it hit high ground near Cloughton, 4 miles NW of Scarborough at 01.30. Six crew were killed.

*GERMANY*: After a rest of more than 2 weeks for the regular bomber squadrons, 891 aircraft - 561 Lancasters, 314 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - were dispatched to Berlin. This was the largest force sent to Berlin and the largest non-1,000 bomber force sent to any target, exceeding the previous record of 826 aircraft (which included Stirlings and Wellingtons) sent to Dortmund on the night of 23/24 May 1943. It was also the first time that more than 500 Lancasters and more than 300 Halifaxes were dispatched. The German controllers were able to plot the bomber stream soon after it left the English coast but the swing north over Denmark for the approach flight proved too far distant for many of the German fighters. The German controller ordered the fighters not to fly over Berlin, leaving the target area free for the flak, but many fighters ignored him and attacked bombers over the city. The diversion to Frankfurt-on-Oder failed to draw any fighters. 43 aircraft - 26 Lancasters, 17 Halifaxes -were lost, 4.8 per cent of the force. Hptm. Georg-Hermann Greiner of 10./NJG 1 reached 17 victories and Lt. Wilhelm "Wim" Johnen of 5./NJG 5 claimed 3 Lancasters.

Berlin was covered by cloud for most of the raid. Heavy bombing fell on the centre and south-western districts and some of Berlin's most important war industries were hit, including the large Siemensstadt area. Over a thousand fires were started and 500 civilians were reported killed or buried in the rubble. Civilian losses were minimized because of the massive evacuation from the city caused by previous raids. This was really the end of the true 'Battle of Berlin'; only one more raid took place on the city in this period and that was not for more than a month.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 23 Oboe RAF Mosquitos attacked 5 night-fighter airfields in Holland, 43 Stirlings and 4 Pathfinder Halifaxes carried out minelaying in Kiel Bay, 24 Lancasters of No 8 Group made a diversion raid on Frankfurt-on-Oder, 9 aircraft made RCM flights and 14 Mosquitos carried out Serrate patrols. A Serrate Mosquito was the only aircraft lost. 2 Mosquitos to Aachen, 6 Stirlings and 6 Wellingtons minelaying off Bayonne and Lorient, 48 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Stirling lost from a Resistance flight.

The German navy begins equipping its submarines with snorkels, allowing them to remain submerged longer.

Canada's biological/chemical warfare group begins producing anti-botulinus toxin vaccines for use by Canadian soldiers in the upcoming invasion of France. Canada sends Britain first samples of Canadian-made anthrax.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 223: 52 of 54 B-24s hit V-weapon sites at St Pol/Siracourt, France; 29 B-24s are damaged; no losses or casualties.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 224: 95 P-47s are dispatched to bomb 2 airfields in France but are recalled; 1 P-47 is damaged; no casualties.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 225: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 300 bundles of leaflets on Orleans, Chartres, Cambrai, Le Mans, Lille and Reims, France at 2124-2155 hours without loss.

194 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb V-weapon sites, Cherbourg/Maupertus Airfield and targets of opportunity during a morning mission. 122 B-26s again bomb V-weapon construction sites in the coastal area of N France during the afternoon.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The monastery at Monte Casino is destroyed as US bombers drop 422 tons of bombs on the historic location. The Allies thought that the Germans were using it as an observation post for artillery fire. They were not. After its destruction, the Germans quickly moved into the rubble and fortified the position. The bombardment is followed by an attack by the New Zealand Corps which makes no headway.

60+ B-24s attack the Poggibonsi marshalling yard, Campoleone and Porto d'Ascoli; heavy cloud cover causes numerous aborts; all the missions are unescorted. other B-26s bomb the railroad at Monte Molino and marshalling yard at Montepescali; A-20s attack motor transport, roads and road junction in the Albano Laziale area and NW of Valmontone; P-40s bomb concentrations near Cisterna di Roma and dumps in the Valmontone and Rocca di Papa areas; A-36s hit concentrations N of the Anzio beachhead, strafe trucks and barracks in the Frosinone-Rieti areas, bomb the Tiburtina and Trastevere marshalling yards in the Rome area and hit buildings N of Velletri.

Off Anzio, destroyer escort _'Herbert C. Jones' _(DE-137) is damaged by radio-controlled bomb and large infantry landing craft LCI(L)-2 is damaged by mine. Bomb holes freighter _'Elihu Yale'_; the explosion start fires that spread to tank landing craft LCT-35 alongside, destroying that vessel as well. Firefighting efforts by fleet tug _'Hopi' _(ATF-71) ultimately prove successful but _'Elihu Yale' _is later written off as a total loss. Two of the 40-man Armed Guard perish in the attack, as do three of the 45-man merchant complement and seven of the 182 stevedores working cargo. Tank landing craft LCT-152 rescues survivors from _'Elihu Yale' _and LCT-35.

Hptm. Walter Hoeckner replaced Hptm. Wilhelm Steinmann as _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 4.

*EASTERN FRONT*: As the situation in the north and south continues to deteriorate, Hitler allows Heeresgruppe Center to withdraw to the 'Panther' Line. He also, grudgingly gives permission to attempt a breakout from the Korsun pocket.


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## Njaco (Feb 26, 2009)

*16 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fighting at Anzio intensifies as Kesselring throws a force of seven divisions into the attack hitting the US 45th and British 56th Divisions hard. German aircraft lend strong support to the attacks and hit allied shipping as well. The ammunition ship Elihu Yale is destroyed in one air attack. At Cassino, the New Zealanders continue to throw themselves against the German paratroops and make little headway.

In Italy, US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s, unescorted, bomb marshalling yards at Pontassieve, Siena, Poggibonsi and Prato, a bridge at Cecina, and a railroad and highway near Rieti. Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb the Orte marshalling yard and attack the Campoleone area; B-26s bomb San Stefano al Mare and hit the area near the Perugia railroad bridge, a bridge N of Orvieto, a factory near the Marsciano bridge and a bridge at Albinia Station; A-20s, with RAF and South African Air Force (SAAF) Baltimores and Spitfires, hit concentrations in the Anzio battle area; A-36s bomb the Rome/Tiburtina and Rome/Ostiense marshalling yards in the Rome area; P-40s attack Monte Cassino Abbey, pound tanks, trucks, and troop concentrations along the US Fifth Army front, and hit the towns of Fondi and Roccasecca; fighters over Anzio encounter increased air effort in conjunction with an all-out ground offensive against the Allied beachhead.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Finish and Soviet authorities meet in Stockholm, Sweden to discuss terms for an armistice.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The British Air Minister says that bomber losses for 1943 were, 2,369 U.K. and 997 U.S. planes down.

Another Halifax bomber based at Leconfield airfield, near Beverley, England was returning from ops and had made it back to Yorkshire despite all of his navigational aids being u/s. The visibility was poor and fuel was getting short so the pilot and crew baled out during which three were injured, one seriously. The Halifax crashed near the railway line between Sessay Wood and Coxwold, Yorkshire, some 50 miles NW of the airfield between 01.20 and 01.50.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Elements of the German 3rd Panzerkorp are stopped 12 miles from the perimeter of the Korsun Pocket. They have captured a bridge over the Gniloy Tikich River but, are exhausted and conclude that any further action would be fruitless. The 56,000 men of Group Stemmermann inside the pocket are ordered to prepare for a breakout attempt.


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## Njaco (Feb 26, 2009)

*17 February 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The End At Korsun: Led by the remnants of the elite 5th SS Panzer Division, Group Stemmermann launches their attempt to break out of the Korsun Pocket. In a blinding snowstorm they manage to find a seam in the Soviet defenses. At dawn, the weather clears and the Soviet cavalry and aircraft pounce on the columns of fleeing Germans. Having abandoned their heavy equipment, the breakout turns into a rout as desperate men flee from the carnage. General Stemmermann was killed in action along with many of his men. The Russian attacks force many of the refugees away from the bridge over the Gniloy Tikich River. When the fugitives reached the bank, many chose to swim the near freezing river rather than be captured. In the end, some did escape. Estimates vary greatly. Around 35,000 men escaped. They had little other than their personal weapons and often not even that. In the final analysis, the escapees were badly shaken and any semblance of organization had evaporated. The Germans had lost 10 divisions for some time to come.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Germans continue their counterattack against the Anzio beachhead hitting the US 45th Division particularly hard. Although both sides suffered heavy losses, the Germans came very near a decisive breakthrough to the beach. US artillery units firing over open sights from the beach and ships off shore managed to stop and turn back the German drive. At Casino, the 4th Indian Division managed to capture a part of the Cassino defenses (Point 593) but it was lost to German counterattacks.

Fw. Helmut Baumann of 5./JG 51 (38 kills) was killed in action.

The 455th and 456th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) become operational giving the Fifteenth Air Force 12 B-24 groups. In Italy, unescorted B-17s and B-24s attack Campoleone and Grottaferrata, motor transport parks in the Campoleone junction and Rocca di Papa areas, a troop concentration near Frascati, stores depots in the Grottaferrata area, and other targets in advance of the US Fifth Army's Anzio battle line which is under heavy counterattack by German forces.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb the Campoleone and Lanuvio area, B-25s hit dumps SW of Rome and N of Anzio, and also hit guns nearby; A-20s blast a dump and troop concentrations in the Anzio area; P-47s bomb dumps near Valmontone; A-36s hit Carroceto, concentrations SE of Rome, and a railroad underpass and a factory N of Anzio; P-40s blast enemy transport, guns, and assembly areas N of Cisterna di Latina, trucks N of Anzio and N of the beachhead battleline, railroad stations at Campoleone and Carroceto, and bivouac areas, dumps, a factory, and bridge in the battle area; this entire air effort (the heaviest to date in support of troops) is aimed at helping prevent a breakthrough at the beachhead, where the Germans are committed to a full-strength counter-offensive; A-36s bomb Monte Cassino Abbey in the only air action on the US Fifth Army main front.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Advanced HQ, Ninth Air Force, is opened at Hillingdon House, Uxbridge. It is later joined in the area by advanced units of the IX Fighter Command and by troop carrier units, all of which form a nucleus of advanced echelons so as to centralize tactical operations in anticipation of combat on the Continent.


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## Njaco (Feb 26, 2009)

*18 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: At Anzio, the German attacks appear to be weakening but massed artillery and off-shore support are still needed to stabilize the situation in the beachhead. The last German reserves, the 26th Panzer and 29th Panzer Grenadier Divisions, are committed to the attack at Anzio. Once again, they make some gains but are stopped by a wall of artillery and naval gunfire. Meanwhile, attacks at Casino are called off to refit, rest and reform. To the south, Indian and New Zealand forces of the US 5th Army attempt to attack the hill masses north of Monte Cassino but are bloodily repulsed.

Heavy German air attacks, as well as artillery fire, continue on the beachhead at Anzio on an almost daily basis; harbor tug YT-198 is sunk by mine off Anzio. Elsewhere in the Mediterranean theater, tank landing craft LCT-205 capsizes in Gulf of Tunis, while being towed; tank landing craft LCT-340 is stranded by heavy weather at Pantelleria, Italy. Heavy weather also damages large infantry landing craft LCI(L)-211, resulting in her being towed to Palermo, Italy; and minesweeper _'Pilot' _(AM-104) is accidentally rammed by U.S. merchant ship _'Samuel Ashe' _and damaged off Naples, Italy.

The British cruiser HMS _'Penelope' _is torpedoed by _'U-410' _off the coast of Italy between Naples and Anzio. She would be the last cruiser the British would loose in the war.

In Italy, A-20s hit a troop concentration near Piedimonte; XII Air Support Command P-40s and A-36s fly 17 missions in support of US Fifth Army troops resisting the German counteroffensive which reaches its deepest penetration into the Anzio beachhead on this day; objectives include tanks, vehicles, gun positions, troop concentrations, and a railroad underpass along the Anzio-Albano Laziale axis; fighters over Anzio successfully intercept air strikes on the beachhead; New Zealand troops capture Cassino Station.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Attacks in the north of the eastern front continue to make progress as the Soviet 2nd Baltic Front captures Starayya-Russa and the Volkhov Front takes Shimsk. In the south, 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts begin regrouping for fresh offensives as the Germans pull away from their exposed positions created from the break-in attempt. Soviet forces take control of Nikopol, with its manganese mines.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: HQ Eighth Air Force issues orders to establish a photographic reconnaissance wing [8th Reconnaissance Wing (Provisional)] in Cheddington. The purpose is to make the Eighth independent in aerial reconnaissance and to consolidate the efforts of units presently engaged in this and related activities. Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, the President's son and currently Director of Reconnaissance for the Ninth Air Force, is named Commanding Officer.

*Unternehmen Steinbock*:The Germans conduct their heaviest night raid on London since 1941 as the Luftwaffe intensifies the ‘Little Blitz’. The bombers managed to drop 175 tons within London.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *Operation Jericho*: Mosquitoes of RAF Nos. 21, 464 and 487 Sqdrns led by GC P. C. Pickard attacked Amiens prison in a bid to release French Resistance workers held there by the Germans. The raid was successful, releasing 258 of the 700 prisoners held in the prison - although a further 102 were killed by the bombing. Two Mosquitoes were shot down, including the Mossie of GC Pickard who was killed. The 2 Mosquitoes were confirmed as victories for Lt. Waldemar Radener and Fw. Wilhelm Mayer, both from 7./JG 26.

*GERMANY*: A Ta 154 V-4 Moskito of EKD 154 crashed due to an undercarriage failure at Erfurt.


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## Njaco (Mar 3, 2009)

*19 February 1944*

*GERMANY*: 823 RAF aircraft - 561 Lancasters, 255 Halifaxes, 7 Mosquitos were sent to Leipzig. 78 aircraft - 44 Lancasters and 34 Halifaxes - were lost, 9.5 per cent of the force. The Halifax loss rate was 13.3 per cent of those dispatched and 14.9 per cent of those Halifaxes which reached the enemy coast after 'early returns' had turned back. The Halifax IIs and Vs were permanently withdrawn from operations to Germany after this raid. This was an unhappy raid for Bomber Command. The German controllers only sent part of their force of fighters to the Kiel minelaying diversion. When the main bomber force crossed the Dutch coast, they were met by a further part of the German fighter force and those German fighters which had been sent north to Kiel hurriedly returned. The bomber stream was thus under attack all the way to the target. There were further difficulties at the target because winds were not as forecast and many aircraft reached the Leipzig area too early and had to orbit and await the Pathfinders. 4 aircraft were lost by collision and approximately 20 were shot down by flak. Hptm. Martin Becker of 2./NJG 6 claimed 4 Lancasters. Leipzig was cloud-covered and the Pathfinders had to use skymarking. The raid appeared to be concentrated in its early stages but scattered later.

45 RAF Stirlings and 4 Pathfinder Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay, 16 Oboe Mosquitos bombing night-fighter airfields in Holland, 15 Mosquitos on a diversion raid to Berlin, 12 Serrate patrols. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid. 3 Mosquitos attacked Aachen and 3 more bombed flying-bomb sites in France without loss. Total effort for the night: 921 sorties, 79 aircraft (8.6 per cent) lost. This was the heaviest Bomber Command loss of the war so far, easily exceeding the 58 aircraft lost on 21/22 January 1943 when Magdeburg was the main target.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After three days of desperate fighting the Allied divisions trapped on the Anzio beach-head halted a major German offensive. The attack was launched on 16 February, with General von Mackensen's XIV Armee supported by the Luftwaffe. A sustained artillery barrage opened up a gap in the sector held by the US 45th Division, and for a time, it appeared as though the Allied would be split in two. Panzers poured through the gap, but themselves came under attack as the Allies concentrated their own fire more effectively. Still, though, the Germans pushed the Allies back towards the beaches. But determined fighting by the British 1st and US 45th Divisions, backed by air and naval bombardment, checked the Germans at Carroceto Creek.

Motor torpedo boats engage German convoy southeast of Elba. Light cruiser _'Philadelphia' _(CL-41) arrives off Anzio to provide gunfire support; she is thrice under shore battery fire but suffers no damage in the encounters. Destroyer _'Madison' _(DD-425) conducts unsuccessful hunt for enemy submarine believed off Anzio.

In Italy, B-25s blast troop concentrations to the N of Anzio beachhead; A-36s and P-40s keep troops, tanks, and motor transport in the beachhead battle area under attack, flying 200+ sorties in 20+ missions as an Allied counterattack turns the tide of battle; fighters maintain control over the N part of the battle area.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-264' _is sunk at 17:07 hours by depth charges from the British sloops HMS _'Woodpecker' _and _'Starling'_. 52 survivors (No casualties). _'U-386' _is sunk by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Spey'_. 33 dead and 16 survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces have reduced General Bor-Komorowski's hold on Warsaw to three isolated pockets, and the Polish Home Army and the attempt by communist partisans' (the People's Guard) to regain control of Warsaw must now depend on substantial aid from the Russians, poised just on the other side of the river Vistula. But Stalin has refused to aid the valiant Poles. The Russians have three operational airfields a few minutes' flight from Warsaw, while the RAF and South African bombers attempting to drop supplies to the Poles must fly from Foggia across Europe under constant Luftwaffe attacks. Of ten bombers which set out for Warsaw from Italy three days ago, six failed to return. What makes the loss of these aircraft and crews especially sad is that Stalin will not allow the RAF supply planes to land on Russian-controlled airfields. The Poles seem doomed in the face of such intransigence.


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## Njaco (Mar 3, 2009)

*20 February 1944*

*GERMANY*: *Big Week*: In preparation for the Allied invasion scheduled in May, The Eighth Air Force begins "Big Week," attacks on German aircraft plants and airfields. For the first time, over 1,000 bombers are dispatched; 21 bombers and 4 fighters are lost hitting 3 areas in Germany. For the first time in the war, RAF and USAAF operations are coordinated.

But an unusual incident occurred before the bombers took off. A B-17 flown by Lt. Guy Reed and specially-equipped for recon and weather reporting took off to determine the weather conditions over Germany and the North Sea. While enroute, Lt. Reed picked up a ghost radio signal and decided to investigate. A ghost signal had been causing havoc among the bomber groups and misdirecting many bombers away from airfields until their fuel was exhausted and they ditched their bombers. Dropping through cloud cover, Reed's B-17 found the source of the radio signal - a He 177 recon plane. Coming up alongside the big bomber, the B-17 started firing at the Heinkel, beginning a battle across the North Sea as the two lumbering giants fired at each other. Lt. Reed brought the B-17 around the Heinkel and the crew fired on the German bomber at almost point-blank range. The Heinkel dove then appeared to stall alongside the Fortress. As the American bomber came alongside, the German gunners opened up on the B-17, killing the right waist gunner, knocking the cover off the top turret and jamming the rudder. A .50 cal shell from the B-17 nearly killed the German pilot and he decided to break off the battle. As he banked away, a volley of gunfire from the Fortress damaged one of his engines and the He 177 tumbled out of the sky out of control. Nobody survived the crash. Lt. Reed was able to bring his damaged plane back to Scotland for a crash landing.

417 B-17s are dispatched to Leipzig/Mockau Airfield, and aviation industry targets at Heiterblick and Abnaundorf; 239 hit the primary targets, 37 hit Bernburg, 44 hit Oschersleben and 20 hit other targets of opportunity; they claim 14-5-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 161 damaged. 314 B-17s are dispatched to the Tutow Airfield; 105 hit the primary and immediate area, 76 hit Rostock and 115 hit other targets of opportunity; they claim 15-15-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 37 damaged. 272 B-24s are dispatched to aviation industry targets at Brunswick, Wilhelmtor and Neupetritor; 76 hit the primary, 87 hit Gotha, 13 hit Oschersleben, 58 hit Helmstedt and 10 hit other targets of opportunity; they claim 36-13-13 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 37 damaged. The Missions are escorted by 94 P-38s, 668 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 73 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 61-7-37 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38, 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 is lost, 2 P-47s are damaged beyond repair and 4 aircraft are damaged.

598 RAF aircraft - 460 Lancasters, 126 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - to Stuttgart. The North Sea sweep and the Munich diversion successfully drew the German fighters up 2 hours before the main bomber force flew inland and only 9 aircraft - 7 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes - were lost, 1.5 per cent of the force. 4 further Lancasters and 1 Halifax crashed in England.

USAAF Sgt Archibald Mathies, engineer, and Second Lt Walter E Truemper navigator, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions this day.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 35 Eighth Air Force B-26s bomb Haamstede Airfield, The Netherlands, as a target of opportunity, after about 100 B-26s abort attacks on other airfields because of weather. 4 of 5 B-17s drop 200 bundles of leaflets on Tours, Nantes, Brest and Lorient, France at 2123-2200 hours without loss.

156 RAF aircraft - 132 from training units and 24 from squadrons - flew a large training exercise across the North Sea as a preliminary feint; 24 Mosquitos attacked airfields in Holland; 7 Mosquitos made a diversionary raid on Munich and there were 7 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost.

Norwegian resistance successfully sinks a barge carrying heavy water from Ryukan, Norway bound for Germany. Heavy water is necessary for continued experiments by the German nuclear program.

Whilst serving in Captain Walker’s renowned 2nd. Escort Group, sloop HMS _'Woodpecker' _is hit by a Zaunkönig fired by _'U-764' _(Leutnant zur See Hanskurt von Bremen) South of Iceland. _'Woodpecker’s' _stern is blown off but as she remained afloat was taken in tow. She sank in a gale on 27 February. There were no casualties.

VandW class destroyer HMS _'Warwick' _is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-413' _(Kapitanleutnant Gustav Poel) in the English Channel 20 SW of Trevose Head. The torpedo set off an internal explosion, whereupon _'Warwick' _sank very quickly with 43 casualties and 93 survivors.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fifteenth Air Force B-24s blast troop concentrations in the Anzio, Italy beachhead area as the Axis efforts end. Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit troop concentrations along roads in the Vallalta area; B-25s hit dumps and assembly areas at the N edge of the Anzio beachhead, and A-20s bomb a troop and motor transport concentration SE of Carroceto; A-36s and P-40s hit troops, trucks and tanks NE of Carroceto, bomb the town of Fondi, a factory E of Carroceto, the town of Piedimonte, and hit guns and targets of opportunity along the N line of the beachhead; an Axis attempt to achieve a breakthrough is decisively defeated in the center of the salient created by a counteroffensive and their efforts end.

Tank landing ship LST-348 is sunk by German submarine _'U-410'_, 40 miles south of Naples, Italy. The vessel was participating in the landings in Anzio-Nettuno. At 1755, _'U-230' _fired one Gnat at landing ships off Anzio and heard a detonation after 13 minutes, 25 seconds. The Gnat probably detonated at the end of its run. At 1851 hours, another torpedo was fired, which sank HMS LST-305.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 2nd Baltic Front launches a fresh set of attacks against the much-diminished German XVI Armee around Kholm. The Soviet 22nd Army makes good progress in the initial assault.


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## Njaco (Mar 3, 2009)

*21 February 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: 17 RAF Mosquitos to Duisburg, Stuttgart and 2 flying-bomb sites, 1 Serrate patrol, 41 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off French ports, 10 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.

18 B-26s bomb Coxyde Airfield, Belgium; weather causes almost 190 aborts. The Ninth Air Force's Pathfinder Squadron (provisionally activated on 13 Feb) takes part in this operation, its first venture into combat. 185 aircraft scheduled to attack other airfields in the Netherlands and France in the afternoon are recalled because of bad weather.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 2nd Baltic Front continues its attacks capturing Soltsy and Kholm. To the south, 3rd Ukrainian Front continues its offensive threatening to surround Krivoi Rog.

*GERMANY*: "*Big Week*" continues with 3 areas in Germany targetted with the loss of 16 bombers and 5 fighters. 336 B-17s are dispatched to the Gutersioh, Lippstadt and Werl Airfields; because of thick overcast, 285 hit Achmer, Hopsten, Rheine, Diepholz, Quakenbruck and Bramsche Airfields and the marshalling yards at Coevorden and Lingen; they claim 12-5-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 63 damaged. 281 B-17s are dispatched to Diepholz Airfield and Brunswick; 175 hit the primaries and 88 hit Alhorn and Verden Airfields and Hannover; they claim 2-5-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged. 244 B-24s are dispatched to Achmer and Handorf Airfields; 11 hit Achmer Airfield and 203 hit Diepholz, Verden and Hesepe Airfields and Lingen; they claim 5-6-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged. Escort is provided by 69 P-38s, 542 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 68 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-38s claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair; the P-47s claim 19-3-14 Luftwaffe aircraft, 2 P-47s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair, 3 are damaged and 2 pilots are MIA; the P-51s claim 14-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft, 3
P-51s are lost.

The attack at Diepholz destroyed 3 He 177A-3s of Versuchs Jagdgruppe 10, a _Grosszerstrorer _(Big Destroyer) unit. The He 177s were modified by removinf the drop gear and fuel tanks to allow 30 vertically mounted infantry-type rocket launchers to be fitted in the bomb bays.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-25s bomb Orte marshalling yard, and B-26s hit Imperia docks; A-20s pound troop concentrations near Campoleone, along with P-40s and A-36s which also hit a fuel dump, tank and truck concentrations, and gun positions in the area; fighter-bombers also bomb and block the Itri-Gaeta road.


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## Njaco (Mar 4, 2009)

*22 February 1944*

*GERMANY*: "*Big Week*" continues with 799 aircraft dispatched against German aviation and Luftwaffe airfields; 41 bombers and 11 fighters are lost. 289 B-17s are dispatched against aviation industry targets at Aschersleben (34 bomb), Bernburg (47 bomb) and Halberstadt (18 bomb) in conjunction with a Fifteenth Air Force raid on Regensburg, Germany; 32 hit Bunde, 19 hit Wernegerode, 15 hit Magdeburg, 9 hit Marburg and 7 hit other targets of opportunity; they claim 32-18-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 38 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 141 damaged. 333 B-17s are dispatched to Schweinfurt but severe weather prevents aircraft from forming properly and they are forced to abandon the mission prior to crossing the enemy coast; 2 B-17s are damaged. 177 B-24s are dispatched but they are recalled when 100 miles (160 km) inland; since they were over Germany, they sought targets of opportunity but strong winds drove the bombers over The Netherlands and their bombs hit Enschede, Arnhem, Nijmegen and Deventer; they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost and 3 damaged.

These missions are escorted by 67 P-38s, 535 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s, and 57 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-38s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 6 are damaged; the P-47s claim 39-6-15 Luftwaffe aircraft, 8 P-47s are lost and 12 damaged, 8 pilots are MIA; the P-51s claim 19-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft, 3 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged.

Major Heinz Bar of II./JG 1 shot down a B-17 as did Lt. Werner Gerth - his first - of the new _Sturmstaffel _1. Ofw. Adolf Glunz of 5./JG 26 was confirmed for 3 B-17s and 1 P-47. 8 Bombers were claimed by pilots of II./ZG 1 including Hptm. Egon Albrecht, Oblt. Meier and Uffz. Heinz Schlenkert. Ofw. Stefan Litjens of 4./JG 53 claimed 3 B-17s. The Luftwaffe lost 53 aircraft in addition to 53 damaged. 25 pilots were killed and 13 wounded. II./ZG 26 lost only one aircraft but it was the Me 410A-1 of _Gruppenkommandeur _Hptm. Eduard Tratt. Hptm. Tratt, the highest scoring _Zerstroer _pilot with 38 kills in the air, 26 on the ground, 24 tanks, 312 trucks and 33 AA guns on his scoreboard, made a single-handed attack on a bomber formation near Nordhausen / Harz and was killed in the process. The only eye-witness was Oblt. Prokopp who was killed a short time later when his Me 410 was rammed by a P-47.

10 RAF Mosquitos went to Stuttgart, 8 to Duisburg and 3 to Aachen, 71 Halifaxes and 40 Stirlings sent minelaying off North German coast recalled because of bad weather at bases, 2 RCM sorties, 2 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s attack Petershausen marshalling yard and Regensburg aircraft factory in Germany and the air depot at Zagreb, Yugoslavia; a large force of B-24s hits Regensburg aircraft plants about the same time as the B-17 attack; other B-24s pound the town of Sibenik and the harbor at Zara, Yugoslavia; they claim 40 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; 13 bombers are lost.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb Foligno marshalling yard and Montalto di Castro railroad bridge, and B-26s attack Albinia Station railroad bridge; A-20s hit the area E of Campoleone; P-47s strike troops, gun positions, and a road junction N of Carroceto, roads near Roccasecca, and the town of Campoleone; A-36s hit guns NW of Carroceto and the town of Formia; P-40s attack guns SE of Campoleone.

Five German E-boats approach Anzio beachhead during the night, but all are driven off without inflicting any damage. Submarine chaser PC-621 claims destruction of one E-boat and drives another ashore.

German submarine _'U-969' _attacks convoy GUS 31 off the coast of Algeria, irreparably damaging U.S. freighters _'Peter Skene Ogden' _and _'George Cleeve'_; other than one fatality on board the former, there are no casualties to the American ships. The survivors were picked up by the American SS _'William T. Barry' _after 30 minutes and landed in Oran. Both ships are towed and beached to facilitate salvage: _'Peter Skene Ogden' _at Herbillon and _'George Cleeve' _to Bone, Tunisia. Both are later written off as total losses.

400 German soldiers drowned when their train was blown into a flooded river at Athens by mines laid by British led Greek partisans. Hundreds more were injured. A general was amongst the dead. The ambush marks a new offensive in the Balkans, with British officers from the Special Operations Executive leading Andarte freedom fighters. Ten coaches plunged down a ravine on the main Athens to Salonika line. The surviving armoured coach was sprayed with machine gun fire before the partisans disappeared into the countryside.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces avoid the fate of their comrades at Korsun as they make a hasty retreat from Krivoi Rog before the Red Army pincers could slam shut. 3rd Ukrainian Front enters the city.

Soviet bombers attack Stockholm by mistake. There are no casualties.

*WESTERN FRONT*: An RCAF 162 Sqn Catalina attacked _'U-550' _with machine guns in the North Atlantic. Two crewmembers were killed.

66 Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb Gilze-Rijen Airfield, The Netherlands; bad weather causes 100+ others to abort.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Luftwaffe mounts a large raid on the UK.

HQ VIII Bomber Command is redesignated as HQ, Eighth Air Force.


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## Njaco (Mar 4, 2009)

*23 February 1944*

*GERMANY*: US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the industrial complex at Steyr, Austria. Other heavy bombers are forced to abort because of bad weather; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 30+ aircraft shot down. Oblt. Walther Dahl of III./JG 3 shot down 2 four-engined bombers and a P-38 to bring his score to 61 kills.

17 RAF Mosquitos to Düsseldorf, 2 Serrate patrols, 3 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost. A Mosquito of No. 692 Squadron RAF dropped a 4,000-lb bomb on Düsseldorf. This is double the original bombload of the Mk IV. To carry this large device, the bomb-bay is bulged. The Mosquitos of the Light Night Striking Force regularly carried such heavy bombs during the remaining months of the war to targets as far distant as Berlin.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: General Lucian Truscott takes full command of VI Corps at Anzio, replacing General Lucas as the Germans regroup for a fresh series of counterattacks against the beleaguered troops.

In Italy, P-40s hit a gun position N of Campoleone and patrol the Anzio area. Weather prevents other operations.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-257' _is sunk in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from frigates HMCS _'Waskesiu' _and HMS _'Nene'_. 30 dead and 19 survivors. According to a crewmember on the HMCS _'Waskesiu' _the HMS _'Nene' _only participated in picking up survivors while the Canadian frigate dropped the depth charges, after both frigates had picked up an ASDIC signal that the Canadians insisted was a U-boat, which sank the boat.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 2nd Baltic and Volkhov Fronts continue their offensive in northern Russia capturing Strugi Krasneyye and 1st Belorus Front drives toward Dno.

Hptm. Alois Lechner (45 kills), a former bomber pilot and a _Gruppenkommandeur _with I./NJG 100, went missing over Mogilev. Hptm. Lechner was the _Kommandofuhrer _of Sonderkommando Lechner, a detachment of NJG 2. The Sonderkommando operated in conjuction with the rail-mounted radar station 'Sumatra I' in an attempt to stop Russian night raids on East Prussia. "Sumatra I" had a Freya unit and two Wurzburg units and an evaluation section. Lechner's Kommando only succeeded in putting a temporary halt to the Russian night attacks and it was after the arrival of NJG 5 that the Soviet raids were stopped. Hptm. Lechner achieved 26 Abschussen with the aid of 'Sumatra I' from July 1943 until his death.

Oblt. Anton Hafner of JG 51 destroyed 7 Russian aircraft to bring his score to 131 kills.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Do 217 night-fighter made a perfect belly-landing near Cambridge after its crew bailed out over London and delivered to the Allies a near- perfect example of a German night-fighter. The plane was soon used for RAF purposes.


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## Njaco (Mar 6, 2009)

*24 February 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: 1st Belorus Front captures Dno while 2nd Beloruss Front took Rogachev.

The prime minister of Finland says that Finland is prepared to make peace immediately with Russia, subject to conditions.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German submarine _'U-761' _was detected by PBY-5A Catalinas from VP-63, now based at Naval Air Facility (NAF) Port Lyautey, French Morocco, during an attempt to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar. The two VP-63 aircraft used their MAD gear to detect, track, and assist in the sinking of _'U-761'_, the first sinking of a submarine aided by MAD equipment. The U-boat was attacked by an RAF Catalina Mk. IB of No. 202 Squadron, based at Gibraltar, and a PV-1 Ventura of USN Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Seven (VB-127) also based at NAF Port Lyautey. The crew of the VB-127 Ventura, assisted in the kill by dropping depth charges on _'U-761' _when it surfaced. Following the attack by VB-127 PV-1, the U-boat was scuttled in the mid-Atlantic near Tangier in view of approaching British destroyers. Nine of the 57 men aboard were lost; the 48 survivors, including the captain, were picked up by HMS _'Anthony' _and HMS _'Wishart'_.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Canino landing ground, but clouds prevent accurate bombing and most bombs fall W and SW of the main target area; A-36s attack airfields at Littoria, Guidonia and Marciglialia. P-47's hit motor vessels and tug off Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia and targets of opportunity inland.

*GERMANY*: 734 RAF aircraft - 554 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos - carried out the first Bomber Command raid on Schweinfurt, home of Germany's main ball-bearing factories. 266 American B-17s had raided the factories the previous day. Bomber Command introduced a novel tactic on this night. The Schweinfurt force was split into two parts - 392 aircraft and 342 aircraft, separated by a 2-hour interval. Part of the German fighter force was drawn up by earlier diversions. The first wave of the Schweinfurt bombers lost 22 aircraft, 5.6 per cent; the second wave lost only 11 aircraft, 3.2 per cent, and it is believed that only 4 bombers from the second wave were shot down by night fighters. Total losses were 33 aircraft - 26 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes - 4.5 per cent of the force. Martin Becker of 2./NJG 6 destroyed a Halifax to reach 19 kills.

179 RAF training aircraft on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 60 Halifaxes and 50 Stirlings minelaying in Kiel Bay and the Kattegat, 15 Mosquitos to airfields in Holland, 8 Mosquitos to Kiel and 7 to Aachen, 12 Serrate patrols. 2 Stirlings were lost from the minelaying operation and 1 Serrate Mosquito of No 141 Squadron was lost, the first Serrate aircraft to be lost under Bomber Command control. 5 Wellingtons laid mines off Lorient without loss.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Missions 237, 238 and 239 are flown today against targets in France; 7 B-17s are lost. Heavy clouds cause over half the bombers dispatched to return without bombing. 49 of 81 B-24s hit the Ecalles sur Buchy V-weapon sites; 1 B-24 is damaged. Escort is provided by 61 P-47s. 258 B-17s are dispatched against V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais; 109 hit the primary target, 10 hit a road junction E of Yerville, 7 hit a rail siding SW of Abbeville and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost and 75 damaged; casualties are 5 WIA and 63 MIA. Escort is provided by 81 P-38s, 94 P-47s and 22 P-51s; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair; the P-51s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. 180 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets and Rosieres-en-Santerre, France. Bad weather makes bombing difficult and causes 34 other B-26s to abort.

*UNITED KINGDON*: _'SS Philipp M' _(2,085t) cargo ship, Tyne to London with coal, was sunk by an E Boat, off Great Yarmouth.


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## Njaco (Mar 6, 2009)

*25 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The destroyer HMS _''Inglefield' _is sunk at dusk off Anzio by a Hs293A Glide bomb and sinks very rapidly off Anzio. There are 35 casualties and 157 survivors.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force P-40s attack guns and troop concentrations east of Campoleone and in the Carroceto area; A-36 Apaches bomb the towns of Terracina and Sperlonga and roads in the area; P-40s also maintain patrols over Anzio. Other B-17s hit the air depot at Klagenfurt, Austria, and the dock area at Pola, Italy. B-24s attack the Fiume, Italy, marshalling yard and port and hit the Zell-am-See, Austria, railroad and Graz airfield and the port area at Zara, Yugoslavia; 30+ US aircraft are lost; they claim 90+ fighters shot down.

The Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77, Obstlt. Johannes Steinhoff took off alone against 50+ B-17s. The Kommodore shot one Fortress out of the formation. The B-17 fell behind until it was finally destroyed north of Klagenfurt.

*GERMANY*: In the final "*Big Week*" mission, 4 targets in Germany are hit; 31 bombers and 3 fighters are lost. 268 B-17s are dispatched to aviation industry targets at Augsburg and the industrial area at Stuttgart; 196 hit Augsburg and targets of opportunity and 50 hit Stuttgart; they claim 8-4-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 B-17s are lost. 267 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Regensburg and targets of opportunity; they claim 13-1-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 B-17s are lost. 172 B-24s hit aviation industry targets at Furth and targets of opportunity; they claim 2-2-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-24s are lost. Continuing coordinated attacks with the US Eighth Air Force on European targets, US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s with fighter escorts bomb the Regensburg, Germany, aircraft factory; enemy fighter opposition is heavy.

Escort is provided by 73 P-38s, 687 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 139 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-38s claim 1-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft: the P-47s claim 13-2-10 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost; the P-51s claim 12-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft, 2 P-51s are lost. German losses were 142 aircraft and nearly 1000 planes on the assembly lines were destroyed.

594 RAF aircraft - 461 Lancasters, 123 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - on the first large raid to Augsburg. The various diversions and the splitting of the main bomber force into 2 waves again reduced casualties still further. 21 aircraft - 16 Lancasters, 5 Halifaxes - lost, 3.6 per cent of the force; at least 4 of these casualties were due to collision. The bombing at Augsburg was outstandingly successful in clear weather conditions and against this 'virgin' target with only weak flak defences. The Pathfinder ground-marking was accurate and the raid became controversial because of the effects of its outstanding accuracy. Serious damage is done to the engineering works and aircraft components factory. 85,000 people are made homeless. The beautiful old centre of Augsburg was completely destroyed by high explosive and fire, with much less than the usual spread of bombing to the more modern outer areas, where some industry was located. There were 246 large or medium fires and 820 small ones; the temperature was so cold (minus 18" Celsius) that the River Lech was frozen over and many of the water hoses also froze. The Germans publicized it as an extreme example of 'terror bombing'.

The air raid on Augsburg destroyed the second version of the new Bf 109V-55, "Early-Availability High Altitude Fighter". The designers were forced to use the first version, V-54, for testing.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 191 B-26 Marauders bomb Venlo, Saint-Trond, and Cambrai/Epinoy Airfields, France in a morning raid as a diversion in support of the VIII Bomber Command heavy bombers over Germany; 36 abort, mainly because of a navigational error; 164 B-26s dispatched against military targets in France during the afternoon are recalled because of bad weather.

Major General Paul L Williams becomes Commanding General of the Ninth Air Force's IX Troop Carrier Command.

_'U-91' _is sunk by the British destroyers HMS _'Affleck'_, _'Gore' _and _'Gould'_. 36 dead and 16 survivors.

The Artic convoys from Britain to Russia begin to dominate their German adversaries as the latest convoy (JW-57 with 43 merchants) comes through with no merchant losses. The only loss was the destroyer HMS _'Mahratta' _when it takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by _'U-990' _(Kapitanleutnant Hubert Nordheimer) and then one more torpedo and sinks at 2055. The destroyer explodes and sinks within minutes. Despite the fact that destroyers HMS _'Impulsive' _and _'Wanderer' _are quickly on the scene there are 220 casualties and just 16 survivors in the freezing waters. The commander, ten officers and 209 ratings lost their lives.

_'U-601' _sunk in the Arctic Ocean NW of Narvik, Norway by depth charges from an RAF 210 Sqn Catalina aircraft. 51 dead (all hands lost).

131 RAF aircraft minelaying in Kiel Bay, 22 Mosquitos to airfields in Holland, 15 Mosquitos on diversionary raids to 4 towns to the north of the Augsburg routes, 5 RCM sorties, 10 Serrate patrols. 3 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling lost from the minelaying operation.


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## Njaco (Mar 7, 2009)

*26 February 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Lieutenant-Commander Peter Williams sails at dusk from Dartmouth. He heads towards Weymouth; then, once out of sight, he turns south. On reaching the Brittany coast he cuts his speed to reduce noise, wash and phospherescence, and creeps through rocks and swirling tides to anchor within a few hundred yards of the beach. A sailor is placed on stand-by to cut the grass rope in an emergency. Williams then sent his surfboat inshore with muffled oars, on a rising tide to avoid footprints, in order to land a party which included Francois Mitterrand, the future President of France. As the boat returned, laden with five agents and a downed Allied pilot, it was able to find the MGB in the dark with a device, invented by Williams, which homed in on its Asdic [sonar] transmissions. By breakfast time, Williams was back in Dartmouth.

_'U-66' _attacked the convoy STL-12 about 130 miles west of Takoradi and reported one ship sunk and another damaged. However, the only ship hit and sunk was the '_Silvermaple_' (Master William Candlish Brydson). The master, five crew members and one gunner were lost. 47 crew members, nine gunners and one passenger were picked up by HMS _'Kildwick' _(Z 06) (Lt P. Pannell) and landed at Takoradi on 27 February.

*EASTERN FRONT*: This night 600 Soviet bombers attack Helsinki for the third time in three weeks. From 6.45 pm until 5.10 am next morning over 500 Soviet planes try to penetrate the Finnish air-defences. Several bombers make more that one sortie, the Finns estimate that there's more than 1000 sorties. Massive fires break out destroying large sections of the city. The Soviets loose only 3 aircraft. Since the two previous attempts ten and twenty days ago, the defences had been strengthened further, and there's 15 heavy AA-battalions defending the city. Majority of bombers are unable to reach their targets, and only 18 people are killed at Helsinki. MTB Hurja 5 and Patrol Boat VMV 8 are destroyed in Helsinki bombing while in dock.

The Soviet offensive continues in northern Russia as the Red Army takes Rorkhov.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Weather limits US Twelfth Air Force operations severely, but P-47's hit shipping N and S of Velaluka, Yugoslavia.


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## Njaco (Mar 7, 2009)

*27 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Light cruiser _'Philadelphia' _(CL-41) carries out seven gunfire support missions off Anzio.

In Italy, A-36s attack Littoria and Guidonia Airfields and Ladispoli dock area; rail cars NE of Rome are also attacked; P-40s follow up with a raid against Littoria and hit trucks and other targets in the area; weather prevents other operations by the Twelfth Air Force.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Major General Elwood R Quesada (reappointed Commanding General IX Fighter Command on 21 Feb) receives authority to revive the IX Fighter Command (existing only on paper since creation of the IX Air Support Command) on a temporary basis as an operational HQ to function as a Combined Control Center with RAF 11 Group at Uxbridge, England, where Fighter Command will prepare operations orders for Ninth Air Force fighter and fighter-bomber groups. Quesada retains command of the IX Air Support Command.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Twelve He 111s of I./KG 4 and 14 He 111s of I./KG 27 made a dusk attack on Kirovgrad North airfield. After the bombs were dropped, 2 fires and one explosion south of the runway were observed. Hits were recorded on the runway, hangers and the southern part of the airfield.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2009)

*28 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The second offensive from Anzio begins. The attack fails to break through. Four German divisions launch attacks against the beleaguered forces at Anzio driving down the Cisterna-Anzio road. The US 3rd Division beat back the attacks.

In Italy, B-25s attack Canino landing ground, but clouds prevent accurate bombing and most bombs fall W and SW of the main target area; A-36s attack airfields at Littoria, Guidonia and Marciglialia. P-47's hit motor vessels and a tug off Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia and targets of opportunity inland.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Allied convoy JW-57 - 42 merchant ships and a tanker - arrives safely at Murmansk having sunk two U-boats but lost the destroyer HMS _'Mahratta'_.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The last Vultee SNV-2 is delivered to the USN.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 8 RAF OTU Wellingtons carried out leaflet operations to France without loss.

US Eighth Air Force Missions 237, 238 and 239 are flown today against targets in France; 7 B-17s are lost. Heavy clouds cause over half the bombers dispatched to return without bombing. 49 of 81 B-24s hit the Ecalles sur Buchy V-weapon sites; 1 B-24 is damaged. Escort is provided by 61 P-47s. 258 B-17s are dispatched against V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais; 109 hit the primary target, 10 hit a road junction E of Yerville, 7 hit a rail siding SW of Abbeville and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost and 75 damaged; casualties are 5 WIA and 63 MIA. Escort is provided by 81 P-38s, 94 P-47s and 22 P-51s; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair; the P-51s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. 5 of 5 B-17s drop 250 bundles of leaflets on Amiens, Rennes, Paris, Rouen and Le Mans, France at 2023-2055 hours without loss.

180 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets and Rosieres-en-Santerre, France. Bad weather makes bombing difficult and causes 34 other B-26s to abort.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Hurricane fighter crashed in a field at Fowberry Moor Farm, Chatton, Northumberland at about 12.30. The plane was from 781 Squadron, RNAS Lee-on-Solent. At the time of the crash a heavy snow storm was in progress and the visibility was poor.

*GERMANY*: Because of continuing problems with the coupled engine arrangement of the He 177, Ernst Heinkel had suggested in 1940 of using 4 seperate engines on the heavy bomber instead of the designed arrangement. He was turned down. So without official sanction, Heinkel continued to work on the new bomber, designated He 177B. The design was revived in 1943 after Hitler demanded a bomber to attack London and the He 177B was re-named the He 277. Using 4 DB 603A engines, the second prototype flew from Vienna-Schwechat airfield on this date.

At Erfurt airfield, a Ta 154 V-8 'Moskito' of EKD 154 crashed due to an undercarriage failure.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2009)

*29 February 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allies fend off a German attack on their right flank at Anzio. Bad weather prevents the Germans from continuing their attacks at Anzio, but heavy artillery fire hits hard.

In Italy, B-26s bomb the main and satellite airfields at Viterbo and several targets of opportunity along the W coast; B-25s bomb troops and gun positions W of Cisterna di Roma while A-20s hit concentrations to the S; P-40s and A-36s strike at troop concentrations along the N perimeter of the Anzio beachhead; other P-40s hit barracks and railroad yards at Littoria and a tank concentration S of Cisterna; P-47's (with British aircraft) hit Giulianova railway station and shipping off Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia; fighters maintain patrol over the Anzio beachhead.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The whole of Finland is waiting for the Diet, the Finnish parliament, to decide whether or not to agree to the Russian terms for the cessation of hostilities. These terms include territorial concessions similar to those laid down by the Russians after the "Winter War" of 1939-40, but they do not require unconditional surrender as preliminary to peace talks. The main reasons that the Finns are not taking up the Soviet terms are the amount of reparations the Soviets are demanding ($600 million in 1938 US Dollars; economic experts consulted stated that it was impossible to pay in the schedule), and the very short time given to expel or intern the German forces from country coupled with the rapid demobilization of the Finnish Army (it was feared that the Soviets would use this as an excuse to occupy Finland). In a secret session the Finnish parliament votes the cabinet the powers to continue the peace-feelers with the Soviet Union.

One of the finest commanders in the Red Army, Marshal Nikolai Vatutin, is killed in an ambush by Ukrainian nationalist partisans while en route to the Soviet 60th Army. Vatutin, who had played a vital role in last year's battle at Kursk and in clearing the Ukraine, was fired on as he drove with his staff to visit front-line troops. His attackers are Ukrainian nationalists who went over to the Germans in the hope that they would establish a Ukrainian state. Now they fight both Germans and Russians. Vatutin will be sorely missed by the Red Army, It was he who, with Konev, engineered the destruction of the German pocket at Korsun. Georgi Zhukov, has taken over command of the First Ukrainian Front.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Since January, 34 U-boats have been sunk.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 241: 38 of 48 B-24s hit the V-weapon site at Lottinghen, France without loss. Escorting are 79 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s; 1 is lost and the pilot is MIA. US Eighth Air Force Mission 242: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 250 bundles of leaflets on Orleans, Lille, Reims, Cambrai and Chateauroux, France at 2025-2121 hours without loss.

19 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb a coastal gun position and nearby Breck-sur-Mer Airfield, France. 216 B-26s abort a mission against 8 V-weapon sites in France because of total cloud cover over the targets.

*GERMANY*: 15 RAF Mosquitos to Düsseldorf and 1 to a flying-bomb site at Sottevaast, 20 OTU sorties. 1 OTU Whitley lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 240: 218 of 226 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Brunswick, Germany and targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 54 damaged; casualties are 4 WIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 61 P-38s, 346 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 147 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 2 P-38s are lost and 1 damaged, 2 pilots are MIA; the P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost and 1 damaged, 1 pilot is MIA; 1 P-51 is lost, the pilot is MIA.


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## Njaco (Mar 11, 2009)

*1 MARCH 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: On 5 days during 1-16 March 1944, 2 RAF Bomber Command Oboe Mosquitos acted as 'formation leaders' for bomber units of the Second Tactical Air Force attacking flying-bomb sites. The formation bombed as soon as it saw the bombs of the Oboe Mosquito being released. There were no losses from the 10 Bomber Command sorties flown in this period.

18 RAF Mosquitos to airfields in Holland, 11 Mosquitos on a diversion raid to Munich, 6 RCM sorties, 10 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost. 1 RAF Mosquito to a flying-bomb site, 10 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling on Resistance operations, 16 OTU sorties. No losses.

Destroyer escort _'Bronstein' _(DE-189) sinks German submarine _'U-603' _in the North Atlantic and teams with destroyer escorts _'Thomas' _(DE-102) and _'Bostwick' _(DE-103) to sink _'U-709'_.

Whilst in company with several escorts hunting down a submarine contact, frigate HMS _'Gould' _is torpedoed (A homing torpedo) and sunk at 7.20pm 480 miles NNE of the Azores by _'U-358' _(Kapitanleutnant Rolf Manke). There are 123 casualties and 14 survivors. _'U-358' _(Type VIIC) is sunk north of the Azores, in position by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Gould' _(ex-USS Lovering), _'Affleck'_, _'Gore' _and _'Garliese'_. 50 dead and 1 survivor. On 5 May, 1943 _'U-358' _was depth charged in the North Atlantic by the British destroyer escort HMS _'Pink'_. The boat was damaged so badly that she had to return to base.

A joint British-American-Canadian board overseeing the Habbakuk ice ship project is dissolved. _See _Habbakuk: The Iceberg Aircraft Carrier | Online Information Bank | Research Collections | Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

HQ and HQ Squadron, VIII Air Force Services Command is redesignated as HQ and HQ Squadron, Air Service Command, US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF), after functioning as such during Jan and Feb 44 while re-designation was being authorized. 8th Strategic Air Depot Area is redesignated VIII Air Force Services Command.

US Ninth Air Force Troop Carrier Command establishes a Pathfinder school to provide pre-invasion training in all navigational aids.

*GERMANY*: 557 RAF aircraft - 415 Lancasters, 129 Halifaxes, 13 Mosquitos - raided Stuttgart. Thick cloud on the routes to and from the target made it difficult for the German fighters to get into the bomber stream and only 4 aircraft - 3 Lancasters and 1 Halifax - were lost, 0.7 per cent of the force.

Walter Model is promoted to Field Marshal.

The Luftwaffe established the "Fighter Staff", responsible to Herr Saur, Supervisor of Armament. who was given dictatorial powers as the representative of Reichsminister Speer. This only served to remove Generalluftzugmeister Milch from the realm of the aircraft industry. The Staff was filled with men from Labour circles who knew nothing about the Luftwaffe.

Major Helmut Lent of Stab./NJG 3 and the Nachtjagd's leading scorer, received promotion to the rank of Oberstleutnant.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet attacks in northern Russia begins to slow but the Red Army was still able to capture Russaki.

14(Eis.)./KG 3 was formed at Flensburg/Scleswig-Holstein (ex-9(Eis.)./KG 1). 14(Eis.)./KG 3 was a highly specialized train-busting Staffel. the crews were specially trained to fly day or night between 100' and 1,000' along railway lines and bomb and /or shoot up trains, railway stations and marshalling yards. They were also used at very low altitude against tank concentrations. The Staffel was always in the East and was equipped all or partially with cannon-armed Ju 88s.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Moves in England: HQ 71st Fighter Wing from Greenham Common to Andover; HQ 366th Fighter Group from Membury to Thruxton; 12th and 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Aldermaston to Chilbolton with F-6s; 390th Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group, to Thruxton from the US with P-47s (first mission is 14 Mar); 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons, 370th Fighter Group, from Aldermaston to Andover with P-38s (first mission 1 May).

March saw a further 4 Luftwaffe attacks on London, as well as an unsuccessful raid on Hull on the 19th followed towards the end of the month by the first directed against Bristol since 1942. By this time only 297 bombers were available for operations over Britain, these being the Do 217s of I. and III./KG 2, Stab. and 6./KG 100 and part of I./KG 66; the Ju 88s of II. and III./KG 6, Stab., II. and III./KG 30, Stab., I. and II./KG 54 and Stab./KG 77; the Ju 188s of II./KG 2, Stab and I./KG 6; the Me 410s of Stab and I./KG 54 as well as the He 177s of I./KG 100.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: For the 5th consecutive day, bad weather forbids all US Fifteenth Air Force operations except reconnaissance missions.

US Twelfth Air Force undergoes a reorganization as a result of the loss of several operational units. XII Troop Carrier Command (Provisional), consisting of a single wing, is disbanded and its personnel absorbed into the 51st Troop Carrier Wing and other units, the 51st Troop Carrier Wing being placed under the administrative control of Twelfth Air Force. HQ XII Bomber Command is reduced to 1 officer and 1 enlisted man as other personnel are transferred to the 57th Bombardment Wing, which along with the 42d Bombardment Wing (Medium), is placed under the administrative control of Twelfth Air Force. HQ XII Bomber Command will exist as a retaining cadre until 10 Jun 44 when it is officially disbanded.

In Italy, P-40s attack gun positions and vehicles in the US Fifth Army battle area; P-40s and Spitfires of XII Air Support Command maintain cover over the Anzio beachhead area. P-47s attack a 2000-ton vessel in the Adriatic Sea.


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## Njaco (Mar 11, 2009)

*2 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet submarine Shch-216 of the Black Sea Fleet is sunk off Cape Tarkhankutskiy by a German submarine.

Awards were presented to pilots from JG 52. Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn was awarded the _Schwerter _(Swords) and Walter Krupinski and Lt. Erich Hartmann were each awarded the _Eichenlaub _(Oak Leaves).

*MEDITERRANEAN *: The rain stopped today, and bombers roamed the blue skies blasting the Germans who have attacked the Anzio garrison day and night since 28 February. Yesterday the Germans, hampered by driving rain, gave up the ground that they had won, and today the US 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion was relieved by the 30th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. Despite Hitler's fury, Kesselring has called off the offensive.

Over 400 people who boarded a freight train in the absence of any other transport die of carbon monoxide poisoning when the train stops in a tunnel at Salerno.

Lend Lease Aid to Turkey is cut off, due to their reluctance to join the Allies.

459th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (with B-24s) becomes operational, giving the Fifteenth Air Force 13 heavy bomber groups on combat status.

In Italy, nearly 300 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, escorted by 150+ P-38s and P-47s, support the US Fifth Army's Anzio beachhead, bombing the Cisterna di Roma-La Villa area, Velletri, and troop concentrations, guns and other military targets in the battle area at several points, including the Stazione di Campoleone and Carroceto areas. US Twelfth Air Force B-26s attack an assembly area E of Carroceto and, with B-25s, bomb guns and an assembly area NW of Cisterna di Roma, A-20s hit troops in the beachhead battle area; P-40s and A-36s blast troops and guns throughout the Anzio battle area, also hitting Cisterna and Littoria; P-40s and A-36s fly uneventful cover over Anzio. P-47s hit a motor vessel off Sibenik, Yugoslavia leaving it burning.

*WESTERN FRONT*: At 0259, U-744 attacked the combined Convoy MKS-40/SL-149 and reported three LSTs sunk. In fact, HMS LST-362 was sunk and HMS LST-324 was damaged.

117 RAF Halifaxes and 6 Mosquitos of 4, 6 and 8 Groups to attack the SNCA aircraft factory at Meulan-Les-Meureaux, 15 miles outside Paris. The Oboe marking was accurate and the Halifaxes seriously damaged the factory buildings. No aircraft lost.

15 Lancasters of RAF No 617 Squadron carried out a successful raid on an aircraft factory at Albert in France, 13 Mosquitos to 3 targets in Germany and a flying-bomb site, 2 RCM sorties, 8 Serrate patrols, 8 Stirlings minelaying off French Channel ports, 44 aircraft on Resistance operations, 10 OTU sorties.

84 of 106 US Eighth Air Force B-17s dispatched hit the air depot at Chartres, France; 1 B-17 is lost and 12 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 10 MIA. This mission is escorted by 89 P-38s, 145 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 47 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-38 is lost.

In France, 353 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets, Tergnier, and Amiens/Glisy and Rosieres-en-Santerre Airfields in morning and afternoon missions.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 244: 327 B-17s are dispatched to the Frankfurt am Main marshalling yard; only 101 hit the primary target because of PFF failures; 103 hit Frankfurt Offenbach, 49 hit Ludwigshafen, 20 hit Limburg, 12 hit Fischbach and 8 hit other targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost with 1 KIA, 5 WIA and 80 MIA. 154 B-24s are also dispatched to the same target; 36 hit the primary and 46 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 3 damaged beyond repair; casualties are 16 KIA, 4 WIA and 11 MIA. The bombers claim 2-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft. Escort is provided by 33 P-38s, 445 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 111 P-51s; 1 P-38 is damaged; the P-47s claim 13-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft, 3 P-47s are lost and 7 damaged, 2 pilots are MIA; the P-51s claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft, 2 P-51s are damaged and 1 pilot is MIA.

The OKL ordered that only the K-4 version of the Bf 109 was to be produced, halting production of all other versions, including the K-1 and K-3.


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## Bernhart (Mar 11, 2009)

have a question about the mosquito raids. What is a serrate? I'vee looked for the reference in diferent boooks and and online but can't find anything. 
Thanks


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## Njaco (Mar 12, 2009)

from 434 Squadron - Glossary Terms

"Serrate sortie - operation to locate and destroy enemy night fighters and combined with night bomber raids. Made use of airborne radar"


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## Njaco (Mar 15, 2009)

*3 MARCH 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN *: The 3rd Infantry Division is hit hard again at Anzio but is able to hold the German attacks.

Around 200 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with 50+ P-47s as escort, hit targets in Italy; the B-17s hit the Rome, Littorio and Tiburtina marshalling yards; the B-24s hit Canino landing ground and Viterbo and Fabrica di Roma air depots; 80+ B-24s and 100+ P-38s abort because of bad weather. US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb Rome/Ostiense and railroad stations at San Benedetto de Marsi; weather cancels light and other medium bomber operations; P-40s hit gun positions in the N Anzio beachhead area while A-36s attack the train and tented area between Magliano Romano and Rome; other P-40s fly patrol over the Anzio beachhead area.

The Luftwaffe kept up its efforts in Italy. A dozen Ju 88s of I. and III./LG 1 took off from Aviano along with elements of KG 76 to bomb Anzio harbour. During the Allied attack on Littorio and Fabrica there was no Luftwaffe opposition but fighters rose in defense of other targets. I./JG 2 claimed 5 B-24s and 5 P-47s while I./JG 4 claimed 3 more bombers. In all, 2 B-24s from the Viterbo force and 1 from the Canino raid were lost along with 4 P-47s of the escorting 325th FG. I./JG 4 lost 3 aircraft and 3 more damaged.

President Roosevelt announces that the Italian Fleet will be distributed among the United States, Great Britain, and Soviet Union.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 246: The USAAF launches the first daylight-bombing raid against Berlin. 555 B-17s and 193 B-24s are dispatched to industrial areas and aviation industry plants at Berlin, Erkner and Oranienburg but deteriorating weather and dense contrails force the formations to abort or seek targets of opportunity, i.e.: One bomber group of 29 bombers and 6 escort fighters failed to get the recall order and continued on to the target. The German air defenses failed to respond to such a small raid. When the bombers reached Berlin, there was a clearing in the cloud cover and they hit the city. 9 of 555 B-17s are lost, 61 hit Wilhelmshaven and 14 hit targets of opportunity; casualties are 2 KIA, 3 WIA and 83 MIA. 2 of 193 B-24s are lost and only 4 hit targets of opportunity; casualties are 3 KIA, 8 WIA and 20 MIA. The bombers claim 3-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. Escort is provided by 89 P-38s, 484 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 130 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; claim and loses are: 1 P-38 is lost and 1 damaged; 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 13 damaged; P-51s claim 8-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 P-51s are lost; 5 pilots are MIA. Uffz. Hans-Joachim Tunger of II./JG 1 (4 kills) is killed in action.

16 RAF Mosquitos flew to Berlin, 10 to Düsseldorf, 1 to Krefeld and 2 to Sottevaast flying-bomb site, 45 aircraft minelaying off French ports, 9 OTU sorties. No losses.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 3 Wellington minelaying sorties flown on this night by RAF No. 300 (Polish) Squadron, based at Ingham, were the last Wellington operations flown by a normal Bomber Command squadron; RCM squadrons of No 100 Group would continue to use Wellingtons in small numbers for several months and the OTUs would use Wellingtons until the end of the war.

Adolf Hitler orders the Channel Islands converted into fortresses.

In France, 218 B-26s bomb airfields at Laon/Couvron, Beauvais/Tille, Rosieres-en-Santerre, Roye/Amy and Montdidier, and military installations at Juvincourt-et-Damary and Berneval-le-Grand.

Lt. Wilhelm Johen of 5./NJG 5 was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 6./NJG 5.


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## Njaco (Mar 15, 2009)

*4 MARCH 1944*

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 247: 502 B-17s are dispatched to hit industrial areas in the suburbs of Berlin; bad weather forces aircraft to either turn back or hit targets of opportunity and only 1 wing attacks the primary target and a total of 249 bomb. A recall message was received and most of the bombers turned back. The lead aircraft for the 95th BG, "_I'll Be Around_", was piloted that day by Alvin Brown, with squadron leader Grif Mumford on board as a command pilot. The radio operator of the aircraft received the message, but told Mumford: (1) the message had the wrong salutation codes at the beginning, and (2) the signal was too strong and clear to have originated in England and was therefore a fake message sent by the Germans. Mumford elected to continue the mission, and the 95th BG, accompanied by elements of the 100th BG proceeded on to Berlin. They were met by P-51s of the 357th FG. Although the first US bomber over Berlin, "_I'll Be Around_" however was not the first to bomb the German capital. That distinction went to 2 pathfinder B-17s because the bomb bay doors of "_I'll Be Around_" had frozen shut.

15 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 120 damaged; casualties are 3 KIA, 11 WIA and 141 MIA. Targets: 100 hit Bonn, 35 hit Cologne, 33 hit Dusseldorf, 30 hit Berlin/Klein Machnow, 7 hit Frankfurt and 33 hit other targets of opportunity. B-24s were also dispatched but abort because of the weather. Escort is provided by 86 P-38s, 563 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 121 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 24 fighters were lost. Details are: 4 P-38s lost, 2 damaged beyond repair, 1 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA and 4 MIA. P-47s claim 3-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 4 P-47s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 5 damaged; casualties are 3 MIA. P-51s claim 5-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 16 P-51s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA and 16 MIA. Göring later said,


> "_When I saw the American fighters over Berlin I knew the jig was up._"


RAF Mosquito operations: 15 to Berlin, 6 to Duisburg, 1 to Aachen and 1 to Sottevaast, 10 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest, 76 aircraft on Resistance operations. 15 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron were unable to locate their target, the La Ricamerie needle-bearing factory near Lyons, because of cloud, and returned without bombing. No aircraft lost.

Erich Hartmann and Walter Krupinski of 7./JG 52 were recieved in Berlin for awards. As Krupinski remembered;


> "_Erich Hartmann and I had partied heavily the night before and were drunk as heck, despite the fact that we were to recieve our awards from der Fuhrer. Hartmann knew him from before, because as you know he was decorated 3 times by Hitler with the Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. I was getting the Oak Leaves along with Hartmann.... Hartmann was making some funny comments about him, mimicking him and he tried to stand still without falling over. I was not in much better shape. We only started to sober up as Hitler, after handing us our awards, began describing his plan for "Panzerfest", which was a way to immunize the army divisions against enemy tank attacks. He asked us about Lemberg, where we had come from and where our brave soldiers were fighting those Russian tanks and were dying terribly. He told us about the war in Russia and you had the feeling that you were listening to a complete madman. I thought he was a raving lunatic, and by the time the meeting was over, Hartmann and I needed another drink and Hartmann kept saying, 'I told you so!'"_



*WESTERN FRONT*: In France, 251 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and 21 A-20s scheduled to bomb Malines marshalling yard and Bernay Saint Martin Airfield abort the mission because of heavy cloud cover over the targets. 219 B-24's are dispatched to hit French airfields; 62 hit Bergerac Airfield, 60 hit the Chateau-Bernard Airfied at Cognac; 41 hit Landes de Bussac Airfield and 1 hits La Roche Airfield. The groups participating were the 44th, 93d, 389th, 392d, 445th, 446th 448th, 453d and 458th Bombardment Groups (Heavy). Fighter support consisted of 34 P-38's, 185 P-47's and 88 P-51's.

_'U-703' _attacked Convoy RA-57 near Kola Inlet with a spread of FAT torpedoes and sank SS _'Empire Tourist'_. At 1545 hours, _'U-703' _fired a Gnat and heard a detonation after 3 minutes 10 seconds, which was observed by destroyer HMS _'Milne'_. This destroyer then attacked the U-boat with depth charges for several hours. The master, 41 crewmembers, 23 gunners, two signalmen and one naval personnel from the _'Empire Tourist' _were picked up by minesweeper HMS _'Gleaner' _and landed at Aultbea, Loch Ewe.

_'U-472' _was sunk SE of Bear Island, Norway, by gunfire and rockets from destroyer HMS _'Onslaught' _and 816 Sqn Swordfish aircraft from escort carrier HMS _'Chaser'_. 23 dead and 30 survivors.

*MEDITERRANEAN *: German forces in Italy give up counterattacks on the Anzio front. There is a lull in the fighting giving the Germans time to rally their forces for defence.

In Italy, weather cancels most air operations; P-40s fly a few sorties against gun emplacements in the battle area, and others uneventfully patrol the Anzio area.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army pushes German forces back across the river Bug, except for a pocket at Uman. The 1st Ukrainian Front launches a new set of attacks driving toward Tarnopol.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Spitfire fighter operating from Milfield airfield, in Northumberland crashed at Yeavering Farm, Kirknewton, Northumberland at about 11.50, owing to engine trouble. The pilot, a member of the Free French Air Force, was injured.


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## Njaco (Mar 17, 2009)

*5 MARCH 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: 219 B-24's are dispatched to hit French airfields; 62 hit Bergerac Airfield, 60 hit the Chateau-Bernard Airfield at Cognac; 41 hit Landes de Bussac Airfield and 1 hits La Roche Airfield. The group participating were the 44th, 93d, 389th, 392d, 445th, 446th 448th, 453d and 458th Bombardment Groups (Heavy). Fighter support consisted of 34 P-38's, 185 P-47's and 88 P-51's. 2 P-38s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 1 pilot is killed and another MIA; 1 P-47 is damaged and 1 pilot is KIA; the P-51s claim 14-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-6 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 4 MIA.

217 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in the Saint-Omer-Abbeville, France area.

_'U-366' _sunk NW of Hammerfest, by rockets from an RN 816 Sqn Swordfish off escort carrier HMS _'Chaser'_. 50 dead (all hands lost).

The unescorted SS _'John Holt' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-66' _60 miles south of the Opobo River in the Gulf of Guinea. The master and one passenger were taken prisoner and were later lost with the U-boat. 41 crewmembers, nine gunners, three passengers and 40 Krooboys were picked up by the British tanker _'Empire Ruby' _and landed at Port Harcourt.

9 RAF Mosquitos went to Duisburg and 1 to Aachen, 4 RCM sorties, 4 Serrate patrols, 49 Stirlings and 17 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. 1 aircraft, believed to be a Halifax, was lost on one of the Resistance flights.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In a new Ukrainian offensive Soviet troops advance 31 miles and retake Izyaslav, Ostropol and Yampol. Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front offensive shatters the lines of Heeresgruppe Sud driving deep into the German rear. Meanwhile, Koniev's 2nd Ukrainian Front opens its attacks further south toward Uman.

*MEDITERRANEAN *: US Twelfth Air Force Troop Carrier Command (Provisional) is disbanded at Palermo. Weather again severely hampers operations in Italy, but P-40s hit Pontecorvo and A-36s attack Formia.


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## Njaco (Mar 17, 2009)

*6 MARCH 1944*

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 250: 504 B-17s and 226 B-24s are dispatched to hit industrial areas in the suburbs of Berlin; fierce fighter opposition claims 69 bombers (the highest number lost by the Eighth Air Force in a single day) and 11 fighters; the bombers claim 97-28-60 Luftwaffe fighters; details are: 248 B-17s hit secondary targets in the Berlin area; 18 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 172 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 8 WIA and 184 MIA. 226 B-17s hit targets of opportunity at Templin, Verden, Kalkeberge, Potsdam, Oranienburg and Wittenberg; 35 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; casualties are 15 WIA and 354 MIA. 198 B-24s hit the primary target (Genshagen industrial area), secondary targets in the Berlin area and targets of opportunity at Potsdam; 16 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 54 damaged; casualties are 15 KIA, 8 WIA and 148 MIA.

Escort is provided by 86 P-38s, 615 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and100 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; results are: P-38s claim 3-0-1Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost, the pilot is MIA. P-47s claim 36-7-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-47s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; casualties are 2 WIA and 5 MIA. P-51s claim 43-1-20 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged; casualties are 5 MIA. The fighters also claim 1-0-12 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.

Luftwaffe fighter _Gruppen _recieved the Green flare and Hptm. Rudolf Sinner, _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 54, led his 20 Bf 109s from their base at Luneberg and headed for an assembly point near Hanover. The fighter force, under the command of Hptm. Rolf Hermichen, included Stab and I./JG 11, III./JG 11, II./JG 11, III./JG 54, I./JG 1 and II./JG 1. In all there were 107 Bf 109s and Fw 190s - one of the largest Luftwaffe _Gefechtsverbands _ever vectored as a unit toward a bomber stream. I./JG 1 attacked first followed by III./JG 54. In less than a minute, 10 bombers went down. Hardest hit was the 100th BG - the "Bloody 100th" - who lost 9 B-17s.

Soon no fewer than 19 _Jagdgruppen_, 3 _Zerstorergruppen _and 4 _Nachtjagdgruppen_, together with some miscellaneaous units were taking on the bombers. Seven Fw 190s from _Sturmstaffel _1 joined with the Bf 109s of IV./JG 3 and headed towards Magdeburg where they were to form another _Gefechtsverband_. Once assembled, this large formation comprised a total of 41 Bf 110s and Me 410s from II. and III./ZG 26 along with I. and II./ZG 76. Behind this formation flew 72 Bf 109s and Fw 190s from Stab./JG 3, II./JG 3, IV./JG 3, _Sturmstaffel _1, I./JG 302 and the Jasta Erla works defense flight led by Hptm. Laube. The Zerstorers went in first, firing off their mortars. Asthey did so, P-51s from the Us 4th FG dived out of the sun onto them and caused the defenders to break off their attacks early. The result was that many of the mortars were ineffective. Following behind, the Bf 109s of IV./JG 3 attacked head-on out of the sun. 12 bombers would be shot down including 1 P-51.

More Luftwaffe fighters joined the battle including all three Gruppen of JG 26, II./JG 2, I./JG 1 and all 3 Gruppen of NJG 5. By the end, the Allies lost a total of 53 B-17s, 16 B-24s, 5 P-51s, 5 P-47s and 1 P-38 to fighters. But the Luftwaffe lost also. Of the 7 Bf 110s from III./ZG 26 involved, 5 were destroyed and 2 damaged. II./ZG 26 lost 5 Me 410s and I./ZG 76 lost 3 Bf 110s. NJG 5 lost 5 aircraft.

15 RAF Mosquitos flew to Hannover, 6 to Kiel and 1 to Krefeld, 1 RCM sortie, 30 aircraft on Resistance operations. No losses.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In France, 260 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb NOBALL (V-weapon) targets, Hirson marshalling yard, and Beauvais/Tille, Airfield; heavy clouds cause 50+ B-26s and A-20s to abort missions.

261 RAF Halifaxes and 6 Mosquitos of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups on the first of a series of raids on railway targets in France and Belgium in preparation for the invasion. Enormous damage is inflicted, with no loss of planes. This is the first attack of the Allied Transportation Plan, to disrupt German reinforcement routes prior to an amphibious landing.

A detachment of 22d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), ceases operating from Attlebridge and returns to base at Mount Farm, England with F-5s.

RAF bombers devastate Trappes railway yard as part of the plan to disable communications in Europe in the build-up to the invasion of Europe.

_'U-744' _(type VIIC) is sunk after being torpedoed by the British destroyer HMS _'Icarus'_, then after unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port, by depth charges from _'Icarus'_, the Canadian frigate HMCS _'St. Catherines'_, corvettes _'Fennel' _and _'Chilliwack' _and destroyers _'Chaudiere' _and _'Gatineau' _and the British corvette HMS _'Kenilworth Castle'_. 12 dead and 40 survivors. After 32 hours of attack _'U-744' _(OLtzS Heinz Blischke, CO), was forced to surface in the North Atlantic. Of the crew of 51, 4 senior ratings, 33 junior ratings survived. Members of _'Chilliwack' _boarded _'U-744' _prior to her sinking, OLtzS Blischke, was among those lost in this action. _'U-744' _was considered to be one of the classic U-boat hunts of the war. The C2 support group was searching 4 miles ahead of the 63-ship convoy HX 280, en route from New York City for Liverpool. _'Icarus' _obtained an HF/DF bearing and Gatineau obtained a sonar contact at 1000. _'U-744' _was a captained by a highly competent commander who proved to be a very wily opponent. Blischke repeatedly avoided attacks and evaded effectively in the disturbed water caused by depth charge explosions. The attackers expended every weapon in their inventory, including over 290 depth charges and there seemed to be no solution other than waiting for the U-boat to surface. After 32 hours of depth charge attacks, the German crew was at the extreme limit of their endurance and the submarine was seriously damaged. _'U-744' _surfaced and the crew unsuccessfully attempted to scuttle her. Members of _'Chilliwack' _boarded the boat and gathered papers and documents. _'Icarus' _torpedoed _'U-744' _but she did not sink. Then, after unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port, _'U-744' _was sunk by shallow-set depth charges.

_'U-973' _was sunk NNW of Narvik, by rockets from an RN 816 Sqn Swordfish from escort carrier HMS _'Chaser'_. 51 dead and 2 survivors.

_'U-737' _damaged an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator that was destroyed when forced to crash land.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: General Truscott of the US 6th Corps at Anzio, Italy, launches a major offensive on German forces.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force P-40s pound gun positions N of the Anzio beachhead (mostly NE of Ardea), and bomb Frosinone and hit guns near Littoria; A-36s fly armed reconnaissance of roads and railroad NE of Rome, hitting several vehicles and bombing railroad cars at Capranica.

Convoy UGS 33, bound from New York to Alexandria, Egypt, strays into Allied minefield off Tunis. US freighter _'Daniel Chester French' _is sunk by mines; four Armed Guard sailors (of the 28- man detachment), nine of the merchant crew (of 44 men) and 24 of the 86 Army passengers perish with the ship. British rescue tug _'Charon'_, steamer _'Thelma'_, and tug _'Rescue' _pick up the surviving crew and passengers. Freighter _'Virginia Dare' _is irreparably damaged. There are no casualties (including among the 28-man Armed Guard).

*EASTERN FRONT*: Malinovski's 3rd Ukrainian Front opens. 1st Ukrainian Front continues to make impressive gains cutting the Odessa-Lvov rail line and capturing Volvchisk.


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## Njaco (Mar 18, 2009)

*7 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Finnish government informs the Soviet government (via Kollontay in Sweden) that it is interested in continuing the peace probes.

In a routine gassing, 3,823 Czech Jews from the ghetto at Theresienstadt are killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The unescorted _'Valera' _(Master Henry J. Turner) was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-518' _off Barranquilla, Columbia. One crew member was lost. The survivors drifted several days before being picked up by a US Coast Guard vessel and taken to Panama.

304 RAF aircraft - 242 Halifaxes, 56 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups flew to Le Mans. No aircraft lost. The target was cloud-covered but heavy damage to the railway yards was believed to have been caused. Approximately 300 bombs fell in the railway yards; 250 wagons were destroyed, many railway lines were cut, a turntable was put out of action and 6 locomotives were hit.

In France, 112 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and 18 A-20s attack V-weapon sites on the Channel coast, military installations near Criel-sur-Mer and Greny, and targets of opportunity in the area; bad weather causes the recall of 150+ B-26s before they attack targets.

*GERMANY*: 15 RAF Mosquitos to 4 German targets, 6 RCM sorties, 1 Serrate patrol, 51 aircraft on Resistance operations, 6 OTU sorties. No losses.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 371st Fighter Group and 404th, 405th and 406th Fighter Squadrons at Bisterne with P-47s (first mission is 12 Apr); HQ 405th Fighter-Bomber Group and 509th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at Christchurch with P-47s (first mission is 11 Apr); HQ 409th Bombardment Group (Light) and 640th, 641st, 642d and 643d Bombardment Squadrons (Light) at Little Walden with A-20s (first mission is 13 Apr); 422d Night Fighter Squadron, Ninth Air Force, at Charmy Down with P-61s (first mission is 3 Jul).

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Around 300 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit targets in France and Italy; the B-17s bomb the Toulon, France submarine base; in Italy, B-24s hit marshalling yards at Poggibonsi, Pontassieve and Prato and air depots at Orvieto, Rome and Viterbo. P-47s and P-38s fly about 150 sorties in support of the bombers.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb the Rome/Ostiense marshalling yard while other B-25s hit the Littoria marshalling yard; A-20s strike the Zagarolo railroad station; P-40s attack enemy positions in the Anzio beachhead area with good results, while A-36s hit communication at Montebello, railroad station near Civitavecchia, gun emplacements near Littoria Airfield, and a train at Monterotondo; P-40s over the Anzio beachhead encounter no air opposition.


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## Njaco (Mar 18, 2009)

*8 MARCH 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A new mark of Spitfire, the XIV, is coming into RAF service. The Merlin engine of earlier marks has been replaced by a two-stage Griffon. This and the re-designed airframe enable the Mark XIV to reach speeds of almost 450mph, as well as markedly improving the rate of climb. For some time the Spitfire has been struggling against the Focke-Wulf Fw190. These improvements will enable it to match its rival on much better terms.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: More than a million Italian workers have marched out of the factories to strike against "German pillaging" in occupied northern Italy. German tanks and SS infantrymen are being used in an attempt to force the workers back. The Germans have also threatened to impose a quisling Gauleiter and martial law, with the death penalty for strike leaders.

US freighter _'Virginia Dare'_, irreparably damaged by Allied mine on 6 March off Tunis, breaks up after encountering heavy weather; she is subsequently written off as a total loss.

In Italy, B-25s strike at the Orte marshalling yard and Orte-Fabrica di Roma railroad; B-26s hit the Rome/ Tiburtina marshalling yard and dock area at Porto Santo Stefano; P-40 fighter-bombers hit gun positions and a road junction near Rome while A-36s attack a road junction near Montalto di Castro, also hitting a bridge and a train, and guns and a castle SW of Celano; P-47s hit gun emplacements; P-40s strafe vehicles near Rome/Via Appia.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Adolf Hitler issues Führer Order 11, defining two classes of fortresses on the Eastern front. Fortified Areas are to hold down enemy forces, and counter-attack. Local Strong-points are to defend against enemy penetrations past Fortified Areas.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 252: The primary target is the ball bearing plant at Erkner, a suburb of Berlin; enemy opposition is fierce and 37 bombers and 16 fighters are lost; 320 of 414 B-17s and 150 of 209 B-24s dispatched hit the primary; 36 B-17s hit Wildau and targets of opportunity; 33 B-24s hit Berlin and targets of opportunity; the bombers claim 63-17-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 28 B-17s and 9 B-24s are lost, 1 B-17 and 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; casualties are 4 KIA, 14 WIA and 364 MIA. Escort is provided by 104 P-38s, 613 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 174 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; claims/losses are: P-38s claim 9-2-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-38s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA and 4 MIA. P-47s claim 49-6-18 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 P-47s are lost, 13 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 2 WIA and 10 MIA. P-51s claim 29-4-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; casualties are 4 MIA. An additional 8-4-7 Luftwaffe aircraft are claimed on the ground.

Luftwaffe opposition was fierce. III./JG 26 attacked the bombers and Oblt. Mietusch, _Geschwaderkommodore_, gained his 60th victory. But when he attempted to attack the withdrawing bombers he was shot down by escorting P-47s. He baled out and landed but sustained injuries that kept him out of action for several weeks. Major Muller of the new IV(Sturm)./JG 3 destroyed 3 bombers to reach 122 victories. The fighters of II./JG 1 lost their _Gruppenkommandeur _when Hptm. Segatz (40 kills) was killed. Major Heinz Bar took over as acting _Gruppenkommandeur_.

A B-17, "Phyllis Marie" went down in Occupied Europe with battle damage and was captured intact. Using a large stock of spare B-17 parts, "Phyllis Marie" was made flyable and transferred to KG 200. US forces re-captured the plane on a runway at Altenburg on 4 May 1945.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Netherlands, 225+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack Volkel Airfield once and Soesterberg Airfield twice in morning and afternoon missions.


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## Njaco (Mar 18, 2009)

*9 MARCH 1944*

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 253: 8 bombers and 1 fighter are lost on missions to Germany; the bombers claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 221 bombers are damaged; details are: 339 of 361 B-17s dispatched hit Berlin; 6 B-17s are lost and 1 is damaged beyond repair; casualties are 10 KIA, 6 WIA and 43 MIA. 150 of 165 B-24s hit secondary targets at Hannover, Brunswick and Nienburg; 2 B-24s are lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; casualties are 12 WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided by 83 P-38s, 572 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 153 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; no claims are made; 1 P-38 is lost, 2 P-38s and 1 P-51 are damaged beyond repair; casualties are 1 KIA, 1 WIA and 1 MIA.

8 RAF Mosquitos to Düsseldorf, 2 Serrate patrols. No losses.

*MEDITERRANEAN*:I n Italy, B-25s strike the dock area of Porto Stefano, some bombs falling in the Port'oErcole area; B-25s bomb a bridge at Montalto di Castro; A-20s hit a tank repair depot N of Tivoli; P-40s blast gun positions W of Campoleone, W of Pratica di Mare, and S of Ciampino; A-36s bomb Capranica railroad station and targets nearby; and fighters fly uneventful patrols over Anzio.

Destroyer _'Edison' _(DD-439) sinks German submarine _'U-450' _off Anzio. The _'Edison' _was assisted by depth charges from the British escort destroyers HMS _'Blankney'_, HMS _'Blencathra'_, HMS _'Brecon' _and HMS _'Exmoor' _and the US destroyer USS _'Madison'_. 42 survivors (No casualties).

US freighter _'Clark Mills' _is damaged by mine off North African coast and beached off Bizerte,the ship is later written off as a total loss. There are no casualties to either the merchant crew, passengers, or the 42-man Armed Guard.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Flower class corvette HMS _'Asphodel' _is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-575' _(Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Boehme) WNW of Cape Finisterre. There are 92 casualties, but only 5 survivors.

USCG-manned destroyer escort USS _'Leopold'_, was on her second voyage and escorting Convoy CU-16, when she got an acoustic contact about 400 miles south of Iceland and turned to investigate it. But before the destroyer escort reached the U-boat, she was hit at 2200 by a Gnat from _'U_-_255' _and abandoned. The vessel remained afloat but sank early the next morning. Only 28 survivors were picked up by sister ship USS _'Joyce'_.

44 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked an aircraft factory at Marignane near Marseilles and carried out an accurate raid in bright moonlight. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front continues to drive west capturing Starokonstantinov near Shepetovka and reaching the city of Tarnopol.


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## Njaco (Mar 24, 2009)

*10 MARCH 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Convoy RA-57, returning from Russia, arrives safely in Loch Ewe having lost one ship, sunk three U-boats and damaged two others.

_'U-275' _sunk in the English Channel south of Newhaven, by a mine. 48 dead (all hands lost).

_'U-681' _sunk at 0930hrs in the English Channel west of Isles of Scilly by depth charges from a US Liberator aircraft (VPB-103). 11 dead and 38 survivors. The boat struck a rock while submerged near the Bishop Rock and was forced to surface and was then attacked by the Liberator aircraft. It sank roughly 4 miles to the north-east of the Isles of Scilly.

SS _'Svava' _(1,216t) a Ministry of Transport coal ship was bound for the Thames from Warkworth. When off Blyth she collided with the _'Fort Beausjour' _and sank in 35 metres of water. She was built in 1904.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army has made another breakthrough, the third in a week, in the Ukraine. On the whole 500-mile front, from the approaches to the Dnieper estuary north to Tarnopol, von Manstein's Army Group South is in flight, desperately trying to avoid being encircled. The Wehrmacht, bogged down in the black Ukrainian mud, is abandoning arms and equipment in its flight. The Russians claim to have captured 200 Tiger and Panther tanks among the booty. Konev's 2nd Ukrainian Front opens a fresh offensive utterly destroying the German defensive positions along a front of 100 miles. The German airbase at Uman falls in the attacks and some of the mobile formations drive 40 miles into the German rear. Meanwhile, Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front captures Proskurov to the north. A Pravda report says that;


> _"it seems incredible that the army could advance one step in this flooded terrain, but it has reached that superlative point at which all obstacles are powerless to halt it."_


*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-26s bomb the Rome/Tiburtina marshalling yard and unsuccessfully attack the Orvieto railroad bridge, while B-25s hit the Littoria marshalling yard; P-40s and A-36s strike at enemy positions on the coast at San Felice Circeo, gun positions E of Littoria, guns and tanks at Cisterna di Roma, railroad at Montalto di Castro, train at Monte Libretti station and railway buildings at Zagarolo; and fighters patrol the Anzio area without incident.

_'U-343' _is sunk in the Mediterranean south of Sardinia, by depth charges from ASW trawler HMS _'Mull'_. 51 dead (all hands lost).

_'U-450' _ is sunk in the western Mediterranean south of Ostia, by depth charges from escort destroyers HMS _'Blankney'_, _'Blencathra'_, _'Brecon' _and _'Exmoor' _and destroyer USS _'Madison'_. 42 survivors (No casualties).

The US freighter _'William B. Woods' _(Master Edward Ames Clark), escorted by _'Aretusa'_, was hit on the port side by a Gnat torpedo from _'U-952' _about 47 miles northeast of Palermo, Sicily. The torpedo struck in the #5 hold, opening a hole twelve feet wide, breaking the shaft, blowing off the hatch cover and beams and throwing cargo over the deck, but did not ignite the bombs stowed in that hold. The master tried to save the ship, but the engines had to be secured as she settled by the stern and most of the nine officers, 34 crewmen, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) and 407 US Army troops began to abandon ship after 25 minutes in four lifeboats, one raft and 14 Army rafts. 70 men had to remain behind and constructed makeshift rafts before they jumped overboard when the ship sank by the stern at 19.40 hours. One armed guard and 51 troops were lost. The survivors were picked up by the escort and two small British motor boats and taken to Palermo. Escorting Italian destroyer escort _'Aretusa' _provides no help. Complaints were made about the actions of the Italian escort due to her deplorable rescue efforts.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-845' _(type IXC/40) is sunk by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS _'Forester'_, the Canadian destroyer HMCS _'St Laurent'_, the corvette HMCS _'Owensound' _and the frigate HMCS _'Swansea'_. 10 dead and 45 survivors. KKpt Weber was among those lost in the action. The attacking ships were part of Escort Groups C-1 and EG-9, which had been sent to support Convoy SC-154. _'U-845'_, who had conducted one unsuccessful attack, surfaced astern of the convoy to recharge batteries and to reposition for further attacks. _'St Laurent' _sighted her at 1647, who closed at high speed and forced the U-boat to submerge. _'U-845’s' _batteries had been depleted to 60-percent, which placed her at a major disadvantage. A prolonged series of attacks lasted until 22 -34 when the submarine re-surfaced and attempted to disengage. Weber made many innovative attempts to evade but was thwarted by ideal acoustic conditions and bright moonlight. A running gun battle ensued that resulted in the sinking of the submarine at 23 -38. _'St Laurent' _expended 119 rounds of 4.7-inch and 1,440 rounds of 20-mm ammunition. KKpt Weber was killed by gunfire.

_'U-625' _(type VIIC) is sunk west of Ireland, by depth charges from a Canadian 422 Sqn Sunderland aircraft (RCAF Sqdn. 422/U). 53 dead (all hands lost). _'U-625' _was engaged in operations against the 30-ship Halifax to Liverpool convoy SC-154 when she was attacked on the surface in the late afternoon. The submarine dove as she was attacked but resurfaced three minutes later and the crew abandoned the boat. A signal was sent by lamp to the aircraft from the survivors in their life raft that read "_Nice bombing_." SC-154 arrived in Liverpool on 15 Mar 44 with all of its ships intact.

_'U-575' _attacked the convoy SL-150, which was combined with convoy MKS-41 and sank HMS _'Asphodel' _(K 56) (Lt M.A. Halliday, RNZNR) with a Gnat west-northwest of Cape Finisterre. The commander, four officers and 87 ratings were lost. Only five survivors were picked up by HMS _'Clover' _(K 134) (Lt T.E. Fanshawe, RNR). After the attack the U-boat was hunted by escorts for 18 hours but managed to escape.

102 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group carried out moonlight raids on 4 factories in France -33 aircraft to the Michelin works at Clermont-Ferrand, 30 to an aircraft factory at Châteauroux, 23 to Ossun and 16 (from 617 Squadron) to the La Ricamerie factory. All targets were successfully bombed. 1 Lancaster lost from the Clermont-Ferrand raid.

Obstlt. Lothat von Janson, _Geschwaderkommodore _of ZG 1, was posted as missing in action over the Bay of Biscay. His Ju 88C-6 was shot down - a victim of RAF No. 157 Sqdrn. Oblt. Erich von Selle was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _in his place.

*GERMANY*: The first 'B' series prototype of the Arado 234 V-9 was test flown, piloted by Joachim Carl. This ninth prototype, designated V-9 or Ar 234B-0 was the first Ar 234B with abuilt-in undercarriage. By this time, production lines were being set up to build the aircraft in quanity and the first 20 'B' series came off the line in June.


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## Njaco (Mar 25, 2009)

*11 MARCH 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: 34 of 51 US Eighth Air Force B-24s hit V-weapon sites at Wizernes, France; 1 B-24 is damaged. Escort is provided by 40 P-38s and 213 P-47s; 2 P-47s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 2 MIA. 61 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb V-weapon sites in N France; 53 abort because of weather and navigational difficulties.

About 100 US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s, escorted by 30+ P-38s, bomb the harbor at Toulon, France._'U-380' _was destroyed during the air raid on Toulon. One man from its crew was killed. [Maschinenmaat Jonny Christoph]. USAAF aircraft also sink the _'U-410'_.

_'UIT-22' _is sunk south of the Cape of Good Hope, by a South African aircraft. 43 dead (all hands lost). Launched as the Italian submarine Alpino Bagnolini on 28 October 1939, she was taken over by the Germans, following the Italian capitulation, at her Bordeaux, France base on 9 September, 1943. These boats were roughly 1166tons on the surface, in many ways they were similar in measurements to the German type IXC, they had 8 torpedo tubes and carried 14 torpedoes and had a complement of roughly 57 in Italian service.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Malinovski's 3rd Ukrainian Front opens a fresh offensive capturing Berislav and Kherson in the southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, Zhukov's forces drive to the Bug River.

*NORTH AMERICA* : A production order for 100 Bell P-59 Airacomet jets is placed.

*GERMANY*: 47 RAF Mosquitos flew to 6 German cities, with the largest raid being by 20 aircraft to Hamburg, 4 Serrate patrols, 43 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off Brest and Biscay ports, 22 aircraft on Resistance operations, 21 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.

120 of 124 US Eighth Air Force B-17s dispatched hit the marshalling yard at Munster; 1 B-17 drops on Bentheim as a target of opportunity and 3 drop on Burgsteinfurt accidentally; 1 B-17 is lost and 24 damaged; casualties are 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 90 P-47s and 50 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost and 2 P-47s are damaged; casualties are 2 MIA.

Major Walther Dahl of JG 3 and JG 300 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for achieving 67 victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, 100+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s, escorted by 50+ P-47s, hit the marshalling yard at Padua; other B-24s bomb the marshalling yards at Pontassieve and Prato and hit the airfield at Iesi. The bombers and fighters claim destruction of 30+ enemy aircraft in the air. US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers strike at Florence, Orvieto and Fabriano marshalling yards with good results; P-40, A-36, and P-47 fighter-bombers attack a supply depot, railroad station, and factory in areas NE of Monterotondo, and numerous other targets, including gun positions in the battle areas, railroad facilities, and 2 supply trains.


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## Njaco (Mar 25, 2009)

*12 MARCH 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: With an invasion attempt of occupied Europe imminent the Allies have almost sealed off Eire from the rest of the world, following Dublin's refusal to expel Axis diplomats. For the time being 250,000 Irish citizens working in Britain cannot return home, nor can any of the 164,000 serving with the British armed forces. Mr Churchill recognizes that this decision is "painful" in view of the contribution of so many Irishmen to the war effort. There were tears at Liverpool as some Irish girls were refused permission to sail home yesterday, but 1,000 others did leave.

A FAA Supermarine Seafire lost its way during a search for missing aircraft and landed at Gormanstown Aerodrome, Ireland. It was refueled and returned the same day.

An RCAF Armstrong Whitworth landed at Dublin Airport, Colinstown, while lost on a training mission but returned the next day.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Konev's forces reach the River Bug at Gayvoron.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-311' _shot down an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 256: 46 of 52 B-24s dispatched hit a V-weapon site at St Pol/Siracourt, France and 6 hit targets of opportunity, all using blind-bombing techniques; 1 B-24 is lost and 26 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Light cruisers _'Philadelphia' _(CL-41) and _'Brooklyn' _(CL-40) provide gunfire support off Anzio; they repeat the missions on the 13th. On both occasions they encounter shore battery fire without damage.

Submarine chaser PC-624 is damaged when she runs aground three miles east of Palermo, Sicily.

345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, ceases operating form Corsica with P-39s and returns to base on Sardinia.

*GERMANY*: 14 RAF Mosquitos were sent out, 11 to Aachen and 3 to Duisburg; none lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 25, 2009)

*13 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Malinovski's 3rd Ukrainian Front captures Kherson.

The USSR and Italy re-establish diplomatic links.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-575' _(type VIIC) is sunk north of the Azores, by depth charges from the Canadian frigate HMCS _'Prince Rupert'_, the US destroyer USS _'Hobson'_, destroyer escort _'Haverfield'_, and by depth charges from a British Wellington and Fortress aircraft (Sqdns. 172/B and 206/R and 220/J) and Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier USS _'Bogue'_. 18 dead and 37 survivors. _'U-575' _was located by _'Bogue's' _a/c and was soon joined by _'Haverfield'_. _'Prince Rupert' _was detached from the passing convoy ON 227 to join the action. Both ships attacked with depth charges and hedgehog but with no result. They were joined by USS _'Hobson'_, which began slow creeping attack that forced the submarine to the surface. Amidst a hail of fire from all three ships and an 'Avenger' a/c from _'Bogue'_, the submarine crew abandoned ship as she sank. OLtzS Bohmer was among the survivors.

The unescorted _'Peleus' _was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-852' _and sank rapidly about 500 miles north of Ascension Island. The U-boat tried to destroy all evidences of the sinking by shooting at debris and rafts from the ship. During this action some survivors were killed and only four men were alive when the U-boat left the area. One of them later died, the remaining three survivors were picked up by the Portuguese SS _'Alexandre Silva' _on 20 April and taken to Lobito, Angola.

213 RAF Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos of Nos 4,6 and 8 Groups on a repeat raid to Le Mans. 1 Halifax lost. The local report shows that the Maroc Station and two nearby factories were severely damaged, with many lines being cut and 15 locomotives and 800 wagons being destroyed. 39 RAF Mosquitos flew to 5 German targets, with the largest raid being by 26 aircraft to Frankfurt, 4 RCM sorties, 4 Serrate patrols, 25 Stirlings and 10 Halifaxes minelaying off French Channel ports, 19 aircraft on Resistance operations, 21 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 257: 127 B-17s and 144 B-24s are dispatched to bomb V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais, France area but the strike is cancelled due to bad weather; 7 B-17s bomb Poix Airfield as a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 61 B-17s and 13 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 6 KIA, 1 WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided by 213 P-47s; 1 P-47 is damaged.

40 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack a V-weapon site at Lottinghen/Les Grands Bois, France; 37 abort due to bad weather.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-26s bomb railway bridges NW and W of Sarzana and at Viareggio. hit tracks S of the latter, and, along with South African Air Force (SAAF) light bombers, bomb Fabriano marshalling yard; B-25s bomb Spoleto marshalling yard, hitting E and W chokepoints and line to Terni, and also attack Perugia marshalling yard with less successful results; and A-36s bomb a railroad station between Orte and Orvieto while P-40s hit a supply dump near Velletri and gun positions along a beachhead line directly S of Rome.

The 24 A-36s of the 86th FBG attacking the railroad station between Orte and Orvieto were intercepted by 25 Bf 109s and Fw 190s. Five pilots from 2., 3. and 4./JG 2 each claimed a victory within a span of 9 minutes but actual US losses were 3 aircraft lost while a 4th was lost on the return home.


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## Njaco (Mar 29, 2009)

*14 MARCH 1944*

*GERMANY*: Werner von Braun and two assistants are arrested, accused of diverting resources from military rocket projects to peaceful ones, such as the movement of mail by rocket.

30 RAF Mosquitos to Düsseldorf, 2 Mosquitos on RCM sorties, 3 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. No losses.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The unescorted Greek SS _'Peleus' _was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-852' _and sank rapidly about 500 miles north of Ascension Island. The U-boat tried to destroy all evidences of the sinking by shooting at debris and rafts from the ship. During this action some survivors were killed and only four men were alive when the U-boat left the area. One of them later died, the remaining three survivors were picked up by the Portuguese steam merchant _'Alexandre Silva' _on 20 April and taken to Lobito, Angola.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-26s bomb Prenestina marshalling yard and nearby chemical plant; B-25s strike Terni and Orte marshalling yards, causing considerable damage, while A-20s attack tank repair facilities unsuccessfully; P-40s attack guns in the Anzio beachhead area and also hit a supply dump; and A-36s and P-47s hit railway stations and the town of Ortia. 3./JG 2 lost its Staffelkapitaen, Hptm. Adalbert Sommer (who was killed) and Lt. Wolf Esche (baled out, wounded) when they attacked the B-26 raid on Prenestina and were bounced by 64 Spitfires from US 31st FG and RAF No. 244 Sqdrn. 4 Fw 190s were claimed by the Allies for the loss of one B-26 of the 42d BW claimed by Ofw. Seigfried Lemke of 1./JG 2.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Halifax bomber returning on three engines from a raid on Le Mans railway yard, made it back to its destination, Burn airfield near Selby, but it attempted to overshoot and crashed near Stainer Hall. The crew escaped unhurt.

RAF No. 350 (Belgian) Sqdrn has a tough day flying, mostly dusk landings, bombing, formation flying and night flying. F/O Lavigne lost its port wing on take off (MN-Z , MK192). J. Morel has to bail out after his engine cut. Flying just above the sea, he successfully ditched near fishing boats and was rescued. F/O Siroux and F/Sgt Laloux cut each others wings on landing.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 3rd Ukrainian Front traps about 20,000 German soldiers north of Kherson.


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## Njaco (Mar 29, 2009)

*15 MARCH 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fresh attacks are launched against Cassino. The attacks are preceded by a massive aerial and artillery bombardment as 14,000 tons of bombs and 190,000 artillery shells are targeted on the German 1st Fallshirmjager (Paratroop) Division. 300+ B-24s and B-17s bomb Cassino, the area S of Cassino and areas near Venafro in support of the US Fifth Army; 250+ other heavy bombers return to base without bombing because of complete cloud cover of their target areas; extensive fighter cover over the Cassino area is provided by P-38s, and P-47s fly 2 sweeps over the Viterbo-Canino area; there is no fighter opposition. Medium and fighter-bombers, together with Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force (MASAF) heavy bombers and other aircraft of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) in the greatest air effort yet made in the MTO, rain bombs upon enemy concentrations in Cassino and surrounding areas. The 2nd New Zealand Division spearheads the attack with the 4th Indian Division ready to follow up. Tank support is unable to negotiate the newly formed rubble. German resistance proved to be quite strong despite the massive bombardment. 140 civilians and 96 Allied soldiers are killed. In four hours, 775 Allied bombers have flattened this pleasant valley town. The attack represented more than two aircraft for every one of the German defenders - five tons of bombs for each soldier - such is the Allied determination to break the deadlock. The Allies reckoned that no one could have survived the bombing - let alone the 195,969 shells that followed. Yet the New Zealand 6th Infantry Brigade came under intense defensive fire when it clambered over the debris into the town. Nonetheless, the Allied forces were able to gain footholds on Monte Cassino at Castle and "Hangman's Hill". Gurkhas have climbed to Point 435 on the army maps, known as "Hangman's Hill", 440 yards from the monastery.

Coastal tug _'Empire Ace' _is sunk and US freighter _'China Mail' _is damaged by bomb fragments during German air raid on Naples, Italy. There are no casualties among _'China Mail' _ship's complement, which includes 13 Armed Guard sailors.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The headlong advance in the Ukraine continues as Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front captures Kalinkova and approaches Vinnitsa. Konev's 2nd Ukrainian Front crosses the Bug River (the starting point in 1941 for Operation _'Barbarossa'_) and captures Vapnyarka cutting the main rail line to Odessa.

German forces mass on the Hungarian border.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first production Supermarine Spitfire F. 21 (LA 187) makes its first flight today. Unlike earlier marks, the F. 21 has lost the characteristic elliptical wing, the change in plan-form accompanying major structural alterations including higher tensile spar booms. The wing area is slightly increased and the tail unit re-designed. The undercarriage is strengthened and the range extended by fitting 18-gallon fuel tanks in the wings.

A Halifax bomber crashed near Selby Brickworks at 03.20 on returning to Burn Airfield near Selby, from operations near Stuttgart. The crew were all killed.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-653' _(type VIIC) is sunk, by depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft of the British escort carrier HMS _'Vindex'_, and by depth charges from the British sloops HMS _'Starling' _and _'Wild Goose'_. 51 dead (all hands lost).

Destroyer escort _'McAnn' _(DE-179), coordinating her operations with USN and USAAF planes, rescues survivors of a crashed B-17 off coast of Brazil.

140 RAF aircraft - 94 Halifaxes, 38 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitos - attacked railway yards at Amiens. 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling lost. 22 Lancasters of RAF No 5 Group to an aero-engine factory at Woippy, near Metz. 10/10ths cloud caused the attack to be abandoned before any bombs were dropped. No aircraft lost. 17 RAF Mosquitos to 5 German targets and 10 Mosquitos to airfields in Holland, 2 RCM sorties, 11 Serrate patrols, 2 Stirlings minelaying off Texel, 31 aircraft on Resistance operations, 18 OTU sorties. 1 Serrate Mosquito lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 260: 8 P-47s are dispatched, 2 with 2x1,000 pound (454 kg) bombs, against an enemy barge in the Zuider Zee, The Netherlands to test the feasibility of this type of operation; near misses are scored.

In France, 118 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack marshalling yards at Aulnoye and Haine-Saint-Pierre and Chievres Airfield; during the afternoon, 10 B-26s using "Oboe" to test its accuracy, bomb Coxyde Airfield with poor results; dive-bombing missions using fighters begin with a 7-plane attack on Saint-Valery-en-Caux Airfield.

A directive states that the Ninth Air Force is released from first priority commitment to assist the Eighth Air Force. P-51s of the Ninth Air Force, committed to the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF), will continue to escort heavy bombers when required by the Eighth Air Force. Ninth Air Force Advanced HQ assumes the function of target selection and mission planning for the IX Bomber Command. AEAF HQ has the authority to indicate percentage of effect to be expended on each type of target on a long-term basis.

*GERMANY*: 863 RAF aircraft - 617 Lancasters, 230 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - are ordered to attack Stuttgart. The German fighter controller split his forces into 2 parts. The bomber force flew over France nearly as far as the Swiss frontier before turning north-east to approach Stuttgart. This delayed the German fighters contacting the bomber stream but, when the German fighters did arrive, just before the target was reached, the usual fierce combats ensued. 37 aircraft - 27 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes - were lost, 4.3 per cent of the force. 2 of the Lancasters force-landed in Switzerland. Adverse winds delayed the opening of the attack and the same winds may have been the cause of the Pathfinder marking falling back well short of the target, despite the clear weather conditions. Some of the early bombing fell in the centre of Stuttgart but most of it fell in open country south-west of the city. The Akademie was damaged in the centre of Stuttgart and some housing was destroyed in the south-western suburbs. Martin Becker of 2./NJG 6 took off and shot down a Lancaster over Bad Berka bd 6 minutes later claimed another near Weimar-Naumberg. Still over Naumberg, Becker destroyed 3 more Lancasters between 22:03 hours and 22:06 hours. Nine minutes later he downed another Lancaster over Jenna. Another Lancaster was downed northeast of Swabisch with his rear gunner Johanssen using his guns. Fifteen minutes later while attacking another Lancaster near Unterschlauersbach, his radio caught fire from return fire. Again, Johanssen assisted with bringing the Lancaster down. At 23:37 hours he attacked a B-17 near Crailsheim and again Johanssen succeeded in bringing the bomber down. Their score for the night was 9 bombers shot down. But Major Heinrich Wohlers of Stab I./NJG 6 (29 kills) was killed over Echterdingen. Total effort for the RAF for the night: 1,116 sorties, 41 aircraft (3.7 per cent) lost. The number of sorties flown on this night was a new record.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 259: 185 of 187 B-17s and 145 of 157 B-24s hit the industrial area at Brunswick, Germany and targets of opportunity; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 2 B-24s are a lost and 31 B-17s and 15 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 4 WIA and 30 MIA. Escort is provided by 121 P-38s and 467 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s; 4 P-38s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 4 pilots MIA; P-47s claim 39-3-13 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground, 1 P-47 is lost and 5 damaged, casualties are 1 MIA.

Otto von Below (86), a German commandant (WW I), died.

Oblt. Georg-Peter Eder (33 kills) recovered from his wounds and was assigned as Staffelkapitaen of 6./JG 1.


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## Njaco (Mar 29, 2009)

*16 MARCH 1944*

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 262: 2 primary targets and targets of opportunity in Germany are attacked; fighter opposition is heavy against the first force of bombers over France and Germany; the bombers claim 68-32-43 Luftwaffe aircraft; 23 bombers and 10 fighters are lost and 179 damaged: 401 of 501 B-17s hit Augsburg, 46 bomb Gessertshausen and 18 hit Ulm; 18 B-17s are lost; casualties are 1 KIA, 10 WIA and 171 MIA. 197 of 213 B-24s bomb Friedrichshafen and 13 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-24s are lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; casualties are 6 KIA, 7 WIA and 46 MIA. Escort is provided by 125 P-38s, 608 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 135 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; claims and losses are: 1 P-38 is lost, P-47s claim 25-3-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-47s are lost and 5 damaged; 3 pilots are MIA. P-51s claim 53-4-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 P-51s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 5 damaged; 6 pilots are MIA. The fighters also claim 1-0-13 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.

8 RAF Mosquitos flew to Cologne and 1 to Duisburg (only Cologne was bombed), 2 RCM sorties, 2 Serrate patrols, 3 Stirlings minelaying off the Dutch coast. No losses.

Because if the new Lichtenstein SN 2 airbourne radar's ability to counteract RAF 'window', the _'Wilde Sau's' _Fliegerdivision was ordered to disband. Parts of JG 301 joined in the defensive battles for Ploesti in Rumania, JG 302 started to fly combat missions over Hungary and Austria and JG 300 stayed in the Reich on _Reichsverieidigung _duties.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fighting continues at Cassino but the New Zealand troops are unable to move the German Paratroops. In Italy, light, medium and fighter-bombers blast gun positions in the Cassino-Piedimonte area as the battle of Cassino rages on; fighter-bombers also hit gun positions along the Anzio beachhead front.

_'U-392' _(type VIIC) is sunk by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Affleck'_, the destroyer HMS _'Vanoc' _and depth charges from 3 US Catalina aircraft (VP 63). 52 dead (all hands lost). PBY-5As (VP 63) employed MAD gear to detect the German submarine as the enemy boat attempted to transit the Straits of Gibraltar; the PBYs bombed the U-boat, and HMS _'Affleck' _and destroyer HMS _'Vanoc' _depth charge her. _'Affleck' _delivered the coup de grace.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 130 RAF aircraft - 81 Halifaxes, 41 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitos - repeated the previous night's attack on Amiens. No aircraft lost. The Bomber Command report again reported successful bombing. 21 Lancasters of RAF No 5 Group, mostly from 617 Squadron, carried out a successful precision attack on the Michelin tyre factory at Clermont-Ferrand. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 29, 2009)

*17 MARCH 1944*

*GERMANY*: 28 RAF Mosquitos flew to Cologne and 2 to Aachen, 1 Mosquito on RCM sortie. No losses.

A US plane named “God Bless Our Ship” was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Berlin and crash-landed outside the city. Lt. George Lymburn (1924-2005) was captured and sent to Stalag Luft 1, where he was liberated by Russian soldiers in April, 1945.

_'U-28' _a type VIIA, was sunk at the U-Boat pier at Neustadt after an operational accident. It was raised later the same month, but struck 4/Aug/44.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The battle for Cassino rages on as New Zealand and Indian troops attack southwest of the town along Snake's Head Ridge capturing the railway station. The Germans meanwhile launch counterattacks against Castle and Hangman's Hill. In Italy, B-25s bomb Montepescali marshalling yard, Cecina, Roccasecca and Castrocielo, while A-20s hit troop concentrations in the Cassino area; and fighter-bombers hit guns in the Cassino area and attack a nearby railroad bridge and underpass with good results.

American B-24s, escorted by P-47s and P-38s, today opened the Allied bombing assault on Austria with a raid by more than 200 planes on industrial targets in Vienna. The planes of the US 15th Army Air Force, flew from airfields in Italy. Some 100 B-17s aborted the raid because of bad weather. Though many Austrians are serving in the German armed forces, the country has until now been largely untouched by war. The Allies appear to be in two minds about it; the Moscow declaration by Allied foreign ministers last November spoke of Austria as;


> "the first country to fall victim to Nazi aggression",


but then warned Austrians that they have;


> "a responsibility for participation in the war at the side of Hitlerite Germany."


_'U-371' _fired a Gnat at Convoy SNF-17 about 30 miles MME of Bougie and observed a hit on a ship, which settled by the stern after the hit. At 0942, a spread of three torpedoes was fired and two hits were heard. After another Gnat at 0948, a further detonation on another ship was heard. The first torpedo struck _'Maiden Creek' _in station #52 and the second US troop transport _'Dempo'_. The first ship was sunk at 1350 by a coup de grâce. A torpedo hit _'Dempo' _on the starboard side. Against orders, the crew immediately began to abandon ship, while the master tried to beach his ship, but she settled slowly and sank around 1055. _'Maiden Creek' _was hit by a torpedo forward of the #4 hatch. The explosion broke the shaft, the back of the ship and filled the #4 hold and the engine room with water. The eight officers, 40 crewmen, 29 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger abandoned ship in two lifeboats and a raft as the ship slowly settled by the stern. The boats waited two hours near the vessel until an escort appeared and ordered the men back on the vessel to prepare her to be towed by a tug. They tied up the boats at the stern and reboarded the ship. At 1350, the U-boat fired a coup de grâce, which struck on the port side in the stern. The explosion lifted the ship out of the water, destroyed the lifeboats and killed one officer, two armed guards and five crewmen. The survivors jumped overboard and swam to a single raft near the ship. They were rescued after 30 minutes by motor launches from a British destroyer and brought to Bougie. The badly damaged _'Maiden Creek' _was towed by a British escort vessel to _'Bougie' _on the morning of 18 March and beached, but broke in two forward of the #4 hold and was declared a total loss. 498 servicemen died.

During a German air raid on the port of Naples, Italy, US freighter _'James Guthrie' _is damaged by bomb; there are no casualties among the ship's company. Tank landing craft LCT-277 is damaged in air raid.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front takes Dubno and continues to drive south and west. The swift advance of the Red Army in the Ukraine has brought it close to the Romanian border. Dubno, the old fortress where the legendary Cossack warrior Taras Bulba fought, fell to Zhukov today and Konev crossed the river Dniester and wheeled north to encircle the 1.PanzerArmee. With the Lvov to Odessa railway line cut, the key supply route to the southern sector of von Manstein's Army group has been broken, and as the Russians advance they threaten to split the German forces in Poland from those in southern Russia.

The Finns are procrastinating in their peace negotiations with the USSR despite being offered what seem to observers to be reasonable terms to end their ill-fated alliance with Germany. The Finns' reply today is being described by the Russians as "negative". The sticking-point now seems to be not the proposed occupation of Hango base, but the fate of German forces in northern Finland. Commanded by General Dietl, they are 100,000 strong and well-equipped. Russia wants then interned, but Finland wants to repatriate them to Germany "with full military honours." From the contemporary Finnish point of view the greatest problems with the Soviet terms presented in Spring 1944 were twofold: 1) The Soviet demand of 600 million (uninflated 1938) USD as war reparations. The economic experts deemed it impossible to pay in the time frame demanded by the Soviets. In the peace concluded in September 1944 the sum was halved to 300 million USD and more time was given. 2) The internment of Germans. Again the time given by the Soviets to accomplish the internment was deemed to be impossibly short, and the Germans were thought still to be strong enough to attempt to occupy Finland.

_'U-1013' _type VIIC/41 is sunk east of Rügen after colliding with _'U-286'_. There are "26 survivors and 25 crew are lost", however, as the same figure of 26 survivors is also noted against _'U-286'_, it may be an aggregated count. _'U-286' _type VIIC sank after the collision with _'U-1013'_; raised, repaired and returned to service, finally being sunk 29/April/1945.

The USSR issues four postage stamps honoring defenders of Stalingrad, Leningrad, Odessa, and Sevastopol.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-801' _(type IXC/40) is sunk near the Cape Verde Islands, by a Fido homing torpedo from 2 Avenger aircraft (VC-9) of the US escort carrier USS _'Block Island' _and depth charges and gunfire from the US destroyer USS _'Corry' _and the destroyer escort _'Bronstein'_. 10 dead and 47 survivors. The boat was attacked by an Avenger aircraft from the escort carrier USS _'Block Island' _in the Mid Atlantic on 16 Mar, 1944. One man died and 9 men were wounded. The U-boat was sunk the next day.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 263: 135 P-47s are dispatched on low level strafing attacks against airfields in France; 25 attack Soesterburg Airfield, The Netherlands and 25 attack Chartres, France; they claim 3-2-8 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground, 2 P-47s are lost, the pilots are MIA. 70 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb the marshalling yard at Criel-sur-Mer, France.


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## Njaco (Mar 29, 2009)

*18 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler detains Hungary's regent, Admiral Horthy, in Salzburg and orders the German army to occupy Hungary.

The Russians reached the Rumanian border in the Balkans. Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front captures Zhmerinka.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fighting continues at Cassino with heavy losses and little gains.

In Italy, 950+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb aviation targets; B-17s hit Villaorba Landing Ground and Udine aviation depot; B-24s bomb Lavariano and Maniago Landing Grounds and Gorizia aviation depot; 126 P-38s and P-47s carry out sweeps in the Udine-Maniago area and strafe aircraft at Udine Airfield, a tanker S of Marano Lagoon and a hangar, 2 trains, 2 radar stations, and a seaplane anchorage (destroying 6 seaplanes) at Belvedere; the bombers and escorts claim 48 enemy fighters destroyed, 9 US aircraft are downed.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25s, B-26s, and A-20s bomb Foligno marshalling yard, Orvieto marshalling yard and railroad bridge, Poggibonsi railroad bridge, Piombino dock area, Colleferro railroad tracks and assembly area N of Anzio; P-40s, A-36s, and P-47s attack gun positions in the Anzio beachhead area, a factory at Carroceto, motor transport concentrations in the Cassino area, fuel dump, tank repair depot, and bivouac in the beachhead area, motor transport around Ladispoli, railroad bridge N of Rome, and railroad tracks and cars at other points.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US tanker _'Seakay'_, in Avonmouth, England-bound convoy CU 17, is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-311' _ and abandoned. One Armed Guard sailor perishes in the abandonment; destroyer escort _'Reeves' _(DE-156) rescues survivors. Escort ships scuttle the irreparably damaged tanker with shells and depth charges.

17 RAF Mosquitos to airfields in Holland, Belgium and France, 98 aircraft on minelaying diversion in the Heligoland area, 11 Mosquitos on a diversion raid to Kassel, 4 RCM sorties, 13 Serrate patrols. No aircraft were lost and the Serrate Mosquitos claimed 3 Ju 88s destroyed. 19 Lancasters of RAF No 5 Group (including 13 aircraft from No 617 Squadron) on an accurate raid of an explosives factory at Bergerac in France, 12 Mosquitos to Aachen, Dortmund and Duisburg, 8 aircraft on Resistance operations, 18 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

*GERMANY*: 846 RAF aircraft - 620 Lancasters, 209 Halifaxes, 17 Mosquitos - to Frankfurt. The German fighter force was again split. One part was lured north by the Heligoland mining operation but the second part waited in Germany and met the bomber stream just before the target was reached, although cloud made it difficult for these fighters to achieve much success. 22 aircraft - 12 Halifaxes, 10 Lancasters - were lost, 2.6 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders marked the target accurately and this led to heavy bombing of eastern, central and western districts of Frankfurt. The later phases of the bombing were scattered but this was almost inevitable with such a large force; new crews were usually allocated to the final waves.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 264: Aircraft plants and airfields in Germany are targetted; enemy fighters attack in force and AA fire is heavy; the bombers claim 45-10-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 43 bombers and 13 fighters are lost; 284 of 290 B-17s dispatched bomb the aviation industry at Oberpfaffenhofen, air depots at Lechfeld and Landsberg, Memmingen Airfield and targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost and 102 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 9 WIA and 80 MIA. 196 of 221 B-17s dispatched bomb Munich, the aviation industry at Oberpfaffenhofen, Lechfeld air depot and targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 80 damaged; casualties are 3 KIA, 4 WIA and 70 MIA. 227 B-24s are dispatched to aviation industry targets at Friedrichshafen/Lowenthal (77 bomb), Friedrichshafen/Manzell (38 bomb) and Friedrichshafen/Zeppelin (52 bomb), the city of Friedrichshafen (22 bomb) and 9 hit targets of opportunity; 28 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 60 damaged; casualties are 6 KIA, 9 WIA and 286 MIA. Escort is provided by 113 P-38s, 598 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 214 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s. Details are: P-38s claim 11-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 are lost and 1 damaged; 4 pilots are MIA. P-47s claim 2-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA. P-51s claim 26-2-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 6 MIA. The fighters also claim 3-2-2 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.


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## Njaco (Mar 30, 2009)

*19 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces launch *Unternehmen Margaret*, the military occupation of Hungary. With Stalin's armies now thrusting towards Germany's flank in south-eastern Europe, Hitler has sent in troops to occupy Hungary and seize vital communications for the defence of the Danube plain - the highway into the Reich. This forces Hungary to stay in the field fighting for the Axis as well as securing oil for the Reich. Edmund Veesenmayer, the German ambassador plenipotentiary with "special powers" in Hungary, is mobilizing "all resources for final victory", and Hungary's 767,000 Jews, hitherto unharmed through four years of war, are to be sent on their way to Auschwitz.

The advance of the Red Army continues unabated as Konev's 2nd Ukrainian Front crosses the Dneipr River west of Yampol and captures Soroki. To the north and west, Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front takes Krzemienic.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-1059' _(type VIIF) is sunk, south-west of Cape Verde Island by depth charges dropped from American Avenger aircraft of Squadron VC-6, operating from USS _'Block Island'_. Eight of the U-boat crew survive, but 47 are lost. Even as _'U-1059' _was sinking, it succeeded in bringing down one of the attacking Avengers by gunfire. The boat was sunk in this attack but it brought down one of the attackers even as the boat was slipping beneath the waves.

The _'Seakay' _(Master Alfred Kristian Jorgensen) in station #51 of convoy CU-17 was hit by one FAT torpedo from _'U-311' _about 375 miles west of Fastnet, just when the convoy made an emergency turn to port. The torpedo struck the starboard bow at the after bulkhead of the forward dry cargo hold and set the kerosene, the deck cargo and the forward pump room on fire. The flames shot 25 feet above the deck and the crew immediately tried to extinguish the fire, but the ship sank rapidly and the ten officers, 46 crewmen, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger (US Army security officer) abandoned ship five minutes after the hit in four lifeboats and a raft. One boat overturned during the launch and caused the loss of one armed guard. The tanker capsized within 18 minutes, but remained afloat with the stern out of the water at a 45° angle and was scuttled by escort vessels with 45 shells and three depth charges.

_'U-256' _shot down an RAF 224 Sqn Liberator. The aircraft smashed into the sea 500m away from the boat and exploded.

The German 352nd Infantry Division is deployed along the coast of France.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 266: V-weapon sites in France are hit. 117 of 129 B-17s hit sites at Wizernes and Watten; 1 B-17 is lost and 74 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 10 MIA. 56 of 64 B-17s hit Marquise/Mimoyecques; 14 B-17s are damaged; 1 crewman is WIA. Escort is provided by 82 P-47s; 1 is damaged and the pilot is WIA.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 267: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 300 bundles of leaflets on The Hague, Rotterdam, Leeuwarden, Utrecht and Amsterdam, The Netherlands at 2114-2140 hours without loss.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 268: 35 P-47s [25 with 500-pound (227 kg) bombs] are dispatched to Gilze-Rijen Airfield, The Netherlands; 20 of the 25 bomb without loss; 39 P-51s fly a supporting sweep.

152 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and 65 A-20s attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in the Saint-Omer area during morning and afternoon missions; 16 P-47s dive-bomb the airfield between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Le Touquet; the morning raids precede an Eighth Air Force attack with B-17s on V-weapon sites.

*GERMANY*: 21 RAF Mosquitos - 9 to Berlin, 8 to Düsseldorf and 4 to Aachen, 4 RCM sorties, 3 Serrate patrols, 19 Stirlings minelaying off Dutch and French coasts, 6 OTU sorties. 1 RCM Wellington lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) issues a directive for *Operation STRANGLE*, to interdict supply movements in Italy by destroying marshalling yards and attacking rail lines and ports in a concentrated campaign.

234 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, escorted by 100+ fighters, bomb the air depot at Klagenfurt, Austria; 150+ B-24s also hit the air depot at Graz, Austria and the marshalling yards at Knin and Metkovic, Yugoslavia; Luftwaffe fighters provide fierce opposition and along with AA fire, shoot down 17 bombers and 1 fighter; US aircraft claim 30 enemy fighters destroyed in combat.

US Twelfth Air Force B-26s attack a road bridge W of Arezzo and port installations at San Stefano al Mare; B-25s hit a bridge approach in S Orvieto, marshalling yards at Avezzano and Orte and a bridge at Orte; tank repair shops near Tivoli are bombed by A-20s; and P-47s and P-40s strike at enemy concentrations, dumps and guns in the US Fifth Army main battle area and in the area N of the Anzio beachhead.

460th Bombardment Group (Heavy) with B-24s is declared operational making a total of 14 bomb groups operational in the Fifteenth Air Force.

Yugoslav partisans attack Trieste, on the border of Italy and Croatia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In an attack that was part reprisal for the devastation of German cities by the RAF and USAAF Hull was selected for 131 bomber sorties by the Luftwaffe. Something like 92 tonnes of bombs were dropped, but mainly because of late and inaccurate target marking, none of them fell on Hull as intended. This was probably due to poor estimation of wind velocity, flares were dropped too far to the south and almost all of the bombs intended for Hull, fell S of the Humber, in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. One of the aircraft participating, a Junkers Ju 88 was shot down near the Humber Lightship.


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## Njaco (Mar 30, 2009)

*20 MARCH 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Ninth Air Force's 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group completes a series of 83 missions begun on 23 February during which photographs were made of 160 miles (260 km) of the French coastline and two inshore strips, all in preparation for the Normandy invasion. A total over 9,500 prints are produced; no aircraft were lost during this operation.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Canadian Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar leaves Canadian 1st Corps in Italy to lead the Canadian 1st Army in England. He is replaced by Lieutenant-General E. Burns. The new commander of the Canadian 1 Corps, Lt-Gen Eedson Burns - better known to his troops as "Smiling Sunray" because of his dour, unchanging manner - is a formidable intellectual and the complete antithesis of his predecessor, Lt-Gen Henry Crerar. The outgoing, dynamic Crerar has left for Britain where he will join General Montgomery in D-Day planning. Burns, who is inexperienced in tank warfare, commanded the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, part of Canadian I Corps.

310th Bombardment Group (Medium) is transferred from the XII Fighter Command to the 57th Bombardment Wing, thus consolidating all B-25 units of the Twelfth Air Force under 1 wing.

In Italy, B-25s strike the harbor and shipping at Piombino, the Poggibonsi railroad bridge, Port' Ercole and the area around the Orvieto railroad bridge; B-25s hit Orvieto marshalling yard and underpass and road bridge nearby, Terni marshalling yard and dock at San Stefano al Mare; a factory at Fontana Liri is accurately bombed by A-20s; P-40s hit troop concentrations, guns and fuel dump in the Cassino-Fontana Liri area while A-36s blast the railway station at Frosinone and also drop food for troops in the Cassino area; and P-47s hit a fuel dump at Fontana Liri.

414th Night Fighter Squadron, 63d Fighter Wing, based at Elmas, Sardinia with Beaufighters sends a detachment to operate from Ghisonaccia, Corsica until Jul 44.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Another Russian advance in the Ukraine gives the Germans little chance for concentrating for a defence. Soviet forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front capture Mogilev-Podolski and Vinnitsa, key bases in the Ukraine.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 20 Lancasters of RAF No 5 Group - 14 from No 617 Squadron - bombed an explosives factory at Angoulême; 25 Mosquitos attacked 5 targets in Germany, the largest raid being by 12 aircraft to Munich, and 9 aircraft flew on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

*Operation Anvil *is cancelled. The plan was for a landing in south France simultaneously with the landing in north France.

Adolf Hitler tells his principal commanders in the West that keeping the Allies from a successful landing would decide the war.

In France, 200+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s bomb 4 NOBALL (V-weapon) targets and Creil marshalling yard; and 85 P-47s dive-bomb airfields at Abbeville, Poix and Conches.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 269: 353 B-17s and 92 B-24s are dispatched to targets in Germany but high clouds and the malfunction of blind-bombing equipment cause nearly 300 bombers to abort the mission; 7 bombers and 8 fighters are lost; the bombers claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; the bombers also drop 900,000 leaflets; details are: 54 B-17s hit Mannheim, 51 hit Frankfurt, 19 hit Bingen and 22 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 150 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 8 WIA and 40 MIA. 1 of 92 B-24s hit Bretuit Airfield; 2 B-24s are lost and 15 damaged; casualties are 3 WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is provided by 44 P-38s, 345 P-47s and 205 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; claims and losses are: P-47s claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 6 P-47s are lost and 9 damaged; 6 pilots are MIA. P-51s claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA.


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## Njaco (Apr 1, 2009)

*21 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: As Konev's forces press the attack against Hube's 1.PanzerArmee from the east. Zhukov turns his forces south ripping a massive hole between the 4. and 1. PanzerArmee and driving behind 1. PanzerArmee in an attempt to force them to withdraw into Rumania.

*GERMANY*: 27 RAF Mosquitos flew to Cologne, 6 to Aachen and 3 to Oberhausen, 1 RCM sortie, 3 Serrate patrols, 18 aircraft minelaying off Channel and Biscay coasts, 4 OTU sorties. No losses.

At a meeting of the Luftwaffe General Staff, General Koller, chief of the Luftwaffe Operations Staff, stated that in order for interceptions to be successful, the Luftwaffe needed a fighetr with a flight duration capability of a minimum of 4 hours. In his view, flight duration was the key.


> "_The only weapon that is strongest in attack is air power_!"


he added, rather sarcastically - his comment was directed to Erhard Milch -


> _'the Americans are giving us evidence of this fact every day!"_


*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 270: 56 of 65 B-24s hit V-weapon sites at Watten, France; 7 B-24s are damaged; escort is provided by48 P-47s without loss.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 271: 41 P-51s carry out a sweep of the Bordeaux, France area; they claim 12-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 9-0-4 on the ground; 7 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 7 MIA.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 272: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 300 bundles of leaflets on The Hague, Amsterdam, Leeuwarden, Rotterdam and Utrecht, The Netherlands at 2102-2133 hours without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, B-25s make an unsuccessful attempt to bomb the Poggibonsi bridge; weather cancels other B-25 missions and all A-20 operations; B-26s attack Arezzo and Bucine viaducts and Poggibonsi and Cecina railroad bridges; P-47s hit railroad bridges N of Rome while P-40s bomb targets in the Anzio area; and A-36s drop food in the Cassino area.


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## Njaco (Apr 7, 2009)

*22 MARCH 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After days of fruitless and costly attacks at Cassino, the New Zealanders call off further offensive operations and withdraw from the more exposed gains that were made. Freyburg finally calls off the attack.

In Italy, around 100 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb the marshalling yards at Verona while about 100 B-24s hit marshalling yards at Bologna and Rimini; P-38s and P-47s provide cover for all the missions; 2 bombers are lost to flak and another has to ditch. US Twelfth Air Force B-26s attack the Poggibonsi railroad bridge and viaduct W of Arezzo; B-25s hit a road bridge near Poggibonsi; P-40s bomb guns in the Avezzano and Pico areas; P-40s on patrols over Anzio and Cassino claim 2 fighters destroyed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 2nd Ukrainian Front offensive continues as Pervomaysk is captured.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Admiral Doenitz orders that all U-boats are to operate independently ending the era of the "wolf pack". This signaled the ultimate victory of the Allied convoy system over the German submarines.

In the Atlantic ocean, south-west of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, German submarine _'U-802' _torpedoes and sinks Canadian merchant ship _'Watuka'_. _'U-802' _fired a spread of three torpedoes at overlapping ships in convoy SH-125 and at 09.49 hours a Gnat at a freighter. They heard three detonations and claimed the sinking of three ships with 5000 grt. However, only _'Watuka' _was hit and sank southeast of Halifax. One crew member was lost. The master, 22 crew members and two gunners were picked up by HMCS _'Anticosti' _(T 274).

*GERMANY*: 816 RAF aircraft - 620 Lancasters, 184 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - attack Frankfurt. Again, an indirect route was employed, this time crossing the Dutch coast north of the Zuider Zee and then flying almost due south to Frankfurt. This, and the Kiel minelaying diversion, confused the Germans for some time; Hannover was forecast as the main target. Only a few fighters eventually found the bomber stream. 33 aircraft - 26 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes - were lost, 4.0 per cent of the force. Martin Becker, Staffelkapitaen of 2./NJG 6 destroyed 6 of the bombers and Obstlt. Helmut Lent of Stab./NJG 3 downed 3 Lancasters using just 22 rounds of ammunition. The marking and bombing were accurate and Frankfurt suffered another heavy blow; the city's records show that the damage was even more severe than in the raid carried out 4 nights earlier. Half of the city was without gas, water and electricity 'for a long period'. All parts of the city were hit but the greatest weight of the attack fell in the western districts. The report particularly mentions severe damage to the industrial areas along the main road to Mainz. 162 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force used Frankfurt as a secondary target when they could not reach Schweinfurt 36 hours after this RAF raid and caused further damage.

20 RAF Mosquitos were sent bombing night-fighter airfields, 128 Halifaxes and 18 Stirlings minelaying in Kiel Bay and off Denmark, 22 Mosquitos on diversion and harassing raids to Berlin, Dortmund, Hannover and Oberhausen, 16 RCM sorties and 16 Serrate patrols. 1 Halifax minelayer lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 273: 474 B-17s and 214 B-24s are dispatched to bomb aviation industry plants at Oranienburg and Basdorf, Germany but 8/10 to 10/10 cloud cover prevents an attack; the bombers hit the secondary target, Berlin, and targets of opportunity; the bombers also drop 6.368 million leaflets; 1 bomber is damaged beyond repair and 347 bombers are damaged; casualties are 20 WIA and 135 MIA. Details are: 460 of 474 B-17s bomb Berlin; 7 B-17s are lost. 196 of 214 B-24s bomb Berlin and 1 bombs Heide; 5 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 125 P-38s, 496 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 196 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s. There is no air combat and the only claim is for 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground by P-47s. Details are: 3 P-38s are lost and 7 damaged; 3 pilots are MIA. 5 P-47s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 5 MIA. 4 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged beyond repair; 4 pilots are MIA.


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## Njaco (Apr 7, 2009)

*23 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 1st Ukrainian Front drives between Proskurov and Tarnapol threatening to split the 1. and 4.Panzerarmees, and surrounding the Red Army headquarters at Tarnopol.

In the wake of their occupation if Hungary, the Germans today strengthened their position in Romania, which was occupied in October 1940. The dictator, Marshal Ion Antonescu, a longtime admirer of Hitler, was told that 500,000 German troops were being sent in to safeguard communications and protect the oil-wells for Germany. With the Red Army on his borders, Antonescu was less than enthusiastic. Hitler was unmoved. Four Panzer and several infantry divisions have already moved in. As Sovet troops advance into Bessarabia, the BBC today broadcast a warning to Romanians: abandon the Nazis or face retribution from the Allies.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The unsuccessful Allied assault, spearheaded by the New Zealand Corps, is called off. British General Harold Alexander halts the Cassino operation due to weather and strong resistance.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-26s bomb Florence/Campo di Marte marshalling yard while B-25s hit the Pontassieve railway bridge and its approaches; P-40s attack guns in the Cassino-Esperia area, causing many fires and explosions; A-36s bomb the Cassino area with good results; the Germans have been forced into a narrow zone in the W edge of Cassino but still hold positions commanding the town and the Abbey.

Italian partisans kill 28 SS-Polizei men with a bomb on Via Rasella in Rome. Subsequently an order is received from Hitler to kill 10 Italians for each German soldier. Chief of the Rome SIPO, SS-Obstbf., Herbert Kappler, together with Pietro Caruso, the chief of the Italian police, is responsible for selecting the victims. People arrested on the spot, political prisoners and Jews are sent to the Ardeatine Caves near Rome, shot in the neck in small groups, and buried under the sand; the entrances are then sealed by exploding charges. Altogether 335 Italians are murdered, among them 78 Jews. The age of the civilians did not matter and so many teenagers and boys were among the dead found in the caves. Argentina extradited former Nazi officer, Erich Priebke, to Rome in 1995 to face trial for his role in the Ardeatine Caves massacre.

The Germans begin deporting Greek Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Naval Air Facility, Dunkeswell, England, is established.

A Halifax bomber operating from Leeming airfield ran into trouble in the Kiel Canal area, hit several times by flak, then attacked by an enemy night fighter, the crew 'live' jettisoned their bombs and headed for home, which proved uneventful until they were rolling down the runway at Leeming when the pilot discovered there was no brake pressure. The bomber rolled off the runway and came to rest in a sea of mud. Within minutes the Squadron Engineering Officer pulled up in a Jeep and demanded to know why the hell they were blocking the runway and what they were doing back so early. After a heated exchange of words with the pilot, they were towed out of the mud and back to dispersal. The next night the same bomber - patched up - was back on ops. Just after take off an engine overheated, and had to be shut down. For four hours the bomber cruised up and down the Ouse Valley at 800' to use up fuel, because with only three engines it couldn't gain enough height to get to the jettison area in the North Sea just off Flamborough Head. The pilot eventually made a perfect three point landing, with a full bomb load at Leeming airfield.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 143 RAF aircraft - 83 Halifaxes, 48 Stirlings, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 3,4,6 and 8 Groups to Laon. 2 Halifaxes lost. The weather in the target area was clear but the Master Bomber ordered the attack to be stopped after 72 aircraft had bombed. The local report states that about half of the bombs hit the railway yards but the remainder were scattered in an area up to 3 km from the target. The bombing did cut the through lines but these were repaired the following day. 83 houses around the station were hit but only 7 civilians were killed and 9 injured because most of the people who lived near the station moved to other parts of Laon at night.

20 Lancasters of RAF No 5 Group, including No 617 Squadron, bombed an aero-engine factory near Lyons without loss.

220 US Ninth Air Force B-26s on a morning mission bomb Creil marshalling yard and airfields at Beaumont-le-Roger and Beauvais/Tille; in an afternoon raid, 146 bomb Haine-Saint-Pierre marshalling yard.

*GERMANY*: 13 RAF Mosquitos to Dortmund and 2 to Oberhausen, 5 RCM sorties, 4 Serrate patrols, 2 Stirlings minelaying off Brittany, 6 OTU sorties. No losses.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 275: 524 B-17s and 244 B-24s are dispatched to attack airfields in W Germany and aircraft factories in the Brunswick area; due to unfavorable weather conditions, only 68 B-24s hit a primary target and 639 bombers hit secondary targets and targets of opportunity; the bombers claim 33-8-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 22 B-17s, 6 B-24s and 4 P-51s are lost; details are: 205 B-17s hit Brunswick and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 16 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 221 damaged; casualties are 3 KIA, 6 WIA and 158 MIA. 47 B-17s hit the secondary target at Munster, 83 hit Hamm, 67 hit Ahlen and 19 hit Neubeckum; 6 B-17s are lost and 56 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 61 MIA. 68 B-24s hit the primary target, Handorf Airfield; 36 hit Achmer City, 21 hit Achmer Airfield, 12 hit Munster, 52 hit Osnabruck and 14 hit other targets of opportunity; 6 B-24s are lost and 45 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 59 MIA. Escort is provided by 119 P-38s, 539 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 183 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; details are: P-47s claim 4-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. P-51s claim 18-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged; 4 pilots are MIA. The fighters also claim 2-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.

Oblt. Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 3, was killed in action against P-51s. His death came exactly one year after the death of Joachim Muncheberg, who shared his first victory of the war with Wilcke on 7 November 1939. Muncheberg ended with a score of 135 kills and Wilcke had 162 kills including 13 during the Battle of Britain, 137 on the Eastern Front, 4 in the Mediterranean and 12 on Reich defense duties.


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## Njaco (Apr 8, 2009)

*24 MARCH 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The full weight of the Heer with massive air support, has succeeded in defeating 465 Resistance fighters of the French Maquis on the plateau of Glieres. The widespread presence of the Maquis has become a continuing source of irritation and frustration to the Vichy and German authorities. The first attack by the Vichy Milice was a failure; but today several battalions of German soldiers, backed by the Milice, are being used in the offensive. The majority of prisoners are reported to have been brutally tortured before being executed. 9 RAF aircraft dropped supplies to the Resistance without loss.

147 RAF aircraft from training units carried out a diversionary sweep west of Paris; 27 Mosquitos bombed night-fighter airfields and 15 Mosquitos bombed Duisburg, Kiel and Münster; aircraft of No 100 Group flew 4 RCM sorties and 10 Serrate patrols. 1 Serrate Mosquito lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 277: The B-17 primary target is Schweinfurt, Germany; the B-24 primary target are airfields at Metz and Nancy, France; the bombers make no claims of Luftwaffe aircraft: 230 B-17s are dispatched; 60 hit Schweinfurt using blind-bombing equipment and 162 hit Frankfurt/Main marshalling yard; 3 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 68 damaged; casualties are 14 KIA, 1 WIA and 30 MIA. 206 B-24s are dispatched; the primaries are overcast and 148 hit the secondary target of St Diziere Airfield and 33 hit Nancy/Essey Airfield; 24 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 3 WIA. Escort is provided by 84 P-38s, 301 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 155 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; details are: P-38s: 2 lost, both pilots MIA. P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-4 on the ground; no losses. P-51s: no claims; 3 P-51s are lost; 2 pilots are MIA.

*GERMANY*: *The Great Escape*: They have been working on it for two years and now, just after dusk, the moment has arrived for the Allied airmen held in the German PoW camp at Sagan, 80 miles south-east of Berlin. The last few feet of earth are removed and the first prisoners climb out into the wood beyond the barbed wire. The 365-foot tunnel, with air vents and underground railway for moving debris, is the brain child of a Canadian mining engineer and Spitfire pilot, Wally Moody. Two by two the men leave the tunnel and move off in different directions: south for Czechoslovakia, west for the attempt to pick up a train, and north for Baltic ports and Scandinavia. From time to time the ground beneath their feet shudders under the impact of the 4,000-pound bombs that their RAF comrades are dropping on Germany. They move warily, for the camp guard is doubled during air raids. As dawn begins to break, a guard, startled by movement close by, fires a shot that raises the alarm. Guards, some in night clothes, swarm through the camp; 76 POWs have escaped. Only three of the men would return to allied lines. Most of the rest were executed after being recaptured. In 1949 Paul Brickall authored "The Great Escape." The story of Jackson Barrett Mahon (d.1999 at 78 ), an American fighter pilot, and the Allied POW escape from Stalag Luft III in Germany during WW II. The 1963 film "The Great Escape" starred Steve McQueen, was directed by John Sturges and was based on the true story. In 1999 Arthur A. Durand published Stalag Luft III: The Secret Story." When the Russian Army closed in tens of thousands of POWs were marched 240 miles south to a new camp and thousands died in the "Black March."

This night became known in Bomber Command as *'The Night of the Strong Winds'*. With the coming of spring and shorter nights, and the subsequent reduction in flight time for his planes, Bomber Harris decides to return to Berlin. 811 RAF aircraft - 577 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes, 18 Mosquitos - went to Berlin. 72 aircraft - 44 Lancasters, 28 Halifaxes - lost, 8.9 per cent of the force. A powerful wind from the north carried the bombers south at every stage of the flight. Not only was this wind not forecast accurately but it was so strong that the various methods available to warn crews of wind changes during the flight failed to detect the full strength of it. The bomber stream became very scattered, particularly on the homeward flight and radar-predicted flak batteries at many places were able to score successes. Part of the bomber force even strayed over the Ruhr defences on the return flight. It is believed that approximately 50 of the 72 aircraft lost were destroyed by flak; most of the remainder were victims of night fighters. Most of the defenders that were sent against the bombers were from NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 5, NJG 6, JG 300, JG 301 and JG 302. Needless to say, the strong winds severely affected the marking with, unusually, markers being carried beyond the target and well out to the south-west of the city. This was the last major RAF raid on Berlin during the war, although the city would be bombed many times by small forces of Mosquitos. This is the final British air assault of the Battle of Berlin. Since August 1943, Bomber Command had flown over 10,000 sorties and dropped over 30,000 tons of bombs, making it the longest and most sustained bombing offensive against a single target in the war. (_The British official history of the Battle of Berlin declares it an operational defeat for Britain.) _

Flight Sergeant Nicholas Stephen Alkemade (1923 - 1987), was a member of No. 115 Squadron RAF and his Lancaster II "S for Sugar" was flying to the east of Schmallenberg, Germany on its return from a 300 bomber raid on Berlin, when it was attacked by a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 night-fighter, caught fire and began to spiral out of control. Because his parachute was destroyed by the fire, Alkemade opted to jump from the aircraft without one, preferring his death to be quick, rather than being burnt to death. He fell 18,000 feet (5500 m) to the ground below. His fall was broken by pine trees and a soft snow cover on the ground. He was able to move his arms and legs and suffered only a sprained leg. He was subsequently captured and interviewed by the Gestapo who were initially suspicious of his claim to have fallen without a parachute until the wreckage of the aircraft was examined. He was then a celebrated POW before being repatriated in May 1945. He worked in the chemical industry after the war and died on June 22, 1987. The Lancaster crashed in flames and the pilot Jack Newman and three other members of the seven man crew did not survive and are buried in Hanover War Cemetery.

Major Friedrich-Karl Muller was promoted to _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 3.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 132 US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Rimini and several other targets while US Twelfth Air Force A-20s, A-36s, B-25s, P-40s and P-47s bomb supply and bivouac areas, bridges, troop concentrations, etc. As part of Operation STRANGLE, the aerial interdiction of the German supply lines, aerial attacks by Allied aircraft have completely severed the rail lines from northern Italy to Rome and no rail cars enter Rome until the Allied occupation in June 1944.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Luftwaffe returned to London with 90 medium bombers (He 111s and Ju 88s).

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army offensive in the Ukraine continues as Zhukov's forces take Chertkov and Zaleschik southeast of Tarnopol and Malinovski's 3rd Ukrainian Front takes Voznesensk.

The Zionist Relief and Rescue Committee proposes to Dieter Wisliceng, an aide of Adolf Eichmann, a US$2 million ransom with US $200,000 downpayment to guarantee that Hungarian Jews would not be deported or forced into ghettos.

Oblt. Wilhelm 'Willi' Batz of JG 52 scored his 100th victory.


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## Njaco (Apr 8, 2009)

*25 MARCH 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: After a week of bitter fighting around the bomb-shattered town of Cassino, the Allied offensive, aimed at dislodging the German from the monastery, has been called off. Last night the Gurkha, Essex and Rajput Regiments were evacuated from their position on Hangman's Hill. The losses sustained in this abortive attack have been severe. The 2nd New Zealand Division has lost 63 officers and over 800 men dead, wounded or missing, while the 4th Indian Division lost 1,000 men and 65 officers.

Weather severely curtails operations. In Italy, B-26s bomb the Leghorn dockyard and town of Rignano sull' Amo; P-40 fighter-bombers attack gun positions in the Anzio beachhead battle area; and fighters fly cover over the Anzio and Cassino areas.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Ignoring Churchill's request for aerial attacks on V-weapon bases in France, Eisenhower gives priority to the bombing of transport and communications centres.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-976' _(type VIIC) is sunk in the Bay of Biscay near St. Nazaire by gunfire from two British Mosquito aircraft from Sqdn. 248/L/I. 4 of the U-Boat crew are lost, but 49 survive.

192 RAF aircraft - 92 Halifaxes, 47 Lancasters, 37 Stirlings, 16 Mosquitos - attacked railway yards at Aulnoye in France. No aircraft lost. 22 Lancasters of RAF No 5 Group to an aero-engine factory at Lyons, 10 Mosquitos to Berlin and 2 to Hamm, 7 Serrate patrols, 14 Stirlings minelaying in Brittany to the Frisians, 5 OTU sorties. No losses.

140+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack the Hirson, France marshalling yard.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Zhukov continues his drive between 1st and 4th Panzer Armies taking Proskurov and throwing a Tank Army across the Dniepr River. Hube's 1.Panzerarmee is now facing Red Army forces to the west, north and east and his back is against the Dniepr River already breached by enemy forces. Manstein, after confronting Hitler in person and threatening to resign, received permission to move this army to the west, against Zhukov's forces.

Soviet air force bombs the city of Tartu, Estonia.


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## Njaco (Apr 8, 2009)

*26 MARCH 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: A major re-organization occurs of the Allied forces facing Cassino in Italy. The US 100th Infantry Battalion lands at Anzio. It is assigned a section in the Anzio beachhead later.

Despite bad weather, Twelfth Air Force A-20s, B-25s, B-26s, P-40s and P-47s hit viaducts, railway bridges, troop concentrations and guns in support of the Anzio beachhead. Bad weather forces Fifteenth Air Force B-24s en-route to Steyr, Austria to turn back but they bomb airfields and marshalling yards at Riming while B-17s attack port facilities at Fume.

*GERMANY*: Hptm. Herward Braunegg, an Austrian from Graz is awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for his close recon work on the Eastern Front with Nahaufklaerungsgruppe 9. Oblt. Klaus Mietusch, _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 26 and Oblt. Wilhelm Batz of JG 52 were also awarded the Ritterkreuz.

Hptm. Horst Caranico was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 5.

705 RAF aircraft - 476 Lancasters, 207 Halifaxes, 22 Mosquitos - flew to Essen. The sudden switch by Bomber Command to a Ruhr target just across the German frontier caught the German fighter controllers by surprise and only 9 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 3 Halifaxes - were lost, 1.3 per cent of the force. Essen was covered by cloud but the Oboe Mosquitos marked the target well and this was a successful attack.

22 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 3 to Aachen and 3 to Julianadorp, 8 RCM sorties, 13 Serrate patrols, 20 Stirlings minelaying off French ports, 4 aircraft on Resistance operations, 12 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces press hard against the pocketed German 1st Panzer Army, capturing Kamentets-Podolski and closing with the Prut River. The Red Army breaks through to the river Prut on a 53-mile front.

After the initial Fenno-Soviet peace feelers in the preceding months had established that there's basis for a negotiated peace, Finnish delegation travels today to Moscow. The former ambassador at Moscow Juho Paasikivi (who was also in the Finnish peace delegation in 1940) and the former Foreign Minister Carl Enckell fly via Stockholm. During the last days of March the Finns are involved in lengthy negotiations with the Soviets, whose head is FM Molotov. Soviet demands are: Finnish Army has during April to withdraw to the border of 1940 and the Army has to be cut to half by mid-May and fully demobilized to peace-time size by the end of June. Finland has also to pay $600 million as reparations. The Finns, unsurprisingly, consider the terms harsh, but Molotov retorts:


> "_I don't understand why we should make any concessions to you. Germany has already lost this war and you had been Germany's allies, so you must accept the position of a defeated country._".



In the area near Tallin, 4./NJG 100 - guided by the radar ship _'Togo' _- intercepted several Soviet bombers. Lt. Klaus Scheer shot down a DB-3 and Hptm. Bellinghausen also claimed a DB-3. A 3d bomber was destroyed by Uffz. Haase.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 109 RAF aircraft - 70 Halifaxes, 32 Stirlings, 7 Mosquitos of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - attacked railway targets at Courtrai. No aircraft lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 280: V-weapon sites in France are hit. 234 of 243 and 138 of 185 B-24s hit 9 sites in the Pas de Calais area; 4 B-17s and 1 B-24 are lost, 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 134 B-17s and 38 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 15 WIA and 50 MIA. 128 of 145 B-17s hit 7 sites in the Cherbourg area; 64 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 266 P-47s; they claim 1-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot is MIA) and 5 damaged.


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## Njaco (Apr 11, 2009)

*27 MARCH 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Eighth Air Force Mission 282: Airfields in France are attacked by 701 bombers. 285 of 290 B-17s hit the following airfields: St Jean D/Angely (55), La Rochell/La Leu (59), Chartres (60), Tours/Parcay Meslay Air Depot (74), Usine Liotard Air Depot (35) and targets of opportunity (2); 1 B-17 is lost and 37 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 10 MIA. 248 of 256 B-17s hit the following airfields: Bordeaux/Merignac (123), Cayeux (118) and Chartres (7); 2 B-17s are lost and 51 damaged; casualties are 11 KIA, 2 WIA and 20 MIA. All 168 B-24s hit the following airfields: Pau/Ont Long (72), Biarritz (49) and Mont de Marsan (47); 3 B-24s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 18 damaged; casualties are 20 KIA, 1 WIA and 31 MIA. Escort is provided by 132 P-38s, 706 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 122 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; results are: 2 P-38s lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; 2 pilots are MIA. P-47s claim 6-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-47s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 5 are MIA. P-51s claim 2-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 30-1-11 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged; 3 pilots are MIA.

18 Ninth Air Force B-26s attack V-weapon sites in N France; 35 others abort due primarily to failure of blind-bombing equipment. The onset of bad weather makes this the last B-26 mission until 8 Apr.

The Vichy French government authorises Frenchmen to enroll in the SS.

One-thousand Jews left Drancy, France for the Auschwitz concentration camp.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Twelfth Air Force A-20s, A-36s, B-25s, P-40s and P-47s attack railway tracks, bridges, command posts and supply dumps.

The Destroyer _'Livermore' _(DD-429) provides gunfire support at Anzio while the Motor torpedo boat PT-207 is damaged by naval gunfire off Anzio-Nettuno.

An Allied force of American and British motor torpedo boats and British motor gunboats (Commander Allen, RN) destroys six German ferry barges off Vada Rocks, Corsica. U.S. motor torpedo boats PT-208, PT-214 and PT-218 participate in the battle.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army takes Kamenets-Podolski, in the Ukraine. General Hube finishes preparations for his attack west into Zhukov's flank as the noose around his trapped forces continues to tighten. It would take two weeks of heavy fighting, but Hube's pocket would move west, through Zhukov's rear area and regain its freedom of action. German troops rush to reinforce Rumania as Soviet forces approach the border.

Starting today in Kovno, Lithuania SS troops round up and shoot dead all Jewish children under 13 years of age. Thousands of Jews were murdered in Kaunas, Lithuania.

*GERMANY*: 14 RAF Mosquitos to Duisburg and 3 to Krefeld. No losses.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Luftwaffe returned to England by night and the target were the harbour installations at Bristol while a coordinated attack was undertaken against night-fighter airfields in the area by Me 410s of I./KG 51. By this time only 297 bombers were available for operations over Britain and flares were to be dropped by Ju 188s of II./KG 2. In an attempt to jam British radar, 'Duppel' anti-radar foil was also dropped, first off-shore but later spreading almost over the entire area. 116 of 139 crews claimed to have attacked the target with 100 tonnes of bombs including HE and Phosphorus Oil IB - the first time these were used on Bristol. In actual fact, no bombs fell on Bristol and those that managed to get near the city were led astray by inaccurate marking. 13 bombers were lost and another 3 crashed in France. Incidents were reported over the whole of Southern England, from Hastings to North Somerset with the highest concentration around Highbridge and Weston.


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## Njaco (Apr 11, 2009)

*28 MARCH 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: S class submarine HMS _'Syrtis' _and all 48 of her crew are lost in the Norwegian Sea exact position unknown. There is no clear explanation for her loss, although the Germans claimed to have sunk a submarine by shore battery fire off Bodö around this time, but there is no supporting evidence.

Eighth Air Force Mission 283: 2 formations of B-17s are dispatched to hit airfields in France while B-24s are dispatched to The Netherlands. 182 B-17s are dispatched to Dijon/Longvic Airfield (117 bomb) and Reims/Champagne Airfield (59 bomb); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 60 damaged; casualties are 3 KIA and 1 WIA. 191 B-17s are dispatched to Chateaudun Airfield (127 bomb) and Chartres Airfield (61 bomb); 2 B-17s are lost and 59 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 28 MIA. 77 B-24s are dispatched to the Ijmuiden, The Netherlands E-boat pens but they are recalled due to excessive clouds and failure of the escort to takeoff. Escort for the B-17s is provided by 46 P-38s, 284 P-47s and 123 P-51s; details are: P-47s claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. P-51s claim 30-1-32 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost; the pilots are MIA.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s knock out the bridge approach E of Perugia and bomb the railway junction and marshalling yard at Montepescali; B-25s bomb a railway bridge S of Mignano and viaduct to the SE, and hit Certaldo railway bridge; A-20s attack a tank factory N of Tivoli; P-40s strike guns in the Anzio area; guns, trucks, and roads during armed reconnaissance of the Cassino-Giulianello area; and supply dumps and truck parks near Velletri and Sora; A-36s attack 2 railroad bridges and tracks at Montalto di Castro and near Orvieto; and fighters carry out a patrol over the Anzio and Cassino areas.

Almost 400 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, the largest attack to date, bomb marshalling yards in Italy; the B-17s hit Verona; the B-24s hit Mestre and Verona marshalling yards and railway and highway bridges at Fano and Cessno; P-38s and P-40s provide excellent coverage and no bombers are lost; the bombers and escorts claim 12 fighters destroyed; 5 US fighters are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: As 3rd Ukrainian Front continues its advance (capturing Nikolayev and entering Rumania), the Germans and Rumanians begin the naval evacuation of Odessa. As the Germans retreat in haste from the waters of the southern Bug River, Nikolayev falls to the Red Army. The 3rd Ukrainian Front is now developing an assault toward the port of Odessa.


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## Njaco (Apr 12, 2009)

*29 MARCH 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: 76 Halifaxes and 8 Mosquitos of RAF Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Vaires, near Paris, in bright moonlight. The bombing was very accurate and 2 ammunition trains which were present blew up. 1 Halifax lost. 19 Lancasters of RAF No 5 Group to the aero-engine factory at Lyons, which was bombed accurately. Mosquitos: 32 to Kiel, where 47 people were killed and 134 were injured, 11 to Krefeld, 5 to Aachen and 4 to Cologne. No losses.

77 US Eighth Air Force B-24s are dispatched to V-weapon sites at Watten, France; only 30 bomb because of PFF failures; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; casualties are 18 KIA and 1 WIA. Escort is provided by 37 P-47s; no claims or losses.

_'U-961' _(type VIIC) is sunk east of Iceland, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Starling'_. 49 dead (all hands lost).

*MEDITERRANEAN:* About 400 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s (largest total to date) hit 3 targets in Italy; the B-17s bomb the ball bearing factory, marshalling yard and industrial area at Turin; the B-24s hit Bolzano and Milan marshalling yards; P-47s and P-38s fly escort; the bombers and fighters claim 13 aircraft destroyed; 6 US aircraft are lost.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Viterbo Airfield, causing considerable damage to the target; B-26s hit Leghorn and many small craft nearby. French B-26s attached to the Twelfth Air Force bomb Portoferraio on Elba; P-40s attack supply dumps and a bivouac area SE of Rome, a tank repair shop E of Rome and guns and supply dumps E of Velletri; P-47s cut lines at a railway overpass W of Rome while A-36s bomb harbors at San Stefano al Mare and Civitavecchia and hit nearby targets of opportunity; Spitfires, P-40s, and P-47s patrol the Anzio battle area.

Destroyers _'Ericsson' _(DD-440) and _'Kearny' _(DD-432), along with submarine chasers PC-626, PC-556, and PC-558, and four British destroyers--HMS _'Laforey'_, HMS _'Tumult'_, HMS _'Hambledon'_, and HMS _'Blencathra'_--begin submarine hunt 30 miles northeast of Palermo, Sicily. Their efforts culminate in the sinking of German submarine _'U-223'_.

Destroyer _'John D. Ford' _(DD-228 ) is damaged when accidentally rammed by British armed trawler HMS _'Kingston Agate' _while departing Gibraltar, British Crown Colony.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 284: 236 B-17s are dispatched to Germany; 193 hit the secondary target (Brunswick), 20 hit Unterluss, 18 hit Stedorf and 2 hit other targets of opportunity; the B-17s claim 8-3-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 66 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 5 WIA and 90 MIA. Escort is provided by 50 P-38s, 242 P-47s and 136 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the fighters claim 44-4-13 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 13-7-14 on the ground; results are: 2 P-38s lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 2 pilots are KIA and 2 MIA. 1 P-47 lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 8 damaged; 2 pilots are WIA. 9 P-51 lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 8MIA.

The _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 3, Oblt. Detlev Rohwer engaged the bombers and was hit by return fire necessiatating a belly-landing at Mettingen. No sooner had he put his aircraft on the ground than a P-38 strafed him and he suffered severe wounds. He was hospitalized where he had a leg amputated. But he died the next day from his wounds.


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## Njaco (Apr 12, 2009)

*30 MARCH 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler, furious at the Russian victories in the Ukraine, has sacked two of his field marshals, von Manstein, commanding Heeresgruppe Sud and von Kleist, in charge of Heeresgruppe A. After being summoned to Hitler's HQ, von Manstein was awarded a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Eichenlaub), Germany's highest decoration, and summarily relieved of command of Heeresgruppe Sud and dismissed from further service to the Reich. Von Manstein's dismissal is the culmination of a long series of quarrels in which he has refused Hitler's demand that the Wehrmacht should never retreat. Von Manstein, master of the defensive battle, won the last quarrel five days ago when Hitler summoned him to the Berchtesgaden to demand that the army must stand on the line of the river Bug. Von Manstein replied that it was an impossible order, and that the 1.Panzerarmee was in danger of being caught in a Stalingrad-type "cauldron". Hitler backed down, but now he has had his revenge. He recongnised that von Manstein was a master of manoeuvre, but said that what he wanted was someone who;


> "_would dash round the divisions and get the very utmost out of his troops"_.


At the core of the quarrel is Hitler's belief that the army had run away in the Ukraine. In fact it was overwhelmed by the speed and weight of the Russian attack.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Nearly 350 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Sofia, Bulgaria and an industrial complex and airfield at Imotski, Yugoslavia. Escorting fighters and the bombers claim 13 enemy fighters shot down; 4 bombers are lost.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit the harbor at Leghorn and railroad bridge NW of Orte; P-40s and A-36s attack an ammunition dump NW of Roccasecca, trucks and supply dump NE of Tivoli and near Fumone and Gaeta, railroad bridges SE of Civita Castellana and NW of Stimigliano and Orvieto and motor transport N of Cori and at scattered points.

_'U-223' _(type VIIC) (Oberleutnant zur See Peter Gerlach) is sunk north of Palermo by depth charges from HMS _'Laforey' _(which the U-Boat also torpedoes and sinks), HMS _'Tumult'_, HMS _'Hambledon'_, HMS _'Blencathra'_. 23 of the U-Boat crew are lost, but 27 survive. Having attacked HMS _'Laforey' _whilst surfaced _'U-223' _then attempted an escape on the surface at 15 knots, but was unable to outrun 2 fleet and 3 escort destroyers. She finally sank by the stern after having been on the receiving end of 27 depth charge/Hedgehog attacks and gunfire. HMS _'Laforey' _is the last British warship to be sunk in the Mediterranean by a submarine during WWII. There are 177 casualties and 69 survivors.

*GERMANY*: This would normally have been the moon stand-down period for the RAF Main Force, but a raid to the distant target of Nuremberg was planned on the basis of an early forecast that there would be protective high cloud on the outward route, when the moon would be up, but that the target area would be clear for ground-marked bombing. A Meteorological Flight Mosquito carried out a reconnaissance and reported that the protective cloud was unlikely to be present and that there could be cloud over the target, but the raid was not cancelled. 795 aircraft were dispatched - 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos. The German controller ignored all the diversions and assembled his fighters at 2 radio beacons which happened to be astride the route to Nuremberg. The first fighters appeared just before the bombers reached the Belgian border and a fierce battle in the moonlight lasted for the next hour. 82 bombers were lost on the outward route and near the target. The action was much reduced on the return flight, when most of the German fighters had to land, but 95 bombers were lost in all - 64 Lancasters and 31 Halifaxes, 11.9 per cent of the force dispatched. It was the biggest Bomber Command loss of the war. Most of the returning crews reported that they had bombed Nuremberg but subsequent research showed that approximately 120 aircraft had bombed Schweinfurt, 50 miles north-west of Nuremberg. This mistake was a result of badly forecast winds causing navigational difficulties. 2 Pathfinder aircraft dropped markers at Schweinfurt. Much of the bombing in the Schweinfurt area fell outside the town and only 2 people were killed in that area. The main raid at Nuremberg was a failure. The city was covered by thick cloud and a fierce cross-wind which developed on the final approach to the target caused many of the Pathfinder aircraft to mark too far to the east. A 10-mile-long creepback also developed into the countryside north of Nuremberg. Both Pathfinders and Main Force aircraft were under heavy fighter attack throughout the raid. Little damage was caused in Nuremberg.

P/O Cyril Joe Barton (b.1921), RAFVR, carried out a raid alone in his damaged Halifax MK III (LK 797) of No. 578 Squadron, after three crew baled out in error. Barton was attacked in the air by a Junkers 88. He managed to evade his attacker, but his petrol tanks were ruptured and he had lost four hundred gallons of fuel. The radio and intercom systems, one engine, and the rear turret were all out of action; and, because of a Morse Code message which had been misunderstood, the wireless operator, navigator, and bomber had all baled out. Pilot Officer Barton continued with the attack and released the bombs himself, then returned to base, with a damaged propellor and no navigational aids. As he approached the coast of County Durham, the aircraft ran out of fuel, and Barton found himself heading for a group of miners' cottages. He managed to avoid these, but crashed into the yard of Ryhope Colliery. Barton was killed, but his three remaining colleagues survived with no serious injuries. Three months after his death, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. The medal is now on display at the R.A.F. Museum in Hendon, North London. Pilot Officer Barton's Victoria Cross was the only one awarded to a Halifax crew member throughout the war and the only one awarded during the Battle of Berlin, which had now officially ended.

49 RAF Halifaxes minelaying in the Heligoland area, 13 Mosquitos to night-fighter airfields, 34 Mosquitos on diversions to Aachen, Cologne and Kassel, 5 RCM sorties, 19 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost. 3 Oboe Mosquitos to Oberhausen (where 23 Germans waiting to go into a public shelter were killed by a bomb) and 1 Mosquito to Dortmund, 6 Stirlings minelaying off Texel and Le Havre. 17 aircraft on Resistance operations, 8 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax shot down dropping Resistance agents over Belgium.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 285: In The Netherlands, 24 P-47 fighter-bombers escorted by 50 other P-47s dive-bomb Eindhoven and Sosterburg, Airfields without loss; 22 other P-47s strafe Venlo, Deelen and Twente/Enschede Airfields; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-47 is lost and 3 damaged; 1 pilot is MIA.

US Ninth Air Force Engineer Command is formally activated by the War Department with Brigadier General James B Newman as Commanding General.


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## Njaco (Apr 14, 2009)

*31 MARCH 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 279 civilians were killed and 633 injured in air raids this month.

*GERMANY*: British forces last night suffered a disaster similar to the Light Brigade's destruction at Balaklava, when 545 aircrew of Bomber Command died in a single raid. The target was Nuremburg, a round trip of 1,500 miles and eight hours for those who came back. The route was direct and predictably, in bright moonlight, onto the guns of the Luftwaffe night fighters all the way from Aachen to the target. Some defenders dropped flares above the 795-strong air convoy to illuminate the bombers even more. In all, 95 planes were lost. Another 59 aircraft suffered heavy damage. The percentage loss was 20.8% of men and 11.9% of machines. The Germans lost 19 airmen (a favorable ratio of one to 28) plus 69 civilians and 59 slave workers. Although 256 buildings were hit and thousands of people have been made homeless, photo-reconnaissance suggests that Germany's war industry is unaffected. Bomber Command is suffering losses which it cannot sustain. Germany is littered with the burnt-out carcasses of Lancasters shot down by German night fighters in the "Battle of Berlin", and there is no doubt that the Luftwaffe has won the battle. Despite inflicting heavy losses on the RAF, the Germans are increasingly concerned about the effect of Allied raids on the civil population. Despite inflicting heavy losses on the RAF, the Germans are increasingly concerned about the effect of Allied raids on the civil population. The last raid on Berlin was a week ago, when 72 out of 811 aircraft were lost, and no more are planned in the immediate future. Since 18 November last year, 1,117 bombers and their crews have been lost over Berlin and other targets. So terrible have the losses been that even the eager young men of the RAF's elite aircrews, many of them still under 20, have occasionally balked. Many have been shot down on their first operation. The rest have just a 50-50 chance of completing a "tour" of 30 operations.

3 RAF Oboe Mosquitos to Essen, 28 aircraft on Resistance operations, 15 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax on a Resistance supply-dropping operation was lost.

*NORTH SEA*: Convoy JW-58 has triumphed in the face of one of the most powerful combined attacks of the war by German planes and submarines. The Allies were prepared for trouble and had provided the biggest-ever Arctic escort, comprising two aircraft carriers, five sloops, 20 destroyers, five corvettes and a cruiser. British aircraft shot down six German planes and sank another three U-boats, with the anti-submarine ace Captain F J "Johnnie" Walker leading the sloops from the bridge of HMS _'Starling'_. Not a single merchant ship was lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Weather prevents completion of most Twelfth Air Force operations; P-47s carry out a sweep N of Rome, Italy.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Malinovski's 3rd Ukrainian Front captures Ochakov.


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## Njaco (Apr 15, 2009)

*1 April 1944*

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 287 consisting of 440 bombers and 475 fighters; the target is the chemical industry at Ludwigshafen (the largest in Europe). The 245 B-17s dispatched of the lead force abandon the mission over the French coast due to heavy clouds. The 195 B-24s in the second force became widely dispersed and bomb targets of opportunity; 101 hit Pforzheim; 38 hit Schaffhausen, Switzerland; 17 hit Strasbourg, France; and 9 hit Grafenhausen; Schaffhausen and Strasbourg were mistaken as German towns; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 280 P-47 Thunderbolts and 195 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs: P-47s claim 13-1-19 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground 2 P-47s are lost; P-51s claim 5-2-4 aircraft, 2 P-51s are lost.

35 RAF Mosquitos bombed Hannover through thin cloud. No aircraft lost.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 7 RAF Mosquitos to Aachen, 6 to Krefeld and 2 to La Glacerie flying-bomb site, 1 RCM sortie, 4 Serrate patrols, 34 Halifaxes minelaying off the Dutch coast, 9 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

26 USAAF bombers kill 50 Swiss civilians as they mistakenly drop 400 bombs on Schaffhausen, Switzerland, mistaking it for German territory.

Possibly due to a lack of night-fighters, it was decided to employ I./, II./KG 51 (Me 410s) and I./SKG 10 (Fw 190s) on Wilde Sau missions over North Western France and Belgium in full moon periods. These units were under operational control of _IX Fliegerkorps_, who was conducting a limited offensive against England. 3(F)./122 operated as an auxilliary bomber unit during raids on Hull and Great Yarmouth in April, dropping both 50kg and 500kg bombs.

_Fliegerfuhrer Atlantik _was absorbed by X _Fliegerkorps_.

Major Anton Hackl was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 11 in place of Major Hermann Graf.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 40,000 strong German Force near Skala is caught between the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts. Elements of Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front reaches the Jabolnica Pass in the Carpathian Mountains. However, he is forced to redirect much of his force north of the Dniepr to contend with the unexpected movement of Hube's 1.PanzerArmee across his route of advance.

Obstlt. Karl-Gottfried Nordmann, _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 51, was appointed to Jagdfliegerfuhrer Ostpreussen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Leghorn harbor, bridges at Orvieto, and railway track south of Poggibonsi; B-26 Marauders hit Arno River railroad bridges at Signa, Riva-Trigoso, and Valdarno, while A-20s hit ammunition dumps; P-40s hit targets in the vicinity of Gaeta, Formia tunnel, several fuel dumps, bridges, and guns in the battle areas; P-47s bomb Poggibonsi bridge and strafe a train; and fighters patrol the Anzio battle area without incident.

Convoy UGS 36 is attacked by German torpedo bombers off Algiers; tank landing ship LST-526 is damaged when low- flying enemy plane knocks off radio antenna. US freighter _'Jared Ingersoll' _is torpedoed; destroyer escort _'Mills' _(DE-383) and British tug _'Mindful' _rescue the crew (including the 29-man Armed Guard) from the sinking ship. After one attempt to quell the fires consuming the ship fails, _'Mills' _places a firefighting party on board which succeeds in its attempt; the destroyer escort then assists in towing _'Jared Ingersoll' _out of danger. Beached off Algiers, the freighter is subsequently returned to service.

1(F)./122 was transferred from Athens-Kalamaki to Gutenfeld(East Prussia) on this date to commence conversion to the Messerschmitt Me 410.


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## Njaco (Apr 15, 2009)

*2 April 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26 Marauders attack railroad bridges at Arezzo, Fano, Ficulle, Magra, north of Orvieto, and south of Poggibonsi, scoring some direct hits, hits on approaches, and several near misses; fighter-bombers hit trucks and the railroad station at Fara in Sabina and east and north of Anzio, attack the Formia tunnel, fly armed reconnaissance over the Atina and Arce areas, bomb a factory and buildings north of Cassino, the town of Pignataro Interamna and numerous bridges, dumps, gun positions and targets of opportunity in or around the battle areas.

The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 29 B-17s and 63 B-24s to attack three targets: 35 B-24s bomb the Bihac marshalling yard, 28 B-24s bomb an air depot at Mostar, and the B-17s bomb a marshalling yard at Brod. The P-47 escorts shoot down three Bf-109s.

Submarine chaser PC-621 is damaged by aerial mine, and harbor tug YT-207 is damaged by near-miss from shore battery off Anzio.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviets enter Romania across the Prat River near Chernovtsy. Adolf Hitler issues Operation Order 7, instructing Heeresgruppe A, Heeresgruppe Sud, and Heeresgruppe Mitte to hold a line against Russian advances.

A Finnish Air Force Brewster Buffalo of Lentolaivue 24 shoots down a Soviet La-5.

JG 54's Albin Wolf (144 kills) was killed in action.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack targets at Steyr: 125 B-17s and 30 B-24s bomb the ball bearing plant and 168 B-24s hit the Daimler-Puch aircraft components factory and the depot at the Steyr Airfield. P-38s and P-47 Thunderbolts fly 150+ sorties in support of the bombers; hundreds of enemy fighters oppose the missions and fierce air battles result in 19 bombers shot down and several missing; the AAF shoots down 33 Luftwaffe aircraft against the loss of one P-38.


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## Njaco (Apr 15, 2009)

*3 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Germany's one surviving battleship, the _'Tirpitz'_, has been disabled again by a daring navy attack. Repairs on the _'Tirpitz' _following the midget submarine attack last September had just been completed. The Royal Navy learnt from Ultra codebreaking that she was ready to sail and sent two carriers to Altenfjord. HMS _'Victorious' _and HMS _'Furious' _sailed as near as they dared and launched their 41 Fairey Barracuda bombers at 4.15 this morning. They scored 14 hits on the _'Tirpitz'_, causing 438 German casualties. The bombs did not pierce the ship's heavy armour, but the _'Tirpitz' _will not sail again for three months.

Because of a combat crew shortage which has caused abolition of the 50-mission limit tour of duty and resulted in fatigue and morale problems, IX Bomber Command establishes a new operational leave policy. Maximum leaves for bomber crews are set at 1 week between the 25th and 30th missions and 2 weeks between the 40th and 50th missions.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Mount Vesuvius erupts sending clouds of dust and rock falling onto Allied merchant ships in the Bay of Naples. Tom Stainton and his ship are forced to move out to sea to avoid damage.

US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack railway bridges at Orvieto, cutting approaches to a bridge to the north of town; other medium bomber attacks on bridges abort because of weather but light bombers successfully bomb an ammunition dump; A-36 Apaches attack the railway at Attigliano and bomb an underpass in the area, while P-40s hit Sesti Bagni railroad station, a supply dump southeast of Frosinone, the town of Itri, a bivouac area northwest of Velletri and several trucks; and P-47 Thunderbolts successfully bomb Pignataro Interamna and nearby road junction.

450+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb targets in Hungary and Yugoslavia; the B-17s hit an aircraft factory in Budapest, Hungary and a marshalling yard at Brod, Yugoslavia; the B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Budapest; 137 fighters escort the B-17s (B-24s miss the rendezvous) to Budapest; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 24 enemy aircraft shot down. Seven Heja II fighters of the Hungarian Air Force stationed on a field near Budapest manage to get airborne, and thereby only proved their inadequacy against modern aircraft. Still underpowered and lacking an oxygen supply, they had difficulty operating above 15,000 feet, which was still several thousand feet below the altitude preferred by the bomber formations.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop orders all deliveries of food supplies to Finland to cease. This is in retaliation to the Finnish peace-probes, which the Germans have discovered, apparently from their spies in the Swedish airport which the Finnish envoys used in their trip. This embargo puts Finland in a very hard position; because of the wartime, the majority of Finnish supplies come from Germany or countries allied to it.


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## Njaco (Apr 15, 2009)

*4 April 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: DeGaulle announces the Committee of National Liberation. Of the various appointments, two are communists. He also takes control of the Free French armed forces, squeezing General Giraud off the Committee of National Liberation. He said on Free French radio:


> "_The efforts of all Frenchmen must depend on a single leadership_."


Giraud, has been offered the role of inspector-general.

Early in the morning the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards launch six of their amphibious Valentine 'Duplex Drive' (DD) tanks from landing craft for a live-firing rehearsal for D-Day. The weather is marginal at launch but later deteriorated, resulting in the loss of the tanks and six lives.

*EASTERN FRONT*: An Allied reconnaissance aircraft photographs part of the Auschwitz death camp.

350 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack Bucharest; both hit marshalling yards and the B-24s also hit an air depot; 110 P-38s support of the mission; between 150 and 200 enemy fighters attack the bombers, shooting down 10; the bombers and escorts claim 50+ aircraft destroyed in combat. This is the first mission to Romanian support of the Soviet Army's drive across the Balkans.

German forces begin limited local counterattacks against the advancing Red Army forces. They succeed in blunting the drives into the Carpathian Mountains and securing, at least temporarily, the passes near Kolomya. Further north, Army Group Center attacks and relieves the besieged garrison at Kovel.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Greek Army Brigade mutinies.

US Twelfth Air Force medium bomber missions are aborted due to weather but A-20s manage to bomb an ammunition dump and fighter-bombers bomb Terracina and Formia, attack a bridge and several vehicles during armed reconnaissance of the Rome-Orte area, bomb Itri and Fondi, hit numerous gun positions, a railway station, a bivouac area, and a vehicle concentration, and attack targets of opportunity between Atina and Cassino.

British troops captured Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

*NORTH AMERICA*: USAAF orders 1,000 P-80As; delivery of the first 500 was to be completed by the end of 1945; the remaining 500 were to be delivered by February 1946. Because of the introduction of jets by the Luftwaffe, the P-80 program was given the same high priority as the B-29 program.

HQ Twentieth Air Force is activated in Washington, DC. General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold is named Commanding General and he retains that position until the Twentieth moves to the Pacific in July 1945. It has been decided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff that this strategic air force will not be assigned to a theater commander but rather, operations will be controlled by Washington.

*GERMANY*: 41 RAF Mosquitos dispatched to Cologne; none lost. 16 other Mosquitos were dispatched: 5 to Aachen, 4 to Essen, 3 to Duisburg, 2 to Krefeld and 2 to La Glacerie. No losses.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2009)

*5 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 288: 21 B-24s dispatched hit V-weapon sites at St Pol/Siracourt without loss; heavy clouds and the failure of blind-bombing equipment cause other B-24s to return to base without bombing. 50 P-47s escort the B-24s without loss.

144 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group succesfully attacked the Gnome et Rhône aero-works at Toulouse, France, effecting the complete destruction of the factory. 1 Lancaster exploded in the air over the target. 24 Stirlings minelaying off Biscay ports, 37 aircraft on Resistance operations. No losses.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 289: 96 P-38s, 236 P-47 Thunderbolts and 124 P-51 Mustangs are dispatched to attack airfields in Germany; heavy cloud hinders most groups: 1 P-38s is lost; P-47s claim 2-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost; P-51s claim 96-4-120 aircraft, 7 P-51s are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Malinovski's Advancing elements of the 3rd Ukrainian Front cut the last rail line to Odessa near the town of Kishinev as the collapse of the southern German forces continues. Soviet troops enter Tarnopol.

The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 95 B-17s and 135 B-24s against marshalling yards at Ploesti. Five B-24s are lost. The US Fifteenth Air Force also dispatches B-17s and B-24s to attack marshalling yards in Yugoslavia. The B-17s bomb a marshalling yard at Nis while the B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Leskovac.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Weather precludes all light and medium bomber action by the US Twelfth Air Force; P-40s hit the Colleferro railway station, several fuel dumps, and gun positions in the US Fifth Army battle areas; A-36 Apaches bomb Formia, and railway stations northwest of Rome and in the Frosinone area.

In response to Allied interdiction during Operation 'Strangle', the Germans ordered all supply columns after 5 April to move only at night, meaning convoys could no longer make round trips in one day.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2009)

*6 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 290: 12 B-24s bomb V-weapon sites at Watten without loss. Escort is provided by 27 P-47s without loss.

German trucks rolled up to the safehouse of Sabina Zlatin in Izieu-Ain, France, and 44 children and 7 teachers including Mr. Zlatin were arrested. The raid was ordered by Klaus Barbie, head of the German police in Lyons.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German 1.Panzerarmee, after a westward fight of over 150 miles, regains a line of communications with the rest of Heeresgruppe Sud at Buchbach south of Tarnopol. Zhukov, who was anticipating a withdraw to the south and subsequently surprised by the move, was blamed for the debacle. Further to the south, elements of the German 6.Armee trapped at Razdelnaya are heavily engaged by elements of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

The _Staffelfuhrer _of 8./SG 3, Oblt. Hans-Adolf Meyer was awarded the _Ritterkreuz_.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit Perugia Airfield while B-26 Marauders bomb a bridge and its approaches northwest of Orvieto; weather prevents other medium bomber operations; fighter-bombers attack the railroad stations at Capronica and Maccarese, guns southeast of Littoria, a road bridge east of Pescasseroli, railroad bridges in the Arezzo area, other rail facilities in central Italy, and small transport vessels in the Aegean Sea.

US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the airfield at Zagreb; numerous other B-24s and B-17s abort because of weather; escorting fighters and the bombers claim 17 enemy fighters destroyed in combat; 6 US aircraft are shot down.

US motor torpedo boats engage German E-boats and a flak ship south of Vada Rocks, sinking one E-boat; flak ship later explodes as the result of gunfire damage. Enemy shore batteries take the motor torpedo boats under fire but inflict no damage.

*GERMANY*: 35 RAF Mosquitos to Hamburg; 1 aircraft lost. 14 Mosquitos bombed 7 targets in the Ruhr and the Rhineland, and 3 aircraft flew RCM sorties. No losses.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2009)

*7 April 1944*

*GERMANY*: In a desperate effort to rescue Berlin from the chaos created by Allied bombing, Hitler has suspended civil law and administration and installed Göbbels as Stadtspresident with unlimited powers. The city's military commanders, and the chiefs of police, fire brigades, medical, ambulance and rescue services, as well as food and relief organizations will be answerable to him alone. Shop assistants, office workers and commercial travellers are being drafted into labour units to clear bomb damage. Under the relentless air attacks, Berlin's fire-fighting services have broken down, relief organizations have failed to provide enough food and clothing for bombing victims, and wide-spread looting has been reported. There have been repeated outbreaks of disorder, with SS troops forced to intervene. The destruction of police records has allowed what the authorities call "undesirable characters" to evade arrest and roam the city without identity papers.

The Ta 154V-5 of EKD 154 crashed due to an undercarriage failure at Erfurt.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 400+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack marshalling yards; the B-17s bomb Treviso, the B-24s hit Mestre and Bologna; almost 100 P-38s provide escort; P-47s fly a sweep over the Gorizia-Udine area; the bombers and fighters claim almost 20 aircraft shot down. US Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26 Marauders attack bridges, tracks and a viaduct at Attigliano, Ficulle, Certaldo, Pontassieve and Incisa in Valdarno, and hit the Prato marshalling yard; A-20 Havocs hit an ammunition dump; Ausonia, Pignataro Interamna, San Apollinare and Terracina are bombed by P-40s along with a dump and several gun positions southeast of Rome; P-47 Thunderbolts also hit bridges and trucks in this same area and attack the Empoli marshalling yard while A-36 Apaches hit gun emplacements, train and tracks in the Orvieto area and vicinity and approaches to the Montalto di Castro bridge.

The remaining units of JG 2, after a day of heavy fighting, packed up their equipment and headed for Marseille, France, their Med operation days over. In action for 5 weeks and with about 18 aircraft at any given time, I./JG 2's pilots claimed 52 enemy machines. On this performance, 1./JG 2 would seem to be the most effective part of the Gruppe, scoring high and incurring no casualties.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Generalmajor Ferdinand Schorner makes an inspection of the defenses of Fortress Crimea. He states that everything is sufficient.

Heavy fighting continues at Razdelnaya as the trapped German and Rumanian forces continue to hold out. Further to the north, the German garrison trapped in Tarnopol makes an unsuccessful attempt at withdrawal. Elements of the II SS Panzer Korps (9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions) begin counterattacks toward the besieged city.

Major Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 54 shot down 6 Russian aircraft to bring his score to 134 kills.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Destroyer USS _'Champlin' _(DD-601) is damaged when she intentionally rams German submarine _'U-856'_, 380 miles (612 km) southeast of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, Canada. _'Champlin' _and destroyer escort USS _'Huse' _(DE-145) had teamed to sink _'U-856'_.

RAF Activity: 1 RCM sortie, 4 Mosquitos on Serrate patrols, 12 Halifaxes minelaying off the Dutch coast. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2009)

*8 April 1944*

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 291: 3 separate forces, a total of 664 bombers divided into 13 combat wings, escorted by 780 fighters, are dispatched against airfields in northwestern Germany and aircraft factories in the Brunswick area; 34 bombers and 23 fighters are lost. 59 B-17s hit Oldenburg Airfield, 83 B-17s hit Quakenbruck Airfield, 60 hit Achmer Airfield, 41 hit Rheine Airfield, 22 hit Twente Enschede, 21 hit Hesepe, 19 hit Handorf and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-17s are lost. 190 B-24s bomb aviation industry targets in Brunswick, 59 hit Rosslingen, 48 hit Langenhagen Airfield and 6 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 58-9-32 Luftwaffe aircraft; 30 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 136 P-38 Lightnings, 438 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 and 206 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; the fighters claim 88-3-46 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 49-6-38 on the ground: 5 P-38s, 4 P-47s and 14 P-51s are lost. US aircraft bomb the Volkswagen plant at Fallersleben, near Hanover.

The Arado 234 V6 four jet-engined bomber makes its first flight. It is powered by four 800kg thrust BMW 003A-1 turbojets in four separate nacelles.

40 RAF Mosquitos attacked the Krupps works at Essen without loss. 3 Mosquitos to Duisburg and 3 to Osnabrück, 2 RCM sorties, 8 Halifaxes minelaying off Texel and Den Helder. No losses. Fw. Heinz Reis and his He 177 of 2./KG 100 was shot down during the night by a Mosquito.

The incompetence of the 'Fighter Staff' was best illustrated when Herr Saur addressed a meeting this day with the following statement;


> "_We cannot win the war with our airmen but they are a prime necessity for the creation of conditions under which tank production can go on. It will be the tanks with which we shall win the war in the East_."


And so the Luftwaffe fought on.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 198 US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack Hasselt marshalling yard and hit Coxyde Airfield; and 32 P-47 Thunderbolts bomb the area around Hasselt.

The pilots of 2./JG 26 lost their Staffelkapitaen Oblt. Karl Willius (RK, 50 kills) and Fw. Emil Babenz (24 kills) in combat with US 361st FG P-47s over the Zuider Zee, Holland.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack a bridge northwest of Orte while A-20 Havocs successfully attack supply stores; fighter-bombers hit several bridges, motor transport, and supply dumps in central Italy, and bomb railroad tracks at Sesti Bagni and Maccarese.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russia launches a major Crimean offensive. The 17.Armee (a mix of Germans and Romanians) in Fortress Crimea are mostly wiped out, the survivors retreating back to Sevastopol.

Fighting ends at Razdelnaya as the 3rd Ukrainian Front eliminates the German and Rumanian forces fighting in the pocket. Further north, 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts continue to drive into Rumania reaching the Siret river and the Slovinian border, capturing Botosani and Dorohoi. Soviet forces under Marshal Ivan Konev cross the Pruth into Romania.

A 324-gun salute in Moscow marks the First Ukrainian Front reaching Czechoslovakia and Romania.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2009)

*9 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Rockets and machine gun fire from four TBM Avengers and FM-2 Wildcats of Composite Squadron 58 (VC-58) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Guadalcanal' _(CVE-60), together with depth charges from destroyer escorts USS _'Pillsbury' _(DE-133), USS _'Pope' _(DE-134), USS _'Flaherty' _(DE-135), and USS _'Chatelain' _(DE-149), sink German submarine _'U-515' _at 1515 hours local off Madeira Island, Portugal. 44 of the 60 man crew on the U-boat survive.

During US Eighth Air Force Mission 294, 5 B-17s drop 2.752 million leaflets on Rouen, Paris, Amiens and Caen, France at 2224-2338 hours without loss. During the night, 23 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations delivering supplies to the Resistance.

239 RAF aircraft - 166 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, 22 Stirlings, 11 Mosquitos of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - to railway yards at Lille. 1 Lancaster lost. 225 aircraft - 166 Lancasters, 49 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos to another railway target, this time at Villeneuve St Georges near Paris. No aircraft lost. 36 Mosquitos to Mannheim and 8 to four other targets, 16 Serrate patrols, 103 Lancasters of Nos 1 and No 5 Groups minelaying off Danzig, Gdynia and Pillau in the Baltic, 61 aircraft on Resistance operations, 9 OTU sorties. 9 Lancasters from the minelaying force and 1 Serrate Mosquito were lost. Oblt. Berger from 2./NJG 3 claimed 3 bombers and Hptm. Werner Husemann of Stab I./NJG 3 claimed 2 bombers.

Many Lancasters fell in Denmark. On its way to the target area JB725 was attacked by a German night fighter piloted by Oberfeldwebel Rudolf Mangelsdorf from 12./NJG 3 while flying at 4000 metres altitude. The Lancaster caught fire, exploded in the air and crashed to the ground south of the village of Jelling at 23:48 hours killing the whole crew. Outbound ND625 was attacked by a German night fighter from 12./NJG 3 while flying at 5500 metres altitude and crashed into the Sejrø Bay at 00:06 hours 10 kilometres SSE of Sejrø island lighthouse killing the whole crew. The night fighter was a Bf 110G-4 coded D5+AX with the crew of Hptm. Eduard Schröder, Kaisig and Brusendorf. On the return flight JB734 was attacked by a night fighter piloted by Uffz. Carl-Hans Hurth of 12./NJG 3 and crashed at Bjerremose bog near Gunderup. ME663 was flying at 23.000 feet on the return flight to England when it was attacked by a German night fighter piloted by Uffz. Erich Scheding of 2./ NJG 3 and started burning. Pilot F/O Peter A. Crosby dived to 18.000 feet to escape the night fighter and ordered the crew to bale out. At the same moment the Lancaster turned over and dived to 6000 feet before Crosby managed to level it off. ME663 dived again with flames from both wings and after a short while it exploded at 03:58 hours one kilometre north of Aale. The wreckage was spread over a couple of kilometres. _For more info and pics_: On the night of 9/10 April 1944

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 293: 542 bombers and 719 fighters are dispatched to aircraft factories and airfields in Germany and Poland; the bombers claim 45-8-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; 32 bombers and 10 fighters are lost. 41 B-17s bomb the aviation industry at Rahmel, Poland and 96 attack Marienburg, Germany; 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are lost. 33 B-17s bomb the Focke-Wulf plant at Poznan, Poland and 85 bomb the Heinkel plant at Warnemunde, Germany; 18 others hit Marienehe Airfield; 12 B-17s are lost. 106 B-24s bomb an assembly plant at Tutow, Germany; 14 hit Parchim, Germany and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 14 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 119 P-38s, 387 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 213 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the fighters claim 20-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 19-0-8 on the ground; no fighter support is available over the targets because of bad weather or distance: 2 P-38s, 4 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost.

At the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany, Dr. Hans von Dohnanyi is executed for several anti-Nazi offences.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force P-40 and A-36 Apache fighter-bombers bomb the railroad line between Rome and Bracciano, hitting tracks, a station, and a warehouse; attack Littoria and Terracina, repair shops northwest of Valmontone and several gun positions; and bomb scattered motor transport during armed reconnaissance of the Avezzano-Sora-Pontecorvo-Ceprano areas.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces continue to advance in southwestern Ukraine and Rumania as 3rd Ukrainian Front forces reach the Odessa and 4th Ukrainian Front forces break the German lines at Kerch and storm into the Crimean peninsula.

I./KG 27 transferred to Romania and supported the heavy fighting in the Crimea.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2009)

*10 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russian forces take Odessa. Elements of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front move into Odessa as the 4th Ukrainian Front continues to push the German 17th Army back on the now doomed city of Sevastopol. Further to the west, elements of 2nd Ukrainian Front cross the Siret River and capture Radauti and Suceava.

Oblt. Anton Hafner of JG 51 scored his 134th victory.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Royal Navy's X-craft, the midget four-man submarines which disabled the _'Tirpitz' _battleship last September, scored another devastating success today. And this time there was no loss of life. X-24, commanded by Lt. M H Shean, managed to get in and out of the heavily-protected Bergen harbour without being detected. Shean guided his midget submarine underneath the 7,500-ton merchant ship _'Barenfels'_, placed his charges and escaped, undetected from the harbour before they went off. The explosion sank the _'Barenfels' _but did not harm a dock which was also targeted. The puzzled Germans have assumed that the attack was sabotage.

The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 295: 729 bombers and 496 fighters are dispatched to hit aviation industry targets and airfields in Belgium and France; 3 bombers and 2 fighters are lost. 123 B-17s bomb the aviation industry and airfield at Evere, 52 hit Melsbroek Airfield at Brussels, 39 hit aviation industry targets at Brussels, and 20 hit Bergen op Zoom; 1 B-17 is lost. In Belgium, 62 B-17s hit Maldagem Airfield, 60 hit Schaffen Airfield at Diest and 42 hit Juzaine Airfield at Florennes; in France, 21 B-17s hit Courcelles and 21 hit Beaumont sur Oise Airfield; they claim 0-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost. In Belgium, 151 B-24s hit the airfield and aviation industry at Bourges; in France, 28 hit Bricy Airfield Orleans, 21 hit Romarantin Airfield and 15 hit V-weapon sites at Marquise/Mimoyecques; they claim 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 51 P-38s, 295 P-47s and 150 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s: P-38s have no claims or losses; P-47s claim 12-0-7 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost; P-51s claim 40-0-16 aircraft, 1 P-51 is lost.

258 US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and 41 A-20s, including 12 aircraft dropping Window, attack coastal batteries at Le Harve/Le Grand Hameau, France, and military installation nearby. In Belgium during the afternoon 267 B-26s and A-20s bomb the marshalling yard, airfield, coastal defenses, and NOBALL targets at Charleroi/Montignies, Namur, Coxyde, Nieuport and other points on the northern coast of Western Europe. 47 P-47s dive-bomb the airfield at Evreux, France.

_'U-68' _was sunk north-west of Madeira, Portugal, by depth charges and rockets from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft of the US escort carrier USS _'Guadalcanal' _(VC-58 ). 56 dead and 1 survivor.

180 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group to Tours to attack railways (1 aircraft lost); 157 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 10 Pathfinder Mosquitos to Tergnier (10 Halifaxes lost); 148 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos to Laon (1 Lancaster lost); 132 Lancasters and 15 Pathfinder Mosquitos to Aulnoye (7 Lancasters lost); 122 Halifaxes of No 6 Group with 10 Pathfinder Mosquitos to Ghent in Belgium (No losses). With the exception of the raid at Laon, all the attacks inflicted heavy damage on their intended targets. 36 Mosquitos to Hannover and 2 to Duisburg, 17 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 617 Squadron to St Cyr signals depot, 8 RCM sorties, 9 Serrate patrols, 8 Stirlings minelaying off La Pallice, 46 aircraft on Resistance operations, 17 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force A-20s hit an ammunition dump at Gallicano near Lazio; B-25s bomb the Orvieto marshalling yard and 2 bridges; B-26s hit Poggibonsi and Cecina railroad bridges and tracks, and viaducts at Bucine and west of Arezzo; fighter-bombers operating over wide areas of central Italy and in the battle zones hit railroad bridges, railroad cars, motor transport, barracks, and troop concentrations with good effect.

Convoy UGS 37 transits Straits of Gibraltar (60 merchantmen and six tank landing ships), escorted by TF 65 (Commander William R. Headden): four destroyers, eight destroyer escorts and British antiaircraft cruiser HMS _'Delhi' _and frigate HMS _'Nadder'_, in addition to radar jamming ships, destroyer _'Lansdale' _(DD-462) and British corvette HMS _'Jonquil' _(see 11 April). Escorts keep German submarines _'U-421'_, _'U-471' _and _'U-969' _at bay.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2009)

*11 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Kerda falls to the Soviets. Fighting is heavy in the Crimea as the Soviet 4th Ukrainian Front captures Dzhankoy.They also take Kerch, in the Crimea, forcing a German retreat to Sevastapol.

Several awards were given to Eastern Front Luftwaffe pilots. Oblt. Anton Hafner of JG 51 was awarded the _Eichenlaub _ (Oak Leaves) and promoted to Leutnant. Fw. Otto Kittel of 2./JG 54 was also awarded the _Eichenlaub _for 152 victories and promoted to Leutnant. Major Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 54 was awarded the _Eichenlaub _for 134 victories.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Six RAF Mosquitoes of No. 613 Squadron precision-bomb the Gestapo offices in the Kleizkamp Art Galleries, The Hague, destroying files on the resistance and Dutch people earmarked for deportation.

229 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and 36 A-20s, including 3 dropping Window, attack Montignies Airfield at Charleroi, military installations on the coast, and Chievres Airfield. 90+ US Ninth Air Force P-47s dive-bomb a military installation and Gael Airfield, France.

Ofw. Friedrich Jost of 10./ZG 1 was recommended for an award after flying 118 Fw 190 missions including 13 against partisans on the plateau of Savoy in France.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 298: 917 bombers and 819 fighters are dispatched in 3 separate forces to bomb production centres (primarily fighter aircraft factories) and targets of opportunity in northern Germany; 64 bombers are lost, one of the heaviest single-day losses of World War II. The bombers also drop 2.4 million leaflets: 108 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Sorau and 17 bomb Cottbus; 127 hit Stettin, 20 hit Trechel, 16 hit Dobberphel and 23 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 12-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 B-17s are lost. 172 B-17s hit Rostock, 52 hit Politz, 35 hit the industrial area at Arnimswalde and 15 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 34-20-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 33 B-17s are lost. 121 B-24s hit aviation industry targets at Oschersleben and 99 bomb Bernburg; 9 bomb aviation industry targets at Halberstadt, 9 bomb Eisleben and 5 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 27-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 124 P-38s, 454 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 241 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; the fighters claim 51-5-25 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 65-0-67 on the grounds: 7 P-47s and 9 P-51s are lost.

341 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups despatched to Aachen. 9 Lancasters lost, 2.6 per cent of the force. This raid was accurate and caused widespread damage and fires in the centre of Aachen and in the southern part of the town, particularly in the suburb of Burtscheid. This was Aachen's most serious raid of the war. Control of the air-raid services was quickly lost when one of the first salvoes or bombs cut communications between the main operations centre and outlying posts. 7 Mosquitos to bomb night-fighter airfields, 36 Mosquitos on diversion raid to Hannover and 3 each to Duisburg and Osnabrück, 7 RCM sorties, 7 Serrate patrols, 35 Halifaxes and 8 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and in the Kattegat, 26 aircraft on Resistance operations, 8 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit the Montalto di Castro railroad bridge, while B-26s hit marshalling yards at Ancona and Siena; fighter-bombers concentrate on attacks against railroad targets northeast of Rome and buildings inland from the east coast; tracks are hit hard in the Arezzo-Pontassieve area as are stations at Maccarese and Cesano; an overpass, bridges, railroad cars and dumps throughout central Italy are attacked, as is the town of Gaeta.

Increased German aerial mining activities are noted off Anzio.

Convoy GUS 37 is attacked by German bombers and torpedo bombers east of Algiers. Destroyer escort _'Holder' _(DE-401) is damaged by aerial torpedo 35 miles northeast of Algiers, as she lays smoke ahead of the convoy. Freighter _'Charles Piez' _is damaged by strafing, her crew (including a 28- man Armed Guard), however, suffers no casualties. Aerial torpedoes narrowly miss destroyer escorts _'Stanton' _(DE-247) and _'Swasey' _(DE-248 ).

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Flying Me 410s, 5./KG 51, led by Hptm. Dietrich Puttfarken attacked RAF bombers on their way back to base in England during the night. Hptm. Puttfarken shot down 2 bombers and Lt. Wolfgang Wenning of Stab II./KG 51 claimed one bomber.


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## Njaco (Apr 19, 2009)

*12 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 3rd Ukrainian Front continues to drive into Romania, unhinging the southern flank of the German lines on the eastern front. Hitler, now desperate for troops, belatedly orders the evacuation of the Crimea. The only route out of the Crimea now available was by sea out of Sevastopol.

In a secret session, the Finnish Parliament rejects the Soviet terms for peace.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 300: 455 bombers and 766 fighters dispatched to bomb industrial targets at Schweinfurt, Zwickau, Oscheresleben, Schkeuditz, Halle and Leipzig are forced to abandon the mission because of haze and multilayer clouds; Luftwaffe fighter opposition is concentrated over N France and the bombers claim 10-6-7 fighters; 6 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 25 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 12 KIA, 16 WIA and 56 MIA. Escort is provided by 124 P-38s, 449 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 193 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 18-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-8 on the ground; 3 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost, 2 P-47s are damaged beyond repair and 3 P-38s, 17 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged.

39 RAF Mosquitos carried out a harassing raid on Osnabrück without loss.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 231 B-26s and 20 A-20s of the US Ninth Air Force attack railroad, shore batteries, radar installations, airfields, and V-weapon sites at Dunkirk and Courtrai/Wevelghem, France; Coxyde/Furnes, De Pannes-Bains, Saint Ghislain and Ostend, Belgium; and points along the coast. 70+ P-47s dive-bomb military installations in N France.

RAF Minor operations: 2 Mosquitos on Serrate patrols, 40 Halifaxes and 10 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians and off Heligoland, 21 aircraft on Resistance operations, 11 OTU sorties. 2 Stirlings lost on Resistance operations.

While landing his Bf 109G at Rouvres-Etain airfield, Major Mietusch of III./JG 26 - newly returned from a hospital stay - hit a bomb crater and overturned in his aircraft. His injuries put him back in the hospital for 3 weeks.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb rail lines approaching the Monte Molino bridge and at a nearby junction to the Viterbo line, railroad and road bridges S of Orvieto and at Certaldo, tracks approaching a bridge at Impeda, and railroad bridges over the Var River and at Albenga; light bombers pound the Zagarolo supply dump; fighter-bombers and fighters (some operating with British aircraft) hit communications (mainly railroad bridges), vehicles, supply dumps at various places, including Arezzo, the island of Elba, Orvieto, NE of Grosseto, NW of Bracciano, Civita Castellana, Montalto di Castro, between Piombino and Viterbo, in the Castiglioncello area, NW of Montepescali and S of Cecina.

Bad weather lifts, permitting US Fifteenth Air Force bomber operations; almost 450 B-17s and B-24s attack targets in Austria and Yugoslavia; the B-17s hit aircraft factories at Fischamend Markt, Austria and Split, Yugoslavia; the B-24s hit the industrial area at Wiener Neustadt and Bad Voslau, Austria and the marshalling yard and air depot at Zagreb, Yugoslavia; 200+ P-38s and P-47s provide escort; the bombers and fighters claim 30+ enemy aircraft shot down; 8 US airplanes are known lost and several more fail to return.

King Victor Emmanuel announces his plan to retire when the Allies enter Rome, and appoints Crown Prince Umberto lieutenant of the realm.

US freighter _'Horace H. Lurton'_, steaming in convoy west of Algiers, is damaged by shell fired by nearby ship, injuring five men of the 44 merchant sailors and 28-man Armed Guard. Destroyer _'Breckinridge' _(DD-148 ) provides medical assistance.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Norwegian Spitfire pilot on a training flight from Eshott airfield in Northumberland, was killed in a mid-air collision, over the airfield, with a USAAF Thunderbolt attached to the Flight Leaders School based at Milfield airfield near Wooler.


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## Njaco (Apr 19, 2009)

*13 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army captures Simferopol. Soviet forces continue to sweep through the Crimea as the 17.Armee begins to disintegrate into a routed mob heading for the dubious safety of Sevastopol. Feodosia and Simferopolo both fall.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US and RAF tactical bombing forces begin attacks on coastal defenses in northern France in preparation for the cross-channel attack, now seven weeks away. The US Ninth Air Force dispatches 121 B-26s and 37 A-20s to attack a marshalling yard, coastal batteries, airfields and V-weapon sites at Namur, Chievres and Nieuport, Belgium; Le Havre, France; and along the northern coast of France in general; nearly 175 other aircraft abort missions mainly because of weather; and 48 P-47s also dive-bomb V-weapon sites.

During Eighth Air Force Mission 302, 4 B-17s drop 800,000 leaflets on Amsterdam, The Hague and Eindhoven at 2235-2252 hours without loss.

Britain and America demand that Sweden stop exporting ball bearings to Germany.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Terni and a bridge at Marsciano while B-26s bomb Ancona marshalling yard and a nearby railroad bridge; fighter-bombers again strike mainly at communications, the town of Itri, Cesano station, a factory at Fontana Liri, a railroad overpass at Fara in Sabina, Anguillara, and bridges, trucks and other targets at points throughout central Italy.

535 US Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers (largest bomber mission to date) bomb targets in Hungary; 163 B-17s bomb an aircraft plant and depot at Gyor while 324 B-24s bomb an aircraft factory at Budapest and air depots at Budapest, Tokol and Vecses; fighter opposition and AA account for 14 US bombers and 1 fighter shot down; 40 enemy fighters are claimed shot down and 120+ aircraft destroyed on the ground. The Hungarian fighters include sixteen Hungarian-made Me-210Cs, but these failed to shoot down any American aircraft, but lost several of their number including at least one to Hungarian anti-aircraft fire, which knocked out one of its engines. Casualties amount to 1,073 killed and about 500 injured, prompting a mass evacuation of 100,000 people from the city (mostly children, elderly and pregnant women).

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 301: 626 bombers and 871 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; the bombers claim 22-13-34 Luftwaffe aircraft and the fighters claim 42-8-10 in the air and 35-0-21 on the ground; 38 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; the bombers also drop 5.2 million leaflets on Germany; this mission is flown in conjunction with a raid on Hungary by 500+ Fifteenth Air Force bombers. 154 B-17s hit the industrial area at Schweinfurt and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 14 B-17s are lost. 207 B-17s bomb aviation industry targets at Augsburg and 20 hit the city of Augsburg; 18 B-17s are lost. 93 B-24s hit Lechfeld Airfield; 60 bomb aviation industry targets at Oberpfaffenhofen; 29 hit Lauffern and 2 hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 134 P-38s, 504 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 233 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 3 P-38s, 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost.

29 RAF Mosquitos were dispatched to Berlin but observation of bombing results was not possible because of the glare of massed searchlights. No aircraft lost. 6 Mosquitos to Düren and 3 to Dortmund, 10 Stirlings and 6 Halifaxes minelaying off Cherbourg, Le Havre and La Pallice. No losses.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: General Dwight D Eisenhower formally assumes direction of air operations out of the UK at 0000 hours (though he began informal exercise of this authority in late March 2944). This assumption of authority gives Eisenhower direction over the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) consisting of the RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force and the USAAF Ninth Air Force; RAF Bomber Command; and US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF) consisting of the USAAF Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces (the Fifteenth Air Force retains some degree of independence) along with the US 1st Army Group, British 21 Army Group, and Allied Naval Forces.


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## Njaco (Apr 19, 2009)

*14 April 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack Viterbo Airfield and Leghorn marshalling yard, B-26 Marauders strike at Poggibonsi, Certaldo, Cecina and Magra, attacking mostly rail facilities and hit Arezzo bridge and viaduct and Bucine viaducts; fighter-bombers also concentrate on rail lines and bridges and hit many supply dumps, gun positions and factories, generally located northeast of Rome.

Three US motor torpedo boats and two British Fairmile "D" patrol craft brave intense German shore battery fire to carry out two torpedo attacks on north-bound German F-lighters off San Vincenzio, Italy. No hits are observed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Nikolai F Vatutin, injured on 29 February, dies of his wounds.

The Red Army has reconquered the Crimea in a lightning campaign which lasted just six days. Only the southern tip around Sevastopol is holding against Marshal Tolbukhin's Fourth Ukrainian Front. The attack was launched following the liberation of the Black Sea port of Odessa from which the Germans supplied General Jaenecke's 17th Army in the Crimea. Now the Germans and their Romanian allies have no choice. They have to fall back on the "Gneisenau Line" covering Sevastopol. Thousands of German and Romanian non-combatant personnel and Russian auxiliaries are being evacuated from the Crimea to Constanta. Moscow radio today broadcast this order:


> "_Sailors and airmen. Don't allow them to escape! Destroy their ships! Shoot down their planes! Don't allow a single enemy to escape retribution_!"


1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts drive into the Carpathian Mountains, forcing the inappropriately named and newly formed Army Groups Northern and Southern Ukraine to retreat in different directions opening a wide gap in the German lines.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the North Atlantic, Royal Canadian Navy frigate _'Swansea' _and Royal Navy sloop _'Pelican' _sink German submarine _'U-448'_. 9 dead and 42 survivors.


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## Njaco (Apr 21, 2009)

*15 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 1st Ukrainian Front ends the siege of Tarnopol as the German garrison is overrun while attempting to breakout. One of the principal cities of Eastern Galicia, across the former Polish border,Tarnopol, traditionally a part of Poland, then part of the Soviet Union, had become German-occupied territory in the great German offensive eastward in June 1941.

Clearing weather again permits US Fifteenth Air Force bomber operations. 448 B-17s and B-24s attack marshalling yards; B-17s hit Ploesti, Romaniaand Nis, Yugoslavia; B-24s hit Bucharest, Romania; 150+ fighters provide escort. The attacks were part of the Allied air assault on Nazi communications with the southern front and has brought US bombers within 140 miles of the Russian spearheads in eastern Romania. The Germans adopted new tactics by sending rock-firing Do-217 nightfighters against the Liberators attacking Bucharest. The Luftwaffe lost 13 aircraft in the day's battles, while the Americans lost ten bombers and four fighters. The raids were followed by RAF Wellingtons which carried 4,000-pound bombs in their first raids on Romania. Their target was Turnu Severin, a railway town on the north bank of the Danube, on the main line to Bucharest from Budapest and Belgrade. The crews of the last wave of Wellingtons said that they could see the glow from fires 60 miles away. They went in low, machine-gunning flak barges on the Danube and shooting up an airfield before dropping their bombs on the railway yards.

A special group, led by Lieutenant Colonel Louis A Neveleff, flies from US Fifteenth Air Force HQ at Bari, Italy to Medeno Polji, Yugoslavia and from there the group proceeds to Marshall Tito's HQ at Drvar, where Colonel Neveleff confers with Tito and spends several days laying the groundwork for the evacuation of downed US airmen in Yugoslav hands. Also, much information is gathered regarding the military organization and political trend of the partisan movement. The mission returns to Italy on 2 May and 122 men, mostly US Fifteenth Air Force airmen, are also evacuated.

40 Jewish prisoners working as a "Blobel Commando" digging up and incinerating massacre victims buried at Ponar Woods escape; 25 are shot dead.

With today's round-up of Jews in the German-occupied areas of Ruthenia and Croatia, Hungary is no longer a safe refuge for Jewish people. The Hungarian government has hitherto stood up to German demands for the 767,000 Jews to be deported for "special treatment" in Poland. Miklos Kallay, who was premier until 22 March, refused to take any measures against the Jews, refusing German pressure to institute ghettoes and badges for them. Meanwhile, at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the guards chuckle that "soon we'll be eating Hungarian salami". Engineers are checking and overhauling the gas chambers and crematoria. They are clearly expecting some big transports to arrive soon.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 303: 616 fighters are dispatched on strafing sweeps of central and western Germany, airfields being the primary objectives; 132 P-38s claim 7-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft, 11 P-38s are lost; 262 P-47s claim 20-1-23 aircraft, 7 P-47s are lost; 222 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s claim 30-0-10 aircraft, 15 P-51s are lost. Major Anton Hackl, _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 1, was badly wounded in combat against P-47s.

IV(Sturm)./JG 3 completed its formation as a _Sturmgruppe _at Salzwedel and led by Major Wilhelm Moritz, became operational. The _Gruppe _flew Bf 109Gs but soon switched to Fw 190s. Among its pilots were Willi Maximowitz, Werner Gerth, Gerhard Vivroux and Siefried Muller.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The French take San Giorgio as the German Gustav Line starts to crumble.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s strike a marshalling yard at Leghorn and a tunnel and railroad bridges in central Italy; P-47 Thunderbolts attack rail lines, bridges and ammunition dumps northeast of Rome with good results; other P-47s, P-40s and A-36 Apaches hit numerous targets, including rail lines, motor transport shop, vehicles, tanks and gun positions, in central Italy and in the US Fifth Army battle areas.

2(F)./122 flew a mission from Perugia with an Me 410. The aircraft was shot down at 07.30, 7 kms south of Ortona, when flying northwards over the Adriatic. The crew - Uffz Albert Allrich (pilot) and Uffz. Erwin Lehmann (Observer) were both KIA.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Two Handley Page Halifax bombers crashed while attempting to land at Dishforth Aerodrome. Halifax EB203 crashed into a haystack near Ripon at approx. 23.25 hours and burned. The crew as listed were all killed.

Sent out on a routine training flight, Halifax EB 205 encountered bad weather. At one point, the crew were ordered to stand down but later ordered to fly above the storm that was due to hit the area later that day. The flight went well and they could see the storm gathering below. On returning to base at approx 2300 hrs they hit the full force of the storm. As they were preparing to land at Dishforth, both port engines had cut. The pilot radioed ahead, and he was given priority to land. Cloud cover was down to 500ft over Dishforth, on breaking cloud cover they realised they had overshot. The pilot decided to put down at the nearby Topcliffe aerodrome and was approaching there with a 10mph tailwind. As a precaution the crew were ordered to take up crash positions. The MUG John Tynski came down from his position and laid down on the floor with his parachute over his head . The aircraft careered off the end of the runway and into the railway cottages close to the road. Five crew and three civilians were also killed, one of those a James MacNulty was killed, as he was cycling by at the time. The occupants of the house Mr and Mrs Stone were also killed. John Tynski having been knocked unconscious, came to trapped by all the building rubble. On fire, and fearing for his life, his first thoughts were to gather the ammunition that had spilled from the containers and move it away from the fire. At risk of being burned alive he then made up a makeshift wall from the brick rubble that lay all around to shield him from the heat. At this point he could hear help arriving from local farmers Rooke and Starr, who eventually dragged him to safety. It was later discovered by an accident investigation team, that the Flight Engineer had inadvertantly turned the fuel off on the port engines thus contributing to the accident.


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## Njaco (Apr 21, 2009)

*16 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet General Eremenko's Independent Maritime Army has taken Yalta in the Crimea. This is the last port apart from Sevastopol through which the Germans can escape the Crimea. Sevastopol's airfield at Kacha has also been captured and, as fighting rages across the old battlefields of Balaklava and Inkerman, the position of Germany's 17th Army looks hopeless. A terrible toll is being taken of the Germans as they try to escape. A German correspondent describes how "_bombers, dive-bombers and fighters in endless procession are raining their bombs on our ships and riddling them with cannon fire_." Sevastopol harbour is choked with sunken ships and the bodies of drowned men.

In the Ukraine, Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's troops cross the Dniester at Tiraspol. The 3rd Ukrainian Front establishes several bridgeheads over the Dniester River. German forces launch immediate counterattacks that fail to dislodge the Soviet troops.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb approaches to Ficulle and Todi railway bridges; A-20 Havocs hit fuel supplies; P-40s, P-47 Thunderbolts and A-36 Apaches hit the Capranica viaduct, town of Zagarolo, railway at Spigno Monferrato, marshalling yard at Orte-Terni, tunnel at Capranica and tracks, vehicles, railway cars, ammunition dump, bridge, and targets of opportunity at various points in central Italy.

432 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit targets in Romania and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb the industrial area at Belgrade, Yugoslavia and an aircraft plant at Brasov, Romania; B-24s hit marshalling yards at Brasov and Turnu Severin, Romania; 90+ fighters fly escort while 50+ others, failing to rendezvous with the bombers, strafe trains on the Craiova line east of Turnu Severin. The Belgrade Zemun airdrome was bombed by Allied forces for the 3rd day in a row. The bombing was carried out by the 414th Bomb Squadron stationed at Amendola, Italy.

German submarine _'U-407' _attacks convoy UGS 37 about 17 miles off Derna, Libya, torpedoing US freighters _'Meyer London' _and _'Thomas G. Masaryk'_; the latter, out of control at one point, nearly rams _'Meyer London'_. There are no casualties on board either ship (including the 27-man Armed Guard in each freighter). French-manned British corvette HMS _'La Malouine' _rescues _'Meyer London's' _crew; another escort vessel rescues the other ship's complement. British rescue tug HMS _'Captive' _later tows _'Thomas G._ _Masaryk' _and beaches her in Maneloa Bay, Libya, where the damaged ship is subsequently written off as a total loss. _'Meyer London' _sinks.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The armed U.S. tanker SS _'Pan Pennsylvania'_, in United Kingdom-bound convoy CU 1, is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-550' _150 miles (241 km) east of Ambrose Light, New York. Later, destroyer escort USS _'Gandy' _(DE-764) is damaged when she intentionally rams _'U-550' _off Nantucket Shoals, and teams with destroyer escorts USS _'Peterson' _(DE-152) and USS _'Joyce' _(DE-317) to sink the U-boat. Twelve of the 56-man U-boat crew survive. During the action, shells from the destroyer escorts set afire _'Pan Pennsylvania's' _abandoned wreck.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The U.S. Navy's last battleship, USS '_Wisconsin_' (BB-64), is commissioned at the US Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

*GERMANY*: The Operations Staff of the Luftwaffe completed a top secret report, titled 'The Operational Possiblities of Mistletoe'. The paper discussed the effects of a new weapon to use against the Allies. Plain and simple, the project took a fighter plane and piggy-backed it on the back of a bomb-laddened bomber - most often a Bf 109 on top of a Ju 88. The Ju 88 was filled with explosives or had the crew cabin removed and an impact bomb installed. Flown together to a target, the fighter pilot aimed the whole contraption at the target then released the bomber and zoomed away. Using an auto-pilot, the bomber flew into the target, exploding and hopefully destroying the object. Tested since 1943 with promising results, the combination awas finally judges ready for operations. The report suggested that out of the 3 targets chosen for the first Mistletoe operation - Gibraltar, Leningrad or Scapa Flow - only one was feasible; the Royal Navy at Scapa Flow. The report read;


> "_In the target area, the very strongest of defenses may be expected. Exactly how strong is not known, for our radio monitoring service is not effective north of the Wash. Department Ic (Intelligence) estimates that on the airfields between the Firth of Forth and the north of Scotland, there are 160 to 200 aircraft of the types Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito and Beaufighter. In addition there is a belt of radar stations giving gap-free cover out to the sea..." _


The nearest airfield which the bombers were to use was Grove in Central Denmark, about 480 miles from Scape Flow. Suggestions on the operation were made along with an order of 15 Mistletoe combinations to be ready by mid June. The first unit to receive the planes was 2./KG 101, led by Hptm. Horst Rudat.


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## Njaco (Apr 22, 2009)

*17 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force flies two mission. Mission 304:14 of 15 US Eighth Air Force B-24s of the 93d and 467th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) bomb the primary target, V-weapon sites at Wizernes, France without loss. Escort is provided by 33 P-47 Thunderbolts. Mission 305: 5 B-17s drop 1.48 million leaflets on Rennes, Brest, Nantes, Lorient and St Nazaire at 2248-2258 hours without loss.

The German submarine _'U-986' _is sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS _'Swift' _and the USN subchaser USS PC-619. All 50 crewmen on the U-boat are lost.

Royal Navy and Air Force elements begin to sew minefields in the English Channel in preparations for the Normandy invasion. The minefields are being laid to prevent German naval units from interfering with the invasion forces.

British government imposes a ban on diplomatic pouches leaving the UK, except US and USSR, to help prevent information being leaked about the invasion of Europe.

2 RAF Mosquitos to Le Mans railway yards, 2 Serrate patrols, 14 Halifaxes and 6 Stirlings minelaying in Kiel Bay and the Frisians, 4 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax minelayer lost.

Hptm. Hans Ehlers took over as _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 1 from Hptm. Rudolf-Emil Schnoor.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack bridges north of Orte and at Monte Molino, while A-20s pound a fuel dump NE of Rome; P-40, P-47 and A-36 Apache fighter-bombers hit motor transport stores and gun positions north of Anzio, bomb Fara in Sabina station, hit tracks, trains and guns in the Orte and Narni area and at other points north of Rome.

US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Sofia. About 35 Bf 109s and Macchi 202s made passes at the bombers. US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb the industrial area, air depot and marshalling yard at Belgrade.

*GERMANY*: 26 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne; none lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 22, 2009)

*18 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German and Hungarian forces begin limited counterattacks against the 2nd Ukrainian Front between Buchach and southward to the Pruth River. The attacks made little impression, but the Red Army forces were nearing the end of this latest offensive in any event.

General Feodor Tolbukhin's 4th Ukrainian Army reaches the outskirts of Sevastopol and takes Balaklava, scene of the charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The 17th German-Romanian Army is trapped in Sevastopol and awaiting evacuation by ship.

Hitler forbids all exports of weapons to Finland. This comes as a further retaliation for the Finnish peace feelers earlier in this year, even though Finland just recently decided to reject the Soviet terms for peace.

JG 52 made some command changes. Gunther Rall and Walter Krupinski were transferre to Reich defense duties in the West. Oblt. Willi Batz replaced Rall, who was sent to command II./JG 11 and Hptm. Erich Hartmann replaced Krupinski as Operations Officer.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Invasion stripes are ordered for Allied aircraft. These stripes are to be applied to all aircraft except four-engined bombers, transports (not troop carriers), gliders, night fighters and sea planes.

The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 306 Part 2: 12 B-24s hit V-weapon sites at Watten; escort is provided by 36 P-47 Thunderbolts without loss. 277 US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders, including 24 dropping Window, and 37 A-20 Havocs bomb gun positions and marshalling yards at Dunkirk, Calais, and Saint Martin Airfield at Charleroi.

During US Eighth Air Force Mission 307, 5 B-17s drop 2.56 million leaflets on Stavanger, Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim between 2336-0041 hours without loss.

273 RAF Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups to Rouen. No aircraft lost. Bomber Command claimed a concentrated attack on the railway yards, with much destruction. 202 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group with 3 Oboe Mosquitos of No 8 Group to railway targets at Juvisy. 1 Lancaster lost. The attack appeared to be completely successful. 181 aircraft - 112 Halifaxes, 61 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos of Nos 6 and 8 Groups to railway yards at Noisy-Le-Sec. The Mosquitos also operated against Tergnier. 4 Halifaxes lost. The local report describes results which were typical of these railway-target raids. The marshalling yards, the engine-sheds and the railway workshops suffered great damage. Approximately 200 delayed-action bombs continued to explode in the week after the raid. A through line was established several days later but the marshalling yards were not completely repaired until 6 years after the war. In addition to this railway damage, however, the bombing area was measured as 6km long and 3km wide. 750 houses were destroyed and more than 2,000 damaged. 464 French people were killed and 370 injured. 171 aircraft - 139 Halifaxes, 24 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos of Nos 3, 4 and 8 Groups - to Tergnier. 6 Halifaxes lost. 50 railway lines were blocked but most of the bombing fell on housing areas south-west of the railway yards. Total effort for the night: 1,125 sorties, 14 aircraft (1.2 per cent) lost. The total number of sorties on this night was a new Bomber Command record.

Minelaying Operation: 168 RAF aircraft - 88 Halifaxes, 44 Stirlings, 36 Lancasters - to Swinemünde, Kiel Bay and to the Danish coast. 2 Stirlings and 1 Halifax lost.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 306 Part 1: 776 bombers and 634 fighters are dispatched to hit airfields and aviation industry targets; they claim 33-5-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; due to poor weather, several units bomb targets of opportunity in the Berlin area: 275 B-17s hit aviation industry targets at Oranienburg, Perleberg Airfield, Wittenberge and targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost. 210 B-17s hit Oranienburg, Brandenburg, Luneburg Airfield, Rathenow and targets of opportunity; 14 B-17s are lost. 248 B-24s hit Brandenburg, Rathenow, Cuxhaven, Wittenberge and targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 119 P-38s, 296 P-47s and 219 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-38, 1 P-47 and 3 P-51s are lost. Major Friedrich-Karl Muller, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3 claimed 3 B-17s destroyed.

24 RAF Mosquitos went to Berlin, 2 to Osnabrück and 2 to Le Mans, 9 RCM sorties, 32 Serrate patrols, 46 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

At Erfurt, two Ta 154 'Moskitoes - Ta 154V-9 and Ta 154V-12 - of EKD 154, crashed due to a failure of their undercarriages.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force P-47 fighter-bombers cut several rail lines in the Florence and Arezzo areas and strafe trains and motor transport; P-40s and P-47s hit Itri and a rail bridge and fuel dumps as the campaign against communications continues. US Fifteenth Air Force P-38s and P-47s strafe Udine and Aiello Airfields and targets of opportunity in the Basiliano, Sant' Andrea Island, and Cervignano del Friuli areas and in Golfo di Panzano; other fighters fly cover for the strafing missions.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The last German bombers appeared over London as the "Little Blitz" comes to an end. In this raid, 125 bombers including 5 He 177s of I./KG 100 were aimed at the city, of which 53 dropped their load on the target, Fourteen were shot down. The Heinkels climbed as high as they could before diving to their target, making it difficult for defending Mosquito fighters to catch them.

Even stricter rules regarding communications out of England were put in place in preparation for the cross-channel attack. Coded radio and telegraph messages were outlawed and all diplomatic bags were subject to inspection.


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## Njaco (Apr 22, 2009)

*19 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Railway links and river crossings throughout northern and western France - vital for Germany's defence against an Allied invasion - are being attacked with unprecedented fury by RAF and USAAF bombers. In 36 hours some 7,000 tons of bombs have been dropped. Pilots are ordered to pick their targets with care to ensure that French casualties are kept to a minimum. The US Eighth Air Force flies Part 2 of Mission 308 27 B-24s bomb V-weapon sites at Watten; 1 B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 47 Ninth Air Force P-47s without loss.

TBF (VC 13) from escort carrier _'Tripoli' _(CVE-64), in TG21.4, attacks German submarine _'U-543' _with rockets and depth bombs in the face of heavy antiaircraft fire; _'U-543' _escapes.

Hptm. Gunther Rall arrived from the Eastern Front to take command of II./JG 11 as Gruppenkommandeur.

After several weeks of instruction, a IX Air Forces Services Command training exercise (Operation BOOMERANG) in waterproofing and landing motor vehicles gets under way. This exercise, in preparation for a cross-channel movement lasts several weeks and involves 55 units, over 650 vehicles, and more than 2,500 men.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force Mission 308. During Part 1 of this mission: 772 bombers and 697 fighters are dispatched in 3 forces; they claim 17-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 2 fighters are lost. 271 B-17s hit the Kassel area, Eschwege Airfield, Limburg and a target of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost. 243 B-17s hit Lippstadt and Werl Airfields and a target of opportunity without loss. 230 B-24s bomb Paderborn and Gutersloh Airfields, Soest, Koblenz, Buren and targets of opportunity without loss. Escort for the three forces above is provided by 127 P-38s, 439 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 131 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 16-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.

USAAF tactics summary for Operation No. 308.:


> "_Me-109's and FW-190's participated in the only interception of the day, An estimated force of 50 fighters, protected by an additional 50 flying as top cover, made attacks which persisted for only about eight minutes on one Combat Wing. One mass attack was made head-on as the enemy aircraft dived through the formation in large Groups without taking any evasive action. After this one pass at the entire Combat Wing, the fighters directed their efforts at stragglers and the trailing elements. In these instances, the enemy aircraft attack in Groups of three astern, coming in level from the six o'clock position and closing to about 600 yards before breaking away_."


The US Ninth Air Force dispatches 350+ B-26 Marauders and A-20s to bomb marshalling yards, city areas, and targets of opportunity at Gunzburg, Ulm, Neu Ulm, Donauworth, and Schelklingen; fighters fly over 1,200 sorties against a variety of targets in northwestern Europe.

Hptm. Thierfelder's EKdo 262 recieved its first operational, fully armed jet when Me 262V-8 Wk Nr '130003' was delivered to the unit at Lechfeld. By the end of April Hptm. Thierfeld's Gruppe had 2 operational Me 262s and a few pre-production models with which to train on.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit the Cecina railroad bridge and Ancona marshalling yard while B-25s hit a marshalling yard at Piombino; P-47s hit railroad tracks, a marshalling yard, junction, and railway cars between Pontedera and Empoli and between Figline Valdarno and San Giovanni Valdarno.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army battles for Sevastopol. Action along the Soviet front subsides as spring mud and floods make movement impossible. The exception is the Crimea, where Tolbukhin's 4th Ukrainian Army is closing on Sevastopol. Soviet Black Sea Fleet ships bombard Sevastopol as the German 17.Armee continues its desperate attempt to evacuate the Crimea. Elements of 4th Ukrainian Front and the Independent Coastal Army continue to press the Germans back.


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## Njaco (Apr 22, 2009)

*20 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 309: 842 bombers and 388 fighters are dispatched to hit V-weapon sites in France; 24 of 33 sites briefed are hit; 9 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 438 B-17s hit sites in the Pas de Calais and Cherbourg areas; 19 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost. 113 B-24s hit sites in the Pas de Calais area; 2 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 89 P-38s, 211 P-47 Thunderbolts and 88 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 4-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 4-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.

The US Ninth Air Force dispatches almost 400 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to attack gun positions at Etaples, Bazinghen, Villerville, Gravelines and Fecamp, the airfield at Poix, and V-weapon sites and targets of opportunity in the Pas de Calais area; nearly 140 P-47s bomb marshalling yards at Creil and Mantes-La-Jolie.

A raid on railway yards at La Chapelle just north of Paris was the first major test for the new RAF No 5 Group marking method, with the group employing not only No 617 Squadron's low-level markers but the three Pathfinder squadrons recently transferred from No 8 Group. A few regular No 8 Group Mosquitos were also used to drop markers by Oboe to provide a first indication of the target's location for the main No 5 Group marking force. 247 Lancasters of No 5 Group and 22 Mosquitos from 5 and 8 Groups dispatched. 6 Lancasters lost. The bombing force was split into two parts, with an interval between them of 1 hour, and each part of the force aimed at different halves of the railway yards. There were a few difficulties at the opening of the attack, with the markers of the Oboe Mosquitos being a fraction late and with communications between the various controlling aircraft being faulty, but these difficulties were soon overcome and both parts of the bombing force achieved extremely accurate and concentrated bombing.

196 RAF aircraft - 175 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters, 7 Mosquitos from Nos 4 and 8 Groups despatched to Ottignies, some 35 miles south-west of Brussels. No aircraft lost. The southern half of the railway yards was severely damaged. 175 aircraft - 154 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters, 7 Mosquitos of Nos 6 and 8 Groups in an accurate attack on railways at Lens. 1 Halifax lost. 14 Stirlings, using the G-H blind-bombing device, to bomb a railway depot at Chambly but only 4 aircraft bombed and 1 was lost.

8 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 14 RCM sorties, 25 Serrate and 8 Intruder patrols, 30 Stirlings and 8 Halifaxes minelaying off French ports, 2 aircraft on Resistance operations, 27 OTU sorties. 2 Serrate Mosquitos and 1 OTU Wellington lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: B-25s and B-26s of the US Twelfth Air Force score hits on a marshalling yard and 3 fuel dumps at Leghorn and near misses on Cecina and Certaldo bridges and Arezzo viaduct; fighter-bombers hit railroad lines and fuel dump in the Florence area; bridges, dump, rail lines and train cars near Civitavecchia and Zagarolo, at Sezze, near Ladispoli, southwest of Stimipliano and north of Monterotondo; and guns south of Albano Laziale; in the battle area around Cassino fighter-bombers blast several gun positions and hit bridges, trucks, troops and other targets, at several points, including Falconara, Recanati, San Benedetto de Marsi, and the Fondi-Itri and Orte-Orvieto areas.

300+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack targets in Italy; the B-17s bomb marshalling yards at Ancona, Castelfranco, Padua and Vicenza and Venice harbor installations; the B-24s hit marshalling yards at Mestre, Reviso and Fano, Venice harbor, Monfalcone dockyards and Trieste; 180+ other heavy bombers dispatched against communications targets in northern Italy are forced to abort due to bad weather; about 250 fighters provide cover for the bombing raids.

German torpedo planes and submarine _'U-969' _attack the 87-ship convoy UGS-38 in the Mediterranean off the coast of Algeria. The destroyer USS _'Landsdale' _(DD-426) is sunk by aerial torpedo; the survivors are rescued by two destroyer escorts. The US freighter SS _'Paul Hamilton' _is struck by an aerial torpedo and disintegrates; the 47-man merchant crew, the 29-man Armed Guard and 504 troops aboard are all killed. Coast Guard cutter _'Taney' _(WPG-37), destroyer escort _'Lowe' _(DE-325) and Dutch antiaircraft cruiser _'Van Heemskerk'_, however, escape torpedo attacks. Illuminated by the explosion, freighter _'Stephen F. Austin'_, is torpedoed and abandoned. Reboarded, the ship receives assistance from British rescue tug HMS _'Hengist' _and proceeds to Algiers under her own power. By contrast with the disaster that has befallen her sistership _'Paul Hamilton'_, there are no casualties on board _'Stephen F. Austin'_.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet planes, destroyers, submarines and torpedo boats attack German and Romanian ships evacuating the 17.Armee from Sevastopol. During the next three weeks, the Soviets will sink 10 Axis ships, but the sea lift will rescue more than 42,000 troops.

*GERMANY*: The so-called British Free Corps of the Waffen-SS holds its inaugural parade at the Haus Germanien in the St Michaeli Kloster, Hildesheim. Present are a small German staff and fourteen assorted British renegades including the senior NCO, SS-Oberscharfuehrer Thomas Cooper, a former concentration camp guard and veteran of 'aktions' in the Warsaw and Cracow ghettoes. After a brief speech from the German commanding officer and the formal presentation of rank insignia and side-arms, the British traitors are despatched to begin recruiting at POW camps throughout the Reich.

357 RAF Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups attack Cologne. 4 Lancasters lost. This concentrated attack fell into areas of Cologne which were north and west of the city centre and partly industrial in nature. 192 industrial premises suffered various degrees of damage, together with 725 buildings described as 'dwelling-houses with commercial premises attached'. 7 railway stations or yards were also severely damaged.

Hptm. Martin Becker of 2./NJG 6 was awarded the _Ritterkreuz _for achieving 26 night-fighter victories.

Lt. Werner Gerth was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 11(Sturm)./JG 3.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Hull was the target for another one hundred and thirty Luftwaffe bomber raid, but as in the previous attack on the 19th/20th March 1944, none of the 49 tonnes of bombs found their target. Despite German claims that Hull was heavily bombed, and although many flares were dropped nearby, Hull was untouched, a little damage was caused in the area bounded by Scarborough - York - Peterborough - Cromer. Of the many German aircraft taking part in this raid, eight were shot down. Three Junkers Ju 188s were known to have crashed on land in the Continent, a Dornier Do 217 and three Junkers Ju 88s failed to return and a Heinkel He 177 was intercepted and shot down, 40 miles E of Spurn Head by a Mosquito of 264 Squadron.


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## Njaco (Apr 22, 2009)

*21 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: 236 US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and 34 A-20s attack gun positions, coastal defenses and V-weapons sites at Etaples, at Berck-sur-Mer, near Doullens, and in the Saint-Omer, Abbeville, and Amiens area; 4 B-26s are lost. The Sacrè Couer at Montmarte is damaged in an air raid. 175+ US Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts dive-bomb marshalling yards and concentrations at Montignies-sur-Sambre, Hasselt, Namur, and Haine-Saint-Pierre.

RAF Bombers continue to pummel rail yards in preparations for the Normandy Invasion, dropping 4500 tons of bombs on Cologne, Paris, Lens, and Brussels. 4 RCM sorties, 40 Halifaxes and 18 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and Lorient and in the Frisians, 9 aircraft on Resistance operations, 11 OTU aircraft and 4 Stirlings on leaflet flights to France. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force A-20s blast an ammunition dump while P-47s attack train, rail lines, and motor transport behind enemy lines; other P-47s, along with P-40s and A-36 Apaches, attack railway lines and trains between Rome and Terni, between Rome and Tivoli, and between Orte and Attigliano; hit a motor transport concentration northeast of Rome; and attack several bivouac areas and gun positions in the battle areas.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German Colonel-General (Generaloberst) Ferdinand Schorner begs Hitler to evacuate the 17.Armee from Sevastopol. Once again, Hitler ignores a top military commander. He orders "Fortress Sevastopol" to hold out for eight weeks to discourage Turkey from joining the Allies. Hitler doesn't know that the Turks have already decided to remain neutral.

100+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Bucharest; all 17 bomb groups dispatched are recalled due to bad weather but 7 groups fail to receive the recall signal; 150+ P-38s and P-51s are dispatched as escort; 40+ rendezvous with the B-24s and battle some 30 enemy fighters that attack the bomber force; the other fighters, failing to meet the bombers, engage about 40 enemy fighters; the bombers and fighters claim 35 aerial combat victories; 10 US aircraft are shot down.

*GERMANY*: 24 RAF Mosquitos bombed the Cologne area through complete cloud cover. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Apr 23, 2009)

*22 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Ninth Air Force dispatches 400+ B-26s and about 90 A-20s to fly two missions against V-weapon sites in the area of Saint-Omer and Hesdin.

During the night, the US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 312: 5 B-17s drop 1.44 million leaflets on Orleans, Tours, Paris, Nantes, Lille, Reims, Chartres and Rouen.

Frigates HMCS _'Matane' _and _'Swansea' _sank _'U-311' _Kptlt Joachim Zander CO. Of the crew of 51 there were no survivors. Escort Group 9, commanded by A/Cdr Layard, was operating independently when ordered to join a nearby RAF 'Wellington' patrol a/c that had gained a radar contact on a probable U-boat. A deliberate search by _'Matane' _and _'Swansea'_, supported by the frigate _'Stormont' _and corvette Owen Sound, produced a firm ASDIC contact. The U-boat was moving rapidly right as Matane closed for a deliberate 'Hedgehog' attack (indicating close range) when a periscope was sighted at only 200 yards on _'Matane's' _starboard bow. The Hedgehog attack was abandoned and an urgent depth charge attack was carried out. _'Swansea' _followed with a deliberate d/c attack, after which contact was lost. It was not until the mid-1980's that record reconstruction proved that _'U-311' _had been sunk in this engagement.

181 RAF aircraft attacked the Laon railway yards - 69 Halifaxes, 52 Lancasters, 48 Stirlings, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 9 aircraft - 4 Lancasters, 3 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes - lost, 5.0 per cent of the force. The attack was carried out in 2 waves and severe damage was caused. The aircraft of one of the Master Bombers, Wing Commander AGS Cousens of No 635 Squadron, was shot down; Wing Commander Cousens was killed.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 311: 803 bombers and 859 fighters are dispatched to hit a marshalling yard at Hamm; the bombers claim 20-6-8 Luftwaffe aircraft and the fighters claim 40-2-16; 15 bombers and 13 fighters are lost: 459 B-17s bomb the primary, 20 hit Bonn, 19 hit Soest, 15 hit Hamm City and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost. 179 B-24s hit the primary, 50 hit Koblenz and 36 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost. The escort is 132 P-38 Lightnings, 485 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and 242 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 2 P-38s, 5 P-47s and 6 P-51s are lost.

596 RAF aircraft attacked Düsseldorf - 323 Lancasters, 254 Halifaxes, 19 Mosquitos - of all groups except No 5. 29 aircraft - 16 Halifaxes and 13 Lancasters - lost, 4.9 percent of the force. 2,150 tons of bombs were dropped in this old-style heavy attack on a German city which caused much destruction but also allowed the German night-fighter force to penetrate the bomber stream. The attack fell mostly in the northern districts of Düsseldorf. Widespread damage was caused.

238 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of No 5 Group and 10 Lancasters of No 1 Group despatched to Brunswick. Few German fighters were attracted to this raid and only 4 Lancasters were lost, 1.5 per cent of the force. This raid is of importance to the history of the bombing war because it was the first time that the No 5 Group low-level marking method was used over a heavily defended German city. The raid was not successful. The initial marking by No 617 Squadron Mosquitos was accurate but many of the main force of bombers did not bomb these, partly because of a thin layer of cloud which hampered visibility and partly because of faulty communications between the various bomber controllers. Many bombs were dropped in the centre of the city but the remainder of the force bombed reserve H2S-aimed target indicators which were well to the south. RAF bomber command used their new "J" liquid incendiary bomb for the first time in the raid on Brunswick. German night-fighters, hidden by friendly radar echoes, followed the bombers home, attacking and claiming 20 bombers. Hptm. Dietrich Puttfarken of 5./KG 51 claimed 2 bombers but was shot down, his Me 410 crashing near Cambridge.

17 RAF Mosquitos on diversion raid to Mannheim and 2 more to a flying-bomb store at Wissant, 10 RCM sorties, 19 Serrate and 7 Intruder patrols, 19 aircraft on leaflet flights. No aircraft lost.

Hitler and Mussolini met at Obersalzburg.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb a bridge and tracks south of Ficulle and a bridge north of the town; other B-25s and B-26s attack San Stefano al Mare harbor, the northern section of Orvieto, Chiusi railroad bridge, viaducts south and west of Arezzo and Bucine, Certaldo railroad bridge, bridge approaches at Incisa in Valdarno, a bridge near Siena and viaduct at Poggibonsi; A-20s hit Valmontone ammunition dump and Sonnino; P-47s hit a railroad, trains, and tunnels in the Florence area and west of Chiusi, marshalling yard at Siena, a vessel south of Savona, railroad lines south of Orte and the town of Gaeta; and P-40s attack gun positions north of the Anzio beachhead and bomb the Ferentino dump area and towns of Fondi, Terracina and Formia.

The Greek naval commander-in-chief, Vice-Admiral Petros Voulgaris, is preparing to board five warships whose refusal to obey orders sparked a virtual strike by 12 April of all Greek navy seamen in Egypt. The First Division of the Greek Army has also rebelled against its officers. Britain is keeping an eye on developments. The mutiny's causes are confused, but seem to stem from dissatisfaction with the Greek government in exile.

Tito's forces land on the Island of Korcula, capturing the German garrison of 800 men.

The 352nd Yugoslav squadron RAF was formed on this day at Benina, Libya. The squadron was joined mostly by the ex-Royal Yugoslav Air Force personnel from the Middle East which decided to join the new Yugoslav Partisan Air Force same as indigenous partisans. This squadron was formed as the part of No 212 group RAF and under command of wing commander John Ernest Proctor (1913-1991). Proctor's deputy was squadron leader Mileta Protić. After training programme on Lete airfield performed on Harvards and Hurricane Mk IICs, the squadron recieved 16 Spitfire Mk Vs (painted with Yugoslav partisan insignia) in June 1944 and operational deployment began on 18th August 1944. (_info courtesy of imalko)_


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## Njaco (May 3, 2009)

*23 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces launch limited counterattacks at Narva (Heeresgruppe Nord) in an attempt to stabilize the deteriorating situation on that front.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 114 RAF aircraft - 70 Halifaxes, 30 Stirlings, 14 Lancasters - to lay mines in 5 areas of the Baltic. 4 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling lost. 12 G-H Stirlings bombed a signals depot at Brussels without loss. 2 RCM sorties, 4 Serrate patrols, 10 aircraft on Resistance operations, 6 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 313: 382 fighters attack airfields and other targets in N France, Belgium and NW Germany; results are generally good: 136 P-38s attack Laon, Tours and Chateaudun Airfields, France using Droopsnoot aircraft; they claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 2 P-38s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA. 166 P-47s attack Leningen, Le Culot and Chievres Airfields, Belgium and Denain/Prouvy and Hagenau Airfields, France; they claim 7-0-22 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 5 P-47s are lost and 19 damaged; 5 pilots are MIA. 80 P-51s hit unknown targets; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 2 are damaged; no losses.

9 US Eighth Air Force B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.

307 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and 57 A-20s attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets, gun positions and marshalling yards in the Pas de Calais, France area and in an adjacent area of Belgium. Around 1,000 P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb numerous targets throughout France and the Low Countries.

*GERMANY*: 25 RAF Mosquitos carried out a harassing raid on Mannheim without loss.

Weather clears and bombers can resume operations. 500+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack aircraft factories and airfields in Austria; the B-17s hit the Wiener Neustadt industrial area; the B-24s hit industrial areas at Schwechat and Bad Voslau and an air depot at Wiener-Neustadt; close to 300 fighters provide support; many enemy fighters attack fiercely, downing 12 bombers and 1 fighter; the bombers and escorts claim 40+ air victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit bridges and approaches at Attigliano; B-26s attack Incisa in Valdarno viaduct and bridge, Cecina marshalling yard and attack, but fail to hit, Poggibonsi viaduct; P-47s, A-36s, and P-40s hit rail lines and bridges NE of Rome and along the E coast in several areas including points around Orvieto, Orte, Tivoli and Capronica.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The harbour installations at Bristol were again the target on the night of April 23rd, while in parallel an attack against night fighter airfields in the Bristol area was also to be carried out by the Me 410's of I/KG 51. The raiders, probably drawn from I, II and III/KG 2, I, II and III/KG 6, II and III/KG 30, I and III/KG 54, I/KG 66, I/KG 100, together with the Ju 88's of the operational training unit IV/KG 101, were to converge on Guernsey before making for the Initial Point at the mouth of the River Usk, and the second turning point near Chepstow. From here the final approach to Bristol was to be from the north, the target being marked by a square of red and white flares at the start of the attack. Over the target area there was a 16 kph south-west wind and 5/10th's cloud at 900 metres, but ground mist reduced visibility to 800 metres. To aid navigation during the raid the pathfinders of 1/KG 66 employed Y-Verfahren which was operational from 23.45 to 02.45 hrs from St.Valery. In addition the Knickebein transmitters at Cherbourg West, Caen, and Morlaix were also in use, and Düppel was dropped in an attempt to jam the British Radar system. It first fell at about 01.25 hrs over the coast near Portland, but eventually built up overland forming extensive areas of about 20 miles radius. A total of 117 aircraft were dispatched, of which 93 reported over the City, claiming to have dropped 59.3 tonnes of H.E.'s and 79.4 tonnes of I.B's on target. Once again, however, not one bomb actually fell on Bristol, the majority being scattered throughout, Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, and East Somerset, the nearest to Bristol having landed at Batheaston at 02.05 hrs. German losses for this attack were again very high. A total of 10 aircraft failed to return resulting in the deaths of 39 crewmen, with 3 more being taken prisoner, 2 of them injured. In addition a further 4 aircraft crashed in France killing 5 and injuring another 6 men.


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## Njaco (May 3, 2009)

*24 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Rescue tug HMS _'Zoder Zee' _torpedoed and sunk by a German MTB off Dungeness.

In the mid-Atlantic, a Royal Canadian Air Force Sunderland plane from 423 Squadron extensively damages German submarine _'U-672'_.

4 RAF G-H Stirlings to Chambly railway depot, 18 Halifaxes minelaying off Channel ports and in the Frisians, 7 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

38 US Ninth Air Force B-26s dispatched against targets in France are recalled because of bad weather. 32 P-47s dive-bomb the Louvain, Belgium marshalling yard with good results.

8 US Eighth Air Force B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.

*GERMANY*: 637 RAF aircraft were sent to Karlsruhe - 369 Lancasters, 259 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos - of all groups except No 5 Group. 19 aircraft - 11 Lancasters, 8 Halifaxes - lost, 3.0 per cent of the force. Cloud over the target and a strong wind which pushed the Pathfinders too far north spoiled this attack. Only the northern part of Karlsruhe was seriously damaged and most of the bombs fell outside the city. Mannheim, 30 miles to the north, recorded a raid by approximately 100 aircraft on this night and Darmstadt, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg were also hit by aircraft which failed to find the main target.

234 RAF Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of No 5 Group and 10 Lancasters of No 1 Group in another No 5 Group method raid on a major German target, Munich. 9 Lancasters were lost, 3.5 per cent of the force. The marking and controlling plan worked well and accurate bombing fell in the centre of the city. The intense flak and searchlight defences did not prevent the low-flying Mosquito markers from carrying out their task properly and none was seriously damaged.

165 RAF OTU aircraft carried out a diversionary sweep over the North Sea to a point 75 miles off the German coast. 23 Mosquitos bombed Düsseldorf; 6 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron dropped flares and target indicators over Milan as a diversion for the Munich raid; No 100 Group flew 11 RCM, 21 Serrate and 8 Intruder sorties. 2 Wellingtons were lost from the OTU sweep.

A Mosquito VI, piloted by Wg./Cdr. G. L. "Leonard" Cheshire VC, of No. 617 Squadron is used to carry out the first low-level target-marking during a raid on Augsburg.

British air force bombers hammered a former Jesuit college housing the Bavarian Academy of Science. Anton Spitaler (1910-2003), an Arabic scholar at the academy, later lamented the loss of a unique photo archive of ancient manuscripts of the Quran. His story however was a lie, and the collection survived hidden in his hands.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 315: 754 bombers and 867 fighters are dispatched to bomb airfields, aircraft production industries and targets of opportunity in Germany; the bomber claim 20-1-36 Luftwaffe aircraft and the fighters claim 124-6-58 fighters; 40 bombers and 17 fighters are lost; details are: Of 281 B-17s dispatched, 109 hit Erding Air Depot, 84 hit aviation industry targets at Oberpfaffenhofen, 57 hit Lansberg Airfield and 18 hit targets of opportunity; 27 B-17s are lost and 112 damaged; casualties are 4 KIA, 22 WIA and 260 MIA. 243 B-17s are dispatched to bomb aviation industry targets at Friedrichshafen/Lowenthal (98 bomb) and Friedrichshafen/Manzell (58 bomb), industrial areas at Friedrichshafen/Manzell (58 bomb) and Neckarsulm (15 bomb); 3 also hit targets of opportunity; 9 B-17s are lost and 119 damaged; casualties are 7 KIA, 4 WIA and 71 MIA. 230 B-24s are dispatched to bomb airfields; 120 hit Gablingen Airfield, 98 hit Leipheim Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 4 B-24s are lost and 26 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 40 MIA. Escort is provided by 131 P-38s, 490 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 246 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s: P-38s claim 4-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged; P-47s claim 2-1-0 aircraft in the air and 36-0-16 on the ground, 5 P-47s are lost and 15 damaged, 5 pilots are MIA; P-51s claim 64-4-2 aircraft in the air and 21-0-20 on the ground, 12 P-51s are lost and 8 damaged; 12 pilots are MIA. Elements from JG 1, JG 3, JG 26, JG 11, JG 27 and even JG 5 intercepted the bomber formations. Fw. Heinrich Bartels of 11./JG 27 claimed 3 P-51s, Hptm. Hermann Staiger of 12./JG 26 claimed 4 B-17s and Major Walther Dahl of Stab III./JG 3 claimed two bombers and a P-51. Lost were Uffz. Franz Schwaiger of 2./JG 3, Oblt. Joachim Hincklemann of 3./JG 3, Ofw. Hans Juppner of 1./JG 11, Fw. Heinz Gasch of 5./JG 27 and Fw. Heinz Gosemann of 8./JG 3.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 520+ US Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack targets in Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Italy; B-17s bomb a marshalling yard at Ploesti, Rumania, an aircraft factory in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and the Ancona-Rimini railroad line (this is the first Azon mission by 5 B-17s); the B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Ploesti and Bucharest, Rumania; 250+ fighters fly support for the bombers.

US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack railroad bridges N and S of Orvieto, at Arezzo, at Grosseto and N and S of Incisa in Valdarno; A-20s hit a dump at Valmontone; P-40s, P-47s and A-36s hit shipping off Leghorn, Avezzano station, Orvieto and Terni marshalling yards, Canino landing ground, railroad tracks at numerous points S of Orvieto and rail lines, truck parks and targets of opportunity N of Rome.


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## Njaco (May 3, 2009)

*25 April 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: _'U-18' _was attacked in the Black Sea by German aircraft BV 138 and suffered slight damage.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-289' _landed espionage agents Sverrir Matthiasson and Magnus Guðbjörnsson in Iceland.

4 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne, 25 Stirlings minelaying off the French coast, 9 OTU sorties. No losses.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 317 Part 2: 27 of 28 B-24s bomb V-weapons sites at Wizerenes, France without loss. Escort is provided by 40 P-47s.

240 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and 69 A-20s bomb V-weapon sites in the coastal area of France and gun positions at Le Treport, Vareneville-sur-Mer, Fontenay-sur-Mer/Crisbec, Ault, Fecamp, Houlgate and Saint-Pierre-du-Mont, France. About 150 P-47s dive-bomb airfields in France and Belgium. Around 175 B-26s are forced to abort missions because of bad weather.

*MEDITERRANEAN*:German mining operations commence off Capreira, Italy; minelayer TA 23 sinks after striking a mine. TA 26 and TA 29 battle U.S. motor torpedo boats PT-202, PT-213, and PT-218. A Royal Navy patrol of a cruiser (Black Prince) and three Canadian destroyers ran into the German patrol. The resulting action sunk the German Flottentorpedoboot T-29.

In Italy, around 150 US Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb an aircraft factory at Turin, marshalling yard and bridge at Parma, marshalling yard at Ferrara and several targets of opportunity; 300+ B-24s and B-17s are forced to abort missions due to bad weather; 100+ fighters escort the bomber missions into N Italy.

US Twelfth Air Force attacks against lines of communications N of Rome continue; A-20s hit storage areas while medium bombers attack Pesaro marshalling yard, dumps at Manoppello and bridges and approaches at Incisa in Valdarno, Arezzo, Asciano, Magra, Ficulle and Orvieto; viaducts at Incisa and Calafuria are attacked with poor results; P-40s and P-47s hit roads, gun positions, railroads, ammunition dump and trucks N of Rome, near Ficulle, Orte and Orvieto; and P-47s also damage destroyers off Elba Island.

417th Night Fighter Squadron, US Twelfth Air Force (attached to RAF No. 337 Wing), moves from La Senia, Algeria to Borgo, Corsica with Beaufighters; the ground echelon has been at Borgo since Feb 44.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Luftwaffe’s main target was Portsmouth on this night, however a variety of targets along the South coast were struck. 1(F)./122 lost two Me 410s on sorties to photograph Portsmouth. One Me 410, shot down by a Mosquito of RAF No. 85 Sqdn, crashed into the sea off Portsmouth. Oberlt. H. Kroll (St Kap.) Killed and Ofrich. W Mayer POW.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 317 Part 1: 554 bombers and 719 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards and airfields in France and Germany; 7 bombers and 2 fighters are lost; the bombers make no Luftwaffe aircraft claims. 199 B-24s are dispatched to the marshalling yard at Mannheim, Germany; 7 bomb the primary, 16 bomb the marshalling yard at Landau, Germany and 8 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-24s are lost and 26 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 4 WIA and 49 MIA. 229 B-17s are dispatched to Nancy/Essay Airfield (42 bomb) and Metz/Frascaty Airfield (98 bomb), France and 2 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 33 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 20 MIA. 121 of 126 B-17s hit Dijon/Longvic Airfield, France; 29 B-17s are damaged; 2 airman are WIA. Escort is provided by 177 P-38s, 296 P-47s and 246 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the fighters claim 5-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 29-7-42 on the ground; details are: P-38s claim 5-0-9 aircraft, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged, no casualties; P-47s claim 5-0-8 aircraft; 3 P-47s are damaged; 1 pilot is KIA; P-51s claim 24-7-26 aircraft, 2 P-51s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged, 2 pilots are MIA.


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## Njaco (May 5, 2009)

*26 April 1944*

*GERMANY*: 493 RAF aircraft - 342 Lancasters, 133 Halifaxes, 18 Mosquitos - from all groups except No 5 despatched to Essen. 7 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 1 Halifax - lost, 1.4 per cent of the force. The Bomber Command report states that this was an accurate attack, based on good Pathfinder ground-marking.

206 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group and 9 Lancasters of No 1 Group to Schweinfurt. 21 Lancasters lost, 9.3 per cent of the force. This raid was a failure. The low-level marking provided for the first time by Mosquitos of No 627 Squadron was not accurate. Unexpectedly strong head winds delayed the Lancaster marker aircraft and the main force of bombers. German night fighters were carrying out fierce attacks throughout the period of the raid. The bombing was not accurate and much of it fell outside Schweinfurt.

A Victoria Cross was awarded after the war to Sergeant Norman Jackson (b.1919), RAFVR, a flight engineer in a Lancaster of No 106 Squadron which was shot down near Schweinfurt. The Lancaster was hit by a German night fighter and a fire started in a fuel tank in the wing near the fuselage. Sergeant Jackson climbed out of a hatch with a fire extinguisher, with another crew member holding the rigging lines of Jackson's parachute which had opened in the aircraft. Sergeant Jackson lost the fire extinguisher and, as both he and his parachute rigging were being affected by the fire, the men in the aircraft let the parachute go. Sergeant Jackson survived, though with serious burns and a broken ankle received on landing with his partially burnt parachute. The remainder of the crew baled out soon afterwards.

1./JG 400 was officially formed from 20./JG 1 at Wittmundhafen. Formed on paper in February 1944 and with Hptm. Robert Olejnik as _Staffelkapitaen_, the unit did not recieve a Me 163 until March and it was quickly damaged by airfield flak unfamiliar with the aircraft. Hptm. Robert Olejnik was injured on 21 April when Me 163B 'Number 16' crashed. The unit had 12 pilots and would not have a marginal number of aircraft until June 1944.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 319 Part 1: 589 bombers and 554 fighters are dispatched to targets in Germany; no claims of enemy aircraft are made; 5 fighters are lost: Of 357 B-17s dispatched, 292 hit the industrial area at Brunswick, 47 hit the Hildesheim/Hannover area and 5 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; casualties are 9 KIA and 3 WIA. The 238 B-24s dispatched to Paderborn fail to bomb because there were no PFF aircraft in the formation; 18 B-24s were damaged; 1 airman was KIA. Escort is provided by 90 P-38s, 311 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 153 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 1 P-38 and 4 P-51s are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair; 1 pilot is KIA and 5 MIA.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 319 Part 2: 62 B-17s are dispatched to Cologne but are recalled at mid-English Channel because of weather; some aircraft carry 2,000 lb (907 kg) glide bombs on external racks. Escort is provided by 43 P-47s and 47 P-51s; the P-47s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft.

Around 125 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack Plattling landing ground, Germany. Fighters fly 750+ sorties against scattered targets in NW Europe.

*WESTERN FRONT*: HMS "_Black Prince_" and four destroyers engage three German torpedo boats off Brittany, one is sunk. German destroyer T-29 sinks in the English Channel, after shelling from Royal Canadian Navy destroyer "_Haida_", and three other British and Canadian ships.

Admiral Moore leads Fleet Carriers "_Victorious_", "_Furious_" and Escort Carriers "_Searcher_", "_Striker_", "_Emporer_" and "_Pursuer_"(Peter Beeston) the battleship "_Anson_" and 6 cruisers, from the British Home Fleet, to attack the "_Tirpitz_" anchored in Norwegian waters. Bad weather interferes with the planned raid. A coastal convoy is attacked instead and 3 ships are sunk.

217 RAF aircraft - 183 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitos of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to Villeneuve St Georges. 1 Halifax lost. Support and 16 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 10 Stirlings to Chambly, 12 RCM sorties, 20 Serrate and 13 Intruder patrols, 16 Halifaxes and 6 Stirlings minelaying off the Dutch coast and in the Frisians, 10 aircraft on Resistance operations, 21 OTU flights. 1 Serrate Mosquito lost.

Destroyer escorts _'Frost' _(DE-144), _'Huse' _(DE-145), _'Barber' _(DE-161), and _'Snowden' _(DE-246) sink German submarine _'U-488' _in mid-Atlantic.

33 US Eighth Air Force P-38s (including Droopsnoot aircraft), plus escorts, hit Le Mans Airfield, France without loss; 24 P-51s, plus 4 escorts, bomb Cormeilles-en-Vexin Airfield, France without loss.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 320: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 800,000 leaflets on Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Liege and Gosselies, Belgium at 2330-2358 hours without loss.

The Ninth Air Force Tactical Air Plan for Operation NEPTUNE (actual operations within Operation OVERLORD; used for security reasons on OVERLORD planning documents bearing place names and dates) is published, 10 days after receiving formal Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) directive ordering such a plan.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Greece, General Heinrich Kreipe, the commander of the 22nd Panzer-Grenadier Division in Crete, was being driven home when men appeared on the road waving a red flag. The car door was opened and a polite voice said:


> "_Please consider yourself a prisoner of war_."


A sub-machine gun was brandished. With the general sitting in the back and a British Guards officer at the wheel, the car headed for a beach 20 miles away. Guards at 22 checkpoints cleared the way and saluted when they saw the two pennants fluttering from the car. The general's hijackers were Major Patrick Leigh Fermor and Captain Stanley Moss of British Combined Forces. Before they left with the general for Cairo, they wrote a note telling the Germans that this was an exclusively British operation and that reprisals against the civilian population would be wholly unwarranted. It ended:


> "_We're sorry to leave this nice car behind."_


In Italy, bad weather greatly curtails activity; P-47s attack motor transport and railroad tracks and hit a gas dump near Trasimeno Lake, a landing ground at Canino and marshalling yards of Leghorn.


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## Njaco (May 6, 2009)

*27 April 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: From midnight tonight all travel abroad from Britain will be banned. Exit permits granted to would-be travellers are no longer valid, unless they have been issued during the past week. Some visits to Ireland will be allowed after strict scrutiny. Similar pre-invasion moves are being made by the enemy. Civilians are being removed from coastal areas, and German families evacuated from the Ruhr when the heavy bombing began are being sent back. Vichy France has cut communications with neutral countries in an effort to prevent military and political intelligence from reaching the Allies. In a hunt for Allied sympathisers, diplomatic bags for French military attaches in Madrid, Lisbon and Berne have been seized.

The Martinet aircaft used to train gunners on the Wellingtons were replaced by Hurricanes.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-803' _sunk near Swinemünde, by a mine. 9 dead and 35 survivors.

Submarine HMS _'Untiring' _(Lt. Boyd) sinks the German UJ 6075/_Clairvoyant_.

Disaster strikes the preparations for the Normandy Invasion as Operation "*Tiger*" goes very wrong. Eight US LSTs escorted by the British corvette Azeala, were to make practice landings on a British beach similar to those found at Normandy, at Slapton Sands on the south coast of England. German reconnaissance aircraft spotted the convoy and two torpedo boat squadrons (9 boats) were dispatched to hit the group. In the engagement, LST 531 is sunk, LST 507 is critically damaged and later abandoned while LST 289 took a torpedo hit, but remained afloat. In all, 197 seamen and 441 soldiers were killed. Because of this incident, Adolf Hitler orders the lower Normandy defences reinforced.

223 RAF aircraft - 191 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos despatched to Aulnoye. 1 Halifax lost. Bombing was concentrated and much damage was caused to the railway yards.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 322: 596 bombers and 357 fighters are dispatched to bomb V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais and Cherbourg areas of France; 4 bombers and 2 fighters are lost; the fighters claim 0-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 307 of 393 B-17s and 169 of 203 B-24s hit the target; 3 B-17s are lost and 227 damaged; 1 B-24 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 25 damaged; B-17s casualties are are 7 WIA and 30 MIA; B-24 casualties are 3 KIA, 9 WIA and 10 MIA; escort is provided by 47 P-38s, 262 P-47s and 48 P-51s; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost; both pilots are MIA.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 323: 486 bombers and 543 fighters are dispatched to bomb airfields, marshalling yards and targets of opportunity in France and Belgium; 4 bombers and 4 fighters are lost. 168 B-17s are dispatched to bomb Nancy/Essay Airfield (103 bomb) and Toul/Croix de Metz landing ground (60 bomb), France; 2 B-17s are lost and 33 damaged; 20 airmen are MIA. Of 120 B-17s, 98 bomb Le Culot Airfield and 20 bomb Ostend/Middelkerke Airfield, Belgium; 2 B-17s are lost and 29 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 20 MIA. Of 198 B-24s, 118 bomb Blainville sur L'eau marshalling yard and 72 bomb Chalons sur Marne marshalling yard, France; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 22 damaged; casualties are 24 KIA, 6 WIA and 1 MIA. Escort is provided by 106 P-38s, 283 P-47s and 154 P-51s; the fighters claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 4-0-5 on the ground; 4 P-47s are lost and 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged; 3 airmen are MIA.

52 P-38s, using the Droopsnoot method, attack Roye Amy Airfield, France without loss. 36 P-38s, using the Droopsnoot method, attack Albert/Meaulte Airfield, France; 6 P-38s are damaged. 17 P-51s dive bomb Cormeilles-en-Vexin Airfield, France without loss.

About 450 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s and 275+ P-47 and P-51 dive bombers attack gun emplacements, marshalling yards, coastal batteries, airfields and several military installations in France and Belgium.

*GERMANY*: The Finnish Chief of General Staff jalkaväenkenraali Erik Heinrichs starts his three-day visit in Germany. At Berchtesgaden he meets with the highest German military leadership, and there's some tension because of the recent Finnish peace-feelers. Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel states bluntly, that in Germany there's no mercy for traitors and complainers. Generaloberst Alfred Jodl is more friendly, but demands that Finland give a proclamation ensuring that the weapons Germany has delivered to Finland would not end in Soviet hands.

322 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups attack Friedrichshafen. This was a raid with some interesting aspects. The Air Ministry had urged Bomber Command to attack this relatively small town in moonlight because it contained important factories making engines and gearboxes for German tanks. But the flight to this target, deep in Southern Germany on a moonlit night, was potentially very dangerous; the disastrous attack on Nuremberg had taken place only 4 weeks previously in similar conditions. However, Friedrichshafen was further south and on the fringe of the German night-fighter defences; because of this and the various diversions which confused the German controllers, the bombers reached the target without being intercepted. However, the German fighters arrived at the target while the raid was taking place and 18 Lancasters were lost, 5.6 per cent of the force. 1,234 tons of bombs were dropped in an outstandingly successful attack based on good Pathfinder marking; Bomber Command later estimated that 99 acres of Friedrichshafen, 67 per cent of the town's built-up area, were devastated. Several factories were badly damaged and the tank gearbox factory was destroyed. They destroy two-thirds of the Zeppelin works which was building V-2 rocket components. When the American bombing survey team investigated this raid after the war, German officials said that this was the most damaging raid on tank production of the war.

Lt. Wilhelm Johnen, _Staffelkapitaen _of 6./NJG 5, shot down a Lancaster and then made contact with another over Lake Constance. He attacked the bomber but his Bf 110G-4 was hit setting the port engine alight. Conned by Swiss searchlights and with a dead engine, Johnen landed at Zurich-Dubendorf and he and his crew were interred only to be released a few days later. But the incident was upsetting to German authorities because Johnen's aircraft had the FuG 220 radar system, which was not being jammed by the Allies at the time (the Allies were aware of the FuG 202/212 and were jamming this unit). It also carried the Schrage Musik gun system which the Allies would not acknowledge until Oct. 1944. In exchange for allowing the Bf 110 to be blown up, the Swiss at first demanded 30 Bf 109Gs but later settled for 12 Messerschmitts.

144 RAF aircraft - 120 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - to attack railway yards at Montzen on the Belgian-German border. The bombing force, particularly the second of the 2 waves, was intercepted by German fighters and 14 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster were shot down. Only one part of the railway yards was hit by the bombing. The only Lancaster lost was that of Squadron Leader EM Blenkinsopp, a Canadian pilot of No 405 Squadron who was acting as Deputy Master Bomber. Blenkinsopp managed to team up with a Belgian Resistance group and remained with them until captured by the Germans in December 1944. He was taken to Hamburg to work as a forced labourer and later died in Belsen concentration camp 'of heart failure'. He has no known grave.

159 RAF OTU aircraft on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 24 Mosquitos on diversion raid to Stuttgart, 11 RCM sorties, 19 Serrate and 6 Intruder patrols, 8 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest and Cherbourg, 44 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Serrate Mosquito lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, weather again severely restricts US air operations; P-40s attack a supply dump N of Rome, scoring 7 hits in the target area.


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## Njaco (May 6, 2009)

*28 April 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: In the aftermath of Operation "Tiger", a number of ‘lessons’ were learned and post-event recommendations included: using more capable and numerous escort forces; having rescue craft for any landing operation; disseminating quickly enemy contacts reports; introducing standard radio procedures, special circuits, and radio frequencies; reinforcing instructions to avoid looking directly at flares or fires to preserve night vision; limiting the amount of fuel carried in landing ships to that needed for the operation itself to reduce risk of fire; making small arms available to fire on E-boats when main guns cannot depress sufficiently; making life boats and life rafts as ready for lowering as possible; issuing illumination rockets to all large ships; improving fire fighting equipment, including manually operated pumps; providing training in the use of the 'kapok' life jacket and making them the preferred life preserver over the CO2 type; ordering boot laces be loosened when preparing to abandon ship to make it easier to remove them in the water. The casualties were not announced until nearly two months after the Normandy invasion. Full details were not known until 1974. It was the costliest training exercise in all of World War II.

Lt. Wolfgang Wenning of II./KG 51 was killed in a collison with an Oxford near Rugby.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 324: 116 of 117 B-17s hit Avord Airfield, France; 2 B-17s are lost and 38 damaged; 20 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 118 P-47s and 87 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 8-0-3 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA. 18 of 106 B-17s bomb the Sottevast, France V-weapon site and targets of opportunity; clouds prevent most B-17s from bombing; 2 B-17s are lost and 47 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is provided by 46 P-47s without loss.

2 US Eighth Air Force fighter-bomber missions are also flown against airfields in France: 34 P-38s using the Droopsnoot method, bomb Tours Airfield; 11 P-38s fly escort; 1 P-38 is lost and 1 damaged; 1 pilot is MIA. 49 P-38s using the Droopsnoot method, bomb Chateaudun Airfield while 3 P-38s fly escort; 1 P-38 is damaged; 32 P-47s, with 4 P-47 escorts, dive-bomb the same target; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft on the ground.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 325: 47 of 47 B-24s bomb the Marquise/Mimoyecques, France V-weapon sites; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 9 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 50 P-47s without loss. 16 P-47s, with 8 escorts, dive bomb an unidentified airfield near Paris without loss.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 326: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1.64 million leaflets on 17 towns in Belgium, France and The Netherlands including Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, Tours, Lorient, Nantes, Orleans, Zwolle, Leeuwarden, Turnhout and Amersfoort without loss.

21 US Eighth Air Force B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.

18 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb the airfield at Cormeilles-en-Vexin, France as a secondary target. Nearly 250 B-26s dispatched to bomb marshalling yards are recalled because of heavy cloud cover over the targets.

88 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attack an explosives factory near at St Médard En Jalles near Bordeaux. Only 26 aircraft bombed the target. Because of haze and smoke from fires started by flares in woods near the factory, the Master Bomber ordered the remainder of the force to retain their bombs. No aircraft lost.

51 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group were dispatched and bombed an airframe factory near Oslo. Visibility was clear; the bombing was accurate and no aircraft were lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stavka, the highest Soviet military command, decides that the fourth strategic strike of the year shall be directed against Finns to eliminate the threat to the security of Leningrad. For that purpose the Leningrad Front is reinforced by the 21st Army from the high command reserve.

*GERMANY*: 26 RAF Mosquitos to Hamburg, 2 RCM sorties, 40 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Clearing weather again permits bomber operations; 450+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack targets in Italy; 188 B-17s bomb Piombino Steel Works and port; 168 B-24s bomb the port area at San Stefano al Mare; and 108 B-24s bomb the port area at Orbetello; P-38s, P-51s and P-47s provide escort.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack Piombino, railway bridges N of Orvieto, Ficulle, and W of Arezzo, and hit viaducts at Incisa in Valdarno and Piteccio; A-20s score hits on a fuel dump; P-40s and P-47s hit a fuel dump NW of Ferentino, warehouses S of Avezzano, several railway lines and targets of opportunity N of Rome, the Orbetello railroad yards, San Stefano al Mare harbor, rail lines at points between Rome and Avezzano, several gun emplacements, Follonica and Chiusi marshalling yards, and cut railroad lines at several points NW of Rome; fighter-bombers also hit Chiusi marshalling yard, tracks around Castiglione della Valle, Cortona marshalling yard, Grosseto railroad bridge, scattered motor transport and a barge near Follonica.


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## Njaco (May 6, 2009)

*29 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Whilst pursuing German Elbing class torpedo boats T.27 and T.28 which were based at St.Malo, Tribal class destroyer HMS _'Athabaskan' _is struck aft by a torpedo which starts a fire and brings her to a standstill. Ten minutes later she exploded either due to a second torpedo hit or a magazine explosion. T.27 is driven aground by HMS _'Haida'_on Ile de Vierge and then returns to the site of the sinking to find about 100 of _'Athabaskan’s' _crew in the water. _'Haida’s' _motorboat and a number of floats are left to aid the survivors, and then _'Haida' _heads for Devonport which is 100 miles away. _'Haida’s' _motorboat loaded with survivors heads north and is chased by three German minesweepers before being escorted by a couple of Spitfires. Later the motorboat is met by a motor launch which took off the crew and survivors.

68 RAF Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 5 Group returned to the explosives factory at St Médard En Jalles and carried out concentrated bombing on it without loss. 54 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Michelin tyre factory at Clermont-Ferrand accurately and without loss. 8 Mosquitos to Oberhausen and 4 to Achéres railway yards, 5 RCM sorties, 6 Serrate patrols, 34 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings minelaying off French ports and in the Frisians. 20 aircraft on Resistance operations, 9 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

14 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.

217 US Ninth Air Force B-26s dispatched to bomb marshalling yards in France abort the mission because of heavy cloud cover over the target area.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 573 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, attack the Toulon, France naval base and 5 B-17s attack the Rimini-Ancona railroad (second Azon mission). During the raid on Toulon, German submarine _'U-421' _is sunk in harbor.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack the Terni viaduct and Attigliano railway bridge, while B-26s bomb bridges and bridge approaches at Pontassieve and Incisa in Valdarno; A-20s attack a dump NE of Rome; P-40s and P-47s cut rail lines in many places NE of Rome, hit guns N of Anzio and a dump SE of Rome, attack the town of Acquapendente, hit approaches and tunnel S of Arezzo and bridge and trucks in the area, bomb Sinalunga marshalling yard and bridge and approaches at Monte San Savino, and hit docks at San Vincenzo and boats at Follonica.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 327: 679 bombers and 814 fighters are dispatched to bomb Berlin, concentrating on railway facilities; they claim 95-33-48 Luftwaffe aircraft; 63 bombers and 13 fighters are lost: 210 of 228 B-17s bomb Berlin; 10 B-17s are lost and 150 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 7 WIA and 100 MIA. 218 B-17s are dispatched to Berlin; 158 hit the primary, 24 hit Magdeburg, 10 hit Brandenburg and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 28 B-17s are lost and 161 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 20 WIA and 260 MIA. 212 of 233 B-24s bomb Berlin; 25 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 13 airmen are KIA, 11 WIA and 246 MIA. Escort is provided by 117 P-38s, 463 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 234 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 3 P-38s and 10 P-51s are lost; 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair; 7 P-38s, 16 P-47s and 7 P-51s are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 12 MIA.

This day the pilots of Sturmstaffel 1 would have their greatest success against Allied bombers. Along with Sturmstaffel 1, taking to the air were units from JG 1, JG 3, JG 11, JG 27, JG 53 and even aircraft from Stab III./NJG 3, JG 302 and 3./JGr z.b.V. The Sturmstaffel downed 8 bombers and seperated out a further 4, with Lt. Werner Gerth claiming 2 bombers. Oblt. von Kirchmayr of II./JG 1 claimed the Gruppe's 700th victory and his personal 15th.

Oblt. Heinz Knoke of 5./JG 11 was shot down by a P-47 but as his victor overshot, Knoke pulled his battered machine toward the Thunderbolt and shot him down in turn. Both pilots parachuted to safety. When Knoke awoke from unconsciousness, he found himself in the company of the P-47 pilot, Capt. James Cannon of the US 354th FG/353 FS. Knoke promptly told Capt. Cannon he was Knoke's 25th victim to which Capt. Cannon replied that Knoke was Cannon's 17th.

While trying to land his Bf 110 at Arnhem after combat in the afternoon, _Geschwaderkommodore _Hans-Joachim Jabs of NJG 1 was bounced by 8 RAF Spitfires. He shot down 2 of his attackers before crash-landing his damaged Messerschmitt.


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## Njaco (May 7, 2009)

*30 April 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: After an early breakfast, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel and his inspection group board a patrol boat in the port of Royan (north bank of the Gironde River) and travel south-southwest across the estuary. They pass the destroyer Z-37 and circle her once in salutation. Their cars are waiting for them, and they leave southward towards Bordeaux. They pass a large section of coast recently ravaged by a forest fire. This fire had detonated or destroyed five percent of the estimated 200,000 mines laid there. On top of that, the areas is too lightly defended. Rommel holds his tongue. After all, this area is commanded by 1st Army commander Johannes Blaskowitz. Technically, the 1st is directly subordinate to OB West, Field Marshal von Rundstedt, and it is only a matter of time before the 1st and the 19th are combined to form a new army group. Von Rundstedt had proposed it to OKW back in March and had designated that it go to Blaskowitz. OKW had agreed at the beginning of April. Rommel finally reaches Blaskowitz's headquarters at Bordeaux late in the morning. Admiral Ruge (Rommel's Naval Advisor) and the 1st Army staff go into conference, while Rommel and Blaskowitz talk privately for a short while.

Liberty Ship SS _'William S Thayer' _sunk by _'U-711'_ returning from Murmansk, Russia.

143 RAF aircraft - 114 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, 9 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups despatched to Somain, south-east of Lille. 1 Halifax lost.The initial Oboe marking was inaccurate and the Master Bomber ordered the bombing force to wait. Most of the Halifaxes making up the Main Force either did not hear or ignored his orders and their bombs missed the target. Some damage was caused to the railway yards by the remainder of the force.

128 RAF aircraft - 107 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Achères, near Paris without loss.The Mayor of this small town reports that the bombing completely destroyed the railway yards and that there were no civilian victims, the Mayor attributing this to the fact that the bombers flew at comparatively low level.

116 RAF Lancasters of No 1 Group attacked the largest Luftwaffe bomb and ammunition dump at Maintenon in Northern France. The marking for this raid appears to have been provided by the No 1 Group Marking Flight, based at Binbrook; the Bomber Command records do not mention any other group taking part. The raid was entirely successful and a spectacular series of explosions were seen on the ground. French houses near by were not hit.

*GERMANY*: 28 RAF Mosquitos to Saarbrücken and 5 to Düren, 14 RCM sorties, 9 Serrate and 5 Intruder patrols, 48 Halifaxes minelaying off the French coast, 36 aircraft on Resistance operations, No aircraft lost.

General Adolf Galland reported the following;


> "_Between January and April 1944 our day fighter arm lost more than 1,000 pilots. They included our best Staffel, Gruppe and Geschwader commanders....The time has come when our force is within sight of collapse_."



*MEDITERRANEAN*: The _Schlachtflieger _suffered heavy casualties in operations over Italy and I./SG 4's experiences of April 1944 were especially bad with 25 aircraft lost to enemy action.


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## Njaco (May 8, 2009)

*1 MAY 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: The highest Soviet military command, Stavka, formulates the political goals of the strategic strikes of the coming summer:


> "_...to purge our country of fascist invaders and reach the Barents Sea - Black Sea line_".



*WESTERN FRONT*: The unescorted _'Janeta' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-181' _about 900 miles SW of Ascension Island. The U-boat misidentified the ship as _'Banavon'_. Nine crewmembers and four gunners were lost. The master, 31 crewmembers and three gunners were rescued; the master, the third officer and eight survivors were rescued and landed at Bahia on 14 May. 15 more survivors were picked up by the Swedish MS _'Freja' _about 150 miles south of Bahia and landed at Rio de Janeiro. Ten survivors were picked up on 12 May by destroyer escort USS _'Alger' _and landed at Bahia.

_'U-277' _sunk in the Arctic Ocean SW of Bear Island, Norway, by depth charges from a 824 Sqn Swordfish from escort carrier HMS _'Fencer'_. 50 dead (all hands lost).

131 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the aircraft assembly factory and an explosives factory at Toulouse. Both targets were hit and no aircraft were lost. 137 aircraft - 89 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at St Ghislain with great accuracy. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost. 132 aircraft - 110 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attacked railway targets at Malines. 1 Halifax lost. The bombing was scattered, although the locomotive sheds were damaged.

Chambly: 120 aircraft - 96 Lancasters, 16 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 3 and 8 Groups. 3 Lancasters and 2 Stirlings lost. Chambly, to the north of Paris was the main railway stores and repair depot for the Northern French system which the Allied bombers were trying to put out of action. The local report (provided by the office of the present Chief Engineer at Chambly) shows that the raid was extremely successful. Approximately 500 high-explosive bombs fell inside the railway depot area and serious damage was caused to all departments. The depot was completely out of action for 10 days.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 332: Operation CROSSBOW (operations against German missile launching sites) targets are hit in France in the early morning; 531 bombers and 209 fighters are dispatched but weather causes many aborts and only 3 of 23 V-weapons sites targetted are bombed: Of 161 B-17s dispatched,m 18 hit Poix Airfield, 18 hit Roye/Amy Airfield and 15 hit Montdidier Airfield; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 20 damaged. 22 of 187 B-17s and 57 of 183 B-24s hit the Pas de Calais area; 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair; 19 B-17s and 15 B-24s are damaged; 5 B-24 crewmen are KIA. Escort is provided by 119 P-47s and 90 P-51s without loss or claims.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 333: In the afternoon, 386 bombers and 558 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in France and Belgium; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 110 B-17s are dispatched to Troyes (52 bomb) and Reims (57 bomb), France; 1 B-17 is lost and 52 damaged; 10 airmen are MIA. 125 B-17s are dispatched to Saarguemines (64 bomb) and Metz (42 bomb), France and Brussels, Belgium (13 bomb); 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 43 damaged; 20 airmen are MIA. 151 B-24s are dispatched to Brussels (59 bomb) and Liege (40 bomb), Belgium; 21 B-24s are damaged; no losses or casualties. Escort is provided by 120 P-38s, 272 P-47s and 166 P-51s; The P-47s claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft and the P-51s claim 5-0-2; 2 P-38s and 1 P-51 are lost; 4 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged; 4 pilots are MIA.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 334: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1.55 million leaflets on 25 towns in France and The Netherlands without loss.

25 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations without loss.

The last of the 11 US Ninth Air Force bombardment groups (8 medium and 3 light) of the IX Bomber Command becomes operational.

450 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s attack numerous marshalling yards and industrial targets in France and Belgium.

III./KG 3 began converting to a He 111 modified to carry the Fi 103 flying bomb which by the end of the month was in full production.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, medium bombers attack bridges at Albinia Station, NW of Chiusi, in and near Grosseto, near Monte Molino, Calafuria and at Pontedera; also attacked are a viaduct at Monte Catellana and marshalling yards at Florence/Campo di Marte and Florence, with particularly good results at Florence; light bombers hit an ammunition dump at Fara in Sabina; P-40s and P-47s hit rail tracks in the Rome area, Priverno Station, guns N of Anzio, dumps at Frascati, stations at Colleferro and Frosinone, tracks at Orbetello and Orvieto, a bridge and tunnel N of Todi, a road in Canino, a dump and factory at Stimigliono, vessels E of Piombino, a factory E of Cecina, bridge approaches at Grosseto and Arezzo, a dump at Grosseto and a tunnel at Rignano sull Arno; and HQ 79th Fighter Group and 86th and 87th Fighter Squadrons move from Capodichino to Pomigliano with P-47s.

Stab./122 transferred from Perugia to Bergamo-South at the beginning of May and remained there to the end of the war. Bergamo-South was also known as Orio al Serio. 2(F)./122 transferred from Perugia to Bergamo-South in northern Italy at the beginning of May and remained there until August 1944. 2(F)./122 had a mixed stock of Ju 88 and Me 410 aircraft – 8 on strength of which 4 were servicable.

*GERMANY*: For anti-'Mosquito' operations, the He 219A was stripped down as the A-6 version, attaining 650 kph (404 mph). The He 219A-7 was the next major production version, A-7/R6 having a Junkers Jumo 222A/B engine and was the fastest of the type attaining 700 kph (435 mph). Despite the aircraft's success, Erhard Milch persuaded the RLM to cancel the whole program. He favored instead standardization on the multipurpose Ju 388 and Ta 154 night-fighter, which he thought were easier to manifacture but which in fact never saw combat. Nevertheless, Heinkel continued to produce small numbers of the He 219 at Vienna-Schwechat.

Hptm. Thierfelder's EKdo jet _Gruppe _recieved 12 more pilots, 6 pilots each from the _Gruppenkommandeur's _old unit 8./ZG 26 and from 9./ZG 26. Most of the pilots had completed retraining from the Bf 110 to the Me 410 and now had to become familiar with the jet.


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## Njaco (May 8, 2009)

*2 MAY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The crossword in the Daily Telegraph has caused uproar among the D-Day planners today by apparently revealing two of the most closely guarded codewords of the invasion. The clue to 17 across is "One of US" and that of 3 down is "Red Indian on the Missouri", the answers - "Utah" and "Omaha" - are the names given to two of the American invasion beaches. These clues were spotted with horror by senior officers who are among the devotees of the crossword. Their immediate reaction was that the invasion's secrets were being leaked to the Germans. Their fears have been increased by the discovery that, in a puzzle prepared by the same compiler for publication a few days before D-Day, the answer to one clue is "Overlord", the codename for the whole invasion. MI5 is now investigating the compiler, Leonard Dawe, a 54-year old teacher from Leatherhead, Surrey.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Baseball star Ted Williams earns his wings and a commission to become a pilot in the USMC.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-846' _shot down an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax shortly after 0100.

_'U-674' _sunk in the Arctic Ocean NW of Narvik, by rockets from an 842 Sqn Swordfish from HMS _'Fencer'_. 49 dead (all hands lost).

_'U-959' _sunk SE of Jan Mayen, by depth charges from an 842 Sqn Swordfish from HMS _'Fencer'_. 53 dead (all hands lost).

Allied authorities and the Franco government come to an agreement to limit Spanish exports to Germany in exchange for exports increased imports of oil from the Allies.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 335: 50 of 50 B-24s bomb V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France without loss; escort is provided by 50 P-47s and 52 P-51s.

250+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s bomb marshalling yards at Busigny, Valenciennes and Blanc-Misseron, France. 400+ P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb airfields and marshalling yards in France and the Low Countries.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: 250+ US Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit targets in Italy; B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Bolzano; B-24s, most with fighter escort, attack Castel Maggiore and a railroad bridge at Faenza; 300+ bombers are forced to abort because of weather.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force attacks against rail lines and bridges in N Italy continue; medium bombers bomb an approach to a bridge in N Oriveto, bridges in S Ficulle and in Marsciano, and marshalling yards in Florence/Campo di Marte and W and NW Florence; light bombers hit an ammunition dump NE of Rome; P-40s and P-47s hit rail lines N of Rome, bridges SW of Rome, guns N of Anzio, a road at Montefiascone, a road bridge at Cecina, trucks and planes at Malignano landing ground and several other dumps, roads, and rail lines in N Italy.

*GERMANY*: 2./JG 400 is established at Oranienburg (on paper), commanded by Hauptmann Otto Böhner.


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## Njaco (May 9, 2009)

*3 MAY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Destroyer escort _'Donnell' _(DE-56) is damaged by German submarine _'U-765'_, 450 miles southwest of Cape Clear, Ireland. USS _'Donnell' _was on her fifth transatlantic voyage, when she made a sound contact and sighted a periscope 450 miles SW of Cape Clear, Ireland. She prepared for a depth charge attack but was hit at 1200 by one torpedo that hit the after part and the explosion of her own depth charges blew off the stern. 29 men were killed and 25 wounded. The vessel was towed by destroyer escorts USS _'Reeves' _and _'Hopping' _and the tug HMS _'Samsonia' _to Dunnstaffnage Bay, Scotland, arriving on 12 May.

346 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 5 Groups and 2 Pathfinder Mosquitos to bomb a German military camp situated close to the French village of Mailly. 42 Lancasters lost, 11.6 per cent of the force. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low-level markers were accurate and were well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The 'Marker Leader', Wing Commander Cheshire, ordered the Main Force to come in and bomb but the 'Main Force Controller', Wing Commander LC Deane, could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF radio set was being drowned by an American forces broadcast and his wireless transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when the Deputy Controller, Squadron Leader ENM Sparks, took over. Approximately 1,500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles, including 37 tanks, were destroyed. The night-fighter attacks continued over the target and on the return route. Among the aircraft shot down was that of Squadron Leader Sparks, who had stayed over the target to the end. Sparks evaded capture and soon returned to England. The squadrons of No 1 Group, which made up the second wave of the attack, suffered the most casualties - 28 aircraft out of their 173 dispatched. No 460 (Australian) Squadron, from Binbrook, lost 5 out of its 17 Lancasters on the raid.

84 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos attacked a Luftwaffe airfield at Montdidier and caused much damage among buildings and installations on the northern part of the airfield. 4 Lancasters lost.

27 RAF Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 14 to an ammunition dump at Châteaudun, 3 RCM sorties, 7 Intruder and 6 Serrate patrols, 32 Halifaxes minelaying off the French coast and in the Frisians, 23 aircraft on Resistance operations, 34 OTU sorties. 4 aircraft lost: 1 RCM Halifax, 1 Serrate Mosquito, 1 Resistance operation Lysander and 1 OTU Wellington. In the most successful example of precision bombing of the war - and probably the most accurate since the air weapon was invented - an RAF Mosquito today lobbed two bombs through the front door of the Air Ministry in the crowded centre of the Dutch capital, The Hague. Two more bombs, delivered at the same time, penetrated windows on either side of the door. The building had to be struck at the first attempt from 50 feet.

French resistance cells increase their activities in anticipation of the cross channel invasion. On this night, 100,000 liters of acetone are burned at the the Lambiotte plant in Premery.

Pro-Nazi Spain bent under Allied pressure today and agreed to cut by a sixth its exports of Wulfram - the steel hardening element - to Germany. General Franco, the Spanish dictator, has succumbed to British and US demands for the release of Italian ships held in Spanish ports, the withdrawal from the eastern front of his "Blue" division of 14,284 men and "Blue" air squadron, and the closure of the German "spy" consulate at Tangiers.

_'U-278' _shot down an RN Martlet.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 336: 47 of 51 B-24s bomb the V-weapon site at Wizernes, France; 33 are damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 48 P-47s and 53 P-51s without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: As convoy GUS 38 heads west toward the Straits of Gibraltar, German submarine _'U-371' _closes in; destroyer escort _'Menges' _(DE-320) locates the enemy but is torpedoed and damaged by her quarry off Bougie, Algeria. The U-boat managed to hit USS _'Menges' _with a Gnat in the stern. The explosion severely damaged the stern, blew off both propellers and the rudders. 31 men were killed and 25 wounded, but the destroyer was towed to port and repaired. Consequently, destroyer escorts _'Pride' _(DE-323) and _'Joseph E. Campbell' _(DE-70) hunt for _'U-371'_, joined by British destroyer HMS _'Blankney'_, French destroyer _'L'Alycon' _and destroyer escort _'Senegalais'_, and minesweeper _'Sustain' _(AM-119). _'U-371'_, however, escapes.

In Italy, B-25s and B-26s pound railway bridges at Monte Molino, Orvieto, and Taggia, bridge approaches at Ficulle and Imperia, and Ventimiglia marshalling yards; A-20s attack ammunition dumps; P-40s and P-47s attack rail lines, bridge, dump, guns and buildings in the battle area and score 4 direct hits on an observation post S of Cassino; vessels and docks at Civitavecchia and Montalto di Castro and road bridges and rail lines in the area; town of Fondi and rail lines and bridges nearby; railway bridges at Foligno, Sant'Elpidio a Mare and Grosseto; viaduct at Terni; and numerous vehicles, dumps, railroads, vessels, and other targets in the battle areas and in N Italy; and 447th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 321st Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Gaudo Airfield to Solenzara, Corsica with B-25s.


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## Njaco (May 9, 2009)

*4 MAY 1944*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In the early morning of 4 May _'U-371' _had to surface and save his crew, but at 0404 the U-boat still fought back and also damaged the _'Senegalais' _(T 22) with a Gnat. U-371 finally sunk at 0409 in the Mediterranean north of Constantine by depth charges from destroyer escorts USS _'Pride' _and _'Joseph E. Campbell'_, the French _'Senegalais' _and destroyer HMS _'Blankney'_. 3 dead and 49 survivors.

In Italy, main effort again is against lines of communications; medium bombers hit bridges, tracks and marshalling yards; P-40s, A-36s and P-47s hit rail lines in and around Priverno, guns and radar station N of Anzio, railroad cars, rail lines, and bridge in the Orte-Attigliano and Orte-Narni areas, motor transport and stores E of Frascati, marshalling yards at Colleferro and Follonica, and trucks and personnel on the Fondi-Pico road; vessels at Leghorn and numerous railroad targets at scattered points are attacked.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-846' _sunk in the Bay of Biscay north of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from an RCAF 407 Sqn Wellington aircraft. 57 dead (all hands lost).

28 RAF Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 4 to Leverkusen, 20 Halifaxes minelaying off Channel and Biscay ports. No losses.

In France, 170+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s and 36 A-20s bomb gun emplacements and other military targets at Etretat/Sainte-Marie-Au-Bosc, Etaples, Le Treport, Ault, Fecamp and Ouistreham.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 338: 591 bombers and 516 fighters are dispatched to Berlin, Brunswick and targets in C Germany; the mission is recalled due to cloud cover but 40 B-17s bomb Bergen/Alkmaar Airfield, The Netherlands; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 15 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. Escort is provided by 50 P-38s, 179 P-47s and 287 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-47s claim 8-2-5 Luftwaffe aircraft and the P-51s claim 1-0-1; 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are lost, 3 P-47s and 2 P-51s are damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 and 8 P-47s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 3 MIA.


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## Njaco (May 9, 2009)

*5 MAY 1944*

*GERMANY*: Intelligence services intercept a telephone conversation between Roosevelt and Churchill, but hear no secrets.

The prototype Ar 234V-11 made its first flight.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: General Alexander orders Allied units to break through the Gustav Line on 11 May.

RAF Mustangs and RAAF and SAAF Warhawks attack the Torre Dam.

Marshal Tito's partisan army, now numbering nearly 300,000 well-armed men and women has fought its way into the Croatian capital of Zagreb, it was learned today. A huge cache of German weapons was captured with lorryloads of prisoners, before the partisans "melted away" in typical fashion. Tito's National Liberation Front now controls almost every town in mountainous Montenegro. It also took four German divisions to drive them from Slovenia; even so few main roads of railways there are safe for troop transport. Twelve divisions of General Rendulic's Second Panzerarmee are being kept fully occupied by Tito's fiercely determined irregulars. Although the Germans have retaken most of the Adriatic Islands between Fiume and Split - captured by partisans when the Italian army collapsed last year - their garrisons are under constant harassment. The head of the British military mission, Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean, has selected the outer island of Vis as a base for organizing British commando operations in Nazi-held Yugoslavia.

_'U-967' _fired a Gnat at Convoy GUS-38 about 120 miles NW of Oran, Algeria and reported a hit on a medium-sized ship after 11 minutes 58 seconds, but this was probably an end-of-run detonation. Destroyer escort USS _'Laning' _located the U-boat after the unsuccessful attack and started an attack run, but _'U-967' _fired a Gnat at the escort ships at 0441, hitting the USS _'Fechteler' _amidships. The explosion lifted the ship out of the water and broke her in two. Most crewmembers abandoned ship before both parts sank. 29 crewmembers died and 26 were injured. USS _'Laning' _then picked up the survivors together with other escort ships.

640+ US Fifteenth Air Force bombers (the largest force to date) attack targets in Rumania and Yugoslavia; the B-17s hit marshalling yards at Ploesti/Campina and Brasnov, Rumania; the B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Ploesti and troop concentrations at Podgoricu, Yugoslavia; fighters fly 240+ sorties in support.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force A-20s bomb a supply dump W of Albano Laziale; XII Tactical Air Command A-36s, P-47s and P-40s fly 24 missions cutting rail lines N and NE of Rome, and hitting guns N of the Anzio beachhead and N of Gaeta and a dump near Frascati; bridges at Orvieto and W of Lake Bolsena are damaged by direct hits, a barge at San Stefano al Mare is hit, several trucks destroyed or damaged, rail lines are cut in several places near Sesti Bagni and aircraft are hit at the Canino landing ground.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces in the Crimea begin their final attack on Sevastopol with a massive artillery bombardment into the fortress city.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 16 RAF Halifaxes and 12 Stirlings minelaying off Channel and Biscay ports, 30 aircraft on Resistance operations, 6 OTU sorties. No losses.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 339: 33 of 46 B-24s hit the V-weapon site at Sottevast, France; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA. Escort is provided by 52 P-51s without loss. Duing the night, 21 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; 1 B-24 is lost.

Brigadier General Myron R Wood assumes command of the IX Air Forces Services Command.


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## Njaco (May 9, 2009)

*6 MAY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A last effort to remedy the mistakes and muddles thrown up in the succession of invasion exercises in held on the beaches of England has been made this week with Operation Fabius. This took place over five days and extended from Littlehampton in Sussex, through Hampshire and Dorset to Slapton Sands, the scene of last month's disaster when 638 Americans were lost in a German E-boat attack during a previous D-Day exercise. The Americans, British and Canadian forces were assigned to four separate beaches corresponding to the assault beaches in France. Two other exercises involving naval forces, took place at the same time to familiarize the invasion fleet with the boarding, disembarkation and re-enforcement plans. A third exercise, Operation Splint, handled the evacuation of wounded by landing craft. Fabius has been judged satisfactory. Afterwards, though, Brigadier-General Norman Cota told his headquarters staff of the US 29th Division that when the real thing came along;


> "_..the little discrepancies that we tried to correct on Slapton Sands are going to be magnified and are going to give way to incidents that you might at first view as chaotic. The landing craft aren't going in on schedule and people are going to be landed in the wrong place ... The enemy will have some success in preventing our gaining lodgement. But we must improvise, carry on, not lose our heads_."



*WESTERN FRONT*: At the German Heeresgruppe B's HQ in north-western France, Rommel has substantially reinforced the coastal defences from the Netherlands through the Pas de Calais to Normandy. Bunkers have been built, and the beaches bristle with innumerable angle irons laced with mined stakes slanted seawards. In the Cotentin peninsula, covering the port of Cherbourg, a network of mined poles linked by wires stands as a defence against airborne landings. But the Germans are unable to agree on where the Allies will invade, so the six divisions of General Geyr von Schweppenburg's powerful Panzer Group West have been divided between Rommel's coastal forces and von Rundstedt's reserves near Paris.

The German submarine _'U-66' _is sunk about 290 miles (467 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands, by depth charges, ramming and gunfire from Eastern Aircraft TBM Avenger and FM Wildcat aircraft of Composite Squadron Fifty Five (VC-55) in the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Block Island' _(CVE-21) and by the destroyer escort USS _'Buckley' _(DE-51); 36 of the 60 submariners survive. _'Block Island' _and _'Buckley' _were part of Task Group 21.11 which has been hunting this submarine since 1 May; several attacks had been made, including three Fido homing torpedoes that were dropped on the U-boat. Finally in the early morning hours of the 6th, _'U-66' _was sighted by the crew of USS _'Buckley' _and after an exchange of gunfire, _'Buckley' _rammed the U-boat at 0329 hours local. Many of the U-boat survivors, some with small arms, climbed on _'Buckley's' _forecastle and the Americans, thinking they were being boarded as in the days of sail, used small arms, hand grenades, fists and a coffee cup to subdue them. _'Buckley' _backed away from the U-boat leaving five armed Germans on the escort who were promptly subdued and taken below. The U-boat started to draw ahead but then turned and hit the escort near its engine room opening a hole on the starboard side and for the second time the U-boat was raked with gunfire. The U-boat finally sank after a salvo from _'Buckley's' _3-inch (76.2 mm) gun after one of the longest fights in the war.

SS _'Anadyr'_, dispersed from Convoy TJ-30, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-129' _about 600 miles SSE of Recife. Four crewmembers and two gunners were lost. The master and seven survivors landed at Porto de Galhinas near Recife and 39 survivors landed 20 miles south of Recife.

_'U-473' _sunk at 0200 hrs in the North Atlantic WSW of Ireland, by depth charges from sloops HMS _'Starling'_, _'Wren' _and _'Wild Goose'_. 23 dead and 30 survivors.

_'U-765' _sunk in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from two 825 Sqn Swordfish from escort carrier HMS _'Vindex' _and frigates HMS _'Bickerton'_, _'Bligh' _and _'Aylmer'_. 37 dead and 11 survivors.

149 RAF aircraft - 77 Halifaxes, 64 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attacked railway installations in the Gassicourt suburb of Mantes La Jolie, to the west of Paris. 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax lost. Bomber Command's records state that 'stores depots and locomotive sheds' were severely damaged but the local report shows that some of the bombing fell outside the railway objective. The western part of the town - including 'old Mantes', the suburb of Gassicourt and the hamlet of Dennemont - were all bombed. 64 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked an ammunition dump at Sable Sur Sarthe which was destroyed by 'enormous explosions'. No aircraft lost.

52 RAF Lancasters of No 1 Group attacked an ammunition dump at Aubigne accurately and the entire target was destroyed. 1 aircraft lost. The only Lancaster shot down on this raid, from No 576 Squadron, contained a senior officer who was flying as second pilot. This was Air Commodore R Ivelaw-Chapman, who was commanding a 'base' (usually 3 airfields) in No 1 Group. Ivelaw-Chapman had only just taken up this position after a staff job in which he had had access to details of the coming invasion. There was great anxiety in England that, if he became a prisoner of war, the Germans might hand him over to the Gestapo for questioning. He was taken prisoner but the Germans never realized his importance and he was treated in the normal manner.

British forces make an attempt to hit the German battleship _'Tirpitz' _in Norway but poor weather prevents the attack. The attack, and those planned in the near future, is part of the Normandy deception plan and is not only intended on destroying the dangerous ship but also to divert attention to Norway and away from France.

Off Cape Race, Newfoundland, German submarine _'U-548' _torpedoes Royal Canadian Navy frigate _'Valleyfield'_, sinking it.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 340: 168 bombers and 185 fighters are dispatched to hit NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in France; 90 B-17s dispatched to the Pas de Calais area return to base with bombs due to cloud cover over the target; 70 of 78 B-24s hit Siracourt; 48 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 57 Ninth Air Force P-38s, 47 P-47s and 81 P-51s without loss. 22 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.

75 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s dispatched to attack coastal defenses abort the mission because of weather.

*GERMANY*: Eighteen hundred slave labourers are requisitioned from France to work on the production of rocket bombs at Dora concentration camp.

28 RAF Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen, 5 to Leverkusen and 2 to Châteaudun, 9 RCM sorties, 9 Serrate and 5 Intruder patrols, 8 Halifaxes and 6 Stirlings minelaying off Biscay ports. 33 aircraft on Resistance operations, 6 OTU sorties. 1 Mosquito lost from the Leverkusen raid.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The final Soviet assault by troops under General Fedor Tolbukhin on the German forces in Sevastopol begins tonight with a heavy bombardment of Katyusha rockets. Soviet forces begin to move into the city as the German and Rumanian forces continue to attempt to evacuated the beleaguered city.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: About 300 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, escorted by P-51s and P-38s, hit targets in Rumania; the B-17s attack an aircraft factory at Brasov and marshalling yard at Turnu Severin; the B-24s bomb Ploesti/Campina marshalling yard and an aircraft factory at Brasov.

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force A-20s pound a storage area at Itri; A-36s hit rail lines in the Viterbo area; P 40s hit guns, tracks and railroad station in and around Frosinone, and rail lines, stations, roads and town area in and near Itri, Colleferro and Sezze; P-47s hit Certaldo marshalling yard and numerous railroad and highway targets, including several bridges; and HQ 324th Fighter Group and 314th Fighter Squadron move from Cercola to Pignataro Maggiore with P-40s.

The German _General der Flakartillerie Sud _issued an order that immediately night-fighters would operate nightly over "the entire Upper Italian area" without any special notification being given. When fired on by flak, the night-fighters would fire recognition signals, whereupon the flak should cease.


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## Njaco (May 9, 2009)

*7 MAY 1944*

*GERMANY*: The US 8th Army Air Force, attacks Berlin for the second time in three days. The USAAF's Eighth Air Force flies two missions during the day. 600 B-17s are dispatched on a PFF attack on Berlin; 514 bomb the primary and 39 hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 265 damaged. Of 322 B-24s dispatched, 147 bomb Munster and 165 bomb Osnabruck; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 22 damaged. Escort is provided by 153 P-38s, 317 P-47s and 284 P-51s; 2 P-38s, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost, 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair and 5 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 damaged.

The German rocket unit EK16, is declared ready for operational use.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the afternoon, 29 of 67 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Liege, Belgium without loss; escort is provided by 24 P-47s and 51 P-51s without loss. 14 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions during the night without loss. The US 9th Air Force continued operations against French transportation targets in preparation for the cross-channel attack.

93 RAF Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of 3 and 8 Groups to bomb the airfield at Nantes. 1 Lancaster lost. Accurate bombing hit runways and hangars. 56 Halifaxes of No 6 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos attempted to bomb a coastal gun position at St Valery near Dieppe but just missed the target. No aircraft lost. 58 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked an ammunition dump at Salbris. The bombing was accurate and much damage was caused but 7 Lancasters were lost. 53 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group bombed the airfield at Tours and caused much damage. 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito lost. 55 Lancasters of No 1 Group bombed the airfield and an ammunition dump at Rennes. The force was not able to locate and mark the target adequately and most of the bombs fell on a nearby village. No aircraft lost. 28 Mosquitos to Leverkusen and 4 to Châteaudun, 5 RCM sorties, 12 Intruder patrols, 42 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and in the River Gironde, 39 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Halifaxes lost dropping supplies to the Resistance.

Adolf Hitler gives Erwin Rommel control of three panzer divisions in northern France, the 2nd, 21st, and 116th.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: There was a German assault on Tito's hideout in Drvar, Bosnia.

420+ US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb targets in Rumania and Yugoslavia; the B-17s and B-24s hit marshalling yards at Bucharest, Rumania and 38 B-17s also hit a railroad bridge at Belgrade, Yugoslavia; 62 P-51s escort heavy bombers to the target and 53 provide withdrawal escort; 84 P-38s fly target cover.

In Italy, weather remains poor and precludes US Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations; A-20s hit a dump SW of Albano Laziale; fighter-bombers hit communications, especially roads, with excellent results; roads, motor transports, trains, gun positions, bridges, tracks, marshalling yards, harbor areas and other targets are attacked in areas around Stimigliano, Vetralla, Viterbo, Bracciano, Anzio, Manziana, Acquapendente, Civitavecchia, Terracina, Rome and Elba Island.


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## Njaco (May 10, 2009)

*8 MAY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Supreme Commander of Operation Overlord Dwight Eisenhower tentatively sets June 5 as D-Day for the invasion of Europe.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler now gives in about allowing a full scale withdrawal from the Crimea. Red Army attacks into Sevastopol continues as 45,000 German and Romanian troops remain trapped in the city.

Adolf Eichmann, the head of the Jewish office of the Gestapo, is holding the Jews of Hungary hostage. Joel Brand, a member of the Hungarian Jewish Assistance and Rescue Committee, is being sent to Turkey. To save the Jews, he must persuade the Allied representatives there to provide Germany with 10,000 heavy trucks.

Lt. Fritz Neumiller of 7./SG 10 and formerly of 4./StG 77 was awarded the Ritterkreuz for completing 610 combat missions.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The carrier HMS _'Furious' _and her escort carriers HMS _'Searcher' _and HMS _'Emporer' _are conducting an anti-shipping sweep along the Norwegian coast. The F6F Hellcats of 800 Squadron FAA are escorting a Barracuda strike group when they are attacked by a mixed group of Me 109 and Fw 190s. Both German fighter types were faster than the Hellcat "and both could stay with an F6F through most of a long dive. The Grumman's great advantage was a tighter turning radius, and the _'Emperor's' _pilots used it as best they could. Two Hellcats, two Me 109s, and one Fw 190 were shot down.

123 RAF aircraft - 62 Halifaxes, 53 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups, went to Haine St Pierre. 6 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters lost. Severe damage was caused to half of the railway yards and to locomotive sheds. 58 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the airfield and seaplane base at Lanveoc Poulmic near Brest with great accuracy. 1 Lancaster lost. 31 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos scored direct hits on a coastal gun position at Morsalines on the Cherbourg peninsular. 1 Halifax lost. 32 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 7 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked a gun position at Berneval but only 1 aircraft hit the target. Most of the bombing was 600-700 yards from the gun position. No aircraft lost. 30 Lancasters of No 3 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos located a gun position at Cap Griz Nez but no hits were scored. No aircraft lost. 28 Mosquitos to Osnabrück and 2 to Oberhausen, 4 RCM sorties, 10 Serrate patrols, 30 Halifaxes and 8 Stirlings minelaying off the Dutch and French coasts, 41 aircraft on Resistance operations, 26 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling lost on Resistance supply work.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 345: In the afternoon, 164 bombers and 97 fighters are dispatched against targets in France and Belgium; 5 bombers are lost: 92 of 101 B-17s bomb V-weapon sites at Glacerie and Sottevast, France; 5 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 29 damaged; 28 airmen are MIA. 57 of 63 B-24s hit Brussels/Schaerbeck marshalling yard, Belgium; 29 B-24s are damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 19 MIA. Escort is provided by 97 P-47s without loss.

About 450 US Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s bomb marshalling yards, coastal defenses, bridges, airfields and V-weapons sites in France and Belgium.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Nine U.S. Naval Aviators from Cruiser Scouting Squadron Eight (VCS-8 ) are assigned to the Twelfth Air Force's 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron based at Santa Maria, Italy for flight training and combat operations in the North American F-6 Mustang photographic reconnaissance aircraft. Previous combat experience with the USN's cruiser- and battleship-launched Curtiss SOC Seagull and Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes used in air spotting and reconnaissance missions proved both types were vulnerable to enemy fighters and AA fire. A total of eleven Naval Aviators fly with the USAAF in support of the Italian campaign and the invasion of southern France until 2 September 1944 when they are returned to their ships. During their tour with the USAAF, the sailors flew missions from Italy, Corsica and France.

In Italy, fighter-bombers hit roads and railroads N of Rome, a supply dump N of Anzio beachhead, and the station at Colleferro; numerous trucks and railroad cars are destroyed and many troops killed; Attacks against rolling stock on the Rome-Orte rail line are especially effective; HQ 62d Troop Carrier Group and 4th, 7th and 8th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Ponte Olivo, Sicily to Gaudo Airfield (4th Troop Carrier Squadron is operating from bases in India); and 524th Fighter- Bomber Squadron, 27th Fighter-Bomber Group, moves from Castel Volturno to Santa Maria with P-40s.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 344: In the morning, 807 bombers and 729 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany in a PFF mission; the bombers claim 76-16-16 Luftwaffe fighters, the fighters claim 55-4-20; 36 bombers and 13 fighters are lost: 500 B-17s are dispatched to bomb Berlin; 386 B-17s hit the primary, 42 bomb Brunswick, 17 bomb Brandenburg and 8 bomb Magderburg; 25 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 169 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 7 WIA and 261 MIA. 307 B-24s are dispatched to Brunswick; 288 hit the primary and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 11 B-24s are lost, 7 are damaged beyond repair and 28 damaged; 7 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 112 MIA. Escort is provided by 152 P-38s, 295 P-47s and 282 P-51s; the P-38s claim 6-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft, the P-47s claim 9-1-5 and the P-51s claim 40-3-12; 4 P-38s, 4 P-47s and 5 P-51s are lost; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are damaged beyond repair; 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 13 MIA.

Uffz. Willi Unger of Sturmstaffel 1, was shot down but survived a belly-landing. Upon his return to his unit, he found that Sturmstaffel 1 had been renamed 11./JG 3 as IV./JG 3 was expanded to a full Sturmgruppe with Hptm. Willi Moritz as Gruppenkommandeur. Major Gunther von Kornatzki and Major Erwin Bacsila were reassigned to other units.


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## Njaco (May 10, 2009)

*9 MAY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The MK VI Hawker Tempest fighter (HM 595) flies for the first time. A tropicalized MK V with air intakes moved from the radiator to the wing and a 2,300-h.p. Sabre V engine in place of the Sabre II.

*GERMANY*: Dönitz says that he does not expect the Allies to invade in the near future.

Ofw. Kurt Welter of 5./JG 301 was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold and promoted to Leutnant.

*WESTERN FRONT*: As western Europe prepare for the expected Allied invasion, all Denmark's North Sea Coast has been closed to shipping. Any vessel sailing within ten miles of the coastline will be fired on by shore batteries, General Haneken, who is responsible for the Danish sector of the Atlantic Wall, said today. Danish islands are now isolated from the mainland, as are those of the Netherlands.

British Bomber Command makes its first major attack on coastal batteries in the Pas de Calais region of northern France. 414 RAF aircraft - 206 Halifaxes, 180 Lancasters, 28 Mosquitos - attacked 7 coastal gun batteries in the Pas de Calais area. Four of the positions were claimed to have been hit. 1 Lancaster lost while bombing the Mardyck position. 56 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Gnome Rhone factory at Gennevilliers and another factory near by. 5 Lancasters lost. 39 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to a small ball-bearing factory at Annecy on the France-Switzerland border. Weather en route was very bad and only 2 Mosquito marker aircraft reached the target, but the factory was accurately bombed. No aircraft lost. 30 Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 to Châteaudun, 10 RCM sorties, 11 Serrate and 24 Intruder patrols, 20 Halifaxes and 5 Stirlings minelaying off Dutch and French coasts, 43 aircraft on Resistance operations, 12 OTU sorties. 2 Stirlings and 1 Halifax on Resistance operations and 1 OTU Wellington were lost.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 347: 823 bombers and 668 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards and airfields in France, Belgium and Luxembourg; this is the beginning of the pre-invasion bombing of enemy installations; 6 bombers and 7 fighters are lost: Of 220 B-17s, 75 hit St Dizier Airfield, 53 hit Thionville Airfield and 37 hit Thionville marshalling yard, France and 53 hit Luxembourg marshalling yard, Luxembourg; 38 B-17s are damaged. 242 B-17s are dispatched to bomb airfields in France; 113 hit Laon/Athies, 71 hit Juvincourt, 43 hit Laon/Couvron, 10 hit Lille/Vendeville and 1 hits Chievres; 2 B-17s are lost and 44 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 20 MIA. Of 361 B-24s, 101 hit St Trond Airfield, 96 hit Florennes Airfield, 63 hit Liege marshalling yard and 6 hit Hody Airfield, Belgium and 68 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield and 10 hit Nivelles Airfield, France; 2 B-24s are lost, and 35 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 44 MIA. Escort is provided by 144 P-38s, 277 P-47s and 247 P-51s; the P-47s claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-4 on the ground, the P-51s claim 1-0-0 in the air; 1 P-38 and 6 P-51s are lost; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 1 P-51 is damaged; 6 pilots are MIA.

40+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack marshalling yards, railway batteries, coastal defense batteries, bridges, and NOBALL sites in France.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces capture the city of Sevastopol as Hitler belated orders the full-scale evacuation of the Crimean Peninsula. Soviet troops stormed the mighty fortress of Sebastopol, all but completing the liberation of the Crimea, the peninsula which the Germans called;


> "_..our aircraft carrier in the Black Sea_".


General Tolbukhin's soldiers fought their way into the ruined streets of the city after three days of bombardment by guns and dive-bombers. The dazed remnants of the German Seventeenth Army and its Romanian allies caved in. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet, for so long unable to act for fear of the Stukas flying from the Crimea, has also played a large part in the freeing of its traditional base. Motor Torpedo boats have been out at night causing havoc among the German ships trying to evacuate their troops. Now the fleet can return to Sebastopol; the port will need much repair work, but the ships will be able to use the natural harbour as a base for operations along the Romanian coast. A German spokesman admitted the crushing defeat in an astonishingly frank statement:


> "_On the morning of the third day of the onslaught, when the Russians broke into the southern part of the city, the German Command decided to give up the struggle_."


 About 20,000 Germans and Romanians have been killed at Sebastopol and 24,361 taken prisoner.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: During the night of 8/9 May 1944, USS PC-558 was escorting a coastal convoy, sank a German one-man submarine and captured the driver (an Oberleutnant) and shortly thereafter sank a second one together with USS PC-626. At 0456, the patrol craft was hit by one torpedo from _'U-230' _and sank quickly with the loss of many of her crew about 28 miles NNE of Palermo, Sicily. The accompanying USS PC-1235 was missed by three torpedoes and chased away the attacking U-boat. She then hurried back to the sinking position and was able to rescue 30 survivors.

In Italy, B-26s hit Incisa in Valdarno railroad bridge and viaduct while A-20s attack fuel dumps; fighter-bombers again blast roads and railroads and other targets at various locations N of Rome, including Lake Bolsena, Civitavecchia, Colleferro, Civita Castellana, Orte and San Giovanni Valdarno; HQ 87th Fighter Wing moves from Bastia to Vescovato, Corsica; 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 68th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, attached to XII Tactical Air Command, moves from Pomigliano to Santa Maria with F-6s; and 522d and 523d Fighter- Bomber Squadrons, 27th Fighter-Bomber Group, moves from Castel Volturno to Santa Maria with A-36s and P-40s.


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## Njaco (May 11, 2009)

*10 MAY 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: KptLt. Helmut Rosenbaum, commander of the 30th U-Flotilla based in the Black Sea, is killed in an air crash. He is promoted posthumously to KKpt.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Free French estimate that there are 175,000 resistance fighters in France.

506 RAF aircraft - 291 Lancasters, 187 Halifaxes, 28 Mosquitos - to bomb railway yards at Courtrai, Dieppe, Ghent, Lens and Lille. No post-raid reconnaissance was carried out at Dieppe and results of the raid there are not known. All other raids were successful, although some bombs fell on nearby civilian housing. 12 Lancasters lost from the No 5 Group raid to Lille and 1 Lancaster lost from the Dieppe raid. 29 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 2 to Châteaudun, 5 RCM sorties, 9 Intruder and 3 Serrate patrols, 26 aircraft minelaying off Brest and Heligoland, 28 aircraft on Resistance operations, 10 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax minelayer lost.

About 300 US Ninth Air Force B-26s attack marshalling yards, airfields, and NOBALL targets in France and Belgium. P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb targets in NW Europe for the sixth straight day. Bad weather causes a large number of aborts.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Off Anzio, destroyers _'Charles F. Hughes' _(DD-428 ) and _'Hilary P. Jones' _(DD-427) bombard German supply dumps. Submarine chaser PC-556 is damaged by a bomb.

485th Bombardment Group (Heavy) with B-24s is declared operational, giving the Fifteenth Air Force its planned operational strength of 21 bomber groups. The 52d Fighter Group with P-51s also begins operations with the Fifteenth on this date, making a total of 6 fighter groups.

In Italy, weather permits medium bomber operations for first time in several days; B-25s hit bridges near San Giovanni Valdarno, Orvieto and Monte Molino, and the Terni viaduct; B-26s attack bridges W of Arezzo; fighter-bombers continue attacks on roads and railroads N of Rome; targets in the areas of Avezzano, Civitavecchia, Furbara, Terni, Todi, Orvieto, Manciano, Perugia, Monte San Savino and La Saezia, and near Rome are attacked.

*GERMANY*: A US Eighth Air Force bomber mission to Germany is abandoned due to deteriorating weather.

Around 400 US Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack targets at Wiener Neustadt Austria; B-17s bomb aviation industry targets; B-24s bomb the industrial area and an air depot; 200+ fighters provide support; 300+ bombers are forced to abort due to bad weather which has halted operations for the past few days; opposition is fierce; intercepting were units from JG 3, JG 5, JG 27, JG 302 and SG 152; 21 bombers and 1 fighter are lost; US aircraft claim 50 aircraft.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A Bomber crashed into a church at Selby in Yorkshire. The crew of seven and eight civilians were killed.


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## Njaco (May 11, 2009)

*11 MAY 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT*: At 1632, _'U-9' _fired a Gnat at a convoy consisting of a tanker, a torpedo boat, a minesweeper and seven smaller escorts covered by three MBR flying boats and observed a heavy detonation after 2 minutes 31 seconds. The torpedo damaged the _'Shtorm'_. _'U-9' _was depth charged by a Soviet escort and suffered slight damage.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied forces (US 5th and British 8th Armies) begin a new set of attacks - Operation *'Diadem' * - on the Gustav Line near Cassino,. Just prior to midnight the preparatory bombardment begins. The attack opens with a 2200 gun artillery bombardment augmented by naval gunfire along the coast. Twelve divisions (including Poles and Free French troops) hit the 6 defending German divisions of the 10th Army. This attack is by the US II, Polish II, British XIII and Free French Expeditionary Corps, 12 Divisions. The British 4th Division and the Indian 8th Division attack the Gustav Line. The German forces are somewhat disorganized in their response due to the absence of Generals Vietinghoff and Senger.

In Italy, medium bombers, hampered by weather, attack Portoferraio, bridges near Orvieto and Ficulle, tracks at Piombino, viaduct at Poggibonsi and bridges at Certaldo and Signa; fighter-bombers hit Fondi, rail lines NE of Rome, Littoria Airfield, rail facilities in the Perugia area, barge, harbor area, and factory in the Portoferraio area, and tracks near Castiglione d'Orcia; other fighter-bombers attack numerous positions along the main front as the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies begin an assault through the Gustav Line and the drive toward Rome.

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'Empire Heath' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-129' _ENE of Rio de Janeiro. The master, 45 crewmembers and nine gunners were lost. One crewmember was taken prisoner by the U-boat.

Covered lighter YF-415 is destroyed by explosion of undetermined origin in North Atlantic off east coast of the United States.

190 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group, with 3 Mosquitos of No 8 Group, were dispatched to attack a large military camp at Bourg Léopold in Belgium. Haze hampered the marking of the target and the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be abandoned, for fear of hitting the nearby civilian housing, after 94 Lancasters had bombed. 5 Lancasters lost. 126 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to Hasselt in norrth-eastern Belgium. The target was marked and 39 aircraft bombed, but all missed the railway yards because of thick haze and the Master Bomber ordered the bombing to stop. 5 Lancasters lost.

135 RAF aircraft - 80 Halifaxes, 47 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups went to Boulogne. 2 Halifaxes lost. Some bombs fell in the railway yards but the main weight of the raid missed the target and fell on nearby civilian housing. 128 civilians were killed. 105 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 3 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Louvain near Rennes but the main weight of the bombing hit the railway workshops and nearby storage buildings. 4 Lancasters lost. 53 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked railway yards at Trouville, south of Le Havre. The bombing was accurate and a large explosion was seen. No aircraft lost. 53 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked a gun position at Colline Beaumont near Le Touquet. The target proved difficult to mark and no results were established. No aircraft lost. 8 RCM sorties, 6 Serrate patrols, 12 aircraft minelaying off French ports, 3 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

The US 9th Air Force begins a series of attacks in Normandy, hitting airfields around Caen. 330+ B-26s attack airfields at Beaumont-le-Roger and Cormeilles-en-Vexin and marshalling yard at Mezieres/ Charleville, France and Aerschot, Belgium. Bad visibility and failure to rendezvous with fighters cause 100+ aborts. This is the start of US Ninth Air Force's participation in AAF pre-invasion offensive against airfields.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 350: 364 B-24s and 536 fighters are dispatched to bomb marshalling yards in France; 8 B-24s and 5 fighters are lost: 144 are dispatched to hit Mulhouse; 94 bomb the primary, 19 hit Belfort, 13 bomb Orleans/Bricy Airfield and 2 hit Mezidon/Pithiviers; 1 B-24 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 7 WIA and 40 MIA. 74 are dispatched to Belfort; 33 bomb the primary and 24 hit Chaumont; 1 B-24 is lost. 76 are dispatched to Epinal; 68 hit the primary and 1 bombs Caen Airfield; 3 B-24s are lost. 70 are dispatched to Chaumont but none bomb; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 30 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 31 MIA. Escort is provided by 147 P-38s, 188 P-47s and 201 P-51s; the P-38s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground, the P-47s claim 3-0-2 in the air and 2-0-6 on the ground and the P-51s claim 3-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-4s and 3 P-51s are lost, 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair and 2 P-38s, 6 P-47s and 2 P-51s are damaged; 5 pilots are MIA.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Naval Advanced Amphibious Base, Southhampton, England, is established.

Four Me 410s of II./KG 51 took off on a harrasssing raid against the Allied ground organization. Two Me 410s carried out an attack in the Cambridge area. One Me 410 attacked a 4-engined aircraft with a single tail unit (thought to be a Stirling). The aircraft crashed in flames and the same Me 410 sighted another 4 engined aircraft a short time later but lost sight of it after it shut off its navigation lights. Two other Me 410s broke off the mission owing to technical difficulties.

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force Mission 351: In the afternoon, 609 B-17s and 471 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg; 8 B-17s and 4 fighters are lost; primary targets are Brussels/Midi (55 bomb), Brussels (49 bomb) and Liege, Belgium (119 bomb, 2 lost); Saarbrucken (58 bomb, 5 lost), Kons Karthaus (55 bomb) and Ehrang (60 bomb, 1 lost), Germany; and Luxembourg (53 bomb); 12 hit the secondary target at Thionville, France; and 16 hit Volkingen, Germany; 19 hit Bettembourg, Luxembourg and 51 hit other targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 172 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 23 WIA and 83 MIA. Escort is provided by 99 P-38s, 182 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 190 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-51s claim 11-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost, the pilots are MIA.

As the bombers made their way across Occupied Europe, Obstlt. Walter Oesau, _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 1 was in bed with influenza. Goering phoned his staff and asked;


> "_Is the Kommodore flying? - No he is in bed with fever - Yes, yes, I know that kind!" _


Said Goering;


> "_He has also turned tired and coward!" _


Angered by this comment, Obstlt. Oesau mounted his Bf 109G-6 and took off alone and was never seen again. He died in action over the Eifel Mountains. His final score was 127 kills. Johannes Steinhoff once described Oesau as;


> "_...the toughest fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe_."


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## Njaco (May 12, 2009)

*12 MAY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Allies call on the Axis satellites Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria to withdraw from the war.

120 RAF aircraft - 96 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, 4 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups went to Louvain. 3 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. The bombing was more accurate than on the previous night and considerable damage was caused in the railways yards. 111 aircraft - 100 Halifaxes, 7 Lancasters, 4 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups went to Hasselt. 6 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost. Most of the attack fell in open fields and only a few bombs hit the railway yards.

Major Heinz Bar gave up his command of II./JG 1 to Oblt. Georg-Peter Eder.

*GERMANY*: The U.S. Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 353: 886 bombers and 735 fighters are dispatched to hit oil production facilities in Germany and Czechoslovakia; there is strong Luftwaffe fighter reaction and 46 bombers and 7 fighters are lost: This results in a reduction of daily output from 5850 metric tons to 4820. 326 B-17s are dispatched to Mersenburg (224 bomb) and Lutzkendorf (87 bomb); 1 hits Hedrongen and 1 bombs Bullstadt; 2 B-17s are lost. 295 B-17s are dispatched to Brux, Czechoslovakia (140 bomb) and Zwickau (74 bomb); 11 hit Chemnitz, 14 hit Gera marshalling yard, 15 hit Hof and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 41 B-17s are lost. 265 B-24s are dispatched to Zeitz (116 bomb) and Bohlen (99 bomb); 14 hit Mersenburg, 1 hits Ostend Airfield, Belgium and 12 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 153 P-38s, 201 P-47s and 381 P-51s; P-38s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, P-47s claim 26-0-8 and P-51s claim 33-0-3 in the air and 5-0-2 on the ground; 4 P-47s and 3 P-51s are lost. Major Guther Rall, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 11 nearly succeeded in downing the commander of the US 56th FG, Lt. Col. Hubert Zemke and did succeed in destroying 2 P-47s. However, he was himself attacked by another pair of Thunderbolts and was forced to bail out over Frankfurt/Main, having his left thumb shot off in the process. This was the 9th time that Rall had been shot down.

RAF Mosquitoes lay mines in their first sortie to the Kiel Canal. 22 Mosquitos of No 8 Group attempted to block the Kiel Canal by laying mines from low level. Intelligence sources had said that the flak defences on part of the canal had been removed. 20 Mosquitos laid their mines in this stretch; 1 aircraft lost. 12 Mosquitos to Brunsbüttel (as a diversion for the Kiel Canal mining operation) and 8 to Châteaudun, 10 RCM sorties, 12 Serrate and 9 Intruder patrols, 43 aircraft minelaying off the French coast and in the Frisians. 8 OTU sorties. 1 Intruder Mosquito lost.

On January 26, 1944, ObltzS Oskar Kusch, commander of _'U-154' _was condemned to death by a military tribunal and executed on May 12, 1944, after being denounced by his former IWO for alleged "Wehrkraftzersetzung" (sedition and defeatism). One of eleven politically motivated accusations against Kusch was that he had ordered a Hitler portrait removed from the boat's officers' mess to a less conspicuous location with the commentary;


> "_We are not in the business here of practicing idolatry_."


In 1996 Kusch's legal record was finally wiped clean, and in 1998 the city of Kiel erected a memorial and renamed a street in his honour not far from the military range along the Kiel Canal where he had been shot 54 years before. Kusch was one of only two U-boat commanders to be sentenced to death by German authorities, the other being Heinz Hirsacker of _'U-572' _who was convicted of cowardice and committed suicide on April 24, 1943, shortly before his scheduled execution.

*EASTERN FRONT*: At 2323 hours, _'U-24' _fired a torpedo at two escorts and observed a hit amidships after 67 seconds and heard how five depth charges detonated when the vessel sank. The vessel sunk was the Soviet patrol craft SKA-0376.

The Soviet Red Army liberates the Crimea area. The survivors of the 17.Armee in the Crimea surrender. 36,000 are marched off to become prisoners of war.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 730 B-17s and B-24s (largest force to date) to attack targets in Italy, i.e., the German HQ at Massa d'Albe and Monte Soratte; the town of Civitavecchia; airfields at Tarquinia and in the surrounding area; marshalling yards at Chivasso, Piombino, Marina di Carrara, Viareggio and Ferrara; Orbetello Island; Piombino harbor; docks and communications at San Stefano al Mare ; harbor, marshalling yard and railroad bridge at Chiavari; La Spezia marshalling yard and harbour; and several targets of opportunity; 25 P-38s strafe Piacenza Airfield; other fighters fly 250+ sorties in support of bombing missions.

The attacks against the Gustav Line begin to develop. The US 5th Army makes some progress. The French Expeditionary Corps breaks through the defenses of the German 71st Division and captures Monte Faito. Meanwhile, the Polish 2nd Corps is stopped cold and takes heavy losses north of Cassino. The British 13th Corps crosses the Rapido River at two locations opposite Casino. Along the US 2nd Corps makes limited progress.

Sepoy Kamal Ram (b.1924), 8th Punjab Regt., knocked out two machine gun posts which had halted his company, then with a comrade destroyed a third. (Victoria Cross)


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## Njaco (May 13, 2009)

*13 MAY 1944*

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 355: 749 bombers and 737 fighters hit targets in Germany; 12 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; they claim 58-5-13 Luftwaffe aircraft: 289 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil targets in western Poland but clouds force 215 to bomb Stettin and 57 to hit Stralsund; ten B-17s are lost. 199 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Osnabruck; 178 hit the primary and one bombs a target of opportunity; one B-17 is lost. 261 B-24s are dispatched to hit aviation industry targets at Tutow; 228 hit the primary and 12 hit targets of opportunity; one B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 153 P-38s, 238 P-47s and 346 P-51s; the P-47s claim 14-2-9 Luftwaffe aircraft, the P-51s claim 33-1-4; 1 P-38, 2 P-47s and 2 P-51s are lost.

The Allied attack on Posnan in Poland - at 1,470 miles from England, one of the deepest penetrations of the US Eighth AF - resulted in one of the most disasterous missions for II./ZG 76. Taking off to intercept the bombers, thinking that any escorting fighters were beyond range, the Me 410s were jumped by 20 P-51s and decimated. Twelve Me 410s were written off, many of the aircrews lost. Ofw. Wolfgand Martin rammed a B-17 in his damaged Me 410 after ordering his crew to bail out.

EK16 is declared ready for operational use and has its first operational mission with all-red Me 163B V-41 flown by Major Späte.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: An initial contract for 120 de Havilland Vampire, single-jet fighters, is placed with English Electric at Preston, Lancashire.

Admiral Dönitz loses his second son, Klaus, when the Free French destroyer _'La Combattante' _and the British frigate HMS _'STAYNING' _sink the E-boat S-147. It was his 24th birthday and he had hitched a ride with his friends on the fast boat during an attack on Selsey on the English coast. There were six survivors.

At 04:25 hours, a Ju 88G-1 from 7./NJG 2 made a wheels down landing at Woodbridge emergency landing strip. This capture was one of Germany's latest night-fighters and was fully equipped with up-to-date radar and radio. The pilot was completely lost and when he sighted Woodbrige, believed himself to be near Berlin. He was so low on fuel that later it was impossible to obtain any samples even for analysis. Pilot Uffz. Hans Mackle, Obgefr. Heinz Olze and Obgefr. Hans Mockle were captured and interned.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A Resistance attack halts production of Self-Propelled guns at the Lorraine-Dietrich Works at Bagneres de Bigorre. In Clermont-Ferrand city (France), one of the leaders of "Resistance", Jacques Bingen is jailed by Gestapo agents. Bingen tries to escape without success. Finally he takes the decision to kill himself. In the south of France, an important police operation against FTP (communist) "Resistance" leaders is organised by the German services.

The Japanese submarine RO-501 is sunk by the destroyer escort USS _'Francis M. Robinson' _(DE-220) in the mid-Atlantic northwest of Cape Verde Islands. The submarine had been built in Germany as the Type IXC/40 U-boat, _'U-1224'_, and turned over to the Japanese on 15 February 1944. She was enroute to Japan when attacked and sunk.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Fierce fighting rages around Cassino. Three major assaults have failed to dislodge the Germans from the Gustav Line at Cassino. But today, the biggest army yet - British Polish, American, Canadian and French Colonials - is advancing on a narrow front and pushing northwards against stiff German opposition. Today the French Moroccan soldiers of General Juin's Corps Expeditionaire Français took Monte Faito - where the German 71st Division had obeyed orders to fight to the last man. On their right flank, the 8th Indian and 4th British Divisions launched assault boats into the fast-flowing Rapido river and established bridgeheads under fierce German fire. The Polish II Corps is attacking Monte Cassino from the east and north. The US II Corps is pushing forward along the coastal plain. The US 2nd Corps and British 13th Corps make limited advances during the day. Polish attacks against the German 1st Falshirmjagers result in no gains and heavy losses at Casino.

Capt. Richard Wakeford (1921-72), Hampshire Regt, with his orderly, cut through the enemy and took 20 PoWs; next day he led an attack and, wounded, stormed the objective. (Victoria Cross)

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers continue interdiction in support of the ground forces. 670+ B-17s and B-24s, mostly with fighter escort, attack marshalling yards at Trento, Bronzola, Fidenza, Piacenza, Faenza, Imola, Cesena, Modena, Parma, San Rufillo, Borgo San Lorenzo, Castel Maggiore and Bologna and hit railroad bridges at Bolzano and Avisio; while fighters sweep the Bologna-Modena area.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Fighting in the Crimea ends. 130,000 Germans have been evacuated by sea plus 21,500 by air. Since April 12 the Germans have sustained 78,000 KIA and POW. The last remnants of the German 17.Armee routed at Sebastopol three days ago have been cleared from Cape Kherson, west of the fortress port. The whole peninsula has now been cleared of the Germans and their Romanian allies. Among the prisoners are Generals Dehmut and Kruger. Those who tried to escape from Cape Kherson by sea were harried from the air, and from the sea where MTBs and submarines sank 191 vessels, including 69 heavily-laden transports; over 8,000 men died in the evacuation. The Germans were also attacked by marine commandos who raided behind their lines. A tremendous amount of booty fell into Russian hands, including 111 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,304 guns and 49 aircraft; much more was destroyed. It was a complete disaster for the Germans, and the swiftness of their collapse reflects the deep divisions in the German high command after Hitler had ordered his troops to fight to the last man, against the advice of his generals.


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## Njaco (May 14, 2009)

*14 MAY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Intelligence officers decode a cipher message from Göring uncovering a campaign to trick Allied bombers into raiding inactive airfields.

The Luftwaffe raids Bristol and southwest England with 91 planes, losing 15 in the process. Like April, May started quietly and it was not until the night of the 14th that a force of 91 bombers took off for the third time in 1944 to attempt an attack on the harbour installations at Bristol. The raiders, probably drawn from I, II and III/KG 2, I and II/KG 6, II and III/KG 30, I and III/KG 54, I/KG 66 and I/KG 100, first flew to Guernsey where the bomber streams converged, and from there direct to Bristol. The Sonderaüfklarungsstaffel Ob.d.L. had at, the end of April, joined 1(F)/121 in photographing target markers, and it was their aircraft which provided the night photographic capability for the attack force. To aid navigation the pathfinders of 1/KG 66 employed Y-Verfahren which was operational from Cherbourg and St.Valery, while the Knickebein transmitters at Caen, Cherbourg West and Morlaix were also active. The target was to be marked by two green cascade flares dropped by I/KG 66, and the bombing run was to be south to north at 4000 to 6000 metres following a 30 degree glide. Over Bristol there was a 8 kph NNE wind, and a half moon in a cloudless sky giving 16 kilometres visibility. This raid was particularly significant for on that night the Luftwaffe initiated airborne jamming on a frequency band covering part of the British ground and airborne radar system. A few Ju 188's of I/KG 2 carried the apparatus under the code name Kettenhund or Watchdog, which was applied to both the equipment and the aircraft in which it was fitted. During the operation extensive use was also made of Düppel which was dropped from 01.20 hrs onwards, eventually covering a lane about 20 miles wide from Portland to Bristol. It persisted throughout the raid, the Bristol area not being free of it until 03.01 hrs. A total of 68 aircraft subsequently claimed to have attacked the City, with a further 15 Me 410's of I/KG 51 operating over local fighter airfields. Bristol was reported to have been raided between 01.50 hrs and 02.25 hrs with 163 tonnes of H.E.'s being dropped on target, and a further 4.65 tonnes on airfields in the Bristol area. The attack force again lost 14 aircraft, 11 of which failed to return resulting in the deaths of 40 crewmen, while 6 others were taken prisoner, including 3 injured. In addition 3 more aircraft crashed in France where a further 2 men died. However, inspite of the German claims only five bombs had actually fallen within the Bristol city boundary. These came down at around 02.00 hrs in Headley Park, and at Kings Weston where a Searchlight Site was destroyed, and its attendant killed, the last life to be lost locally as a result of enemy action during World War Two.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The The French Mountain Corps (North African Colonial troops from Morocco and Algeria) advance into the Ausente Valley and cross the Aurunci Mountains. This advance assists the US forces on the left flank of the French. The 2nd French Infantry Division under General Juin, moves in the direction of the city of Liri and makes its junction with the 1st DMI, led by General d. Brosset, forcing the German 71st Division to fall back. The British XIII Corps consolidates a bridgehead over the Rapido river, and advances into the Ausente valley.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force dispatches just over 700 B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in Italy; B-17s hit marshalling yards at Ferrara and Mantua and an air depot at Piacenza; B-24s hit Vicenza marshalling yard and air depots at Piacenza and Reggio Emilia; fighters fly 170+ sorties in escort; 48 P-38s strafe Aviano and Villaorba airfields.

SS _'Fort Fidler' _(7,127 GRT) Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman and British-flagged SS _'GS Walen' _were heavily damaged in the Mediterranean Sea when torpedoed by _'U-616'_, OLtzS Siegfried Koitschka, Knights Cross, CO. _'U-616' _was scuttled on 17 May 44 in the Mediterranean, east of Cartagena after a 3 day-long action by USS _'Nields'_, _'Gleaves'_, _'Ellyson'_, _'Macomb'_, _'Hambleton'_, _'Rodman'_, _'Emmons' _and assistance from a 'Wellington' patrol a/c from RAF 36 Sqn. All of 53 of her crewmembers survived this incident. _'U-616' _attacked the 94-ship Port Said to Hampton Roads convoy GUS 39 on the night of 13-14 May and damaged the American tanker _'G.S. Walden' _(10,627) plus _'Fort Fidler'_. The USN mounted a massive 'swamp' ASW operation code named 'Monsterous' that employed a/c from 5 Sqns and 8 US escorts. Two Benson-class destroyers (_'Nields' _and _'Gleaves'_) from the convoy were tracking and attacking _'U-616' _during the day on 14 May, they were joined by the assisting units. _'U-616' _repeatedly evaded her attackers but, on 15 May, further attacks finally produced an oil slick whereafter contact was lost. Unwilling to give up the search on such evidence, the searchers stayed in the area, at 2226 on 17 May, they were rewarded when the Wellington sighted _'U-616' _on the surface. The destroyers were vectored in on the contact. At 2359, USS _'Macomb' _illuminated the U-boat with starshell, which then crash-dived. Sonar contact was re-established at 0017 and continuous attacks finally forced _'U-616' _to the surface at 0807 on 17 May. The crew abandoned the boat and were recovered by USS _'Ellyson'_. Only 5 hours later, _'U-960' _attacked _'Ellyson' _off Oran. Her torpedo missed and another Swamp operation began that eventually resulted in the sinking of _'U-960' _on 19 May.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 41 RAF Mosquitos - 29 to Cologne, 5 to Courtrai, 4 Châteaudun, and 3 to Leverkusen, 1 RCM sortie, 10 Halifaxes and 2 Stirlings minelaying off Channel and Biscay ports, 10 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

Five He 115s from 1./406 were shot down by Hellcats from No. 800 Sqdrn FAA during Operation 'Pitchbowl'. All 5 crews were either killed or wounded.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army re-captured Tarnopol in the Ukraine.


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## Njaco (May 15, 2009)

*15 MAY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A gigantic contoured map of the Normandy beaches was displayed on the stage of St. Paul's school hall today. Set at a slope for the audience to view it clearly, it was big enough for officers explaining Operation Overlord to walk about on it and identify landmarks. In addition to the Overlord commanders, the audience included King George, Churchill and the South African prime minister, Field Marshal Smuts. General Montgomery's presentation showed that he and Eisenhower had secured a vast increase in men and supplies over those originally said to be the limit. As a result, the Normandy landing area is extended to the Carentan estuary in the west and the river Orne in the east. A massive bombardment of 72 selected targets, to knock out the enemy's communications, is going ahead despite criticism. Some commanders are sceptical, while Churchill has told Eisenhower of his fears for the;


> "....scores of thousands of French civilians, men, women and children, who will lose their lives or be injured."


The French Committee of National Liberation changes its name to Provisional Government of the Republic of France, under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions. Mission 356: 166 bombers and 104 fighters hit V-weapon sites in France with one fighter lost; 38 of 58 B-17s bomb Marquise/Mimoyecques; 90 of 108 B-24s bomb Siracourt; escort is provided by 104 P-51s with one lost. Mission 357: 3 of 3 B-17s drop 1.1 million leaflets on 10 towns in Belgium and France; 1 B-17 crash lands on returning to base. Five B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 45 A-20s and B-26s to bomb airfields at Creil and Evreux/Fauville and Somain marshalling yard; 300+ others are forced to abandon missions because of thick clouds.

The Germans cancel all civilian trains because air attacks on the rail system are making military movement more difficult.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Kesselring orders the German 10.Armee to abandon the Gustav Line and withdraw to new positions along the "Hitler Line". Meanwhile the French Expeditionary Corps captures San Giorgio, the British 13th Corps reaches Pignaturo and the reserve Canadian 1st Corps is committed to exploit the breakthrough. The Free French take San Giorgio and Ausonia. The French divisions of General Juin continue the conquest of German positions alongside the Gustav Line. The Mountain Corps reach the Petrella mount. However, the progression is slowed down and 3rd DIA is blocked by German units.

_'U-731' _sunk near Tangier by depth charges from patrol vessel HMS _'Kilmarnock' _and ASW trawler HMS _'Blackfly' _and 2 USN VP-63 Catalinas. 54 dead (all hands lost).

A partisan attack on a movie theater killed 5 German soldiers in Genoa. 4 days later SS Officer Friedrich Engel ordered the killing of 59 Italian prisoners in reprisal. In 2002 Engel (93) was sentenced to 7 years in prison for the order.

In Italy, medium and light bombers again hit communications lines N and NW of the front while fighter-bombers in close support of the Allied ground assault through the Gustav Line blast gun positions, motor transport, ammunition supplies, bridges, rolling stock and other military targets in the battle area; medium and light bombers also hit harbors and vessels along coasts at Piombino, Talamone, Portoferraio and
Ancona.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The mass evacuation of Jews from Hungary to Auschwitz-Birkenau begins in earnest, at the rate of 4,000 a day.

Hptm. Fritz Stendel was appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./JG 5.

1./JG 302 ended its duties as _Einsatzkommando Helsinki _and returned to I./JG 302 at Wien-Seyring.

Wreckage of a German pilotless bomb with wings (V-1) is recovered from a Swedish island.

*GERMANY*: 43 RAF Mosquitos - 30 to Ludwigshafen, 10 to Carpiquet airfield near Caen and 3 to Leverkusen, 1 RCM sortie, 2 Serrate patrols, 43 aircraft minelaying from Kiel to Biscay, 6 aircraft on Resistance operations, 24 OTU sorties. 3 Lancaster minelayers and 1 OTU Wellington lost.


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## Njaco (May 16, 2009)

*16 May 1944 Tuesday
GERMANY*: Adolf Hitler issues a Führer Order for the employment of long-range weapons against England to commence mid-June. The weapons include Fzg. 76 (later known as the V-1 bomb) directed at London, long-range artillery directed at British towns, and bomber planes.

The first of over 180,000 Hungarian Jews reached Auschwitz. Adolf Eichmann gives Joel Brand of the Zionist Relief and Rescue Committee a ransom demand to convey to British and American governments: 1 million European Jews would be released in exchange for food and 10,000 trucks for use on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union.

29 RAF Mosquitos attacked Berlin; none were lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Axis defences at Cassino are crumbling. The Polish II Corps are attacking against German parachute troops. These elite troops hold while the Poles sustain heavy casualties. Most of the elements of the US 5th Army meet only rearguard defenses as they march beyond the Gustav Line. However. the Polish 2nd Corps at Cassino is still confronted by diehard defenses from the German paratroops. The British 13th Corps and the Canadian 1st Corps mover up the Liri Valley toward Pontecorvo and Piumarola. The US 2nd Corps advances along the coast while the the French Expeditionary Corps captures Monte Petrella and advance toward Monte Revole. On the other side of Italy, the British 8th Army opens it's attacks on the Gustav Line.

Fusilier Francis Arthur Jefferson (1921-82), Lancs Fusiliers, smashed a counter-attack when, under blistering fire, he knocked out one tank and forced another to retreat. (Victoria Cross).

In Italy, medium bombers attack railroad bridges and a tunnel in C Italy; light bombers blast guns in Roccasecca while fighter-bombers and fighters just behind enemy lines seek out motor transport targets, crater roads and hit bridges, harassing the already strained communications network, while US Fifth Army troops push rapidly W and NW and British Eighth Army forces push through the last defenses of the Gustav Line in an effort to isolate Cassino, a joint effort by British 13 Corps and Polish 2 Corps.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Non-rigid airship K 5 is destroyed in crash into number one hangar, Lakehurst, New Jersey.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: With the liberation of their countries rapidly approaching, the the exiled governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway today agreed to give Allied military commanders a free hand in administering territories after the Germans have been expelled. Norway, a close neighbour of the Soviet Union, signed a separate pact with Moscow. Agreements signed in London give the commanders;


> "...such measures of supreme responsibility and authority over the civil administration as may be required by the military situation."


The arrangements are temporary, and the exiled governments will take over as soon as the military situation permits. Talks are now being held with General de Gaulle's Free French on the administration of liberated areas of France.

Portsmouth was attacked by the Luftwaffe and weather conditions were worse than expected as, on Fliegerkorp IX's own estimates;


> _"...about 50% of bombs considered to have fallen in target area....Concentrated bombing could not be established_...."



*WESTERN FRONT*: In yet another disaster for the German submarine forces, RAF Coastal Command aircraft begin patrols off the Norwegian coast, By the end of the month five U-boats would be sunk. _'U-240' _was listed as missing in the North Sea west of Norway. No explanation exists for its loss. 50 dead (all hands lost).


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## Njaco (May 17, 2009)

*17 May 1944 Wednesday*
*MEDITERRANEAN*: Kesselring and Vietinghoff are unable to stop the Allied advance in the Liri Valley. Kesselring orders the defenders of Cassino to withdraw as he releases 3 fresh divisions from his reserves. The US 5th Army continues its drive north capturing Piumarolo, Monte Faggeta, Esperia, Formia, and Sant'Angelo.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 450+ bombers to hit targets in Italy and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Ancona, Italy and troop concentrations at Bihac, Yugoslavia while B-24s bomb the port areas at San Stefano al Mare, Piombino, Portoferraio and Orbetello, Italy. P-38s strafe airfields at Ghedi, Villafranca di Verona, Modena, Forli and Reggio Emilia, Italy while other fighters fly 130+ sorties of bomber escort duty.

_'U-616' _scuttled in the Mediterranean east of Cartagena, Spain after fatal damage from depth charges from destroyers USS _'Nields'_, _'Gleaves'_, _'Ellyson'_, _'Macomb'_, _'Hambleton'_, _'Rodman' _and _'Emmons'_, and by depth charges from an RAF 36 Sqn Wellington in a 3 day-long action. 53 survivors (No casualties).

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The prime ministers of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa tonight endorsed not only war plans but also peace aims. At the end of a series of meetings in London, they declared: "_We give thanks for deliverance from the worst perils and now we hold back nothing to end mankind's agony_." The Empire leaders reaffirmed that after victory the British Commonwealth will join in setting up a world organization with necessary power to preserve peace. They added:


> "_We rejoice to proclaim our kinship to one another. We have stood together through two world wars and have been welded the stronger. This unity will do further service to mankind."_


General Eisenhower set D-Day for June 5th.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A formation of 6 P-51s from RAF No. 65 Sqdrn and 2 from RAF No. 122 Sqdrn attacked the Aalborg area. At first mistaken as German aircraft, the Mustangs were allowed to split into 2 groupd and attack the airfield from the north and the south. Over Aalborg they found a number of training aircraft from 10. and 13./KG 30 and the A-Staffel of JG 11. Most were unarmed except some practice bombs and a small amount of ammunition. Two aircraft from 10./KG 30, 3 from 13./KG 30, 1 from from 2./KG 26 and 3 from JG 11 fell prey to the Mustangs. An He 177A-5 from 4./KG 100 had just taken off and was attacked by a P-51 and made an emergency landing. A Ju 88A-17 from 2./KG 26 and 3 Ju 88A-4s were attacked and fell on the Danish countryside. (_for more on the attack - Day Ranger attack on Aalborg 17/5 1944_)


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## Njaco (May 18, 2009)

*18 May 1944 Thursday
EASTERN FRONT: *The expulsion of more than 200,000 Tartars from Crimea by Soviet Union began. They were accused of collaborating with the Germans.

Almost 450 US Fifteenth Air Force bombers, mostly with fighter escort, hit targets in Rumania and Yugoslavia; both B-17s and B-24s bomb the industrial area at Ploesti, Rumania and the marshalling yard at Belgrade, Yugoslavia; the B-17s also hit the marshalling yard at Nis, Yugoslavia; 300+ other bombers abandon the missions because of bad weather; fighters strafe airfields at Nis and Scutari, Yugoslavia.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allies in Italy finally captured Monte Cassino, Europe's oldest Monastic house, after a four-month struggle that claimed some 20,000 lives. The Polish flag flutters today over the ruins of the ancient monastery which has become a symbol of German resistance and has repelled successive Allied attacks since the beginning of the year. In the valley below, troops of the British Eighth Army have at last occupied what is left of the town of Cassino itself. The Germans' Gustav Line of defence has been breached and American and Canadian troops are advancing in numbers along the Liri valley. No one doubted that casualties would be high. In the two weeks before the attack, the Polish II Corps under General Wladyslaw Anders was under constant observation by the German defenders and losing as many as 30 men in a day as it prepared to attack. When the moment came to storm the heights on 12 May, the Poles lost a fifth of their strength within the first 90 minutes of battle and were forced to withdraw when communications failed.

The British XIII Corps took heavy casualties when it crossed the Rapido river to find its way blocked by a mass of pillboxes, barbed wire and minefields. After three days the Eighth Army had still failed to break out into the Liri valley, its principal objective. Near the coast, the US II Corps was failing to make progress when the Germans suddenly began to withdraw. The defenders had been taken by surprise in a brilliant action by the French 2nd Moroccan Division, which has crossed supposedly impassable mountainous ground at speed, outflanking the Germans. The German 71.Division was scattered in this battle, with 2,000 men taken prisoner and a huge toll in casualties. With the French and British advancing in the Liri valley below and on the hills opposite, it was for the undaunted Poles to take Monte Cassino. They attacked in waves yesterday, with 200 air sorties to support them, and continued to attack until late last night. The defending German paratroopers stood their ground and fought off the exhausted Poles until finally ordered to retreat under the cover of darkness.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches almost 450 bombers, mostly with fighter escort, to hit targets in Romaniaand Yugoslavia. Both B-17s and B-24s bomb the industrial area at Ploesti, Romania and the marshalling yard at Belgrade, Yugoslavia and the B-17s also hit the marshalling yard at Nis, Yugoslavia but 300+ other bombers abandon the missions because of bad weather. Fighters strafe airfields at Nis and Scutari, Yugoslavia.

The German submarine _'U-453' _sunk a merchant ship in convoy HA-43 in the Mediterranean Sea. This would be the last German submarine kill in those waters.

*WESTERN FRONT*: While off Trondheim, Norway, _'U-241' _was attacked by a Norwegian Catalina aircraft (Sdqn 333/C, pilot Harald E. Hartmann). The flak from the boat damaged the aircraft and killed one airman (P/O Kyrre Berg). The boat was sunk the next day.

17 RAF Mosquitos on Oboe calibration tests to targets in France. 4 aircraft bombed Mondeville and 2 bombed Orly; others did not bomb. 7 RCM aircraft also operated on this night. No aircraft lost.

Hitler attempts to settle the muddled command situation in France by placing Field Marshal von Rundstedt in command of all forces in the west. Rommel was placed in command of Heeresgruppe B (which included Normandy) and Blaskowitz in charge of Heeresgruppe G.


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## Njaco (May 19, 2009)

*19 May 1944 Friday
GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 358: 888 bombers and 700 fighters in two forces are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; very heavy cloud cover forces the bombers to use H2X PFF methods; Luftwaffe resistance is heavy and 28 bombers and 19 fighters are lost; U.S. fighters claim 77-0-33 Luftwaffe aircraft: 588 B-17s are dispatched to Berlin; 495 hit the primary, 49 hit the port area at Kiel and one hits a target of opportunity; 16 B-17s are lost. 300 B-24s are dispatched to the industrial area at Brunswick; 272 hit the primary and one bombs a target of opportunity; 12 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 155 P-38 Lightnings, 182 P-47 Thunderbolts and 363 P-51 Mustangs of the Eighth Air Force and 264 Ninth Air Force aircraft; the P-38s claim 0-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground, the P-47s claim 29-0-16 in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground and the P-51s claim 41-0-5 in the air and 4-0-10 on the ground; 4 P-38s, 4 P-47s and 11 P-51s are lost.

In one of the worst atrocities of the war involving PoWs, the Gestapo has shot 50 Allied airmen who were recaptured after escaping from a prison camp near Sagan, in Silesia, in March. The killings were without doubt carried out on Hitler's orders. Told of the escape of 79 PoWs, the Fuhrer screamed abuse at Himmler - the head of the Gestapo - and made him personally responsible for their recapture. Only three of the PoWs - two Norwegians and a Dutchman - have reached England; they got to Stettin, on the river Oder, and got on a ship to Sweden. Others got as far as Saarbrucken, near the French border, before being retaken. All were handed over to the Gestapo instead of the to the Luftwaffe as required by the Geneva Convention. The killings took place at Gorlitz prison, near Dresden. Twenty men were sent back to Stalag Luft III, where they told fellow PoWs of the killings. The Germans have warned the PoWs that all areas within several miles of camps are now "death zones"; anybody entering these areas without authority will be shot on sight. One man still in the camp is the Canadian pilot Wally Moody, the mining engineer who applied his skills to design the escape tunnel; the alarm was sounded before his turn came to use the tunnel.

The experimental unit EKdo 262 suffered its first casualty when Uffz. Karl Flachs crashed the seventh prototype, Me 262V-7 during a training flight.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US troops occupy Gaeta and Monte Grande. The Gustav line, the German defense line in Italy, collapsed under heavy assault by Allied troops. British troops captured Aquino airfield in the Liri valley southeast of Rome.

At the Turchino Pass outside Genoa the SS shoot 59 Italian captives from the Marassi Prison in Genoa in revenge for an attack on a movie theatre for German troops four days earlier that killed five German soldiers and injured 15. One of those present is senior Nazi official SS Major Friedrich Engel. He claims the German navy ordered the shootings. The prisoners were bound in pairs and forced to walk onto a plank laid over the open grave, where they were shot. The victims then fell into the pit, on top of he freshly killed bodies.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 500+ B-17s and B-24s to hit communications targets, ports, and oil storage in northeastern, central and western Italy; B-17s hit oil storage facilities at Porto Marghera and railroad bridges at Casarea, Latisana and Rimini; B-24s hit port areas at La Spezia and Leghorn; fighters fly 250+ sorties in support. These operations are notable for the absence of enemy fighter opposition.

_'U-960' _sunk in the Mediterranean NW of Algiers, by destroyers USS _'Niblack' _and _'Ludlow' _and RAF 36 and 500 Sqn Wellingtons. 31 dead and 20 survivors.

At 1755, the _'Fort Missanabie' _in Convoy HA-43, was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-453' _south of Taranto. The master, ten crewmembers and one gunner were lost. 35 crewmembers and 13 gunners were picked up by the Norwegian merchantman _'Spero' _and Italian corvette _'Urania' _and landed at Augusta, Sicily. The _'Fort Missanabie' _was the last success of U-boats in the Mediterranean.

Light cruiser _'Brooklyn' _(CL-40) shells German supply dumps at Terracina, Sperlonga, and Ganta, Italy.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 143 RAF aircraft - 106 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters, 5 Mosquitos of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Boulogne. Only 1 of the Oboe Mosquitos was able to mark the target but the bombing was accurate. The local report says that the main station was badly damaged; 33 civilians were killed. No aircraft lost. 118 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups carried out a particularly accurate attack on the railway yards at Orleans. 1 Lancaster lost. 112 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos 5 and 8 Groups found that their railway target at Amiens was cloud-covered and the Master Bomber ordered the attack to stop after 37 Lancasters had bombed. 1 Lancaster lost. 113 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to attempt the difficult task of attacking the railway installations in the centre of Tours. A previous No 5 Group raid had destroyed the yards on the outskirts of the town. Both the marking and the bombing force were ordered to carry out their tasks with particular care and to be prepared to wait until the Master Bomber was satisfied that the surrounding housing areas were not hit. The raid continued until well after the planned period but no fighters appeared and no aircraft were lost. Much damage was caused to the railways but some bombs did fall to the west of the target. Le Mans: 112 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos 3 and 8 Groups. The majority of the bombs hit the railway yards and caused serious damage. The local report says that the locomotive sheds were destroyed, an ammunition train (or some ammunition wagons) blew up, 2 main lines were destroyed and all other lines blocked because overhead power lines were brought down across the tracks. Unfortunately the Lancasters of the Master Bomber and his deputy collided over the target and crashed. The Master Bomber was a brilliant young New Zealander, Wing Commander JF Barron, DSO and Bar, DFC, DFM, and the Deputy Master Bomber was Squadron Leader JM Dennis, DSO, DFC They were both killed; both were from No 7 Squadron. 1 other Lancaster was lost. 58 Halifaxes of No 6 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked a coastal gun position at Le Clipon but there was haze and the results are not known. No aircraft lost. 63 aircraft - 42 Halifaxes, 15 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos of Nos 6 and 8 Groups bombed a gun position at Merville near Dunkirk. Some bombs did fall in the battery position despite the presence of haze. No aircraft were lost. 39 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 8 Group to attack a radar station at Mont Couple. The Mosquitos were not able to use their Oboe equipment but 31 Lancasters used their H2S sets to make a timed run from the coast and bomb the approximate position of the target. 1 Lancaster shot down by flak. 29 Mosquitos to Cologne, 10 RCM sorties, 8 Serrate and 23 Intruder patrols, 24 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings minelaying off the French coast, 12 OTU sorties. 1 OTU Wellington lost.

Lt. Wilhelm Johnen, Staffelkapitaen of 6./NJG 5 and his crew - interned in Switzerland since 27 April - were returned to Germany. In exchange for the crew and for permitting the Germans to blow up the Bf 110G-4, the Swiss first demanded 30 Bf 109Gs but later settled for 12 of the aircraft.

Hptm. Friedrich Wilhelm Strakeljahn, former _Staffelkapitaen _of 14(Jabo)./JG 5, became _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./SG 4 replacing Hptm. Gerhard Walther who was killed the day before.


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## Njaco (May 20, 2009)

*20 May 1944 Saturday*
*EASTERN FRONT:** *A V2 rocket is test fired from Blizna, Poland and lands near the River Bug about 80 miles east of Warsaw. The Polish resistance runs a herd of cows into the river to muddy the water. The Germans fail to find the rocket and give up. The Poles got it out of the river using man power, take it apart and send the guidance systems and rocket motor to British intelligence in London by Lysander and Hudson courier aircraft.
*
GERMANY: *30 RAF Mosquitos attacked Düsseldorf. The target area was cloud-covered and the Oboe markers quickly disappeared into the cloud. Most aircraft bombed on dead reckoning but this must have been inaccurate; Wuppertal, 17 miles east of Düsseldorf, reports 71 people killed on this night. No Mosquitos lost. 14 Mosquitos to Reisholz, 5 Serrate and 4 Intruder patrols, 12 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings minelaying off French Atlantic ports, 7 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

EK16 conducted an operational mission with Me 163B 310048/V-40 by Oberfeldwebel Nelte. Major Späte was then ordered to return to JG 54. Command taken over by Hauptmann Thaler
*
MEDITERRANEAN:* In Italy, weather prevents operations by medium and light bombers; fighter-bombers continue to hit communications and gun positions in the battle area; areas in and around Vallecorsa and Terracina are hit especially hard; fighters maintain patrols and reconnaissance, destroying or damaging numerous vehicles between Pisa and Pistoia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Minesweeping trawler HMS _'Wyoming' _mined and sunk off Harwich.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 359: 638 bombers and 657 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in France and Belgium; two bombers and four fighters are lost; the AAF claims 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground: 190 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to bomb Orly Airfield (90 bomb) and Villacoublay Air Depot (73 bomb) in France. 125 of 177 B-24 Liberators bomb Reims Airfield and marshalling yard in France. 271 B-17s and B-24s are dispatched to marshalling yards at Liege and Brussels, Belgium but the mission is abandoned due to heavy cloud cover; two bombers are lost. Escort is provided by 146 P-38 Lightnings, 177 P-47 Thunderbolts and 334 P-51 Mustangs; P-38s claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; one P-38, one P-47 and two P-51s are lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches about 450 B-26 Marauders to attack airfields, coastal defenses, and V-weapon site in France; about 250 aborts are caused mainly by bad cloud conditions and failure to rendezvous with fighters. P-47s dive-bomb targets in northwestern Europe.


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## Njaco (May 21, 2009)

*21 May 1944 Sunday
GERMANY**: *510 RAF Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups carried out the first large raid on Duisburg for a year. 29 Lancasters were lost, 5.5 per cent of the force. The target was covered by cloud but the Oboe skymarking was accurate and much damage was caused in the southern areas of the city. 25 Mosquitos to Hannover and 8 to Courtrai, 9 RCM sorties, 28 Serrate and 7 Intruder patrols. No aircraft lost. Minelaying: 70 Lancasters and 37 Halifaxes to the Frisians, Heligoland, the Kattegat and Kiel Bay. 3 Lancasters lost.

Major Walther Dahl of JG 3 was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader zur besonderen Verwendung (JGzbV), a sort of Reichverteidigung Operational Training Unit comprising simply of a Geschwaderstab and tasked with brigging fighter Gruppen in the 7th Jagddivision of southern Germany up to speed with air defense tactics.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* _*'*__U-453' _sunk in the Ionian Sea NE of Cape Spartivento, by depth charges from destroyers HMS _'Termagant'_, _'Tenacious' _and _'Liddesdale'_.

The US 5th Army continues moving forward capturing Fondi and Campodimele. Fighting at Pico continues.

In NC Italy, medium bombers are restricted by bad weather but bomb a few bridges and roads, while light bombers hit a bivouac area; fighter-bombers continue support of ground forces, hitting troops, vehicles, roads and railroads in or near the battle areas, particularly around Sezze, Ceccano, San Giovanni Valdarno and Pontecorvo.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* In the early hours of the morning, two Bf 109G-6 fighters landed at Manston airfield in Kent. The first Bf 109, piloted by Fw. Manfred Gromill of 3./JG 301 made a wheels down landing intact at 02:40 hours. Fw. Gromill thought that he was on a German airfield. The second Bf 109, flown by Lt. Horst Prenzel, Staffelfuhrer of 3./JG 301, landed 20 minutes later and made a good landing but the pilot thought that he was going to overshoot the runway and raised the undercarriage, causing considerable damage. Both pilots were from St. Dizier on a mission against Allied night bombers.
*
WESTERN FRONT*: Allied air forces launch *Operation Chattanooga*, the systematic destruction by bombardment of enemy rail targets. The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 360: 150 bombers and 48 fighters hit V-weapon sites in France without loss; 25 of 40 B-17s hit Marquise/Mimoyecques; and 99 of 110 B-24s hit Siracourt. Escort is provided by 48 P-47 s without loss. 617 fighters are dispatched on strafing missions to attack rail stock in Germany; 27 fighters are lost; 91 of 225 locomotives attacked are destroyed; P-47s also dive bomb rail bridges in W Germany; and 1 P-51 pilot claims 25 cows killed; participating are: 145 P-38s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 6-0-3 on the ground; eight P-38s are lost,. 139 P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; four P-47s are lost. 333 P-51 Mustangs claim 17-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 77-0-64 on the ground; 15 P-51s are lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 50 B-26 Marauders to bomb airfields at Abbeville/Drucat. 600+ P-47s and P-51s attack railroad rolling stock.


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## Njaco (May 22, 2009)

*22 May 1944 Monday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Two new RCN torpedo boat flotillas start operating off coast of France.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet 21st Army begins to transfer its tank and artillery units to the Karelian Isthmus against Finns. This is done by rail and boats during nights to keep it secret. Gen. Gusev's 21st Army comprises of 97th and 109th Army Corps and the crack 30th Guards Army Corps. Gusev's Army has spent the most of May in intensive training, which is of essence, because it's to act as the Soviet spearhead in the coming offensive against the Finnish Army. The Red Army has not forgotten the fierce resistance of the Finns in the Winter War, so as little as possible is left to chance. To practice storm-troop tactics, training-grounds has been built south-west of Leningrad to resemble as much as possible the first Finnish defence-lines. The morale of the soldiers is also taken care of: they have received intensive political training.

*GERMANY*: 361 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups carried out the first large raid on Dortmund for a year. 18 Lancasters were lost, 4.8 per cent of the force. The attack fell mainly in the south-eastern districts of Dortmund, mostly in residential areas.

Brunswick: 225 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 1 and 5 Groups. 13 Lancasters lost, 5.5 per cent of the force. This raid was a failure. The weather forecast had predicted a clear target but the marker aircraft found a complete covering of cloud. There was also interference on the Master Bomber's radio communications, The No 5 Group method could not cope with these conditions and most of the bombing fell in the country areas around Brunswick. A reconnaissance aircraft flying through this area an hour later found it completely free of cloud. The raids on Dortmund and Brunswick were the last major Bomber Command raids on German cities until after the invasion forces were firmly established in Normandy.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US II Corps push north on Route 7. The French take Pico. In an attack on the Hitler Line, the Canadian Three Rivers Regiment's tanks arrive at their jump off point where 30-40 British Churchill tanks (of the North Irish Horse and the 21st RTR) sat burning in front of them. These have been destroyed by a few well-placed 88mm anti-tank guns. Fortunately the 88's were moved back by the time the Three Rivers Regiments Shermans arrived.

The weather clears again and the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 550+ B-17s and B-24s to attack communications and military targets in central and northwestern Italy; B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Avezzano; B-24s hit port areas at Fano, Porto Civitanova and La Spezia; fighters fly 200+ sorties in escort to bombers; there is no fighter opposition.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 361: 438 bombers and 568 fighters are dispatched on PFF attacks to targets in Germany and France; five bombers and seven fighters are lost: 342 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to the port area at Kiel, Germany; 289 hit the primary and five bomb targets of opportunity; five B-17s are lost. 94 of 96 B-24 Liberators hit V-weapon sites at Siracourt, France. Escort is provided by 145 P-38 Lightnings, 95 P-47 Thunderbolts and 328 P-51 Mustangs; P-38s claim 8-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft, P-47s claim 12-1-2 and P-51s claim 2-2-1; three P-38s, three P-47s and a P-51 are lost. 130 P-47s are dispatched on a fighter-bomber attack on railroad bridges at Hasselt and Liege, Belgium; one P-47 is lost.

Mission 363: Four B-17s drop 320,000 leaflets on The Hague, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Utrecht, The Netherlands without loss.

Twelve B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force on England dispatches about 330 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb airfields and other targets in the Cherbourg, Calais, and Paris areas of France while a like number of P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb marshalling yards, airfields and other targets in the same general areas.

133 RAF aircraft - 112 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups again attacked the railway yards at Le Mans. The local report confirms that the bombing was accurate, with much damage to the railways and the nearby Gnome Rhone factory. 1 Halifax lost. Orleans: 128 aircraft - 108 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax lost. Most of the bombs fell on the passenger station and the railway-repair workshops. 26 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 9 to Courtrai, 9 RCM sorties, 21 Serrate and 8 Intruder patrols, 54 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off the French coast, 25 OTU sorties. 1 OTU Whitley was lost, probably the last Whitley to be lost on operations.

French resistance members blow up the hydroelectric station at Bussy.


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## Njaco (May 24, 2009)

*23 May 1944 Tuesday
EASTERN FRONT: *The Germans cease to look for the remains of the V2 rocket which fell into the River Bug on 20 May. The Poles now remove the rocket with a team of horses and transport it on two heavy farm carts to a barn in the village of Holowczyce-Kolonia.

*GERMANY*: 46 RAF Mosquitos - 24 to Dortmund, 16 to Berlin and 6 to a railway junction at Lison in France, 2 RCM sorties, 2 Serrate patrols, 30 aircraft minelaying off various coasts, 4 aircraft on Resistance operations, 8 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.

Goering, Milch, Galland and other senior Luftwaffe officials as well as Albert Speer and his staff, were called to Berchtesgaden to discuss the current fighter production program. The meeting was routine up to the point where production of the Me 262 was discussed. Hitler asked Milch how many Me 262s were ready for bombing, believing that his 'orders' of 26 November 1943 were being carried out. The reply was that none were ready because all available jets were being produced as fighters. Hitler was puzzled;


> "_I thought the 262 was coming as a high-speed bomber. How many of the 262s already manufactured can carry bombs?" _


Milch replied;


> "_None, Mein Fuhrer. The Me 262 is being manufactured exclusively as a fighter aircraft_."


After a chilly silence, Milch then pointed out that the aircraft could not be adapted to the 'Jabo' role without major design changes and even then it would not be able to carry more than 500 kg of bombs. Hitler was shocked.


> "_Who pays the slighest attention to the orders I give?! I gave an unqualified order, and left nobody in any doubt that the aircraft was to be equipped as a fighter bomber!" _


Goering made excuses and passed the blame to Milch, who was soon stripped of most of his powers. Hitler ordered that work now be focused on delivering the 'Jabo' version of the Me 262, though he did consent to continued testing of the fighter version as long as it didn't slow down deliveries of the 'jabo' variant - one Me 262 out of every 20 built could be completed as a fighter.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US VI Corps attacks Cisterna making some gains at Anzio. Forcing a drive from the beach-head towards the hills. The US 6th Corps in the Anzio beachhead begin offensive operations to link up with the rest of the US 5th Army. The initial attacks are directed at Cisterna. The fighting is very heavy and losses are severe. Meanwhile, other elements of the 5th Army reaches Terracina. The Carleton and York Regiment of the 1st Canadian Division, with the 25th British Tank Brigade, break through the Hitler Line, one kilometre south of Aquino. Tanks of the Canadian 5th Armoured Division race through the breach toward the Melfa River. The West Nova Scotia and Royal 22nd regiments of the Canadian 1st Division drive nearly a mile through the Hitler Line, reporting that they have met their division's final objective. German forces counterattack the American breakout from Anzio, with eight Tiger tanks but is finally broken up. 

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy sends 300+ B-17s and B-24s to attack troop concentrations and communications in the rear of the battle area, at Avezzano, Subiaco, Valmontone, Marino, Nemi and Grottaferrata; P-38s and P-51s provide escort; other P-38s, covered by P-47s, strafe the airfield at Ferrara.

Light cruiser _'Brooklyn' _(CL-40) and destroyers _'Kearny' _(DD-432) and _'Ericsson' _(DD-440) shell enemy positions in vicinity of Ardea, Italy, with good results. The three ships repeat bombardment of troop concentrations and supply dumps on 24 and 26 May with equal success.

Light cruiser _'Philadelphia' _(CL-41) and destroyer _'Laub' _(DD-613) are damaged in collision 20 miles southwest of Nettuno, Italy.

Submarine chaser PC-626 captures German speedboat off Anzio and takes crew prisoner.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions. Mission 364: 1,045 bombers and 562 fighters are dispatched to hit airfields and rail targets in France; three bombers are lost: 1. 580 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to the marshalling yard at Metz (34 bomb), Epinal (36 bomb) and Chaumont (54 bomb); airfields at Orleans/Bricy (17 bomb) and Chateaudun (18 bomb); secondary targets hit are marshalling yards at Saarbrucken, Germany (139 bomb), Bayon (12 bomb), the town of Neunkirchen, Germany (37 bomb), Caen/Carpiquet Airfield (18 bomb) and 12 hit targets of opportunity; two B-17s are lost. 2. 465 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Orleans/Bricy (167 bomb), Bourges (84 bomb), Avord (88 bomb) and Etampes/Mondesir (97 bomb); one aircraft hits a target of opportunity; one B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 96 P-38s, 142 P-47 Thunderbolts and 324 P-51 Mustangs; none are lost and no Luftwaffe aircraft are claimed.

Mission 365: 103 P-51s are dispatched to bomb a railroad bridge at Hasselt, Belgium; 75 bomb escorted by 14 acting as top cover; one P-51 is lost.

Mission 366: Four of five B-17s drop 928,000 leaflets on Belgium and The Netherlands without loss.

Seven B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches B-26 Marauders and P-38s against targets in France; 15 B-26s bomb the airfield at Beaumont-le-Roger in a predawn attack; during the afternoon 58 B-26s bomb coastal batteries at Etretat/Sainte-Marie-Au-Bosc, Maisy and Mont Fleury; and 120+ P-38s strafe and bomb rolling stock in central France.


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## Njaco (May 24, 2009)

*24 May 1944 Wednesday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: *'_U-736' _shot down an RAF 612 Sqn Wellington. The boat was severely damaged by an RAF 224 Sqn Liberator from just before shooting down the Wellington.

_'U-921' _shot down an RCAF 422 Sqn Sunderland. The U-boat was looking for survivors from _'U-476' _damaged earlier that day by an RAF 210 Sqn Catalina. The aircraft was shot down but not before wounding 3 men, including the Commander, Oblt. Wolfgang Leu. As the boat crash dived Leu got both his wounded men down but did not manage to get down into the tower himself. He slammed the hatch down as the boat dove and was drowned. The boat reached Trondheim, Norway under the command of the I WO on the 26th. (_An American submarine commander received the Medal of Honor for the very same act in the Pacific_).

_'U-675' _sunk west of Alesund, by depth charges from an RAF 4 Sqn Sunderland. 51 dead (all hands lost).

Icelandic voters severed all ties with Denmark.

*GERMANY: *442 RAF aircraft - 264 Lancasters, 162 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - of all groups except No 5 to attack 2 railway yards at Aachen - Aachen-West and Rothe Erde (east of the town). These were important links in the railway system between Germany and France. 18 Halifaxes and 7 Lancasters lost, 5.7 per cent of the force. The Aachen report duly records that the 2 railway yards were the targets attacked, with the railways to the east of Aachen being particularly hard hit. But, because this was a German town, Bomber Command sent more aircraft than normal for railway raids and many bombs fell in Aachen itself and in villages near the railway yards.

59 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group were dispatched to attack the Philips factory at Eindhoven but the Master Bomber ordered the force not to bomb because of bad visibility. 1 aircraft did not hear the order and released its load. No aircraft lost. 15 Mosquitos to Berlin, 6 RCM sorties, 31 Serrate and 8 Intruder patrols, 18 Halifaxes and 7 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians and off Brest, 23 OTU sorties. 1 RCM Halifax lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Canadian 5th Armored reaches the River Melfes. The Canadian I Corps takes Pontecorvo and the US 3rd Division reaches the key city of Cisterna; The relatively fresh 29th Panzer Grenadier Division bears the brunt of the rearguard fighting. Hitler authorizes a withdrawal to the Adolf Hitler Line, west of Cassino. Maj. John Keefer Mahoney (b.1911), Canadian Army, led his company brilliantly in setting up and holding a bridgehead until more troops came. (Victoria Cross)

At Anzio the attack reaches Route 7 near Latinam. Sergeant Sylvester Antolak of the US Army, Company B, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division, charges 200 yards over flat, coverless terrain to destroy a German machinegun nest during the second day of the offensive to break out of the Anzio beachhead. He is killed charging a second machinegun another 100 yards distant (Medal of Honor).

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 340+ bombers to attack targets in France and Italy; B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Lyon, France; B-24s attack marshalling yards at Amberieux, Toulon and Givors, France, and in Italy, the port area at Monfalcone, airfield at Piancenza and industrial area at Porto Marghera; P-38s and P-51s fly 200+ sorties in support.

U.S. motor torpedo boats PT-202, PT-213 and PT-218 (Lieutenant Commander Robert A. Allan, RNVR) sink German corvette UJ.2223 (ex-Italian Navy corvette _'Maragone'_) and damage corvette UJ.2222 (ex-Italian Navy corvette _'Tuffeto'_) off Vada Rocks.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 370: 406 bombers and 604 fighters make visual attacks on rail installations and airfields in Belgium and France; four bombers and 12 fighters are lost; the fighters claim 13-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-5 on the ground; (unless otherwise indicated, all targets are in France): 1. 307 B-24s are dispatched to marshalling yards at Belfort (74 bomb) and Mulhouse (134 bomb); 12 hit Tonnere marshalling yard and 37 bomb Bretigny and one bombs Dijon Airfields; two B-24s are lost. 2. 320 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to Essey Airfield at Nancy (75 bomb) and marshalling yards at Metz (69 bomb), Saarguemines (36 bomb) and Blainville (36 bomb); 56 B-17s hit Thionville marshalling yard and three bomb Liege Airfield, Belgium. 3. 103 B-24s bomb Montignies sur Sambre marshalling yard and nine bomb Alos marshalling yard.

In Belgium 247 B-17s are dispatched against marshalling yards at Brussels/Schaerbeck (52 bomb), Brussels/Midi (29 bomb) and Leige/Guillemines (50 bomb); other marshalling yards hit are Brussels/Melsbroek (18 bomb) and Liege/Renory (50 bomb); 2 B-17s are lost. 18 of 38 B-17s and 18 of 18 B-24s hit Fecamp gun battery without loss. 15 B-17s hit St Valery gun battery without loss. Escort is provided by 136 P-38s, 181 P-47 Thunderbolts and 287 P-51 Mustangs; P-38s claim 3-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 9 P-38s are lost; P-47s claim 4-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-5 on the ground; P-51s claim 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft, 3 P-51s are lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 225+ B-26 Marauders to attack bridges near Liege, Belgium and airfields at Lille/Nord and Monchy-Breton, France. About 250 P-47s dive-bomb various targets in western Europe.

106 RAF Halifaxes, 102 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos, split into small forces, attacked coastal gun positions at Boulogne, Colline Beaumont, Le Clipon and Trouville without loss. 44 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of 5 and 8 Groups to attack the Ford motor factory at Antwerp but the bombing missed the target. Some bombs fell on nearby dockside buildings. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (May 26, 2009)

*25 May 1944 Thursday
ATLANTIC OCEAN:*_'U-853' _drove off an attack by three RN Swordfish from MAC ship _'Empire MacKendrick'_. All were damaged and one was deemed a total loss on return to the ship and was jettisoned.

_'U-476' _scuttled after aircraft attack the previous day at 0102 NW of Trondheim by torpedoes from _'U-990'_. _'U-990' _was sunk in North Sea west of Bodö, later that day, by depth charges from an RAF 59 Sqn Liberator. 20 dead and 33 survivors.

*EASTERN FRONT:* An RAF Dakota takes off from Brindisi in Italy and heads for Tarnow in Poland for a night landing. There it is met by a reception party of 400 partisans and the Polish Underground with 50 kilos of components from the stolen rocket, and a Polish engineer who is to accompany the finds to London. The pilot of the Dakota is F/Lt. Culliford and his Polish co-pilot as F/O Szajer. The Dakota bogs down in mud whilst it is being loaded and a farm cart has to be dismantled and used to provide boards to lay under the wheels, before a takeoff is managed after some considerable difficulty, and the Dakota and its "treasure" makes the long flight back to Hendon.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Patrols of the US II and III Corps linked up on the Pontine Marshes near Terracina, today bringing the four-month ordeal of the beach-head to an end. The race to Rome is on, but the great political prize may prove harder to reach than the battle maps suggest. The Germany army is retreating systematically north-west to new defensive positions - the Caesar Line - after fierce resistance at Cisterna in which more than 950 men of the US 3rd Division were killed or injured. The German 10.Armee is in serious situation as it is authorized to withdraw to the Ceasar line north of Rome. The American commander, General Mark Clark, is anxious for the beach-head forces to head straight for Rome. However, the Allied supreme commander, General Alexander, has ordered a US attack on Valmontone which, he hopes, will trap the German 10.Armee in a pincer movement with the advance of the British Eighth Army in the south. Clark has compromised. He has ordered the Anzio commander, Major-General Lucien Truscott, to split his forces and attack both along Highway 7 at Albano with the US VI Corps and at Valmontone to comply with Alexander's orders. The attack on Valmontone - a vital road junction on Highway 6 - began today, but was stopped almost immediately by German tanks and anti-tank guns.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy sends 340+ bombers to attack targets in France and Italy; B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Lyon, France; B-24s attack marshalling yards at Amberieux, Toulon and Givors, France, and in Italy, the port area at Monfalcone, airfield at Piancenza and industrial area at Porto Marghera; P-38s and P-51s fly 200+ sorties in support.

The German paratroopers and glider-borne troops, drop on Tito's HQ in Drvar, Bosnia. Tito and Major Randolph Churchill, the prime minister's son, escape successfully, after the Germans surround partisan headquarters in this village. Major Churchill, who is serving with the British military mission here, had left the headquarters a few minutes before the attack. Tito was forced to leave one of his staff officers dying in agony from a head wound. Two war correspondents, Stoyan Pribichevich of Time-Life and John Talbot of Reuters were captured, although the Time-Life man managed to escape. The attack known as Operation Knight's Move, is believed to have been masterminded by SS Major Otto Skorzeny, the man who rescued Mussolini. Other members of the British mission are understood to have left the headquarters several days earlier.

*WESTERN FRONT: *In Belgium 247 B-17s are dispatched against marshalling yards at Brussels/Schaerbeck (52 bomb), Brussels/Midi (29 bomb) and Leige/Guillemines (50 bomb); other marshalling yards hit are Brussels/Melsbroek (18 bomb) and Liege/Renory (50 bomb); two B-17s are lost. 18 of 38 B-17s and 18 of 18 B-24s hit Fecamp gun battery without loss. 15 B-17s hit St Valery gun battery without loss. Escort is provided by 136 P-38s, 181 P-47 Thunderbolts and 287 P-51 Mustangs; P-38s claim 3-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 9 P-38s are lost; P-47s claim 4-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-5 on the ground; P-51s claim 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft, three P-51s are lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 225+ B-26 Marauders to attack bridges near Liege, Belgium and airfields at Lille/Nord and Monchy-Breton, France. About 250 P-47s dive-bomb various targets in western Europe.


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## Njaco (May 27, 2009)

*26 May 1944 Friday*
*GERMANY: *A group of senior officers and generals who had been participants in an ideological training course were addressed by Himmler in the Platterhof, a big hotel next to the Berghof. The Reichsfuhrer wanted to strengthen their commitment to National Socialism and to stiffen their spines before they returned to the front. At this late date in the war, people at this level knew what had happened, and was still happening, to the Jews of Europe. Himmler reminded them that they, as well as leaders of the regime, would be held responsible if Germany lost the war.They were all in the same boat with respect to the elimination of Jews from Europe. Hitler addressed the officers that afternoon. He, too, wanted to cement their solidarity with National Socialism. He spoke of the Jews as a foreign body which he had eliminated. His key point: 


> _In removing the Jews I eliminated in Germany the possibility of creating some sort of revolutionary core or nucleus." _


Reichsmarschall Goering, following Hitler's decree regarding the Me 262, orders control of all Me 262s to be transferred to the General der Kampfflieger.

30 RAF Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen, 11 to railway yards at Aachen and 8 to Lison, 7 Serrate patrols, 42 aircraft minelaying off Dutch, Belgian and French coasts. 2 Mosquitos were lost from the Ludwigshafen raid.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches just over 700 bombers to attack targets in Italy; B-17 Flying Fortresses hit marshalling yards at Ferrara and Mantua and an air depot at Piacenza; B-24s hit Vicenza marshalling yard and air depots at Piacenza and Reggio Emilia; fighters fly 170+ sorties in escort; 48 P-38s strafe Aviano and Villaorba airfields.

Allied forces in Italy continue their advance against stiffening German resistance. Roccasecca, San Giovanni, Artena are all captured.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: 425th Night Fighter Squadron, Ninth Air Force, arrives at Chormy Down, England from the US with P-61s; first mission is in Jul 44.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Rommel holds a special luncheon for General Wolfgang Pickert, commanding the III Flak Corps. Pickert, had once commanded the 9th Flak division in the East, and had been there with his unit when it had been nearly annihilated at Stalingrad at the end of 1942. Pickert, a member of the Luftwaffe, had been one of the lucky ones that had been flown out of the surrounded 6.Armee that winter. Pickert, his headquarters now just south of the city of Amiens, now commands some 24 batteries of antiaicraft regiments, a sizeable weapon against the hoards of enemy aircraft that would dominate the skies over an invasion site. At the beginning of the month, Rommel had requested from the Luftwaffe that the corps be relocated to Normandy. Goering had turned him down, and Pickert had agreed with the decision, although a few units eventually did make it to the Normandy area. Most of the regiments though, remained scattered north of the Seine, thus with little effective power against the Allied air force anywhere. A little later, they are joined by General der Fallshirmjaeger Kurt Student, commanding all the airborne troops. Having dissolved the XI Fliergerkorps, he had in its place formed the Fallshirmjaegerkorps and had established his new headquarters near Nancy in March. Also joining them is General von Funck, who is commanding (now Rommel's) XLVII Panzerkorps.

French resistance members bomb the hydroelectric station supplying the Tulle Arsenal.

P-38s participate in 2 sweep over The Netherlands for familiarization purposes without loss; 1 sweep consists of 30 aircraft, the second consists of 28 aircraft.

In France, nearly 400 B-26s and A-20s attack airfields at Beaumont-sur-Oise and Chartres and bridges at Vernon and Poissy; 108 P-47 and P-51 fighter-bombers hit a bridge at Oissel and airfields at Creil, Cormeilles-en-Vesin and Evreux/Fauville; P-47s and P-38s dive-bomb targets in NW Europe.


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## Njaco (May 27, 2009)

*27 May 1944 Saturday*
*GERMANY*: USAAF Eighth Air Force Mission 373: 1,126 bombers and 710 fighters in six forces are dispatched against rail targets in France and Germany and gun batteries in France; 24 bombers and 7 fighters are lost; the fighters claim 35.5-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 9-0-2 on the ground. 369 B-24s are dispatched to marshalling yards at Saarbrucken (145 bomb), Neunkirchen (66 bomb) and Kons/Karthus (72 bomb); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; five B-24s are lost.

162 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups to attack the Rothe Erde railway yards at Aachen. 12 Lancasters lost, 7.0 per cent of the force. The railway lines at the yards, which were not seriously hit in the raid of 2 nights earlier, were now severely damaged and all through traffic was halted. A large proportion of delayed-action bombs were dropped. The local people were impressed that the whole raid only lasted 12 minutes. 23 Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 to Düsseldorf, 7 RCM sorties, 28 Serrate and 10 Intruder patrols, 60 aircraft minelaying from Le Havre to the River Gironde, 10 aircraft on Resistance operations, 7 OTU sorties. 3 Mosquitos - 2 Intruders and 1 Serrate - lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Artena is held by the 3rd Division in the face of German counterattacks.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force dispatches almost 700 bombers to hit France; B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Avignon while B-24s bomb airfields at Montpellier and Salon and marshalling yards at Nimes, Marseille/St Charles and Marseille/La Blancharde; escort is provided by P-38s and P-51s.

U.S. motor torpedo boats attack three German F-lighters in vicinity of Vada Rocks, sinking two and damaging one; PTs also attack an enemy motor vessel.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 344 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to marshalling yards at Ludwigshafen (150 bomb) and Mannheim (125 bomb); 18 hit Lachen/Apeyerdorf, 19 hit the Mannheim area and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 12 B-17s are lost. 269 B-17s are dispatched to marshalling yards at Karlsruhe (98 bomb) and Strasbourg, France (49 bomb) and aviation factory at Strasbourg/Meinau, France (53 bomb); seven B-17s are lost. 69 of 86 B-24s bomb an aviation factory at Woippy, France; three others hit targets of opportunity. 36 of 40 B-17s bomb Fecamp gun battery, France without loss. 18 of 18 B-24s bomb St Valery, France without loss. Escort is provided by 170 P-38s, 238 P-47 Thunderbolts and 302 P-51 Mustangs; one P-38 is lost; P-47s claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground without loss; P-51s claim 34.5-1-4 aircraft in the air and 7-0-2 on the ground with the loss of six P-51s. 425 Ninth Air Force aircraft also support the mission; they claim 4-0-0 with the loss of one.

USAAF Eighth Air Force Mission 374: 24 P-47s hit a barge convoy between Willenstadt and Meerije, The Netherlands; two barges are destroyed.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches about 590 B-26 Marauders to attack railroads, bridges, and marshalling yards in France. P-47s bomb targets in northwestern Europe.

_'U-292' _sunk west of Trondheim, by depth charges from an RAF 59 Sqn Liberator. 51 dead (all hands lost).

331 RAF aircraft - 267 Halifaxes, 56 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - to attack the military camp at Bourg Léopold in Belgium. 9 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost, 3.0 per cent of the force. 1 Oboe-aimed target indicator fell right on the target and the bombing which followed caused severe damage to the camp. 100 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to attack a railway junction and workshops at Nantes. The first 50 Lancasters bombed so accurately that the Master Bomber ordered the remainder of the force to retain their bombs. 1 Lancaster lost. 78 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 8 Group attacked the airfield at Rennes in good visibility. The marking was good and the bombing was very accurate. Much damage to the airfield installations was caused and there was a large explosion, probably in the bomb dump. 272 aircraft - 208 Lancasters, 49 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos - carried out raids on 5 coastal-battery positions on the French coast. All of the targets were bombed satisfactorily. 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito lost.

Hptm. Horst Carganico (60 kills) was killed in action while serving as _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 5. His Bf 109G-5 crashed into the ground after hitting high-tension wires while he was attempting a forced landing near Chevry.


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## Njaco (May 31, 2009)

*28 May 1944 Sunday*
*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 376: 1,341 bombers and 697 fighters in five forces are dispatched to hit oil targets in Germany; 32 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; they claim 64-30-31 Luftwaffe aircraft: 610 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched against an oil targets at Ruhland/Schwarz-Heide (38 bomb) and aircraft factory at Dessau (12 bomb); secondary targets are aviation factories at Zwickau (15 bomb) and Leipzig (28 bomb); 14 bomber hit Bohlen, 15 hit Meissen, 19 hit Brandis/Polenz Wusten-Sachsen Airfield, 12 hit Frankfurt marshalling yard, 32 hit Ubigau, 20 hit Dessau, four hit Frankfurt, five hit Camburg and 22 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 20-21-18 Luftwaffe aircraft; 17 B-17s are lost. 255 B-17s are dispatched to an oil dump at Konigsburg/Magdeburg (105 bomb) and oil industry at Magdeburg/Rothensee (55 bomb); 17 hit Dessau and six bomb the marshalling yard at Gera; they claim 16-8-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; nine B-17s are lost. 106 B-24 Liberators are dispatched to Lutzkendorf/Halle (66 bomb); ten hit Wetzlar and six hit a target of opportunity; three B-24s are lost. 311 B-24s are dispatched to oil targets at Merseburg/Leuna (63 bomb) and Zeitz-Troglitz (187 bomb); 10 hit Limburg, eight hit Memmingen, nine hit Saalfeld and ten hit targets of opportunity; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; three B-24s are lost. 58 of 59 B-17s hit Cologne/Eifeltor marshalling yard without loss; glide bombs are used but the weapon proves unsuccessful. Escort is provided by 182 P-38 Lightnings, 208 P-47 Thunderbolts and 307 P-51 Mustangs; no P-38s are lost; P-47s claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground with the loss of four P-47s; P-51s claim 25-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft with the loss of five. 527 Ninth Air Force fighters also fly escort and claim 33-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 5-0-7 on the ground for the loss of fighters.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German resistance to the Allied advance in Italy becomes stiff. Ceprano is captured by Canadian forces after heavy fighting. The German 14. Panzerkorps is committed against the US 6th Corps to insure that the 10.Armee will not be surrounded.

Davila, Rudolph B., SSgt. (later 2nd Lt.), 7th Infantry, awarded the MOH for his actions today. He was the only person of Filipino ancestry to receive the medal for his actions in the war in Europe. His company was involved in an offensive, near Artena, Italy, which broke through the German mountain strongholds surrounding the Anzio beachhead. His company was under a heavy enemy attack and for some unknown reason his machine gunners were reluctant to risk putting their guns into action. Realizing that his company was in danger, Davila crawled 50 yards to the nearest machine gun and fired over 750 rounds into the enemy strongholds in the foothills. His fellow machine gunners, reacted and Davila directed their firepower with hand and arm signals until the two enemy hostile machine guns were silenced. Despite being wounded by the enemy, he continued his assault by engaging the enemy from the turret of a burnt tank. Davila then spotted what he believed to be a rifle barrel in a farmhouse window. He grabbed a rifle and two grenades and went inside the farmhouse. He tossed the grenades at the attic and shot at the troops inside, destroying two more enemy machine gun nests. The enemy was forced to abandon their prepared positions.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 100+ B-24s to bomb Genoa harbor and Vercelli marshalling yard and troop concentrations at Niksic, Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, P-38s fly fighter sweeps against airfields in the Kurilovec area and vehicles, communications lines and targets of opportunity in the Knin-Bihac-Banjaluka area.

U.S. motor torpedo boats sink German corvette UJ.2210 in Ligurian Sea.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 600+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb marshalling and naval yards, railway bridges and V-weapon sites in France and Belgium; eight aircraft are lost. P-47s dive-bomb several targets in the same general area.

22 US Eighth Air Force B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; one is lost.

118 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of 3 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards and junction at Angers. 1 Lancaster lost. The Bomber Command report describes this as 'a good, concentrated attack' with the tracks and rolling stock very seriously damaged. A brief report from Angers, however, shows that much of the bombing must have fallen outside the target. 181 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos bombed 3 coastal gun positions. 1 Lancaster lost. 31 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 6 to a railway junction at Laval, 3 RCM sorties, 6 Intruder patrols, 10 Halifaxes and 6 Stirlings minelaying off Dutch, Belgian and French coasts, 24 aircraft on Resistance operations, 14 OTU sorties. 2 OTU Wellingtons shot down in error by anti-aircraft guns on the Dorset coast.


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## Njaco (May 31, 2009)

*29 May 1944 Monday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *The US escort carrier _'Block Island's _planes detected _'U-549'_, on the 28th, and an intensive hunt began by the escorting destroyers. Early in the morning of 29th May, _'U-549' _fired three electric and two acoustic torpedoes at the hunters. The electric torpedoes all hit the escort carrier which sank quickly. One of the acoustic torpedoes seriously damaged the destroyer USS _'Barr' _and the other missed. The other escorts including the USS _'Eugene E. Elmore' _finally sank _'U-549' _with depth charges. All U-boat crew of 57 are lost. This engagement took place about 300 miles WSW of Madeira. No destroyer was sunk. Escort aircraft carrier USS _'Block Island' _(CVE-21) was the only US aircraft carrier that was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean.

_'U-23' _fired a spread of two torpedoes at tanker of about 1800 tons, which was in tow escorted by two warships and aircraft. Wahlen heard two detonations, but could not observe the effects because the U-boat was attacked with depth charges for the next two hours. In fact the tug _'Smelyj' _was hit by one torpedo and sank off Babushery near Suchumi.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Lt. Erich Hartmann, Staffelkapitaen of 9./JG 52, claimed a single Airacobra near Jassy.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 379: 993 bombers and 673 fighters are dispatched in three forces to attack aircraft plants and oil installations in Germany and Poland; they claim 117-38-49 Luftwaffe aircraft; 34 bombers and 10 fighters are lost: 443 B-24s are dispatched to hit an oil terminal at Politz (224 bomb) and airfield and aircraft assembly plant at Tutow (167 bomb); 14 hit Rensburg Airfield, nine hit Misdroy and one hits Schwerin; they claim 29-15-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 17 B-24s are lost. 251 B-17s are dispatched to hit aviation industry targets at Leipzig/Mockau (149 bomb) and Leipzig/Heiterblick (50 bomb); four others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 11-4-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; nine B-17s are lost. 299 B-17s are dispatched to hit aviation industry targets at Krzesinki (91 bomb) and Posen (58 bomb), Poland and Sorau (52 bomb) and Cottbus (48 bomb), Germany; 19 others hit Schneidemuhl Airfield and two hit targets of opportunity; they claim 22-18-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; eight B-17s are lost . Escort is provided by 184 P-38 Lightnings, 187 P-47 Thunderbolts and 302 P-51 Mustangs; the P-38s claim none and none are lost; the P-47s claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft with the loss of four P-47s; the P-51s claim 38-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 16-0-15 on the ground with the loss of six Mustangs. 592 Ninth Air Force fighters also support the mission; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft and lose two fighters.

31 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 11 to Xanten ammunition dump and 4 to a coastal battery at Mardyck, 6 Halifaxes minelaying off Ijmuiden, Dunkirk and Brest. No aircraft lost.

The _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 3, Major Friedrich-Karl Muller - known as 'Tutti' - was killed trying to land at Salzwedel. His Bf 109G suddenly stalled at a height of 15 meters and crashed. Major Muller had 140 kills including 8 during the Battle of Britain, 100 on the Eastern Front and 32 Reichsverteidigung including 23 bombers. Major Heinz Bar was assigned as _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 3.

Complying with orders to reinforce Reichsverteidigung units with Eastern Front squadrons, 7./JG 51 led by Hptm. karl-Heinz weber arrived at Stormede to supplement II./JG 1. They were hurried through a conversion from their Bf 109Gs to Fw 190s and were soon thrown into battle.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Canadians advance north on Route 6 from Caprano near Anzio. Heavy fighting continues in Italy as Campoleone and Carroceto are captured.

In Italy, B-25s bomb rail bridges near Bucine and at Poggibonsi and Lisciano; B-26s hit viaducts at Terni and near Stifone, railroad junction and marshalling yard at Terentola, Castiglion Fiorentino bridge, the Voltri shipyards and a bridge nearby; A-20s hit troops in bivouac and bomb a supply dump; fighter-bombers continue to blast motor transport between the battlelines and Rome; and C-47s evacuate 400+ wounded from the Anzio area.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: British Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory argues that the airborne operation of the D-Day attack be cancelled, due to high projected losses of men and aircraft.

Fw. Ernst Dietrich of 6./KG 51 was shot down by WC C. M. Wight-Boycat of RAF No. 25 Sqdrn off Cromer.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 450+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb airfields, marshalling yards, railroad bridges, coastal battery and NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in France and Belgium. 200+ P-47s bomb targets in the same area. 

23 US Eighth Air Force B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; one is lost.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 829 bombers (the largest number of bombers completing attacks in a single day up to this time) to bomb targets in Austria and Yugoslavia; B-17s and B-24s attack an aircraft factory at Wollesdorf, Austria; B-24s also attack industrial areas at Wiener Neustadt and Atzgersdorf, Austria and troop concentrations at Poderica, Yugoslavia. P-38s and P-51s escort the Austrian missions while P-38s accompany B-24s to Yugoslav targets and afterwards strafe numerous targets of opportunity; fighter opposition over Yugoslavia is negligible but around 150 fighters attempt interception over Austria, principally in the Wiener-Neustadt area; 23 USAAF aircraft are lost; the bombers and fighters claim 60+ fighters shot down.


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## Njaco (May 31, 2009)

*30 May 1944 Tuesday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: USS *_'Herndon' _(DD-198 ), commissioned as HMS '_Churchill_' (I-45) on 9 Sep. 1940; is transferred to Russia as _'Dyatelnyi' _today. She will be torpedoed and sunk by _'U-956' _on 16 Jan. 1945 while escorting a White Sea convoy; the last war loss of the class and the only one of the destroyers transferred to Russia to be lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Elements of the newly constituted German 8.Armee launch a series of limited counterattacks around Jassy, Rumania against the advance elements of the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front, throwing the Russians back in a few locations.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force based in England flies Mission 380: 928 bombers and 672 fighters in six forces are dispatched to hit aircraft industry targets in Germany and marshalling yards in France and Belgium; they claim 65-8-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; twelve bombers and nine fighters are lost: 268 B-17s are dispatched to attack aviation industry targets at Dessau (83 bomb), Halberstadt (107 bomb) and Oschersleben (51 bomb); five other hit targets of opportunity; they claim 8-5-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; nine B-17s are lost. 369 B-24s are dispatched to hit aviation depots at Oldenburg (135 bomb), Rotenburg (147 bomb) and Zwischenahn (71 bomb); one other hits a target of opportunity; one B-24 is lost. 46 of 91 B-24s hit Munster/Handorf Airfield and 36 others hit Diepholz Airfield; two B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 186 P-38s, 184 P-47 Thunderbolts and 302 P-51 Mustangs; P-47s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft with one aircraft lost; P-51s claim 48-3-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 7-0-3 on the ground with the loss of eight P-51s (pilots are MIA); 637 Ninth Air Force fighters support the mission; they claim 8-0-2 aircraft in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground for the loss of three aircraft.

Allied pilots who are shot down over Germany can no longer expect any mercy from the people. The Reichsleiter Martin Bormann has today issued a directive to all district and regional National Socialist leaders to the effect that lynch law is now approved by the government in Berlin. This directive from Bormann, who is also Hitler's secretary, follows a newspaper article by the Reich propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, which was published on 27 May. Under the headline "Comments on the Enemy Air Terror", Goebbels concluded that, in view of the "criminal combat methods" now employed by the Allied air forces, pilots had no right to prevent the German people, in their "seething rage", from acting in their own defence and rewarding murder with murder. Bormann's directive has given the government seal of approval to Goebbel's incitement to mob justice.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army takes Arce as elements of the US 5th Army move toward Velletri. The US 36th Division pierces the Caesar line of German defenses at Velletri, Italy, on Route 7.

In Rome the ancient remains of Caligula’s ships, extracted from Lake Nemi, were set ablaze and destroyed. Blame was cast on German soldiers and American artillery. The ships had been used in the lake as floating entertainment palaces in time of Caligula, about year 12-41.

In Italy, B-26s and B-25s destroy or damage 10 bridges, bridge approaches and viaducts which affect supply routes to the battlefronts across C Italy; light and fighter-bombers blast motor transports and gun positions in the battle area and hit targets in and around towns in the area, including Guidonia, Ariccia, Alatri and Veroli; and C-47s evacuate wounded from Nettuno.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 122 of 126 US Eighth Air Force B-17s hit French marshalling yards; 62 hit Reims and 60 hit Troyes without loss. 39 of 40 B-17s hit Brussels/Schaerbeck marshalling yard, Belgium without loss. 76 of 84 B-17s hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais, France without loss.

100 P-47s are dispatched to bomb 4 rail bridges in northwestern France; 37 hit Longueil bridge, 26 hit Beaumont-sur-Oise bridge, 23 hit Canly-le-Jouque bridge and 12 hit the Creil bridge; one P-47 is lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 320+ B-26 Marauders to attack airfields at Denain/Prouvy and Mantes/Limay, and highway bridges at Meulan and Rouen, all in France. Nearly 400 P-47s dive-bomb targets in northwestern Europe.

Rommel has assembled most of his corps and army commanders at Caen to attend a weapons display at Riva Bella, just west of Ouistraham. Featured in the show are some of Major Becker's multiple rocket launchers. The whooshing missiles impress everyone there. Becker also takes the opportunity to sow off some the armored assault guns that he has fashioned onto captured French armored chassis. Also displayed are a number of smoke launchers. It will be Rommel's last tour of the invasion area before D-Day.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches nearly 500 bombers to attack targets in Austria and Yugoslavia; B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Zagreb, Yugoslavia; B-24s attack aircraft factories at Wels, Ebreichadorf, Pottendorf, Neudorfl and Neunkirchen, Austria; P-38s and P-51s provide escort and many of the fighters strafe targets of opportunity in areas around Zut, Brod, Susak, Bihac, Medak, and along the Karlovac-Livno road, Yugoslavia.

50 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of 3 and 8 Groups attacked a coastal gun position at Boulogne without loss. 30 Mosquitos to Leverkusen, 12 Stirlings minelaying off the Dutch and French coasts, 11 Stirlings on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Jun 2, 2009)

*31 May 1944 Wednesday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Only five Allied or neutral merchant ships were lost in May, at 27,000 tons the lowest monthly figure of the war so far.

245 minesweepers begin clearing the English coast, and clearing paths to the landing sites on the French coast.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Red Army forces hit back around Jassy, ending the threat from the German attacks. Meanwhile, Stalin gives approval "Operation Bagration", the summer offensive against Heeresgruppe Mitte and the liberation of Byelorussia.

The _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 52, Hptm. Gerhard Barkhorn, was flying his 6th mission of the day when he was bounced by a Russian Airacobra and shot down in his Bf 109G-6 "Schwarz 5". He suffered severe wounds to his right arm and leg which put him out of action for 4 months. But III./JG 52's _Gruppenkommandeur_, Hptm. Wilhelm Batz downed 15 Russian aircraft during 7 different sorties to bring his score to 155 kills.

*GERMANY*: 287 US Eighth Air Force B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany; 88 hit Osnabruck, 54 hit Schwerte, 52 hit Oeske and 50 hit Hamm; one B-17 is lost. Fighter-bomber missions against German airfields with 500 lb (227 kg) and 100 lb (45 kg) general purpose bombs: 78 of 81 P-47s hit Gutersloh Airfield; they claim 5-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft. 35 P-38s attack Rehein/Hopsten Airfield using DROOPSNOOT methods; they claim 5-0-0 aircraft on the ground.

III./KG 1 was reformed from I./KG 100 based at Fassberg and Lechfeld with He 177 heavy bombers. The formation of the Gruppe was never completed but a few crews took part in attacks on railway targets and tank concentrations on the central and northern sectors of the Eastern Front while the remainder of the Gruppe continued training in Germany.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied forces in Italy continue to advance as Frosinone, Sora, Velletri and Monte Artemiso are taken. Fighting is heavy at Albano. Canadian forces take Frosimeone. Velletri and Monte Artemisi fall to the US 36th Division near Anzio. This breaks the Caesar Line.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 480+ B-17s and B-24s to bomb oil refineries and communications targets in the Ploesti, Romaniaarea; fighters fly 200+ sorties in support; 15 bombers are lost to flak and fighters; 40+ enemy aircraft are claimed shot down.

During May, the _Geschwaderstab _of SG 4 lost 6 aircraft to enemy action, I./SG 4 lost 13 (plus 10 in accidents) and II./SG 4 lost 14 ( plus 4 in accidents). The human cost were 18 pilots killed, 3 wounded and one missing, all occurring between 13 May and 27 May. Among the dead were a _Geschwaderkommodore_, a _Gruppenkommandeur _and 2 _Staffelkapitane_. In terms of people and aircraft lost, May may have been SG's worst month in Italy.

II./NJG 6 operations from Perugia got off to a discouraging start. Refueling the aircraft on the night of 31 May took over 2 hours and poor signalling led to no fewer than 3 machines to taxi into bomb craters. Despite these setbacks, 6 Bf 110s were able to fly missions.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: More than 4,500 cooks are now on active service preparing meals for just one element of Overlord - the seaborne assault forces. All told, 54,000 men are employed on maintaining installations and getting 4,000 landing craft and barges ready for sailing with their crews. The Americans, who will take off from Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, have supply and service networks that extend deep into the Midlands. The British and Canadians in Hampshire and Sussex have similar lengthy tails. For many men these last days are marked by services conducted by padres in open fields. In the south of England Majors John Howard and Vaughan drive from the airfield at Tarrant Rushton where D Company of the Ox and Bucks Infantry are completely sealed in on the huge base, to Broadmoor. There they meet Brigadier Poett. Smith and Fox sneak out of Tarrant Rushton to have dinner with their girl friends.

Invasion stripes are to be issued to gliders at the discretion of the Air Commander-in-chief.

A Stirling bomber on a training flight from Lincolnshire caught fire, broke up and crashed on the outskirts of the town killing the entire crew. The fuselage came down on the Co-op farm. The pilot was 27 year-old Pilot Officer Stanley Raymond Wilson of Newcastle.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 382: 1,029 bombers and 682 fighters attack marshalling yards and aircraft industry targets in Germany and rail targets in France and Belgium; the fighters claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; one bomber and three fighters are lost: Of 246 B-17s, 36 hit Luxeuil marshalling yard, France; 30 hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and four hit Namur marshalling yard, Belgium; 23 hit Gilze-Rijen Airfield and 12 hit Roosendaal marshalling yard, The Netherlands; and three hit targets of opportunity without loss. 491 B-24s are dispatched to hit rail targets in France and Belgium but are recalled due to clouds. Four of five B-24s hit rail bridges at Beaumont-sur-Oise and bridges at Melun without loss; Azon radio-controlled bombs are unsuccessfully used against the bridges. Escort is provided by 193 P-38s, 180 P-47 Thunderbolts and 309 P-51 Mustangs; P-38s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; one P-47 is lost; P-51s claim 3-0-1 aircraft on the ground with two P-51s lost. 674 Ninth Air Force fighters provide support; no claims or losses.

22 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions over France without loss.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches about 200 B-26 Marauders to bomb lock and highway bridges at Bennecourt, Courcelles-sur-Seine and Rouen, France.

219 RAF aircraft - 125 Lancasters, 86 Halifaxes, 8 Mosquitos - of all groups except No 5 Group successfully attacked the railway yards at Trappes to the west of Paris in 2 waves. 4 Lancasters lost. 129 aircraft - 109 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 4 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups bombed a coastal wireless transmitting station at Au Fèvre and destroyed 4 of the 6 masts. No aircraft lost. 115 aircraft - 60 Lancasters, 51 Halifaxes, 4 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups bombed a radio jamming station at Mont Couple which was 'rendered completely unserviceable'. No aircraft lost. 111 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Tergnier. The sidings and workshops were 'squarely hit'. 2 Lancasters lost. 82 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked and destroyed a railway junction at Saumur without loss. 68 Lancasters of No 5 Group raiding a coastal gun battery at Maisy found it covered by cloud and only 6 aircraft bombed. No aircraft lost. 14 RCM sorties, 16 Serrate and 9 Intruder patrols, 28 aircraft minelaying off the Dutch and French coasts, 9 aircraft on Resistance operations, 12 OTU sorties. 5 aircraft were lost - 2 Halifaxes and 1 Hudson on Resistance operations, 1 Stirling minelayer and 1 Intruder Mosquito.

Lt. Gunther Buchholz of II./JG 1 was killed in action.


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## Njaco (Jun 2, 2009)

*1 June 1944 Thursday*
*EASTERN FRONT: *A Russian counterattack near Jassy begins to get results despite strong German resistance. Attacks by the 2nd Ukrainian Front gained back much of the ground lost earlier to the German counter-attacks.

*GERMANY*: German Colonel Claus Count von Stauffenberg is appointed Chief of Staff of the Replacement Army. Major Heinz Bar was permanently appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 3 to replace Major Muller while Major Gerhard Schopfel was appointed _Geschwaderkommodore _of JG 4.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied forces in Italy continue to advance, unhinging the German defenses south of Rome. US II and VI Corps drive toward Rome through the Alban Hills. Field Marshal Kesselring orders a fighting withdrawal north of Rome.

Destroyers _'Champlin' _(DD-601) and _'MacKenzie' _(DD-614) shell German strongpoints and shore batteries in the vicinity of Anzio; _'Champlin' _and _'Parker' _(DD-604) will alternate covering minesweeping operations west of Anzio and will also do so on 2 and 4 June.

In Italy, medium, light and fighter-bombers continue support of ground troops, striking concentrations, bivouac areas, motor transport, railways and roads, bridges, trains and other targets; fighters fly sweeps over the battle areas, escort medium bombers and carry out sweeps along the E coast. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The BBC transmits the first of two quotations from the poetry of Verlaine. It was a coded message intended to warn the French resistance that the D-Day invasion was imminent; 


> "_The long sobs of the violins of autumn."_


 Some German units go on alert. Operations *Fortitude North* and *Fortitude South*, to convince the Germans that the invasion force will strike at both Norway and the Pas-de-Calais, come to an end.

Crucial to the success of "Ultra" the operation at Bletchley Park, are the Bombes, the machines that do the deciphering of the German Enigma codes. Initially these were wholly mechanical, but earl in 1943 an electro-magnetic version came into service. And today a new all-electronic model, codenamed Colossus, became operational. This has been developed at the Post Office Research Laboratory at Dollis Hill, in North London, and will radically speed up deciphering.

Generals Montgomery, Patton, Bradley, Dempsey and Crerar met in Portsmouth.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Feldmarschal Gerd von Rundstedt is looking over the latest roster of his army. At present he commands (including the eight divisions in Holland and Belgium) some 59 divisions. Of these, 34 are considered -bodenstaendige- or reserve. They could at best only be used in defensive operations. Of the remaining 25 that were considered fit for combat, 13 were actually mobile infantry (`mobile' here being used in the loosest sense; this might mean a wild mixture of anything from horse-drawn wagons to bicycles to a wild mixture of a variety of old pre-war vehicles or motorbikes). Two more divisions were paratrooper, without the airdrop capability, of course. Another 11 divisions were panzer divisions, with four of these being SS units - the 1st SS, 2nd SS, 12th SS, and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier. Three are designated as OKW reserves: the 12th SS Panzer and Panzer Lehr are inland, away from the Normandy coast. The 1st SS Panzer is up in Belgium, between Brussels and Antwerp. One panzer division, the rebuilt 21st, is equipped with many substandard vehicles. Of the three that Rommel controls, the 21st is now near Caen, with a regiment of panzer-grenadiers on each side of the Orne River. The 2nd and 116th Panzer are on the other side of the Seine River, in 15th Army's sector. Three panzer formations are allocated down south, in Blaskowitz's Army Group G. The 11th Panzer is inland from Bordeux, the 2nd SS Panzer about 70 km north of Toulouse, and the 9th Panzer-near Avignon. One more panzer division, the hard-fought and depleted 19th, was coming west to Holland to refit and reform. It would not be allocated to any kind of combat. Most of the ten available panzer divisions were still understrength. 

Rommel confers with Assistant Secretary Bernd, a member of Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry. They discuss how to psychologically influence the enemy at the moment of invasion. Clearly, Rommel is not leaving any stone unturned. Rommel takes advantage of the good weather. He and Lang take off for another look at the coast. They go northeast to inspect the fortress at Dieppe and the shoreline covered by the 245th and 348th Divisions up there. While examining beach defenses, Rommel is told that the incomplete 170mm battery near Ault has now twice been bombed. He directs that the guns be withdrawn until the concrete emplacements are finished.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches about 100 B-26 Marauders to bomb airfields and coastal defence batteries from the Belgian border to the Cherbourg Peninsula.

101 RAF Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked the main German radio-listening station at Ferme d'Urville near the coast chosen for the invasion, but cloud and haze prevented accurate bombing. No aircraft lost. 58 Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked a railway junction at Saumur. Photographic reconnaissance showed 'severe damage to junction, main lines torn up'. No aircraft lost. 6 Mosquitos to the port of Aarhus in Denmark, 3 Serrate patrols, 18 aircraft minelaying in the Kattegat and off Dunkirk, 40 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Halifax on Resistance operations lost.


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## Njaco (Jun 2, 2009)

*2 June 1944 Friday*
*EASTERN FRONT: *Operation Frantic, in which 130 Flying Fortresses shuttle from North Africa to Russia, bombing targets in Hungary and Romania on the way, commences. Under command of Major General Ira C Eaker, Commanding General of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF), 130 B-17s, escorted by 70 P-51 Mustangs, bomb the marshalling yard at Debreczen, Hungary and land in the Soviet Union, the B-17s at Poltava and Mirgorod and the P-51s at Piryatin. One B-17 is lost over the target; 27 other B-17s, forced off course en route to the Oradea, Romania marshalling yard, also hit Debreczen. Nearly 400 other B-24s attack marshalling yards at Szeged, Miskolc and Szolnok, Hungary and Simeria, Romania. P-51s and P-38s provide escort.

*GERMANY*: Alfred Jodl, Operations Chief, OKW, talks to Hitler about the upcoming invasion. His staff has been checking moon phases, with an eye towards the port of Cherbourg. Hitler is told that a favorable time period between the 5th and the 13th of June exists.

The second flight of the Blohm und Voss Bv 40 V1 glider takes place today. This aircraft is an Ersatzjäger (substitute fighter). It is to be towed into combat behind a standard fighter and then make a head-on gliding attack on to fire a small battery of rockets into an Allied bomber. It is cheap to construct and the pilot needs less training than for a conventional aircraft.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allied forces make good progress towards Rome. German forces are in full retreat as elements of the US 5th Army take Valmontone, 20 miles from Rome. The US 100th Infantry Battalion participates in the breakout to Rome by attacking and capturing Lanuvio. The 442nd RCT arrives at Naples harbour and on June 10th meets the 100th Infantry Battalion in Civitavecchia, northwest of Rome. 

Destroyer _'MacKenzie' _(DD-614) shells German guns in the Partecica de Mari area, near Anzio.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Driver Benjamin Gimbert (1903-76) and Fireman James William Nightall (b.1922), LNER, were moving a burning, bomb-laden wagon to a safe spot when it exploded, destroying the station and damaging 600 buildings. Nightall was killed and a signalman later died, but Gimbert, amazingly, survived. (George Crosses).

In support of tactical operations, a special conference for ground liaison officers is held by 21 Army Group officers who present a detailed exposition of the plan for the landings in Normandy.

Two British submarines, X20 and X23, leave the north of Scotland, destined for the British D-Day landing beaches. Their job is to mark the approaches for landing craft.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Rocket-armed Hawker Typhoon's of Nos. 198 and 609 Squadrons RAF blast radar installations at Dieppe/Caudecote.

The role of the USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England from 2-5 June in preparation for the invasion of Normandy on 6 June includes continuation of attacks against transportation and airfield targets in northern France and the institution of a series of blows against coastal defenses, mainly located in the Pas de Calais coastal area, to deceive the enemy as to the sector to be invaded (Operation *COVER*). To accomplish their mission, the Eighth Air Force flies two missions: Mission 384: In the morning, 521 of 633 B-17s and 284 of 293 B-24 Liberators hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area without loss. Mission 385: In the afternoon, 242 B-17s are dispatched to railroad targets in the Paris area; 163 hit the primaries, 49 hit Conches Airfield, 12 hit Beaumont-sur-Oise Airfield and one hits Caen/Carpiquet Airfield; 77 B-24s are dispatched to Bretigny Airfield in France; 13 hit the primary target, 47 hit Creil Airfield and 14 hit Villeneuve Airfield; two B-17s and five B-24s are lost. Three of seven of P-38 Lightnings hit the Ostend Bridge, Belgium without loss.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force dispatches about 350 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb NOBALL (V-weapon) targets and coastal defence batteries along the English Channel coast in France; P-38s and P-47 Thunderbolts dive-bomb targets in the area, including V-weapon sites, fuel dump, railroad junctions and bridges.

British bombers attack railway targets in Trappes, France. 128 aircraft - 105 Halifaxes, 19 Lancasters, 4 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Trappes. Most of the bombing fell in the eastern half of the target area. 15 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost, 12.5 per cent of the force. This is the final air attack of the Transportation Plan. Since beginning in early March, almost 9000 sorties were flown in 69 attacks, with a loss of 198 planes.

103 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked a radar-jamming station at Berneval with great accuracy and without loss. 271 aircraft - 136 Lancasters, 119 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - attacked 4 coastal gun positions with the loss of 1 Lancaster. In only 1 raid was the bombing accurate but this was not too serious because these raids were part of the invasion deception plan. None of the targets were in the Normandy area; all were on the Pas de Calais coast. Further raids in the next 2 nights would continue the deception and the Normandy batteries would only be bombed on the last night before the invasion. 23 Mosquitos to Leverkusen, 4 to Laval and 3 to Lison, 16 RCM sorties, 9 Serrate and 6 Intruder patrols, 53 aircraft minelaying from Dunkirk to Brest, 36 aircraft on Resistance operations, 11 OTU sorties. 1 Stirling lost on a Resistance operation.


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## Njaco (Jun 3, 2009)

*3 June 1944 Saturday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *_'U-477' _(Type VIIC) Sunk west of Trondheim, in position 63.59N, 01.37E, by depth charges from a Canadian Catalina aircraft (RCAF-Sqdn. 162/T). Although five men were sighted in the water after the attack, there were no survivors. 51 dead (all crew lost).

*MEDITERRANEAN: *The Allies maintain movement towards Rome. Field Marshal Kesselring abandons Rome and declares it an "Open City". Elements of the US 5th Army capture Albano and Frascati while elements of the British 8th Army captures Anagni.

Sgt. Maurice Albert Windham Rogers (b.1919), Wilts Regt., ran through barbed wire and a minefield to take two German positions, continuing to advance until he was killed. (Victoria Cross).

Operations by the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy is drastically curtailed by bad weather. In Yugoslavia, 36 B-24s bomb the waterfront area of Omis and 38 hit the port area and western part of Split. Fighters sent to strafe targets of opportunity in the target areas abandon the mission because of low clouds over the targets.

*UNITED KINGDOM: *Dwight Eisenhower briefs French general Charles de Gaulle on Operation Overlord, the first De Gaulle has heard of it.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In Operation COVER, the USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions, both designated Mission 388. In the first, 219 of 238 B-17s and 120 of 124 B-24s attack coastal defenses in the Pas de Calais, France area, bombing a total of 22 targets without loss. Escort is provided by 91 P-38 Lightnings and 129 P-47 Thunderbolts. In the second raid, 97 of 102 B-17s and 98 of 104 B-24s hit 16 of the same targets hit in the morning without loss. Escort is provided by 102 P-38s, 34 P-47s and 83 P-51 Mustangs; one P-51 is lost.

During the night, 23 B-24s participate in CARPETBAGGER operations in France.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force dispatches 250+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb airfields, highway bridges, and coastal defence batteries in northern France; 400+ P-38s and P-47s dive-bomb targets in northwestern Europe. 

As bad weather in the Channel worsens, RAF bombers destroy the second of two major wireless intercept stations at Ferme d'Urville.

259 RAF aircraft bomb four gun positions, three in the Pas de Calais and one in Normandy, opening a wave of round-the-clock bombings.

Orders from OKW via OB West inform Rommel that the 19th Luftwaffe Field Division is going to be transferred out of Belgium. It is slated for -Armeegruppe G,- specifically, to Chevallerie's 1st Army. Rommel also requests that the Luftwaffe lay some quick minefields in both approach channels around the Isle of Wight. Rommel calls on von Rundstedt at the suburb of St.- Germain-en-Laye. Fortified by a forecasted storm coming their way, Rommel is thankful that a possible low tide-good moon Allied landing for the 4 to 7 June period is now probably just an academic question. Then they talk about Rommel's trip home. Both of the field marshals agree that it is a good time for it, and that Rommel needs the break. Rommel gets ready to leave, and as he does, he looks at them and addresses the possibility of a landing once more.


> "_There's not even going to BE an invasion," _he says as he starts walking out. _"And if there is, then they won't even get off the beaches_!"


Allied intelligence, examining of recent aerial photos, finally begins to suspect that some elements of another unit, probably the veteran 352nd Infantry Division, have relocated northwards along the Calvados coast, east of the Vire Estuary. Intelligence analysts, having heard nothing of this move up until now from any Resistance elements, theorize that these few units, if they are indeed part of the 352nd, have only recently relocated to the coast for a `defensive beach exercise' and probably will withdraw as soon as it is concluded. Still, major commands should be notified. General Bradley, commanding the American troop for that area, will not find out about the `temporarily' reinforced coastline for another 48 hours - just after his flagship puts out to sea on June 5th. The American troops hitting this strip of beach will never know until it is too late that this entire area has been permanently reinforced and fortified by major elements of a veteran infantry division, or that these seasoned troops have been alerted and are patiently awaiting their arrival. This coastal strip is designated as Omaha Beach. 

Hptm. Weber of II./JG 1 was appointed Gruppenkommandeur and transferred to III./JG 1. Lt. Krakowitzer took his place as Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 51 which was assigned to II./JG 1.


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## Njaco (Jun 7, 2009)

*4 June 1944 Sunday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: **Overlord *convoys at sea turn back because of bad weather which is expected for tomorrow. The bad weather puts the Germans off guard. All Allied radar jamming operations are called off, so that those stations in the German naval radar network that are still up do not set off any alarms. At once the codeword `Ripcord 24' is sent to the Allied fleet approaching the French coast in the heavy seas. Most of the thousand ships immediately begin to turn back. A force of minesweepers is only 35 miles from the beaches when they finally get the word. Another contingent of some 125 vessels, part of Force U (for Utah Beach) are a scant 26 miles from the Calvados coast before they are persuaded to turn around. USS _'Susan B. Anthony'_, a attack transport, stands out to sea from Bristol. On board are elements of the 90th Infantry Division, VII Corps floating reserve for Utah Beach, and personnel of the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. German radar station tracks them, but the crew relaxes their vigil when the massive blip turns back towards England. No alarm is given.

US Navy Task Force 22.3 consisting of the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Guadalcana'l _(CVE-60), with Composite Squadron Eight (VC-8) aboard, and destroyers escorts USS _'Chatelain' _(DE-149), USS _'Flaherty' _(DE-135), USS _'Jenks' _(DE-665), USS _'Pillsbury' _(DE-133) and USS _'Pope' _(DE-134) attack the German U-Boat _'U-505' _in the South Atlantic. Directed by VC-8 TBM Avengers, the _'Chatelain' _drops depth charges, one of which blasts a hole in the outer hull of the submarine and rolled the U-boat on its beam ends. The inexperienced U-Boat captain thought his ship was sinking so he surfaced. The US commander of this task force, Captain Daniel V. Gallery, USN, had been planning for an opportunity to board a submarine and capture all the documents and boarding parties had been trained and equipped. Lieutenant (j.g.) Albert L. David leads a boarding party from _'Pillsbury' _to the submarine and found it abandoned. The men of the boarding party went below seizing all papers and books and closing valves and stopping leaks. By this time, a larger boarding party arrived from _'Guadalcanal' _and after securing a tow line and rescuing the Germans from the water, the _'Guadalcanal' _took _'U-505' _in tow. For their action, the crews of the six ships were awarded a Presidential Unit Citation and Lt. David is awarded the Medal of Honor. Not only Enigma codes, but also the Zaunkonig acoustic torpedoes were recovered. The original plan was to tow the U-boat to Dakar, but this is thought to be full of spies and so she will be taken to Bermuda instead. This represented the first time since 1815 that the US Navy captured an enemy warship on the high seas (the capture remained a secret). After the war, Navy plans to scuttle the U-boat in a gunnery exercise were themselves scrapped when the president of Chicago’s Museum of Science Industry voiced interest and a plan to use the entire submarine as part of an exhibit. _'U-505' _is currently on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois, USA and has had over 20 million visit her.

*GERMANY*: Adolf Hitler is still enjoying the beautiful scenery of Obersaltzberg, with his headquarters staff situated at various locations around the town. In one of today's meetings, he and Albert Speer discuss turning over aircraft armament production to Speer's own War Ministry. Goering would be furious.

20 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne and 6 to Argentan, 4 RCM sorties, 6 Serrate patrols, 4 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters minelaying from the Scheldt to Dunkirk, 17 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 88th Division enters Rome. The first of the three major Axis capitals has thus fallen. Even as the US Fifth Army began to pour into Rome in huge numbers, the last Germans were fighting rearguard actions in the suburbs; but the great bulk of Kesselring's men are heading north to new defence lines, pursued by advance elements of the British Eighth Army. Three huge flags - Italian, British and American - hang from the Campidoglio [town hall] where Lieutenant-General Mark Clark and his colleagues received frenzied acclamation from the huge crowds. In St. Peter's Square, the crowd was silent long enough to hear the Pope say:


> "_Yesterday Rome was trembling for her sons and daughters. Today she is able to look with renewed hope and faith for her salvation_."


Already Berlin radio is describing Hitler as;


> "_....the saviour of the Eternal City_",


and claiming that Rome had no strategic value. The Allies have yet to be led to the caves near the city where the bodies of 336 hostages were hurled by their SS executioners.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 550+ B-17s and B-24s to attack communications in northwestern Italy and on both sides of the Franco-Italian frontier. In France, B-17s hit the Antheor railroad viaduct and Var River railroad bridges. In Italy, B-24s hit the marshalling yards at Genoa, Turin, Savona and Novi Ligure, the viaduct at Recco, and the railroad bridges at Orelle and Gad. Fighters fly 200+ sorties in support of the heavy bombers.

*UNITED KINGDOM*:  General Eisenhower meets around 4:30 A.M. (DBST) with his staff. He is told that the weather is still too rough for a landing; the invasion must be postponed until conditions improve. At 5:15, Eisenhower, hoping that the weather might break, postpones the landings for 24 hours. Postponing the invasion by 24 hours has meant that, should he give the word to go on the 6th, low tide would occur about an hour later, coming now at 5:15. The U.S. landings would therefore be at least an hour later, coming between 06:15 and 06:45 DBST. An intercepted `Ultra' message gives the Allies the latest Luftwaffe weather report, which calls for more bad weather, This confirms the fact that the Germans will not be looking for an invasion at this time. Eisenhower turns to each of his commanders one by one, and gets their opinions. They discuss it some more. At 9:45 P.M., he makes it. Still staring at the table, he slowly says;


> "_I am quite positive we must give the order... I don't like it - but there it is_."


Looking up to the men, he concludes; 


> "_I don't see how we can possibly do anything else_."


 They will have a final commanders meeting at 0400. That will be the last chance they have to break off the operation. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three mission to France. In the first mission (Mission 389), the effort is to be divided between the Pas de Calais (*COVER*) area and the Normandy assault (*NEPTUNE*) area, however, D-Day is postponed 24 hours and the *NEPTUNE *force is cancelled. 183 of 201 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 51 of 56 B-24s attack seven targets in the Pas de Calais area; escorting are 130 P-47 Thunderbolts and 42 P-51 Mustangs; two P-51s are lost. In the second mission (Mission 390) 222 of 246 B-17s and 53 of 68 B-24s bomb eight coastal defence positions in the same area using PFF. The third mission consists of 263 B-17s and 185 B-24s hitting airfields, railway junctions and bridges; of the B-17s, 96 hit the Massey/Palaiseau railroad bridge, 50 hit the Versailles/Metelots railroad bridge and 34 hit the Villeneuve/St George railroad bridge; of the B-24s, 23 hit Brourges Airfield, 72 hit the Romorantin/Prunieres Airfield, 56 hit the Avord Airfield, 55 hit the Bretigny Airfield and eight hit the Melun bridges. Escort is 135 P-47s and 277 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-51 is lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 300+ B-26s and A-20 Havocs to bomb highway bridge and coastal batteries in France; almost 200 P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb bridges, railroad junction, rolling stock and targets of opportunity.

259 RAF aircraft - 125 Lancasters, 118 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups to bomb 4 gun positions; 3 of these were deception targets in the Pas de Calais but the fourth battery, at Maisy, was in Normandy between what would soon be known as Omaha and Utah Beaches, where American troops would land in less than 36 hours' time. Unfortunately, Maisy was covered by cloud and could only be marked by Oboe skymarkers, but it was then bombed by 52 Lancasters of No 5 Group. 2 of the 3 gun positions in the Pas de Calais were also affected by bad weather and could only be bombed through cloud but the position at Calais itself was clear and was accurately marked by the Mosquitos and well bombed by Halifaxes and Lancasters of No 6 Group. No aircraft lost on these operations.

Rommel leaves for Germany to see Hitler and celebrate his wife's birthday. The trip is, for the most part, uneventful, except for a flat tire in Luneville. Rommel makes it home that night, tired and depressed. His wife and fifteen-year old son, Manfred try to cheer him up, including making his favorite Swabian dish, - Spaetzle mit Kalbsbraten - They retire early.


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## Njaco (Jun 7, 2009)

*5 June 1944 Monday*
*GERMANY:* Late this morning, Adolf Hitler chairs a conference on Portuguese tungsten imports. He then attends his noontime OKW conference. Most of the time is spent discussing the withdrawal of the German 10.Armee from the Americans advancing up the Italian boot. That afternoon, he has a lengthy talk with Speer and Jodl about the Rhine bridges. Speer, recently noting damage by an Allied air raid, and reading reports of the Seine bridges going down, has suddenly realized that the enemy could knock out all the Rhine bridges in one day. A landing in the North Sea would then become effective, and a blitz down through Germany could effectively neutralize all the units in France. That evening, they will hear Roosevelt on the radio, broadcasting the liberation of Rome.

31 RAF Mosquitos bombed Osnabrück without loss.
**
*MEDITERRANEAN: *The Allies stage a triumphal entry into Rome.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 440+ B-17s and B-24s to hit targets in Italy; B-17s hit railroad bridges at Pioppi and Vado; and B-24s hit marshalling yards at Bologna, Castel Maggiore, Forli, Ferrara, Faenza and four railroad bridges; P-38s and P-51s fly escort; 53 P-38s strafe Ferrara and Poggio Renatico Airfields and 40 strafe and dive-bomb airfields at Bologna and Reggio Emilia.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: *D-Day -1*: Operation *Neptune *commences, transporting Allied invasion troops and equipment from England to France. At 7016 ships, this is the largest armada ever in the history of warfare. The orders go out at once to the Allied fleets. Nearly 6,000 ships of all types begin to set sail once again from various points in England. Thousands of vessels will be leaving port all throughout the 5th. Spearheading the task forces are waves of various-sized minesweepers. There are some 255, Including the ones already working. They must clear wide channels through the German minefields so that the task forces can safely pass through them.

Around 10:30 P.M. in England, hundreds of C-47's begin their motors. Aircraft carrying British Pathfinder forces take off from England. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote a note to be issued in case the D-Day invasion turned out to be a failure:


> "_Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold, and I have withdrawn the troops_."


 The note was apparently misdated July 5.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 392: 423 of 464 B-17s and 203 of 206 B-24s hit coastal defenses in the Le Havre, Caen, Boulogne and Cherbourg, France areas; four B-17s and two B-24s are lost. Escorting are 127 P-47 Thunderbolts and 245 P-51 Mustangs; one P-47 and one P-51 are lost. Mission 393: Seven of eight P-51 fighter-bomber attack a truck convoy near Lille, France; the 8th P-51 bombs Lille/Vendeville Airfield.

In preparation for D-Day, three B-17s fly weather reconnaissance over the UK and the Atlantic Ocean.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 100+ B-26s to bomb coastal defence batteries in France; 100+ P-47s dive-bomb targets in the same area.

1,012 RAF aircraft - 551 Lancasters, 412 Halifaxes, 49 Mosquitos - to bomb coastal batteries at Fontenay, Houlgate, La Pernelle, Longues, Maisy, Merville, Mont Fleury, Pointe du Hoc, Ouisterham and St Martin de Varreville. 946 aircraft carried out their bombing tasks. 3 aircraft were lost - 2 Halifaxes of No 4 Group on the Mont Fleury raid and 1 Lancaster of No 6 Group on the Longues raid. Only two of the targets - La Pernelle and Ouisterham - were free of cloud; all other bombing was entirely based on Oboe marking. At least 5,000 tons of bombs were dropped, the greatest tonnage in one night so far in the war.

110 RAF aircraft of Nos 1 and 100 Groups carried out extensive bomber-support operations: 24 'Airborne Cigar' (ABC)-equipped Lancasters of No 101 Squadron patrolled all likely night-fighter approaches, so that their German-speaking operators could jam the German controllers' instructions; No 100 Group flew 34 RCM sorties and 27 Serrate and 25 Intruder Mosquito patrols. 2 Intruders and 1 ABC Lancaster were lost.

58 RAF aircraft of Nos 3 and 5 Groups carried out a variety of operations to conceal the true location of the invasion for as long as possible. 16 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron and 6 G-H fitted Stirlings of No 218 Squadron dropped a dense screen of Window, which advanced slowly across the Channel, to simulate a large convoy of ships approaching the French coast between Boulogne and Le Havre, north of the real invasion coast. These flights required exact navigation; both squadrons had been practising for this operation for more than a month. The second diversion was carried out by 36 Halifaxes and Stirlings of Nos 90, 138, 149 and 161 Squadrons. These aircraft dropped dummy parachutists and explosive devices to simulate airborne landings over areas not being invaded. 2 Stirlings of No 149 Squadron were lost while carrying out this duty.

Rocket-firing Hawker Typhoons of Nos. 174, 175 and 245 Squadrons RAF destroy the Jouourg radar station. Total Bomber Command effort for the night: 1,211 sorties, 8 aircraft (0.7 per cent) lost. The number of sorties flown was a new record.

Thousands of Resistance fighters, alerted by certain prepared, coded messages broadcast that evening by the BBC (including the Verlain verse), prepare to execute dozens of different missions against their 4-year oppressors. Each of their missions has some significance to the upcoming invasion. Many of them will have to do with cutting communication links, while others will attack transportation routes. They will damage bridges, block roads, or cause breaks in rail lines, including the Avranches, Cherbourg, and Caen rail lines into St.Lo.

The second code word message is transmitted to French Resistance indicated the invasion is near. German units are again alerted, but the 7.Armee in Normandy is not. At 7.Armee headquarters, Chief of Staff Max Pemsel is concerned. There is a 'Kriegspiel' scheduled for the next day at Rennes. Despite his recommendations, too many key officers have left that evening, citing the weather and Allied bombing as excuses for leaving early. The number that are absent is alarming. Feldmarschal Rommel, perhaps the key figure in the command chain, is at home with his family. So is his operations officer, von Tempelhoff. Most of 7.Armee commanders are gone. General von Schlieben, commanding the 709th Division; General Hellmich, commanding the 243rd division; General Falley, with the 91st Air Landing Division. Other commanders missing include: General Edgar Feuchtinger, commanding the 21.Panzerdivision, somewhere in Paris; Waffen SS General Sepp Dietrich, commander of the 1.SS Panzerkorps, is in Brussels; Admiral Krancke, down in Bordeaux; Von Rundstedt's intelligence officer, Col Meyer-Detring was getting ready to leave; even Grossadmiral Karl Doenitz, is united with his family in their home in the Black Forest.

Throughout the 5th, nothing unusual is reported to Heeresgruppe B. There has been no recon flights this month, so no photo-intelligence reports have to be analyzed. There is, in short, nothing that plausibly indicates that an invasion might be on its way. On the contrary, it is dreary outside, raining at times. Rommel enjoys 5 June at home in Herrlingen, lounging around in relaxed attire with Lucie and Manfred.


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## Njaco (Jun 7, 2009)

*6 June 1944 Tuesday*
*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-DAY*: The liberation of Europe begins with an airbourne assault. In the early morning hours, 1000 air transports dropped 20,000 paratroops into France. 822 C-47 Dakota aircraft drop the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions on Normandy, France. Pathfinders of the United States 101st Airborne Division begin parachute landing in Normandy to set up the Drop Zones for the following main force. Some 12,000 paratroopers of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions which are dropped on the Cotentin peninsula.

Near the Orne Canal at Caen, France, a Horsa glider crash-lands with 28 men of D Company of the British 6th Airborne Division. They begin their task of taking a bridge crossing the canal. D Company of the British 6th Airborne Division completes securing the bridge. The 3rd and 5th Brigades of the British 6th Airborne Division begin landing east of Orne, to knock out the Merville battery. The 9th Battalion of British 6th Airborne begins an assault of about 150 men against 200 Germans defending the Merville battery. It consists of four 75mm guns in four casemates on open ground. The Merville battery is taken.

The airbourne forces are supported by 1,213 warships, including 7 battleships and 23 cruisers, 1,600 auxiliary ships, and 4,126 landing craft, as well as massive British and American air support, which fly 14,674 sorties that day. Opposing them in their bunkers and on the beaches are 5 German infantry divisions with about 50,000 men and 100 tanks and assault guns. The Allies hit at five locations along the coast between St. Mere-Egliese in the west and Caen in the east. The landings were made at *Utah*, *Omaha*, *Gold*, *Sword*, and *Juno*. American, British, Canadian and French soldiers were involved in the initial landings. German resistance was stiff but, except for *Omaha*, it was quickly overcome and the troops were able to move inland from 6-8 miles.

German coastal radar in Normandy detect the Allied invasion fleet. Shore batteries are told to prepare for an invasion. E-boats and armed trawlers are ordered into battle. Six Canadian Bangor-class minesweepers clear a path to the coast of Normandy, for British forces. Ten Canadian Bangor-class minesweepers clear a path to the coast of Normandy, for American forces. British submarine X23 at *Sword *beach completes setting up an 18-foot mast with a green light, sending out radio signals and an underwater ping. The mast is to guide British landing craft. German coastal guns begin firing on the US fleet. Allied warships begin returning fire on them. German E-boats torpedo and sink Norwegian destroyer _'Svenner'_. Warships off *Omaha *beach commence 45 minutes of pounding beach defence targets. British Royal Navy cruisers and battleships begin firing on northern French coastal gun positions.

Allied bomber planes begin dropping their loads on the coast, with German antiaircraft gunners returning fire. Waves of American B-24 bombers drop about 1300 tons of bombs on *Omaha *beach defence targets, but completely miss targets, bombing too far inland. British air force planes drop 950 tons of bombs on Normandy beaches.

The Western Task Force, commanded by Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk and composed of two assault forces, "O" under command of Rear Admiral John L. Hall and "U" under command of Rear Admiral Donald P. Moon, lands the First U.S. Army commanded by Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, USA, on *Omaha *and *Utah *beaches, respectively. The US 1st Army begins landing on beaches code-named *Utah *and *Omaha *from the Catentia Peninsula to north-west of Bayeux. 300 men of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Division, US 1st Army, land at *Utah *Beach, the first company of the Allies to land. They land a mile south of their target, and encounter little opposition. Twenty-eight of 32 Dual-Drive tanks reach the beach. By noon, the beach is cleared at a cost of six men killed, 39 wounded. 

The first two waves to hit the *Omaha *Beach were decimated and pinned down. Casualties were heavy. As the third wave was moving up the already overcrowded beaches, the navy, in a particularly desperate move, ran destroyers close into the beach and provided direct fire support to the men on shore. This turned the tide and the Americans were able to crawl up the draws and get off the beach. At the end of the day, 3000 men were lost at *Omaha*, but they had gained a mile of depth for their beachhead. Company A of 116th Regiment of the US Ranger Force lands about 7-km west of the right flank of *Omaha *beach, below its target, Vierville. Most of the company is wiped out by intense German fire. American engineers on *Omaha *beach complete making exit E-1 open to vehicle traffic. American 1st Division Commanding Officer General Huebner lands on Easy Red sector of *Omaha *beach, and sets up his Command Post. Brig. General Norman "Dutch" Cota was the first American General to step foot on *Omaha *Beach. Cota, assistant commander of the 29th Infantry Division, heroically spurred his men to cross the beach under withering German fire. He went on to lead his infantrymen across France to the Siegfried Line and in the battle of Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge.

L Company of 16th Division lands at *Omaha *Beach and Company D of 2nd Ranger Battalion land at Point-du-Hoc. Company C of the 2nd Ranger Battalion reaches the crest of the cliff, likely the first assault unit to reach high ground on D-Day. Throughout the day, they fight alone, killing 69 Germans at a cost of two Americans. At the base of the cliff below Point-du-Hoc, the code message "Praise the Lord" is sent by radio to American Navy ships, indicating rangers have reached the top of the cliff. The American Rangers complete their mission of destroying 155-mm guns at Pointe-du-Hoc, making them the first American forces on D-Day to accomplish their mission.

Companies A and B of American 2nd Ranger Battalion land on Dog Green sector of *Omaha *Beach. 5th Ranger Battalion lands on Dog White sector of *Omaha *Beach. The American 18th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division lands on *Omaha *Beach.

The British 2nd Army under Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey begins landing on the beaches "*Gold*", "*Juno*", and "*Sword*", toward the River Orne. Units of the British 50th Division begin landing at *Sword *beach. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division with the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade and other troops from the Canadian Army begin landing on the *Juno *beach, quickly establishing a beachhead. 1st Battalion of the Canadian Regina Rifle Regiment lands at Nan Green Beach, Courseulles-sur-Mer. The Canadian 9th Brigade lands on "*Juno*" beach. By the end of the day, they advance to near the Carpiquet airfield. 

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion of the 6th Airborne Division takes Varaville. The German garrison of Varaville surrenders. The Canadian 8th Brigade takes Bernieres. The 3rd British Division advances to three miles of Caen. A group of British men of the 50th Division cross highway N-13, running from Caen to Cherbourg. The 50th British Division advances to two miles of Bayeux. This is the furthest penetration of any Allied unit during D-Day. American engineers complete a road path bypassing a guarded crossroad at St. Laurent. An exit from the beach into Vierville is opened. The Canadian North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment secures St.-Aubin. One troop of Canadian 1st Hussar tanks crosses the Caen-Bayeux railway, making them the only Allied unit to reach their final objective on D-Day.

German Feldmarschal Gerd von Rundstedt orders the 12.Panzer and PanzerLehr divisions to move toward Caen, assuming there would be Allied sea landings on the Calvados and Cotentin coast. German General Alfred Jodl informs Feldmarschal von Rundstedt that the two divisions he ordered to the Calvados and Cotentin would not be moved until Adolf Hitler woke and gave the order. Rundstedt tells the two divisions to stop moving. Hitler gives approval for them to move over eight hours later. German Commander Colonel Oppeln of the 22nd Regiment of the German 21.Panzerdivision is ordered to attack British airborne troops east of Orne, France. They begin moving, but three hours later receive new orders. Then German Commander Colonel Oppeln of the 22nd Regiment of the German 21.Panzerdivision receives new orders to pass through Caen and attack into the gap between Canadian and British forces.


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## Njaco (Jun 7, 2009)

*6 June 1944 Tuesday continued*
*WESTERN FRONT: D-DAY:* German Commanding Officer General Kraiss of the 352nd Division receives reports about paratroopers landing between Isigny and Carentan. German General Kraiss orders the Kampfgruppe Meyer division to move from south of Bayeux to the Vire estuary, believing a large number of Allied paratroopers had landed there. German General Kraiss orders one battalion of Kampfgruppe Meyer division to act as a reserve unit defending the Omaha Beach area and two battalions of Kampfgruppe Meyer division to act as a reserve unit defending the Gold Beach area. It will take Kampfgruppe Meyer five hours to arrive.

North of Caen, the 22nd Regiment of the German 21.Panzerdivision and the 192.Panzergrenadier Regiment commence attacking a gap between British and Canadian forces, toward the sea. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt demands that the Allied bridgehead be wiped out that evening. Kampfgruppe Meyer reaches Brazenville, south of Bayeux, intending to launch a counterattack. Instead, they defend themselves against British forces already in possession of the town. German soldiers of the 21.Panzerdivision reach the beach between Canadian and British forces, and wait for tanks to arrive. Five of the arriving tanks are blown up within a few minutes, so they dig in on the defensive. The German Panzer Lehr begins moving toward the Normandy battlefield.

At JG 26 HQ, at Lille, Obstlt. Priller was given the command to move I./JG 26 and III./JG 26 to the JG 2 airfields at Creil and Cormeilles. But the crews, loaded onto trucks, started heading to pre-planned airfields around Reims and Nancy - in the opposite direction. Rinally reaching the crews, Priller ordered them to stop. Having no further orders, Obstlt. Priller and his wingman, Uffz. Heinz Wodarczyk climbed into their Fw 190s and took off for the beaches. The pair reached the invasion area and diving out of cloud cover, strafed the British at *Sword *beach. Breaking off they headed for Creil, the first Luftwaffe pilots to fly over the invasion area.

By late afternoon, elements of JG 2, SG 4, JG 26 and a quickly thrown together Einsatzstaffel from SG 103 began flying missions around the Orne and Caen areas. The total defensive effort of 5th Jagddivision amounted to 121 sorties, all undertaken by JG 2 and JG 26. II Fliegerkorps reported 51 sorties from SG 4.

By the end of the day, the Allies had established a tenuous beachhead that would lead to an offensive that pinned Adolf Hitler's Third Reich between two pincers--the Western Allies and the already advancing Soviets--accelerating the end of World War II. A million Allied troops, under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, moved onto five Normandy beachheads in three weeks. Operations “*Neptune*” and “*Overlord*” put forces on the beaches and supplies aimed at the liberation of Europe and the conquest of Germany. Over 90 km of Normandy coastline during the day, about 155,000 Allied troops landed, incurring 11,000 casualties (2500 dead). 69,000 British soldiers landed, with about 2,000 casualties. 14,000 Canadians landed, with about 1,000 casualties, of which 350 are dead. American casualties total about 3,200.

1,065 RAF aircraft - 589 Lancasters, 418 Halifaxes, 58 Mosquitos - to bomb railway and road centres on the lines of communication behind the Normandy battle area. All of the targets were in or near French towns. 3,488 tons of bombs were dropped on targets at Achères, Argentan, Caen, Châteaudun, Conde sur Noireau, Coutances, St Lô, Lisieux and Vire. Every effort was made to bomb accurately but casualties to the French civilians were inevitable. Cloud affected the accuracy of the bombing at many of the targets and, at Achères, the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be abandoned because of cloud and no bombs were dropped. 10 Lancasters and 1 Halifax were lost in these raids; 6 of the Lancasters were lost in the No 5 Group raid at Caen, where the main force of bombers had to wait for the target to be properly marked and then fly over an area full of German units and guns at bombing heights below 3,000ft. Some details are available of the effects of the bombing. At Argentan, Châteaudun and Lisieux, much damage was done to railways, although the towns, Lisieux in particular, were hit by many bombs. Important bridges at Coutances were badly damaged and the town centres of Caen, Conde sur Noireau, St-Lô and Vire were all badly bombed and most of the roads through those towns were blocked.

*GERMANY*: In Herrlingen, Germany, General Erwin Rommel receives news of the Normandy invasion. He immediately begins a long drive to La Roche-Guyon.

Adolf Hitler orders V-1 attacks on London to begin. Oberst Max Waxhtel, commander of II Abteilung Regiment 155(W), based at the Pas de calais, was ordered to prepare the equipment needed to commence firing of the Fi 103s on 12 June.

32 RAF Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen, 18 Serrate patrols, 19 aircraft minelaying in the Brest area, 26 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The South African 6th Armored Div. takes Civita Castellona in Italy. French forces capture Tivoli, Italy.

16 residents of a Jewish home for the elderly in Florence, Italy are deported to one of the extermination camps in Poland. 

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy continues shuttlebombing (Operation FRANTIC) as 104 B-17s and 42 P-51 Mustangs (having flown to the USSR from Italy on 2 June) attack the airfield at Galati, Romaniaand return to Soviet shuttle bases; eight enemy fighters are shot down and two P-51s are lost. In other missions, 570+ bombers, with fighter escort, hit targets from bases in Italy; in Yugoslavia, B-17s hit the Belgrade marshalling yard and Turnu-Severin canal installations, and in Romania, B-24s hit Ploesti oil refineries and the marshalling yard at Brasov.

Arrested by the Nazis in May 1944, 260 Jews from Chania, Greece, and 5 Jewish families from Rethimnon, Greece, are among the passengers aboard a ship that is deliberately sunk near the Greek island of Pholegandros.


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## Njaco (Jun 10, 2009)

*7 June 1944 Wednesday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-970' _(Type VIIC) Sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of Bordeaux, in position 45.15N, 04.10W, by depth charges from a British Sunderland aircraft (Sqdn. 228/R). 38 dead, 14 survivors.

_'U-955' _(Type VIIC) Sunk on in the Bay of Biscay north of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 45.13N, 08.30W by depth charges from a British Sunderland aircraft (Sqdn 201/S). 50 dead (all crew lost).

*GERMANY*: 32 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne, 10 RCM sorties, 18 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols, 22 Halifaxes and 3 Stirlings minelaying off Lorient and Brest, 24 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

The delivery of the first production Me 262 A-0 is made to Rechlin airfield.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied forces in Italy continue to advance as the US 5th Army captures intact port facilities at Bacciano and Civitavecchia. The British 8th Army takes Subiaco and Civita Castellana.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy reaches its planned operational strength of 21 heavy bomber groups and seven fighter groups. In Italy, 340 B-17s and B-24s, some with fighter cover, hit Leghorn dock and harbor installations, Volri shipyards, Savona railroad junction, and Vado Ligure marshalling yard; 42 P-38s bomb the Recco viaduct and 32 P-47s fly an uneventful sweep over the Fenara-Bologna area.

Squadron Leader Neville Duke while flying a Spitfire VIII on a low-level strafing operation is hit by anti-aircraft fire. He attempts to bale out but his harness snags on the open cockpit. Hi kicks violently to free his parachute before pulling the ripcord and lands in the middle of lake seconds later, where he nearly loses his life again as his parachute drags him through the water. Italian partisans rescue him and give him shelter until the arrival of US troops. 

Italian partisans shot at least one German soldier in a radio transmitter unit that included Matthias Defregger. Eventually, 17 men, ranging from 17 to 65, were shot in retaliation, and much of the village of Filetto di Camarda was burned. Defregger later became a Bishop and faced charges in 1969 for the murders. The charges were dropped in 1970.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: An Enigma intercept decrypted by British Intelligence indicated the Germany was beginning to suffer severe shortages of aviation fuel. The bombing of Germany's synthetic fuel plants became the primary target for strategic bombing.

*WESTERN FRONT*:* D-Day +1*: The Allies continue to expand their beachheads in Normandy. Elements of US 4th Division drive inland from UTAH beach to link up with the paratroops around the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The US 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions continue to consolidate their tenuous beachhead at OMAHA driving toward Isigny. British forces, attempting to link up with the Americans drove toward Bayeux, taking the city. 

In northern France, Canadian forces occupy the village of Buron, near Caen. Canadian forces reach the village of Authie, about 2 km from Carpiquet. 12. SS Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend shoots eight unarmed Canadian prisoners in Authie. The bodies are dragged on to the road and run over with tanks.

337 RAF aircraft - 195 Halifaxes, 122 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitos - attacked railway targets at Achères, Juvisy, Massey Palaiseau and Versailles. Bombing conditions were better than on the previous night. All targets were accurately bombed and, although no details are available, it is probable that fewer civilians were killed. The targets were mostly more distant from the battle front than those recently attacked and German night fighters had more time to intercept the bomber forces. 17 Lancasters and 11 Halifaxes were lost, 8.3 per cent of the forces involved. 112 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups carried out an accurate attack on an important 6-way road junction half-way between Bayeux and St-Lô at Forêt De Cerisy. The surrounding woods were believed to contain fuel dumps and German tank units preparing to counter-attack the Allied landing forces. The nearest French village was several kilometres away. 2 Lancasters lost.

The Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) directs air attacks against congested points to delay movement of more enemy forces into the assault area. In the first mission (Mission 397) in the morning, 182 B-17s and 291 B-24s, including 20 PFFs, are dispatched; of the B-17s, 58 hit Conde sur Noireau, 60 hit Flers, and 54 hit Falaise; of the B-24s, 66 hit Argentan, 19 hit Vascoeuil, 61 hit Laigle and 83 hit Lisieux; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 17 B-17s are damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 3 WIA. 

In the second mission (Mission 398 ) in the afternoon, 487 B-17s and 88 B-24s are dispatched; the primary targets for the B-17s are Nantes (190 bomb) and the Kerlin/Bastard Airfield (132 bomb); 23 B-17s hit Niort and 40 hit the Nantes Bridge; the primary target for the B-24s is Tours/La Roche (12 bomb) and 13 hit Pouance, 13 hit Blain, 13 hit Chateaubriand, 25 hit Laval Airfield, 12 hit Vitre and 3 hit Tours; 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 are lost, 1 B-17 and 7 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 78 B-17s and 96 B-24s are damaged; 21 airmen are KIA, 12 WIA and 12 MIA. Heavy cloud prevents almost 100 others from bombing targets. 

US VIII Fighter Command furnishes area support for beachhead areas in the early morning and to heavy bomber operations at midday and in the late afternoon, at the same time maintaining harassment of communications and flying shipping patrol. 526 P-38s and 294 P-51s patrol the beachhead and provide escort in N France; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-2 on the ground; 8 P-51s are lost; 1 airman is KIA and 7 MIA. 505 P-47s and 148 P-51s engage in general strafing over N France and claim 29-1-12 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 25-0-12 on the ground; 10 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost and 3 P-51s are damaged beyond repair; 1 airman is KIA and 12 MIA.

600+ US Ninth Air Force B-26s hit bridges, junctions, trestles, coastal and field batteries, and marshalling yards in France in support of the invasion; 1,100+ fighters support ground troops by dive bombing and strafing, escort B-26s and C-47s, and make sweeps throughout the battle area as Bayeux is liberated and the Bayeux-Caen road is cut; and 400+ C-47s, C-53's, and gliders resupply paratroops in the assault area.

The first Allied airstrip in France (B1) was completed at Asnelle, northeast of Bayeux.

Construction of artificial harbors and sheltered anchorages ("Mulberries") from sunken blockships and concrete caissons begins off Normandy. Off the beach- heads minesweeper _'Tide' _(AM-125) is sunk by a mine. As minesweeper _'Pheasant' _(AM-61) rescues Tide's survivors, she fouls the stricken minecraft and is damaged. Mines also sink transport _'Susan B. Anthony' _(AP-72), and tank landing craft LCT-458 and LCT-586; motor torpedo boat PT-505 is damaged by a mine, and destroyer _'Harding' _(DD-625) is damaged when she runs aground. U.S. freighter _'Francis Harrington'_, in OMAHA Beach-bound convoy EMB 2, is damaged by mine, but manages to discharge her cargo and disembark the troops she is bringing to the beachhead, although 6 of the 515 soldiers perish in the mining, There were no other casualties among the men on board, who include a 28-man Armed Guard.

Under the code name "Drohende Gefahr West" (Imminent Danger West), the Luftwaffe started to move a large percentage of its fighter forces forward to airfields closer to the Normandy beaches. It had been delayed one day due to the widespread belief that the Normandy invasion was a feint. 32 Fw 190s of II./JG 1 took off but found their intended airfield bombed and diverted to Le Mans airfield. The makeshift airfield at Le Mans was chaos as planes from I./JG 1 and II./JG 53 were also flying in. Altogether about 100 Fw 190s and Bf 109s were at Le Mans.

Northeast of Paris 10 Bf 109s of III./JG 1 were attacked by 30 Allied fighters and Hptm. Karl-Heinz Weber, newly appointed _Gruppenkommandeur _crashed to his death at Pontoise. Hptm. Alfred Grislawski was named acting _Gruppenkommandeur_.

The 3 _Gruppen _of Priller's JG 26 flew strafing attacks on infantry footholds from dawn until dusk. II./JG 26 was still at Guyancourt waiting for their ground crews to arrive. Ogfr. Erwin Mayer, a gunner with II./JG 26's flakkompanie was credited with the destruction of a P-51 while driving to Guyancourt.

The Kampfgeschwader also got involved with several attacks against Allied shipping at the beaches. Included in the operations were the 'Mistletoe' conversions of 2./KG 101, who instead of flying to Grove airfield in Denmark were ordered to St. Dizier in France. But instead of attacking active warships, the German bombers focused their attention on an old French battleship, the _'Courbet' _which was being used as a blockship for the Mulberry harbour at Courseulles. Sunk and lying in shallow water, the old battleship was dressed up as a working warship and promptly drew the attention of German warplanes. Most of the Luftwaffe bombing effort was wasted on sinking an already sunk ship.

On the beachead between Caen and Bayeux, ZG 1 lost at least 7 aircraft and one badly damaged. III./SG 4 mounted just 4 operations and SG 103 flew early morning attacks, losing 4 Ju 87s with 5 more damaged.


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## Njaco (Jun 10, 2009)

*8 June 1944 Thursday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *A 'Liberator' patrol a/c from RAF 224 Sqn, piloted by F/Lt KO Moore, RCAF, sank 2 U-boats in less than 30 minutes in the English Channel, by radar-visual attacks on a bright moonlit night. They were - _'U-441'_, Kptlt. Klaus Hartmann, CO, at 48.27N, 005.47W and _'U-373'_, OLtzS Detlev Von Lehsten, CO, at 48.10N, 005.31W. There were no survivors from _'U-441's' _crew of 51 men; however, all but 4 of the 51 crewmembers from _'U-373' _were rescued. OLtzS Von Lehsten has been listed among those lost by some sources (see below). For his part in the action, F/Lt. Moore was awarded the DSO and the US Silver Star.

*GERMANY: *The first pre-production Ar 234B-0 was flown before 400 important guests. Before the demonstration, test pilot Joachim Carl decided to make a quick test flight. Almost everything goes wrong including both engines flaming out. Carl landed safely with no idea how he did so. The plane was worked on frantically for a successful afternoon flight.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German forces withdraw along the Adriatic coast.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 52 B-17s, with P-47 escort, to bomb the navy yard and drydocks at Pola, Yugoslavia.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +2*: The Allied second wave is now ashore at Normandy. Allied forces in Normandy continue to drive inland as both sides move reinforcements into the area. The US 4th Infantry Division is engaged in heavy fighting around Azeville. The US 29th Division takes Isigny. Elements of the British 30th Corp take Port-en-Bessin, linking the British beaches with OMAHA. All of the beachheads, except UTAH are now linked. The 1st SS-Panzer Korps counterattack. 

At Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse a Canadian rifle regiment defeats the 12.SS Panzerregiment, claiming 12 Panthers (Kurt Meyer admitted to losing 6) destroyed in a night engagement where 6-pdr anti-tank guns claimed 6 Panthers in the first charge. One Panther was dispatched with multiple PIAT hits and a necklace of '75' grenades. The SS Panzergrenadier counterattacks at Putot-en-Bessin, France, attacking the Canadian 7th Brigade. 12.SS Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend shoot at 40 Canadian prisoners in a field near Caen-Fontenay road, killing 35. 

German troops capture a set of US operations plans; only now do they realize that the Normandy landings are the start of the planned invasion of France, not a diversionary attack.

Off Normandy, mines continue to take their toll: destroyer escort _'Rich' _(DE-695), and tank landing ship LST-499, are sunk; destroyer _'Glennon' _(DD-620) is damaged. Whilst acting as HQ ship for the assault forces off Juno beach, frigate HMS _'Lawford' _is attacked and sunk by Luftwaffe Do-217 aircraft armed with Henschel 293 missiles, off Courcelles. Location Seine Bay, Juno Beach area. There are 24 casualties. A German guided bomb hits US destroyer _'Meredith'_(DD-726). The ship has to be abandoned.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 400: 1,178 bombers and 1,353 fighter sorties are flown on communications in France to isolate German forward elements, and airfields are bombed to prevent Luftwaffe support. Cloud conditions prevent 400+ bombers from executing attacks. 640 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to La Frilliere (66 bomb), Orleans (36 bomb), Rennes Airfield (30 bomb), Orleans/Les Aubrais marshalling yard (60 bomb), Nantes (25 bomb), La Huchetiere (31 bomb), Tours/La Riche (61 bomb) and Cinq Mars bridge (57 bomb); 18 hit Bruz, two hit Rennes and 13 hit targets of opportunity; one1 B-17 is lost. 538 B-24 Liberators are dispatched to Pontaubault (67 bomb), Angers/St Laud (24 bomb), Angers (19 bomb), Le Mans/Arnage Airfield (14 bomb), Pontaubault (13 bomb), Nantes (42 bomb) and Cinq Mars bridge (55 bomb); five hit Dinon, one hits Precey, one hits Cinq Mars bridge, 30 hit Grandville Harbor, 19 hit a bridge at Rennes, nine hit Precey and 26 hit targets of opportunity; an attack on the Melun bridge by an Azon unit is foiled by clouds; two B-24s are lost. Escort for the bombers is provided by 116 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; two P-51s are lost.

Other fighter-bomber missions are: 381 P-38 Lightnings, 24 P-47 Thunderbolts and 89 P-51s fly sweeps and patrols along the Normandy beachhead and the Channel area; P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; three P-51s are lost. 333 P-47s and 526 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against communications in northwestern France; they claim 27-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 21-0-11 on the ground; six P-47s and eleven P-51s are lost. Overall, the fighters fly 1,405 sorties and attack nearly 75 targets during the day.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches around 400 B-26 Marauders to attack rail and road bridges and junctions, rail sidings, marshalling yards, town areas, fuel storage tanks, ammunition dumps, troop concentration and strong points in the Calais, France area. Around 1,300 fighter sorties provide support to B-26s and high cover over the assault area, and bomb and strafe bridges, marshalling yards, gun batteries, rail facilities, vehicles, towns, and troop concentrations.

483 RAF aircraft - 286 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes, 28 Mosquitos - attacked railways at Alençon, Fougères, Mayenne, Pontabault and Rennes to prevent German reinforcements from the south reaching Normandy. All of the raids appear to have been successful. 4 aircraft were lost, 2 Lancasters from the Pontabault raid and 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito from the Rennes raid.

The first 12,000lb Tallboy bombs developed by Barnes Wallis were used on this night by No 617 Squadron in a raid on a railway tunnel near Saumur, 125 miles south of the battle area. The raid was prepared in great haste because a German Panzer unit was expected to move by train through the tunnel. The target area was illuminated with flares by 4 Lancasters of No 83 Squadron and marked at low level by 3 Mosquitos. 25 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron then dropped their Tallboys with great accuracy. The huge bombs exploded under the ground to create miniature 'earthquakes'; one actually pierced the roof of the tunnel and brought down a huge quantity of rock and soil. The tunnel was blocked for a considerable period and the Panzer unit was badly delayed. No aircraft were lost from this raid.

Fw 190s of III./JG 2 became engaged with P-51s and P-47s from US 361FG, 56FG and 353FG. The _Gruppenkommandeur _of III./JG 2, Hptm. Herbert Huppertz was killed. Hptm. Josef Wurmheller was made acting _Gruppenkommandeur_.

At crowded Le Mans airfield, pilots of I./JG 1 and II./JG 1 were given paper instructions on _jabo _tactics to read while their Fw 190s were loaded with bombs. Later 25 Fw 190s took off to attack the Allied fleet but failed to have any results.

Among the important experten lost on this day on Normandy operations were Hptm Siegfried Simsch (54 kills) of I./JG 11 and Oblt. Eugen-Ludwig Zweigart (69 kills) of III./JG 54 who was kill in his parachute after bailing out of his damaged plane.


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## Njaco (Jun 14, 2009)

*9 June 1944 Friday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* At 0100, eight ships of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, organized into two divisions of four destroyers each, encountered a German formation of two large Narvik-class DD's (Z-24 and Z-32) the ex-Dutch DD ZH-1 (formerly HNLMS _'Gerhard Callenburgh'_) and the 1939-class torpedo boat (known as Elbing- class to the allies) T-24, off the Coast of Normandy. The German formation had sortied from Brest to attack the allied invasion forces off of the Normandy coast and was then to proceed to Cherbourg to deliver a deck cargo of torpedoes for German E-boats. Upon encountering the 19th Division (_'Tartar' _(SO), _'Ashanti'_, _'Haida' _and _'Huron'_) the German formation split. Z-32, which was the lead ship with their Senior Officer embarked, altered to the north towards the 20th Division (_'Blyskawica'_, _'Javelin'_, _'Piorun'_, and _'Eskimo'_), ZH 1 altered west towards the 19th Division, and Z-24 with T-24 altered away to the south-west. _'Ta_rtar' and 'Ashanti' sank ZH-1 while 'Haida' and 'Huron' pursued Z-24 and T-24. The faster German ships soon outran 'Haida' and 'Huron', who then reversed course to return to the other action. At 0254, they encountered Z-32, who had outrun the 20th Division and was returning to the south at 31 knots. Z-32 attempted to shake off her pursuers by running eastward through a known minefield but the combined allied force eventually cornered her. Z-32 deliberately ran herself hard ashore where she was shelled and left in flames. Subsequent air attacks by Canadian 'Beaufighter' torpedo-bombers finished the destruction of the wreck.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet offensive against Finland in the Karelian Isthmus is initiated by a massive artillery bombardment and series of probing attacks by Army General Leonid Govorov's Leningrad Front. By nightfall the Red Army units have succeeded in penetrating into Finnish defences and tying the local Finnish reserves in battle. The main blow follows tomorrow. The Soviet aviation is also active. Ground attack and bomber aircraft scour the Finnish rear. Finnish Me 109G and Brewster Buffalo fighters of Aviation Regiment 3 (Lt. Col. Gustaf Magnusson) claim ten Soviet aircraft shot down over the Isthmus without own losses. The Finnish claims are 2 x Airacobra, 4 x La-5, 3 x Il-4 and a Pe-2 (research in Russian archives has so far confirmed the loss of 3 x Il-4, from 55th and 836th Bomber Aviation Regiments and 113th Bomber Aviation Division). However, bad weather saves Finns from a very serious blow: Soviet long-range bomber aviation was ordered to bomb the city of Viipuri (Vyborg) in north-western Isthmus by several hundred aircraft. The bombers, based in southern Russia, are forced to abort the mission after meeting an area of thunderstorms over central Russia. Viipuri, besides of being of great symbolical significance, is also an important supply and communication hub for Finnish forces in the Karelian Isthmus.

An American expert on Japanese military intelligence, Colonel Moses W. Pettigrew, meets with Soviet Far East Intelligence experts in Moscow. This is the first meeting between the two groups and will lead to a progressively better exchange of information for the rest of the war.

Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish National Guardsman, arrived in Budapest to head the local office of the US-sponsored War Refugee Board. He had been recruited in June by a US Embassy official in Stockholm and sent to Nazi-controlled Budapest under Swedish diplomatic cover. He used US funds to bribe Nazi officials and saved over 20,000 Hungarian Jews from Nazi death camps.

*GERMANY*: Hitler's commanders remain convinced that the main thrust of the invasion is yet to come and will be in Belgium or the Pas de Calais.

36 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 13 RCM sorties, 2 Serrate patrols, 24 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings minelaying off Brest. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Marshall Badoglio resigns from the Italian government. Ivanoe Bonomi forms a new cabinet.

The Allied advance continues north of Rome. Allied forces in Italy continue their advance against German rearguard taking Tarquinia, Viterbo and Vetrella. Meanwhile, substantial forces involved in the attacks begin to be withdrawn from the front to provide troops for the upcoming landings in southern France.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches around 500 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators to attack targets in Germany and Italy; B-17s hit the industrial area and air depot at Munich, Germany; B-24s also hit the industrial area and ordinance depot at Munich and oil storage at Porto Marghera, Italy; P-47 Thunderbolts, P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs fly 250+ sorties in support of the Munich raids; the bombers and fighters claim 30+ aircraft destroyed; 13 USAAF aircraft are lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The prototype Avro Lancaster IV later designated the Lincoln makes its first flight. A long-range bomber it carries 14,000-lb of bombs for 1,470 miles.

*WESTERN FRONT: D-Day +3*: US forces driving out of St. Mere-Eglise cut the rail line to all important port city of Cherbourg. Azeville and Trevieres falls to US forces while British forces are heavily engaged north and west of Caen by ever stiffening German resistance. The US VII Corps takes Azeville on the way to Cherbourg. Allied aircraft are operating from air fields in Normandy. During the evening the 327 Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division crossed the River Douvre in Normandy. In addition the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment passed a few men across the river on that night. The 327th had a mission of cutting the main road leading east out of Carentan so as to prevent an escape by Germans on that road.

While attempting to move toward Normandy, elements of the 2nd SS "Das Reich" Panzer Division came under fire from French Resistance fighters near the village of Tulle. The SS troopers retaliated by killing 200 random French civilians. 

Bad weather prevents operations by the USAAF's Eighth and Ninth Air Forces in England.

401 RAF aircraft - 206 Lancasters, 175 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups bombed airfields at Flers, Le Mans, Laval and Rennes, all situated south of the Normandy battle area. Bomber Command documents do not give any reason for these raids; it is possible that the intention was to prevent these airfields being used for German reinforcements being brought in by air because the railways were blocked. All the attacks were successful. 2 Halifaxes were lost on the Laval raid. 108 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group, with 5 Pathfinder Mosquitos, attempted to bomb a railway junction at Étampes, south of Paris. 6 Lancasters lost. The marking was accurate but late and the bombing spread from the railway junction into the town.

Old BB HMS _'Centurion' _is scuttled as a blockship off Arromanches in preparation for the construction of the Mulberry harbours off Normandy. She was not in commission at the time and there were no casualties. 53 old warships and merchant ships were used to make this 4-mile breakwater. Cruiser HMS _'Durban' _(not in commission) is scuttled as a blockship off Arromanches. Auxiliary AA ship _'Alynbank' _(not in commission) is scuttled as a blockship at Arromanches.

Off Normandy, destroyer _'Meredith'_ (DD-726) is sunk by horizontal bomber and as a result of mine damage suffered off the invasion beaches on 8 June. German schnellbootes S 172, S 174, S 175 and S 187 attack convoy in English channel, torpedoing and sinking tank landing ship LST-314, and damaging tank landing ship LST-376. The latter is later scuttled by escorts. Infantry landing craft LCI-416 is sunk by mine; motor minesweeper YMS-305 is damaged by shore battery. U.S. freighter _'Ezra Weston' _is damaged by shore battery fire that kills 5 and wounds 11 of her 600 embarked troops; there are no other casualties among the ship's complement, including the 26-man Armed Guard.


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## Njaco (Jun 16, 2009)

*10 June 1944 Saturday*
*EASTERN FRONT:* The Red Army has launched an offensive in massive strength against the Finns entrenched on the Karelian Isthmus, north of Leningrad. After forceful probing attacks yesterday, with artillery and air support in strength previously unknown in the Finnish front, the main offensive today strikes already weakened Finnish forces and achieves breakthrough at Valkeasaari, very southernmost part of the front. Elements of the 23rd Army captures Terijoki and Yalkena on the Karelian Isthmus. The Red Army has broken through the main defence line, and is advancing towards the rear. It advances some 15 kilometres (10 miles) today. The Finnish GHQ orders 4th Division (Maj. Gen. Aleksanteri Autti) and 3rd Brigade to move to the Isthmus from other parts of the Fenno-Soviet front, and plans of a counter-attack are being formed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied advances in Italy continue as The British 8th Army takes Pescara and Chieti. The New Zealand Division enters Avezzano. The Heaviest German air raid since 3 May occurs off Anzio against U.S. shipping off the beachhead. Minesweeper _'Symbol' _(AM-123), tank landing ship LST-211, infantry landing craft LCI-41, and U.S. freighter _'Tarleton Brown' _are all damaged by near-misses of bombs.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 550+ B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in Italy; B-17s hit a marshalling yard at Mestre and oil storage and marshalling yard at Porto Marghera; B-24s hit oil refinery at Trieste, an air depot at Ferrara and the town of Ancona.

P-51s and P-38s fly escort, and in Romania, strafe targets of opportunity between Bucharest and the Danube River and south of Craiova, and dive-bomb an oil refinery at Ploesti. During these raids the Romanian Air Force has its best day when the IAR-81Cs of Grup 6 Vanatori and the Me109Gs of Grup 9 Vanatori combine to claim 18 P-38s during a low-level raid, one of the targets of which was Grup 6 Vanatori's own airfield. There were 46 bomb-carrying P-38s escorted by another 48 flying fighter cover involved in the attack. Grup 6 Vanatori was already airborne when the raid struck their home field. They benefitted from ideal conditions, catching a group of P-38s at almost ground level during a strafing run on the airfield, and diving in from above and behind. The Romanians lost only one fighter from both groups combined in this extended fight. The USAAF reported 22 P-38s lost over Romania to all causes this day, so the Romanian claim to have shot fown 18 Lightnings may not be too far off the mark.

Germans of the 4.SS-Pol.Pz.Gren.Div. "Polizei", raze the village of Distomo, Greece and murder its inhabitants.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-DAY +4*: The Utah and Omaha beachheads are linked by a US armoured advance. An American unit on the road linking Omaha with Gold was surrounded by armed men who proved to be Poles, Serbs and Russians, whose German officers and NCO's had taken off. The men claimed that a squadron of White Russians, also drafted into the Wehrmacht, was waiting to surrender. The toughest resistance to the Americans is coming from the Germans defending the approaches to Cherbourg. Over 326,000 Allied soldiers and 54,000 vehicles have now been landed on the beaches. The huge concrete and steel "Mulberry" harbours are now being assembled on the Normandy beaches. Montgomery has come ashore to set up his tactical HQ in a chateau at Creully. He has ordered the second army to advance on Villers-Bocage and then Falaise, with the intention of enveloping Caen. A plan to drop the 1st Airborne Division behind Caen has been vetoed by Leigh-Mallory, who has little faith in parachute operations. After British Intelligence identified the HQ of Panzer Group West at La Caine, a bombing raid killed 17 German staff officers and wiped out all signalling equipment. 

Allied forces cut road and rail links between Carentan and Cherbourg. The 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division crosses the Douvre River in Normandy in preparation for its attack on Carentan. Its direct support field artillery battalion, the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion crosses later in the day and fires its first rounds in support of the attack. 

The British 7th Armoured and the German Panzer Lehr Division are engaged near Tilly-sur-Suelles. After four days, elements of the German Panzer Lehr Division attempt their first operational counterattack against the Allied beachhead in Normandy, but are unsuccessful in making any headway against the massed naval gun fire and tenacious defenses of the British 7th Armored Division.

The Canadians are grappling with the 12. SS 'Hitler Jugend' Panzerdivision on the approaches to Caen. This group of fanatical Hitler supporters is led by the 33-year-old SS Colonel Kurt "Panzer" Meyer, who is directing the operations of his tank force from the tower of Ardenne Abbey, outside Caen. He has sworn not to halt his men until they have driven the Allies into the sea. At one point during a night attack, the Canadian command post was surrounded; but then Meyer lost six Panzers and called off the action. The Canadians have been badly shaken, but they have defied Meyer's boasts.

The population of French village Oradour-sur-Glane, near Limoges, is murdered by a detachment of 2.SS Panzerdivision "Das Reich" commanded by SS Sturmbannführer Otto Dickmann. In all 642 civilians perish. The men are driven into barns and shot, the women and children are herded into the church, which is set on fire. One German officer is killed by masonry falling from the burning church where the women and children are incinerated alive. Those who escape the fire and smoke are machine-gunned. Only seven or eight of the villagers escape alive. A boy of eight ran away into the woods. A woman, Madame Rouffanche hid behind the high altar of the church, where she found a ladder, and jumped from a ten-foot-high window. The Limoges region is largely under Resistance control, but there are no Resistance fighters in Oradour. Dickmann is killed some weeks later fighting in Normandy.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 403: Bad weather restricts operations to northwestern France; 883 bombers and 1,491 fighter sorties are flown but 200+ bombers abort due to cloud conditions; one bomber and 24 fighters are lost. 507 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to Equihen (24 bomb), Hardelot (23 bomb), St Gabriel (26 bomb), Gael Airfield (36 bomb), Nantes/Bouguenais Airfield (55 bomb), Vannes Airfield (59 bomb), Berck (26 bomb), Merlimont Plage (39 bomb), and Toucquet-Paris-Plage (10 bomb). 257 B-24s are dispatched to Wimereau (23 bomb), Boulogne (34 bomb), Dreux Airfield (26 bomb), Evreux/Fauville Airfield (65 bomb) and Boulogne (13 bomb); 39 others hit Conches Airfield; one B-24 is lost. 119 B-24s are dispatched to Chateaudun Airfield (45 bomb) and Orleans/Bricy Airfield (66 bomb) .

US VIII Fighter Command missions during the day are: 405 P-38s fly sweep and escort; they claim 5-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 3 P-47 Thunderbolts and 364 P-51 Mustangs provide escort for the bombers above; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; seven fighters are lost. 506 P-47s and 213 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against communications targets in the beachhead area; they claim 8-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 15 P-47s and two P-51 are lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 500+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb targets in the assault area including military concentrations, road and rail bridges and junctions, artillery batteries, marshalling yards and town areas; aircraft of 15+ fighter groups fly escort to bombers and transports, and bomb numerous targets in support of the ground assault, including rail facilities, roads, troop concentrations, artillery, and town areas. 

432 RAF aircraft - 323 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes, 19 Mosquitos - attacked railway targets at Achères, Dreux, Orléans and Versailles. All targets were believed to have been hit but few further details are available. 15 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes lost. 32 Mosquitos to Berlin, 13 RCM sorties, 7 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols, 30 aircraft minelaying off France on the flanks of the invasion area. 2 Mosquitos lost from the Berlin raid.

Destroyer _'Glennon' _(DD-620) is sunk off Normandy by German shore battery; tank landing craft LCT-209 sinks after running aground off beachhead. U.S. freighter _'Charles Morgan' _is damaged by bomb off UTAH Beach that kills 7 of the 64-man Army stevedore unit on board and one merchant crewman; there are no casualties among the 27-man Armed Guard. Fleet tug _'Kiowa' _(ATF-72) takes on board the survivors. _'Charles Morgan'_, however, despite strenuous efforts to save her, is ultimately declared a total loss.


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## Njaco (Jun 16, 2009)

*11 June 1944 Sunday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *A 'Canso' patrol aircraft (Canadian version of the PBY-5A) from RCAF 162 Sqn attacked and sank 'U-980', KptLt. Hermann DAHMS, CO, in the North Sea. Although approximately 35 men were sighted in the water after that attack, there were no survivors from her crew of 52 men. The next day, the aircraft that sank _'_U-980' was shot down while attacking another U-boat in the same general area. _'_U-980' was on her first patrol at the time of her loss and had not sunk or damaged any ships.

Aircraft (VC 95) from escort carrier _'Croatan' _(CVE-25) teams with destroyer escorts _'Frost _'(DE-144), _'Huse' _(DE-145), and _'Inch' _(DE-146) sink German submarine _'U-490' _midway between Flores Island and Flemish Cap.

*EASTERN FRONT:* 126 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and 60 P-51s depart Russian shuttle bases for Italy to complete the first FRANTIC operation. On the way 121 B-17s bomb the Focsani, Romania airfield; 1 B-l7 is lost. 

Over 540 other B-17s and B-24s attack targets in Romaniaand Yugoslavia; the B-17s attack the Smederevo, Yugoslavia marshalling yard; the B-24s attack oil installations at Constanta and Giurpiu, Romania(both raids having fighter escorts); the AAF claims 60 aircraft destroyed during the days missions.

In Karelian Isthmus the battered Finnish 10th Division retreats to the second line of defence, the VT-line, by this evening. The greatly weakened and disorganized division is quickly withdrawn to rear to rest. On the left wing of the IV Corps, the 2nd Division is conducting a fighting withdrawal. As the troops of the embattled IV Corps withdraw, on the northern part of the front right wing of the III Corps is endangered. The Soviet High Command Stavka commends the Leningrad Front for its achievements and orders the 21st and 23rd armies to continue the offensive. The aim is to capture the city of Viipuri (Vyborg) by 20 June. Elsewhere the Finnish GHQ urgently requests Germans to rescind the ban on arms exports to Finland, imposed after the Finnish peace-feelers last spring.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Advances continue in Italy as the US 5th Army captures Monte Fiascone and the British 8th Army fight for Cantalupo and Bagnoregio.

*NORTH AMERICA*: The battleship USS _'Missouri'_, built at New York (Brooklyn) Navy Yard, is commissioned.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman _'Fort McPherson' _(7,132 GRT) was damage by bombs from Luftwaffe aircraft in the English Channel. There was no loss of life in this incident. _'Fort McPherson' _was later hit by a flying bomb while under repair from this attack.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-DAY +5*: The 101st Airborne Division succeeds in taking Carentan in Normandy. British forces continue to advance against heavy German resistance. The British 7th Armoured Division attacks Caen from the west, capturing Tilly-sur-Seulles. US battleships off Normandy provide gunfire support. German Army Group 'B' plans to; 


> "_...replace the Panzer units [opposite the British and Canadians] with infantry divisions and transfer its Schwerpunkt to the Carentan-Montebourg area in order to avert the danger to Cherbourg." _


The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 405: Weather prevents operations against priority targets in Germany so the bombers attack targets in France; 1,055 bombers and 914 fighter sorties are flown; over 400 bombers abort or fail to bomb due to clouds and absence or malfunction of Pathfinders; three bombers and eight fighters are lost: 471 B-17s are dispatched to airfields at Beaumont-le-Roger (38 bomb), Bernay/St Martin (50 bomb) and Dinard/Pluertuit (37 bomb), and Toucquet-Paris-Plage (27 bomb), Merlimont Plage (34 bomb), Pontaubault Bridge (50 bomb) and Berck (36 bomb); 33 others hit Conches Airfield and four hit targets of opportunity; two B-17s are lost. 584 B-24s are dispatched to airfields at Cormeilles-en-Vexin (34 bomb), Beauvais/Nivelliers (27 bomb), Beaumont-sur-Oise (36 bomb) and Creil (19 bomb) and Vicomte-sur-Rance (19 bomb), Montford Bridge (18 bomb) and Blois/St Denis (41 bomb); 12 others hit Beauvais/Tille Airfield, seven hit Poix Airfield, 32 hit Montauban marshalling yard and 52 hit targets of opportunity; one B-24 is lost. 87 P-47 Thunderbolts and 144 P-51 Mustangs provide escort for the bombers without loss.

Other fighter missions are: 143 P-38s patrol the beachhead and claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 77 P-38s, 195 P-47s and 268 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against communications targets in northwestern France; the P-38s claim 3-2-5 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground; three P-38s, a P-47 and four P-51s are lost.

In morning operations, 129 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs of the USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England bomb rail and road bridges and intersections, rail lines, oil tanks, artillery and town areas, in France; bad weather prevents afternoon operations; ten fighter groups fly escort and strafe and bomb bridges, railroads, gun emplacements, rail and road traffic and marshalling yards in support of ground troops.

329 RAF aircraft - 225 Lancasters, 86 Halifaxes, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 3, 4 and 8 Groups attacked railway targets at Évreux, Massey Palaiseau, Nantes and Tours. All of the raids appeared to be successful. 3 Lancasters and 1 Halifax - 1 aircraft from each raid - were lost. 33 Mosquitos to Berlin, 30 Serrate patrols, 13 Halifaxes minelaying on the flanks of the invasion coast. 2 Mosquitos lost from the Berlin raid.

German Admiral Karl Dönitz issues an order to submarine commanders:


> "_The invasion fleet is to be attacked with complete recklessness". _


 Off the invasion beaches, German torpedo boats S 130, S 144, S 146, S 150 and S 167 launch torpedo attacks on U.S. invasion shipping, sinking tank landing ship LST-496 and tug _'Partridge' _(ATO-138), and damaging tank landing ship LST-538. German motor torpedo boat S 138 torpedoes and damages destroyer _'Nelson' _(DD-623); infantry landing craft LCI-219 is sunk by aircraft.


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## Njaco (Jun 27, 2009)

*12 June 1944 Monday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *Frigate HMS _'Halsted' _is torpedoed by the units of 9th Schnellboot Geschwader in the English Channel at Seine Bay and has her bows blown off, but is able to make port at Portsmouth astern under her own power. She is not repaired.

_'U-490' _sunk NW of the Azores in position 42.47N, 40.08W by depth charges from escort carrier USS _'Croatan'_, and depth charges from destroyer escorts USS _'Frost'_, _'Huse' _and _'Inch'_.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Karelian Isthmus, the advancing Soviet units reach VT-line, the second Finnish line of defence. They start immediately probing the defences. The line is held by Gen. Laatikainen's IV Corps. After Gen. Sihvo's 10th Division was withdrawn to rear, the line here at the southern part of the front is defended by Gen. Pajari's 3rd Division and Gen. Melander's Cavalry Brigade (the Cavalry Brigade fought on foot, its name was an honorary appellation). Together they defend a stretch of line some 40 km (25 miles) wide. Gen. Martola's 2nd Division reaches the VT-line, after conducting a fighting withdrawal. On the northern part of the Isthmus front Gen. Siilasvuo's III Corps has so far been left in peace, but it has to transfer troops to defend it's endangered right flank. IV Corps's defences are focused around Kivennapa, where lies the attacker's shortest way to Viipuri. However, the Leningrad Front commander Gen. Govorov has received permission to act as he sees fit, and he immediately transfers the point of main effort. The attacking Red Army units now concentrate on the very southernmost part of the front, on the coastal road running along the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, where the Finnish defences are the weakest.

The commander of the Finnish 3rd Brigade (which is on its way to the Karelian Isthmus) Col. Joose Hannula is killed in an aerial attack. He is succeeded by Col. Kai Savonjousi. Finnish AA-defences claim 15 enemy planes shot down.

*GERMANY*: 303 RAF aircraft - 286 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups - carried out the first raid of the new oil campaign; the target was the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant at Gelsenkirchen (the Germans called the plant Gelsenberg AG). 17 Lancasters were lost, 6.1 per cent of the Lancaster force. The attack opened with exceptional accuracy owing to good work by the Pathfinders and to improved versions of Oboe sets now available. Later phases of the bombing were spoiled by the clouds of smoke from the burning target and by a rogue target indicator which fell 10 miles short of the target and was bombed by 35 aircraft. A German industrial report shows that all production at the oil plant ceased, with a loss of 1,000 tons of aviation fuel a day for several weeks, as well as the loss of other fuels.

27 Mosquitos to Cologne, 3 RCM sorties, 39 Serrate and 13 Intruder patrols, 9 Halifaxes and 5 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire, 13 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: S class submarine HMS _'Sickle' _is lost in the Mediterranean / Aegean Sea cause unknown. Last heard of on this date when they reported sighting a convoy in the Steno Channel. _'Sickle' _is the last British submarine to be lost in the Mediterranean during WW2. There is one survivor from _'Sickle'_: Able Seaman Richard Blake, a member of the submarine’s 3 inch gun crew who was blown over board on 4 June when _'Sickle' _had engaged in gunfire with German patrol vessels GA76 and GA91. The submarine had to make an urgent dive to avoid further hits, and Blake was left in the water and picked up by the Germans to become a POW. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +6:* The US 4th Division reaches Montebourg, Crisbecq and Azeville in Normandy. The V Corps reaches Bayeux Road. The battlefront in Normandy is now nearly 50 miles long with fighting going on for Montebourg, Crisbecq, Caumont, Foret de Cerisy, Bayeux, Tilly and Caen. The Allies have landed 326,000 troops and 54,000 vehicles since D-Day. 

The German 17.SS Panzergrenaidier Division supported by paratroops launch a counterattack against the Americans at Carentan. The attack forces the US paratroops back several miles, but the town is held. As Allied forces take Carentan, Montgomery tells reporters;


> "_...we have won the battle of the beaches!_"


The Canadian Queen's Own Rifles enter Les Mesnil-Patry, in France, but lose 17 of 19 tanks and many men.

German General der Artillerie Erich Marcks LXXXIV AK is killed at St-Lo/Perriers.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 407: With bad weather over top priority targets in Germany, 1,442 bombers are dispatched against airfields and landing grounds in northeastern France and rail and road bridges on the Brest Peninsula; 691 of 769 B-17s and 586 of 673 B-24s hit 16 airfields and six railroad bridges in the Rennes and St Nazaire area; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; six B-17s and two B-24s are lost Fighters fly 988 sorties the loss of 16 aircraft: 234 P-38 Lightnings, 80 P-47 Thunderbolts and 201 P-51 Mustangs fly escort, sweeps and patrols over the English Channel and in the Rennes area; they claim 20-0-8 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; three P-38s, a P-47 and three P-51s are lost. 93 P-38s and 183 P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions against five railroad bridges in the Tours-Paris area; they claim 5-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; a P-38 and eight P-47s are lost. 45 P-38s and 152 P-51s fly escort for Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders. Sixteen B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 509 B-26s and A-20s to bomb marshalling yards, road and rail junctions, bridges, artillery, town areas, troop concentrations and various targets of opportunity in France; aircraft of 15+ fighter groups fly close and area support for bombers and bomb and strafe rail lines, gun batteries, bridges, fortifications, radar installation, tanks, ammunition dumps, town areas and strongpoints in the battle area. 

671 RAF aircraft - 348 Halifaxes, 285 Lancasters, 38 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups to attack communications, mostly railways, at Amiens/St Roch, Amiens/Longueau, Arras, Caen, Cambrai and Poitiers. (_It is interesting to note that, with the exception of Caen, all of these targets were the sites of well-known battles of earlier wars and Caen was soon to be the scene of fierce fighting_.) Bomber Command's records state that the Poitiers attack, by No 5 Group, was the most accurate of the night and that the 2 raids at Amiens and the raid at Arras were of reasonable accuracy. The target at Cambrai was hit but many bombs also fell in the town. The most scattered attack (also by No 5 Group) was at Caen. 23 aircraft - 17 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters - were lost from these raids; all of these losses were from Nos 4 and 6 Groups. 

A Canadian airman, Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski from Winnipeg, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery on the Cambrai raid. His Lancaster, of No 419 Squadron, was attacked by a night fighter and set on fire and the crew were ordered to abandon the aircraft. Mynarski was about to jump when he saw that the tail gunner was trapped in his turret and he went through fierce flames to help. The rear turret was so badly it jammed that it could not be freed and the trapped gunner eventually waved Mynarski away. By the time he left the aircraft, Mynarski's clothing and parachute were on fire and he died while being cared for by French civilians soon after he landed. The tail gunner was fortunate to survive the crash and his report on Mynarski's courage led to the award of the Victoria Cross. Pilot Officer Mynarski is buried in the small village cemetery at Meharicourt, east of Amiens.


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## Njaco (Jun 27, 2009)

*13 June 1944 Tuesday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN:  *Whilst escorting a westbound Channel convoy, destroyer HMS _'Boadicea' _is attacked by Ju 88 aircraft and struck by two torpedoes which caused her magazine to explode, and the ship to sink rapidly. There are 175 casualties, but 12 survivors. 

Corvette HMCS _'Baddeck'_, attached to Western Approaches Command in Apr 1944, and engaged in escorting resupply shipping, was in the English Channel sailing to the landing zone when attacked, off Portsmouth, by E Boats, in a night action. After a wild engagement, the action was broken off.

_'U-715' _(Type VIIC) is sunk at 0930hrs northeast of the Faroes, in position 62.55N, 02.59W, by depth charges from a Canadian Canso aircraft (RCAF-Sqdn. 162/T). 35 dead, 15 survivors taken into captivity. _'U-715' _was on her first patrol at the time of her loss and had not sunk or damaged any ships. _'U-715' _was sighted while she was at periscope depth, a very significant feat of aerial observation. After being attacked she was forced to surface, whereupon the boat was abandoned. The patrol a/c then incautiously overflew the submarine before it was completely abandoned and was shot down. Three of her crewmembers died of exposure before air-sea rescue launches arrived to rescue the Canadian and German survivors.

_'U-270' _shot down an RAF 53 Sqn Fortress. No damage to the U-boat; the boat was heading to base after being damaged by an RAF 172 Sqn Wellington. _'U-634' _shot down an RAF 228 Sqn Sunderland. _'U-564' _shot down an RAF 228 Sqn Sunderland. Aircraft bombs sank _'U-564' _the next day. _'U-480' _shot down an RCAF 162 Sqn Catalina.

Unarmed U.S. fishing boat _'Lark' _is shelled and machine- gunned by German submarine _'U-107' _32 miles off Cape Sable Light, 42Â°54'N, 65Â°25'W, and abandoned with the exception of the master and the cook. _'Lark' _remains afloat as the U-boat leaves the scene, whereupon she rescues every man who had abandoned ship at the approach of the enemy submarine.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Stalin praises the D-Day landings extravagantly, saying:


> "In _the whole history of war there has never been such an undertaking."_


The Finnish IV Corps is now grouped along VT-line, the second line of defence. The corps's right flank on the southernmost part of the front is fiercely attacked by the Red Army. The Finnish GHQ orders more construction troops to work on the VKT-line, the third line of defence, which is still largely exists only on paper.

An experimental A-4 [V-2] rocket crashes and the wreckage is recovered for study by the Swedish military. The Swedish government later transfers two tons of debris to England, reportedly in exchange for two squadrons of new tanks.

*GERMANY*: 8 RAF Mosquitos to Münchengladbach and 3 to Düren, 15 Serrate patrols, 8 Stirlings and 4 Lancasters minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire, 2 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

At Erfurt, the first production Ta 154 A-1 was flown.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied forces in Italy continue to advance taking Narni and Terni.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 560+ B-17s and B-24s, most with fighter escort, to attack targets in Germany and Italy; B-17s attack aircraft component plants at Munich/Allach; B-24s marshalling yards at Innsbruck and Munich, Germany and the industrial area at Porto Marghera, Italy; they claim 30+ Luftwaffe aircraft shot down; ten bombers are lost and several others are missing.

Siegfried Freytag, _Gruppenkommandeur _of II./JG 77 and recently returned from wounds suffered over Sicily, gained his 100th victory.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: German commence Unternehmen "*Rumpelkammer*". At 0418 the first V-1 "buzz bomb" lands on England. Flying from a camouflaged ramp at Hesdon near the Pas de Calais, the bomb missed its intended target of the Tower Bridge and lands about 15 miles to the east. Of ten launched by the Germans, only four cross the Channel. But one of these kills six people in London. However, the LXV Armee Corps then orders the suspension of launchings until further notice. Expecting a far heavier attack, Lord Cherwell, Churchill's scientific advisor states;


> "_The mountain hath groaned and given forth a mouse!"_


*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +7 *: Gnr. J. T. Etherington and his 5.5" gun battery are landed at Sword Beach. An attack by elements of the 17.SS Panzerdivision and elements of the 6th Parachute Regiment [37th and 38th SS Panzergrenadier Regiments and the 17 SS Tank Battalion], at Carentan is held by defending troops. These troops were the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, two armor companies [Combat Command A, 2nd Armored Division] and a battalion of armored infantry.

*Villers Bocage and Lt. Michael Wittman* : The British 7th Armoured Div, after a brush with the enemy at Livry, pushed on to Villers-Bocage without opposition. Lt-Col Lord Cranley sent A Troop of his 4th County of London Yeomanry, together with a motor company of the 1st Battalion, the Rifle Brigade, up to Point 213, high ground east of the town. There was no sign of the enemy.The British 7th Armoured Div attacks toward Villers Bocage. Montgomery's attempt to outflank Caen by seizing Villers Bocage collapsed in confusion with heavy losses. He sent in 2 of his most experienced formations from the 8th Army, the 51st Highland and 7th Armoured Divisions. Meanwhile following a drive from Beauvais under repeated air attack, Lt. Michael Wittman led 6 Tigers of the 2nd Kompanie of sSSPzAbt 101 Heavy Tank Battalion out of the woods and along a sunken road into the village. His orders were to stop the advance of the 22nd Armoured Brigade of the British 7th Armoured Division from advancing through the township, and gaining the road to Caen. Wittman's company, hidden behind a hedgerow, spotted the British column. At about 8.00am, Wittman attacks the column on the main road, while the rest of his company (4 Tigers as one broke down) attacked the British forces around Hill 213. Soon after, Wittmann destroys a Sherman Firefly and Cromwell IV and heads south to attack the rest of the transport column. After knocking out 8 half-tracks, 4 Bren Carriers and two 6 pdr anti-tank guns, Wittmann reaches the crossroad to Tilly-sur-Seulles. At the crossroad, he destroys three Stuart tanks from a recon unit and reaches the outskirts of Villers-Bocage. Wittmann's Tiger was hit by a Sherman Firefly and he decides to turn back, Wittmann's Tiger was attacked by another Cromwell IV, which he destroyed. Back at the Tilly crossroad, British soldiers from 1st Rifle Brigade opened fire at Wittmann with their 6 pdr anti-tank gun, immobilizing his Tiger. Wittmann and his crew managed to escape on foot towards the Panzer Lehr positions near Orbois. The rest of his company at the Hill 213, destroyed the rest of A Squadron of the 4th County of London Yeomanry Regiment ("Sharpshooters") including 5 Cromwell IV and a Sherman Firefly, while capturing 30 men. During this short engagement, Wittmann's company destroyed 4 Sherman Firefly, 20 Cromwell, 3 Stuart, 3 M4 Sherman OP, 14 half-tracks, 16 Bren Carriers and 2 6 pdr anti-tank guns. Wittmann's attack was followed by another one by Tigers of Hptstrmführer Rolf Moebius' 1st Kompanie of sSSPzAbt 101 and Pzkpf IV tanks from Panzer Lehr but was repulsed by anti-tank guns from 22nd Armoured Brigade. With German reinforcements continuing to arrive, the surviving British forces were pulled out, covered by an artillery bombardment. Another attempt, supported by fighter-bombers, failed to dislodge the Germans. 

Bad weather cancels US Eighth AF large-scale bombing of high priority targets in Germany and overcast bombing against tactical targets in northwestern France is undertaken: Mission 409: In the first mission of the day, cloud cover is less than anticipated and visual runs are made by 129 B-17s against Evreux/Fauville Airfield (37 bomb), Dreux Airfield (52 bomb) and St Andre de L'Eure (40 bomb); escort is provided by 101 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 4-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. Mission 410: In the second mission, 112 B-17s and 260 B-24s are dispatched: 97 B-17s attack Beaumont-sur-Oise Airfield (41 bomb) and Beauvais/Nivelliers Airfield (56 bomb). 148 B-24s attack Dinard/Pleurtuit Airfield (ten bomb), Ploermel Bridge (26 bomb), Vannes Bride (19 bomb), Vicomte-sur-Rance Bridge (24 bomb), Montfort-sur-Meu Bridge (21 bomb), Porcaro Bridge (12 bomb) and 3 others hit targets of opportunity; two B-24s are lost. Escort for Mission 410 is provided by 12 P-38 Lightnings, 47 P-47 Thunderbolts and 174 P-51s; one P-51 is lost. 

Other fighter sorties during the day are: 97 P-38s are dispatched on fighter-bomber missions; two P-38s are lost. 199 P-47s are dispatched to La Port Boulet (90 attack), Montlouis (24 attack), transport targets (33 attack) and Chinon (31 attack); they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-47 is lost. 35 P-51s fly escort for fighter bombers. 12 P-38s and 35 P-47s escort Ninth Air Force bombers. 62 of 64 P-38s fly patrol over the English Channel.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 397 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb rail and road junctions, marshalling yards and fuel dumps in the assault areas of France; aircraft of nine fighter groups escort the bombers and attack bridges, marshalling yards, troop areas, rail and road traffic, gun emplacements, ammunition dumps and other targets.

Colonel Kurt Meyer is made commander of the 12.Panzerdivision 'Hitler Jugend' .


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## Njaco (Jun 28, 2009)

*14 June 1944 Wednesday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN: *_'U-547' _attacked a small convoy, consisting of the _'Saint Basile' _and the three ASW trawlers HMS _'Birdlip'_, _'Turcoman' _and _'Inkpen' _off Freetown and sank _'Birdlip' _at 0136 with a Gnat and at 0256 hours the merchantman _'Saint Basile' _was hit by one torpedo, broke in two and sank with the loss of six lives. The ship carried 38 crewmembers, five gunners and 21 Senegalese soldiers.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army breaks through the second Finnish line of defence, VT-line, in the Karelian Isthmus. The Finnish positions between Vammelsuu and Kuuterselkä, held by the Cavalry Brigade and 3rd Division of the IV Corps, are subjected to a massive 90-minute artillery and aerial bombardment, and the Soviet 109th Corps (Lt. Gen. Ivan Alferov) attacks at 8.30 am. The Cavalry Brigade manages to hold its positions, but to the north the 2nd Battalion of the Infantry Regiment 53 (3rd Division) is forced to leave its positions at Kuuterselkä. The Soviet forces advance to southwest, threatening to isolate the Cavalry Brigade, which, lacking AT-weapons, is forced to withdraw. To contain the situation, Battlegroup Puroma counter-attacks at 10.45 pm. Battlegroup is supported by three artillery battalions and the Junkers 88 bombers of the Aviation Regiment 4. Battlegroup Puroma manages to reach Kuuterselkä, destroying several tanks along the way. There Col. Puroma's battlegroup is locked in battle with the main forces of the Soviet 72nd Division (185th Tank Regiment, 351st Guards Heavy Assault Gun Regiment, 46th AT-Brigade and 119th Separate AT Battalion). The battle rages on into the morning of the 15th of June, by when Finns have lost five of their StuG IIIg's. More to the north, the 2nd Division of the IV Corps fights a battle of its own around Siiranmäki. At the center is Lt. Col. Adolf Ehrnrooth's Infantry Regiment 7, which has since yesterday repelled several Soviet attacks. The regiment is again today assaulted by strong Soviet forces, and the battle rages on for the whole day. But when the night falls, Lt. Col. Ehrnrooth's men have recaptured all the lost ground and caused severe losses to the enemy. The *Battle of Siiranmäki*, as it will be known, is one of the first signs that the Soviet offensive is not unstoppable.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 660+ B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in Czechoslovakia and Hungary; the B-17s attack oil refineries in Budapest, Hungary; the B-24s hit five oil targets, one at Parducice, Czechoslovakia and Petfurdo, Komarom, Osijek and Sisak, Hungary. P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s escort the bombers and P-38s strafe and dive-bomb the airfield at Kecskemet, Hungary.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Advances by the British 8th Army and the US IV Corps continue.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Admiral Moore takes command of the British Home Fleet.

F/L J. G. Musgrave shoots down the first V-1 flying bomb over the English Channel.

RAF Station Millfield, 881 RN Sqn Wildcat VI LCdr Digby Rex Bell COSH DSC RCNVR lost. Crashed while on course Drem, Scotland. UK.

*WESTERN FRONT*:* D-Day +8*: The British assault on Caen fails after a determined defence by the 2.Panzerdivision. 

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 412: Bad weather again covers all strategic targets in Germany except one in the extreme north; a major effort is directed against tactical objectives, mainly in France; 1,357 of 1,525 bombers dispatched hit the targets listed below; 14 bombers are lost: 502 B-17s are dispatched to hit airfields in France, i.e.,: Le Bourget (134 bomb), Coulommiers (24 bomb), Creil (25 bomb), Bretigny (69 bomb), Melun (50 bomb), Creil (66 bomb) and Etampes (69 bomb); they claim 0-5-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; eleven B-17s are lost. 466 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Chateaudun (103 bomb), Orleans/Bricy (97 bomb), Eindhoven, the Netherlands (63 bomb) and Coxyde, Belgium (seven bomb); and 61 hit the Emmerich, Germany oil refinery, 50 hit Beauvois, 44 hit Domleger, twelve hit targets of opportunity and four hit the Normandy beaches. Of 191 B-24s, seven hit Ham-sur-Somme, 32 hit targets of opportunity, 52 hit Lille/Vendeville, 12 hit Calas Tres, 12 hit Denain Drousey, 39 hit Laon/Athies and 70 hit Chievres; two B-24s are lost. 351 B-17s are dispatched to hit targets in BELGIUM: 35 bomb St Trond Airfield, 95 hit Florennes Airfield, 52 bomb Le Culot and 61 attack Brussels/Melsbroek; one B-17 is lost. 7 of 15 B-24s hit the Ham-sur-Somme Bridge and five use Azon missiles against targets of opportunity Escort for the bomber missions is provided by 103 P-47 Thunderbolts; two P-47s lost. Twenty B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

Other fighter missions are: 168 of 176 P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions against Luftwaffe HQ at Chantilly, France and Panzer columns; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 234 P-38 Lightnings, 178 P-47s and 171 P-51 Mustangs fly beachhead patrols and sweeps in front of the bomber force; they claim 4-1-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; three P-38s, a P-47 and a P-51 are lost. 

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 500+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to attack rail communications southwest of Paris and highway communications centers south of the beachhead area; junctions, bridges, marshalling yards, gun emplacements and various defensive strongpoints are included; 15+ fighter groups fly escort and attack numerous ground targets, including rail lines running from southwest of Paris to the Rennes area, and highway traffic on the Cherbourg Peninsula and south of the beachhead area to the Loire River.

Having been warned about an impending attack on their supply ships to Normandy by an ULTRA intercept, RAF bombers obliterated the torpedo boat base at Le Havre, sinking all but one of the small craft. 221 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of No 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups carried out Bomber Command's first daylight raid since the departure of No 2 Group at the end of May 1943. The objectives were the fast German motor-torpedo boats (E-boats) and other light naval forces harboured at Le Havre which were threatening Allied shipping off the Normandy beaches only 30 miles away. The raid took place in 2 waves, one during the evening and the second at dusk. Most of the aircraft in the first wave were from No 1 Group and in the second wave from No 3 Group. Pathfinder aircraft provided marking by their normal methods for both raids. No unexpected difficulties were encountered; the naval port area was accurately bombed by both waves with 1,230 tons of bombs and few E-boats remained undamaged. No 617 Squadron sent 22 Lancasters, each loaded with a 12,000lb Tallboy bomb, and 3 Mosquito marker aircraft to attack the concrete covered E-boat pens just before the first wave bombed. Several hits were scored on the pens and one bomb penetrated the roof. This raid was regarded as an experiment by Sir Arthur Harris, who was still reluctant to risk his squadrons to the dangers of daylight operations but both waves of the attack were escorted by Spitfires of 1No 1 Group and only 1 Lancaster was lost.

337 British heavy bombers attack German troops and vehicles at Aunay and Evreay. 223 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked German troop and vehicle positions at Aunay-sur-Odon and Évrecy, near Caen. These raids were prepared and executed in great haste, in response to an army report giving details of the presence of major German units. The weather was clear and both targets were successfully bombed. The target at Aunay, where the marking was shared by Nos 5 and 8 Groups, was particularly accurate. No aircraft were lost.

General De Gaulle arrives in Normandy. He takes the first steps to restore French civil government in liberated areas. On a platform in Bayeaux, decorated with the British, American and Canadian flags, he told his applauding audience:


> "_What the country expects of you is to keep up the fight_."


De Gaulle also visited Isigny, so close to the front that dead bodies were still being dug out of the ruins. Bayeaux has already greeted Winston Churchill, who was here two days ago with Field Marshal Smuts.


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## Njaco (Jun 28, 2009)

*15 June 1944 Thursday*
*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Frigate HMS _'Blackwood' _takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by _'U-674' _(Oblt. zur See Hanskurt von Bremen). The explosion blows off her (sic) bows but she remains afloat and is taken in tow until foundering on the following day, 23 miles SE of Portland. There are 58 casualties. Subsequently assessed as a bottomed U-boat, a Canadian escort group engaged in A/S operations depth charge the wreck which sets off her own cargo of depth charges in a terrific explosion! Frigate HMS _'Mourne' _takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by _'U-767' _(Oblt. zur See der Reserve Walter Dankleff) which hits her forward and blows off her bows. She sank within a minute.

_'U-987' _sunk in the North Sea west of Narvik, in position 68.01N, 05.08W by torpedoes from submarine HMS _'Satyr'_. 53 dead (all hands lost).

_'U-860' _sunk in the South Atlantic south of St Helena, in position 25.27S, 05.30W, by depth charges and rockets from 7 Avenger and Wildcat aircraft (Task Group 22.10) of the US escort carrier USS _'Solomons'_. 42 dead and 20 survivors. Two Avengers were shot down in this battle.

*EASTERN FRONT*: This evening the Finnish GHQ decides to abandon the attempts to recapture the lost positions on the VT-line. Battlegroup Puroma's battle at Kuuterselkä goes on until this morning, when the IV Corps orders it to abandon its attempts to regain the VT-line. Battlegroup Puroma withdrew from battle. The three battalions of the Jäger Brigade present at the battle lost 627 men, 161 of them KIA or MIA. The Assault Gun Battalion lost five of its StuG IIIg's (more than half of its total losses of eight StuG IIIg's during the whole war) and 24 men, five of them killed (among the dead was Capt. Werner von Troil, CO of the 2nd Assault Gun Company). Russian sources admit the loss of 40 tanks at Kuuterselkä. Today is given the general order for the civilian population to evacuate the whole Karelian Isthmus. For the second and final time people are forced to leave their homes and become refugees. Karelians left their homes for the first time during and immediately after the Winter War, but many returned after the lost territories were re-conquered in summer and autumn of 1941.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 414: 1,361 bombers are dispatched in eight forces to bomb an oil refinery Germany and numerous tactical targets in France, including nine airfields, an aircraft plant, CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites, eleven bridges, a marshalling yard, and various scattered targets; two B-17s are lost: Of 747 B-17s dispatched, 172 hit the Hannover/Misburg oil refinery, 16 hit Wilster, 16 hit Wesermunde, two hit the Hannover area and one hits Helgoland Island, Germany. 

31 RAF Mosquitos to Gelsenkirchen, 13 Serrate and 21 Intruder patrols, 7 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes minelaying off Channel ports. 1 Mosquito lost from the Gelsenkirchen raid.

JG 4 recieved a Stab flight when it was formed in Andbach from Stab./JG z.b.V. with Major Gerhard Schopfel appointed as Gruppenkommandeur.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Motor torpedo boats PT-552, PT-558, and PT-559 sink German torpedo boats TA 26 (ex-Italian Navy _'Intrepido'_) and TA 30 (ex-Italian Navy _'Dragone'_) off the Italian coast between La Spezia and Genoa.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Northwest Air Command of the Royal Canadian Air Force is created.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The second attack of V-1 flying bombs on England resulted in the launching of 224 of the bombs. 45 failed to launch properly and landed on their ramps, 40 more landed in the sea and 153 crossed the coast of England. The UK defenses destroyed 22 more bombs, about 50 fell on open ground far from London. But 73 landed on London causing much damage and destruction with casualties.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +9*: Generals Montgomery and Bradley agree on Cherbourg as their next primary target. The US VII Corps liberates Quineville. 

USAAF's Eighth Air Force Mission 414 cont.: 144 B-17s hit Bordeaux/Merignac Airfield, 71 hit Nantes railroad bridge north, 71 hit La Poissonniere rail viaduct, 70 hit Angouleme marshalling yard, 59 hit Beauvoir V-weapon site, 46 hit Nantes railroad bridge south, 12 hit Gael Airfield and ten hit a viaduct north of Nantes; two B-17s are lost. Of 614 B-24s dispatched to France, 89 hit Le Port Boulet railroad bridge, 61 hit Evreux/Fauville Airfield, 59 hit Tours-la-Frillerie, 54 hit Tours-La Rice railroad bridge, 46 hit Guyancourt Airfield, 45 hit Etampes/Modesir Airfield, 44 hit Cinq Mars bridge, 27 hit St Cyr, 21 hit Buc Airfield, 12 hit Tours-La Riche highway bridge, 12 hit Le Mans Airfield, 12 hit Orleans/Saran Airfield and eight hit targets of opportunity; 12 B-24s use Azon missiles against Etaples railroad bridge and seven others use the missiles against the Pecrone railroad bridge.

Fighter operations are: 96 P-38 Lightnings, 202 P-47 Thunderbolts and 211 P-51 Mustangs escort the bombers and claim 5-0-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; two P-38s and a P-51 are lost. 36 P-47s bomb Etaples, France; 1 P-47s is lost. 177 P-38s fly a fighter sweep in front of the bomber forces without loss.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 550+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs against fuel and ammunition dumps, rail and highway communications, and an armoured division HQ south of the bridgehead on the Douve River; 1,400+ fighters fly armed reconnaissance in the Valognes-Cherbourg area, the western part of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and along communications lines south to Loire; fighters also attack shipping between the Channel Islands and the Cherbourg Peninsula.

Weather cancels bombing operations of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy. P-51s and P-38s strafe La Jasse, Orange/Plan de Dieu, Orange/Caritat, Avignon/Chateau-Blanc and Avignon/Pujaut Airfields in France. 

297 RAF aircraft - 155 Lancasters, 130 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups carried out attacks on German light naval vessels now gathering in Boulogne harbour. The tactics employed and the bombing results were similar to those at Le Havre the previous evening, although the visibility was not so clear. 1 Halifax lost. The only details from France are in a short civil report which describes this as the Worst raid of the war on Boulogne, with great destruction in the port and the surrounding areas.

227 RAF aircraft - 119 Lancasters, 99 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked an ammunition dump at Fouillard and a fuel dump at Châtellerault. The raid at Fouillard, carried out by No 4 Group with Pathfinder marking, hit the north- western section of the target and the all-No 5 Group raid at Châtellerault destroyed 8 fuel sites out of 35 in the target area. No aircraft lost. 224 aircraft - 184 Lancasters, 30 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 3 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Lens and Valenciennes. The raids took place in clear visibility and both targets were accurately bombed. 6 Lancasters were lost from the Lens raid and 5 Lancasters from Valenciennes.


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## Njaco (Jun 28, 2009)

*16 June 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +10*: British forces in Normandy make slow but steady progress toward Caen against very heavy resistance. Meanwhile, US forces continue to drive west to cut the Cotentin Peninsula and isolate Cherbourg, capturing St. Saveur. US forces cross the River Douvre in Normandy. In order to secure favourable defensive positions the 101st conducted a few small actions. This continued on June 17. They were the last real combat for the division in Normandy. For the next two weeks until relieved by the 83rd Infantry Division the 101st held strong defensive positions to the south and southwest of Carentan.

King George VI of Great Britain visits troops in Normandy.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 416: 370 bombers, including 22 Pathfinders are dispatched to four airfields and four CROSSBOW (V-weapon) supply sites in France; one B-17 is lost: Of 146 B-17 Flying Fortresses, 38 bomb Laon/Athies Airfield, 38 hit Juvincourt Airfield, 18 hit railroad targets of opportunity and 17 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield; one B-17 is lost. 224 B-24 Liberators are dispatched to bomb airfields and CROSSBOW sites; B-24s attacking V-weapon supply sites are: 48 hit Renescure, 44 hit Sautrecourt, 43 hit Domleger and 21 hit Beauvoir; airfields attacked are: 17 hit Beauvais/Tille, 17 hit Authe and 12 hit St Andre de L'Eure.

US VIII Fighter Command missions for the day are: 165 P-38s, 88 P-47 Thunderbolts and 172 P-51 Mustangs escort the bombers above, they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; no losses. 70 P-51s perform a sweep against stalled trains between Angouleme and Poitiers, dropping external fuel tanks on them and firing the tanks by strafing; the same tactics are used on trains in the marshalling yard at Saint-Pierre-d'Ecideuil; heavy damage is inflicted on both targets, including heavy troop casualties. 50 P-38s and 75 P-47s make fighter-bomber attacks on troops in the Arras-St Pol area; at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise a large number of railroad cars are burned by oil and phosphorus bombs and strafing attacks; other marshalling yards, a power station, railroad station, trains, barges, tanks, trucks, gun emplacements, AA tower and an armored vehicle are attacked; A total of about 400 railroad cars are attacked and about half of them set on fire. In general the fighter attacks are highly effective; three P-38s are lost.

Bad weather prevents bomber operations by the USAAF's Ninth Air Force based in England; 500+ fighters strafe and bomb rail lines, bridges and highway traffic on the Cherbourg Peninsula.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches almost 600 bombers to attack targets in Austria and Czechoslovakia; B-17s attack the Kragan and Florisdorf oil refineries around Vienna; B-24s bomb the industrial area at Bratislava, Czechoslovakia and the Lobau and Schwechat oil refineries and Winterhafen oil depot in the Vienna area. Between 200 and 250 fighters attack the formations and 15 USAAF aircraft are shot down; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 70 aircraft destroyed.

405 RAF aircraft - 236 Lancasters, 149 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups commenced the new campaign against flying-bomb launching sites with raids on 4 sites in the Pas de Calais area. All targets were accurately marked by Oboe Mosquitos and successfully bombed. No aircraft lost.

The unescorted _'Columbine' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-198' _25 miles NW of Cape Castle, South West Africa. The master, 19 crewmembers and six passengers were lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British X Corps liberate Spoleto, Italy.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Commander of the Isthmus Troops Lt. Gen. Karl Oesch gives orders for the III and IV Corps to withdraw to the third Finnish line of defence (VKT-line) while delaying the enemy. Marshal Mannerheim orders the Olonets Group (Lt. Gen. Paavo Talvela) on the Olonets Isthmus (between lakes Ladoga and Onega) and the II Corps (Maj. Gen. Einar Mäkinen) on the Maaselkä Isthmus (between Lake Onega and White Sea) to start withdrawing back towards the 1939 border. German supplies start again flowing to Finland. To strengthen the Finnish AT-defences, more than 10,000 Panzerfausts are transported by motor torpedo boats and aircraft. Luftwaffe units and Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 303 together with the 122th Infantry Division are on their way. Six Finnish VMV Patrol boats surprise four enemy G-5 type motor torpedo boats at Halli. One of them is sunk and another captured.

*GERMANY*: 321 RAF aircraft - 162 Halifaxes, 147 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups to attack the synthetic-oil plant at Sterkrade/Holten despite a poor weather forecast. The target was found to be covered by thick cloud and the Pathfinder markers quickly disappeared. The Main Force crews could do little but bomb on to the diminishing glow of the markers in the cloud. RAF photographic reconnaissance and German reports agree that most of the bombing was scattered, although some bombs did fall in the plant area, but with little effect upon production. Unfortunately, the route of the bomber stream passed near a German night-fighter beacon at Bocholt, only 30 miles from Sterkrade. The German controller had chosen this beacon as the holding point for his night fighters. Approximately 21 bombers were shot down by fighters and a further 10 by flak. 22 of the lost aircraft were Halifaxes, these losses being 13.6 percent of the 162 Halifaxes on the raid. No 77 Squadron, from Full Sutton near York, lost 7 of its 23 Halifaxes taking part in the raid. 25 Mosquitos and 1 Lancaster of No 8 Group to Berlin, 12 RCM sorties (the airborne Mandrel jamming screen was used for the first time on this night), 53 Serrate, Intruder and flying-bomb patrols, 8 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes minelaying in the Frisians and off the Biscay coast. 1 Stirling RCM aircraft lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM *: From a total of 144 V-1 bombs sent across the English Channel, 21 were shot down by fighters or AA fire and 73 reached the London area. During the next 10 days, an average of 100 V-1 bombs fell on England every 24 hours.


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## Njaco (Jun 29, 2009)

*17 June 1944* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Germany's long-threatened pilot-less planes or flying bombs are now falling thick and fast on London and south-east England. They first arrived four days ago, but a full-scale attack was only announced yesterday by Herbert Morrison, who claimed that damage was "relatively small". No so: it is now becoming severe. According to figures issued at 6am today, 18 people have died and 166 have been injured in flying-bomb explosions since the first six casualties in Bethnal Green, in London, on 13 June. Yesterday 73 fell on Greater London, and today 24 people died in a single blast in a London pub. The damage can cover a quarter of a mile in radius, mainly by blast. Windows are shattered, and debris lacerates anyone upright in the vicinity. Many are buried alive. The most demoralizing factor is the moment when the engine cuts out. People stare in silence and then fling themselves flat to wait for the explosion. The V1s are being called "doodlebugs" or "buzz bombs" for the drone of their engines.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +11*: The US 9th Division reaches the west coast of Normandy. US forces in Normandy succeed in capturing Barneville, cutting the Cotentin Peninsula, isolating the Germans to the north around Cherbourg. Hitler orders those doomed units to stand fast.

Rommel, Rundstedt and Hitler meet at Soissons in the underground bunker built for the Führer in 1940, when he talked of invading Britain. Hitler was pale and haggard; hunched on a stool, he fiddled with his glasses as Rommel said that the struggle was hopeless against Allied superiority in the air, at sea and on land. At least, Rommel argued, they should pull back out of range of the Allies' devastating naval guns. The Führer would have none of it. He blamed the two field marshals for the success of the Allied landings, and dismissed Rommel's complaints that fuel shortages and enemy fighter-bomber attacks ruled out a major German offensive. The Führer promised that the V-1's will force Britain out of the war. There were "masses of jet fighters" on the way to drive the enemy out of the sky. At this point, Hitler was interrupted by Allied planes passing overhead. And then, shortly after von Rundstedt and Rommel departed, Hitler was shaken by a huge explosion. One of his own V1s had misfired and hit the bunker roof.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions against targets in France, primarily airfields; two B-17 Flying Fortresses are lost; fighters fly 1,027 sorties during the day and destroy 15 locomotives, train cars, trucks and other vehicles. Mission 418: 232 of 332 bombers attack targets in FRANCE: Of 174 B-17s, 52 hit Monchy-Breton Airfield, 31 hit a railroad bridge at Noyen, 18 hit Chateaudun Airfield and 18 hit Villiers/L'Eveque Airfield; two B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 43 P-38 Lightnings, 39 P-47 Thunderbolts and 90 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-51 is lost. Of 158 B-24s, 28 hit Laval Airfield, 26 hit Guyancourt/Caudron Airfield, 18 hit Le Mans/Arnage Airfield, 17 hit Bretigny Airfield, 12 hit Brunnelles, one hit Melun Airfield, one hits Dreux, one hits St Valery and one hits a target of opportunity; escort is provided by 87 P-47s and 170 P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-0 on the ground.99 P-38s fly fighter-bomber missions against railroad bridges at Corbie and Peronne; four P-38s are lost.

Mission 419: Of 312 B-24s dispatched, 80 hit Angers Airfield, 75 hit Laval Airfield, 55 hit Tours Airfield, 38 hit Essay airstrip, 25 hit Lonray airstrip and one hits LeMans; one B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 122 P-47s and 148 P-51s; a P-51 is lost. 49 P-38s and 39 P-47s, escorted by 47 P-38s, make fighter-bomber attacks on Corbie-Peronne railroad bridges; two P-38s are lost.

317 RAF aircraft - 196 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes, 19 Mosquitos, 12 Stirlings - of Nos 1, 3, 4 and 8 Groups attacked railway targets at Aulnoye, Montdidier and St Martin l'Hortier. 1 Lancaster was lost on the Montdidier raid. All targets were covered by cloud and the Master Bombers at Aulnoye and Montdidier ordered their forces to stop bombing after only 7 and 12 aircraft had bombed respectively. 87 aircraft of No 4 Group bombed their target at St Martin l'Hortier but no results were seen. 114 aircraft - 90 Halifaxes, 19 Lancasters, 5 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups bombed a site at Oisemont, near Abbeville. No results were observed and no aircraft were lost. 30 Mosquitos to Berlin and 4 to the Scholven/Buer oil plant, 10 RCM sorties, 54 Mosquitos on Serrate, Intruder and flying bomb patrols, 8 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes minelaying in the Channel Islands, 12 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 265 B-26 Marauders to attack fuel dumps, a bridge and a railway line south of the battle area; 1,300+ fighters fly escort and top cover, and strafe and bomb troop concentrations, military vehicles, bridges, gun emplacements, tanks and other tactical targets.

_'U-423' _(Type VIIC) is sunk northeast of the Faroes, in position 63.06N, 02.05E, by depth charges from a Norwegian Catalina aircraft (Sqdn. 333/D). 53 dead (all crew lost).

Iceland declared full independence from Denmark and became a republic.

Agent "Arabel", Jan Pujol Garcia, was awarded the Iron Cross by Hitler, who stated he was his best agent in Britain. Garcia, of course, was instrumental in fooling the Germans into believing that the Normandy invasion was a diversion and the real assault would come in Belgium.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the Karelian Isthmus the Finnish troops start their withdrawal to the third line of defence, VKT-line. They start a disorganized retreat, and units of the Armoured Division are sent to reinforce them. On the left flank of the IV Corps the 3rd Brigade and 4th Division are fighting in Summa, the famous battlefield of the Winter War. To the north, on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga Lt. Gen. Hjalmar Siilasvuo's III Corps has so far been spared the full fury of the Soviet offensive. Now it also starts to withdraw towards the VKT-line. Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey's Stukas and Fw 190's start arriving at the Immola airfield in southern Finland. The unit has been formed out of units in Lapland and Baltic region, and consists of 32 Stukas and 30 Fw 190 fighter-bombers.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied task force (Rear Admiral Thomas H. Troubridge, RN), including U.S. naval vessels, lands the French 9th Colonial Division on island of Elba off Italy. U.S. Navy ships participating in the landings include 6 destroyers, 1 destroyer escort, 5 minesweepers, 15 motor minesweepers, 16 submarine chasers, 10 tank landing ships, 20 tank landing craft, and 19 infantry landing craft; one LCI(L) is damaged by shore battery fire. Four U.S. motor torpedo boats sink four German F- lighters loaded with German troops being evacuated from Elba.


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## Njaco (Jun 30, 2009)

*18 June 1944* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A flying bomb fell on the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks only yards from Buckingham Palace, during morning service today. The building was almost completely destroyed and 119 worshipers, half civilians, half servicemen, were killed. Another 102 were seriously injured.

_'U-767' _sunk in 230' of water in the English Channel, depth charged, 1 trapped gets out with Drager gear from bottom without an air lock, PoW.

SS _'Albert C Field' _(1,764 GRT) Canadian Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Transportation Co. bulk laker sunk by a torpedo in a dusk attack from a Luftwaffe JU-88 torpedo-bomber a/c, in the English Channel, position 50.28N, 001.46W. The ship was part of the twelve-ship Penarth, Wales, to Normandy beachhead convoy EBC-14. She was carrying a cargo of 2,500 tons of ammunition and 130 bags of US Army mail. The ship broke in half and sank quickly. Four crewmembers were lost from her 33 men. The British Western Isles-class armed trawler HMS _'HERSCHELL' _rescued the survivors. The rescue was greatly assisted by the small red lights and whistles that had only recently been added to the standard life vests then in use.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 421: 1,378 bombers are dispatched to targets in Germany; eleven bombers are lost, ten to AA fire and one to unknown causes: Of 890 B-17s dispatched, 381 bomb Hamburg, 88 hit Hannover-Misburg oil refinery, 85 hit the Bremen area; 60 hit Hannover, 54 hit Hamburg-Eurotank oil refinery, 38 hit Hamburg-Ossag oil refinery, 36 hit Hamburg-Schindler oil refinery, 18 hit Bremen-Oslebshausen; 18 hit Hamburg-Ebano oil refinery and five hit targets of opportunity; seven B-17s are lost. Of 488 B-24s, 168 hit Hamburg, 107 bomb Bremerhaven, 58 attack the Watten V-weapon sites, France, 54 hit Brunsbuttel, 45 hit Stade Airfield, 28 hit Wesermunde, 13 hit Husum Airfield, nine hit Nordenham, eight hit Heligoland Airfield, five hit targets of opportunity and one hits Wrist marshalling yard; four B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 198 P-38s, 172 P-47 Thunderbolts and 215 P-51 Mustangs.

The Me 163 unit, I./JG 400 reported eleven aircraft on strength, five operational.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +12*: US First Army troops reach the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula at Barneville, cutting off the German-held port of Cherbourg.

94 of 98 P-38s and 82 of 87 P-47s attack railroad bridges in the St Quentin area without loss. 47 P-51s make a sweep of the Dol de Bretagne area; three P-51s are lost).

US Eighth Air Force Mission 422: Nine B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions in France; a B-24 hits a tree at the drop zone.

In France, the USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches about 130 A-20 Havocs and B-26s to bomb fuel dumps at Foret d'Andaine and Conches and marshalling yards at Rennes and Meudon during the morning and NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in the afternoon; fighters, in addition to escort duty, continue strafing and bombing rail lines, troop concentrations, and highway traffic on the Cherbourg Peninsula.

In a period of bad flying weather, only 10 RAF Mosquitos could be sent to attack a large concrete flying-bomb storage building in the woods at Watten, near St Omer. 9 aircraft bombed but no details of the results are available. No aircraft lost. 5 Halifaxes and 2 Stirlings laid mines off Brest and St Malo.

The battered aircraft of II./JG 1 left the bomb damaged airfield at Essay and transferred to Semalle. The airfield was very small with no accomodations, forcing the pilots to camp out at a nearby cemetary.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet attacks breech the Finnish Main Defence Line and they advance towards Viipuri. The 4th Division and 3rd Brigade were repelling Soviet attacks in old positions in Summa, the famous battlefield of the Winter War. Leningrad Front's successes against Finland are recognized by promotion of its commander Army General Leonid Govorov to Marshal of the Soviet Union, and commander of the 21st Army Lt. Gen. D. Gusev to Colonel General. Six German AF barges are ordered to protect transports in Koivisto area. Securing patrol boat VMV 17 is destroyed by Soviet warplanes in Koivisto at Tiurinsaari Island. Six men lost.

The Germans launch a six-day sweep against partisans near Lublin.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allies capture Assisi.

In Italy, bad weather grounds medium and light bombers; fighter-bombers and fighters are restricted to patrols, mainly over the Piombino area and island of Elba, during which several gun positions, boats, and barges are hit.


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## Njaco (Jun 30, 2009)

*19 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +13*: In France, elements of the American 79th Division enter Negraville, Gladeville, and Bois de la Brigue.

The worst storm for 40 years destroys the artificial "Mulberry" harbour off Omaha Beach. The massive storm hits the Normandy coast wrecking much of the prefabricated harbor facilities ("Mulberry") at St. Laurent. This port along with it's sister port in the British sector allowed the quick buildup of Allied forces and supplies. It's loss was a severe blow to the Allied advance. However, the advance toward Cherbourg continues as elements of the US 1st Army takes Montebourg and Valognes.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies morning and afternoon missions against targets in France. Mission 423: In the morning, 464 B-17s are dispatched against airfields in the Bordeaux area: 92 hit Cormes Ecluse, 84 hit Bordeaux/Merignac, 39 hit Cazaux, 34 hit Landes-de-Bussac, 12 hit Cabanac and three hit targets of opportunity; seven B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 88 P-38 Lightnings and 261 P-51 Mustangs; four P-38s and six P-51s are lost. Mission 424: In both morning and afternoon missions, 216 B-17s and 294 B-24s hit 35 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; one B-24 is lost. 358th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, USAAF, based at Station 107 - Molesworth, Huntingdonshire, makes its first attack on occupied Europe with a mission to German V-1 launch sites in the Pas de Calais. Escort is provided by 196 P-38s, 122 P-47s and 48 P-51s; one P-38 group, after completing escort duty, dive-bombs and strafes transportation targets in northeastern France, destroying a locomotive and three barges.

The airfield at Cardonville, the first U.S. field in France, becomes operational; around 200 USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters carry out uneventful armed reconnaissance and patrols in the morning, and dive-bomb six NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in the afternoon.

After standing by for 3 days waiting for cloud over the Pas de Calais to clear, 19 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 617 Squadron, with 9 Mosquitos of No 8 Group providing preliminary marking, attacked the flying-bomb store, but the conditions were too difficult for accurate marking and the nearest Tallboy bomb was 50 yards from the concrete store.

The unescorted _'Garoet' _(Master P. de Raadt) was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-181' _and sank within minutes. Only a few men survived the sinking and at least one of them was questioned by the Germans. Five survivors were picked up by the British steam merchant _'Nirvana' _and five others made landfall at Mauritius.

*EASTERN FRONT*: On the right flank of the Finnish IV Corps on the Karelian Isthmus, the 10th Division and Cavalry Brigade, reinforced by units from the Armored Division, have been able to consolidate their positions. But they are under heavy Soviet pressure, and get orders to start withdrawing towards Viipuri. The 10th Division and Cavalry Brigade are in bad shape. In the middle of the IV Corps's front the 3rd Brigade is withdrawn to reinforce the troops near Viipuri, leaving the 4th Division to defend alone the old battlefield of Summa.

Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey's planes are in action for the first time since their arrival at Immola. They claim 24 Soviet aircraft shot down, with losses of three. Eighteen Finnish Me-109s shoot down 6 Pe-2 and 2 Il-4 bombers as well as 3 P-39 and 2 La-5 fighters of their escort.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Mountain fighters of the French Expeditionary Force have climbed to the highest point of the island of Napoleon's exile to raise the Tricouleur. Elba was taken by storm, the French troops landing by night and taking Porto Ferrario after a short and bloody battle. On the mainland, British troops are fighting for the road and rail junction of Perugia. Assisi fell earlier today. The British XIII Corps has reached the Albert Line which German troops have been ordered to defend "with tenacity" as their army withdraws to the Gothic Line.

The unescorted _'Pestel_´ (Master S.N. Kushnarenko) was hit by two torpedoes from _'U-20' _and sank at 22.20 hours after breaking in two off Trabzon. The Soviets reported that the ship was sunk within the territorial waters of Turkey, while her escort (eight SKA patrol boats) waited at the border of these waters to meet the vessel. The survivors were picked up by the patrol boats, but the master and 17 crew members were lost. The next morning, the U-boat took a rescue buoy from the ship aboard.


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## Njaco (Jun 30, 2009)

*20 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +14*: US forces become entangled with the outer defences of Cherbourg. They continue to advance to within 5 miles of Cherbourg and make contact with the outer defenses of the fortified city.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions. Mission 425: In the morning 1,548 bombers, in five forces, are dispatched to attack 14 strategic targets in northern Germany and V-weapon sites in France; 49 bombers are lost. 126 B-24 Liberators bomb V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; one B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 44 P-47 Thunderbolts; they claim 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-47 is lost.

Mission 426: In the afternoon, 33 B-17s and 196 B-24s attack ten V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; one B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 72 P-47s and 40 P-51s. 25 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France.

About 370 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs of the USAAF's Ninth Air Force bomb nine V-weapon sites and a coastal defence battery at Houlgate; 1,000+ fighters operating over frontline areas, the Cherbourg Peninsula, and south to Dreux, bomb and strafe rail lines, marshalling yards, bridges, troop concentrations and other targets.

17 RAF Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of No 617 Squadron attempted to attack a large, concrete covered V-weapon site in a quarry at Wizernes, but the target was cloud-covered and no bombs were dropped.

Hitler orders that all available fighters be sent to France to help stop the Allied invasion.

*GERMANY*: Of 341 B-17 Flying Fortresses dispatched, 137 hit Fallersleben, 95 hit Magdeburg/Rothensee and 52 hit Konigsberg; they claim 2-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; six B-17s are lost. Of 191 B-24s, 169 hit Hannover/Misburg and three hit a target of opportunity; one B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 98 P-38 Lightnings, 86 P-47s and 38 P-51 Mustangs and 81 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 10-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 8-0-3 on the ground; one P-38, one P-47 and one P-51 are lost. Of 512 B-17s dispatched, 107 hit Hamburg/Eurotank oil refinery, 60 hit Harburg/Ebano oil refinery, 54 hit Hamburg/Schliemanns oil refinery, 53 hit Harburg/Rhenania oil refinery, 53 hit Hamburg/Deut.Petr.AG, 50 hit Hamburg/Rhenania-Ossag oil refinery, 26 hit Hamburg/Schindler oil refinery, 12 hit Brunsbuttel canal lock and two hit targets of opportunity; seven B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 96 P-38s and 48 P-47s. Of 358 B-24s, 245 hit Politz, 71 bomb Ostermoor and 12 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 10-3-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 34 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 50 P-38s and 221 P-51s; they claim 28-1-9 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 5-0-9 on the ground; three P-38s are lost.

Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg, a conspirator in a plot by high-ranking army officers to stage a coup against Hitler, is appointed chief of staff to General Friedrich Fromm, so gaining access to Hitlers headquarters.

Major Wolfgang Schenk arrived at Lechfeld airbase to take over the training program designed to re-train ex-Kampfgeschwader pilots onto the Me 262, which at this time were only those pilots of 3./KG 51. Major Schenk only had a few Me 262s obtained from EKdo 262.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army captures Viipuri (Vyborg), the second largest city of pre-war Finland, and one of the main reasons Finland went to war in 1941. After the loss of Viipuri, it was Col. Kai Savonjousi's alertness that finally saved Finns from an even worse disaster. When he received the first news that the 20th Brigade was leaving the city, Col. Savonjousi, on his own initiative, sent troops to plug the gaping hole west of the city. On the next two days men of Col. Savonjousi's 10th Division repelled the first Soviet attempts to advance west from Viipuri. The first the Finnish GHQ hears of the loss of Viipuri, is when radio-intelligence captures a message from a Soviet tank commander, stating that he has just reached the center of the city. Col. Kemppi was later court-martialled, but cleared of all charges.

A heavy air attack to mine depot on Kirkonmaa Island sank two mine transporters and blow up the mine depot. About 600 mines and anti-sweeping devices were lost.

The Red Army masses 166 divisions and 5,000 tanks in Byelorussia, poised for Operation *Bagration*, a.k.a. the Belarusian Strategic Offensive Operation. The operation was named, by the Soviets, after Russian Gen. Petr Bagration, who died in the Battle of Borodino in September 1812, fighting against Napoleon’s forces. Four Soviet Army fronts participated in the offensive – 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belarusian as well as 1st Baltic – numbering all in all 2.6-million troops, 26,000 artillery pieces, 5,200 tanks. The Soviet Air Force brought to bear some 153,000 combat sorties on the enemy which amounted to an air campaign unprecedented throughout the previous course of war.

Nazis began mass extermination of Jews at Auschwitz.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British troops take Perugia.

In Italy, weather continues to hamper operations but 60+ medium bombers manage to attack rail targets between Genoa and La Spezia; fighter-bombers destroy several road bridges in the battle area and to the N, and damage several other road and rail bridges as the Allies' rapid advance slows down due to the enemy's ability to strengthen his position and form a delaying line across Italy to the S of the Gothic Line (Pisa-Rimini) where he is prepared to make a stand.


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## Njaco (Jul 1, 2009)

*21 June 1944* 

*GERMANY*: *Operation 'Frantic'*: 145 of 163 US Eighth Air Force B-17s begin shuttle bombing missions (Operation FRANTIC) between the UK and bases in the USSR; 72 P-38 Lightnings, 38 P-47 Thunderbolts and 57 P-51 Mustangs escort the B-17s to the target (synthetic oil plant at Ruhland, Germany); 123 B-17s bomb the primary target, 21 bomb Elsteriverda and a lone B-17 bombs Riesa due to a bomb rack malfunction; after the attack, the supporting P-51s are relieved 50 miles (80 km) SE of Poznan, Poland by 65 other P-51s which are to accompany the B-17s to the USSR; 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Brest Litovsk, 20 to 30 Luftwaffe fighters attack the force; in the resulting battle a P-51 and six German fighters are destroyed; a B-17 is lost (to unknown causes) on the flight; 144 B-17s land in the USSR, 73 at Poltava, and the rest at Mirgorod; the 64 remaining P-51s land at Piryatin. During the night of 21/22 June the 73 B-17s which earlier landed at Poltava are attacked for two hours by an estimated 75 German bombers led by aircraft dropping flares; 47 B-17s are destroyed and most of the remainder severely damaged; heavy damage is also suffered by stores of fuel and ammunition.

Shortly before 22:00 hours a He 177 high-altitude recon plane overflew the Russian bases and despite AA fire from the defenders, noted the activity and disappeared into cloud.

This USAAF shuttle run is made in conjunction with a large-scale effort against targets in the Berlin area as follows: 456 B-17s attack Berlin; 12 other hit targets of opportunity; they claim 16-20-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 16 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 99 P-38s, 95 P-47s and 73 P-51s; they claim 4-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; one fighter is lost. Of 368 B-24s dispatched, 69 hit Genshagen, 52 hit Marienfelde, 47 hit Berlin, 40, hit Potsdam, 28 hit Niederschonweide, 23 hit Genshagen, 16 hit Rangsdorf, ten hit Trebbin, eight hit Selvig, eight hit Stendal, seven hit targets of opportunity in the Berlin area and one hits Bederekesa; they claim 13-3-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 148 P-38s, 147 P-47s and 116 P-51s; they claim 13-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-51 is lost. Of 207 B-17s, 103 hit Berlin, 80 hit Basdorf and five hit targets of opportunity; nine B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 108 P-38s, 81 P-47s and 91 P-51s; a P-38, a P-47 and a P-51 are lost.

133 RAF Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos to attack the synthetic-oil plant at Wesseling; all the aircraft in this force were from No 5 Group except for 5 Lancasters provided by No 1 Group. The weather forecast for the target area (and for the attack on Scholven/Buer which took place at the same time) predicted clear conditions but the bombing force encountered 10/10ths low cloud. The planned No 5 Group low-level marking method could not be used and the reserve method, in which the Lancasters bombed on H2S, was used instead. German night fighters made contact with the bomber force and 37 Lancasters were lost, Nos 44, 49 and 619 Squadrons each losing 6 aircraft. The casualty rate represented 27.8 per cent of the Lancaster force. Post-raid reconnaissance showed that only slight damage was caused to the oil plant but a secret German report quoted in the British Official History records a 40 per cent production loss at Wesseling after this raid. It is possible that the loss was only of short duration. 123 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups (124 aircraft from No 5 Group) to attack the synthetic-oil plant at Scholven/Buer. 8 Lancasters lost. This target was also cloud-covered and the No 5 Group marking method could not be used, the Pathfinder aircraft present providing Oboe-based skymarking instead. Again there is a contradiction in reports on the effect of the bombing. Post-raid photographs appeared to show no new damage but the German secret reports indicate a 20 per cent production loss. 32 Mosquitos to Berlin, 41 Mosquito patrols, 13 Stirlings minelaying off Guernsey, St Malo and St Nazaire, 10 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +15*: Whilst operating off the Normandy Sword beach area, destroyer HMS _'Fury' _is mined and has to be taken in tow. However, she breaks free from her tow in bad weather, and is driven ashore where she becomes a constructive total loss.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 429: In the late afternoon, 31 B-24s bomb CROSSBOW (V-weapon) supply sites at Oisemont/Neuville and Saint-Martin-L'Hortier and 39 bomb a rocket site at Siracourt, France. AA fire shoots down a B-24; escort is provided by 99 P-47s, meeting no enemy aircraft, but a group strafes railroad and canal targets.

Mission 430: Five B-17s drop leaflets in France. 21 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force dispatches 250+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb 13 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France. 700+ fighters escort Eighth Air Force bombers over Germany, bomb bridges south and west of Paris, and strafe rail and road traffic and communications centres north and west of Paris.

322 RAF aircraft - 165 Halifaxes, 142 Lancasters, 15 Mosquitos - 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 3 flying bomb sites. Because of cloud, 2 of the raids were abandoned after only 17 aircraft had bombed; the third target, at St Martin l'Hortier, was bombed through 10/10ths cloud. No aircraft lost. 3 Mosquitos of No 100 Group flew Ranger patrols and claimed an Me110 shot down. No Mosquitos lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Krutikov's 7th Army begins new Russian attacks. The defenders are the Finnish VI Corps between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega. The offensive begins with a massive artillery and aerial preparation at 7 am, and Gen. Krutikov's 12 division-strong army starts crossing the River Svir around noon. At the point of main effort Finnish delaying force consists of only one battalion (of the 5th Division), and it is soon forced to withdraw. Gen. Talvela orders the 5th Division to fight for every inch, but, faced by enemy many times superior in numbers, it has to start withdrawing towards the PSS-line. After the capture of Viipuri, Soviet forces on the Karelian Isthmus receive new orders. They are to reach the (north-south) level of Imatra-Lappeenranta by 28 June, and then continue towards the River Kymijoki.

The first German weapon shipments arrive in Finland.

Soviet troops land at Piisaari Island. Auxiliary gunboats Aunus and Viena with German AF barges are sent to attack Soviet units in Koivisto Sound. Aunus damaged by bombs. While covering these MTB Taisto 1 caught fire and explodes after gun and bomb hits from IL-2 planes south from Oritsaari Island. One man is lost and 3 wounded. The only operational total loss of the MTB fleet.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The British 8th Army reaches the German Albert Line at Chiusi, west of Lake Trasimeno.


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## Njaco (Jul 5, 2009)

*22 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*:* D-Day +16*: A four-day storm in the English Channel ends, wrecking the Mulberry A harbor at Arromanches, with the loss of 800 ships sunk, damaged, or beached. The Mulberry B harbor is damaged, but repaired and incorporates surviving elements of Mulberry A.

A two hour air raid begins the final battle for Cherbourg in which 1,000 tons of bombs are dropped. The divisions of VII Corps then attack and meet fierce resistance. Around 600 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs and 1,200+ fighters of the USAAF's Ninth Air Force fly missions during the day; the main effort consists of an attack on the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula in support of the US VII Corps assault on the port of Cherbourg; beginning one hour before the ground attack and continuing until the attack begins fighters and fighter-bombers pound the whole area south of the city from low level; as the ground assault begins, B-26s and A-20s strike a series of strongpoints selected by the US First Army, forming a 55-minute aerial barrage moving north in advance of ground forces; later in the day B-26s attack marshalling yards, fuel dumps and a German headquarters; fighter-bombers fly armed reconnaissance over various railroads and bomb rail facilities, trains, road traffic and gun emplacements; 25 fighter-bombers are lost during the day's operations.

The Eighth Air Force in England flies four missions from England. Mission 431: In a morning mission 85 B-17s and 132 B-24 Liberators attack 12 CROSSBOW (V-weapon) installations in the Pas de Calais area; one B-17 is lost. Escort is provided by 165 P-47 Thunderbolts and 97 P-51 Mustangs; some of the support fighters strafe coastal defenses; a P-51 is lost. Mission 432: During the afternoon 797 bombers are dispatched to attack 22 targets in France and Belgium; nine bombers are lost: Of 319 B-17s dispatched, 76 hit Lille/Fimes marshalling yard, 69 hit Ghent/Maritime marshalling yard, 35 hit Rouen oil depot, 13 hit La Vaubaliers, 13 hit Furnes Airfield, 13 hit Tingry, 12 hit Abbeville, 12 hit a tank area north of Rouen, 12 hit Douai railroad, 11 hit Mazingarbe, ten hit Pont a Vendin and one hits Douai railroad; three B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 108 P-47s; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. Of 149 B-24s, 46 hit Guyancourt/Caudron Airfield, 43 hit St Cyr Airfield, 36 hit Buc Airfield, 13 hit targets of opportunity and five hit Tours/La Riche bridge; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. Escort is provided by 187 P-38s and 36 P-47s; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; five P-38s are lost. Of 216 B-17s, 70 hit Nucourt V-weapon site, 38 hit Brie-Comte-Robert Sug, 33 hit Etampes Airfield, 11 hit Lieusant railroad, 11 hit Melun bridge and 11 hit Melun marshalling yard; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; four B-17s are lost. Of 113 B-24s, 101 hit an oil dump at Paris and one hits Dreux Airfield; two B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 78 P-51s; three P-51s are lost. Nine B-24s use Azon glide bombs against the Samur Bridge; escort is provided by 41 P-51s. Ten B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night.

234 RAF aircraft - 119 Lancasters, 102 Halifaxes, 13 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 5 and 8 Groups to special V-weapon sites and stores. The sites at Mimoyecques and Siracourt were accurately bombed by 1 and No 4 Group forces with Pathfinder marking but the No 617 Squadron force attacking Wizernes failed to find its target because of cloud and returned without dropping its bombs. 1 Halifax lost from the Siracourt raid.

221 RAF aircraft- 111 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Laon and Rheims. 4 Halifaxes lost from the Laon raid and 4 Lancasters from the Rheims raid. The bombing at both targets was successful.29 Mosquitos to Hamburg and 8 to Rouen, 15 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 6 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings minelaying off French ports. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop arrives in Finland to negotiate about military aid to be given Finns to keep them in the war. The Red Army renews its offensive west of Viipuri. Soviet forces try to cross the narrow straits just west of the center of the city but are repelled by Finnish artillery fire. Maj. Gen. Alonzo Sundman's 17th Division relieves Col. Kai Savonjousi's 10th Division west of Viipuri.

*Operation Bagration*: The Red Army has chosen today, the third anniversary of the German invasion, to launch a massive assault on the Nazi forces occupying Byelorussia. It is called Operation *Bagration*, after the Czarist general who was mortally wounded fighting Napoleon at Boridino in 1812, and its object is nothing less than to destroy Hitler's Heeresruppe Mitte. Four Soviet fronts (1st, 2nd and 3rd Belarusian, and 1st Baltic) with 124 division, 1,700,000 men 2,700 tanks, 1,300 assault guns, 24,000 heavy artillery pieces, 2,300 rocket launchers, and 6,000 aircraft attack along a 450 mile front. German intelligence reports had given General von Busch, the commander of Heeresruppe Mitte, clear warning of the Russian buildup, but Hitler, relying on his "intuition", has been deceived by a Russian maskirova (disinformation) operation into believing that the Red Army was planning a double thrust in the south to the Romanian oilfields and Warsaw He was so sure that he had outguessed the Russians that he sent 48 infantry divisions and three Panzer divisions to Galicia, leaving von Busch's forces dangerously thin on the ground. The man and tanks he switched to the south have now been bypassed and are playing no part in the battle. The Red Army opened up with its customary overwhelming barrage from guns which were virtually wheel to wheel along the front. When the barrage lifted, hordes of T-34 tanks scurried towards the German defences, each followed by a tight group of infantry. Sturmoviks lurked overhead to pounce on strongpoints. The speed and punching power of the assault soon tore gaping holes in the attenuated German lines. General Bagramyan's First Baltic Front has made a double breakthrough against General Reinhardt's 3rd Panzer Army to isolate Vitebsk, and some 30,000 Germans are in danger of being surrounded.

The Luftwaffe made a devastating attack on Poltava airfield last night, killing 26 crewmen of the US Eighth Army Air Force, and destroying 47 and severely damaging 26 Flying Fortresses, which have landed here after attacking a German synthetic oil plant. They had flown on to Poltava, one of three airfields made available by the Russians. But they had been shadowed by a German plane, and later 75 He-111s and Ju88s attacked. A fuel dump containing over two million litres of fuel exploded and the aircraft burst into flames. Because of the attack on USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s at Poltava, USSR, on yesterday's shuttle mission, the B-17s at Mirgorod and P-51s at Piryatin are moved farther east; they are to be returned to Mirgorod and Piryatin to be dispatched to bases in Italy as soon as the weather permits; the move is fortunate as German bombers strike both Piryatin and Mirgorod during the night of 22/23 June.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Following 5 consecutive days of bad weather, the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 600+ B-17s and B-24s to bomb targets in northern Italy; B-17s hit marshalling yards at Fornova di Taro, Modena and Parma; B-24s hit six marshalling yards and two bridges in Italy, an automobile factory at Turin and an automobile depot at Chivasso; fighters fly 250+ sorties in support of the missions.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Washington: US President Roosevelt signs the "GI Bill". This will give a range of various benefits to returning veterans. Education and home loans are among the benefits included.


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## Njaco (Jul 5, 2009)

*23 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +17*: Heavy fighting is reported in Normandy as US forces break into the German defenses. US VII Corps makes some progress against Cherbourg in Normandy. The British 5th Division takes St. Honorina, north-west of Caen.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions to France.Mission 435: At midday 110 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 102 B-24 Liberators attack 12 CROSSBOW (V-weapon) installations, damaging at least six of them. Fighter support is furnished by 141 P-51 Mustangs all of which afterward strafe transportation targets in the Paris area, destroying three locomotives, 100 pieces of rolling stock, and 14 motor vehicles; An exploding ammunition train causes a low-flying P-51 to crash, the only aircraft lost on the mission.Mission 436: During the late afternoon, 109 B-17s are dispatched to Nanteuil; 13 hit the primary and two hit targets of opportunity; the rest abort due to heavy cloud cover; one B-17 is lost. Of 219 B-24s dispatched to airfields in France, 113 hit Juvincourt, 46 hit Laon/Athies, 23 hit Coulommiers and one hits Soissons; six B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 155 P-47 Thunderbolts and 83 P-51s; afterwards part of a P-47 group bombs and strafes a marshalling yard while the remainder of the group bombs and strafes a train carrying trucks and armored cars, destroying the locomotive, three trucks, and an armored car, and damaging 20 freight cars. 169 P-38 Lightnings fly fighter-bomber missions in the Paris area; two P-38s are lost. 21 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER mission during the night.

Bad weather prevents A-20 Havoc and B-26 Marauder missions by the USAAF's Ninth Air Force during the morning; in the afternoon 175+ B-26s and A-20s bomb seven V-weapon sites in France; around 630 fighters provide escort and also bomb and strafe rail and road traffic and communications centers; 200 C-47 Skytrains and C-53 Skytroopers fly supplies to the Continent.

412 RAF aircraft - 226 Lancasters, 164 Halifaxes, 22 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 4 flying-bomb sites, which were all hit. 5 Lancasters lost. 203 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 1 and 5 Groups attacked railway yards at Limoges and Saintes. Both targets were bombed with great accuracy. 2 Lancasters of No 1 Group were lost from the Saintes raid. 32 Mosquitos to Bremen and 10 to a railway junction at Doves near Amiens, 14 RCM sorties, 27 Mosquito patrols, 12 aircraft minelaying off French ports. 1 Stirling lost from the minelaying force.

Cruiser HMS _'Scylla' _runs over a German acoustic mine and sustains massive shock damage to her midships section and total loss of power. She is towed to Portsmouth but never repaired, and her shattered hull remained in the dockyard until 1950 when she was finally sold for breaking up.

Frigate HMS _'Nith' _hit by a Mistel, a German composite aircraft. Suffered 10 dead and 26 wounded.

An Avenger torpedo bomber from the aircraft carrier USS _'Bogue' _spot the Japanese submarine _'I-52_' (3,000 tonnes and 108 metres long, the world's largest submarine) in its approach to the French port of Lorient. Lt Cmdr Jesse Taylor drops depth charges and an acoustic torpedo. Monitored aboard the aircraft, Taylor hears the torpedo detonate and metal grinding on metal as the _'I-52' _falls 17,000 feet to the seabed. Commanded by Kameo Uno, _'I-52' _was carrying 146 bars of gold bullion worth $30 million, along with 94 crew and 14 passengers. Other cargo included three tonnes of opium for medical use, as well as rubber, tin and tungsten.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 400+ B-17s and B-24s to attack oil targets in Romania; the B-17s hit oil refineries at Ploesti; the B-24s also hit oil refineries at Ploesti and oil storage at Guirgiu. 100+ US aircraft are shot down; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 30+ aircraft destroyed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Viipuri, the Red Army again tries to continue its offensive. After an artillery preparation starting last evening and lasting through the night, the Soviet troops cross the straits in assault boats and through the ruins of a railway bridge. Eleven Finnish artillery battalions and German Stukas bombard the Soviet troop-concentrations, and those Red Army soldiers able to reach the western bank are soon eliminated by the defenders. On the Maaselkä Isthmus, the Soviet troops of Gen. Gorolenko's 32nd Army break through the Finnish II Corps's defences at Karhumäki (Medvezhjegorsk).

German Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 303 (Ritterkreutzträger Hauptmann Friedrich Scherer) arrives Helsinki from Estonia. The Brigade has 31 StuG IIIg's, StuG IV's and StuH 42's. It's transferred to the region of Tali-Ihantala in Karelian Isthmus.

Generaloberst Eduard Dietl, commander of German forces in Norway and Finland, is killed when his Ju 52 transport crashes at Semmering, Germany. Dietl had been visiting Hitler to report on the situation in his front. It has been suspected that Dietl was in fact assassinated on orders from either Hitler or Himmler, but exactly why, has not been satisfactorily explained.

Soviet forces, under the direction of Marshals Zhukov and Vasilevsky, advance, shattering the forward German positions of General Busch's Heeresruppe Mitte. Breakthroughs of over 10 miles are noted for most of the attacking forces.


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## Njaco (Jul 5, 2009)

*24 June 1944* 

*GERMANY*: Of 340 B-17 Flying Fortresses, 213 hit oil industry targets in Bremen, 53 hit an aircraft factory at Westermunde and 40 attack Bremen; one B-17 is lost. Escort is provided by six fighter groups (185 P-38 Lightnings and 85 P-47 Thunderbolts); one group str afes an airfield and rail transport in the Munster and Hamm areas and claims 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.

27 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 7 RCM sorties, 34 Mosquito patrols, 13 aircraft minelaying off French ports and in the Kattegat. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.

*WESTERN FRONT*:* D-Day +18*: Nearly 750,000 Allied troops have landed in Normandy.

After capturing Carentan, American troops have raced across to Barneville to seal off the Cotentin Peninsula, and now the battle has begun for the key port of Cherbourg. General Schlieben, commanding at Cherbourg, doesn't believe that his forces can hold out much longer against the steady US pressure on his defending troops. He refuses to surrender at this time. In the meantime, his engineers are busy destroying the port's facilities.

407 B-24 Liberators are dispatched to France; 78 hit Conches Airfield, 45 hit Chateaudun Airfield, 45 hit Orleans/Bricy Airfield, 34 hit Toussus/Le Noble, 31 hit a fighter strip, 12 hit Pont Audmer, 11 hit Toussus/Paris and nine hit Dreux Airfield; two B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 45 P-38s and 36 P-47s; a P-38 is lost; the fighters later fly strafing missions. 86 B-17s and 60 B-24s are dispatched to hit 12 CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites in the Pas de Calais area but are prevented by overcast from bombing the sites, but 11 B-17s fly south and release bombs near the industrial area of Rouen; a B-17 is lost to AA fire. Escort is provided by 35 P-47s without loss. Of 74 B-17s dispatched to the Saumur bridge, 38 hit the primary and 36 hit Tours/La Riche Airfield without loss; escort is provided by 121 P-51 Mustangs who claim 4-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.

US VIII AF Mission 439: During the afternoon 62 B-17s and 167 B-24s in two forces are dispatched to targets in France; two B-24s are lost; escort for the mission is provided by 71 P-47s and 50 P-51s without loss; 25 other P-51s fly a sweep of the Angers/LeMans area and claim 25-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground: Of 62 B-17s, 32 hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area, 12 hit Holque electrical stations and 12 hit Saint-Pol-sur-Mer marshalling yards. Of 167 B-24s, 67 hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area, 14 hit the Abbeville power station, 12 hit Pont-a-Vendin and 12 hit the Tingry electrical station; two B-24s are lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force dispatches 430+ B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to attack targets in France, including four gun positions, three V-weapon sites, three fuel dumps, two marshalling yards, and a railroad bridge; 200+ transports fly supplies to the Continent; 11 fighter groups provide escort, attack fuel dumps, rail targets and bridges west of Paris and south of the Loire, and fly armed reconnaissance south of the Cherbourg Peninsula and southwest of Paris.

321 RAF aircraft - 200 Halifaxes, 106 Lancasters, 15 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 3 flying bomb sites in clear weather conditions. All targets were accurately bombed; no aircraft lost. 16 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 617 Squadron bombed the Wizernes site and scored several hits with their Tallboy bombs. 1 Lancaster was shot down by flak, the first loss by the squadron for exactly 2 months.

739 RAF aircraft - 535 Lancasters, 165 Halifaxes, 39 Mosquitos - from all groups attacked 7 flying bomb sites, causing fresh damage at most of the targets. (The flying-bomb sites were now becoming so cratered by RAF, 8th Air Force and 2nd Tactical Air Force bombing that results for individual raids were becoming difficult to determine.) 22 Lancasters were lost from these raids; it was a clear, moonlit night and most of the bomber casualties were caused by German night fighters, often operating with the help of searchlights. It is not known why all of the casualties were Lancasters.

Destroyer HMS _'Swift' _is mined (possibly acoustic) off Ouistreham which breaks her back. She later broke in half and sank. Location: English Channel, Seine Bay, Sword Beach area.

The Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman _'Fort Norfolk' _(7,131 GRT), struck a mine and sank off of the Normandy beaches in the English Channel. Eight crewmembers were lost in this incident.

HMCS _'Haida' _(G63), Cdr. Harry George DE WOLF, DSO, RCN, CO, and HMS _'Eskimo' _(G75), both Tribal-class destroyers, with a Czechoslovakian ‘Liberator’ 'O'patrol aircraft from Czech 311 Squadron, sank _'U-971'_, OLtzS. Walter ZEPLIEN, CO, in the English Channel north of Brest, in position 49-01N 05-35W. There was only one casualty from _'U-971’s' _crew of 53 men.

_'U-1225' _(Type IXC/40) is sunk northwest of Bergen, at position 63.00N, 00.50W, by depth charges from a Canadian Canso (Catalina) aircraft (RCAF-Sqdn 162/P). 56 dead (all crew lost). _'U-1225' _is commanded by OLtzS. Ernst Sauerberg. _'U-1225' _was a long-range Type IXC/40 submarine built by Deutsche Werft AG, at Hamburg. She was commissioned on 10 Nov 43. _'U-1225_' was on her first patrol at the time of her loss and had not sunk or damaged any ships. OLtzS. Sauerberg was her only commanding officer. Flight Lieutenant David Hornell is shot down and killed in the battle. F/Lt. D.E. Hornell, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his conduct during the attack and afterwards while awaiting rescue in the dinghy, which did not occur until the afternoon of the next day. Three of the eight aircrew died of exposure. Although approximately thirty members of the _'U-1225’s' _crew were also seen in the water after the attack, they all died of exposure and drowning.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Allied leaders approve plans to resurrect Operation *Anvil*, the invasion of southern France.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Olonets Isthmus the Red Army breaks through the defences of Finnish 15th Brigade this afternoon. The Finnish rear is also threatened by the Soviet invasion at Tuulos. Commander of the VI Corps Maj. Gen. Aarne Blick decides to leave the PSS-line and withdraw past the Tuulos bridgehead. In Maaselkä Isthmus the II Corps starts its withdrawal towards the Finnish border after the Soviet breakthrough at Karhumäki. The Red Army follows slowly, sticking to the few roads.

German 122nd Infantry Division arrives Helsinki and Hanko. It's transferred to western shore of the Bay of Viipuri. Commander of the German 122nd Infantry Division just arriving Finland was Generalmajor H. Breusing.

The strain on the German defenders is already evident on the second day of the Russian offensive. The Soviet offensive continues to roll forward with advances of 20-25 miles being common. Elements of 1st Baltic and 3rd Belarusian Fronts forces cut the Orsha-Vitebsk rail line and trap the German 53rd Corps (6 divisions). The Germans are ordered to conduct a breakout attack. 2nd Belarusian Front advances in strength on Mogilev.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 335 bombers to attack targets in Romania; B-17s attack the railroad bridge at Piatra; B-24s bomb the railroad repair depot at Craiova and oil refinery at Ploesti; 33 P-51s sweep the Ploesti-Bucharest area while other P-51s, P-38s, and P-47s fly 220+ sorties in support of the bombers; the bombers and fighters claim 20+ aircraft shot down; ten US aircraft are downed and several others are missing.


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## Njaco (Jul 7, 2009)

*25 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +19*: US forces reach the outskirts of Cherbourg. The attack is reinforced with support from naval gunfire from 3 battleships, 4 cruisers and 11 destroyers. Meanwhile, the British 30th Corps launches "Operation Epsom", it's first set piece attack to take Caen. The attack is largely futile and results in heavy losses for the British. St. Honorina, north-west of Caen, falls to the British 5th Division.

Battery Hamburg (28 cm guns) on the northern shore of the Cotentin Peninsula (east of Cherbourg) duels with three USN battleships, the USS _'Arkansas'_, the USS _'Texas' _and the USS _'Nevada'_, losing only one gun out of four in the storm of 5", 12" and 14" shells hurled at it. It scored several hits on the American ships, although the ammunition was defective and yielded a lot of duds, and, according to Samuel Eliot Morison, forced the American ships to violently manoeuvre to avoid being hit, so accurate was its firing. Like the St. Marcouf battery, it had to be reduced by ground assault.

The U.S. Eight Air Force flies two missions from bases in England:
Mission 441: During the morning 658 bombers are dispatched to hit targets in France; seven bombers are lost: Of 263 B-17s, 104 hit Francazal Airfield at Toulouse, 72 hit Blangnac Airfield at Toulouse, and 64 hit Montbartier oil depot; five B-17s are lost, one is damaged beyond repair and 114 damaged. Escort is provided by 46 P-38s, 36 P-47s and 146 P-51s; they claim 10-0-1Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-51 is lost. Of 258 B-24s, 43 hit targets of opportunity, 23 hit Beuvry, 18 hit Mazingarbe, 12 hit Aube-sur-Risle, 12 hit Doullens, 12 hit La Vaupalier, 12 hit Peronne Airfield, 11 hit St Maurice Airfield at Amiens, 11 hit Calais, 11 hit Tingry, 10 hit Abbeville, 10 hit Longuenesse Airfield at St Omer, 8 hit Boulogne, 8 hit Holque, 7 hit Nunque, 7 hit Pont-a-Vendin, 2 hit Chocques; one B-24 is lost, one is damaged beyond repair and 26 damaged. Escort is provided by 68 P-47s and 34 P-51s without loss. Of 137 B-24s, 59 hit St Avord Airfield and 48 hit Bourge Airfield; one B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 102 P-38s and 44 P-47s; they claim 8-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft without loss.

Mission 442: During the midday 463 bombers are dispatched to targets in France; six bombers are lost; escort is provided by 127 P-38s, 35 P-47s and 181 P-51s; they claim 4-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-51 is lost. Of 274 B-24s, 63 hit Villacoublay air depot, 35 hit Bretigny Airfield and 11 hit Buc Airfield; five B-24s are lost, two damaged beyond repair and 104 damaged. Of 189 B-17s, 70 hit Soigny Bridge, 38 hit Sens Bridge, 28 hit Clamecy, 21 hit Auxerre Bridge, 21 hit Nanteuil, 20 hit Nogent, 18 hit Orly Airfield, 13 hit Romilly-sur-Seine, 12 hit Folous, 12 hit Mondesir Airfield at Etampes and three hit Orly marshalling yard; one B-17 is lost and 20 damaged. 41 of 43 P-47s fly a flight-bomber mission against Fauville landing ground at Evreux.

400+ USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs hit fuel dumps at Foret d'Andaine, Foret d'Ecouves, and Senonches, and rail bridges at Cherisy, Chartres, Oiseme and Epernon; 14 fighter groups send aircraft on escort, and on armed reconnaissance and dive bombing missions over the Chartres, Dreux, Argentan, Tours, and Orleans areas; transports fly supply and evacuation missions.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy dispatches 650+ bombers to attack targets in France; B-17s attack the marshalling yard and oil installations at Sete; B-24s bomb the industrial area at Sete, the marshalling yard at Avignon and harbor facilities at Toulon; fighters fly almost 200 sorties in support; one fighter group strafes targets along the Fiume, Italy-Senje, Yugoslavia road and at other points on the Istrian peninsula.

323 RAF aircraft - 202 Halifaxes, 106 Lancasters, 15 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and No 8 Group attacked 3 flying bomb sites. The weather was clear and it was believed that all 3 raids were accurate. 2 Halifaxes of No 4 Group were lost from the raid on the Montorgueil site. No 617 Squadron sent 17 Lancasters, 2 Mosquitos and 1 Mustang to bomb the Siracourt flying-bomb store. The Mustang was flown by Wing Commander Cheshire and used as a low-level marker aircraft. The Mustang had only arrived at Woodhall Spa that afternoon, by courtesy of the Eighth Air Force, and this was Cheshire's first flight in it. The Lancasters scored 3 direct hits on the concrete store with Tallboy bombs and no aircraft were lost. Cheshire had to make his first landing in the unfamiliar Mustang when he returned to his home airfield after dark.

42 RAF Mosquitos of No 8 Group to bomb the Rheinpreussen synthetic-oil plant at Homberg/Meerbeck; photographs showed that no new damage was caused. No aircraft lost. 8 Mosquitos flew RCM sorties and 16 Mosquitos carried out Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost.

USAAF Major Urban L. (Ben) Drew of the 375th Squadron, 361st Fighter Group, based at Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, claims his first air victory over an Me-109 while flying a P-51.

Flt-Lt David Ernest Hornell (b.1910), RCAF, sank a U-boat which had shot up his sea-plane, then landed, ablaze on the water. He and the crew were picked up, but he died of exposure soon after. (Victoria Cross)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: _'U-269' _(Type VIIC) Sunk in the Channel southeast of Torquay, in position 50.01N, 02.59W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Bickerton'_. 12 dead, 39 survivors. (The wreck was located in 1951 during the search for the British submarine HMS _'Affray'_, which sank with all hands on 16 April, 1951 when her snorkel mast broke off near Alderney.)

Frigate HMS _'Goodson' _takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by _'U-984' _(Oberleutnant zur See Hans Sieder) . Her stern is blown off but she subsequently reached Portland in the tow of HMS _'Bligh'_. After survey she was not repaired. Location: English Channel, SE Start Point.

*EASTERN FRONT*: After the Soviet failure to continue their offensive west from Viipuri, the Red Army concentrates its forces north-east of the city. Soviet artillery began to fire at the 3rd Brigade's positions, lasting for one and half hours. At 8 am. the Soviet 358th and 314th divisions began their assault, causing severe losses to the 3rd Brigade and forcing it back. But the main Soviet blow came at Tali against the 18th Division, between lakes Kärstilänjärvi (in west) and Leitimonjärvi (in east), delivered by the 30th Guards Corps. Finnish artillery fired on the advancing Soviet forces, but didn't noticeably slow them down. The Red Army had a clear way east of Lake Leitimonjärvi to reach the back of the I and II/IR 48. The Soviets exploited this hole in the Finnish defences fully. West of Lake Leitimonjärvi a Soviet force of about 20 tanks managed to get past the Finnish defences around noon without meeting resistance (there had been a mix-up with orders). They reached the Portinhoikka crossroads, and divided there, one force going north towards Ihantala, another north-west towards Juustila. The Armored Division was ordered to attack and drive the enemy from the crossroads. Maj. Heikki Mikkola, commander of the I battalion of the Panzer Brigade, started a counter-attack with the heavy company of his battalion from the direction of Juustila. With five tanks, one T-34-76, one KV-1, two T-28's and one T-50, it drove the enemy from the Portinhoikka crossroads, destroying four T-34-85's and ISU-152's and capturing two ISU-152's and one T-34-85 intact. This was indeed nothing short of miraculous, given that not one of the Finnish tanks had a main gun that could penetrate the front armor of the Soviet tanks! By 7 pm. the Portinhoikka crossroads were back in Finnish hands.

B-17s and P-51s are flown, at daybreak, from dispersal bases to Poltava and Mirgorod and loaded and fuelled with intentions of bombing the oil refinery at Drohobycz, Poland and proceed to base in Italy. Bad weather cancels the mission until the tomorrow. The aircraft return to dispersal bases for the night as precaution against air attacks.

The destruction of Heeresruppe Mitte continues as elements of 1st Baltic and 3rd Belarusian Fronts complete the encirclement of Vitebsk, 1st Belarusian Front crosses the Dvina River and begins operations to surround Bodruisk, while 2nd Belarusian Front takes Mogilev. The German 9. and 4.Armee are in disarray and making hasty retreats in front of the Soviet juggernaut.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The advance in Italy comes to a halt as elements of the US 5th and British 8th Army hit the new German defensive position, The Albert Line, near Chiusi.


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## Njaco (Jul 7, 2009)

*26 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +20*: This morning the Germans start to destroy all port facilities. Most of Cherbourg, except the area around the docks has been captured today by the US VII Corps, along with General Schlieben and Admiral Hennecke.

The US 22nd Infantry have been trying, unsuccessfully, to take the St. Marcouf battery on the Cotentin Peninsula. Its performance today leads to Major General Raymond O. Barton relieving the 22nd's CO, Colonel Hervey A. Tribolet, of his command. Tribolet, in an interview on 27 August, 1944, in Paris, with the Historical Office of ETOUSA, attributed the poor performance of the regiment to overconfidence stemming from the ease of the fighting on D-Day.

5,287 Allied soldiers have been killed since D-Day.

*Operation EPSOM*: British 8 Corps attacks to seize crossings over the River Odon. Bad weather prevents virtually all aircraft from taking off from England. However, 83 Group, RAF, based in Normandy flies 500 sorties despite a heavy ground mist and low ground cover.

Bad weather cancels all USAAF Ninth Air Force operations save a few fighter sorties which result in claims against a few military vehicles and three aircraft as US ground forces capture Cherbourg; three US fighters are lost.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 677 B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in the Vienna, Austria area, hitting an aircraft factory at Schwechat, marshalling yard at Vienna/Floridsdorf, and oil refineries at Korneuburg, Vienna/Floridsdorf, Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, Winterhafen, and Lobau; fighters fly 260+ sorties in support; an estimated 150 to 175 enemy fighters attack the formations; nearly 30 US aircraft (mostly bombers) are lost; US claims total 60+ enemy fighters.

_'U-317' _(Type VIIC/41 ) Sunk northeast of the Shetlands, at position 62.03N, 01.45E, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 86/N). 50 dead (all crew lost). _'U-771_' shot down an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator north of the British Isles. Prior to this, the same aircraft had sunk _'U-317'_, which was lost with all hands.

_'U-719' _(Type VIIC) Sunk in the North Atlantic northwest of Ireland, at position 55.33N, 11.02E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS _'Bulldog'_. 52 dead (all crew lost).

*EASTERN FRONT*: *Battle of Tali-Ihantala*: In the early morning hours, the Armored Division continues its counter-attack towards Tali west of Lake Leitimonjärvi. But the most ambitious counter-attack is the attempt to encircle the Soviet spearhead east of Lake Leitimonjärvi by cutting it at the base. If succesful, two Soviet divisions (the 46th Guards and 286th) would be encircled in a large pocket north of Lake Leitimonjärvi. The Finnish attacks were uncoordinated and ultimately too weak to attain the ambitious goal, and no reinforcements were available. In afternoon the Red Army begins to attack on both sides of Lake Leitimonjärvi, trying to recapture the Portinhoikka cross-roads and reach the road from Portihoikka to Ihantala. More to north, a Soviet force reaches the Portinhoikka-Ihantala road later in the evening, cutting the road behind the Finns in Portinhoikka. As reinforcements reached Ihantala, Finnish artillery was to become a truly destructive force in the later phases of the battle. Also the Red Air Force didn't have an undisputed control of the skies. Finnish bombers of Lt. Col. Birger Gabrielsson's Aviation Regiment 4 are active today bombing Soviet troop-concentrations, together with Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey's German Stukas. Elsewhere in the Karelian Isthmus, on Lt. Gen. Hjalmar Siilasvuo's III Corps's right flank, the Red Army tries to eliminate the bridgehead Maj. Gen. Armas-Eino Martola's 2nd Division has south of River Vuoksi at Vuosalmi. The Soviet attempts are repelled with the help of artillery.

The Red Army offensive continues as Vitebsk and Orsha fall to the 3rd Belarusian Front attacks. The German 53rd Corps at Vitebsk made an attempt to withdraw from the doomed position and lost 28,000 men in the effort. Mogilev fell to 2nd Belarusian Front. Meanwhile Bodruisk, defended by 40,000 Germans of the 41.Panzerkorps, was surrounded by 1st Belarusian Front. The first German reinforcements to the beleaguered Heeresruppe Mitte, the 5.Panzerdivision, began to trickle into Minsk. German General der Artillerie G. Pfeiffer VI AK is killed at Beresina.

72 US Eighth Air Force B-17s leave Poltava and Mirgorod, U.S.S.R., rendezvous with 55 P-51s from Piryatin, bomb the oil refinery and marshalling yard at Drohobycz, Poland (one returns to the USSR because of mechanical trouble), and then proceed to Italy; Fifteenth Air Force P-51s meet the formation 1 hour after the attack and escort the B-17s to Foggia; it is planned to return the B-17s to bases in the UK on 27 June but bad weather delays this move until 5 July.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: French troops push forward north of Radicofani and on their right flank the South African armoured units take Chiusi.

*GERMANY*: 35 RAF Mosquitos of No 8 Group attacked Göttingen with the intention of hitting railway workshops. The raid was carried out from medium altitude - 4,000 to 10,000ft - but the marker aircraft experienced difficulties in locating the target and bombing was scattered. 1 Mosquito lost. This may have been an experimental raid, to try out the No 8 Group Mosquitos a precision bombing role, but this type of operation was not repeated.


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## Njaco (Jul 8, 2009)

*27 June 1944* 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Flower class corvette HMS _'Pink' _is attacked by _'U-988' _(Oberleutnant Erich Dobberstein). Damage was restricted to the loss of her propeller and shaft but after survey at Portsmouth it was decided that she was not worth repairing. Location: English Channel ENE of Barfleur at 29 48N 00 49W.

A B-24 on a training flight in England is shot down by an intruder.

A V1 lands on Victoria station, killing 14 people. Herbert Morrison, the home secretary and minister of home security, today told the war cabinet that in less than two weeks, since V1 attacks began, 1,600 people have been killed and 4,500 seriously wounded. The royal family are staying in London, though the King's tennis court was destroyed yesterday by a flying bomb.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +21*: The capture of Cherbourg is completed by US VII Corps. This is the first major French city liberated. Operations to clear the harbour of obstructions and booby traps can now begin. In the battle for the port the Americans lost 1,800 dead and 15,000 wounded; they took 45,000 prisoners. Discipline among men of the US VII Corps broke down when they came across huge stores of champagne and brandy and proceeded to get drunk. The German commander, General von Schlieben, wanted to surrender two days ago.


> "_Among the troops defending the town_," he reported to Rommel, "_there are 2,000 wounded who cannot be treated. Is the sacrifice of the others still necessary?" _


Rommel answered:


> "_In accordance with the Fuhrer's orders you are to hold out to the last round._"


The British VIII Corps attacks east of Caen. Canadian forces take Hill 112, a dominant hill west of Caen, from the 12 SS Panzer Division, beginning ten days of vicious, no-quarter fighting.

The US Eighth Air Force flies two missions from England. Mission 443: 251 bombers and 191 fighters are dispatched to hit CROSSBOW (V-weapon) supply sites around Pas de Calais, Criel and Chantilly, France; 195 B-17s hit the Pas de Calais area, 12 B-24s hit targets of opportunity and 11 B-24s hit Criel Airfield; five B-24s are downed by AA fire, two B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 104 B-24s and eight B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 149 of 191 P-51s; they claim 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft and lose two; one P-51 is damaged; after completing the escort, the P-51s bomb and strafe targets of opportunity, including marshalling yards, bridges, railroads, transportation and airfield installations, and dispersal areas.

US VIII Fighter Command fighter-bomber missions: 46 P-38 Lightnings attack Connantre Airfield; three are lost. 36 P-47 THunderbolts bomb Villeneuve/Zertes Airfield claiming 10-0-8 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air . 32 P-51s attack Coulommiers Airfield and 246 others attack transport in the Paris area; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.

16 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions in France.

Bad weather precludes IX Bomber Command operations; 700+ fighters take part in various operations, most of them fly high cover over the assault areas and bomb and strafe rail and road traffic and communications centers.

104 RAF Halifaxes of No 4 Group with 5 Mosquitos and 2 Lancasters of the Pathfinders attacked the V-weapon site at Mimoyecques without loss. Bombing conditions were good and two large explosions were seen on the ground.

721 RAF aircraft - 477 Lancasters, 207 Halifaxes, 37 Mosquitos - attacked 6 flying bomb sites. All raids were believed to have been successful. 3 Lancasters lost. 214 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups attacked Vaires and Vitry railway yards. The No 8 Group raid on Vaires was particularly accurate; the Vitry yards were hit only at the western end. 4 Lancasters lost, 2 from each raid. 22 RCM sorties, 61 Mosquito patrols, 8 Halifaxes minelaying off Biscay ports, 14 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. 2 Mosquitos were lost but other Mosquitos claimed 6 German night fighters destroyed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches around 300 bombers to attack targets in Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb marshalling yards at Budapest, Hungary; B-24s hit marshalling yards at Brod, Yugoslavia and oil industry targets at Drohobycz, Poland; 75 to 90 enemy fighters attack the formations; three bombers are lost; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 30+ enemy planes shot down; 90 P-51s sweep Budapest area, claiming seven fighters destroyed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Maj. Gen. Ruben Lagus's Armored Division continues its efforts to encircle the Soviet salient east of Lake Leitimonjärvi. Plan is to attack with Col. Albert Puroma's Jäger Brigade from west and Col. Sven Björkman's Detachment Björkman from east, while Col. V. Forsberg's battlegroup (IR 48's I and II battalions together with III/IR 13) attacks from north. Col. Puroma's jägers began their offensive at 3 pm. after seven artillery battalions had fired a preparation. Initally they advanced without problems, but then Maj. Leppänen's battlegroup met a strong enemy force, that stopped its advance for few hours. The battlegroup continued its offensive, and around 6 pm. reached Aniskala, about half-way to its final objective. There Battlegroup Hynninen's offensive was stopped by fierce enemy resistance. On Hynninen's left flank Jäger Battalion 2 was also stopped short of its objective. In Ihantala, Col. Forsberg's battlegroup, supported by German assault guns, succesfully cleared the Portinhoikka-Ihantala -road, but the already depleted forces suffered heavy losses in the process. East of the Soviet salient Col. Björkman's forces attacked in afternoon. But again fierce Soviet resistance frustrated the Finnish hopes of closing the pocket. The Soviet forces in the salient were still able to bring in reinforcements. The Finnish and German air units were busy trying to cut the bridges the Red Army engineers had built at Tali.

The Germans announce an agreement with the Finnish government to assist them against the Russians, since the Red Army has entered Finland.

The Red Army continues to drive in German positions along the front. 1st Belarusian Front begins reducing the pocket of the 41.Panzerkorps at Bodruisk while other columns drive toward the Berezina River.


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## Njaco (Jul 8, 2009)

*28 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT: D-Day +22*: All of the Cotentin peninsula in Northern France is under US control. The US 9th Division prepares for the final attacks in the direction of Cap de la Hague, France. British troops cross the Odon near Mondrainville, west of Caen. The British conclude "Operation Epsom" as German resistance from the 1st and 2nd SS Panzer Corps proves too much for their forces to overcome at Caen.

485 B-17s attack targets in FRANCE: 72 hit Couvron Airfield at Laon, 64 hit Juvincourt Airfield, 60 hit Athies Airfield at Laon, 36 hit Fismes bridge, 28 hit Prouvy Airfield at Denain, 24 hit targets of opportunity, 20 hit Anizy le Chateau bridge, 19 hit Le Bourget Airfield at Paris and 18 hit the Dugny oil depot; one B-17s is lost, one damaged beyond repair and 99 damaged. Of 378 B-24s, 331 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yards, 11 hit Juzaine Airfield at Florennes and one hits Givet Bridge; one B-24 is lost and 125 damaged. Escort is provided by 188 P-38s, 169 P-47s and 231 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-47 and one P-51 are lost and two P-51s damaged beyond repair. About one-third of the escorting fighters afterward bomb and strafe transport targets, claiming three locomotives and an armored vehicle destroyed. 30 of 50 P-47s fly a fighter-bomber mission against La Perthe Airfield without loss. 18 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France.

103 RAF Halifaxes of No 4 Group with 5 Mosquitos and 2 Lancasters of the Pathfinders attacked the V-weapon site at Wizernes without loss. No report of the bombing results was filed. 2 Mosquitos flew uneventful Ranger patrols.

202 RAF Halifaxes of 4 and No 6 Groups with 28 Pathfinder Lancasters attacked railway yards at Blainville and Metz. Both targets were hit. 20 aircraft were lost, 11 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 1 Lancaster from the Blainville raid and 7 Halifaxes of No 6 Group and 1 Lancaster from Metz. The combined loss rate was 8.7 per cent. 33 Mosquitos to Saarbrücken and 10 to Scholven/Buer oil plant, 21 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 8 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings minelaying off Lorient and St Malo. No aircraft lost.

At 2130, the _'Maid of Orleans' _in Convoy FXP-18 was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-988' _SE of St Catherines Point, Isle of Wight. The ship had brought troops to the Normandy beachhead and was on her return trip. Five crewmembers were lost. The master, 72 crewmembers, 18 gunners and two passengers (Observer Corps personnel) were picked up by frigate HMS _'Hotham'_, destroyer HMS _'Eglinton' _and British tug _'Empire Roger' _and landed at Portsmouth.

U.S. freighter _'Charles W. Eliot' _fouls two mines about four miles off Juno Beach, Normandy, and breaks in two; there are no fatalities among the crew (which includes a 31-man Armed Guard). Survivors are transferred to freighter _'George W. Woodward' _and later tank landing craft LCT-527 for transportation to England. _'Charles W. Eliot' _is subsequently written off as a total loss.

Philippe Henriot is shot at dawn. He and his wife had spent the night at the Ministry of Information in the rue Solférino, when members of the resistance, disguised as police, tricked the concierge and made their way in. Henriot, before the war an extreme right-wing deputy, was particularly hated for his propaganda broadcasts, denouncing the Resistance as "criminal assassins" and its leaders as "cowards".

A general strike begins in Copenhagen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 229 B-24s to bomb marshalling yards and two oil refineries at Bucharest, Romania; 138 others hit Karlovo Airfield, Bulgaria; 40 fighters carry out a sweep over the Bucharest area while other fighters fly 230+ sorties in escort of the B-24s; 20+ enemy fighters are claimed shot down, mostly by the fighters during the sweep over Bucharest.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Col. Albert Puroma's Jäger Brigade starts at 12.45 am. one more attempt to cut from west the Soviet salient east of Lake Leitimonjärvi. After an artillery bombardment fired by eight artillery battalions. After advancing a short distance, the attack bogs down in fierce Soviet resistance. At 4 am. the attacking force withdraws back to its starting positions. Maj. Gen. Ruben Lagus now decides to use his reserve, Maj. V. Sarta's I/IR 50, in a final attempt to isolate the Soviet salient. Four artillery battalions fire a preparation, and the attack commences at 8.45 am, but manages to reach only the same level Jäger Brigade's attack had reached earlier the same morning. The I/IR 50 is ordered back to its starting positions. This was the last attempt to close the salient from west. On the eastern side of the Soviet salient Col. Sven Björkman's forces try to reach the Jäger Brigade in the early morning hours. Capt. Petäjä's Border Jäger Battalion 2 is again at the front of the attack, but cannot overcome the Soviet resistance. Now it's time for the Red Army to attack. Col. Björkman's men east and Col. Väinö Forsberg's men north of the salient are subjected to a fierce artillery and aerial bombardment, and the Soviet forces, supported by tanks, attack around 11 am. Col. Björkman's men are forced back, but prevent the enemy from achieving a breakthrough. In Col. Forsberg's sector the situation soon becomes critical. Forsberg's forces have suffered heavy losses in yesterday's counter-attacks, and are now unable to resist long. The enemy achieves a breakthrough, and around noon is only a kilometer from Ihantala. A Finnish counter-attack south from Ihantala starts at 6.30 pm. IR 12 is able to push the enemy back and stabilize the situation by midnight. But the enemy has broken out from the salient, and the Jäger Brigade, IR 50 and IR 30 are in danger of being isolated. Finnis fighter and AA-units claim 49 enemy aircraft shot down today around Tali-Ihantala.

Marshal Mannerheim nominates the first two men to receive the Mannerheim Cross, 2nd Class, for the second time. Both are fighter pilots. WO Ilmari Juutilainen (1914-99) will become the highest scoring Finnish fighter ace of the WWII with 94 1/6 kills. Capt. Hans Wind (1919-95) just today raises his score to 75, but is badly wounded, and spends the rest of the war in military hospitals.

The northern wing of the Russian advance reach Petrozavodsk. They also cross the Murmansk rail line to the north. Zakharov's troops capture Mogilev and cross the Dniepr in Belorussia. Elements of the German 41.Panzerkorps attempt a breakout at Bodruisk hitting a weak spot in the cordon, breaking through the Soviet ring, and getting 15,000 out of the pocket. Busch is dismissed by Hitler from the command of Heeresgruppe Mitte. Field Marshal Model is his replacement.


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## Njaco (Jul 8, 2009)

*29 June 1944* 

*GERMANY*: Of 179 B-17s, 81 bomb the synthetic oil plant at Bohlen and 61 strike an aircraft components factory at Wittenberg; four B-17s are lost and 111 damaged. Of 380 B-17s, 41 hit Heiterblick Airfield and 30 hit Taucha Airfield, both at Leipzig; 19 hit Leipzig; 18 hit Wittenberg; 15 hit Limbach;14 hit Quackenbruck; and two hit targets of opportunity; two B-17s are lost, one is damaged beyond repair and 76 damaged. Of 591 B-24s, 81 hit Magdeburg, 74 hit Oschersleben, 54 hit Bernburg, 47 hit Aschersleben, 46 hit Burg Airfield, 42 hit an aviation plant and the Volkswagen factory at Fallersleben, 35 hit targets of opportunity, 26 hit Stendal Airfield, 9 hit Gardelegen Airfield, 8 hit Oebisfelde/Kaltendorf, 8 hit Zerbst Airfield, and 4 hit Leopoldshall marshalling yard; nine B-24s are lost, three damaged beyond repair and 204 damaged. The missions above are escorted by 203 P-38s, 216 P-47 and 352 P-51s of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces; they claim 34-0-9 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 16-0-8 on the ground; three P-51s are lost.

Von Rundstedt, Rommel, Sperrle and Kroncke attend a special "Fuhrer conference" at which Hitler does not allow them to tell him the true situation on the western front; instead he promises more V-weapons and jet fighters.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: _'U-988' _(Type VIIC) which the previous day had sunk HMS _'Pink'_, is itself sunk in the English Channel west of Guernsey, at position 49.37N, 03.41W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS _'Essington'_, _'Duckworth'_, _'Domett' _and _'Cooke'_. 50 dead (all crew lost). (On 8 Sept, 1943 this boat had a collision with its sister ship _'U-983' _in the Baltic Sea training waters, and _'U-983' _sank with loss of 5 men.)

At 1528, _'U-984' _fired a spread of two LUT torpedoes at Convoy EMC-17 about 30 miles south of St Catherine's point on the Isle of Wight. The first struck the _'Edward M. House' _and the second the _'H.G. Blasdel'_. Six minutes later, _'U-984' _fired a single torpedo at one of the damaged ships and missed but struck the _'John A. Treutlen'_. At 1543, a Gnat was fired which struck the _'James A. Farrell'_. _'Edward M. House' _was struck by one torpedo under the stern as she was proceeding as the third or fourth ship in the port column. The explosion threw up a column of water several hundred feet in the air, stove in the forepeak, flooded the #1 port and starboard deep tanks and buckled the shell plating and the collision bulkhead. The engines were stopped briefly during the damage was examined and then followed the convoy. One armed guard and one crewman were injured of the nine officers, 33 men, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) and 587 troops on board. The ship continued to the Normandy beachhead, discharged her troops and equipment the same day and returned to the United Kingdom on 1 July. _'H.G. Blasdel' _in station #12 was struck by the torpedo on the port side at the #5 hold. The explosion extensively damaged the interior of the ship. The ship was anchored to keep her from drifting into a minefield and to await tugs. None of the eight officers, 36 crewmen and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) were lost, but 76 of the 436 soldiers on board died and 180 others were injured. _'James A. Farrell' _was right behind the _'John A. Treutlen' _in the port column and had to take a 40° turn to avoid a collision. Moments later a torpedo struck on the starboard side just forward of the stern post. A British tug towed the reboarded vessel to Spithead. _'John A. Treutlen' _was struck by one torpedo on the port side between the #5 hold and the after peak tank and blew a large hole in the side. The next morning, the tug WSA-2 arrived and towed the vessel to Southampton, where she was beached.

The V-1 blitz on England continued unabated. On this day, one of the weapons hit the Strand, killing 198 people. Another of the random bombs hit a children's hospital in Kent killing 24 newborns. To date, 1,935 British civilians had been killed by the buzz bombs.

*WESTERN FRONT*: *D-Day +23*: The last fortifications at Cherbourg are surrendered allowing the Americans begin port clearing operations. The destruction by the Germans was immense and initial estimates indicated that it will be at least 3 weeks before any tonnage can be landed in the city. Meanwhile, the British use their heavy bomber force on the tactical battlefield (much to the chagrin of "Bomber" Harris in an attempt to obliterate the 2. and 9.SS Panzerdivisions at Villers-Bocage. The destruction is widespread, including some serious "friendly fire" losses. British 21st Army Group reports a total of 22,460 casualties since D-Day. There are 7,335 infantry replacements available.

286 RAF Lancasters and 19 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups attacked 2 flying-bomb launching sites and a store. There was partial cloud cover over all the targets; some bombing was accurate but some was scattered. 5 aircraft - 3 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos - lost, including the aircraft of the Master Bomber on the raid to the Siracourt site, Flight Lieutenant SEC Clarke of No 7 Squadron, but Clarke survived. 2 Mosquitos carried out Ranger patrols and 1 shot up an E-boat while flying back to England. No aircraft lost.

Four P-38s fly a fighter-bomber mission against shipping at Ijmuiden, the Netherlands without loss.

Almost 200 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs of the USAAF's Ninth Air Force bomb gun batteries on Cap de la Hague, bridges and rail lines in the Rennes-Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcourt-Vitre areas, and rail bridge at Oissel; fighters fly armed reconnaissance and attack enemy aircraft, road and rail traffic, gun positions, bridges and other targets in wide areas throughout northwestern France.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Rokossovsky's forces take Bobruysk, Slutsk and Lyuban. They also cross the Berezina. Bobruisk, the last German bastion at the southern end of the smashed "Fatherland Line" in Byelorussia, has been stormed by the Red Army. As many as half of the 10,000 German soldiers were killed. The road is now clear for a pincer movement to enfold the Byelorussian capital of Minsk. As they reach their initial objectives for Operation Bagration, Red Army forces pause briefly to resupply and regroup. These latest successes, following the crossing of the Dnieper on a 75-mile front and the wiping out of the German garrison of Vitebsk, are celebrated in an order of the day addressed to Gen Konstantin Rokossovky. Arrested before the war on Stalin's orders, Rokossovsky is C-in-C of the First Byelorussian Front and planned this campaign, Operation *Bagration*. He has been rewarded today by promotion to marshal.

In an attempt to stop his advance Hitler has ordered that key towns such as Vitebsk, Mogilev and Polotsk be held as Feste Platze [firm positions] and defended to the last man and the last round. The result, as in Vitebsk, has been the sacrifice of units bypassed and then destroyed by the Russians.

Finnish troops leave Äänislinna (Petroskoi), the largest town occupied by Finns in Eastern Karelia. Since the Soviet forces broke free from the salient east of Lake Leitimonjärvi, Col. Albert Puroma's Jäger Brigade, Col. Martti Aho's IR 50 and Lt. Col. E. Polón's IR 30 have been in danger of being isolated. Now their task is to disengage from battle and withdraw to a new line. However, the Soviet forces press on, and Finns have to conduct a fighting withdrawal. After midnight the enemy tanks reach the Portinhoikka crossroads, but once again Maj. Heikki Mikkola pushes them back with a prompt counter-attack. Soviets stage another attempt at 7 am, but are slowed down by fierce resistance by the I and II battalions of the IR 50 supported by StuG IIIg's of the Armored Division. Finally the enemy is stopped a kilometer short of the crossroads. North of Lake Leitimonjärvi the Jäger Brigade, I/IR 50 and IR 30 (minus one battalion) still man the positions they had reached after the attempts to cut the Soviet salient yesterday. The newly arrived 6th Division continues this morning its offensive from Ihantala south along the Portinhoikka-Ihantala -road. It's able to conquer some ground, but is stopped by enemy artillery and air forces. The regiment repels several attacks by enemy tanks, destroying a number with the newly arrived German at-weapons, Panzerfausts and -schrecks. East of the Soviet salient Col. Sven Björkman's forces are subjected to a furious Soviet assault early in the morning. The Border Jäger Battalion 2 repels several attacks, even after the III/IR 48 on its right flank retreats at 10am. It valiently fights on alone for ten hours, holding the enemy and destroying several tanks. But the border jägers can't hold on alone for ever, and are forced to withdraw at 8 pm.


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## Njaco (Jul 18, 2009)

*30 June 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Since D-Day the Allies have landed 630,000 men, 600,000 tons of supplies and 177,000 vehicles in Normandy. Allied KIA and WIA total 62,000. The Allies have lost 7,704 dead - 4,868 Americans, 2,443 Britons and 393 Canadians. Battle fatigue has also claimed 10,000 men in American units since D-Day - one fifth of all casualties.

Operation *Epsom*, an attempt by the British VIII Corps to break through German lines west of Caen, has been aborted. Lt-Gen Dempsey today withdrew the British 11th Armoured Division from Hill 112, overlooking the road to Caen. The ever-reliable "Ultra" intelligence reports showed that the Germans were about to launch a major attack on Hill 112 by two formations just arrived from the Soviet front: the 9. and 10.SS Panzerdivisions. In the area as a whole Dempsey had 60,000 men and 600 tanks, supported by 700 guns; but he knew that he was still outranked by the Panzers. The offensive was abandoned; Caen will have to wait. Hill 112 is recaptured by the Germans. Meanwhile, German resistance in the Cotentin Peninsula ends and the US 1st Army begins to redirect it's operations toward St. Lo.

The Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 448: 153 bombers and 539 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields; Of 75 B-17s, 39 hit Montdidier Airfield, 24 hit Le Culot Airfield and 11 hit Furnes Airfield, Coxyde, Belgium; 27 B-17s are damaged. Of 78 B-24s, 35 hit Conches Airfield and 26 hit Fauville Airfield, Evreux, France without loss. Escort is provided by 168 of 178 P-51s who afterwards strafe marshalling yards, airfields, barracks, a train, a factory, and a warehouse with good results. No enemy aircraft are encountered and no aircraft are lost. Other P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s hit bridges, marshalling yards and other targets in France; they claim 3-3-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; one P-38 is lost.

125+ USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs, using blind-bombing methods in bad weather, bomb fuel dumps and road junctions at Conde-sur-Vire, Foret de Conches, Conde-sur-Noireau, and Thury-Harcourt; around 250 others are forced to abort due to weather; 600+ fighters escort bombers, fly cover over the beach, and bomb marshalling yards at Chartres and Verneuil-sur-Avres, bridges east of Paris, and Evreux-Bueil, and Breux-sur-Avre-Trappes rail lines; the fighters fly armed reconnaissance in the Seine-Loire gap and along the Loire River, and Continent-based fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command attack communications targets in advance of the US and British positions.

266 RAF aircraft - 151 Lancasters, 105 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4 and 8 Groups to bomb a road junction at Villers Bocage through which the tanks of two German Panzer divisions, the 2nd and 9th, would have to pass in order to carry out a planned attack on the junction of the British and American armies in Normandy that night. The raid was controlled with great care by the Master Bomber, who ordered the bombing force to come down to 4,000ft in order to be sure of seeing the markers in the smoke and dust of the exploding bombs. 1,100 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy and the planned German attack did not take place. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost.

102 RAF Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups bombed a flying-bomb launching site at Oisemont. The attack took place through 10/10ths cloud and results were not observed. No aircraft were lost. 118 Lancasters of No 1 Group attacked railway yards at the small town of Vierzon, south of Orléans and bombed with great accuracy, a success for No 1 Group's own marking flight. 11 Lancasters were lost, nearly 12 per cent of the force. 40 Mosquitos to Homberg oil plant, 6 RCM sorties, 29 Mosquitos on fighter patrols, 6 Stirlings minelaying in the River Scheldt. 1 Mosquito lost from the Homberg raid.

_'U-478' _(Type VIIC) is sunk northeast of the Faroes, at position 63.27N, 00.50W, by depth charges from Canadian Canso (RCAF-Sqdn. 162/A, piloted by Flight Lieutenant David Hornell VC) and British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 86/E). The submarine was first sighted by the Canso, which was unable to release its depth charges during its attack. The Canadian aircraft vectored in the Liberator, which dropped a six-charge pattern that lifted the boat’s bows out of the water. Although survivors were sighted in two dinghies, none of _'U-478's' _52 crewmembers were rescued. 52 dead (all crew lost).

*UNITED KINGDOM*: London: A V1 lands on Bush House in the Aldwych, killing 198 people. During the month, 2452 V-1 bombs were launched by German forces against England.

*GERMANY*: A test unit, Erprobungskommando [Trials Detachment]` 262, has been in existence since April but now a new unit, I/KG51 (First Wing of No. 51 Kampfgeschwader [Bomber Group]) has been formed. At Hitler's insistence the Me262 will serve as a fighter-bomber, although he has permitted development of the fighter version to continue. This has meant much modification to give the aircraft the structural strength to carry bombs. It is planned to deploy the new unit to France once it is fully operational.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The Allied advance in Italy begins to encounter a new German line of defence south of Siena and Arezzo. The advance bogs down.

Bad weather causes 450+ bombers and 150+ fighters of the Fifteenth Air Force to abort missions. 188 B-17s and B-24s, escorted by 138 fighters, hit an airfield at Zagreb, Yugoslavia and targets of opportunity in Hungary and Yugoslavia, including marshalling yards at Kaposvar, Osztopan and Split, a highway bridge at Brac Island, airfield at Banjaluka, and the city of Budapest, Hungary.

*EASTERN FRONT*: This day is considered to be the last of the Tali-phase of the battle. Lt. Gen. Taavetti Laatikainen's IV Corps has succesfully straightened its right flank and manned the new line west from Ihantala. For once, the terrain is favourable to the defender, and the Finnish infantry is receiving large numbers of German infantry at-weapons. The Finnish artillery is reaching the top of its powers. Finnish Army has more than 20 artillery battalions concentrated near the battlefield, and the advanced fire-control system is showing what it can achieve. In the air the Finnish Air Force, reinforced by Obstlt. Kuhlmey's Stukas and Fw 190's, provides air-cover and ground-support.

The Red Army offensive continues as the 3rd Belarusian Front establishes bridgeheads over the Berezina River north and south of Borisov. The Germans abandon the city before they could be surrounded.


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## Njaco (Jul 21, 2009)

*1 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Normandy, a serious counterattack in the Caen area develops as the German 1. SS Panzerkorps hits the British.

At the headquarters of Gerd von Rundstedt in Paris, France, he receives orders from Adolf Hitler that present positions are to be held. Rundstedt replies to a staff officer at Hitler's headquarters that this cannot be done, and says;


> "_Make peace, you fools". _


The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 449: 323 bombers (78 B-17s and 245 B-24s) and 166 P-51s are dispatched to bomb 14 V-weapon sites in northern France but are recalled because of clouds; the recall messages by mistake are not sent to 3 squadrons; 2 of these abort on a decision of the squadron leaders; the other continues on the mission and 9 B-24s bomb a V-weapon site at Mont Louis Ferme; 1 B-24 is lost and 10 are damaged; 124 P-51s, relieved of escort duty by the recall of the bombers, claim 5-0-5 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-51 is lost. 82 fighters of a force of 97 P-38s, 169 P-47s and 99 P-51s attack rail and road targets in northern France and claim 3-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1P-47 is lost and 2 damaged beyond repair. 18 B-24s participate in CARPETBAGGER missions in France.

Weather prevents operations by the USAAF's IX Bomber Command; 47 fighters escort troop carriers and fly sweeps in the Vire area where about 20 fighters bomb tactical targets.

307 RAF Halifaxes of Nos 4 and No 6 Groups with 15 Mosquitos and 6 Lancasters of the Pathfinders attacked 2 flying bomb launching sites and a stores site. All targets were completely or almost completely cloud-covered; bombing was on Oboe markers and no results could be seen. 1 Halifax of No 4 Group was lost from the raid on the St Martin l'Hortier site. 2 Mosquitos carried out uneventful Ranger patrols to airfields in Northern Holland. 6 Mosquitos to Scholven/Buer and 4 to Homberg - both targets were oil plants - 6 Lancasters minelaying off Horn's Reef, 2 Mosquitos on flying-bomb patrols. No aircraft lost.

The German authorities proclaim a state of emergency because of the general strike in Copenhagen.

The date for "Operation *Dragon*", the invasion of southern France, is set for August 15.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army makes headway against the Albert Line, taking Cecina and Pomerance. British X and XIII Corps push German units back in their sector.

1(F)./123 sent a Ju 88T-1 on a photo-reconnaissance mission to Naples – this aircraft failed to return. It crashed at San Martino while on a photo-recce mission to Naples. Aircraft burnt out crew killed. 1(F)./122 reported 9 x Me 410A-3 and 1 x Me 410B-1 on strength.

*EASTERN FRONT*: This day is the first day of the Ihantala-phase of the Battle of Tali-Ihantala. The Finnish IV Corps (Lt. Gen. Taavetti Laatikainen) has succesfully straightened its right flank and settled down into defence. Early this morning the Soviet forces, supported by tanks, ground-attack aircraft and artillery, attack the Finnish II/IR 12 which holds the Village of Ihantala. The attack is repelled with the aid of artillery and mortar fire. Another attempt is staged in mid-morning. The Soviets forces, supported by some 20 tanks and artillery, again attack the II/IR 12. However, as the Soviet attack commences, a stroke of good luck comes to help the Finns. The bridge across a stream running south from the Lake Ihantalanjärvi was left intact yesterday, when the engineers assigned with blowing up the bridge were all killed. A Finnish artillery officer, Capt. Urho Karhula, decides to try to destroy the bridge this morning with one heavy artillery piece. He starts directing the fire, and finally a hit is scored, which also detonates the charges left in the bridge. Three enemy tanks are knocked out in the explosion, and seven are left stranded between the Finnish positions and the destroyed bridge, while the Finnish artillery and infantry fire drives the enemy infantry away. After these unsuccessful attempts the Soviets try to penetrate the Finnish defences at Vakkila, west of Ihantala. At 1 pm the Soviet air forces bomb the 6th Division's positions, and immediately afterwards the Soviet artillery fires a furious barrage at the Finnish positions around Vakkila. But the attack is aborted soon after its start when the Finnish artillery and mortars disperse the advancing Soviet formations. Obstlt. Kurt Kuhlmey's German aircraft also bomb the advancing Soviets, destroying several tanks. At 6 pm. the Red Army once again attacks Ihantala, supported this time by some 30 tanks, but is again repelled. An hour later the Soviet forces attack west of Ihantala in several waves, but suffer heavy losses in Finnish infantry and artillery fire. At 9 pm. the Soviet aircraft bomb the positions of the I/IR 12 around Pyöräkangas, and are soon joined by the Soviet artillery. The Soviet ground forces start forming for an attack after 10 pm, but are dispersed by Finnish artillery, and the attack is aborted.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Roosevelt declares that "The Manhattan Project" receives the highest priority for resources in the United States.

*GERMANY*: Count Claus von Stauffenberg was promoted to colonel.


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## Njaco (Jul 21, 2009)

*2 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Hitler sacks von Rundstedt. Field Marshal Günther von Kluge replaces Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt as commander of German forces in the West. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel arranges the exchange of badly wounded prisoners with US forces in Europe.

The US Eighth Air Force in England dispatches 350 bombers and 171 P-51s on Mission 450 to hit 13 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; 1 B-24 is lost: Of 78 B-17s, 24 hit Fleury, 24 hit Fressin, 21 hit Blengermont and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 33 B-17s are damaged. Of 272 B-24s, 36 hit Crepy, 35 hit Fiefs, 24 hit Vignacourt, 23 hit Blanc Pignon, 22 hit Courbronne, 21 hit Renescure, 13 hit Haute Cote Island, 13 hit Mont Louis Ferme, 13 hit Santrecourt and 12 hit Belloy-sur-Somme; 1 B-24 is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair. Escort for the above is provided by 166 of 171 P-51s without loss. 37 B-24s CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night.

All USAAF IX Bomber Command missions are cancelled due to bad weather; fighters of seven groups of the IX Tactical Air Command fly interception missions in the Caen area and cover over the beach area, attack rail lines along the Loire, and hit a HQ and supply dumps and strongpoints near La Haye-du-Puits.

26 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the industrial area at Gyor, Austria.

374 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups attacked 3 V-weapons sites. Cloud affected all of the raids but good concentrations of bombs were believed to have been dropped at all targets. No aircraft lost. 4 Mosquitos on uneventful Ranger patrols.

The German Type IXC/40 submarine _'U-543' _is sunk about 335 nm (621 km) west-southwest of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas Island, Canary Islands, in position 25.34N, 21.36W, by depth charges and a FIDO homing torpedo from a TBM Avenger of Escort Carrier Air Group Fifty Eight (VC-58) in the USN escort aircraft carrier USS _'Wake Island' _(CVE-65). All hands (58 men) in the U-boat are lost.
....The unescorted _'Bodegraven' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-547'_, which took one man on board as POW.

Transport _'General W.A. Mann' _(AP-112), escorted by Brazilian destroyers _'Marcilio Dias'_, _'Mariz e Barros' _and _'Greenhalgh'_, sails from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the first elements of the Italy-bound Brazilian Expeditionary Force.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Foiano is liberated by the British 4th Infantry Division.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack nine targets: (1-3) 509 bombers attack three targets in Budapest, the marshalling yard (253 aircraft), Vecses Airfield (142 aircraft) and the Shell Oil Refinery (114 aircraft) with the loss of 14 bombers; (4-5) one each aircraft bombs the city of Paks and the city of Kiskunhalas; (6) five bombers hit the Szolnok railroad bridge with the loss of one aircraft; and (7-9) four bombers hit targets of opportunity. Eighth and Fifteenth Air Force fighters sweep over the Budapest area; bombers and fighters claim 50+ fighters shot down.

Liberators of the RAF No. 205 Group hit three targets. During the day, 44 hit the Prahova Oil Refinery at Bucharest with the loss of two aircraft. During the night, ten aircraft, in two groups of five, mine the Danube River.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force hits four targets: (1) 37 bombers hit the Brod marshalling yard; (2) 26 hit the Vinconvivi marshalling yard (2 lost); (3-4) two aircraft bomb two targets of opportunity. The Hungarian Air Forces admit to losses of 28 planes this day.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russian forces west of Minsk cut several railway lines.

*Battle of Tali-Ihantala*: While the Soviet artillery is active all day, the only Soviet attacks come at the right flank, around Tähtelä. One attempt is repelled early in the night, and another, more serious, commences at 3.30 pm. This time the Soviet forces, supported by tanks, are able to penetrate the Finnish positions, but are beaten back by the reserves. Finnish artillery is again crucial in repelling the Soviet attacks. But this evening the Red Air Force manages to launch a surprise attack at the Finnish airfield in Immola, where the German Stukas and Fw 190's of Obstlt. Kurt Kuhlmey's force are based. The attack, starting at 7.59 pm, destroys 9 German aircraft and damages 24. This succesful Soviet operation greatly weakens the German air forces supporting Finns.

*GERMANY*: Count von Stauffenberg called off an attempt to assassinate Hitler because a last minute change in plan canceled visits by Himmler and Goering, who the count also wanted to kill in the attack.


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## Njaco (Jul 22, 2009)

*3 JULY 1944*

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A V1 lands on a Chelsea block of flats, killing 74 people and injuring 50. The British capital is being evacuated again. Under the impact of the flying-bomb attack the government has announced a new scheme to move mothers of children under five, as well as schoolchildren, to the country. Many others have made their own arrangements for evacuation. In the first two weeks of the attack over 1,700 people have been killed. The fact that V1s fall out of cloudy skies in daytime makes it harder to shelter. However, the anti-aircraft and balloon barrage now on the North Downs is bringing down more of the robot planes than before.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US forces mount a major move south from Normandy. Their goal is a line from Coutances to St.Lo. The hedgerow country, weather and stiff German opposition, slow the advance. The US 712th enters combat in the Haye du Puits sector of Normandy. Troy Middleton leads the US 8th Corps in a drive down the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula, but fails.

Nearly 275 Ninth Air Force fighters strafe and bomb strongpoints, gun positions, a fuel dump, communication lines, bridges, and patrol the beach in the vicinity of Lessay and Periers, south of the US First Army's advance.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Siena, the beautiful Etruscan capital falls to Algerian troops of the French Expeditionary Corps. There was little time for celebration, however. Almost as soon as the last German had left the city, the 3rd Algerian Division was preparing to move south - to Naples and the planned invasion of the south of France. The Algerians have been replaced by the Moroccan 4th Mountain Division, which has wasted no time in heading for Florence and the Gothic Line. The US Fifth Army, which is also likely to lose much of its strength to the proposed invasion, today took the coastal town of Cecina and is close to encircling the port of Leghorn. The British 78th Division captures Cortona, and US forces reach Rosignano.

Four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the Szeged railroad bridge with Azon bombs.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacks nine targets: (1) 110 hit the oil storage facilities at Giurgiu; (2-4) 212 bomb three targets in Bucharest, the Malaxa locomotive factory (95 aircraft), the Mogasia oil storage facility (83 aircraft) and the Titan Oil Refinery (34 aircraft); (5) the Timosoara marshalling yard (93 aircraft); (6) the Arad railway shops (44 aircraft); (7) the Piatra railroad bridge (28 aircraft); (8 ) the Duca railroad (27); and (9) the Turnu Severin railroad (13 aircraft). Eleven aircraft are lost. Fifty five Eighth Air Force B-17s in Italy on the USSR shuttle mission join in bombing the Arad marshalling yards; 38 P-51 Mustangs of the VIII Fighter Command, also on the shuttle run, fly escort on the mission.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacks two targets: (1) Oil storage facilities in Belgrade (28 aircraft) and (2) the Cuprija railway line (1 aircraft). 

German Type IXC submarine _'U-154' _is sunk about 594 nm (1100 km) west of Casablanca, French Morocco, in approximate position 34.00N, 19.30W, by depth charges from the USN destroyer escorts USS _'Inch' _(DE-146) and _'Frost' _(DE-144). All hands (57 men) in the U-boat are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: *Battle of Tali-Ihantala*: Twelve Finnish artillery battalions fire at the Soviet positions in the early morning hours, as do the German Stukas and Jabos. This ends the Soviet activity for few hours. However, some 200 enemy aircraft start bombing the Finnish positions at 6 am, and are soon joined by artillery and assault guns. At 7 am. an enemy division attacks Ihantala, but is repelled with the aid of artillery. At 9 am. an enemy attack drives the I/IR 12 from Pyöräkangas, west of Ihantala. Capt. L. Jaale's III/IR 6 attacks from west, followed by the rest of Lt. Col. Reino Inkinen's regiment. Maj. K. Suurkari's detachment (remains of the I/IR 12, company from III/IR 12 and a jäger company) attacks from north at 12.30 pm, and Maj. J. Sammalkorpi's III/IR 35 from north-east at 2 pm. This three-pronged assault drives the enemy from Pyöräkangas by 5 pm. For the rest of the day the Soviet forces attempt attacks at different points along the 6th Division's front, but every time the enemy formations are dispersed by Finnish artillery even before they are able to attack. Only at Tähtelä, at 6th Division's left flank, the enemy reaches the Finnish positions at 8 pm, but are immediately driven back by counter-attack.

*Operation Bagration*: Ten days after the start of Operation Bagration, Minsk is captured by troops of the First and Third Byelorussian fronts. The German 4.Armee and other units are now cut off. The German Heeresgruppe Mitte is caught offguard by this and is beginning to cease to exist as a fighting unit. Those elements of Heeresgruppe Mitte that still have freedom of action are withdrawing in disorder. Minsk, the capital of Byelorussia, was the last major city in the Soviet Union still occupied by the Germans. The city was first encircled and then stormed by General Cherniakhovsky's Third Byelorussian Front and Marshal Rokossovky's First Byelorussian front. Not only have they taken 73,000 prisoners, including two generals - Michaelis and Konradi - they have also trapped a large force of Germans east of Minsk. The story is the same all along the line. In the north General Bagramyan's First Baltic Front has invested Polotsk and is pushing the Germans out of the city in hand-to-hand street fighting. When Polotsk falls Vilna, the capital of Lithuania, will come within striking distance. In the south, Marshal Zhukov has mounted an attack on Baranovichi, the key to the German right wing.

Colonel General Johannes Frießner succeeds Colonel General Georg Lindemann in command of the German Herresgruppe Nord.


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## Bernhart (Jul 23, 2009)

real interesting reading about the fighting in finland, something one doesn't usually hear much about


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## Njaco (Jul 28, 2009)

*4 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Operation *Windsor *begins, with Canadian 3rd Infantry Division beginning an attack on Carpiquet village and airport, west of Caen. Allied field guns and naval cannon begin a bombardment of the airfield. 1,100 US guns fired 4th of July salute at German lines in Normandy. US forces suffer heavy losses for very little gain in their drive toward St. Lo. J. Lawton Collins leads the US 7th Corps in a drive down the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula, but fails.

The Eighth Air Force in England dispatches 558 bombers and 632 fighters on Mission 451 to attack 7 airfields north and west of Paris; bad weather and mechanical failures cause 350+ bombers to abort; 1 B-17 and 4 fighters are lost: Of 300 B-17s, 24 hit Dreux Airfield, 24 hit Illiers L'Eveque Airfield, 13 hit Conches Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 37 damaged. Of 258 B-24s, 56 hit Conches Airfield, 50 hit Beaumont le Roger Airfield, 49 hit Evreux Airfield, 25 hit Beaumont-sur-Oise Airfield and 12 hit Creil Airfield; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 52 damaged. 199 P-38s, 189 P-47s and 244 P-51s are dispatched to escort the bombers but 63 abort; 2 P-38s, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged. Of 144 P-38s and 176 P-47s, 29 hit Nevers marshalling yard, 25 hit Joinville Bridge, 16 hit Chartre-Chateaudun marshalling yard, 14 hit Perrigny marshalling yard, 14 hit Fresnes Bridge, 8 hit La Tours marshalling yard at Cercy, 8 hit Cambrai marshalling yard, 6 hit St Florentin, 5 hit targets of opportunity and 4 hit Rouen Bridge; they claim 17-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-38 is lost and 1 damaged. 36 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night; 1 aircraft crashes.

Bad weather curtails Ninth Air Force bomber operations, but 95 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs bomb a rail bridge at Oissel and strongly defended positions north of Anneville-sur-Mer, using the Pathfinder technique; 900+ fighters strafe and bomb numerous targets including troop concentrations, gun positions, rail lines, marshalling yards, a tunnel, a radio station, bridges, highways, and a command post; fighters also fly escort and cover the beach and assault areas; units moving from England to France.

British authorities, concerned with the effectiveness of the V-1 attacks on London, launch a precision bombing raid against a storage facility at St Leu. 17 Lancasters, 1 Mosquito and 1 Mustang of No 617 Squadron attacked a flying-bomb store in a large cave at St Leu d'Esserent, north of Paris, and bombed the site accurately and without loss. (Aircraft of No 5 Group, with some Pathfinders, attacked St Leu d'Esserent immediately after the No 617 Squadron attack but Bomber Command records show the No 617 Squadron operation as a day raid and the later operation as a night raid.) 328 aircraft - 307 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos, 6 Lancasters - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to 3 flying bomb launching sites. Some cloud was present but at least 2 of the attacks were assessed as accurate. No aircraft lost. 231 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos, mostly from No 5 Group but with some Pathfinder aircraft, continued the attack on the underground flying-bomb store at St Leu d'Esserent with 1,000lb bombs, in order to cut all communications to the site. The bombing was accurate but 13 Lancasters were lost when German fighters engaged the force. 282 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Orleans and Villeneuve. Both targets were accurately bombed. 14 Lancasters were lost, 11 from the Villeneuve raid and 3 from Orleans. 36 Mosquitos to Scholven/Buer oil facility, 25 RCM sorties, 61 Mosquito patrols, 6 Stirlings and 5 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire, 16 aircraft on Resistance operations, 30 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax RCM aircraft lost.

Following a conference at First Army Headquarters, General Eisenhower crowded into the cockpit of a P-51 with Maj. Gen. Elwood R. "Pete" Quesada, commander of IX Tactical Air Command, and, with three other P-51s, spent over half an hour ranging over the battle area, flying as much as fifty miles beyond friendly positions. The lack of space precluded either man from wearing a parachute.

Between 1631 and 1706, _'U-539' _fired torpedoes at a tanker convoy and reported four tankers with 26,000 tons torpedoed. According to the xB-Dienst one of these tankers was the American _'Hollywood' _(5498 tons). However, the only ship hit was the unescorted _'Kittanning'_, which was torpedoed three times about 40 miles NE of Cristobal. The _'Kittanning' _had left port at 1330, but soon thereafter the third assistant engineer fell and seriously injured himself and the master decided to return to Cristobal. At 1631, just after the ship changed course back at 14.5 knots, a torpedo struck on the starboard side at the #6 tank. At 1646, a second torpedo hit the #7 tank on the same side abaft the midships house and the ship swung hard right. The explosions opened a hole 65 feet long and 20 feet high and flooded five tanks, causing a 35° list to starboard. At 1700, the ten officers, 39 crewmen and 25 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5-in, one 3-in and eight 20-mm guns) abandoned ship in four lifeboats, but two boats swamped in the choppy seas and squally weather. A coup de grâce, fired at 1706, struck on the port side at the #4 tank under the midship house, causing the tanker to right herself and float on an even keel. The U-boat had reported another torpedo fired at 1849 hours, but it seems that it had missed.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Private First Class William K. Nakamura distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action near Castellina, Italy. During a fierce firefight, Private First Class Nakamura’s platoon became pinned down by enemy machine gun fire from a concealed position. On his own initiative, Private First Class Nakamura crawled 20 yards toward the hostile nest with fire from the enemy machine gun barely missing him. Reaching a point 15 yards from the position, he quickly raised himself to a kneeling position and threw four hand grenades, killing or wounding at least three of the enemy soldiers. The enemy weapon silenced, Private First Class Nakamura crawled back to his platoon, which was able to continue its advance as a result of his courageous action. Later, his company was ordered to withdraw from the crest of a hill so that a mortar barrage could be placed on the ridge. On his own initiative, Private First Class Nakamura remained in position to cover his comrades’ withdrawal. While moving toward the safety of a wooded draw, his platoon became pinned down by deadly machine gun fire. Crawling to a point from which he could fire on the enemy position, Private First Class Nakamura quickly and accurately fired his weapon to pin down the enemy machine gunners. His platoon was then able to withdraw to safety without further casualties. Private First Class Nakamura was killed during this heroic stand. Private First Class Nakamura’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army. (MoH)

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack three targets: 148 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Photgen Oil Refinery at Brasov, 105 B-24 Liberators bomb the railroad bridge at Pitesti and one aircraft hits a target of opportunity; 350+ fighters escort the bombers and carry out sweeps in the target area; claims of enemy fighters destroyed total 17; a fighter group strafes two landing grounds and a troop train in Yugoslavia on the return trip to base.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The First Baltic Front attacks The German Heeresgrppe Nord. The Soviet 1st Baltic Front launches fresh attacks against the southern flank of Heeresgrppe Nord. (16th and 18th Armies), aimed at cutting to the Baltic Sea behind the German formations. Polotsk, the gateway to Latvia, quickly falls. The extended German position is held tenuously because the Soviet forces to the south have advanced quickly, exposing the flanks of these units.

Two Soviet attacks are repulsed at Tähtelä this morning, but later on the day Finnish radio intelligence captures a message stating that the Soviets were going to attack at 8 pm, supported by tanks and aircraft. Accordingly Finnish artillery and aircraft bomb the Soviet positions in the evening, and the Soviet attack is postponed. After 10 pm. the Soviet forces are observed forming for an attack, and the Finnish artillery fires on them, and the attack is again aborted. This ends the Soviet offensive activity for this day at Ihantala. At 7.28 pm. the Soviet aircraft try to repeat their success the day before yesterday by attacking again the Finnish airfield in Immola where Obstlt. Kurt Kuhlmey's German Stukas and Jabos are based. This time the defenders are ready, and only few bombs fall on the target. Losses are negligible. After heavy fighting Finnish troops are forced to leave the islands of Suonionsaari, Esisaari and Ravansaari. Islands of Teikarinsaari and Melansaari are almost lost but regained by counterattacks later in the day.


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## syscom3 (Oct 6, 2009)

*5 July 1944

EASTERN FRONT*: After heavy fighting Finns are forced to leave the islands of Teikarinsaari and Melansaari in the Bay of Viipuri, Finland. Another quiet day at Ihantala. Finnish artillery prevents few Soviet attacks at TŠhtelŠ and Ihantala, but the enemy manages to capture a piece of terrain at PyšrŠkangas. They are driven back next night by elements of the II/IR 35.

The retreat of Luftwaffe forces around Minsk continued with the Stab of JG 51 leaving its base at Kobryn and joining the I Gruppe at Krzewica. In Bulgaria, the detached unit from II./JG 51, 5./JG 51 was moved from Gaddura to Kastelli on Crete in the Mediterranean.

*WESTERN FRONT*: La Haye du Puits, France falls to US forces.

The Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 453: 371 bombers and 445 fighters are dispatched to attack three airfields in the Netherlands and two in Belgium, a factory near Mol, and three V-weapon supply sites in France; five fighters are lost:
1. Of 79 B-17 Flying Fortresses dispatched to the Netherlands, 38 hit Gilze-Rijen Airfield, 20 hit Volkel Airfield and 19 hit Noll.
2. Of 221 B-24 Liberators, 43 hit Bois de Cassan V-weapon site, 36 hit Le Coulet Airfield, 29 hit Foret de L'Isle Adam and 29 hit Mery sur Oise V-weapon sites, 13 hit Eindhoven Airfield, five hit Melsbroek Airfield and two hit Tulemont Airfield. The two missions above are escorted by 180 P-51 Mustangs that claim 4-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; two P-51s are lost.
3. 70 B-17s hit Beziers marshalling yard; 228 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s escort the bombers and claim 18-1-9 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; two P-47s and a P-51 are lost. Of 93 P-47s, 22 bomb Rouen, ten hit L'Arche Bridge, ten hit Seine River locks, seven hit Boissy le Bois, seven hit Pantgouin, seven hit Veulettes Bridge and six hit communication targets; they claim 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; two P-47s are lost. The P-47s are escorted by 181 P-38s Lightnings; two P-38s are lost . During the night, eight B-17s drop leaflets in France with the loss of one aircraft; and eight B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

Seventy B-17s on a shuttle mission (UK-USSR-Italy-UK) attack a marshalling yard at Beziers, France (with Fifteenth Air Force B-2s) while on the last leg from Italy to the UK; 42 P-51s return to UK with the B-17s (of the eleven P-51s remaining in Italy, ten return to the UK the following day and the last several days later).

In France, about 180 Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs bomb bridges at Caen and also sidings, tracks, and rolling stock; in the afternoon four NOBALL (V-weapon) HQ are hit; 600+ fighters escort the bombers, carry out armed reconnaissance of communication and enemy movements, attack rail lines, rolling stock, marshalling yards, bridges, supply dumps, and cover the beach area.

Again three new Fw 190s were lost in training accidents at JG 1 although no combat missions were flown. III./JG1 was finished re-fitting and ordered to move from its base at Wunstorf to new positions near Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. When Generalmajor Adolf Galland and Oberst Gordon Gollob--JG 52's and JG 77's former Geschwaderkommodore who by that time had advanced to occupy a leading position in Galland's Fighter Staff--arrived for an inspection at Wunstorf shortly before III./JG 1 was to be sent back to Normandy, they were introduced to a motley crew. As usual, Galland was mostly interested in each pilot's number of individual victories. Hptm. Alfred Grislawski was the leading scorer in his unit. His 125 confirmed victories were way ahead of Hptm. Burckhardt's sixty-nine and Ofw. Herbert Kaiser's sixty-five. Hptm. Woitke reported twenty-six personal victories to Galland. Then there was Ofw. Friedrich Zander, a veteran from JG 54 Grünherz on the Eastern Front with thirty-one marks on his killboard, and Ofw. Leo Barann-- a Home Defense veteran who had shot down eight heavy bombers before he was injured in the spring of 1944. Of the remainder, only half a dozen could report between three and five victories each. Only few of the pilots that left Wunstorf that day would ever see their homeland again. One of its precious veterans nevertheless was left behind as the others departed for France. Hptm. "Lutz" Burckhardt, Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 1, had another attack of the malaria that he had caught in North Africa in early 1943. He was treated in hospital.

The Stab of JG 3 moved from its base at Evreux to new positions near St. Andre.

The Fliegerverbindungsoffizier (Flivo) of Army Group G requested the assignment of a Flivo for a special undertaking planned with support from Geschwader Bongart. There were large-scale German operations against the Resistance in the St. Claude area. 31 Luftwaffe sorties were flown against the resistance. Geschwader Bongart flew no sorties but lost two aircraft on this day. Three German bombers were destroyed at Chateauroux airfield.

Reichsmarschall Göring issued an order that because of the recent high rate of loss of indispensable combat leaders, all Luftwaffe leaders could no longer fly combat missions unless the following numbers of aircraft were available for support; Staffelkapitän required six aircraft, Gruppenkommandeur needed fifteen aircraft and Kommodoren needed forty-five supporting warplanes.


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## syscom3 (Oct 7, 2009)

*6 JULY 1944*

*GERMANY:* 42 Liberator bombers of the RAF's No. 205 Group attack Feuresbrunn Airfield with the loss of 13 aircraft. During the night, two Liberators attack targets of opportunity.

229 B-24s bomb the dock area at Kiel, Germany and one hits a target of opportunity; three B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 168 P-51s one of which is lost.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* An armed U.S. merchant tanker, en route from Cartagena, Colombia, to New York City, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-516 about 152 nm nw of the Dutch island of Aruba; eight of the 72-man crew and Armed Guard perish.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Field Marshal Gunther Hans von Kluge replaces Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt as the German Commander in Chief West.

US 8th Air Force: Mission 455: In the morning, missions are flown to France: 800 bombers and 224 fighters are dispatched to bomb 18 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; 556 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 133 B-24s bomb; escort is provided by 141 P-38 Lightnings and 83 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 4-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 is lost.

Mission 456: In the late afternoon 73 B-17s and 148 B-24s strike six V-weapon sites and supply installations, three railroad bridges, a highway bridge, and an airfield in northern France. Escort is provided by 443 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; one P-47 is lost. Afterwards a squadron of P-47s dive-bombs three airfields in the Conches area. 212 P-38s and P-47s, fly fighter-bomber missions against rail and road traffic in the Paris area and claim 11-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; two P-47s are lost).

Mission 457: Seven B-17s drop leaflets in Belgium and France during the night. Twenty B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions; a B-24 is lost. A C-47 Skytrain makes the first landing at a secret airstrip in the Ain, France, area.

In France during the morning, about 500 Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s bomb bridges and rail lines at eight locations; in the afternoon five targets are attacked, including bridges, fuel dumps, railroad tracks, and a V-weapon location; 15+ fighter groups escort bombers, fly armed reconnaissance of rail lines, roads, and marshalling yards, damaging or destroying tracks, trains, a tunnel, a building, and a supply dump; fighters also cover the beach and bomb and strafe troop concentrations and gun positions.

While flying a FW 190F-8, Hptm. Friedrich Wilhelm Strakeljahn, Gruppenkommandeur of II./SG 4 and formerly a Staffelkapitän of 14.(Jabo)/JG 5, suffered a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire west of Macuty, near Dünaburg, and was killed. For the young pilots of 14.(Jabo)/JG 5, Hptm. Strakeljahn was an important figure. According to one of these men;


> "Hptm. Strakeljahn was like a father to us - he was a very good officer".


He was buried at Daugavpils in Latvia.

The personnel of II./JG 11 were on the move again when they were transferred from Mondesir to the airfield at Wunstorf and became a part of the 5 Jagddivision.

In 1943, the 21 year old Per Hiul. a fugitive from Denmark, was employed as an aircraft mechanic by the Luftwaffe at the aerodrome at Alborg, with the intentions of stealing an aircraft and fly it to England. Having had no flying training he learned how to fly by watching the procedures of the German pilots on the ground and when he was in the air with them. Hiul was stopped once after having started the engines of a plane but fortunately for him the Germans thought it was an accident and he continued working. Some months later he was moved to the airfield at Kastrup, north of Copenhagen. Here he made his second attempt of stealing an aircraft while working at the repair shops. On the morning of the 6 July 1944, while German mechanics were testing engines, he climbed into a Heinkel He 111 hoping that the noise from the engines would hide his intentions. With some difficulty he got the Heinkel started and taxied to the runway and took off, missing a building by only a few inches. This was the first time he ever flew a plane. In a few minutes he was over Sweden, but his troubles were not over. Swedish anti aircraft guns opened fire at him over Helsingborg. He tried to signal by tipping the wings but to no avail. The plane was hit and the steering controls damaged, causing it to pitch downward. He climbed back through the fuselage of the aircraft and that probably saved his life. Impacting in a corn field, the plane was totally destroyed and Hiul knocked unconscious. He woke up with fuel dripping down on his face, and having suffered no serious injuries, he hurried away from the wreck. Despite his protests he was hospitalised for eight days for observation. After having left the hospital he made contact with the Danish resistance, and for the reminder of the war, he ferried saboteurs and refugees across the sound between Denmark and Sweden. His escape was not without personal cost. His parents were arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned for three months before they were released. After the war Hiul worked as an interpreter for the British and American forces before he went into the merchant marines as an officer.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* In Italy, the British Eighth Army (Leese) along with the Polish 3rd Division captured Osimo 20 miles south of Ancona. Fw. Leo Sliwa of 5./JG 77 was killed in a flying accident. He had eight victories.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 530+ B-17s and B-24s to attack the following targets:
- 125 bomb the oil storage facilities at Porto Marghera.
- 114 bomb the oil refinery at Trieste.
- 78 attack Aviano; 45 hit oil storage facilities and 33 bomb the airfield.
- 55 bomb the railroad bridge at Latisana
- 53 bomb the marshalling yard at Verona.
- 53 bomb the steel works at Bergamo.
- 52 bomb the railroad bridge at Carsarsa.
- 49 bomb the railroad viaduct at Aviso.
- 1 bombs the airfield at Vincenza.


*EASTERN FRONT:* The First Belorussian Front captures Kovel which is 70 miles east of Lublin.

Soviet artillery begins a massive barrage on the Finnish positions in morning. Despite this the infantry and tank attack formations are succesfully destroyed by Finnish counter-barrage. Artllery battle goes on for the whole day, until the Soviets are able to mount another attack in evening. They break succesfully through Finnish positions and are able to capture some ground around the strategically important PyšrŠkangas, but are pushed out by counterattacks by midnight. The Soviet attack commences at 6 pm. It's main aim is again PyšrŠkangas, where the defending I/IR 35 is forced back. Col. Y. Hanste alerted his reserves, and orders I/IR 12 to attack from west, Separate Battalion 16 from east and I/IR 35 from north. The Finnish counter-attack, supported by more than 13 artillery battalions, starts at midnight, and the lost positions at PyšrŠkangas are recaptured by 3 am. on 7 July.

*NORTH AMERICA:* While riding on a bus from Camp Hood, Killeen, Texas, Lieutenant Jackie Robinson of the U.S. Army, refuses to give up his seat to a white man. He is court martialed for refusing the order of a civilian bus driver to move to the back of the bus and is acquitted.

In Hartford, Connecticut, 169 people, including many children, are killed when a fire breaks out in the main tent of the Ringling Bros.and Barnum Bailey Circus.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that 2,754 flying bombs had been launched against Britain since 13 June, causing 2,752 fatalities.


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## syscom3 (Oct 9, 2009)

*7 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* Jewish statesman Georges Mandel is executed at Fontainebleau, France, by the Milice on the orders of Vichy police chief, Darnand. Mandel is a former justice minister under Reynaud and anti-collaborationist.

US VIII, VII and XIX Corps are up against heavy opposition on a line from Haye du Puits to just east of the Vire River. Attacks by the US VII Army (Bradley) in the Carentan area were blunted by violent German counter-attacks. HMS _'Rodney' _bombards German positions around Caen.

In France, 100+ Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders bomb a rail bridge near Tours, and targets of opportunity in the Lisieux and Beuzeville areas; 500+ fighters fly escort and area cover, carry out armed reconnaissance of communication and troop activity, and bomb railroads, rolling stock, marshalling yards, ammunition dumps, and bridges in frontline areas and wide areas of western France.

USAAF's Eighth Air Force Mission 459: Six B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night.

475 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack five targets in France: 233 bomb the U-boat base at Toulon; 4 aircraft are lost. 146 hit the marshalling yard at Montpellier. 89 attack the marshalling yard at Beziers; 1 aircraft is lost. 6 bomb the marshalling yard at Marseilles. 1 bombs the marshalling yard at Sete.

RAF Bomber Command mounted its first attack against German troop positions in support of the Allied forces in Normandy (Operation Charnwood). A total of 467 aircraft (283 Lancasters, 164 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitoes attacked German positions in front of the Canadian 1st and British 2nd Armies north of Caen. Intercepting the forces were elements of NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 4, NJG 5, JG 301 and NJGr. 10.

Another RAF night-time mission as 208 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos, mainly from No 5 Group but with some Pathfinder aircraft, attacked a flying-bomb storage dump in a group of tunnels (formerly used for growing mushrooms) at St Leu d'Esserent. The bombing was accurate on the mouths of the tunnels and on the approach roads, blocking access to the flying bombs stored there. German night fighters intercepted the force and 29 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos were lost. No 106 Squadron lost 5 of its 16 Lancasters on the raid and No 630 Squadron lost its commanding officer, Wing Commander WI Deas, who was flying his 69th operation.

106 aircraft of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 9 No 3 Groups made a diversionary sweep almost to the coast of Holland, along with 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group dropping 'spoof' markers in support of the St Leu d'Esserent raid, and 32 Mosquitos to Berlin. Two Mosquitos were lost from the Berlin raid and one aircraft was lost from a Resistance flight. During these missions, Fw. Manfred Gromoll from 3./JG 301 shot down two Lancasters in his Bf 109 G/U2.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The US 34th Division liberate Pignano, Italy.

20 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber attack the industrial area at Dubnica.

97 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack three targets in Yugoslavia: 53 attack the airfield at Zagreb. 43 bomb the marshalling yard at Zagreb. 1 hits the airfield at Banja Luka.

85 RAF Liberators of No. 205 Group bomb the marshalling yard at Verona, Italy.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* German submarine _'U-678' _is sunk about 19 nm (36 km) SSW of Brighton, England, by RCN destroyers HMCS _'Ottawa' _and _'Kootenay' _and RN corvette HMS _'Statice'_. All hands on the U-boat (52-men) are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* This morning a Soviet attack against the I/IR 35 at PyšrŠkangas is repulsed with the aid of artillery. The enemy stages another attempt at 3 pm. (a prisoner claimed that this attack was launched by a whole division), but is also repulsed. A few more Soviet attacks are prevented in the evening by Finnish artillery. Unsuccesful Finnish counterattacks to capture back the lost ground in the Finnish bridgehead. Finnish troops in northern Karelia (north of Lake Ladoga) get new orders to withdraw to defend the U-position. This is the position where the deciding battles in northern Karelia will be fought later in the month.

*GERMANY:* BLITZLUFTSCHLACHT von OSCHERSLEBEN: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 458: 1,129 bombers and 756 fighters are dispatched to attack synthetic oil plants, aircraft assembly plants and engine works, airfields and an equipment depot, marshalling yards railway station and railway repair shops in Germany; 37 bombers and six fighters are lost: Of 373 B-24s, 102 hit Lutzkendorf and 64 hit Halle oil plants, 90 hit Bernburg and 73 hit Aschersleben aircraft plants and eight hit targets of opportunity; they claim 39-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 28 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 224 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 46-1-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 and three P-51s are lost. Of 303 B-17s, 64 hit Bohlen and 51 hit Merseburg oil plants, 67 hit Kolleda and 32 hit Lutzkendorf Airfields, 22 hit targets of opportunity and 16 hit Gottingen marshalling yard; two B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 185 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 9-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-1 on the ground; a P-47 and a P-51 are lost. Of 453 B-17s, 114 hit Leipzig/Taucha, 79 hit Leipzig/Mockau, 35 hit Leipzig/Heiterblick and 15 hit Leipzig/Abtnaundorf oil plants, 46 hit Leipzig bearing industry, 35 hit Kolleda Airfield, 19 hit Leipzig Station and seven hit Nordhausen; seven B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 247 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 20-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground.

The Sturmgruppe employed a new tactic for the first time against the Allied bomber formations. The Luftwaffe reasoned that the escorting Allied fighters couldn't protect such a large formation, especially at the mid point of the bomber stream so a Gefechtsverband or battle formation, was conceived consisting of a Gruppe of Sturmbock Fw 190s protected by two Gruppen of Bf 109s modified with uprated engines and reduced armament, that would attack the bomber streams at different locations along their length. On this date they got their chance to test the theory. German units encountered by the USAAF fighter groups were Stab/JG 300 (Fw 190s), I./JG 300 (Bf 109s), II./JG 300 (Fw 190s), IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 (Fw 190s), I./ZG 26 (Me 410s), II./ZG 26 (Me 410s), III./JG 300 (Bf 109s), and II./JG 5 (Bf 109s), as many as 175 single engine and 125 twins in all, unleashed their attacks against the center of the column. Major Walter Dahl led his forces in behind a Group of Liberators without any interference from escorts. The Gefechtsverband attacked the middle section of the stream, a box of Liberators of the 492nd Bomb Group which, as luck would have it, were temporarily without fighter cover. The Sturmgruppe closed on the Low Squadron, as Hptm. Wilhelm Moritz split his force into its three component Sturmstaffeln and directed them against different parts of the enemy formation. From six o'clock the German fighters fell on the Group's low left squadron like a sledgehammer. Lt. Walther Hagenah was one of the German pilots who took part in the attack;


> " My Staffel was in position about 1,000yd behind 'its' squadron of bombers. The Staffel leader ordered his aircraft into line abreast and, still in close formation, we advanced on the bombers. We were to advance like Frederick the Great's infantrymen, holding our fire until we could see 'the whites of the enemy's eyes'.''



In about a minute the Sturmbock pilots had shot down eleven B-24s, almost the entire squadron. Major Dahl commented on the battle,


> “. . . Hptm. Moritz’s Sturmgruppe is off to my left and Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Peters and his II./JG 300, former night-fighters and flying instructors, old experienced pilots, are behind me. The Bf 109 escorts of Hptm. Stamp’s first Gruppe JG 300 are top cover, ‘Holz-auge’ . . . The first flashes of fire appear from the bomber's gun turrets. Only seconds now before all hell breaks loose. With hands clasped around the control column and throttle I concentrate on the approaching bomber in my gun sight. With engines screaming we pile into the formation . . . Twice we were able to form up for a Sturm attack as Stamp’s escorts continue to hold off the enemy fighters . . . flying back to Illesheim I know we have achieved a great success and we fly back over the field waggling our wings!”



The German press lauded this as a victory over the Allies. The success of the Sturmgruppe IV./JG 3 in downing a squadron of heavy bombers over Oschersleben was feted as a great air victory in the Nazi media. By the standards of the time the first Sturm assault in Gruppe strength had been a highly successful operation for the Luftwaffe. General Galland hurriedly visited Illesheim to assess the success of the days fighting. Awards were presented to the successful pilots. Moritz's men were mentioned the next day in the 'Wehrmachtsbericht'.

453 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack five targets in Germany; the bombers and fighter escorts claim 50+ aircraft shot down during fierce battle with 275-300 fighters mainly in the Vienna-Budapest area: 162 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer South; 10 aircraft are lost. 122 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer North; 8 aircraft are lost. 106 bomb the Deschowitz synthetic oil facility at Odertel; 8 aircraft are lost. 62 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer North using radar; 1 aircraft is lost. 1 hits the city of Ober Gloglau.


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## syscom3 (Oct 9, 2009)

*8 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The British Second Army (Dempsey) began a major attack (Operation *Epsom*) to capture Caen. 2500 tons of bombs have been dropped by 450 RAF bombers as part of the preliminaries. US forces coordinate an attack to the west. The British enters the outskirts of Caen.

In France, about 280 Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders bomb V-weapon HQ at Chateau-de-Ribeaucourt, numerous strongpoints in the Caen battle area, rail bridges at Mantes-La-Jolie, Saumur, Nogent-le-Roi, and Caen and (late in evening) fuel dumps in Rennes and a bridge at Nantes; fighters escort the bombers and fly armed reconnaissance throughout wide areas of France, concentrating on the frontline area; targets hit include marshalling yards, bridges, ammunition and supply dumps, troop concentrations and tanks.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions:
Mission 460: 1,029 bombers and 714 fighters, in four forces, are dispatched to hit bridges, tunnels, rail targets and NOBALL (V-weapon) sites in France; only 462 aircraft bomb due to bad weather; nine bombers and a fighter are lost: 1. Of 331 B-24s dispatched, 14 hit Schore Bridge, nine hit Welle Bridge, one hits Orsel Airfield and one hits a target of opportunity; escort is provided by 266 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 20-0-19 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; a P-51 is lost. 2. Of 304 B-17s dispatched, 61 hit Poix Airfield, 49 hit V-1 sites, 37 hit Etaples Bridge, 13 hit a road junction, 12 hit Abbeville Airfield and 11 hit Etaples choke point; four B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 36 P-47 Thunderbolts. 3. Of 130 B-24s dispatched, 71 hit V-1 sites, 13 hit St Vallery en Caux Airfield and 11 hit Abbeville railroad junction. 4. Of 264 B-17s dispatched, 21 hit Jaigle, 20 hit Barenton and ten hit Chandai rail junctions, 11 hit Nantes/Gassicourt Bridge, 11 hit Nantes railroad bridge, nine hit railroad tracks at Yvetot, 11 hit Nogent and six hit Rouen marshalling yards, 24 hit Conches and 11 hit St Andre de l'Eure Airfields and 25 hit targets of opportunity; five B-17s are lost. Forces 3 and 4 are escorted by 286 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. 86 P-47s bomb St Andre de l'Eure Airfield without loss.

Mission 461: Four B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. 17 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions.

A technical malfunction in one of the Fw 190s of JG 1 at Semalle removed it from combat, reducing the number of available Focke-Wulfs. Geschwader Bongart was asked to do something quickly about the enemy airfield at Vassieux-en-Vercors, 16 km north of Die. The Geschwader Bongart flew six sorties during the day.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet 1st Byelorussian Front (Rokossovsky) recaptured Baranovichi northwest of Brest-Litovsk. Hptm. Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber and his III./JG 51 were the next to leave Pinsk to Russian forces and transferred to Kowno.

This morning the Soviets attack again the Finnish positions at TŠhtelŠ, west of PyšrŠkangas and Ihantala, but are repulsed. A rested and refitted Soviet 286th Division tries to attack at Vakkila and Ihantala, but its attempts are prevented by Finnish artillery.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force attacks targets in the Vienna Austria area; 520+ B-17s and B-24s attack refineries at Vosendorf and Korneuburg, the airfield at Zwolfaxing, Markersdorf, and Munchendorf, and marshalling yard and oil storage at Vienna/Floridsdorf, and the airfield at Veszprem; fighters fly 200+ sorties in support of the bomber missions which are opposed by 100+ fighters; 14 US aircraft are lost; heavy bombers and fighters claim 50+ fighters shot down. Scrambled into the battle were II./JG 27 from Fels am Wagram and I./JG 300 from Herzogenaurah, both flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6s. Joining the Messerschmitts were the Hungarian JGr. 101 "Puma", whose pilots claimed one B-24 without loss, I./ZG 76 claiming one P-38 fighter, but the Zerstörer Gruppe lost thirteen men with two others wounded from a loss of nine aircraft, II./ZG 1 and by I./ JG 302.

Hitler ordered that production should cease of all aircraft that Germany could do without at this stage of the war. Along with the fuel shortage, this order eventually caused several Kampfgruppen to disband. Among the first bomber units ending their combat careers were KG 3 ‘Blitz’ under Major Fritz Auffhammer and Major Wilhelm Stemmler’s KG 77. Oblt. Erich von Selle’s ZG 1 and Oblt. Robert Kowalewski’s ZG 76 were also disbanded. The combat units were not the only groups to feel the pinch. Transportgeschwader 5 under Oberst Guido Neundlinger was disbanded as well.

Several single-engined fighter units were moved to help in the Defense of the Reich. The pilots and crew of I./JG 3 under Hptm. Ernst Laube moved from the airbase at Wunstorf to the airfield at Gütersloh while those of III./JG 3 led by Major Walther Dahl were transferred from Francheville to Feldflugplatz C south-east of Chartres. The Stab of JG 4 under Major Gerhard Schöpfel was transferred from Ansbach to Bad Lippspringe flying Fw 190As.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*9 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* 3rd Canadian and 1st British Division enter Caen and the Carpiquet Airfield.

Montgomery launched a massive air assault against Caen in hopes of clearing the way for an attack the following morning. Four hundred fifty heavy aircraft participated, dropping 2,500 tons of bombs, but the airmen negated most of the effect by releasing their loads well back from the forward line to avoid hitting their own troops. As a result, the city incurred heavy damage but German defenses went largely unscathed. In the two days of desperate fighting that followed, the Germans fought back viciously.

In France, of 250+ Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs dispatched, bad weather prevails and about 60 bomb targets including a rail bridge, crossing, overpass and a highway bridge at Ablis, Orleans, Vendome, and Montfort-sur-Risle; fighters escort IX Bomber Command bombers, provide area cover over the battle area, and bomb and strafe gun positions, vehicles, rail cars, bridges, and tanks.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions:
Mission 462: during a morning mission 150 B-17s are dispatched to bomb bridges and airfields in France but cloud cover causes the bombers to hit targets of opportunity; 68 hit Chalonnes Bridge, 36 hit Chateaudun Airfield, 12 hit Bouchemaine Bridge, 12 hit Chalonnes highway bridge and 12 hit Le Creusot Bridge; one B-17 is lost. Escort is provided by 55 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; a P-47 and a P-51 are lost.

Mission 463: 104 B-24s and 77 B-17s are dispatched to hit CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites in France but encounters poor weather; Only 37 B-24s bomb V-weapon sites; 12 B-17s hit St Omber Longuenesse Airfield and three hit targets of opportunity; a B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 158 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft. 90 P-38 Lightnings strafe the Moulin-Nevers-Tours area claiming 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 is lost .

Mission 464: During the night, five B-17s drop leaflets in France. 37 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* The US 88th Division liberates Volterra, Italy. French units advance on Paggibonsi, Italy.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy flies its first Pathfinder-led mission to Rumania; 222 B-17s and B-24s bomb Xenia and Concordia Vega oil refineries at Ploesti. P-38s and P-51s fly escort while other P-51s sweep the Ploesti area during the attacks. But the depletion of fighter units from the area to Germany left only I./JG 53, 10./JG 301 and II./JG 51 and the night-fighting unit IV./NJG 6 to defend the oil fields along with a few Rumanian fighter units, a total of about fifty Bf 109s. The bombers and fighters claim destruction of 14 of the 40-50 opposing fighters; six USAAF aircraft are shot down.

*EASTERN FRONT:* A quiet day at Ihantala. Enemy artillery is still active today and tomorrow, but there are no more serious Soviet attempts to achieve a breakthrough. Border JŠger Battalion 2 and the 36th AT-gun Company are transferred to Vuosalmi (east of Ihantala at the sector of Lt. Gen. Hjalmar Siilasvuo's III Corps), where the Red Army is now trying to break the Finnish line after its failure at Ihantala.

This day is considered to be the last of the Battle of Tali-Ihantala. It has ended in a Finnish defensive victory. Tali-Ihantala was the most serious Soviet attempt to break the Finnish line, and the greatest battle in the Scandinavian military history. The VKT-line, the third and last Finnish line of defence, had budged but not broken. With German help, Finns were able to stop the Soviet offensive and save their independence.

After it in the early days of July became clear to the Soviet leadership that the Finnish line at Ihantala will hold, they changed their point of main effort in the Karelian Isthmus to Bay of Viipuri and Vuosalmi, where they also ultimately failed. At the same time Finns were also fighting a crucial battle in northern Karelia (north of Lake Ladoga). These battles would also merit postings as detailed as these had been, but Tali-Ihantala was the first, greatest and most important. It showed it was possible to stop the Red Army for good.

At Tali-Ihantala several factors favoured Finns. Soviet formations, while still receiving substantial reinforcements, were operating at the end of long lines of supply. On the other hand the Finnish lines of supply were relatively short, and the worst deficiencies in the equipment were being remedied. Germans had supplied Finns with amounts of the new infantry AT-weapons, Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks, and Finns soon found out that these weapons were ideal for the Finnish terrain. (The first delivery of these weapons was received already in April 1944, but in one of those moments of utter stupidity some staff officer decided that secrecy was the prime consideration and these weapons were stored. Only very few men received training in these AT weapons before the Soviet offensive.) The relatively short range of these weapons was not a major drawback, because in the rugged Finnish terrain (especially so at Ihantala) the infantry could fight the tanks at very short ranges. Also the Finnish AA defences had been strengthened.

A major factor in the Finnish victory was the artillery. At the closing stages of the battle the Finnish Army had more than 20 artillery battalions present, and they were used to a devastating effect. Often the artillery alone was enough to disperse the enemy troops formed for an attack. Thanks to the pioneer work of General of Artillery Vilho Nenonen the Finnish artillery had one of the most efficient artillery fire-control systems of the day. It made possible for one forward observer to rapidly call the fire of several artillery battalions.

But the Soviet commanders were in a hurry. Viipuri had been captured on 20 June as planned, but after that the Soviet offensives had been repulsed. The main effort was made at Tali-Ihantala, but it soon became clear that the going was a lot tougher than expected. The commanders were lagging behind the timetable, and they were aware that if they aren't able to break the Finnish line, the point of main effort would be switched elsewhere. Consequently the Soviet attacks in the latter stages of the battle were hastily planned and ill-executed.

Finnish losses at Tali-Ihantala between 25 June and 9 July were 1101 KIA, 6264 WIA and 1096 MIA. Soviet losses in the same period are estimated at 5000 KIA and 14 000 WIA. Finns and Germans claimed almost 300 aircraft shot down during the battle.

Around this time the Soviet High Command Stavka decided to concentrate all the forces available against Germany. For the Soviet Union the war against Finland had always been a side-show, and now the drive to Berlin has far greater priority. Forcing Finland to surrender had proved far more difficult that had been estimated, and finally Stalin concluded it's not worth the cost. Although the Red Army will occasionally probe the Finnish defences (in mid-August 1944 two Soviet divisions were encircled and destroyed near Ilomantsi, northern Karelia, when they were trying to flank Finnish defences), there will be no more large-scale operations against Finland.

The demand for an unconditional surrender was quietly dropped. A peace will be negotiated.

*GERMANY*: The Kommodore of JG 300 and with III./JG 3, Major Walter Dahl received a phone call from Reichsmarschall Göring to congratulate him on his success over Oschersleben. Göring told him;


> “I’m proud of you Dahl, you and your men have shown that the Luftwaffe is still a force. . . Dahl, I’m giving you the order to move your Geschwader as quickly as possible! I don’t care how you do it but I want you south of the Donau before the Americans can hit back . . .”


By the next morning the Sturmgruppe began transferring to the airfield at Memmingen with the escorting wings or Begleitgruppen moving also. I./JG 300 along with 2./JG 51 under Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Gerhard Stamp moved to Bad Wörishofen and II./JG 300 under Hptm. Erhard Peters began transferring to Holzkirchen.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Heinkel He 111s of III./KG 3, led by Major Martin Vetter, began air-launching the V-1 flying bombs over England for the first time. The weapons were launched at night by the specially modified Heinkel He111 aircraft, operated initially by the third Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 3 (KG 3) and subsequently by Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53).The bombers flew at about 300 feet to avoid British coastal radar then, nearing the launch point, climbed to 1,700 feet at 200 mph. Once the flame-spitting bomb was launched the bomb crews conducted a high speed turn to put as much distance as they could from the now highly visible weapon. Air-launched V1 attacks continued until KG 53 ceased operations due to fuel shortages on 14 January 1945.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*10 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* British VIII Corps begins an attack toward Evrecy, France. Units of the British Second Army entered Caen which has been reduced to a heap of rubble due to the preceding heavy aerial and artillery bombardments by the Allies.

In France, USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters bomb and strafe gun positions, bridges, a rail overpass, infantry concentrations, and highway junctions, and cover the battle area.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 465: Six B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night while 12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

The crew of II./JG 1 had completed its training and were ready to fly combat operations. Leaders of the Gruppe were Oblt von Kirchmayr as Gruppenkommandeur, Lt. Voight, Staffelkapitän of 4 Staffel, Lt. Fritz Wegner Staffelkapitän of 5 Staffel, Ofw. Reinhard Flecks Staffelkapitän of 6 Staffel and FhjFw. Günther Heckmann Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 51.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Hitler refuses Model's (Heeresgruppe Nord) request to position Heeresgruppe Mitte behind the Dvina. The Red Army began three major offensives into the Baltic States: the 2nd Byelorussian Front moved northwest from Vitebsk, the 3rd Byelorussian Front attacked west from Psovsk, and the Leningrad Front drove southwest toward Narva.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*11 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 9th Division holds against a counterattack by Panzerlehr Division, sw of St jean de Daye. The British supported by heavy naval gunfire capture Hill 112, sw of Caen.

The first combat missions of the re-equipped II./JG 1 ended in one Fw 190 lost in combat and two more Focke-Wulfs destroyed due to technical malfunctions. JG 3 lost several pilots when Uffz. Gerhard Pankalla of 7./JG 3 was shot down and killed. He had five aerial victories. Lt. Dieter Zink of 9./JG 3 was also shot down but survived and was made a prisoner of war. He ended his combat career with twelve victories. Meanwhile the Stab of JG 3 again moved to new positions at Dreux from the airfield at St. Andre.

Geschwader Bongart aircraft flew forty-five sorties, undertaking weather, defensive and armed reconnaissance, as well as attacks on the Resistance.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Finnish counter-attacks at Vuosalmi, fail to destroy the Soviet bridgehead on the northern shore of the River Vuoksi. Finns retreat slightly and regroup for defence. From this day on there are attack and counter-attacks, but the Soviet forces are unable to widen their bridgehead. Fighting goes on until the middle of July, and then stagnates into positional warfare.

Stavka orders the Leningrad Front to cease offensive operations on Karelian Isthmus. The strategic aims of the operation (ultimately the occupation of South Finland and forcing an unconditional surrender) has not been reached, and the drive to Berlin has much greater priority. First hints of this are given by Finnish radio-intelligence, and is later confirmed by patrols operating behind the enemy lines who observe trains loaded with tanks and other equipment, going back to east.

The Red Army captured the remnants of the encircled 4.Armee (35.000 men).

Fw. Bernhard Johannes, a seventeen victory Experte with 1./SG 10 was killed in action. The crews of IV./JG 51 were again moved, leaving the airfield at Dubno and arriving at the airbase at Lublin.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 466: 1,176 bombers and 795 fighters in three groups attack targets in Germany; 20 bombers and four fighters are lost: 1. 371 B-17s hit the Munich marshalling yard, Passing electrical station and a tire factory and three hit targets of opportunity; a B-17 is lost. Escort is provide by 209 P-38s, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs without loss. 2. Of 340 B-17s, 183 hit the BMW factory at Munich and 106 hit the Munich marshalling yard; three B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 166 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; a P-51 is lost. 3. Of 435 B-24s, 291 hit Munich, 55 hit Munich/Riem Airfield, 29 hit Augsburg, eight hit Eppingen and one hits a bridge on the Autobahn; 16 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 324 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; a P-47 and two P-51s are lost.

Mission 467: During the night, six B-17s drop leaflets on France. Twenty nine B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

In France, Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders strike fuel dumps at Foret d'Andaine, Chateau-de-Tertu, Flers, and Foret d'Ecouves; NOBALL (V-weapon) sites at Chateau d'Helicourt and Chateau d'Ansenne; and a rail bridge at Bourth; fighters escort the bombers, patrol the battle area, and attack trains, gun positions, ammunition dumps, and other targets in the areas around Lessay, Periers, Saint-Lo, Lonrai, Tours and Folligny.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Bad weather curtails the bomber effort by the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy; the only target attacked is the harbor at Toulon, France, where 87 B-24s hit jetties, oil stores, a nearby telegraph cable factory, barracks, repair shops, an adjoining marshalling yard, and submarines in drydock.

*NORTH AMERICA: *US President Roosevelt says:


> "If the people command me to continue in office ... I have as little right as a soldier to leave his position in the line."


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*12 JULY 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT:* Idritsa falls to Yeremenko's troops on the Eastern Front.

Uffz. Helmut Bauhuber of 9./JG 51 was killed in combat. He had thirteen victories.

The Soviet Union informs the Swedes that it is willing to discuss peace with Finland.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt and Assistant Division Commander, 4th Infantry Division, dies of a heart attack in Normandy, France. He was 56. Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Normandy on 6 June 1944. The citation for the medal reads,


> "Citation: for gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, in France. After two verbal requests to accompany the leading assault elements in the Normandy invasion had been denied, Brigadier General Roosevelt's written request for this mission was approved and he landed with the first wave of the forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches. He repeatedly led groups from the beach, over the seawall and established them inland. His valor, courage, and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brigadier General Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strong points and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France."



The medal was posthumously awarded on 28 September 1944. Roosevelt was not assigned as the assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division. This, despite the long held belief that he was. An examination of First Army records of the time reveal that he was assigned to First Army. There were two brigadier generals assigned to the 4th, one as Division Artillery commander and the other as assistant division commander.

The US forces are just 2 miles from St. Lo in France. The US First Army (Bradley) advancing south from the Carentan area toward St. Lo was slowly gaining ground against fierce resistance by the German 7.Armee (Dollmann).

In France, 300+ USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders fly morning and afternoon missions against fuel dumps at Foret d'Andaine and Foret d'Ecouves, military concentrations at Foret de Cinglais, rail bridges at Merey, Cinq Mars-la-Pile, Saumur, Nantes, and Nogent-le-Roi, and other rail and road targets; fighters furnish escort, cover the battle area, and fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas, attacking rail lines south and west of Rambouillet, bridges and fuel dump in the Nantes vicinity, trains and military transport at Vitry-le-Francois, and grounded aircraft south of Chateaubriant, bridges at Craon, Le Mans, Pontorson, Mayenne, south of Rennes, north of Angers, and Tours, rail traffic south of Fougeres, and infantry and artillery positions near Periers.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions.
Mission 468: 131 B-24s, escorted by 144 Royal Air Force Spitfires, are dispatched to bomb ten CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites in the Rouen, France, area but abort because of a thick blanket of low cloud over the target area.

Mission 469: 1,271 bombers and 803 fighters are dispatched to bomb Munich, Germany; 1,124 bombers bomb the city of Munich, 16 hit Enstingen and ten hit targets of opportunity; 24 bombers are lost. Escort is provided by 717 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs.

Mission 470: During the night, six B-17s drop leaflets in France.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 420+ B-24s to attack targets in southeastern France, scoring numerous hits on Nimes and Miramas marshalling yards and cutting rail lines at the Theoule-sur- Mer bridge and Var River bridge in Provence; around 50 enemy fighters oppose the missions; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 14 shot down; seven USAAF aircraft are lost.

Hptm. Otto Meyer of IV./JG 27 was listed as missing in action. He had twenty-one kills. His place as Gruppenkommandeur was taken by Hptm. Hanns-Heinz Dudeck.

Twenty-eight aircraft of Geschwader Bongart flew weather and defensive reconnaissance. Four aircraft from II./KG 100 also flew against the resistance. Geschwader Bongart flew a total of 35 sorties.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Operation *MALLORY MAJOR* is conducted by Twelfth Air Force North American B-25 Mitchells and Martin B-26 Marauders against bridges spanning the Po River in Italy. The bridges were attacked on 12, 13, 14 and 15 July and was deemed a success and terminated on the 15th.

The night-fighting unit IV./NJG 6 has a new Gruppenkommandeur, when Major Gerhard Friedrich replaced Hptm. Karl Hadeball, who was transferred to another night-fighting unit on 7 July.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* In the U.K.: Two Gloster Meteor Mk. I jet fighters are delivered to the RAF's No. 616 Squadron at Culmhead, Somersetshire, England. By the end of August, the squadron has transitioned from Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk. VIIs to Meteors becoming the first operational Allied jet fighters squadron.

*GERMANY*: Because of the success of the Oschersleben battle, II (Sturm)./JG 4, a new ‘Sturmbock’ Gruppe was formed, commanded by Major Günther von Kornatzki, known as the father of the Sturmgruppe idea. Many pilots from von Kornatzki’s old Sturmstaffel 1 who had not joined IV(Sturm)./JG 3, volunteered for the new Sturmgruppe including Oblt. Othmar Zehart, Lt. Rudolf Metz, and Lt. Werner Peinemann. Other pilots were taken from the Ju 88 Gruppe with ZG 1 and were hastily retrained on the Fw 190 Sturmbock. Formed at Salzwedel from I./ZG 1, other members of the Gruppe included Uffz. Erich Keller, Ofhr. Franz Schaar, Uffz. Günther Jung, Uffz. Siegfried Zuber, Oblt. Hans-Martin Markhoff, Uffz. Kurt Scherer and Uffz. Herbert Chlond. Another Gruppe added to JG 4, the III Gruppe led by Hptm. Friedrich Eberle, was formed using units from III./ZG 1 and Ergänzungsstaffel / ZG 1. The unit was based at Rotenburg flying Bf 109Gs.

The other existing Sturmgruppe, IV (Sturm)./JG 3 along with the escort Messerschmitts of JG 300, moved to their new airbase at Memmingen and began operations. The airfield was home to I./ZG 101 and was also used by the Messerschmitt company to test fly the Me 210 and Me 410 Zerstörer aircraft on its concrete runway.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*13 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US offensive toward St. Lo has ground to a halt. Plans for operation Cobra are being formed.

In France, bad weather prevents Ninth Air Force bomber operations and restricts the fighters; fighters fly armed reconnaissance in the Sens-Montargis area, hitting rail and highway traffic, warehouses, barracks, and armored cars and tanks; rail lines and bridges are hit in the Saint-Florentin- Dreux-Evreux- Chartres- Mamers-Gassicour t areas; IX Tactical Air Command fighters furnish area cover, bomb troop concentrations, vehicles, and gun positions in the Lessay-Coutances area, and attack rail traffic west of Angers, a landing field west of Alencon, a marshalling yard at Vendome, and a bridge at Tours.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The French Corps is attacking 20 miles south of Florence, Italy.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 581 bombers to attack targets in northeastern Italy; B-17s hit marshalling yards at Mestre and railroad bridges at Latisana, Pinzano al Tagliamento and Venzone; B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Brescia, Mantova and Verona, and oil storage at Porto Marghera and Trieste; P-38s and P-51s fly escort; other P-51s carry out a sweep over the Po River Valley.

*EASTERN FRONT:* In the East, the Red Army recaptured Vilna in Lithuania, and continued its advance into eastern Galicia. The retreat before the Russian advance continued for Luftwaffe units when II./JG 11 was forced to give up its new airfields at Karmelawa and moved to airfields at Zamocz-Mokre and eventually to Deblin-Irena and finally by the end of the month settled at Radom. Although the Gruppe was moving across the battlefront, two Staffeln, the 10./JG 11 and 11./JG 11 were redesignated as part of the Geschwader known as Kommando Skagerrak. The Focke-Wulfs of 10./JG 11 were led by Hptm. Erich Viebahn and were based at Lonrai for the month of July. The 11./JG 11 under Oblt. Herbert Christmann was based at Lister flying Bf 109Ts with a detachment stationed at Kjevik. The unit was recently disbanded from flying night-fighter duties under Staffelkapitän Oblt. Rolf Jacobs and based at Aalborg in the north. Both Staffeln became subordinated to 5 Jagddivision.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The last of the LST carrying the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division from Normandy put into Southampton. In the Normandy campaign just passed the division had taken 4,670 casualties. Among the six divisions of VII Corps this was exceeded only by the casualties taken by 4th Infantry Division. On August 17, 1942 when he assumed command of the 101st, Major General William C. Lee told the soldiers of the division that;


> "The 101st . . . has no history but it has a rendezvous with destiny."


The soldiers of the 101st had kept faith with General Lee and had met their first rendezvous.

Early in the morning, ten V-1 flying bombs were launched on London but six of the bombs suffered failures that caused them to fall harmlessly into the sea short of the English coast.

The Luftwaffe night-fighter force suffered a serious setback. During the night of 12 / 13 July the crew of “4R+UR”, a Ju 88G-1 of 7./NJG 2 became hopelessly lost. Uffz. Hans Mackle had been looking for RAF mine laying Stirlings and suffered a compass failure. Eventually he homed in on a radio beacon which seemed to be in the right direction. At 04.25 hours the Junkers made a wheels-down landing on the Woodbridge emergency landing strip. The pilot was completely lost and had apparently been flying on a reciprocal course to that intended. When he sighted Woodbridge, he believed himself to be near Berlin, and being very nearly out of petrol he decided to land immediately. He had, in fact, so little fuel and oil, that it was impossible, subsequently, to obtain any samples for analysis. He brought the vital and previously unknown SN-2 radar and FuG 227 Flensburg to RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk, England along with the FuG 220, FuG 16 zY, FuG 10P short-range R/T and long-range W/T and FuB1 2F blind-approach. Because of this, the Allies were able to develop defensive measures against the radar units, including removing the ‘Monica’ units from their Lancaster bombers and to modify ‘Window’ to jam the Lichtenstein SN-2. The night-fighter force never really was able to overcome this setback.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 471: 1,043 bombers and 609 fighters in three forces are dispatched to bomb targets in Germany; ten bombers and five fighters are lost: 1. Of 399 B-17s, 356 bomb Munich, six bomb the railroad at Munich and three hit targets of opportunity; four B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 292 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 2-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 and a P-47 are lost. 2. Of 278 B-17s, 139 bomb Munich, 100 hit an aircraft engine plant at Munich and three hit targets of opportunity; they claim 11-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; five B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 170 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; a P-51 is lost. 3. Of 366 B-24s, 298 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yards and three hit targets of opportunity; a B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 81 P-51s; a P-51 is lost.

The Sturmbocks of IV (Sturm)./JG 3 flew their first mission from their new airfield at Memmingen. Flying against USAAF 8th AF with escorting Gruppen of JG 300, the Sturmgruppe had some success against the four-engined bombers.

Twenty eight B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The 21-minute U.S. Army documentary "Liberation of Rome" is released in the U.S. This short film depicts the successful Allied advance into Rome, freeing it from German control during World War II.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*14 JULY 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet ambassador to Sweden, Alexandra Kollontay (who already played an important role in the negotiations that ended the Winter War in 1940) lets it to be known that Soviet Union is still prepared to discuss peace with Finland. Thus Soviets no longer demand unconditional surrender.

The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) began a new offensive in the south. The forces of the 1st Byelorussian Front captured Pinsk.

Losses continued for Eastern front pilots. Hptm. Edwin Thiel, a Ritterkreuz holder with JG 51 was killed in combat. Hptm. Thiel was one of the more successful Experten of JG 51 with seventy-six victories but Oblt. Rudolf Trenkel of 2./JG 52 claimed his 100th victory.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* In England, with the conversion of the 55th Fighter Group from P-38 Lightnings to P-51 Mustangs, the USAAF's Eighth Air Force acquires a majority of P-51 groups to provide longer-range high-altitude escort for the heavy bombers. Conversion to P-51s will continue until by the end of the year every group except one will be equipped with them.

The night of 13-14 July 1943, FL/Lt Bunting, RAF No.85 Squadron flying a Mosquito XII on a night interception patrol shot down a Me 410 from V./KG 2. The aircraft turned over on its back and dived vertically into the sea. It was the first Me 410 to be destroyed over Britain.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Two USAAF's Eighth Air Force missions are flown to France:
Mission 472: In a morning mission 319 B-17s drop 3,700 containers of supplies to French interior forces in southern France; they claim 5-2-2 Luftwaffe aircraft. Escort is provided by 465 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s; they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. Again flying with the JG 300 escorting Messerschmitts, the fighters of IV (Sturm)./JG 3 intercepted formations of bombers from the USAAF 8th AF.

Mission 473: During the evening 131 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields; 54 hit Montdidier Airfield and 39 hit Peronne Airfield; 40 other B-24s fail to bomb because of failure of blind-bombing equipment. Escort is provided by 79 P-38s and P-51s.

Ninety four P-38s fly fighter-bomber missions against rail targets east and southeast of Paris; they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 is lost.

In France, weather again curtails operations by the USAAF's Ninth Air Force; 62 B-26s and A-20 Havocs, using Oboe, bomb a railway embankment at Bourth and rail bridge at Merey; fighters provide escort and fly armed reconnaissance over widespread areas of northwestern France, attacking bridges, trains, rail lines, and military transport targets; 85 enemy fighters give battle near Brezolles and Alencon; six fighters are claimed by US fighters, against five U.S. aircraft; the IX Tactical Air Command strafes and bombs defended positions ahead of the US First Army; and fighters cut rail lines in the L'Aigle-Alencon area, bomb troop concentrations near Periers, and marshalling yards at Chateaudun and Aube-sur-Rile.

Over the Normandy front, Major Karl Borris flew his first mission with I./JG 26 since returning to the Geschwader. On a sweep over Paris Major Borris and I Gruppe bounced two Squadrons of P-47 Thunderbolts from the USAAF 358 FG. Five Thunderbolts were shot down for a loss of only one Fw 190 whose pilot bailed out and returned to base on the ground.

Over Caen JG 1 and JG 5 encountered Mustangs and Spitfires. The Mustangs belonged to the 67th Recon. group and was one of a pair. Lt. Steve Canner and Cpt Rusten were on the way back from a route reconnaissance of the Mortagne area when they were jumped from above by over fifty Fw 190s. The section immediately took evasive action in an attempt to lose the 190s, but Lt. Canner's P-51 was hit repeatedly by 20 mm fire and went down. JG 1 claimed three P-51s and two Spitfires, while I./JG 5 claimed two Spitfires. Obstlt. Herbert Ihlefeld of Stab./JG 1 claimed a Spitfires and a Mustang while Hptm. Alfred Grislawski of 8./JG 1 reached 127 kills with a Mustang shot down near Falaise. Others claiming kills were Fw. Kutzera from 9./JG 1, Uffz. Schröder of 2./JG 5 and Ofw. Leo-Lothar Barann of 7./JG 1.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 430+ B-17s and B-24s to attack four oil refineries at Budapest and Petfurdo, Hungary and the marshalling yard at Mantua, Italy; P-51s and P-38s provide escort; P-51s fly an uneventful sweep of the Budapest area; and in Italy, P-38s strafe trains north of La Spezia and dive-bomb Ghedi Airfield.

The 14th FG engaged eight German and two Hungarian fighters and lost five P-38s. From the German side, I./JG 302, II./JG 27, II./ZG 1 and III./ZG 26 claimed the planes. 4./ZG 1 lost one Bf 110, which was shot down by the Lightnings over Hungary. One crewmember, Uffz. Franz Friess was killed and one wounded.

*GERMANY*: The jet bombers of the new re-formed 3./KG 51 suffered its first Me 262 fatality when Stabsfeldwebel Moosbacher crashed during a practice bombing run over the waters of the Ammersee.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*15 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* American forces had reached the outskirts of St. Lo, but the garrison holding the town refused to yield. In a battle that inflicted carnage reminiscent of World War I, the Germans gave ground only gradually, house by house. Elements of the US 1st Army reach the outskirts of Lessay. From here to the Taute River, the advance was halted for regrouping.

In an unusual tactic, the RAF sent Lancaster night bombers in a daylight raid to bomb targets at Nevers south of Paris. After dealing with Luftwaffe fighters and making the target, the Lancasters were bounced by fighters of III./JG 26 on the return flight. Five RAF Lancasters were shot down including a victory for Uffz. Heinz Gehrke of 11./JG 26.

A new weapon was introduced to I./JG 26. The 21cm rocket mortar shells used in 1943 were now mounted under the wings of the Gruppe’s Focke-Wulfs and were to be used to break up the heavy Allied bomber formations and against armour on the Normandy front. Most of the pilots disliked the rockets and the heavy tubes because they reduced the performance of their warplanes.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 474: 169 P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts make fighter-bomber attacks on enemy transport southeast of Paris; two P-38s and a P-47s are lost.

Mission 475: Six B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

Twenty seven B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to France during the night.

In France, weather cancels most operations by the USAAF's Ninth Air Force but 4 B-26 Marauders (92 others abort) hit the L'Aigle rail bridge during the afternoon; three fighter-bombers fly an uneventful sweep; and fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command fly area cover and bomb infantry, artillery, a marshalling yard, railroad, and a bridge in the Saint-Lo, Argentan, and Falaise areas.

X. Fliegerkorps provided two anti-partisan sorties. Geschwader Bongart flew patrols and dropped bombs on the Resistance in the Vassieux-en-Vercors – La Chapelle-en-Vercors area, flying twelve sorties.

Lt. Otto Bach of 5./JG 1 was appointed Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 1. Fritz Wegner, another JG1 pilot, remembers the day he was assigned to 5./JG 1 as a fresh recruit;


> "I was nominated as wingman to Oberfeldwebel Otto Bach. He came straight to the point: being a green pilot, I only had one thing to do - remain glued to him. 'You get on my wing and stay there.' It wasn't always very easy, but both our lives depended on it. So we would go through the masses of Viermots. I, thinking we would fall to the bursts of steel, he showing me not only the way to attack, but also the way to survive."


 Thanks in part to Bach's willingness to mentor his young comrade, Wegner would survive the war.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* The British 8th Army begins an attack on Arezzo, Italy with 2 divisions. To the west, the US 5th Army advanced toward Leghorn. The French Expeditionary Corps captured Castellina.

In Rumania, 600+ USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s based in Italy bomb four oil refineries in the Ploesti area and the Teleajenul pumping station; P-51s and P-38s fly 300+ escort sorties. The Luftwaffe units in the area tried to stem the bomber formations but were only able to fly a total of fifty sorties during this raid and the previous one on 9 July.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet Second Baltic Front captures Opochka which is 30 miles north of Idritsa. Other Russian forces advance west and southwest of Vilna.

The crews of III./JG 51 under Hptm. Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber left their airfield at Kowno and flew to a new airbase at Cuniow. The Gruppe was soon joined by the personnel of IV./JG 51 under Major Heinz Lange who left the airfield at Lublin and flew their Messerschmitts to Cuniow. Lt. Franz Trowal of 8./JG 77 was shot down and killed. He had six aerial victories.

Soviet forces try to breack the Finnish U-line in Northern Karelia. Heaviest fighting is around Nietjervi, where Finnish 5th Div and 15th Brigade start counter-attack in afternoon. The battle rages for two days, until on 17 July Finns are able to recover all lost positions.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*16 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* Forces of US 1st Army continued attacking near St. Lo. Elements of British 2nd Army advanced toward Hottot-les-Bagues and Evrecy.

In France, about 375 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs, during morning and evening operations, bomb strongpoints in the Saint-Lo area, bridges in the frontline area, and bridges and a fuel dump southeast of Rennes. Fighters escort the bombers and fly armed reconnaissance over the frontlines in the Chateaudun-Orleans- Tours areas.

USAAF's Eighth Air Force Mission 477: Five B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

Twenty four B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

Lt. Karl-Heinz Elsner of Stab III./JG 2 went missing in action. He had five victories. And Obfhr. Erhard Nolting of Stab IV[Stürm]./JG 3 was shot down and injured but later died of his wounds on this date. He had seven victories with JG 3. But the ‘Udet’ Geschwader’s most serious loss was Lt. Friedrich Wachowiak when he was shot down and killed. Lt. Wachowiak was a Ritterkreuz holder with 120 aerial victories.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The London Polish government publishes a paper claiming territory in East Prussia, Danzig and the Polish Corridor for postwar Poland.

Another Me 410 from V./KG 2 was shot down by RAF No.85 Squadron.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Arezzo, Italy falls to the British 8th Army. Elements of the British 13th Corps crossed the Arno River as the German forces fell back. Allied forces were making only slow progress against German positions of the Gothic Line south of the Arno river.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Southwest of Vilna, the Soviet 1st and 3rd Byelorussian Fronts converged to capture Grodno. To the south, the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced toward Lvov on a 300-mile frontage. The Russian advance forced the Eastern front Luftwaffe units to retreat again. The Stab of JG 51 left the I Gruppe at Krzewica and transferred to a new airbase at Lemberg. JG 51 lost another pilot when Oblt. Heinz Venth of 10./JG 51 was shot down and killed having achieved seventeen victories, all with the Eastern Front Geschwader.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 476: 1,087 bombers and 712 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; eleven bombers and three fighters are lost: 1. Of 407 B-17 Flying Fortresses dispatched, 213 hit an aircraft engine plant at Munich, 54 hit Augsburg, 52 hit Stuttgart and 50 hit two targets of opportunity; they claim 2-3-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; ten B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 240 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; a P-51 is lost. 2. Of 238 B-17s dispatched, 206 hit Stuttgart and two hit a target of opportunity; a B-17 is lost. Escort is provided by 214 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; a P-51 is lost. 3. 407 B-24s hit the marshalling yards at Saarbrucken. Escort is provided by 169 P-38s and P-47s; a P-38 is lost.

In Austria, around 380 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack oil and aircraft targets in the Vienna area, bombing Munchendorf Airfield, Winterhafen oil depot, Vienna marshalling yard, and the Wiener Neudorf engine factory; P-51s and P-38s fly 150+ sorties in escort while 132 other P-51s sweep the Vienna area; 100+ Luftwaffe fighters oppose the raids. Ten USAAF aircraft are lost and several others are missing; USAAF claims of fighters shot down total 30+.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*17 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* Feldmarschal Erwin Rommel, after visiting the battlefield at Bourgebus Ridge, is severely wounded by a strafing attack. Feldmarschal Kluge assumes Rommel's duties. Rommel's party leaves Dietrich's headquarters at 4:00 p.m. for his Chateau headquarters at La Roche Guyon, France. In his Horsch automobile are Cpl. Daniel, Rommel's long-time driver, Major Neuhaus, Obergefreiter Holke, an air lookout, and Capt. Lang, Rommel's aide. Nearing Livarot from the west, they turn south-southeast, towards Vimoutiers, instead of continuing on through the town. Cpl. Daniel's left arm and shoulder are shattered by a 20mm cannon shell. He looses control of the Horch and it skids across the road, hitting a tree stump, and turns over in a ditch. Rommel, hit in the face by glass and shrapnel, was thrown from the Horch, landing on the road. He hit his head, some 20 yards behind where the car stopped. Neuhaus was hit on his revolver holster and the impact broke his pelvis. It is 45 minutes before Rommel gets some aid. He was initially taken back to Livarot, where he was treated for his wounds. Rommel and Daniel were moved to a Luftwaffe military hospital (Luftwaffenmnortlaz asrett) in Bernay, 25 miles away. Cpl. Daniel was given a blood transfusion, but later slipped into a coma and died that night from his wounds. The aircraft involved was an RAF Spitfire sortie of two aircraft. This sortie was led by SL J.J. "Chris" Le Roux, a South African ace with 23 aircraft kills recently deployed to Normandy from the Med theatre. SL "Chris" Le Roux himself went missing over the English Channel a few weeks later, and probably never knew he had taken Rommel out of action.

Forces of the US 1st Army penetrated into the town of St. Lo.

In France, with operations limited by weather, 69 Ninth Air Force B-26s hit fuel dumps at Rennes while 37 A-20 Havocs strike fuel dumps at Bruz and a marshalling yard at Dol-de-Bretagne; fighters escort transports, fly area cover, attack fuel dumps and landing field at Angers, dive-bomb defenses at Coutances in support of the US First Army, attack Nevers marshalling yard, and hit troop concentrations in support of the First Army assault in the Saint-Lo area.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions.
Mission 478: In the morning 670 bombers and 472 fighters are dispatched to hit tactical targets in France; one bomber and a fighter are lost. Escort for the two groups is 433 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; a P-47 is lost; elements of four fighter groups afterwards strafe ground targets, claiming 23 locomotives, 18 trucks, and 55 train cars destroyed. 1. Of 331 B-17s dispatched, 37 hit Joigny la Roche, 36 hit Jussy, 35 hit Auxerre, 35 hit Peronne, 33 hit Ham-sur-Somme, 32 hit Anizy-le-Chateau, 25 hit Frevent, 12 hit Tergnier and 11 hit Eu Bridges; 12 hit Doullens road junction, 12 hit Hesdin fuel dump, 12 hit Frevent railroad and road junction, 11 hit Laon marshalling yard and 15 hit targets of opportunity; a B-17 is lost. 2. Of 339 B-24s dispatched, 58 hit Rilly la Montagne dump, 52 hit Belfort marshalling yard; 36 hit Gien, 34 hit Coulanges, 34 hit Neuvy-sur-Loire, 32 hit Sully, 30 hit Nanteuil and 10 hit Le Soulons Bridges; 11 hit St Dizier Airfield and five hit targets of opportunity.

Mission 479: During the evening 34 B-17s and 106 B-24s attack 12 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area. Escort is provided by 209 P-51s.

Mission 480: Five B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night.

Sixteen B-24s participate in CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 162 B-24s to attack targets in France, i.e., a marshalling yard and railroad bridges at Avignon and railroad bridges at Arles and Tarascon; P-51s and P-38s provide escort.

Personal Memory: Today is to be my first mission as pilot in Command and I am tutoring a new crew on their first mission It will be my 25th mission during which I flew 23 missions as Beiser's copilot and one mission as tail gunner on the lead plane. Today we will bomb a railroad bridge at St. Quentin, France and 1st Lt. H. C. Clark was to be my first "student." My main job was to brief them on what to expect and to learn how to get into formation etc. Nearly always at 'bombs away' a crew member would shout in the intercom,


> 'They're shooting rockets at us!





> ' No,' I would explain, 'those are the sky markers from the lead plane to let us know where the target is.'


 At Molesworth each B-17 was loaded with two, 2000 pound bombs which we carried on the belly. We were flying a "New" B-17 with the tail number, 43-666 and naturally named "Full House" from that tail number. We were supposed to drop 72 bombs on the bridge but one of mine did not release because of a rack switch snafu, so we had no choice but to bring it home. The other 71 bombs missed the target and fell alongside the approaches to the bridge, digging some impressive ponds. We saw a little flak in the distance but the mission was a milk run except for my having to make my first PIC landing with two thousand pounds of bomb off to one side. Lt. Clark was a little concerned but I assured him he wouldn't notice it (I Hoped). Since I'm still here the reader can see that I made it without the bomb doing what they are designed to do.

During a sweep of the Caen area in the afternoon, III./JG 26 was bounced by Allied fighters and a large dogfight ensued. Major Mietusch of JG 26 who had returned from hospital, was shot down in his Bf 109G ‘White 20’ by an RAF Spitfire. He bailed out but was unable to return immediately to his base. Later in the afternoon, the III./JG 26 encountered more Allied fighters near Evreux from the USAAF 354 FG. Two P-51 Mustangs were shot down but the III Gruppe also lost two pilots.

HMS _'Formidable'_, _'Indefatigable' _and _'Furious'_, escorted by HMS _'Duke of York'_, raid the _'Tirpitz' _at Kaafiord, Norway. The Germans are successful in concealing their ship with smoke.

*EASTERN FRONT:* USS _'Twiggs' _(DD-127), commissioned as HMS _'Leamington' _(G-19) on 23 Oct. 1940, as part of the bases-for-destroyers deal, is transferred to Russia as _'Zhguchi'_. Returned to the RN on 15 Nov. 1950 she was then hired for the film "The Gifthorse". She was the last Town class destroyer at sea under her own power.

In the East, the Soviet First Guards Tank Army reached the River Bug, the old border between Poland and the USSR. At Moscow, 57,000 German prisoners of war captured in Belorussia, including several generals, were paraded through the center of the city. Alfred Schenkelberg of JG 54 was killed in air battles against the Soviets. He had five victories. Uffz. Robert Müller of 11./JG 5 was listed as missing in action. He had eleven victories.

*NORTH AMERICA:* In the U.S., the freighter SS _'E.A. Bryan' _carrying ammunition explodes at the ammunition depot in Port Chicago, California; the freighter SS _'Quinalt Victory'_, which is adjacent, also explodes. A total of 322 people, including 250 black seaman loading ammunition, are killed in the explosions. Survivors refuse to go back to work loading ships and 50 black sailors are charged with mutiny and convicted by court martial.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*18 JULY 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The British and Canadian begin a major attack east of Orne River to the south. They are heading for the high ground beyond Caen. This is *Operation Goodwood*. Montgomery hopes is will lead to a break out from Normandy. It features heavy bomber support from more than 2200 aircraft. In response Kluge increased the concentration of German troops around the city, adding two armored divisions that might have done invaluable work against Bradley in the bocage. As a result, seven panzer divisions and four heavy tank battalions guarded Caen while only two panzer divisions confronted the Americans. Even those forces were sorely depleted. The Germans in Normandy had sustained casualties of more than 100,000 enlisted men and 2,360 officers killed and wounded.

US XIX Corps has almost completed the capture of St. Lo, France.

In France, 400+ USAAF 9th AF B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs hit various military targets in support of the ground forces in the Caen area, and later in the day bomb rail and highway bridges beyond the frontlines; large number of fighters fly escort, dive-bomb gun positions at Rouen and Mantes-la-Jolie, hit military targets in the Chartres area (using rockets), attack gun positions, bridges, and other targets in the Benney-Alencon- Saint-Lo area, and fly armed reconnaissance and fighter sweeps over wide areas of northern and western France.

The USAAF's 8th AF in England flies Mission 481: Part 1. 644 B-24s are dispatched, in conjunction with Ninth Air Force and RAF Bomber Command, to bomb enemy equipment and troop concentrations in support of the assault by the British Second Army in the Caen area; 249 hit Solier, 146 hit Frenouville, 139 hit Troarns, 23 hit Hubert la Folie and 12 hit the Mezidon marshalling yard; a B-24 is lost; 90 RAF Spitfires fly uneventful support for the B-24s.

25 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night; a B-24 collides with an RAF aircraft over France and is lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Elements of the US IV Corps begin an attack on Leghorn on the west coast of Italy. The Poles capture Ancona.

*EASTERN FRONT:* On the Eastern Front, the First Belorussian Front near Kovel begins an offensive; the Third Baltic Front advances toward Ostrov and Pskov, while the First Ukraine Front is beginning to make progress towards Lvov after two days on the offensive.

Lt. Friedrich Puchberger of 7./JG 52 was shot down and taken prisoner. He had seventeen aerial victories. Another pilot from 7./JG 52, Erich Hartmann reached 250 kills when he destroyed three Russian Il-2 Sturmoviks during the day. He became the fourth Luftwaffe pilot (three of them from the JG 52 Geschwader) to reach this score.

At Lemberg, the Stab of JG 51 moved yet again to airfields at Stryj.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-286' _Type VIIC Sank the first time 3-17-1944 in the Baltic Sea east of Rügen after collision with _'U-1013'_. 26 survivors. Raised and repaired and returned to duty. Today a Norwegian Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 333/K) attacked the boat, causing damages and killing 1 man and wounding 7 more. The boat reached Kristiansand, Norway on the same day.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's 8th AF in England flies Mission 481 Part 2: 1,394 bombers and 476 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany: Of 291 B-17s dispatched, 107 hit the Kiel port area, 55 hit the Hemminstedt oil refinery and 54 hit Cuxhaven. Escort is provided by 48 P-38 Lightnings and 84 P-51 Mustangs without loss. Of 459 B-17s dispatched, 377 hit the Peenemunde experimental establishment, scientific HQ at Zinnowitz, and marshalling yards at Stralsund; three B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 297 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 21-0-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; three P-51s are lost .

The USAAF's 15th AF in Italy dispatches 200 B-24s and B-17s to attack Memmingen Airfield and the Dornier aircraft works at Manzell, Germany, and Casarsa della Delizia railroad bridge in Italy; 250-300 fighters oppose the formations attacking targets in Germany, beginning the interception at the northern Adriatic coast, continuing to the targets and back as far as the Brenner Pass.

The special-equipped planes of Sturmgruppe IV./JG 3 again attacked the B-17s in the new, apparently successful tactic of 7 July. 45 Fw 190A-8/R-2s from IV(Sturm)./JG 3 and the escorts from JG 300 were scrambled to intercept the Allied formations. Gruppenkommandeur Willi Moritz misjudged his first approach and passed underneath a squadron of B-17s that were then blasted out of the sky by aircraft of Hptm. Horst Haase’s 2./JG 51, now attached to the Sturmgruppe. Hptm. Haase shot down his 49th warplane. Uffz. Oskar Romm, flying with 12./JG 3, destroyed two B-17s and a P-51 while Lt. Willi Unger claimed one B-17. Lt. Walther Hagenah claimed one bomber. Less experienced pilots were also successful. Lt. Karl-Dieter Hecker of 15./JG 3 destroyed his 5th four-engined bomber. Lt. Werner Gerth destroyed two bombers while former Sturmstaffel 1 pilots Fw. Willi Maximowitz and Fw. Gerhard Vivroux both claimed their 9th victories. 

At first, Staffelkapitän Hptm. Hans Weik’s 10 Staffel of JG 3, were unable to form up as they came across the fighter escort. Breaking away on his own to attack a relatively unprotected squadron of B-17s, Hptm. Weik shot down a B-17 for his 36th victory. But his plane was hit by return fire from the bombers and was badly wounded. Hans Weik explained what motivated him during the spring and early summer of 1944 as he faced daily the massed ranks of B-17s;


> .." Simple answer: I was 19 years old, we flew fast fighters and we saw how 1000 bombers ruined a whole city within a few minutes...a lot of us had sisters or other relatives living in the cities. So, it was very easy to attack a Viermot .. "


 Lt. Walther Hagenah took his place as Staffelkapitän.

Other pilots also fell. Obgefr. Erich Erck of 11./JG 3, who shot down two of the bombers, was bounced by escorting P-51 Mustangs and killed. Another pilot from 12 / JG 3, Fw. Otfried Baisch was also shot down and killed. Also killed were Herbert Michaels, having only 8 aerial victories and Ofw. Robert Roller of 6./JG 3 with 13 victories. JG 300 lost Rudolf Scharfenberg with 5 victories. Another slightly unusual casualty was Uffz. Oskar Romm who dropped out of the battle with blood streaming from his nose apparently due to a problem equalizing air pressure at the high altitude the Sturmangriff took place. He was subsequently put on light duties until September as part of his medical treatment.

But the casualty list didn't stop there. In fact B-24 Liberators of the 483rd BG, 15th Air Force were even then swinging in to unload their cargoes over the field at Memmingen - from where the Sturm fighters had minutes before got airborne. As bombs rained down on the field there were heavy casualties amongst ground personnel still out in the open. 170 ground personnel were killed and 50 aircraft were destroyed or damaged. Lt. Karl-Heinz von den Steinen of 11./JG 3 took off but had to return because of problems with his Zusatz tank and was on the ground when the Allied bombers raided the airfield. Also on the ground was Major Walter Dahl, Kommodore of JG 300 and of IV (Sturm)./JG 3 who was startled by the bombers,


> “...the noise of the air raid sirens is slowly drowned by the approaching drone of bomber engines! I pull on some trousers over my pajamas. My driver Matton rushes in out of breath as the first explosions go off. The building is shaking. Damn close! We dash outside to my car, gun the engine and with squealing tires we tear off. People are running around in panic as bombs rain down. The air is filled with the sound of engines, the bark of the flak guns and the crashing of collapsing buildings. There is a small wood just off the airfield. We jump out and throw ourselves to the ground. After what seems like an eternity the sound of the bombers recedes and we drive back to the field to be confronted with some terrible sights. Dead and dying are lying around, mostly civilians. We try to help those still alive. Our accommodation blocks are in ruins, where my room was, just an enormous hole. . . . We are able to follow on the radio the air battle then raging as the Geschwader under Hptm. Moritz registers kill after kill. II / JG 300 also shoots down many bombers.”



Total loses for the Allies amounted to 20 aircraft lost while the Allies claimed to have shot down 66 Luftwaffe fighters. On the German side this second Sturm attack was hailed as an even greater victory than the first Sturm battle over Oschersleben and Hptm. Moritz and his Sturmgruppe were again named in the OKW daily report. News of the award of the Ritterkreuz to Kommandeur Moritz following his 41st victory was also announced.

The remaining jet fighters of EKdo 262 suffered an enormous loss when its commander, Hptm. Werner Thierfelder was killed in action. No one knows exactly how he died and several stories circulate that either he was killed attacking heavy bombers raiding Bavaria or shot down during an anti-reconnaissance mission to intercept highflying Spitfires and Mosquitoes. Hptm. Thierfelder, a former ZG 26 Zerstörer pilot, had twenty-seven victories at the time of his death. Hptm. Horst Geyer, an eighteen victory Experte from JG 51, took his place as Gruppenkommandeur.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*19 July 1944

WESTERN FRONT:* The Goodwood battles continue east of Caen, France. Large numbers of tanks are involved on both sides. The defensive postions and better armament of the Germans make up for their lack of superior numbers. Canadian forces clear the Caen suburbs of Vaucelles, Louvigny and Flery-sur-Orne.

In France, during the afternoon 262 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs bomb bridges on the Loire and Seine Rivers and a fuel dump at Bruz; fighters provide escort and, though limited by bad weather, hit rail lines and scattered enemy installations and movements in the Amiens-Tours- Chartres area and along the Ghent-Brussels, Belgium railroad.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 483: Five B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night.

Five B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

In air battles against the Allies, Uffz. Walter Holl of 9./JG 26 with seven victories was shot down and killed and Fw. Kurt Röhrich of 11./JG 3 was also shot down and killed. Fw. Röhrich had thirteen victories flying with JG 3 and the first Sturmgruppe, Sturmstaffel 1.

Nine Geschwader Bongart aircraft flew operations, attacking a Resistance headquarters, an ammunition dump and billets, with good results.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* The US 34th Div. captures Leghorn, Italy.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Russian units enter Latvia. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) encircled five German divisions west of Brody.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 482: 1,082 B-17s and B-24s and 670 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs, operating in five forces, attack targets in western and southwestern Germany including two plants producing hydrogen peroxide (an ingredient in V-weapon fuels), a chemical plant, two aircraft factories, four ball bearing plants, six marshalling yards, four airfields, and a river dam; 17 bombers and seven fighters are lost. Attacks in the Munich area are followed, within 90 minutes, by Fifteenth Air Force attacks. 731 fighters, operating in 19 separate units support the bombers; eight of these units afterwards strafe ground targets, including parked aircraft, locomotives and rolling stock, and road vehicles. The bombers claim 6-4-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; the fighters claim 17-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 38-0-14 on the ground.

In Germany, 400+ USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s based in Italy bomb an ordnance depot, an aircraft factory, a motor works, and an airfield in the Munich area; P-51s and P-38s fly 300+ sorties in support; enemy fighter opposition is weak but flak is heavy and accurate; 16 USAAF aircraft are shot down and several are missing.

An Order of the Chief of the OKW on the Defense of the Reich was issued with the following key passages;



> “Regulations hitherto issued for the defense of the coasts and frontiers of the Reich are summarized and supplemented as follows:
> As basic principle, it must be observed that the Armed Forces staffs must confine themselves exclusively, in making these preparations, to matters of a purely military nature. Other questions, for example, the mobilization of all resources in the Home Theater, the direction of manpower and, particularly, measures for the evacuation of the German civilian population, are the responsibility of the Party alone. Corresponding measures in the economic sphere are the responsibility of the Ministries concerned. The necessary cooperation must be pursued relentlessly, with the sole aim of achieving the highest efficiency, regardless of questions of jurisdiction.
> I. Organization of Command
> The Chief of Army Equipment and of the Replacement Army is responsible for making preparations to defend the Home theater of war in all matters concerning the Army and general service matters. Commanders of Military Districts will act in accordance with his directives. In matters concerning the Navy and Luftwaffe, preparations are the responsibility of Commander-in-Chief Navy and Commander-in-Chief Luftwaffe respectively. . .
> ...


In other business, the commander of Oberfehlshaber der Heeresgruppe C, Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring was awarded the Brillanten, becoming the fourteenth soldier so honored. Klaus Bretschneider was appointed Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 300.


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## syscom3 (Oct 10, 2009)

*20 July 1944
WESTERN FRONT:* The British attacks south and east of Caen are wearing down by the German antitank defense units.

In France, weather prohibits morning operations by the USAAF's Ninth Air Force; in the afternoon 62 A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders strike the Senonches fuel dump and Chaulnes marshalling yard; fighters escort the bombers and transports and fly armed reconnaissance against rail lines, bridges, and gun positions south of the frontlines.

USAAF's Eighth Air Force Mission 485: Six B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

Twelve B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

Shortly after 1300 hours, II./JG 1 intercepted a formation of RAF Spitfires over St. Lô. Three Spitfires were claimed shot down by the Gruppe, including two for Oblt. Rudiger von Kirchmayr of Stab II./JG 1 but the Gruppe lost three pilots; Fw. Alfred Bindseil and Lt. Christian Steven both of 6./JG 1 and Gefr. Johannes Kamutzki of 7./JG 51.

*GERMANY:* A bomb planted in Hitler's conference room at Rastenburg, East Prussia, explodes just after noon. Colonel Count Klaus von Stauffenberg has planted this bomb on behalf of a wide-ranging conspiracy of senior officers and a few politicians. Hitler is only injured. Assuming that he is dead, the coup goes on. Once it is clear that Hitler has survived, the plot falls apart. The effects of this bomb are wide ranging. Hitler's distrust of his generals increases; the physical deterioration caused by the dubious combination of medicines combined with the shock of the explosion further weaken his ability to concentrate; the remaining military are further weakened in their efforts to argue for any type of rational military response to events.

The He 177 heavy bombers of KG 1 have amassed enough fuel to mount a raid on the Allies using every available aircraft from all three Gruppen. While assembling for the attacks, the bombers began circling over several lakes in the area, including one near Königsberg, very close to Rastenburg. Kommodore Horst von Riesen remarked on the day’s operations,


> “At mid-day we assembled over one corner of the lake to the east of the Rastenburg prohibited area. To assemble eighty aircraft into three formations takes a lot of time, and as luck would have it a couple of the aircraft developed engine fires. My crews had been previously briefed that in this event they were to release their bombs ‘safe’ [i.e. set so that they did not go off on impact] and aimed into the lake. This the crews did, and I set off with one of my Gruppen to make the attack. It was about 5 o’clock in the afternoon when I landed at Prowehren, and I did not get to my headquarters until six o’clock. There I was met by my adjutant who looked very serious. He ushered me into an empty office and said, ‘A terrible thing has happened. One of our machines obviously did not drop his bombs “safe”; moreover they landed on the Führer’s headquarters and caused an explosion there.’”


Although it was several hours before the truth was confirmed – that an assassination attempt on Hitler’s life was the cause of the explosion and not a dropped bomb – Kommodore von Riesen sweated out news of his impending court-martial which never came. He was cleared of any complications in the attempt. This was the last major operational sortie of KG 1. Shortly after this, because of the fuel shortage, KG 1 was ordered back to Germany and disbanded the next month, becoming JG 7. The attempt on Hitler’s life succeeded in killing several staff members but left the Führer only slightly injured. Killed in the attack was General Korten, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe. Generalleutnant Werner Kreipe was appointed Luftwaffe Chief of Staff in his place.

At Lechfeld airbase, several pilots of I./KG 51 of Major Wolfgang Schenk's bomb unit were now comfortable enough with the Me 262 as a bomber that they were deemed available for operations and given a unit name, Einsatzkommando (Eins. Kdo) Schenk, named after their commanding officer, Major Schenk. They were immediately ordered to France, moving to Chateaudun. Thanks to an elaborate and successful deceptive Allied operation, Hitler believed that the Normandy landings were merely a diversion and that the main invasion would be launched in the Calais area. If there was to be a further invasion, the jet fighter-bombers had to be in position to strike. Nine of the bomber jets were made ready and took off for the airfield at Chateaudun in France. Only five made it to the airfield, two crashing at take-off from Lechfeld fully loaded, one landing at Schwäbisch Hall with a technical failure and the fourth suffering a navigation problem, finally making an emergency landing north of Paris. This left only five Me 262s available for bombing operations. In the fighter-bomber role, the Me 262 carried two, 550-pound bombs on racks under the nose. They occasionally flew sorties over France, though with little effect. Compounding these setbacks was a new order from Hitler. To reduce the risk of losses that would deplete the force before the expected new invasion, pilots had strict orders not to descend below 13,000 feet over enemy territory and forbid the jets to fly faster than 750 kph. That had the desired effect of saving aircraft, but it also prevented them from bombing accurately.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 484: 1,172 bombers and 542 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and industrial targets in central Germany; 19 bombers and eight fighters are lost: 1. Of 417 B-17s dispatched, 107 hit Dessau, 69 hit Kothen, 56 hit Leipzig/Mockau, 45 hit the Leipzig bearing industry, 36 hit Nordhuasen Airfield, 23 hit Kolleda Airfield, 20 hit targets of opportunity, 12 hit Bitterfeld, 12 hit Giessen Airfield, and 12 hit Rudolstadt; they claim 11-9-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 15 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 253 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 5-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost. 2. Of 295 B-17s dispatched, 155 hit Merseburg, 53 hit Lutzkendorf, 47 hit Wetzlar and seven hit targets of opportunity; two B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 178 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-4 on the ground; a P-51 is lost. 3. Of 460 B-24s dispatched, 123 hit Erfurt Nord and 11 hit Erfurt/Bindersleben Airfields; 80 hit Schmalkalden; 72 hit Gotha; 24 hit Freiburg, 18 hit Fulda, 12 hit Idstein, 10 hit Bad Salzungen, 10 hit Wernhausen and nine hit Homburg marshalling yards; 21 hit Berka, 12 hit Bad Nauheim, seven hit Koblenz, six hit Boppard and sxi hit targets of opportunity; a B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 45 P-47s; they claim 6-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; a P-47s is lost.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches about 450 B-17s and B-24s to bomb targets in Germany; B-17s attack the airfield at Memmingen while B-24s bomb the airfield, Zeppelin works, and aircraft factory at Friedrichshafen; P-38s and P-51s provide escort and, with the bombers, claim 19 aircraft shot down.

Because of high losses and the constant stream of Allied bombers, the II./JG 26 were ordered to withdraw to Germany. The pilots of the Gruppe quickly packed up and flew to Reinsehlen, arriving by nightfall. Also ordered to move was IV(Sturm)./JG 3 who transferred from the bomb damaged airfield at Memmingen to Neu-Ulm / Schwaighofen. But not before one last mission. The Sturmgruppe IV(Sturm)./JG 3 again attacked USAAF B-17s flying to the Junkers plant at Kothen in the new Gefechtsverband tactic of 7 July with JG 300 flying escort. Lt. Walther Hagenah claimed another bomber as did Willi Maximowitz who destroyed a B-17 at 1107 hours for his tenth victory. But Uffz. Heinz Jeworrek of 4./JG 3 was killed in action. He had seven victories. Also killed in combat against the American heavies was Fw. Götz Bergmann of 5./JG 51 who died with sixteen victories to his score.

*EASTERN FRONT*: After less than a week, Major Heinz Lange’s IV./JG 51 left Cuniow for the airfield at Starzawa. The II./JG 54 led by Hptm. Erich Rudorffer left the airbase at Petserie and traveled to the airfield at Immola. Some II./JG 54 units were detached to airfields at Helsinki and Petäjärvi and after a few days the whole Gruppe moved to the Utti airfield.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Two fighters from I./JG 301 from St. Dizier were on a 'Wilde Sau' operation over Northern France this night. Becoming confused over the Pas de Calais area the two aircraft landed in error at Manston in Kent. The first made a wheels-down landing intact. The pilot thought that he was on a German Air Force airfield. The second aircraft landed 20 minutes later and made a good landing but the pilot thought that he was going to overshoot the landing strip and raised the undercarriage thus causing considerable damage. Lt. Horst Prenzel and Fw. Manfred Gromill were both taken prisoner.


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## syscom3 (Oct 12, 2009)

*21 July 1944* 

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* The French Expeditionary Corps is taken out of the line in Italy. They begin to prepare for the Anvil/Dragoon operation.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 362 B-17s and B-24s to hit targets in Czechoslovakia; B-17s and B-24s bomb the Brux synthetic oil refinery; B-24s also hit the marshalling yard at Mestre; 100+ other bombers are forced to abort due to bad weather; P-38s and P-51s provide escort.

Pilots of III./NJG 6 claimed three Wellingtons and one C-47 shot down during a raid on the Fanto Refinery in Pardubice, Eastern Bohemia over Bohemia and Moravia. The 205th RAF Bomber Group lost all in all six bombers. Wellington MK. X, RAF No. 142 Sqn, disappeared en-route to target, near St. Pölten area, possibly the victim of Oblt. Josef Kraft of 7./NJG 6. Another Wellington lost over the Czech territory that night was LN699 (C) of RAF No.70 Sqn which crashed-landed near Semín in Přelouč area, allegedly the victim of Oblt. Helmut Schulte of 7./NJG 6. The entire crew of Lt. N.K. Weekes was taken POW. The C-47, was from 10 TCS/60TCG and was attacked by a Ju 88 while circling over the landing ground The left wing and engine were set on fire and it exploded in the air at 23.35 hours, 300 yards from the drop zone in today's Croatia. Hptm. Leopold Fellerer of Stab III./NJG 6 claimed the Lend Lease C-47. A Wellington Mk. X, of RAF No. 40 Sqn, crashed due to mechanical trouble in the Adriatic sea, and the crew of Sgt R. Bodley baled out off Porto San Giorgio and were rescued. Oblt. Josef Krause of 6./NJG 101 also claimed a Wellington near Grussbach at 00.06 hours.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Russian Third Baltic Front takes Ostrov.

astern front Geschwader lost two pilots. Fw. Horst Kirchner of 12./JG 51 and Uffz. Hans Stroinigg of 1./JG 51 were killed in combat. Fw. Kirchner had eleven victories while Uffz. Stroinigg had nine aerial victories. Following the departure of IV./JG 51 the day before from Cuniow, Hptm. Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber and III./JG 51 left their airfield and flew to a new airbase at Dubowo. IV./JG 51’s stay at Starzawa was short lived as they moved again to the airbase at Jasionka.

*GERMANY:* German General Zeitzler resigns as Chief of Staff at OKH and is replaced by Guderian.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 486: 1,110 bombers and 795 fighters are dispatched in 4 forces to bomb targets in Germany, among them 4 aircraft plants and 2 ball bearing plants; 31 bombers and 8 fighters are lost: 1. Of 433 B-24s dispatched, 106 hit Munich, 93 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yards, 78 hit targets of opportunity, 54 hit Oberpfeffenhofen, 33 hit Neuabuing, 13 hit Bullay Bridge, and 9 hit Schorndorf; they claim 10-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 22 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 262 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft in the air and 3-0-10 n the ground; 5 P-51s are lost. 2. Of 96 B-24s dispatched, 48 hit targets of opportunity, 17 hit Duren, 12 hit Walldrun marshalling yard and 9 hit Indenboden; 2 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 109 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft. 3. Of 241 B-17s dispatched, 90 hit Regensburg/Obertrau bling, 44 hit Regensburg/Prufenin g, 40 hit Stuttgart and 18 hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 148 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 4. Of 340 B-17s dispatched, 99 hit Schweinfurt, 70 hit Ebelsbach, 59 hit Ludwigshafen, 13 hit Bad Kreuznach, 13 hit Ebelsbach, 13 hit targets of opportunity, 12 hit Bad Munster, 12 hit Lachen, 12 hit Simmern marshalling yard, 8 hit Wurzburg, and 5 hit Neckargemund; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 187 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; a P-38 is lost.

Ofw. Eberhard Kroker of 3./JG 300 and Lt. Horst Kirchner of 2./JG 302 were both killed in action, when the Allies sent two formations of bombers to targets in Germany. One formation heading for Regensberg, Schweinfurt and Oberpfaffenhofen were met by several units from JG 300. Six B-24s were claimed shot down before Ofw. Kroker was killed. The other formation was heading for Brux when intercepted by units from JG 302 and JG 27. Eight B-17s along with two P-38s were shot down before Lt. Kirchner.

III./JG 400 was formed in Brandis as Erg.Staffel/JG 400 from Ausb.Kdo./Erpg 16 with Oblt. Franz Medicus appointed GruppenKommanduer.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In France, weather prevents all USAAF Ninth Air Force combat operations except for 1 fighter group which is dispatched on armed reconnaissance but is recalled before reaching the Continent; Less than 15 reconnaissance and evacuation sorties are flown.

USAAF's Eighth Air Force Mission 487: 8 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

The Allies flew ‘Ramrod 458’ and F/Lt. Edwin King of the RAF shot down a Bf 109 from a formation of twelve Messerschmitts.

_'U-212' _(Type VIIC) is sunk 21 July, in the English Channel south of Brighton, at position 50.27N, 00.13W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Curzon and Ekins. 49 dead (all crew lost).

Some 10,000 mobilized French partisans on the Vercors Plateau, south of Grenoble (90 km S.E. of Lyon) threatened German supply lines, so paratroops, Russian volunteers, mountain troops from the army’s 157. Reserve Division, and Geschwader Bongart, were all used to attack them. Luftflotte 3 reported that the combined German army-air force operation against the Resistance began on this day in the area east of Valence. Aircraft from Geschwader Bongart provided cover for 22 gliders that landed on the massif south of Grenoble. The German battle group was reported to have taken up a hedgehog position at Vassieux-en-Vercors, but the day’s objective was not reached due to strong enemy resistance. Re 2002 fighter-bombers, along with other Luftwaffe aircraft, dropped a total of 7.5 tons of bombs. Fourteen aircraft of the Jagdfliegerführer Süd flew operations to the area south-east of Valence, while Geschwader Bongart contributed 44 sorties.

Two Do 217's from III./KG 100 were shot down in the afternoon by two Mosquitoes of 235 Squadron as they were providing air cover for the 14th Destroyer Escort Group RN. RAF No. 248 and 406 Squadrons were also involved and claimed three Do 217s between them. They were part of a force of six Dorniers sent out from Toulouse/Blagnac to attack shipping of Brest with Hs 293s. One was flown by the Staffelführer of 9./KG 100, Oblt. Karl Lamp. The other machine was flown by a scratch crew from the 7., 8. and 9. Stafflen and the pilot was Uffz. Gustav Schmidt. Seven of the eight airmen were rescued by the ships they were meant to attack, one was MIA. 8 ./KG 100 also had a machine lost - flown by Lt Wolfgang Schirmer.


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## syscom3 (Oct 12, 2009)

*22 July 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Chelm falls to Rokossovsky's First Belorussian Front on their advance to Lublin.

In Poland, the Soviets set up the communist controlled Polish Committee of National Liberation at Lublin to administer all of the territory they have occupied in Poland.

*WESTERN FRONT:* USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 489: Seven B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night.

Forty four B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

In France, the USAAF's Ninth Air Force dispatches a group of A-20 Havocs and two groups of B-26s to attack a rail bridge at Bourth and fuel dumps at Foret de Conches and Flers; four groups of fighter-bombers fly armed reconnaissance and rail cutting missions during the late evening; a fighter group escorts the bombers; and fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command escort 100+ C-47 Skytrains on a supply-evacuation run to the Continent, and provide cover over the battle area.

Another 7.5 tons of bombs were dropped on the Resistance at Vercors. Luftwaffe aircraft provided support, flying operations against Resistance groups east of Valance. The road eight kilometres north of Die was blocked by three bomb hits. Supplies were also brought in to the hedgehog position at Vassieux-en-Vercors. The Germans were carrying out mopping up operations in the areas of Bouganeuf, Ussel, Limoges and Chateauroux. Geschwader Bongart flew sixty-eight sorties, and the Jafü Süd flew seventeen sorties in support of the 157. Reserve Division. Air cover, army support and supply missions were flown.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* In Romania, 76 P-38s and 58 P-51s begin the second Fifteenth Air Force shuttle missions, attacking airfields at Zilistea and Buzau (claiming the destruction of 56 enemy aircraft) and landing at Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR; 458 B-17s and B-24s (with fighter escorts) bomb an oil refinery at Ploesti and other bombers hit alternate targets of the Verciorova marshalling yard, Orsova railroad bridge, and Kragujevac, Yugoslavia marshalling yard.

*GERMANY*: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 488: Seven B-17s drop leaflets on Bremen, Hamburg and Kiel, Germany. Escort is provided by 27 P-51 Mustangs.

General Galland ordered that the II Gruppe of JG 300 convert to the Sturm or assault role. Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Peters soon began the conversion and with Galland’s help, the Gruppe was soon operational. The Luftwaffe now had three Sturmgruppen operational, IV(Sturm)./JG 3, II(Sturm)./JG 300 and II(Sturm)./JG 4. Many of the pilots received training on the Fw 190 Sturmbock variant by the knowledgeable officers of 2./JG 51 led by Hptm. Horst Haase. Many of the new pilots had experience flying with other units. Oblt. Oskar Romm came from I./JG 300 while Lt. Klaus Bretschneider was a former ‘Wilde Sau’ pilot with fourteen night kills in just twenty sorties. There was Fw. Konrad Bauer, an Eastern Front Experte from Stab./JG 51 and 2./JG 3 and Ernst Schröder of 5./JG 300.

Stab./Jagdgeschwader 76 was formed in Salzburg. The Stab was taken from Stab./ZG 76, I./JG 76 reformed in Bonn-Hangelar from I./ZG 76 and III./JG 76 formed in Stade from II./ZG 1. II./JG 76 and IV./JG 76 was to have been formed from II./ZG 76 and I./JG 302, but this was cancelled. Hptm. Heinrich Offterdinger was named Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 76 and Hptm. Egon Albrecht for III./JG 76.


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## syscom3 (Oct 12, 2009)

*23 July 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Russian forces capture Pskov, the last major town of pre-war Soviet Union in German hands.

The changing battlefront also forced IV./JG 51 to again move, this time from Jasionka to Mielec. Also retreating from the area was IV./JG 54 who moved from Lublin airfield to Deblin-Irena.

A Polish Committee of National Liberation is announced in Moscow. The Polish government in Exile in London denounces this move by a handful of unknown communists.

*GERMANY:* German Field Marshal Schoerner replaces General Friessner at Army Group North.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Units of the US IV Corps occupy parts of Pisa, Italy which lie south of the Arno River.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 42 B-24s to bomb the Berat, Albania oil refinery; 15 P-51s provide target cover for the bombers and afterwards strafe roads and targets of opportunity in Yugoslavia near the Albanian border.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 490: 280 bombers and 193 fighters are dispatched in 2 formations to attack airfields in France; 1 bomber is lost. Escort for both formations is provided by 177 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs. 1. 78 B-17s hit Creil Airfield; 1 B-17 is lost. 2. Of 198 B-24s dispatched, 61 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield, 57 hit Laon/Athies Airfield and 48 hit Juvincourt Airfield.

Mission 491: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

Twenty one B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

In France, 330+ USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s bomb rail bridges along the Argentan-Paris and Lisieux-Bernay- Evreux railroads, and hit fuel dumps at Foret de Conches; fighters escort bombers, attack rail lines, enemy installations, and movements in the Argentan-Alencon- Chartres- Evreux areas, and bomb bridges, strongpoints, and a supply dump in support of the US First Army.

Hptm. Helmuth Schulte was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./NJG 6 in place of Major Rolf Leuchs, who left the night-fighting unit on 14 July. Oblt. Wilhelm “Wim” Johnen, Staffelkapitän of 8./NJG 6, was awarded the Ritterkreuz for thirty-three victories.

Luftflotte 3 reported that the operation south-east of Lyon was proceeding to plan. Ten tons of high explosive bombs were dropped, and German aircraft took part in the Vercors operation. The troops had now reached Vassieux-en-Vercors, about 100 km south-south-east of Lyon, despite strong opposition from the Resistance. On this day Geschwader Bongart flew 63 anti-partisan sorties, while Jafü Süd flew six.

Near Paris newly appointed GruppenKommanduer Hptm. Robert Weiß and his III./JG 54 became embroiled in combat with a flight of Allied P-38s. Eight Lightnings were shot down with double kills being credited to Hptm. Weiß and Fw. W. Müller. But the battle came at a cost. JG 54 lost Fw. Erwin Schleef of 9./JG 54 an eleven victory pilot with the Geschwader.


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## syscom3 (Oct 12, 2009)

*24 July 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Lublin, Poland falls to Rokossovsky. The First Ukraine Front captures the site of Majdanek Concentration Camp.

Another loss for Eastern front Geschwaders when Hptm. Franz-Josef Zoufahl of 8./JG 51 was shot down and killed. He had twenty-six victories all with JG 51.

*WESTERN FRONT: *The US *Operaion Cobra* attack west of St Lo is postponed due to bad weather.

In France, 11 groups of Ninth Air Force bombers scheduled to participate in Operation COBRA have missions cancelled due to weather; 5 groups of B-26s hit rail bridges and 5 groups of B-26s and A-20 Havocs strike 3 fuel and ammunition dumps; fighters fly escort to the bombers, fly area cover, bomb installations in the Laval-Nantes- Le Mans-Chartres areas, and hit bridges and supply dumps in support of the US First Army.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 492: Heavy bombers are scheduled to participate in a US First Army offensive (Operation COBRA) to penetrate the German defenses west of Saint-Lo and secure Coutances; 1,586 bombers and 671 fighters are dispatched but bad weather causes the ground forces to delay the attack until next day, and cloud conditions cause 1,102 bombers to abort. Escort for the bombers is provided by 478 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 3 P-38s are lost. Targets hit are: 1. Of 909 B-17s dispatched, 343 hit the Periers/St Lo area and 35 hit the Granville railroad junction; a B-17 is lost. 2. 109 of 677 B-24s dispatched bomb targets of opportunity including road intersections and rail lines; 2 B-24s are lost. 143 P-51s fly a sweep over Lechfeld and Leipheim Airfields in Germany; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft in the air and 12-0-16 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.

Mission 493: 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

Six B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

Whilst acting as HQ ship for troops ashore destroyer HMS _'Goathland' _is mined NNE of Courcelles. She is towed back to Portsmouth but not repaired.

Action continued against the French resistance on the Vercors plateau. Geschwader Bongart flew twenty sorties. Sixteen of which were against the Resistance, while four were for supply missions and rescuing the wounded.

Spitfires of RAF No. 92 Sqd. chased an Me 410, silver-painted and streaming black smoke from its exhausts, from Corsica to just off Nice; they reckoned it "the fastest encountered in this theater", with a speed of more than 400mph. This was possibly an aircraft from 1.(F)/33, flying overwater reconnaissance originally with only the Ju 88, its coverage regularly extending to Corsica, into Spanish waters and to the shores of North Africa. Following the Normandy invasion, the unit was sometimes called upon to carry out missions over the English Channel in conjunction with operations by the Division's bombers. Perhaps the "hottest" items in the Staffel's inventory however were its few Me 410s, dispersed under trees at the north-east side of the Staffel's airfield of Saint Martin de Craux (known to the Allies as Les Chanoines) a little east of Arles. At least two were specially adapted to carry GM-1 boosting equipment in the rear fuselage, necessitating removal of the remote-controlled 13mm machine-gun barbettes. Rear protection was provided by an improvised gun mount in the cockpit. These boosted aircraft were capable of a remarkable performance — taking photographs from 11,200m (about 37,000ft) — and extremely fast, as attested to by the frustration of Allied pilots who tried to intercept them.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 200+ bombers to attack targets in France and Italy; B-17s attack tank repair and ball bearing works in Turin, Italy; B-24s attack the harbor at Genoa, Italy, and airfields at Valence/La Tresorerie and Les Chanoines, France; fighters hit troop concentrations at Sjenica, Prijepolje, Pljevlja, and Andrijevica and strafe the Prizren, Yugoslavia area.

*GERMANY: *_'U-1164' _(Type VIIC/41) Stricken at Kiel on 24 July, 1944 after being damaged by British bombs. Broken up.

The stab of JG 54 moved its Focke-Wulfs from Dünaburg to Jakobstadt. III./JG 76 was in Stade where they did there conversion training to single-engine fighters from flying Bf 110s as II./ZG 1.


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## syscom3 (Oct 12, 2009)

*25 July 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* US *Operation Cobra* begins. The main attack is west of St. Lo by the US VII, VIII, and XIII Corps. 3000 planes from the 8th and 9th USAAF are involved in the pre-attack bombardment. Many of the bombs fall short and cause many causalities, including a general. The VII and VIII Corps make good progress. British attacks around Caen contribute to the success. South of Caen, Canadian forces attack along the road to Falaise and meet heavy resistance. The Luftwaffe was unable to stem the flow of troops and armour moving through the French countryside towards Germany. The 307FS/31 FG attacked Ju 87D-5's of III./SG 77 and claimed twenty-one Stukas destroyed.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 494: 1,581 bombers and 500 fighters are dispatched to support a US First Army assault (Operation COBRA) with saturation bombing in the VII Corps area in the Marigny-Saint- Gilles region, just west of Saint-Lo; 5 bombers and 2 fighters are lost; 843 of 917 B-17s and 647 of 664 B-24s hit the Periers/St Lo area and 13 B-17s hit targets of opportunity; a B-17 and 4 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 483 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s and also provide escort for Ninth Air Force B-26s; they claim 12-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost. Due to a personnel error, bombs from 35 bombers fall within US lines; 102 US troops, including Lieutenant General Lesley J McNair, are killed and 380 wounded.

Mission 495: Late in the afternoon 106 B-24s are dispatched to bomb the Brussels/Melsbroek Airfield, Belgium but they are recalled because of heavy cloud formations. Escort for this mission is provided by 26 P-38s and 110 P-51s. A P-38 and 78 P-47s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the Fournival/Bois de Mont fuel dump; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft.

Seventeen B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

In France during the morning 11 Ninth Air Force B-26 and A-20 Havoc groups attack tactical targets in the vicinity of Saint-Lo in support of the US First Army; in the afternoon 4 groups bomb bridges on the Seine and Loire Rivers; 42 B-26s, repeating errors of the previous day, short-bomb behind US lines and casualties again are concentrated in the 30th Infantry Division; fighters strafe and bomb military targets in the Saint-Lo area in support of Operation COBRA, fly area patrol and sweeps south of the battle area, and carry out armed reconnaissance against installations in the Laval-Ghent- Amiens areas.

The new Schulstaffel./NJG 1 was moved from Twente to Grove in Denmark. Formed at the end of June from parts of NJG 1, the unit flew Bf 110s and Bf 109s.

During the night of 24/25 July high-explosive bombs were dropped on Valence airfield, hitting the taxiing area, and telephone and high-tension lines. Geschwader Bongart flew thirty-two sorties against the Resistance. By this stage enemy resistance had weakened, and Luftflotte 3 went as far as to say that the enemy resistance had collapsed, after heavy fighting during this day. Mopping up operations were now undertaken by the Germans.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Russian units enter Luvov, Poland.

Marshal Mannerheim informs the political leadership that the German help is not enough. He wants that measures are taken to free Finland from the obligations of the Ribbentrop-pact. In practice this would mean that the President of the Republic Risto Ryti should resign. There has already been a tacit agreement between the military and political leadeship that if and when the Ribbentrop-pact becomes a liability (i.e. when the time comes to make peace with Soviet Union) Ryti should resign (as he was *personally* bound by the pact) and he will be replaced by Mannerheim.

Operating from Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR, 34 P-51s and 33 P-38s of the Fifteenth Air Force attack the airfield at Mielec, Poland and return to the USSR bases.

The crew and pilots of I./JG 51 left the airbase at Krzewica and transferred to the airbase at Okecie.

Oblt. Erich Hartmann, Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 52, was awarded the Brillanten.

*GERMANY:* In Austria, 420 B-17s and B-24s of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy bomb the Hermann Goring tank works in Linz while other bombers hit the Villach marshalling yard and targets of opportunity in Austria and Yugoslavia; fighters provide escort and carry out sweeps; 175-200 enemy fighters oppose the attacks; 21 USAAF aircraft are lost; the bombers and fighters claim 60+ fighters shot down.

The Luftwaffe lost two upcoming Experten. Oblt. Ferdinand Kray of 4./JG 302 was killed in action. He had twenty-five victories. And Ofw. Karl-Heinz Munsche of 9./JG 2 was shot down and killed. He had twenty victories. Lt. Kurt Welter of 5./JG 300 was transferred yet again, this time to 1./NJG 10 performing ‘Wilde Sau’ missions.

German Propaganda Minister Goebbels is appointed "Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War". New decrees are issued, one of which cancel vacations for women involved in war work. He had been lobbying for thise job for two years and when he finally gets it the ship of state is taking on water a a fearful rate.

The new jet bomber, the Arado 234, was ready for missions with 1./Versuchsverband Ob.d.L. and two were ordered to a new base at Juvincourt to begin operations. The Ar-234, with its high speed, seemed likely to penetrate Allied fighter screens. The two bombers took off, one piloted by Oblt. Horst Götz and the other by Oblt. Erich Sommer. The plane of the Gruppenkommandeur, Oblt. Götz, had an engine failure shortly after take-off and had to return to the airfield at Oranienburg. Oblt. Sommer made an uneventful flight to Juvincourt only to wait a week for the take-off trolley, rocket booster units, and other kit to arrive by truck. So the jet bomber was towed into a hanger where it waited for the equipment to arrive to become operational.

Stab I. and 2./JG 400 was formed in Venlo and moved to Brandis with 1./JG 400.


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## syscom3 (Oct 17, 2009)

*26 July 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* US VII Corps take Marigny and St. Gilles in France. To the west the US VIII Corps crosses the Lessay-Periers road.

In France, weather forces the recall of several groups of Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs, assigned to support the US First Army, but about 160 aircraft manage to bomb a fuel dump at Senonches with good results; fighters escort the bombers, fly cover over the assault area, carry out close support for ground troops in the Saint-Lo area, and fly armed reconnaissance in the Poix, Amiens, Chartres, Laval, and Angers areas.

In France, the Eighth Air Force flies two missions. Mission 496: 93 P-47 Thunderbolts attack the St. Just marshalling yards and 40 attack the Givet fuel dump; a P-47 is lost. Mission 497: 7 B-17s drop leaflets during the night.

Nine B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

German submarine _'U-214' _(Type VIID) is sunk in the English Channel about 34 nautical miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Plymouth, Devonshire, England (49.58N, 03.30W) by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Cooke [K 471, ex USS Dempsey. 48 dead (all hands lost).

Geschwader Bongart flew 18 sorties against partisans at Vercors, supporting the 157. Reserve Division and Kampfgruppe Schäfer. The operation concluded successfully on this day, with the Germans reporting many Resistance fighters killed, along with much ammunition and many weapons captured.

Valence airfield was attacked by Allied aircraft, with five Ju 88s and one Do 17 destroyed. Luftflotte 3 noted that the;


> “...attacks on Valence airfield during the last few days were presumably aimed at 'Geschwader Bongart' based there for operations against partisan groups.”



*EASTERN FRONT:* Units of the First Ukraine Front reach the Vistula west of Lublin. In the north Narva is captured by units of the Leningrad Front.

Major Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 54 shot down six Russian aircraft including his 150th victory. Following the move of I./JG 51 of the day before, the Stab of JG 51 left Stryj for positions at Okecie, joining the I Gruppe.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Fifteenth Air Force fighters on the second shuttle mission leave USSR Operations FRANTIC bases, strafe enemy aircraft in the Bucharest-Ploesti, Romania area, and return to bases in Italy. In Austria, 330+ B-17s and B-24s attack the Wiener Neudorf aircraft factory, the airfield at Markersdorf, Thalerhof, Zwolfaxing, and Bad Voslau, and targets of opportunity in the Vienna area. Also hit are Szombathely Airfield, Hungary and oil storage at Berat, Albania. Fighters fly escort and carry out patrols and sweeps in the Brod-Zagreb, Yugoslavia and Ploesti-Bucharest, Romania areas; U.S. bombers and fighters claim 70+ enemy aircraft shot down.

The experimental Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter Gruppe, Hptm. Horst Geyer's EKdo 262, met a RAF Mosquito for the first time. Lt. Alfred Schreiber of EKdo 262 flying one of the few available Me 262 jets of the commando unit, intercepted and apparently destroyed a British Mosquito to become the first enemy aircraft downed by the special jet Gruppe. But the Mosquito was only damaged and managed to land at an Allied airfield in Italy.

*GERMANY*: German submarine _'U-2323' _(Type XXIII) is sunk by a mine at 1635 hours west off Mšltenort, about 5 nautical miles (9 kilometers) north-northeast of Kiel, Germany, (54.23N, 10.11E) while on a training mission. (At the present, Mšltenort, on the eastern side of Kiel Bay, is the site of the U-Boat Memorial.) There are two dead and 12 survivors. The boat had been commissioned 8 days earlier.

The new Sturmgruppe, II.(Sturm)./JG 300 had its first casualty of the war when Ofhr. Martin Köhler of 4 Staffel was shot down and killed flying Fw 190A-8 ‘White 12’.


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## syscom3 (Oct 17, 2009)

*27 July 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VII Corps breaksthrough between Lessay and Periers.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions. Mission 498: 26 B-17s are dispatched to hit coastal batteries at Ostend and Cap Gris Nez/Calais area but weather prevents bombing. In Belgium, of 120 B-24s, 34 hit a Luftwaffe communication center at Brussels/Vilvorde, 20 hit a coastal battery at Gravelines, 11 hit oil installations and industrial plants at Ghent and 1 hits a target of opportunity without loss. Escort is provided by 154 P-38s, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-51 is lost. Mission 499: 193 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s fly fighter-bomber mission against rail traffic south of Rouen and Amiens; 2 P-38s and 1 P-51 are lost. Mission 500: 7 B-17s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France during the night. 

The Soviet Navy lists submarine V-1, Northern Fleet, lost off coast of England (sunk in error by British bomber off Norway).

The former Staffelkapitän of 10./JG 3, Hptm. Hans Weik who was recuperating from wounds received on 18 July, was awarded the Ritterkreuz for his thirty-six aerial victories, with most of his victories against Allied four-engined bombers. It was not until early 1945 that he again took to the skies.

Major Franz Schönberger gave up his position as acting Kommodore of KG 2 to Oblt. Rudolf Hallensleben.

At 23:00 hours a Ju-88 S-3 of 6./KG 30 was shot down by flak about ten miles North of St Lo. Oblt Heinrich Kollingberger and his crew were killed.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The First Ukraine Front, under Konev, takes Lvov and Stanislav. The Second Belorussian Front, under Zakharov, captures Bailaystock. The First Baltic Front, under Bargamyan, takes Siauliai. The Second Baltic Front, under Yeremenko, takes Daugavpils and Rezekne.

The Focke-Wulfs of IV./JG 54 moved again from Deblin-Irena airfield to Piastow airbase. The Focke-Wulfs of 1./SG 5 moved from Immola and flew to the airfield at Salmijärvi.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* In Hungary, the US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 366 B-17s and B-24s to bomb an armament works at Budapest; 24 other B-24s attack Pecs marshalling yards; P-38s and P-51s escort the Budapest mission. 

*UNITED KINGDOM:* In the U.K., the RAF's No. 616 Squadron equipped with Gloster Meteor Mk. I jets and based at Manston, Kent, England, flies their first operational mission targeting V-1 "buzz bombs" in southern England.


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## syscom3 (Oct 17, 2009)

*28 July 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 4th Armored Division enters Coutances, France. They have achieved the first objective of Operation Cobra.

In France, the USAAF's IX Bomber Command operates in support of the US First Army, bombing rail bridges, supply dumps and ammunition dumps in the Foret de Conches, Dreux, and Le Mans areas; fighters escort bombers, fly armed reconnaissance in the Le Mans, Laval, and Dreux areas and furnish cover over assault areas and armed columns.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 501 Part 1: 291 B-24s in 2 forces are dispatched to hit signal depots, fuel dumps and V-weapon supply sites and a bridge in Belgium and France but the forces are recalled because of cloud cover over the targets; the first force of 180 B-24s is dispatched to northwestern France V-weapon sites, fuel dumps and a railroad bridge; escort is provided by 235 P-47s and P-51 Mustangs. The second force of 111 B-24s is dispatched to hit Brussels and Vilvorde fuel and supply depots; escort is provided by 40 P-51s.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 502: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Brest-Litovsk and Przemysl fall to the Russians.

Another loss for Eastern front fighter units. Uffz. Ulrich Zemper of 1./JG 53 was killed in action having achieved five victories.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 501 Part 2: 766 B-17s are dispatched to bomb the synthetic oil plant at Merseburg, Germany; 652 hit the primary while 36 hit Leipzig/Taucha oil refinery, 18 hit the Wiesbaden marshalling yards and 8 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 1-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 386 P-38 Lightnings and P-51s; they claim 4-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.

The Luftwaffe wasn’t up in force that day. Units known to have been ordered up were I./JG 300 (Bf 109s), II./JG 300 (Fw 190s), II./JG 27 (Bf 109s) and I./JG 302 (Bf 109s). However, these two latter units were ordered to alter course to the South, so that only I. and II./JG 300 flew on North, engaging combat in the Naumburg area (South of Merseburg) at about 10:05-10:15 hours. Also sent to intercept were six Me 163 Komets of I./JG 400. Only two bombers were claimed shot down, none by the rocket fighters because the high closing speeds of the little fighter disoriented the German fighter pilots and spoiled their aim. But the Luftwaffe again lost valuable pilots. Near Erfurt, the new Sturmgruppe of JG 300, II Gruppe, lost the Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 300, Oblt. Ernst-Erich Hirschfeld in action against the heavy bombers. Oblt. Hirschfeld had twenty-four victories including eight as a ‘Wilde Sau’ pilot. Gefr. Walter Weinzierl of 3./JG 302 was shot down and killed having achieved only five victories in combat. Also lost for a time during this action was Fw. Willi Maximowitz of IV(Sturm)./JG 3 who was shot down by escorting fighters but survived with slight injuries and returned to operations the next day. Reported as missing in action was Ofhr. Wolfgang Köcher of 3./JG 300.

A new problem presented itself when the six Me 163s returned to base. The rocket aircraft, now out of fuel and arriving at the airfield at nearly the same time, tried landing all at once, causing some tense moments and near misses. All went safely but it did not bode well for the future of the little rocket plane.

Personal Memory:


> New crews that arrived a couple of weeks ago are now ready for their first mission. And I am the guy who is starting them out, taking their pilot as my copilot. FUN!! This is to be my 26th mission and our target is Mersberg, the most heavily defended city in Germany. I don't expect a milk run! I'm flying the "Betty Jane" today that I have flown several times before including the ill fated glide bomb raid on Cologne. The 303rd put up 37 B-17s that were all in the air in 29 minutes. We formed up over the Harrington Buncher at 9,000 feet with our ten, five hundred pound bombs. During the forming up phase I was approached by another B-17 and to avoid a collision I turned away and did a 360 degree turn. Pulling up or diving would have put too much strain on the wings and tail of this overloaded bomber. I was now not able to catch up with the 303rd so I latched onto the 379th which I knew was going to the same target. My new copilot for this mission was J.A. Drewry with all his crew except for his copilot who was flying with another experienced crew. My regular group saw no enemy aircraft on this mission but my new group saw a few. Our top turret gunner, E. H. Koch fired at a FW190 that was trying to tow a bomb on a long wire through our formation. For some reason the bomb didn't explode. The 190 was about three thousand feet above us and the other German planes were hanging back, evidently waiting for the big explosion which never came. We encountered flak at seven different locations and our "Betty Jane" suffered two minor wounds on this trip. It was overcast at the target and we had been discharging chaff which seemed to work to our advantage as the flak always seemed to be behind us. Evidently we didn't do such a great job on the Luena synthetic oil plant as we soon learned that this would also be our target tomorrow. This target takes a flight time of eight hours and ten minutes with four hours and twenty minutes over enemy territory. During my PIC training an attempt on Hitler's life occurred on July 20. Too bad it didn't succeed as hundreds, if not thousands of lives could have been saved by shortening the war. Score: Milk Runs 13, Others 13. (I did not consider this a milk run.) (Dick Johnson)



*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 345 B-17s and B-24s to attack 2 oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania and a marshalling yard at Florina, Greece; P-51s and P-38s provide support for the Ploesti raid.

Ofw. Johann Pichler of 7./JG 77 was injured after baling out following combat with American fighters over Ploesti in Bf 109 G-6 “White 13”. He deployed his chute too late and made a very hard landing.


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## syscom3 (Oct 17, 2009)

*29 July 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Neimen River is crossed by the Third Belorussian Front.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The UX XIX Corps is advancing on Torigny and Tessy, France. The US VII Corps reaches Percy and The US VIII Corps crosses the Sienne and advance towards Granville.

The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 503 Part 3: 38 B-24s hit Juvincourt Airfield and 26 hit Couvron Airfield at Laon, France. Escort is provided by 142 P-51s.

The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 504: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. 44 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; 12 abort.

Jagdkorps II, tasked with defending against the Allies in the Normandy area, reported a total of thirty fighters on strength to fight the Allies and their breakout. These fighters included the remnants of III./JG 26 at Villacoublay and the Stab and I./JG 26 which moved this day from the destroyed fields at Chaumont to Rambouillet, near Paris. Major Karl Borris again took over as Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 26 when Hptm. Hermann Staiger was transferred to JG 1.

*GERMANY:* In England, the US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 503 Part 1 2: 1,228 bombers and 755 fighters are dispatched to hit oil targets in Germany and airfields in France in 3 groups; 17 bombers and 7 fighters are lost. (1) 569 B-17s hit the Leuna synthetic oil plant at Merseburg, 13 hit Gottingen, 11 hit Hildesheim marshalling yard, and 10 hit targets of opportunity; 15 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 429 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; 7 P-51s are lost. (2) 442 B-24s hit the Oslebshausen oil refinery at Bremen, 2 hit targets of opportunity and 1 hit Cuxhaven; 2 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 106 P-51s. The B-17s escorted by P-51s were met by numerous fighter units from JG 300, JG 302, JG 51, JG 3, and JG 27. Sixteen B-17s along with four P-51s were claimed by pilots of the intercepting Luftwaffe fighters including two Fortresses for Fhj.Ofw. Hermann Wischnewski of 2./JG 300 and two B-17s and a P-51 for Uffz. Kurt Gren of 2./JG 51 who shared a third B-17 with a Flak unit. Other notable pilots with claims were Oblt. Horst Haase of 2./JG 51( for his fiftieth kill), Fw. Wolfgang Kosse of 10./JG 3 (24 kills), Fw. Willi Maximowitz of 11./JG 3 (11 kills), Fw. Willi Unger of 12./JG 3 (13 kills), Lt. Johannes Neumann of 1./JG 300 and Hptm. Fritz Keller of Stab II./JG 27. Ofw. Ernst Schäfer of 2./JG 302 was killed during the battles over Germany. He had nine victories.

Personal Memory:


> My diary reads: "Mersberg, Germany, (near Leipzig.) Same target as yesterday. (Leuna Oil Works.) Saw terrific dog fights over target between our P-51s and enemy fighters. Target CAVU and FLAK was terrific. Got several holes this time. Had third new crew. Carried 20 X 250-pound general purpose bombs. Flight time, 8 hours and thirty five minutes. Over enemy territory 4 hours and twenty minutes." I was flying the "Betty Jane" again today for an assault on Germany's most heavily defended city. My new crew for today was that of Lt. P. F. Cureton, Jr. Ironically and tragically he was to be killed in action on November 21st at this very same target. The only survivor of his nine man crew would be Radio Operator, Tech Sgt. J. A. Ellis German farmers would murder most of the others. The navigator was hanged on the spot and Cureton and his copilot were stabbed to death with pitch forks. This kind of treatment was not unusual when one bailed out over Germany itself, but was rare in occupied countries. On today's mission the 303rd Bomb Group supplied 13 aircraft for the 41st "C" Wing, High group. We did a plan "D" Group assembly over Harrington Buncher at 17,000 ft and flew in Combat Wing Formation while slowly climbing to 26,000 ft. At the IP (Initial Point) we took group interval for visual bombing and dropped our bombs from a magnetic heading of 95 degrees. At the target we saw about fifteen Me109s trying to attack the lead group but they were being harassed by our P-51s. Just after bombs away, four of the fifteen managed to elude the P-51s and made a single pass from 12 o'clock high (like the movie) through the lead group without shooting any down. We were probably lucky that these were Me109s and not FW190s with their new 30 MM cannon. After we dropped our bombs we made a sharp turn to the right to avoid flak, and at this time rejoined the Wing formation for our return to Molesworth. Over England we dropped down to one thousand feet and eventually had to fly at three hundred feet because of low clouds. We probably scared a lot of live stock and a few people, including us. At the target there were no photographs of the actual bomb bursts as they were concealed in smoke and shadows in the target area. The Germans always tried to conceal their important targets with smoke screens, but with limited success. The lead Group's bombs fell a little short of the MPI (Main Point of Impact.) They had approached the target at 103 degrees magnetic. The Low Group's bombs appeared to fall right on target. They flew to the target at 102 degrees magnetic. Our heading of 95 degrees gave us a good separation from the prop wash of the other groups and our bombs were right on target. The lead group of the "D" Wing following us headed to the target at 98 degrees but their lead bombardier didn't quite kill the drift and their bombs fell a couple hundred yards to the left of the MPI. Of the 51 (!) B-17 aircraft furnished by our group for this mission, 32 sustained battle damage but none were shot down thanks largely to the efforts of our P-51s over the target. Several of our B-17s had major damage from flak and many had a few flak holes, including my poor old "Betty Jane." Many times the ground crews repaired the holes so well that I couldn't find them. I even made mental notes on some occasions and still could not find them. These guys were good! Of course this was much more difficult on unpainted airplanes. Most of the B-17s built after 1943 were left unpainted except for identifying markings. It was impossible to hide from the German Radar or their optical devices. Being new crews, we generally were assigned whatever plane was ready to go. This meant that we flew twelve different B-17s in combat, and they all flew about the same. Of course most of the Brass flew in their favorite planes most of the time. I will note here that the Brass never shirked the tough missions, going on some of the most dangerous missions of the war. When we flew to Berlin of Hamburg there was always a squadron Commander or equal rank in the lead plane. And the lead plane was the prime target for flak gunners as well as fighter aircraft. Score: Milk Runs 13 others 14 (Dick Johnson)


 
During Mission 503 (above) U-872 (Type IX D2) is badly damaged at Bremen with 1 dead. Taken out of service 10 Aug, 1944 and later broken up.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Weather cancels all bombing operations by the US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy. 14 P-38s, taking off from bases in the USSR , sweep the Kecskemet, Hungary area.

*NORTH AMERICA:* In the US, the first successful test of the Pelican guided missile is conducted 44 miles (70.8 km) offshore from NAS New York, New York; 2 of the 4 missiles hit the target ship.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Another Me 410 from V./KG 2 fell to the guns of a Mosquito from RAF No.256 Squadron.


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## syscom3 (Oct 17, 2009)

*30 July 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Granville and Avranches fall to US forces in France. German forces including II Parachute Corps make a strong counterattack. The British advance near Caumont, France.

In France, the US Ninth Air Force dispatches 450+ A-20 Havocs and B-26s to bomb defenses in the Chaumont area in support of the US First Army; fighters fly escort, cover the assault area and armored columns, and carry out armed reconnaissance in the Orleans-Paris area; and 200+ C-47 Skytrains fly supply and evacuation missions to the Continent 

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. In Mission 505, 237 P-47s and P-51 Mustangs fly sweeps of Evreux, St Quentin, Paris and Orleans, France claiming the destruction of 3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 9 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost. In Mission 506, 1 B-17 is dispatched on a night leaflet mission but is recalled. Also, 31 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

Hptm. Siegfried Luckenbach was made acting Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 27 when Hptm. Rudolf Sinner was transferred out of the Gruppe. 

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy sends 300+ bombers to attack targets in Hungary and Yugoslavia: in Hungary, B-24s bomb Duna Airfield; B-17s bomb the aircraft factory at Budapest, and marshalling yards at Brod, Yugoslavia; P-38s and P-51s escort the missions. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* _'U-250' _(Type VIIC) is sunk on this day at 19.40 hours, in the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Finland, at position 60.28N, 28.25E, by depth charges from Russian sub chaser MO-103. 46 dead, 6 survivors. Raised in Sep 1944. From 12 April, 1945 to 20 Aug 1945 in the Russian Navy as TS-14. Later broken up. _'U-250' _attacked the 56 ton Russian sub chaser MO 105 with a G7e torpedo , at the north side of the Koivisto-strait in the Gulf of Finland. The Russian boat was destroyed easily (19 dead, 7 survivors), but the noise of the explosion brought other Russian boats to the location. At 1910hrs, Russian 'Oberleutnant` Aleksander Kolenko, chief of MO 103 got a sonar contact on _'U-250' _and dropped five depth charges. _'U-250' _was not heavily damaged, but there were seen on the water an air-bubbles track and so MO 103 dropped a second series of five depth charges. One of these exploded over the diesel room and _'U-250' _got a big hole in the hull and sank. KapitŠnleutnant Werner-Karl Schmidt along with five other crew-members in the control-room got themselves out at the last minute. Needless to say the Russians were thrilled to have a German U-boat captain alive and a sunken U-boat in shallow waters. Russian divers soon discovered that the boat lay at only 27 meter depth with only a slight listing of 14 degrees to the right and a large hole over the top of the diesel room. Two large air tanks, 200 tons each, were transported to the area and the Russians worked behind a smoke-curtain to raise the boat. The Germans and the Finnish did what they could to prevent the boat with the new secret T5 (Zaunkšnig) acoustic-torpedo falling into Soviet hands. Finnish coastal artillery and German torpedo boats made frequent attacks on the salvage site but to no avail. Finally in September 1944 the Russian raised _'U-250' _and towed it between air tanks to Kronstadt for examination. On 15 Sept, 1944 _'U-250' _came into the dry dock at Kronstadt. The former Commander Kptlt. Schmidt had to go first into the now dry boat, as the Russian believed some explosive charges might still be on the boat. The 6 survivors then spent some years in Russian captivity.

*GERMANY*: Fw. Willi Maximowitz of IV(Sturm)./JG 3 was officially promoted to Feldwebel and as a celebration of sorts crash landed his Fw 190A-8. He suffered only slight injuries, the second time in three days. A Staffelkapitän of Fw. Maximowitz’s Sturmgruppe IV(Sturm)./JG 3, Lt. Walther Hagenah of 10 Staffel destroyed a USAAF P-38 Lightning for his fifteenth victory.


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## syscom3 (Oct 17, 2009)

*31 July 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* US 4th Armored Division advances from Avranches and crosses the Selune near Pontaubault. German counterattacks continue around Tessy and Percy.

The Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 507 Part 2: Of 104 B-24s dispatched, 47 hit Athies Airfield at Laon, 36 hit Creil Airfield and 1 hits Poix Airfield. Escort is provided by 38 P-47s and P-51s. Thirteen B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

In France, around 500 Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack bridges on the Seine, Loire, Mayenne, and Ruisseau la Forge Rivers and a fuel dump at Foret de la Guerche; fighters fly armed reconnaissance of activities in the Dieppe-Rouen areas, escort bombers, provide armored column cover, dive-bomb military targets in support of the US First Army and fly a few night intruder missions over enemy territory.

The French writer, Antoine de St. Exupery, author of "The Little Prince" and "Wind, Sand, and Stars," is killed in an F-5 Lightning crash during a reconnaissance mission off Marseilles, France.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Third Belorussian Front enters Kovno [Kaunas], the capital of Lithuania. The First Belorussian Front advances toward Warsaw.

By this time the Soviet offensive in Karelian Isthmus (south of Lake Ladoga) had been stopped by the Finnish Army and the fighting there died down. But in northern Karelia (north of Lake Ladoga) two Soviet divisions (176th and 289th) were advancing towards Ilomantsi, apparently trying to find a weak spot in the Finnish defences. Major-General Erkki Raappana, CO of the 14th Div, is given the mission to encircle and destroy the enemy divisions. For this purpose a force consisting of the 21st and Cavalry brigades and parts of the 14th Division is gathered in the closing days of July. The Finnish counter-attack begins in the early hours of the 31st of July. President Ryti resigns so that peace negotiations may be started. Marshal Mannerheim is nominated as new president by the Eduskunta (parliament).

Oblt. Hans Ulrich Rudel was appointed Kommodore of SG 2 in place of Oblt. Hans-Karl Stepp.

At III / JG 77, Hptm. Karl Bresoschek was officially listed as either killed or missing in action. Oblt. Erhard Niese who was acting as Gruppenkommandeur gave up the position to Major Armin Köhler.

*GERMANY:* The Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 507: Of 705 B-17s dispatched, 567 bomb Munich, 43 hit Schleissheim Airfield, 36 hit aircraft engine plants at Munich-Allach and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 10 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 439 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 18-0-12 on the ground; a P-47 and 2 P-51s are lost. 2. 447 B-24 Liberators bomb the chemical works and city at Ludwigshafen, and the southwestern part of the city of Mannheim; 6 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 135 P-38 Lightnings. The intercepting Luftwaffe fighters lost Uffz. Rudolf Rauhaus of 6./JG 1 who was killed during the air battles. He had seven victories. JG 1 also lost Lt. Heinz Kottucz of 3./JG 1 who was killed shortly after downing a P-47 near St. Hilaire-du-Harcouët. The II./JG 1 also lost its Gruppenkommandeur when Hptm. Hermann Staiger of I./JG 26 was appointed Gruppenkommandeur and replaced Oblt. Rüdiger Kirchmayr who left for JG 11.

Personal Memory:


> My diary for today reads: "Munich, Germany (Rough!) Carried incendiaries this trip. It looked like we made big fires too. The flak was really intense. Saw several B-17s go down. I carried quite a bit of flak back with me. I saw a few FW190s, but none attacked. Carried ten M17 incendiaries of 500 lbs each. Over enemy territory 4 hours and 35 minutes with a total flight time of 8 hours and 10 minutes." The 303rd BG scheduled 38 planes to bomb the Aero Engine Works by radar. Two 17s aborted and we flew with 36 planes. We each carried 2700 gallons of fuel and I was training another new crew on their first mission. It was 2nd Lt. T. A. Duncan and his crew in AC# 42-102569. Since we were to bomb by radar we remained in Wing formation and dropped our bombs with the leader. The lead plane was being piloted by my erstwhile pilot, T. R. Beiser. We could see fires through the several holes in the clouds. I must have been a slow learner but I got a good lesson to day. Part of our protective gear is an uncomfortable "Flak Beanie" which I carried under the seat with my parachute. I sometimes put it on when the flak got bad but today I did not do so because I had never seen a flak hole in the top of a B-17. Today a German 88 came up just barely outside the plane near my left elbow. It traveled about another thirty of forty feet and exploded with a jolt and the base of the shell came down on top of the number two engine making a hole through the cowl and part way into the collector ring causing a slight loss of manifold pressure. Before I adjusted the manifold pressure I got out my "Beanie" and put it on. I never went without it again! With all its flak damage my no-name airplane of today was listed as having major damage, although it was nothing compared to what would happen to it later.On January 8, 1945 after I was back at MacDill Field instructing, after a mission to Koblenz the pilot landed long and hot, going off the end of the runway, across a road and into a farmer's field doing major damage to the right wing and engines. All systems on the B-17 are run by electricity except cowl flaps and brakes which are run by hydraulic pressure furnished by an electric motor. Early in the mission the engineer found that a limit switch was missing from the system so he removed the hydraulic fluid until just before touch down on return. He replaced the fluid but must have gotten air in the system, thus no brakes, and a loud, expensive noise. Score: Milk runs 13, Others 15 ( Dick Johnson)



Two Gruppen of Oblt. Johann Kogler’s ZG 26 converted from the Me 410 twin-engined fighter to the Fw 190 and was redesignated JG 6. Oblt. Kogler retained his position as Kommodore. Hptm. Willi Elstermann was made Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 6.

Obstlt. Helmut Lent of Stab./NJG 3, was made the award of the Brillanten (Nr 15), making him the first night fighter pilot to be so recognized.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 360+ bombers to attack targets in Rumania; B-17s hit an oil refinery at Ploesti; B-24s bomb 2 oil refineries at Bucharest, 1 at and Doicesti, and oil storage at Targoviste. Fighters escort the bombers.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-333' _(Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic west of the Scilly Isles, at position 49.39N, 07.28W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS _'Starling' _and the frigate _'Loch Killin'_. 45 dead (all crew lost).


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*1 AUGUST 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* US General Patton takes command of the 3rd Army. The 12th Army Group, Bradley, now consists of the 1st Army, Hodges, and the 3rd Army. The 21st Army Group, Montgomery, now consists of the British 2nd Army, Dempsey, and the Canadian 1st Army, Crerar. Patton heads for Brittany.

In France, the USAAF Ninth Air Force's XIX Tactical Air Command becomes operational in conjunction with the US Third Army; the Ninth's fighter and fighter-bomber groups (Ninth Air Force refers to them collectively as fighter-bomber groups) are divided between the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands; about 250 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs bomb rail bridges at Mezieres-sur- Seine, Maintenon, Les Ponts-de-Ce, Chartres, Cinq Mars-la-Pile, Bouchmaine, Nogent-sur-Loir, and Bourth; XIX Tactical Air Command fighters carry out armed reconnaissance and rail bombing missions in the Alencon, Dreux, Chartres, Nogent-sur-Loir, Le Mans, Sable-sur-Sarthe, Laval and Sille-le-Philippe areas, while IX Tactical Air Command fighters fly armored column and assault area cover, and armed reconnaissance in the battle areas.

The USAAF's Eight Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 508: 1,291 bombers and 432 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields, bridges and tactical targets in France; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 193 B-17s drop 2,281 containers of supplies to French Resistance forces (Operation BUICK) at four locations in southeastern France, i.e., Chalon-Sur-Saone, the Savoie area, Haute-Savoie and west of Geneva; 3 P-51 groups furnish escort. 2. 76 B-17s bomb Tours Airfield; 1 B-17 is lost. Escort is flown by 51 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost . 3. 400 B-17s attack 5 airfields and a railway bridge in the area south and southwest of Paris; 112 hit Bricy Airfield at Orleans, 108 hit Chateaudun Airfield, 59 hit Melun Airfield, 58 hit Chartres Airfield, 36 hit Chartres Bridge, 15 hit targets of opportunity, and 12 hit Mondesir Airfield at Etampes; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 138 P-38s and P-51s. 4. 284 B-24s are dispatched to bomb targets in the Paris environs; bad weather causes 100+ aborts; 66 hit Rouen, 47 hit Melun Airfield, 44 hit Nogent Bridge, 33 hit targets of opportunity, 29 hit Bricy Airfield at Orleans, 24 hit Montereau Bridge, 12 hit Nanteuil Bridge, 12 hit Villeroche Airfield, 11 hit Coulommiers Bridge, and 6 hit Chartres Airfield; a B-24 is lost,. Escort is provided by 127 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s; they claim 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 2 P-47s are lost. 5. 191 B-24s, sent against 8 V-weapon sites in northwestern France, run afoul of bad weather which causes multiple aborts; 61 of the planes manage to bomb 3 sites; escort is provided by 81 P-47s.

Mission 509: 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France and Belgium during the night.

In the Netherlands, 13-year-old Anne Frank makes the last entry in her diary that she has kept for two years while hiding with her family in Amsterdam. On 4 August, the Grune Polizei raid the secret annex in the house Anne and her family are hiding in and they are deported to Germany. Anne Frank dies in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at age 15.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Today the Finnish Parliament formally acknowledges President Ryti's resignation, tendered on 29 July. Prime Minister Edwin Linkomies acts as a provisional President of the Republic, and he immediately receives a proposal that Marshal Mannerheim is to be elected as President by a special law without elections. The law is passed by the Parliament as fast as possible, and it comes into force on 4 Aug.

Kaunas, Lithuania falls the the Third Belorussian Front. Most routes to East Prussia from the Baltic States are cut off.

The Home Army, of the London based Polish government, begins open operations in Warsaw. The Russians halt their advance towards Warsaw. These are purely political moves.

Oblt. Franz Dörr was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 5.

*GERMANY*: Due to pressure from Hitler, Reichsmarschall Göring and others who condemned his handling of Luftwaffe armament, General Milch resigns his position as Secretary of State and Director of Armament.

Figures indicate that for the month of August the Luftwaffe will lose one fighter pilot for every Allied bomber shot down.

Delivery of the Fw190D-9 to front-line units began. The first Gruppe to convert to the "Dora-9" was III./JG 54. Their initial assignment was to fly "top cover" for Me 262 jet fighters during takeoff when the jet fighters were especially vulnerable because of their poor acceleration. At first, Luftwaffe pilots were somewhat suspicious of their new fighter, since the Jumo 213 was thought to be only a "bomber" engine. However, it soon became apparent that they had a winner on their hands. The "Dora" could out-climb and out-dive its BMW 801-powered predecessor with ease, and it possessed an excellent turning rate at speed. An experienced pilot could pull a tighter turn in a D-9 than he could with the BMW-powered FW190A. The general opinion of the pilots who flew the FW190D-9 was that it was the finest propeller-driven fighter available to the Luftwaffe during the entire war. In fact, many of its pilots considered it more than a match for the redoubtable P-51D Mustang.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*2 AUGUST 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VIII Corps, now part of Patton's 3rd Army, reaches Dinan and Rennes in Brittany. The US First and Third Armies advanced toward the lower Loire river. First Army units to their left attack around Tessy toward Mortain and liberate Villedieu, France.

In France, the Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command halts bombing of bridges, fuel dumps, and similar targets in Brittany except on the request of the 12th Army Group, as the US Third Army wants the use of bridge access to all fuel they may find in their advance across France; around 300 A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack bridges at Mezieres-sur- Seine, Mainvillers, Cinq Mars-la-Pile, Nantes, and Lisle, and ammunition dumps at Caudebec-les -Elbeuf and Le Lude; fighters fly armed reconnaissance in wide areas surrounding Paris and the southwest as far as Laval, escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, and provide cover for armored columns and close support for ground forces.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 510: 319 bombers and 158 fighters in 2 forces are dispatched to attack oil and supply dumps and bridges in the Paris area (number in parenthesis indicates number of bombers attacking); the two forces above are escorted by 132 P-51 Mustangs. Two B-17s and a P-51 are lost. 1. Targets for 156 B-17 Flying Fortresses are Paris/Gennevilliers (51), Paris/Dugny (38 ), Mery-sur-Oise (37), Bernay marshalling yard (12), Courtalain rail junction (7) and targets of opportunity (4); 2 B-17s are lost. 2. Targets for 163 B-24s are bridges at Neuvy-sur-Loire (36), Nogent-sur-Seine (31), Mantereau (28 ); Sens oil depot (26); airfields at St Dizier (12) and Creton (3); and Pacy-sur-Armancon (10). Mission 511: 517 bombers and 249 fighters in 2 forces are dispatched to attack CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites and bridges in France; escort for the 2 forces is provided by 236 P-51s. Three B-17s and 5 P-51s are lost: 1. Of 195 B-17s dispatched, 77 hit V-weapon sites, and rail bridges at Jussy (31), Aulnoye (21), Beautor (21) and Crocal de St Quentin (11); 3 B-17s are lost. 2. Of 322 B-24s dispatched, 182 hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area, 22 hit Thennes Bridge, 12 hit Peronne Rail Bridge, 11 hit Achiet Airfield and 8 hit targets of opportunity. 49 P-38s, 183 P-47 Thunderbolts and 51 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against rail and road transport in the Paris-Amiens- Brussels- St Quentin area; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-47 and a P-51 are lost. 42 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy dispatches 330+ bombers to hit targets in France and Italy; B-24s attack Genoa, Italy harbor; B-17s hit targets in S France, including Le Pouzin oil storage, Portes-les-Valences torpedo factory and marshalling yard, Le Pontet oil storage, and Avignon railroad bridges; P-38s and P-51s provide escort.

The first operational jet flight took place when Oblt. Erich Sommer of 1./Versuchsverband Ob.d.L. took his Ar-234 on a reconnaissance flight over the Normandy beachhead, cruising at about 740 KPH (460 MPH) at above 9,200 meters (30,000 feet). Two Rb 50/30 aerial cameras were mounted in the rear fuselage, each canted 12 degrees from the vertical in opposite directions. At operating altitude, they took one set of pictures every 11 seconds, imaging a swath almost 10 kilometres wide across the direction of flight. Oblt. Sommer came and went unhindered. Altitude and speed kept him safe, and in fact he wasn't even detected. The images he returned showed a buildup of more than 1.5 million men and a matching amount of supplies and weapons. When Sommer returned he found the second Arado 234 V5 flown by Oblt. Götz had arrived in the meanwhile and over the next three weeks the two machines flew thirteen more missions without interference from Allied defenses. They returned high-quality intelligence data, but they only confirmed in detail what the Wehrmacht ground commanders knew only too well: the Germans were being beaten by an overwhelmingly superior adversary.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The heaviest attack of the V-1 flying bombs was launched on the city of London. During a twenty-four period, 336 bombs were fired on London from thirty-eight launching sites. Only 107 bombs reached London, including one that hit the Tower Bridge for the first time, damaging the roadway.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*3 AUGUST 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* Mortain, France falls to the US 1st Army.

In France, 180+ A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders of the USAAF's Ninth Air Force bomb rail bridges, overpasses, and junctions at Mantes-la-Jolie, Chartres, La Chenaie and Merey, fuel dump at Maintenon, and alternate rail targets in northern France; fighters escort IX Bomber Command bombers and a few C-47 Skytrains, provide cover for ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas of northern and western France.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 512: 672 bombers and 352 fighters are dispatched to hit rail and other targets in the French/German border area and oil dumps and bridges southeast of Paris; 6 B-17s and 6 P-51 Mustangs are lost: 1. Of 345 B-17s dispatched, 106 hit the Merkwille Oil Refinery, 68 hit Strasbourg marshalling yard, 62 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yard, 54 hit Mulhouse marshalling yard, 16 hit Croix de Metz Airfield at Toul, 11 hit a railroad near Saarbrucken and 6 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 4-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 175 P-51s; they claim 6-0-0 aircraft in the air and 5-0-1 on the ground; 6 P-51s are lost. 2. Of 155 B-17s dispatched, 38 hit Troyes Bridge and 36 hit La Roche Bridge at Joigny. Escort is provided by 96 P-51s. 3. Of 172 B-24s dispatched, 27 hit Conches Airfield, 12 hit Melun marshalling yard, 11 hit Etampes Mondesir Airfield and 3 hit targets of opportunity. Escort is provided by 47 P-47 Thunderbolts. Mission 513: 482 bombers and 178 fighters are dispatched to oil installations and dumps in the Brussels, Paris and Lille areas and CROSSBOW (V-weapon) sites in the Pas de Calais; 2 bombers are lost: 1. 112 B-17s and 117 B-24s hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais; a B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 43 P-51s. 2. Of 76 B-24s dispatched, 62 hit Brussels/Vivorde, 10 hit Ghent/Terneuzen and 1 hits a target of opportunity. Escort is provided by 33 P-47s. 3. Of 159 B-24s, dispatched 49 hit Harnes, 28 hit Courchelettes, 22 hit Pas de Calais V-weapons sites, 10 hit Lille/Marquette, 10 hit Lille/Sequedin and 8 hit Ghent marshalling yard. Escort is provided by 90 P-51s. 133 P-38s and P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions against rail traffic in the Metz-Strasbourg- Saarbrucken area; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; a P-47 is lost.

At 1930 hours Oblt. Erich Sommer of 1./Versuchsverband Ob.d.L. took his Ar-234 on another reconnaissance flight over the Normandy beachhead.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Crossings over the Vistula River are seized by Konev south of Sandomierz which is 110 miles south of Warsaw. German forces caused the destruction of Soviet spearhead forces in the area east of Warsaw.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy dispatches 600+ bombers to attack targets in Germany; B-17s and B-24s hit industry in the Friedrichshafen area, including chemical works, fabric works, and 2 aircraft factories; B-24s also bomb communications targets in the Brenner Pass area, attacking Avisio viaduct and bridges at Ora and San Michele all'Adige; fighters fly about 300 sorties in support; the bombers and fighters claim 18 enemy aircraft shot down; 11 USAAF airplanes are destroyed.

By this date the Sturmgruppe IV(Sturm)./JG 3 had suffered serious losses with sixteen pilots killed. Even so, the unit was dispatched to intercept USAAF 15th AF bombers coming from Italy over the Alps. Thirty B-24 Liberators from the 465th BG targeted Friedrichshafen and were attacked on the return flight by the Sturmbocks of IV(Sturm)./JG 3 escorted by I./JG 300 from Schongau. Five out of eleven Bf 109s of I./JG 300 escorting the Fw 190s of IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 clashed with P-51s at about 15:30-15:40 hours near Tübingen (South-West of Stuttgart), while III./JG 53 saw combat against P-51s in the Pforzheim area at about 15:00 hours. III./JG 53 lost two Bf 109s destroyed and a third damaged in a belly landing. I./JG 300 losses that day were two Bf 109s destroyed in aerial combat and two more damaged during a combat sortie while IV./JG 3 losses were ten Fw 190s destroyed and one damaged. Although in existence for only a few months, the 12. Staffel of the Sturmgruppe IV(Sturm)./JG 3 was down to only Schwarm strength and was only able to get four Fw 190s into the air to combat the Allied bombers. Uffz. Willi Unger commented on the action;


> “. . . I took off with my Staffel in Schwarm strength as part of the Gruppe’s battle formation. We had been alerted at 1035 hours and at 1125 hours we caught sight of the enemy bomber formation in Grid Square E. O. flying at some 22,000 ft in a south easterly direction towards Italy. We formed up behind several boxes of Liberators to attack. My Schwarm would attack a box of nine Liberators flying to the right and slightly above the main enemy formation. . . My 12 Staffel had been hit hard in the July air battles which was why on the 3rd August 1944 we were only at Schwarm strength, a Schwarm that comprised the following pilots: Fw. Unger, Uffz. Zimkeit, Scholz and Christ. . . . The four-engined Liberators had bombed Friedrichshafen that morning and were now flying over the Tirolean Alps back to Italy. I had positioned my Schwarm directly behind an element of three Liberators trailing the main formation and now opened fire with my cannon on the middle machine. Pieces started to fly off the enemy machine. It swerved out of the formation. In my attack I had overflown the next element of Liberators but was now on the tail of a B-24 flying in a third element. I attacked again. Two of the bomber’s crew baled and shot right past my plane, as did a hail of fragments. But I’d been hit by the tail-gunner’s fire, mainly in the engine and oil tank. My windshield was covered in thick film of oil. I couldn’t see a thing. Without a second thought I baled out . . .”


All four Focke-Wulfs were shot down including that of Uffz. Heinz Zimkeit and Uffz. Hans-Joachim Scholz who were killed and Fw. Unger, who parachuted safely over the Lechtal Alps after destroying two Liberators and Uffz. Hermann Christ safely landed at Kaufbeuren and returned to the unit. Uffz. Scholz was an Experte with six kills. Total losses for the Sturmgruppe were ten Fw 190s shot down. The Allies lost nineteen Liberators to the Sturmbocks and their escorts. At the 14th Staffel of JG 3, Lt. Werner Gerth destroyed an Allied B-24 Liberator as did Lt. Karl-Heinz von den Steinen from 11./JG 3 who had to bale out of his badly damaged plane and spent several months in hospital severely burned and injured.

Lt. Alfred Schreiber of EKdo 262 again claimed the destruction of an Allied recon Spitfire in his Me 262 but was denied the claim.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*4 AUGUST 1944*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The German XXV Corps, in Brittany, withdraws to the major ports of St. Malo, Brest, Lorient and St. Nazaire. Commanded by General Farmbacher, Lorient and St. Nazaire will hold until May of 1945. British troops liberate Evrecy and Villers Bocage, France.

In France, 62 USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s bomb rail bridges at Oissel, Epernon, and Saint-Remy-sur- Avre and an ammunition dump and bivouac area in Foret de Sille; fighters furnish cover over the battle area and for an armored column, fly sweeps, dive-bomb enemy positions and also fuel dumps at Angers, attack an ammunition dump at Tours, and fly armed reconnaissance in the Quimper-Nantes, Amines, and Saint-Quentin areas.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 516: In France, 154 B-17s and 36 fighters in 2 forces are dispatched to hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais and coastal defenses at Middelkerke and Gravelines without loss. Escort for the 2 forces is provided by 35 P-47s and P-51s. 1. Of 95 B-24s dispatched, 24 hit the Pas de Calais, 12 hit Achiet Airfield, 11 hit Gravelines, 11 hit Middelkerke, 6 hit Lens marshalling yard and 6 hit Montigne marshalling yard at Villy. 2. Of 59 B-17s dispatched, 13 hit targets of opportunity, 12 hit Vendeville Airfield at Lille and 11 hit a bridge at Gravelines. 67 P-47s fly a fighter-bomber mission against Plantlunne Airfield; they claim 30-0-5 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 is lost.

In the Netherlands, the Gestapo, acting on tip from a Dutch informer, captures 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse at Prinsengracht 263; two of the Christians who had helped shelter them are also arrested. The Franks had taken shelter there in 1942 out of fear of deportation to a concentration camp. They occupied the small space with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man, and were aided by former Christian employees of Otto Frank and other Dutch friends who brought them food and supplies. Anne spent much of her time in the "secret annex" working on her diary which survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo that discovered the hiding place. They are sent to a concentration camp in Holland, and in September Anne and most of the others are shipped to Auschwitz in Poland. In the fall of 1944, Anne and her sister Margot are moved to Bergen-Belsen in Germany; both sisters catch typhus and die in early March 1945, two months before the camp was liberated by British forces. Anne's father Otto Frank is the only one of the 10 to survive. After the war, he returns to Amsterdam via the Soviet Union, and is reunited with Miep Gies, one of his former employees who had helped shelter him. She handed him Anne's diary and in 1947, the diary is published by Otto in its original Dutch as "Diary of a Young Girl.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* South African units of the British XII Corps enter Florence, Italy and areas south of the Arno River. Plans for future operations are revised by General Leese for the British 8th Army near the east coast of Italy to make the next major move.

In an attempt to comply with the first direct Soviet request for USAAF air strikes, 70+ Fifteenth Air Force P-38s and P-51s leave Italy, attack the airfield and town of Focsani, Rumania, and land at Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR.

*EASTERN FRONT:* German units counterattack between Riga and Jelgava reopening communications with Lithuania. The Red Army forces formed a bridgehead across the Vistula at Baranov.

Marshal of Finland, Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim is elected by the Parliament as the new President of the Republic of Finland. This election is doubly exceptional. Normally the President is elected by a chamber of electors elected by popular vote, but this procedure has already been dispensed with in 1940 and 1943 because of the exceptional times. Second, constitutionally professional soldiers can't take part in politics; they can vote but can't run as candidates or be members of political parties. Among the political leadership it has long been agreed that the 77-year old Marshal is the only person who can lead the Finnish people unified to the harsh peace that is to be expected.

Following the start of an uprising against German forces in Warsaw by the Polish Home Army on 1 August, the Allied Chiefs of Staff dispatched a signal to Air Marshal Slessor, Air Commander in Chief Mediterranean Allied Air Forces and Commander in Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East, requesting that he comply with Polish appeals for assistance if operationally practicable. Supply dropping operations began on this night, and continued until 21-22 September. The majority of resupply operations were flown by Polish and Royal Air Force (RAF) special duties units, together with RAF and South African Air Force heavy bomber squadrons, operating from Italian bases. 

*GERMANY:* The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions. Mission 514: 1,307 bombers and 746 fighters in 4 forces are dispatched to strategic targets in Germany; 15 bombers are lost: 1. Of 358 B-17s dispatched, 181 hit Hamburg oil refineries, 50 hit Bremen oil refineries, 23 hit Nordhof Airfield, 22 hit Ostend, Belgium coastal defenses, 14 hit Einswarden and 7 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 0-4-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 234 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 38-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 9-0-1 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 3 P-51s are lost. 2. Of 425 B-17s dispatched, 221 hit Peenemunde, 110 hit Anklam Airfield and 70 hit Anklam aircraft factories; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 223 P-51s; they claim 4-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost. 3. Of 446 B-24s dispatched, 148 hit Rostock aviation factories, 89 hit Kiel, 88 hit Schwerin aviation factories, 71 hit Wismar aviation factories, 12 hit Schlutup, 11 hit Warien and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 4 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 209 P-38s and P-51s; a P-51 is lost. 4. Of 78 B-24s dispatched, 39 hit Husum Airfield and 29 hit Heide oil refinery at Hemmingstedt without loss. Mission 515: The first APHRODITE mission is flown using 4 radio-controlled war weary B-17s as flying bombs; targets are Mimoyecques, Siracourt, Watten, and Wizernes V-weapon sites but none are hit; 1 drone B-17 crashes killing the crew. Escort is provided by 16 P-47s and 16 P-51s.

Personal Memory:


> My diary reads: "Peenemunde, Germany. Experimental station for jet propelled aircraft (V-2.) Lots of flak due to CAVU weather. Got only a few holes. Shot down an Me 110 on way back. Ball Turret gunner got credit. Long, hard trip. Blasted it wide open. Won't have to go back!" At least I didn't have to go back. This was one of the most successful missions that I participated in. I was flying another new crew on their first mission. It was that of Lt. L. M. Johnston in A/C number 42-31432 "Jigger Rouche, Kraut Killer" We each carried five, 1000 pound bombs and 2700 gallons of gasoline for this nine hour trip to the Baltic coast in northern Germany. The 303rd Bomb Group supplied thirty-seven aircraft for this mission plus we had two PFF planes from the 305th Bomb Group that supplied these lead ships for many groups. At the target the weather was CAVU so we made a visual seven and a half minute bomb run and bombs were away at a few seconds past 1442 from 23,000 feet, we being the high squadron for today's mission I was carrying bombs with long delay fuses since I was in the No. 9 position near the center of the group. The first of my 5 bombs would explode three hours after impact and the others would explode at intervals for the next 3 days. Other groups had similar bombs in their number 9 position. We never carried these type bombs on missions to occupied countries, only to some German targets. Our bomb patterns were very good on this mission and we did considerable damage to the area. As our bombs started falling a speed boat on the canal suddenly reversed course and sped away from the target area. It was a smart move because our bombs dammed the canal in three places. As we headed home we flew over the Baltic and over the Danish Island of Falster and immediately over the island of Lolland Maribo. At this point we saw an Me110 approaching from the rear. I asked the tail gunner how far back and he said that it was about two miles and closing. I told them that we were on our way home and hadn't fired a shot so "let him have it." Immediately all the rearward guns opened up and when the enemy got within about a mile he started a vertical dive and never stopped until he hit the ground. There was no parachute from the stricken plane which seemed undamaged. Evidently one of our fifty caliber bullets got the pilot from a mile away. This Me110 had already fired one rocket which missed and never got a chance for a second. After this action we got a little too close to Germany's northernmost city (Flensburg) which had a battery of 88MM flak guns and another of larger caliber which was fairly intense and accurate. Several of us got minor damage from this encounter. On this mission, 17 of our thirty nine B-17s had battle damage with nine major. Score: Milk runs 13, Others, 16. (Dick Johnson)


 
*UNITED KINGDOM:* In England, RAF Flying Officer T. D. Dean is flying Gloster Meteor Mk. I, s/n EE216, of No. 616 Squadron from Manston, Kent, when he encounters a V-1 "buzz bomb." Dean's guns jam and he forms on the V-1 at 365 mph (587 km/h) and tips the pilotless aircraft over with his wing tip. This is the first enemy aircraft to be destroyed by an RAF jet fighter.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*5 AUGUST 1944*

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Fourth Ukraine Front, under Petrov, is activated by the Soviets in southern Poland and northern Hungary.

Major General Einar Wihma, the commander of the 6th Div. is killed in a Soviet artillery barrage in Ihantala. He earned himself Mannerheim Cross 2nd class commanding his division in the heavy defensive battles fought here a month earlier. Maj. Gen. Einar Wihma (some sources write it with v, others with w, both letters are pronounced the same way in Finnish) earned his Mannerheim Cross already in late 1941, for personal bravery when commanding (IIRC) the 12th Division. He's the only Finnish general ever killed by enemy action. The Russians had built in Ihantala a base behind immobilized tanks only 200 meters (600 ft) away from the Finnish front line. It was decided to destroy this base by an assault detachment made up of the troops of the 6th Div. After air and artillery attacks the detachment advances behind thick smokescreen and succeeds in destroying nine of the enemy tanks. However, the detachment loses 25 men and Maj. Gen. Wihma is killed in a Russian counter-barrage while observing the situation in the front line.

In Warsaw, Polish insurgents loyal to their government-in- exile in London liberate a German forced-labor camp, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners, who join in a general uprising against the German occupiers of the city. By this date, more than 15,000 Poles have been killed in the uprising.

RAF 148.Sqn sent a flight of Halifaxes on missions over Poland. Hptm. August Fischer of 3./ NJG 100, reported his ninth kill being a Halifax downed at 00:04 hours at 50 km SW from Dabrowa Tarnowska. Another Halifax was downed near Tarnow and fell close to Letowice village, Fw. Helmut Konter of 3./NJG 100 reporting this as his 15th kill, destroyed at 01:46 hours 65km E of Krakau. Oblt. Ernst Drünkler of 1./NJG 5 reported downing a "4-mot. Flzg.“ at 01:04 hours at position BK-1.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Over 300 USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders bomb Saint-Malo harbor and Foret de Sille fuel dump during the night of 4/5 August, and during the day, rail bridges at 6 cities in northern and western France, and marshalling yard at Compiegne; fighters furnish cover for ground forces and fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas of northern France.

At Pont Mikael in Brittany, the U.S. 15th Tank Battalion was assigned to the 6th Armored Division, having landed at Utah Beach on 18 July. The breakout at Avranches on 30 July and the drive to capture the Brittany Ports saw the 4th and 6th Armored divisions race across the Brittany peninsula, with some elements covering up to 26 miles (42 kilometres) in a day. Having fought their way through Poullaouen, the "point" of the advanced guard, consisting of one platoon of medium tanks from Company B, the 15th and one platoon of infantry from Company B, 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, as CCR (Combat Command Reserve) continued their advance toward Huelgoat, in central Brittany, at 1750 hours with Brest as their ultimate destination. The "point" was ordered to proceed rapidly toward Huelgoat. Lieutenant Schnepp proceeded without mishap until he neared the road junction about three miles east of Huelgoat, known locally as Pont Mikael.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 520: During the afternoon, 34 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb V-1 "Buzz Bomb" sites in the Pas de Calais area at Flers (14-0); Coubronne, Crepieul and Fleury (each 6-0) and Fressin (2-0).

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 521: In a Micro H test, two B-17s, escorted by eight P-51 Mustangs, bomb a power plant at Beuvry without loss.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 522: During the night of 5/6 August, six B-17s drop leaflets over France and the Netherlands.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to bomb oil storage and V-1 targets. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1) Oil storage: Blaye (95-0); Bassens at Bordeaux (112-0); Pauillac at Bordeaux (94-1) Railroad bridge at Etaples (13-0) U-boat pens at Brest (17-0) V-1 site at Acquet, V-1 supply sites: Foret de Nieppe (281-0) and St. Leu D'Esserent (441-1)

During the night of 5/6 August, RAF Bomber Command three RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Brest while five others drop leaflets.

Dick Johnson, who flew one of the six aircraft that bombed Crepieul, reports the following:


> "The 303d Bomb Group had been flying two missions per day for some time and today each squadron planned to launch ten B-17s each for a total of 40 planes. This was a rush job and Beiser was leading our 427th Squadron and only six of us made formation with their assigned group. A few of the planes were so rushed that they weren't fully loaded with bombs. We were to bomb six different targets in France in support of the ground troops. We assembled over Harrington Buncher at 3,500 feet (1 067 meters) and since we were late in taking off we took a short cut to Splasher 10 and then directly to Beachy Head at 20,000 feet (6 096 meters). As a result of this short cut three of our planes couldn't catch up and so they tacked onto another squadron. Our three plane squadron's target was Crepieul, France where we did a ten minute bomb run. Flak gunners did not fire on us as they did some of the others and as a result none of our planes were damaged. In the "A" Squadron the lead plane received a hit that disabled the manual aileron controls and tumbled the gyros that operated the auto pilot just 45 seconds before bombs away. The bombardier recovered just in time to do a fair job in his bombing attempt. The "D" squadron was 20 minutes late when they had to circle in order to avoid a large formation of British Lancasters in their path. At the target one plane was hit by flak that disabled two engines. That squadron flew a direct route to England after bombs away and the disabled plane landed at Ford, Sussex, England, which is near the White Cliffs of Dover. We saw two Me-163 'Komet' rocket planes but with their five to six minute fuel supply they could not reach our 303rd squadron. Our P-51s shot down several German fighters that day and I think that this was the intent of the mission: to lure up the German fighters so that our fighters with their superior numbers could eliminate them. This was a "FUBAR" mission from the word go, but it was a milk run for me. and it was Beiser's last mission. But I had two more to go. I had the same copilot as yesterday's mission but with a mixed crew who were making up missed missions. Why me, Lord? On my penultimate mission on August 7th I would be bombing Paris. Score; Milk runs 14, Others 16."



*GERMANY:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies three missions today. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1): Mission 519: 543 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb numerous targets during the morning. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1): Aircraft assembly plants: Halberstadt (Fw-190, 71-1); Langenhagen at Hannover (Fw-190, 140-0); Neupetritor at Brunswick (components, 33-0); Neustadt at Magdeburg (engines, 92-1); Querum at Brunswick (engines, 95-1); Waggum at Brunswick (Me-110, 68-1); and Wilhelmitor (Me-110, 69-3) Airfields: Goslar (7-0); Heligoland (1-0); Helmstedt (15-0); and Nordholz (2-0) Industrial areas: Dedelstorf, Helmstedt and Magdeburg (each 1-0), Oil refinery: Dollbergen (72-0) Oil storage: Nienburg (175-2) Targets of opportunity: 13-0) Vehicle assembly plant: Krupp at Magdeburg/Buckau (86-2); NAG at Brunswick (43-0); Volkswagen at Fallersleben (85-2) .

An Allied air raid on Stade destroyed the third factory production Ta 154 “TE+FG” night-fighter of III./NJG 3 fitted with a FuG 212 C-1 sub-type aerial.

During the night of 5/6 August, 34 RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil refinery at Wanne-Eikel without loss.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*6 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 4th Armored Division advances on Lorient, France. Vire is liberated by the US 29th Division.

In France, USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s hit bridges, fuel and ammunition dumps, and a locomotive depot at Beauvais, Beaumont-sur- Sarthe, Courtalain, Foret de Perseigne, and Blois; fighters escort IX Bomber Command and furnish cover to ground troops in the Vire, Rennes, and Redon areas.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions; 24 of 91 B-24s dispatched hit 2 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais, France, area. Escort is provided by 24 P-47s. Mission 526: 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. 36 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France; a B-24 is lost.

Close to 700 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, operating against targets in southeastern France, attack oil storage at Le Pouziii, Le Pontet, and Lyon, railroad bridges at Le Pouzin, Avignon, Tarascon, Rambert, and Givors, marshalling yards at Portes-les-Valences and Miramas, and submarine pens at Toulon where they sink the German submarines _'U-471'_, _'U-952' _and _'U-969'_; 43 P-38s dive-bomb airfields at Orange/Plan de Dieu, and Valence; P-38s and P-51s fly about 200 sorties in support of bombing missions.

_'U-7_36' (Type VIIC) is sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of St. Nazaire, at position 47.19N, 04.16W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Loch Killin'_. 28 dead, 20 survivors were taken into captivity.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Allied forces in Florence, Italy cross the Arno River into the northern part of the city.

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Poland, the Germans begin the deportation of 70,000 Jews from Lodz to Auschwitz.

In an Operation FRANTIC mission, 75 USAAF's Eighth Air Force B-17s hit the Rahmel aircraft factories at Gdynia, Poland and proceed to bases in the USSR; they claim 0-2-2 aircraft. Escort is provided by 154 P-51s; they claim 7-2-3 aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost. Sixty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force fighters take off from Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR, attack Craiova marshalling yard and other railroad targets in the Bucharest-Ploesti, Rumania area, and land at Italian bases.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions. Mission 524: 1,186 bombers and 740 fighters are dispatched to attack oil refineries, aircraft, ordnance and other factories in Germany and V-weapon sites in France; 24 bombers and 8 fighters are lost: 1. Of 414 B-17s dispatched, 126 hit Brandenburg assembly plants, 74 hit Genshagen, 69 hit Brandenburg munitions industry, 12 hit Stendal Airfield and 8 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 0-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 168 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 19-0-2 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 2. Of 154 B-17s dispatched, 83 hit Berlin aircraft engine factories, 45 hit Berlin diesel factories, 7 hit targets of opportunity and 4 hit Nordholz Airfield; they claim 0-2-3 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 107 P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft in the air and 2-0-4 on the ground; a P-51 is lost. 3. Of 445 B-24s dispatched, 72 hit Hamburg/Schulau oil refinery, 62 hit Hamburg/Rhenania- Ossag oil refinery, 61 hit Hamburg/Rhenania oil refinery, 58 hit Kiel naval installation, 54 hit Hamburg/Deutsche oil refinery, 33 hit Hamburg/Eband oil refinery, 32 hit Hamburg/Schlieman oil refinery, 23 hit Hemmingstedt and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 196 P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts; they claim 1-0-2 aircraft; a P-47 is lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Whilst escorting convoy EBC.66, corvette HMCS _'Regina' _is attacked and sunk by _'U-667' _(Oberleutnant zur See Karl-Heinz Lange). Location: English Channel off Trevose Head, Cornwall at 50 42N 05 03W.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*7 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Attacking between the US VII and XIV Corps the 2. and 116. Panzerdivisions launch a strong counterattack. This is east of Mortain, France. British forces failed in their attempt to achieve a breakthrough at Falaise. During their advance the Germans retake Mortain. Allied air attacks assist the ground forces in limiting the German gains.

SE of Caen Canadian forces began an attack last night. More than 1000 RAF bombers dropped more than 3,000 tons of bombs on the German positions in support of this attack. The U.S. First Army breaks through the German lines on the Cotentin Peninsula and cuts off the German-held port of Cherbourg.

At the Pas-de-Calais, Oberst Wachtel of II Abteilung Flakregiment 155 (W) was ordered to cease construction of V-1 launch sites due to the approaching Allied forces. New sites were to be scouted and explored further within France but still within range of England.

In France, 380+ USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s bomb bridges at Nogent-sur-Seine and Neuvy-sur-Loire; fighters escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, furnish defensive cover in the Vire, Laval, and Rennes areas, and support ground forces in the assault area.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions. Mission 527: 905 bombers and 471 fighters are dispatched to hit fuel dumps and bridges in France but heavy cloud cover forces many aircraft to return with bombs and other formations to be recalled; 1 bomber and 5 fighters are lost; targets hit (number in parenthesis indicates bombers bombing) are: 1. Of 112 B-17s dispatched, 71 hit Montbartier and 34 hit St Loubes. Escort is provided by 123 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground. 2. The primary targets of 224 B-17s are Nanteuil Bridge (36), Sens (26), St Florentin (25), Dueny (24), Bourron Marlotte (23) and Paris-St Quen (12); other targets hit are Chartres Airfield (23), Maintenon Bridge (23), Houden marshalling yard (14), Chateaudun Airfield (11) and Rouglaf (1). Escort is provided by 96 P-51s. 3. 1 of 182 B-17s dispatched hits Montdidier Airfield. Escort is provided by 90 P-38 Lightnings and P-51s. 4. Of 51 B-24s dispatched, 10 hit Andenne Bridge, 8 hit Semuse and 8 hit targets of opportunity; a B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 34 P-47 Thunderbolts. 5. The primary targets of 333 B-24s are Doullens Bridge (37), Saleux (24), Recques-sur- Course (23), Frevent Bridge (15), Rieme/Ertveld (11) and Langerbrugge (9); 12 also hit a factory near Wendelghem and 1 hits a target of opportunity. Escort is provided by 94 P-51s. Mission 528: 1 of 3 B-17s dispatched flies a Micro H test mission (Micro H was a radar system which combined the Gee-H and H2X radar functionality for use by pathfinders) . Mission 529: 271 P-47s and P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions to marshalling yards and railroads north and east of Paris; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-47s and 2 P-51s are lost . During the night, 5 B-17s fly a leaflet mission over France.

Lt. Herbert Bachnick of 9./JG 52 downed a P-51 escorting American bombers. While trying to belly-land his damaged aircraft, a Bf 109G “Yellow 4”, at Birkental-Myslowitz his steering malfunctioned and Bachnick crashed and died. He had eighty victories, seventy-nine of them on the Eastern Front.

Obstlt Gerhard Michalski replaced Major Gerhard Schöpfel as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 4.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Sambor, SW of Lvov, Poland, falls to the Soviet Army.

Fw. Horst Ademeit, a 166 victory Experte with 1./JG 54, went missing in action.

In the USSR, a shuttle mission is flown in accordance with a Soviet request; 55 USAAF's Eighth Air Force B-17s and 29 P-51s attack an oil refinery at Trzebina, Poland without loss; the aircraft return to Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 353 B-17s and B-24s to bomb 2 synthetic oil refineries at Blechhammer South (B-17s) and Blechhammer North (B-24s); 300+ fighters provide support; 76 B-24s hit Alibunar Airfield and Novi Sad oil facilities, Yugoslavia; the bombers and fighters claim nearly 30 aircraft shot down.

*NORTH AMERICA:* In the U.S., the world's first program-controlled calculator, the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (popularly called the Harvard Mark I) is dedicated. This mechanical machine, built by Harvard researcher Howard Aiken with the support of IBM, weighed 10,000 pounds, measured 51 feet long and 2 feet deep, and contained 750,000 parts. The machine stored 72 numbers and could perform 3 additions or subtractions a second. The machine could also perform more complicated functions, such as calculating logarithms or performing trigonometry. Although the device quickly excited public interest, the mechanical machine was eclipsed by the advent of the electronic computer in 1946.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*8 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The German attacks around Mortain continue as they attempt to recapure Avranches. The US 3rd Army continues its advance in Brittany. The US 79th Division enters Le Mans. The newly activated XX Corps advances toward Nantes and Angers. The 1st Canadian Army launches Operation *Totalize* down the Falaise Road.

In France, the USAAF's Ninth Air Force dispatches 406 B-26s and A-20 Havocs to bomb a rail embankment and bridges at 8 locations in northern and western France, attack radar installations between Argentan and Alencon, and give tactical support to ground forces near Saint-Malo; fighters escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, give defensive air cover, and fly armed reconnaissance east of Paris and in the battle area.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 530: 414 B-24s and 265 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields and V-weapon sites in France; 115 hit V-weapons sites in the Pas de Calais; 91 hit Clastres Airfield, 53 hit Romilly air depot, 50 hit La Perthe Airfield, 12 hit Athies Airfield at Laon, 14 hit railroad bridges, 13 hit targets of opportunity and 11 hit Bretigny Airfield; 1 B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 265 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost. Mission 531: 681 B-17s and 100 P-51s are dispatched to bomb enemy troop concentrations and strongpoints south of Caen; 25 Canadian soldiers are killed and 131 wounded by short bombing; 231 hit Cauvincourt, 99 hit Bretteville-sur-Laise strongpoint, 99 hit St Sylvain strong point, 67 hit targets of opportunity and 1 hits Gouvix strongpoint; ; 7 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 91 P-51s; 3 are lost. 41 P-51s escort RAF Coastal Command Beaufighters on a convoy strike in Norway; 3 P-51s are lost. 175 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the railroad north and west of Dijon, France; 2 P-47s and 2 P-51s are lost. Mission 532: 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

Luftflotte 3 issued orders that in the event of an Allied landing in Southern France, Stab and III./KG 100 were to be subordinated to Fl.Div. 2. The Division was also told that for fuel reasons, FAG 5 would be operating only single aircraft on weather recce when a Westa was not available.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Most of Warsaw is now controlled by forces of the Polish resistance. SS General Bach-Zelewski is appointed to lead the defending German forces.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England continues to fly shuttle missions as 78 B-17s with 55 P-51 Mustang escorts, leave bases in the USSR to hit airfields in Rumania; 38 hit Bizau and 35 hit Zlistea; no Luftwaffe fighters are encountered during the mission and the force flies to Italy.

After having flown 480 sorties Oberleutnant Fritz Seyffardt, Staffelkapitän of 5./SG 2 was awarded the Ritterkreuz, primarily in recognition of his aerial victories. Thirty victories was a particularly valiant effort for an Fw 190 ground-attack pilot.

*GERMANY*: The first confirmed jet kill in history occurred when Me 262s of Ekdo 262 downed an RAF Mosquito near Munich in the afternoon. Lt. Joachim Weber destroyed the PR XVI Mosquito from RAF No. 540 Squadron over Ohlstadt. Despite the claim of 26 July of a Mosquito that was destroyed but actually escaped to Italy, the destruction of the Spitfire stood as the first jet kill.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*9 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Canadian II Corps continues to attack along the Caen-Falaise road. The German attacks around Mortain are running out of steam. The US XV Corps heads from Le Mans toward Argentan to assist the Canadians.

In France, the USAAF Ninth Air Force sends close to 400 B-26s and A-20 Havocs to attack an ammunition dump in Foret de Blois, shipping at Brest, and other targets, including rail bridges at 10 locations in northern and western France; fighters escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, cover ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance in the wide areas of northern France (around Paris, as far south as Orleans, and as far northeast as Reims and Chalons-sur-Marne). 

*EASTERN FRONT:* By this day the battle of Ilomantsi has ended. During the ten days of fighting the Finns lose 1700 men KIA or wounded; Soviet casualties are estimated at 3000 men. This is the last significant battle of Continuation War that is about to end in few weeks. The battle ends in a 'real' Finnish victory (unlike the earlier battles of Tali-Ihantala, Vuosalmi and Bay of Viipuri, which are classed by Finnish military historians as 'defensive victories', the opposing Soviet divisions are effectively destroyed as fighting formations.

*GERMANY:* The chief defendants of the 20 July attempt on Hitler's life are tried by Roland Freisler's People's Court and condemned to death. They are hanged two hours later.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions. Mission 533: 824 bombers and 675 fighters, in 3 forces, are dispatched to strategic targets (aircraft and tank factories, airfields and fuel depots) in southeastern Germany; weather deteriorated enroute and many bombers were recalled when confronted with a front rising to 28,000-feet (8,534 m) and most units attacked targets of opportunity; only 25 bombers hit their primary (Sindelfingen) ; 18 bombers and 3 fighters are lost; targets were (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers bombing). (1) Of 359 B-17s, 103 hit Pirmasens; 56 hit Elsenborn, 41 hit Karlsruhe, 30 hit Ulm, 8 hit Spreicher and marshalling yards at Saarbrucken (34) and Luxembourg (29); 11 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 243 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost. (2) Of 218 B-17s, 16 hit Aacen, 12 hit Eindhoven, 12 hit St Vith marshalling yard and 7 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 162 P-47s and P-51s without loss. (3) Of 247 B-24s, 147 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yard and 25 hit an aircraft engine plant at Sindelfingen; 4 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 165 P-38 Lightnings, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-38 is lost. Mission 535: 3 B-17s fly a Micro H test mission against Aubigny, France airstrip. Escort is provided by 16 P-38s without loss. Mission 536: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night. 116 P-47s, escorted by 40 P-51s, are dispatched on fighter-bomber missions against communications in France without loss. 

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches around 400 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, hit targets in Hungary and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb an aircraft assembly plant and a rolling stock plant at Gyor, Hungary and a marshalling yard and oil refinery at Brod, Yugoslavia; B-24s bomb 2 airfields and an oil refinery at Budapest, Hungary.

An Allied raid on Bergamo-Seriate in northern Italy was to have been the first of a series hitting at German units that might intervene against the intended Allied landings in southern France. The B-26s of 17th BG, 42nd BW dropped 350 x 250lb bombs on the airfield causing "at least 50 craters" on the concrete runway while the Wing's other two groups dropped fragmentation bombs with:


> "...excellent results, completely covering the centre of the south dispersal area, starting numerous fires, destroying eight aircraft and damaging others."



Three German aircraft were seen to take off just before the bombs fell, one of them crashing 10 miles from the airfield. The raid's success was confirmed by Luftflotte 2 which reported all its FuG 200 aircraft (i.e. the Ju 188s of 6.(F)/122) lost and asked Fl.Div. 2 to provide that night's cover instead. Why a reconnaissance base in northern Italy had been targeted was not clear. The Luftwaffe in Italy was at a low numerical ebb already and practically devoid of offensive capability, while in the invasion area itself were three operational anti-shipping Gruppen, a fighter Gruppe and two Staffeln engaged in long-range over-water reconnaissance.


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## syscom3 (Oct 24, 2009)

*10 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Vimont, S of Caen, falls to the Canadian 1st Army. St. Malo and Dinard are liberated by the forces under General Middleton. The XX Corps liberates Nantes, France. German forces in the Mortain area withdraw slightly bowing to US pressure and the threat to their rear areas.

In France, the USAAF's Ninth Air Force sends almost 200 B-26s and A-20s to bomb rail bridges and embankments in wide areas around Paris; fighters escort bombers, support ground forces, give defensive cover, and fly armed reconnaissance in battle areas and around Amiens, Paris, Cambrai, Meaux, Dijon, and Troyes.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies 4 mission. Mission 537: 175 B-24 and 249 fighters are dispatched against fuel dumps and bridges southeast of Paris; 38 hit Clamecy Bridge, 31 hit Joigny, 31 hit Pacy-sur-Armencon, 26 hit Sens, 23 hit St Florentin and 13 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 238 P-51s; 3 P-51s are lost. Mission 538: 138 fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets in central and eastern France; 5 fighters are lost. Mission 539: B-17s drops leaflets on Brest, France. Mission 540: 4 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Norway during the night. 583 fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets in France; they claim 19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s and 4 P-51s are lost.

German submarine _'U-608' _is sunk about 85 nautical miles (158 kilometers) west-northwest of La Rochelle, France (46.30N, 03.08W) by depth charges from the British sloop HMS _'Wren' _(U 28 ) and a British Liberator Mk. V or VI of No. 53 Squadron based at St Eval, Cornwall, England. All 52 crewmen of the U-boat survive.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* The Polish II Corps reaches the Cesano River in Italy.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy sends 450+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, to bomb 6 oil refineries in the Ploesti, Rumania area. 45 Eighth Air Force P-51s in Italy during an Operation FRANTIC mission are dispatched with Fifteenth Air Force aircraft to escort a troop carrier evacuation mission.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*11 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Hitler refuses Feldmarschal Kluge's request to withdraw from Mortain. US forces cross the Loire River in France.

In France, the US Ninth Air Force sends A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders to attack bridges at Montrichard, Oissel, Fismes, and Creil/Saint- Maximin, gun defenses at Ile de Cezembre and Saint-Malo, and an ammunition dump at Foret de Roumare; fighters cover the assault area, escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, and fly armed reconnaissance in the battle area and extensively over northern France.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions today (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking the target). Mission 541: 660 bombers and 300+ fighters, in 5 forces, are dispatched to attack 13 marshalling yards, fuel dumps, airfields, and targets of opportunity, in northeastern France and the Paris area; 4 bombers are lost (1) B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Belfort (76) and Mulhouse (76) marshalling yards and 1 B-17 hit a target of opportunity. (2) B-24s bomb Coulommiers Airfield (47), Pacy-sur-Armancon (36) and St Florentin (34). (3) 76 B-17s bomb the Villacoublay aircraft depot; 1 B-17 is lost. (4) 45 B-24s attack Toussus le Noble Airfield; 9 others hit Saran Airfield at Orleans. (5) B-24s, bomb the Strasbourg fuel dump (66); marshalling yards at Strasbourg (65) and Saarbrucken (60); Nivelles Airfield (10) and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost. Mission 542: 275 B-17s attack 23 arsenal areas, barracks, concrete emplacements and heavy artillery posts in and around Brest, France; 1 B-17 is lost. Mission 541 and 542 are escorted by 356 P-38s and P-51 Mustangs; 1
P-51 is lost. Mission 543: 1 B-17 flies a Micro H test against La Chenaie rail bridge. Escort is provided by 7 P-47 Thunderbolts. Mission 544: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in Franc during the night. 165 P-47s fly a fighter sweep of the Paris area; they claim 5-0-0
Luftwaffe aircraft. 28 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France.

German submarine _'U-385' _is sunk about 64 nautical miles (118 kilometres) south-southwest of its' base at Saint-Nazaire, France (46.16N, 02.45W) by depth charges from the British sloop HMS '_Starling_' (U 66) and depth charges from an Australian Sunderland Mk III of No. 461 Squadron based at Pembroke Dock, Wales; 42 of the U-boat crew of 43 survive.

German submarine _'U-967'_ is scuttled in Toulon; two crewmen die.

*EASTERN FRONT:* South of Lake Peipus a new offensive begins by the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front.

*NORTH AMERICA:* An electric-powered rescue hoist is installed on a USCG HNS-1 helicopter at CGAS Floyd Bennett Field, New York. During the ensuing 4-day test period, in which flights are conducted over Jamaica Bay, the feasibility of rescuing personnel from the water and of transferring personnel and equipment to and from underway boats is demonstrated. In late September, a hydraulic hoist, which overcomes basic disadvantages of the electric hoist, is installed and successfully tested, leading to its adoption for service use.

*GERMANY*: II./JG 11 was increased to four Staffeln with a new 7./JG 11 and 8./JG 11 from the old 4./JG 11. III./JG 4 moved from Rotenburg to Hoya.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*12 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US XV Corps liberates Alencon, France and advances towards Argentan to meet the German 116th Division.

The first PLUTO begins pumping fuel from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg, France. P(ipe) L(ine) U(nder) T(he) O(cean).

In France, US Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack the Oissel rail bridge, Corbeil-Essonnes refueling siding, and numerous points along highways in the Argentan area with the aim of bottling up enemy troops; fighters fly ground forces cover and armed reconnaissance over wide areas of western and northern France, also escort IX Bomber Command aircraft.

The Eighth Air Force also flies two missions: Mission 545: 577 bombers and 436 fighters, in 2 forces, are dispatched to make visual attacks on the Metz marshalling yard and airfield in central and eastern France; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost (number in parenthesis are the number of bombers attacking the target). (1) 276 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Mourmelon (75), Laon/Athies (63), Laon/Couvron (61) and Juvincourt (52); 3 B-24s are lost. (2) 301 B-17s are dispatched to hit airfields at Chaumont (72), Buc (67), La Perthe (5 8 ) and Etampes/Mondesir (12);and 69 hit the Metz marshalling yard. The 2 forces above are escorted by 386 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost. Mission 546: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. 486 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s attack transportation targets in the Paris and Brussels areas; they claim 18-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-38s, 5 P-47s and 7 P-51s are lost. 220 P-47s and P-51s attack transportation targets in northeastern France; 2 P-51s are lost.

With the Luftwaffe almost convinced that an Allied landing was imminent in southern France, Fl.Div. 2's urgently requested to Luftflotte 3 for aircraft torpedoes to be delivered by rail and - at 09.00 hours - III./KG 100's subordination to the Division. It was 2./NAGr. 13 that brought hard information of Allied intentions. At 04.40 hours three Fw 190s took off to photograph Ajaccio. Lt. Georg Pemler was in one of the pair that continued:


> " On 12.8.44, I flew the morning reconnaissance of the bay of St. Florent. By this time the assembly of the Allied landing fleet was almost complete, their air superiority crushing."



The Fw 190s had picked up two large convoys (each of about 75-100 merchant vessels and warships including two aircraft carriers) due south of Ajaccio, course northeast and entering harbor; in the harbor itself were another 20 vessels. Added to that, on the airfield were 8 gliders and 5 multi-engined aircraft. This news was sufficiently disquieting for Luftflotte 3 to order that reconnaissance of these convoys be continued;


> "....by every means, day and night."



Later in the morning, an Me 410 was sent to photograph Ajaccio harbor and a report was made of one carrier leaving the Bay on a southwesterly course. A few hours earlier, another Me 410 had been to look at Sardinia. At 1100 hours, Luftflotte 2 signaled Fl.Div. 2 and FAGr. 122 that in the first half of the night a Hohentwiel aircraft was to return from France, carrying out a mission off the Italian west coast en route. Meanwhile, an Me 410 at Fl.Div. 2's end could also be used to pick up a convoy.

German fighters attacked bombers over Nîmes, shooting down six of them plus an escort fighter against Allied claims of eighteen destroyed or probable. This is something of an exaggeration since JGr. 200 only mounted 18 sorties that day in two scrambles from Aix Les Milles. At 0736 hours, the Gruppe sent up three aircraft of its 1. Staffel, two from the 2. Staffel and six of the 3 Staffel and Allied radio monitoring recorded that from 07.55-08.36 hours there was Luftwaffe reaction to bombing in the Toulon area where;


> "...fighters engaged one formation and claimed a success at 0831 hours." RAF No. 232 Squadron reported that:" ...from 10/11000' bombers were seen attacking enemy positions in the Hyères Islands and in the area of U.3250. At 1030 hours 12 ME 109's flying on 090° at 15000' in 3 boxes of 4 were seen in the Cap Benat area. In the ensuing combat 2 ME 109's were destroyed one seen to fall into water in the Hyères roads and the second burst into flames in the air finally crashing to earth against a hillside in area of U.0030. No less than 6 other e/a were attacked but no positive damage was seen although cine-gun photograph may confirm expectations. The remaining e/a escaped [in] Westerly directions. At 1045 one of our a/c was hit presumed by e/a and Control reported position of Pilot [Lt. G.W. Gibb, SAAF] in sea at 4328N by 0881E to which ASR services were being sent... One e/a was seen to have instead of Nazi markings reported on others of formation 2 dark stripes on mainplane tops from leading to trailing edges inboard of which were roundels (colour not specified)."


Ofw. Eduard Isken of 2./JGr.200 and Obgefr. Horst Rippert of 3./JGr.200 were each credited with a Spitfire. The latter coincides precisely with the claim heard over the airwaves but both are earlier than the RAF's timing of the hit on Lt. Gibb. Early in the evening, 42 P-47s of 82nd FW attacking a marshalling yard were attacked by six bandits (among them three Bf 109s of 1./JGr. 200, scrambled at 1605 hours) after leaving the target area: two P-47s were damaged. The Americans claimed one Fw 190 and 1-0-1 Bf 109s (by 522nd FS) while a fighter from 524th FS damaged another Bf 109. In this action, Ofw. Eduard Isken of 2./JGr.200 was credited with a P-47 as were Fw. Herbert Guth of 3./JGr. 200 and Fähnrich Brandau of 1./JGr. 200. The latter was killed in his turn, shortly after bringing down his P-47 and Jagdgruppe 200 's pilot casualties for the day, all fatal, were recorded as follows: Fhr. Johannes Brandau, Uffz. Martin Hermanitz and Uffz. Kurt Kubeit.

It was on this day too that Jagdgruppe 200 moved from Aix-Les Milles to Avignon-East:


> " . . . little more than a dirt landing strip and a Werft [workshop]. The aircraft are dispersed in dirt blast shelters camouflaged with brushwood."


After the morning's sightings the reconnaissance effort for the night and evening was intense: an Me 410 was up to photograph Ajaccio Bay and harbor and Propriano Bay and a Ju 88 covered the area west and northwest of Corsica to Ajaccio Bay, where it sighted three large vessels on radar, evaluated as carriers or battleships. Luftflotte 2 reported shipping sufficient for one division in Ajaccio and warned that a landing was to be expected in the South of France or Liguria "in the near future."

German submarine _'U-981' _is sunk about 63 nautical miles (117 kilometres) northwest of Bordeaux, France (45.41N, 01.25W), by an air-laid mine in field "Cinnamon" and a British Halifax Mk. II, aircraft "F" of No. 502 Squadron based at RAF St. David's, Pembrokeshire, Wales; 40 of the 52 crewmen in the submarine survive.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The liberation of Florence, Italy is completed.

The shuttle-bombing mission flown by US Eighth Air Force from UK-USSR-Italy- UK is completed; of the 72 B-17s taking off from Fifteenth Air Force bases in Italy, 3 have various problems; the others bomb Francazal Airfield, Toulouse, France and then proceed to the UK; 62 P-51 Mustangs (part of the shuttle-mission force) and 43 from the UK provide escort; no aircraft are lost; 70 B-17s and 58 P-51s land in the UK; 5 B-17s and 6 P-51s, either left in Italy or returning there during this mission, subsequently return to the UK.

In Italy, the US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches almost 550 fighter-escorted B-17s and B-24s to attack targets in France and Italy; the B-17s bomb gun positions in the Savona, Italy area; B-24s attack gun positions in the Genoa, Italy and the Marseilles, Toulon, and Sete areas of France; 100+ P-51s strafe radar installations and other coast-watching facilities along the southern French coast; these strikes are preparatory to Operation DRAGOON, the invasion of southern France.

German submarine _'U-198' _is sunk about 169 nautical miles (314 kilometres) west-northwest of the Seychelles Islands (3.35S, 52.49E) by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Findhorn' _(K 301) and the Indian sloop HMIS _'Godavari' _(U 52). All 66 crewmen in the U-boat are lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Lt. Kennedy was commissioned as a Naval Aviator in May, 1942. He flew Caribbean patrols until September, 1943 when he was transferred to England. He and his crew finished their rotation in May, 1944. They stayed though July, 1944 as they felt "D-Day" was important. The balance of the crew was rotated to the US. Lt. Kennedy chose to stay in England because he had heard of a new and special assignment for which volunteers had been requested which would require another month of the most dangerous type of flying. The Secret mission on which he lost his life was described by a fellow officer after it was declassified: Lt. Kennedy, regarded as an experienced Patrol Plane Commander, and a fellow-officer, an expert in radio control projects, was to take a "drone" Liberator bomber loaded with 21,170 pounds of high explosives into the air and to stay with it until two "mother" planes had achieved complete radio control over the "drone." They were then to bail out over England; the "drone," under the control of the "mother" planes, was to proceed on the mission which was to culminate in a crash-dive on the target, a V-2 rocket launching site in Normandy. The airplane was in flight with routine checking of the radio controls proceeding satisfactorily, when at 6:20 p.m. on August 12, 1944, two explosions blasted the "drone" resulting in the death of its two pilots. No final conclusions as to the cause of the explosions has ever been reached.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*13 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Argentan is cleared by the US XV Corps. Bradley orders a halt. The US XII and XX Corps advance on Orleans and Chartres from the area of Le Mans. Hitler authorized the retreat of German forces in north-west France. Two days later he ordered the withdrawal of all German forces in southern France.

In France, US Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s attack the Oissel rail bridge, Corbeil-Essonnes refueling siding, and numerous points along highways in the Argentan area with the aim of bottling up enemy troops; fighters fly ground forces cover and armed reconnaissance over wide areas of western and northern France, also escort IX Bomber Command aircraft.

Four aircraft of III./KG 100 were operating out of Toulon from 0338-0547 hours and an early patrol by RAF No.72 Sqd sighted a Ju 88 in the area of Calvi, while 2./NAG 13 too continued scouting the sea lanes for Allied convoys


> :". . . the appearance of the Focke-Wulfs always set off an ear-piercing drumfire of antiaircraft guns from scores of ships before the enemy snoopers fled for home."


One aircraft of 2./NAG 13 suffered accidental damage on a mission and the Allies bombed Aix-Les Milles Aerodrome, 1.(F)/33 reporting an aircraft destroyed and three damaged in these raids. Otherwise, there seems to have been little activity by the Luftwaffe during the daylight hours but from 2250-0635 hours, eight aircraft of 6./KG 77 were up on an operation, controlled from Istres and;


> "...further shipping was seen approaching CORSICA from the south west."



_'U-270'_ (Type VIIC) is sunk at 0010hrs in the Bay of Biscay west of La Rochelle, in position 46.19N, 02.56W, by depth charges from a Australian Sunderland aicraft (RAAF Sqdn. 461/A).

_'U-547' _(Type IXC/40) is damaged by mines in the Gironde near Pauillac and taken out of service at Stettin, 31 Dec 1944.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*14 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Canadians are about 5 miles north of Falaise, France. Their advance is assisted by the RAF with 4,000 tons of bombs. The US XV Corps moves east from Argentan toward Dreux as other US units move into Argentan. Except for the ancient citadel in the Port of St. Malo the city has been liberated.

*OPERATION DRAGOON*: The Allied invasion of the south of France, began with a parachute assault at night, in thick fog, to the west of St Raphael. The first recorded action by the Luftwaffe came between 0755 and 0824 hours when;


> "...four aggressive a/c met heavies nr. Toulon."


 In this encounter, Ofw. Isken and Uffz. Kniestedt claimed a P-51 each at 1023 hours local time.

According to civilians living near Cuers-Pierrefeu aerodrome,


> "...the last plane took off from the field 14th August"


and only one abandoned Fw 190 from 2./NAG 13 was found there after the invasion. The Staffel was operational nonetheless with an Fw 190 and a Bf 109 on convoy recce over the Golfe du Lion from 0835-0945 hours. From 1138-1425 hours, an Fw 190 of 2./NAG 13 and four Bf 109s were on convoy recce south of Marseille-Toulon-Golfe du Lion but made no sightings

That afternoon, FAG 122 ordered one of its Me 410s at St. Martin to carry out a photo reconnaissance of La Maddalena early on the 15th, weather and state of aircraft permitting. Meanwhile there was undeniable evidence coming in that a major Allied amphibious operation was underway. At 1915 hours, 2./NAG 13 reported landing craft stretching 50 miles west from Ajaccio Roads and at 2035 hours, two convoys were sighted by Luftwaffe aircraft, 100 miles south of Menton. These totaled over 100 landing craft and included strong surface and air escorts. Meanwhile, the USAAF had wrecked the Luftwaffe's fighter control centre in Southern France. Ju 88s of 6./KG 77 were active all night (flying five sorties in all) and at 2222 hours shipping was reported 30 miles south of the Hyères Islands.

In France, the US Ninth Air Force sends A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders with fighter escort to hit several highway and rail bridges, junctions and sidings mostly beyond the battlelines to delay and complicate the German retreat; fighters fly armed reconnaissance over the Falaise, Broglie, and Chartres areas, and support ground forces, especially 7 armored and infantry divisions, over wide areas of northern and western France; a XIX Tactical Air Command squadron uniquely effects the surrender of a number of German ground troops, Germans on roads being strafed by the squadron northeast of Carrouges wave white flags, whereupon the planes buzz the road and shepherd the enemy troops into a column which then proceeds to US lines to surrender.

Eleven Fw 190s and six Bf 109s were lost with locations such as near Chartres, near Evreux, Ballancourt, Houdan, Nogent Le Rotrou, Mareuill sur Ourcq, Fere Champenoise, and Illiers. At 1025 hours 2/Lt. George M. Rhodes Jr. of 100th FS claimed an Fw 190 in the Toulon area. Fliegerdivision 2's losses during the day had been an aircraft of 1.(F)/33 damaged by bombing and two Ar 196 of 2./128 destroyed and one damaged by a Mosquito at Perpignan.

In England, the US Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions. Mission 552: 1,183 bombers and 429 fighters, in 4 forces, are dispatched to attack 9 airfields, 2 aero engine factories, 1 oil plant, 2 bridges, 2 rail junctions and other secondary and targets of opportunity in southwestern Germany, eastern France, and the Bordeaux, France region; 2 bombers and 1 fighter are lost (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking the target). (1) B-24s attack 3 airfields in France, Lyon/Bron (10 8 ), Dijon/Longvi (83) and Dole/Evaux (70); 2 bridges Anizy (46) and Fismes (34); and 12 B-24s hit Liart rail junction and 1 hits a target of opportunity; escort is provided by 92 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs. (2) B-24s bomb French rail junctions at Saintes (3 8 ) and Angouleme (3 8 ); escort is provided by 40 P-51s. (3) B-17s dispatched to Germany hit Ludwigshafen (144), Mannheim (110) and Sandhofen Airfield at Mannheim(72) ; 4 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 88 P-51s; (4) B-17s dispatched to Germany hit airfields at Hagenau (92), Metz/Frascaty (72), Florennes (24), Chievres (9); Stuttgart/Echterdin gen (72), Kaisereslautern (46), Sindelfingen (12), Trier (10) and targets of opportunity (16); escort is provided by 168 P-51s that claim 10-0-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost. Mission 553: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 37 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France; 1 B-24 is lost. 136 P-38s and P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions in the Paris area; claiming 3-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-38 and 2 P-47s are lost.

The US Twelfth Air Force in Italy dispatches medium bombers to hit coastal defenses while fighter-bombers pound various gun positions, tracks, enemy HQ, and targets of opportunity in the Toulon-Nice area; fighters strafe radar installations and targets of opportunity along the south coast as Operation DRAGOON forces approach.

The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy sends 540 B-24s and B-17s to bomb gun positions in the Toulon, France and Genoa, Italy areas as the Operation DRAGOON (the invasion of southern France) convoy heads for the French Mediterranean coast; 145 P-38s and P-51s strafe radar installations at several coastal points.

The German submarine _'U-618' _is sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of St. Nazaire, in position 47.22N, 04.39W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Duckworth' _and HMS _'Essington' _and by depth charges from an RAF Liberator of No. 53 Squadron based at St Eval, Cornwall, England. All hands on the U-boat, 61 men, are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 night-fighter program at the Polish production facility in Posen was terminated due to numerous crashes. Only eight Ta 154 A-1s were built before the end of the program.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*15 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The British VIII Corps enters Tinchebray, France. From here to Falaise there is heavy fighting by other British and Canadian units. South from Tinchebray to Argentan the US VII and V Corps attack to the north. They have trapped the German 7th Army, the 5th Panzer Army, and Panzer Group Eberbach. A desperate retreat to the east begins for these units. FM Kluge attempts to visit the front and spends most of the day dodging Allied air strikes. His unavailablity increases Hitler's suspicions that Kluge is attempting to defect to the Allies.

Between Toulon And Cannes, in southern France, *Operation Dragoon* begins. The troops are General Alexander Patch's US 7th Army. General de Lattre's French II Corps will be the follow on troops. The defending German troops are General Weise's 19.Armee of 7 weak infantry divison and 11 Panzer divisions for the whole south and southeast of France. The US Special Service Force invades Levant and Port-Cros Island and secures the left flank of the assault area; French commandoes land east of Cap Negre and clear coastal defenses, the French Naval Assault Group lands southwest of Cannes and secures the right flank; the 1st Airborne Task Force drops in the rear of assault beaches and blocks off the invasion area from the interior; the main force, the US VI Corps, lands 3 divisions abreast between Nice and Toulon at 0800 hours local;

In northern France, 330+ A-20 Havocs and B-26s with fighter escort bomb Marseille-en-Beauvaisis and Foret de Chantilly ammunition and fuel dumps, rail bridges at Auvers-sur-Oise and L'Isle-Adam, Serqueux marshalling yard, and coastal defense at Saint-Malo; fighters fly cover for 5
infantry and armored divisions, and fly extensive armed reconnaissance over northern and western France.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 554: 932 bombers and 443 fighters, in 4 forces, are dispatched to attack 11 airfields in northwestern Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in conjunction with 1,000 RAF heavy bombers and Mosquitos raiding 9 airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium; 16 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombing attacking.
(1) B-17s bomb German airfields at Cologne/Ostheim (10 8 ), Frankfurt/Eschborn (65) and Wiesbaden (3 8 ); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 9 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 112 P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-51 is lost. (2) B-24 Liberators attack German airfields at Wittmundhaafen (91), Zwischenahn (90), Vechta (67), Plantlunne (54) and Hopstein (10); 4 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 163 P-38s and P-51s; 2 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost. (3) B-17s bomb Dutch airfields at Handorf (109), Venlo (104) and Twente/Enschede (75); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost. (4) In Belgium, 59 65 B-24s hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. Forces (3) and (4) are escorted by 118 P-51s. 33 P-47 Thunderbolts dive-bomb and skip-bomb a repair shop and locomotives in the marshalling yard at Braine-le-Comtes; 1 P-47 is lost. 12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night. 

During the night of 14/15 August, the US Twelfth Air Force based in Italy, dispatches A-20s to bomb Le Vallon, Istres, and Orange/Plan de Dieu Airfields and other Rhone Valley targets while the US Seventh Army carries out preliminary operations to isolate Operation DRAGOON invasion beaches; A-20s bomb barracks in the invasion area while B-25s, B-26s, P-38s, and P-47s, supporting the invasion, pound beaches, enemy concentrations, and gun positions in coastal areas and later in the day move attacks inland to interdict enemy communications lines successfully hitting numerous bridges; fighters maintain constant patrol over the convoys and invasion area.

In the US Ninth Air Force's 50th and 53d Troop Carrier Wings, on loan to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF), participate in the invasion of southern France as part of the Provisional Troop Carrier Air
Division.

The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy flies its first night raid; 252 B-17s and B-24s after a predawn takeoff pound beaches in the Cannes-Toulon, France area in immediate advance of Operation DRAGOON; 28 other fighter-escorted B-17s bomb highway bridges over the Rhone River; B-17s sent against coastal gun positions abort the mission owing to poor visibility; and 166 P-51s escort Mediterranean Tactical Air Force (MATAF) C-47 Skytrains carrying airborne invasion troops. 

The first aggressive action by the Luftwaffe was launched at 0510 hours, when JGr. 200 scrambled a formation of perhaps a dozen Bf 109s from its 1. and 2. Staffeln. The former was to provide top-cover while 2./ JGr.200 attacked the landing fleet with WGr. 21 mortars. Before they could come near, they ran into the Lightnings of 1st FG on "Grapes" patrol, the codename for relays of twelve P-38s patrolling at 12-15,000 feet between Fréjus and the Hyères Islands. The Germans were forced to jettison their rocket launchers while the Americans shed their "bombs" (probably drop tanks in fact). According to Uffz. Walter Lang of 1./ JGr 200 "everybody made for home as fast as he could", nevertheless the left landing gear of Lang's "white 16", was hit by anti-aircraft fire over the coast though he returned to base and got down successfully and the Messerschmitt was operational again by the next afternoon. During this engagement, 2/Lt. Robert A. Longworth of 71st FS claimed a Bf 109 and Capt. Thomas Edward Maloney of 27th FS claimed two in the St. Tropez area. The Germans conceded that two Bf 109s had been shot down with one of the pilots safe but Uffz. Hans Ludwig was missing.

Six Do 217s of III./KG 100 attacked between 1838 and 1959 hours, a seventh aborted. One hit was claimed with Fritz X and two with the Hs 293. III./KG 100 flew its last desperate missions against the landing fleet, heavily damaging the American destroyer _'Le Long'_, LST 312 and 384. LST 282 and a 7,000 ton freighter were sunk (the latter by Ofw. Kube's crew). Although one Allied source attributes the loss of two American LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicles/Personnel) to glider bombs as well, the victories reported seem excessive. Several ships were sunk or damaged by mines and shellfire however and these may have become confused with the few victims of the air attack.

LST 282 (Landing Ship, Tank) was 600 yards off St. Raphael and heading for shore when she was hit and caught fire. Although beached, she was a total loss and about 40 men aboard were killed. Bombs were also reported to have landed near USS _'Bayfield'_. German guided weapons had sunk their last ship of the war and III./KG 100's work for the night was finished. Between 2050 and 2128 hours, two Fritz X and five Hs 293 aircraft landed at Blagnac. In the immediate aftermath, three Do 217s were reported lost: Ofw. Rudolf Blab's crew was still missing; Fw. Helmut Germann's bailed out; from 7. Staffel, Ofw. Rudolf Freiberg's plane was shot down by the ships' AA fire, the crew subsequently bailing out, to be rescued by Spanish fishermen and interned.

While the Dorniers were engaging the fleet, Ju 88s were also in action. I./KG 26 had been ordered to carry out a torpedo attack at St. Raphael while II. Gruppe was assigned a target just east of Cap Nègre, where French commandos had come ashore. Bombs were to be dropped only south of the road since German troops were to the north of it. According to Rudi Schmidt:


> " Only a few crews could be sent into action and they found the same thing as they had a few weeks previously off the Normandy Invasion Coast. They could not get near the real targets, the transport ships and their war material. These lay within so strong a protective cordon of warships that to break through the massive defensive fire was simply not possible. To carry out a torpedo attack at all they had to search further out to sea where supply convoys were still running in. This torpedo attack was the last in the Mediterranean."



A few Ju 88s attacked shipping without result at dusk and only four from II./KG 26 operated: one broke off, two did not attack on account of the darkness and just one bombed the Cap Nègre landing point.

The German submarine _'U-741' _is sunk in the English Channel northwest of Le Havre, in position 50.21N, 00.35W, by depth charges from the RN corvette HMS _'Orchis'_. Of the 49 U-boat crewmen at an unknown depth, there is 1 crew that is able to self escape with Drager gear during sinking without an air lock. He survives as a PoW.

II./JG 1 was increased to four staffeln; 4./JG 1 was converted into 7./JG 1 and 8./JG 1 was formed from 7./JG 51, transferred in from the Eastern Front. From this point until 1945, II./JG 1 would consist of 5./JG 1, 6./JG 1, 7./JG 1 and 8./JG 1.

*GERMANY*: The Me 262 jets of Ekdo 262 destroyed their first and only heavy bomber, a lone Allied B-17 from the USAAF 303rd BG, flying along the Rhine shooting up river traffic near Stuttgart. Fw. Helmut Lennartz surprised the crew of the Flying Fortress, who were intensely watching the heavy flak in the area;


> "I scored hits on the left wing. The effect of my 30mm shells was devastating. The wing was blown completely off."


When Fw. Lennartz landed the first person to congratulate him on his victory was Professor Willy Messerschmitt.

But Professor Messerschmitt's other unique fighter, the rocket propelled Me 163, was having some problems. Bad Zwischenahn was bombed resulting in another move for EK16, to Brandis.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*16 AUGUST 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Russian attacks reach Osow, 7 miles NE of Warsaw where they are pushed back by a German counterattack.

Soviet Premier Josef Stalin announces the Soviets will give no help to the "reckless" Warsaw uprising by the anti-Communist Polish Home Army.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Canadian troops from II Corps enter Falaise. Polish units of the British I Corps advance west over the River Dives. The US XX Corps liberates Chartres, France.

The French II Corps lands and passes forward through the US lines in the South of France. Adolf Hitler orders the withdrawal of all German forces in southern France.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 557: 8 of 8 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

In France, the US Ninth Air Force dispatches about 130 B-26s and A-20s, with fighter escort, to hit a Foret de Roumare ammunition dump and rail bridges at Pont-Audemer, Thibouville, Brionne, Nassandres, and Le Bourg; fighters give air cover to an armored division and infantry forces, and fly patrol and armed reconnaissance over northern and western France.

In France, 108 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s, supporting Operation DRAGOON, attack railroad bridges at Saint-Vallier, Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny, Grenoble, and Isere-Valence.

In support of the landings in Southern France (Operation DRAGOON): US Twelfth Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers continue to blast enemy defenses and communications on the beaches and in the invasion area of southern France; A-20s hit lights and vehicles during the night of 15/16 August from north of the beachhead to the Rhone River and during the day raid ammunition stores; medium bombers pound Rhone River bridges and gun positions throughout the general area. 42 US Fifteenth Air Force P-51s escort MATAF C-47 Skytrains on a supply dropping mission to the beachheads.

The first of Luftwaffe daylight operations were way at 0436 hours when 2./JGr. 200 scrambled three Bf 109s, followed a minute later by a pair of Fw 190s from 2./NAG 13. They were up for about an hour, photographing Hyères from 7,000m. Another Rotte of Focke-Wulfs was sent off at 0500 hours to take pictures of the Draguignan and Le Muy area but their mission had to be abandoned owing to the weather. At 0943 hours, JGr. 200 sent up seven Messerschmitts to escort reconnaissance aircraft. Two of 2./NAG 13's Fw 190s (presumably the ones the Messerschmitts were to accompany) were up to photograph Draguignan - St. Raphael - St. Tropez - Lavandou between 0947 and 1130 hours. Near St. Raphael, the Fw 190s and their escorts were bounced by RAF No. 72 Sqd 's Spitfires. The German formation broke up on seeing the enemy, some escaping into cloud.

In the meantime, seven Bf 109s of II./JG 77 flew a reconnaissance of Marseilles and offshore to the West, during which one of their number seems to have gone missing and at 1325 hours another seven took off on an operation against guerrillas in St. Remèze area which lasted just over an hour. An hour after they landed, eleven of II./JG 77's Bf 109s mounted a freie Jagd looking for low-flying raiders and reconnoitered fires on the Salon-Lézignan railway. Fifteen JU88s took off around 1800 hours to attack St. Tropez town and harbor, arriving over their targets at dusk and giving rise to the first of two Red Alerts. A group of five, allegedly escorted by four Bf 109s, approached St. Tropez port at 2050 hours from 20,000ft. They spread out and dropped anti-personnel bombs accurately into Allied concentrations along the beaches, killing 14 people and wounding 36 more. Also at dusk, six Do 217s of III./KG 100 operated against ships off St. Tropez with Hs 293s. Fliegerdivision 2 later reported that one Do 217 did not attack. Four missiles had technical defects but one hit was claimed. As Balke tells it:


> " III. Gruppe flew attacks on shipping targets at St. Raphael. Ofw. Kube's crew had a large transport in their sights but their Hs 293 wouldn't guide and crashed, probably due to enemy jamming. One Do 217 failed to return but the crew was saved... After these operations the Gruppe was bled white and no longer capable of any operations of consequence: 36 crews lost since D-Day on 6 June, a 100% loss rate in nine weeks of operations!"


The bombers had approached from landward with only a brief warning period. In fact no hits were achieved although a glider bomb landed near USS _'Charles F. Hughes'_, a destroyer stationed on the eastern sector of the screen.

*GERMANY:* The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 2 missions. Mission 556: 1,090 bombers and 692 fighters, in 4 forces, are dispatched to make visual attacks on oil refineries and aircraft plants in central Germany; 23 bombers and 3 fighters are lost (number in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking). (1) B-17s hit Delitzsch air depot (102), the aviation industry at Schkeuditz (92) and Halle (60) and the oil industry at Bohlen (8 8 ); other targets are Naumburg (15), Halberstadt Airfield (13) and targets of opportunity (9); they claim 6-4-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 246 P-47s and P-51 Mustang; they claim 15-1-6 Luftwaffe. (2) B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil industry at Rositz (105) and Zeitz (101); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 166 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47s are lost. (3) B-24s are dispatched to Halberstadt Airfield (51); 10 others hit Quedlinburg Airfield and 1 hits a targets of opportunity; escort is provided by 42 of 46 P-38 Lightnings. (4) B-24s are dispatched to hit the aviation industry at Dessau (99), Kothen (71) and Magdeburg/Neustadt (67) and the oil industry at Magdeburg/Rothensee; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 156 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 12-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost.

Seven Tagjagdgruppen, namely JG 302, JG 300, and JG 3, put up some 130 machines including Me 163 Komet rocket fighters of JG 400 to combat the bombers. Two Komets were shot down, one of the fighters lost being the Me 163 of Lt. Hartmut Ryll of 1./JG 400 shortly after he shot down a B-17 for his sixth victory. Lt. Ryll was killed.

IV./JG 3 attacked a Combat Box of the 91st Bomb Group scoring some 12 Ab-und Herausschüsse. Probably incapacitated by his handicap - he was severely wounded in the eye in a dogfight with the bomber escorts on 18 March 1944 - Ekkehard Tichy, Staffelkapitän of 13./JG 3, rammed or collided with a B-17. He plunged to his death only a few weeks after taking over as Staffelkapitän. Posthumously promoted to Oberleutnant and awarded the Ritterkreuz, Ekkehard Tichy had some 25 victories including eleven four-engined bombers. Uffz. Probst of 2./JG 3 got his first victory by ramming a P-51 from the escorting fighter formations. Uffz. Probst survived the collision unhurt. He was flying a Bf 109 G-6/AS. I./JG 3 losses that day were six Bf 109s destroyed in aerial combat and two damaged. Four pilots were killed and Uffz. Richard Kärcher of 1./JG 3 was wounded.

461 RAF “heavies” attempted to destroy industrial centers and harbors. In addition, 89 Lancaster were diverted for “Gardening” – setting mines in Stettin’s and Kiel’s Bays. Four aircraft were lost before reaching the Stettin, one over target from RAF 630.Sqn, plus two of the “gardeners” from RAF 57.Sqn and 97.Sqn, lost at 01.33 hours.

The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs targets in Germany and France. In Germany, 89 B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb a chemical works at Friedrichshafen.

The He-287 V1 performed its first flight at Brandis airfield. It was built around the fuselage of a Heinkel He-177A Grief heavy bomber, with the tail assembly of a Ju-388 and the new forward-swept wing. It was powered by four Junkers Jumo 004B turbojets, with one engine attached to each side of the fuselage behind the cockpit, and one engine slung under the rear of each wing. As the He-177's main gear retracted into its engine nacelles, which didn't exist with the new wing, the Ju-287 V1 was fitted with fixed landing gear in spats. The nose gear was salvaged from a downed American B-24 Liberator and the main gear was borrowed from a Junkers Ju-352 transport. Rauchergeraet units were used to get the contraption off the ground. It actually flew very well, though the concerns about excessive stress on the wings were justified and worrisome.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*17 AUGUST 1944* 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet Army Group North attacks toward Siauliai in Lithuania to prevent Riga from being cutoff. 

Finnish President Mannerheim meets Generalfeldmarschal Wilhelm Keitel who has come for a sudden visit to Finland. The formal reason for Keitel's visit is to bring Mannerheim the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross and a Knight's Cross for General of Infantry Erik Heinrichs, the Chief of Finnish General Staff. Mannerheim informs Keitel that the promise given by the ex-President Risto Ryti, that Finland won't make peace unless in agreement with Germany, is in force no more. It was made by President Ryti personally and was not ratified by the Parliament. The Finnish people do not approve of the promise and thus Ryti had to resign. Finland shall stay in the war only as long as is in her interest to do so. Keitel assures that Germany won't submit, but will keep fighting for ten more years if necessary. Mannerheim comments that unfortunately we Finns can't do that. Keitel is visibly agitated when he leaves.

Hptm. Wilhelm “Willi” Batz of III./JG 52 scored his 200th victory.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The mayor of Paris, Pierre Charles Tattinger, meets with the German commander Dietrich von Choltitz to protest the explosives being deployed throughout the city. Adolf Hitler had decreed that Paris should be left a smoking ruin, but Dietrich von Choltitz thought better of his Fuehrer's order. German Field Marshal Walther Model takes over command of German forces in the West from Field Marshall Gunther von Kluge who committed suicide because of his involvement in the July 20 plot against Hitler. 

In southern France, St. Raphael, St. Tropex, Frejus, Le Luq an St. Maxime fall to the Allies. There is little German resistance. Chief of State Marshal Henri Petain and his staff are interned at Belfort by order of the FŸhrer. The Vichy French government under Premier Pierre Laval resigns.

Falaise, France is completely capured by the Canadian 2nd Division. There remain only a few miles between The Canadians to the north and the US V Corps to the south. Dreux, Chateaudun and Orleans are captured by US forces. The citadel at St. Malo, France surrenders.

The US Twelfth Air Force, despite bad weather, sends medium bombers to attack railroad bridges leading to the beachhead area of the south coast and hit coastal guns southwest of Toulon; A-20s hit motor transport during the night and drop ammunition to invasion forces; fighter-bombers and fighters on armed reconnaissance and patrol score excellent results against motor transport and rail cars and destroy several airplanes on airfields in the south. 

The US Ninth Air Force dispatches 400+ A-20 Havocs and B-26s to bomb road bridges at Montfort-sur- Risle, Pont-Audemer, Nassandres, Beaumont-le- Roger, Le Bourg, Brionne, and Beaumontel, and a rail bridge at La Ferriere-sur- Risle; fighters fly ground force cover over Saint-Malo and Dreux and armed reconnaissance in northwest France; IX Tactical Air Command fighters attack and severely damage Gestapo HQ near Chateauroux.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions. Mission 558: 10 B-24s are dispatched to drop Azon missiles on the Les Foulous, France rail bridge but the mission is abandoned due to deteriorating weather. Mission 559: 1 B-17 drop a BATTY TV bomb on the port area at La Pallice, France. Mission 560: 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. 33 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night. Fighter-bomber missions flown by the VIII Fighter Command: 397 P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts hit the Paris/Brussels area; they claim 3-0-3 aircraft. 318 P-51 Mustangs are dispatched to hit communications targets; 7 P-51s are lost.

Capt. Dave C. Hearrell Jr, in an F-6 Mustang of the 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, claimed the destruction of a Ju 52. Then, on an airfield at Avignon-East, he claimed a Fw 190 damaged while 2/Lt. Forrest L. White of the same unit claimed a Ju 52, also damaged. A wrecked Fw 190 was later found on the airfield and the two Americans had indeed hit tri-motor transports, but they weren't Ju 52s. In fact a Savoia Marchetti S.82 of 6./TG 1, was en route from Strasbourg to Avignon when it was attacked by two fighters between the latter city and Orange. The transport caught fire and its centre engine was apparently blown right off, injuring the pilot, Obgefr. Fritz Pauleweit, while gunner Uffz. Otto Meistring was hit in the head by gunfire.

At 1325 hours, six Thunderbolts strafed the airfield at Avignon, setting a parked Ju 52 on fire (or so they thought but more likely an S.82, since two were later found burned out there). One of the P-47s overflew the position of 2. Batterie, 1. Abteilung, Flak Regiment 501 (mot.) and was hit several times, crashing 2km south of Avignon. Soon after this, six Bf 109s of JGr. 200 flew an operation against guerillas in the Vallon Pont de l'Arc area.

Luftwaffe bomber operations resumed at dusk. At 2040 hours, six Ju 88s bombed the stretch of ground between St. Raphael and St. Maxime without inflicting damage while, five minutes later, the control vessel HMS 'Ulster Queen' logged bombers and AA fire over the St. Tropez area. Five of III./KG 100's Do 217s had operated: two aborted the mission; another jettisoned its Hs 293; two claimed near misses. Use of the Fritz X was reported to have been impossible on account of cloud cover, yet the crew of one Do 217 claimed a near miss on a 6-8,000 tonne troop transport with this weapon. Just under an hour later another USN destroyer, the 'Champlin', came under attack, this time from a low-flying Ju 88. Struck by the ship's return fire, the bomber exploded and I./KG 26 posted four NCO's missing.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* The Germans pull out of Florence, releasing Italy's most beautiful city from a vise in which it long has been clutched. Neither army shelled Florence and it is believed that the historic city is intact except for five bridges blown up by the Germans.

One B-24 of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bombs a target of opportunity.

Two hundred forty five B-24 Liberator of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bomb three oil refineries at Ploesti with the loss of 19 aircraft: Using H2X radar, the Romano Americano Refinery if bombed by 70 aircraft while 54 bomb visually; 124 aircraft bomb the Romano Americano Refinery, 70 using H2X radar; and 34 bomb the Standard Oil Refinery visually. Other targets hit by individual aircraft are a highway at Bailesti, a marshalling yard at Dragonesti, and another unnamed highway.

B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bomb two targets: 51 aircraft bomb the airfield at Nis with the loss of one aircraft while one bombs the railroad at Pirot.

*GERMANY*: I./JG 11 was increased to four Staffeln. The new 4./JG 11 was formed from 10. and 11./JG 11.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*18 AUGUST 1944* 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Polish Corps from the north and the US forces from the south close the gap at Falaise, France.

The US 3rd Army reach Versailles on their way the the Seine. The US VI Corps is now advancing toward Aix-en-Provence with French units advancing on Toulon and then Marseilles.

German troops stationed near the Spanish border and the Gulf of Biscay begin withdrawing. Less celebrated elements of the Luftwaffe were also pulling out of the area. Luftwaffe Berge-Kompanie z.b.V. 29 (29th Luftwaffe Special Duties Recovery Company) departed for Rheims. Commanded by Hauptmann Oberlein, who had lived at Pélissanne (just east of Salon), the unit had operated all over Southern France, salvaging German and French aircraft wrecks. Units streaming back east from Normandy were beginning to converge with those retreating from the south. The crews of II./JG 6 and their Fw 190s were ordered to move to bases in France the next day. Jagdgruppe 200 was also ordered to withdraw along with its control staff, Jafü Süd, to Metz..

In northern France, the US Ninth Air Force dispatches nearly 100 B-26s and A-20 Havocs to strike a fuel dump, ammunition dump, rail and road overpass, rail embankment, and junction beyond the battleline to disorganize retreating German forces; 1,000+ fighters fly cover over ground forces in the Argentan-Paris area, along the Seine River, and armed reconnaissance over northern and western France.

In southern France, the US Twelfth Air Force sends medium bombers to blast coastal guns in the Toulon area and shipping in Toulon harbor; fighter-bombers closely support beachhead troops, hit rolling stock and rail lines, and generally disrupt communications as the US VI Corps overruns the primary defenses in the coastal area of southeastern France; fighters maintain beachhead patrols and area cover for the bombers.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions (numbers in parenthesis are numbers of bombers attacking): Mission 561: B-24s bomb Amy Airfield at Roye, France (42) and 10 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 96 P-51 Mustangs. Mission 562: 720 bombers and 242 fighters, in 3 forces, are dispatched against bridges, airfields, fuel dumps and an aircraft engine factory in France and Belgium; 2 bombers and 1 fighter are lost. (1) B-17s bomb bridges at Namur (37), Liege/Benoit (36), Huy (35), Yvoir (35), Liege/Seraing (26), Vise (25) and Maastricht (24); 13 hit Tongres marshalling yard, 12 hit Eindhoven Airfield and 12 hit targets of opportunity; escort is provided by 99 P-38 Lightnings and P-51s; they claim 46-0-15 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost. (2) B-24s attack airfields at Metz (7 8 ), Nancy/Essey (70), Woippy (60) and Laneureville (35); escort is provided by 38 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost. (3) B-17s hit St Dizier Airfield (116), Pacy-sur-Armancon (39) and Bourran (3 8 ); 1 other hits a target of opportunity; escort is provided by 93 P-51s; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. Mission 564: 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

At 0600 hours, KG 26 reported a Mustang attack on Valence in the course of which one Ju 88 and a gantry crane were destroyed. Local communications were in a poor state, with the bridge between Valence and Montélimar destroyed and the road bridge at Valence again bombed and destroyed. At 0830 hours, Lt. Nicholson of 111th TRS destroyed a Ju 88 on the deck southeast of Orgon. Two Bf 109s were seen in the Montélimar area by Mustangs of the same unit but no contact was made and at 1430 hours P-38s of 14th FG saw two Bf 109s attacking a Supermarine Walrus amphibian but the Germans flew off as the Americans approached.

During the afternoon, Fl.Div. 2, including KG 26, III./KG 200, 1.(F)/33, 2./NAG 13 and JG 77, was subordinated to Luftflotte 2 with immediate effect. The Divisional Operations Staff was to be in Bergamo by the 20th, with its Battle HQ set up at Merate. Flying units were ordered to prepare for transfer, with all ferry flights taking place in the early morning or late evening in view of the air situation.

_'U-107' _is sunk west of La Rochelle, in position 46.46N, 03.49W, by depth charges from an RAF Sunderland Mk III of No 201 Squadron based at Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. All hands, 58 men, on the U-boat are lost.

_'U-621' _is sunk of La Rochelle, in position 45.52N, 02.36W, by depth charges from the RCN destroyers HMCS _'Ottawa'_, HMCS _'Kootenay' _and HMCS _'Chaudiere'_. All 56 men on the U-boat are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The First Ukraine Front takes Sandomierz, on the west bank of the Vistula in southern Poland.

*MEDITERRANEAN**:* Five heavy bombers of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb the port area of Lom without loss.

Heavy bombers of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bomb five targets: 273 bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti (48 using H2X radar and the rest visually) with the loss of seven aircraft; 102 bomb the Steauea Oil Refinery at Campina with the loss of one aircraft; two bomb a highway, another a railway and one bombs the marshalling yard at Craiova. 

Heavy bombers of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bomb four targets without loss: 87 bomb Alibunar Airfield; two bomb the railroad at Kraljevo; one bombs the marshalling yard at Lapovo; and one bomb a railroad line.

*GERMANY*: EKdo 262 was divided into two Staffeln led by Oblt. Müller and Oblt. Bley. Oblt. Müller took the only two pilots with jet victories in the unit, Lt. Weber and Fw Lennartz, and flew to Rechlin and made ready to become an operational Staffel.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*19 AUGUST 1944* * SATURDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* By Saturday 19 August 1944, the German forces in France were in deep trouble. In Normandy, the neck of the Falaise pocket was being closed on the 7.Armee and 5.Panzerarmee; in Provence, 19.Armee was ordered to withdraw north up the valley of the River Rhone and the units of Luftflotte 3 were following suit. In their precipitate retreat from France, the German armed forces had become desperately disorganized and if a new defense line was to be established commanders must first find and then regain control of their troops as well as locate their opponents. The US XV Corps reaches the Seine at Mates Grasicourt. The Polish 1st Armored Division links up with the U.S. 90th Infantry Division at Chambois, a village 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Falaise thereby closing the Falaise Pocket. German loses in the ensuing four day battle are 10,000 dead and 40,000 captured. 

The French resistance in Paris begins open operations against the Germans as police and partisans seize public buildings and begin battling the city's German garrison. Wehrmacht commander Dietrich von Choltitz disobeys Hitler's order to turn Paris into "a field of ruins." He arranges a five-day truce to evacuate his troops.

The USN battleship USS _'Nevada'_, French battleship _'Lorraine'_, and heavy cruiser USS _'Augusta' _conduct reconnaissance in force off Toulon to support the U.S. Army's Third Division and French troops making a drive on that port. Escorted by four destroyers, _'Nevada'_, _'Lorraine'_, and _'Augusta' _shell the harbor and batteries at St. Mandrier; heavy cruiser USS _'Quincy' _provides counter-battery fire on Giens, from position south of Isle Port Cros.

German submarines _'U-123' _and _'U-129' _are scuttled to avoid capture at Lorient. _'U-466' _(Type VIIC) which had been damaged on 5 July, 1944 by bombs from US B-24 aircraft at Toulon, France, is scuttled 19 Aug, during the Allied invasion of southern France.

In southern France, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit marshalling yards while B-25s and B-26s bomb road and rail bridges throughout southeastern France; fighter-bombers and fighters continue to pound enemy communications north and west, of the beachhead and guns in the immediate battle area as the US Seventh Army's Task Force Butler crosses the Durance River and moves north to Sisteron and Digne. 

Oblt. Franz Dörr, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 5, was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 99 victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Using H2X radar, 65 B-17 Flying Fortresses, supported by 125 P-51 Mustangs, of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy bomb two oil refineries at Ploesti for the third consecutive day. 

Two B-17s of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy, visually bomb the railroad at Cuprija.


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## syscom3 (Oct 31, 2009)

*20 AUGUST 1944* *SUNDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* Last night the last units of the German 7.Armee and 5.Panzerarmee escaped from the Falaise pocket through the Allied lines around Chambois and St. Lambert. Patton takes crossings on the Seine River at Mantes Grassicourt, 30 miles west of Paris. US 79th Division reached the west bank of the Seine above Paris. The XX Corps enters Fontainebleau.

Petain is arrested by the Germans in Vichy for refusing to go to an area which is safe from the Allied advance.

61 US Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb troop and equipment concentrations waiting at Foret de la Lande to be ferried across the Seine River; fighters fly armed reconnaissance along the Seine River, support ground troops in the battle area of northern France, and fly an escort mission to 100+ C-47 Skytrains on a supply and evacuation run.

In southern France during the night of 19/20 August, US Twelfth Air Force A-20s attack lights and motor transport from the battleline northwest to the Rhone River; B-26s, joined by fighter-bombers and fighters, hit coastal defense guns in the Toulon area, while B-25s bomb Rhone Valley bridges and airfields achieving especially good results at the airfield near Valence.

_'U-984' _is sunk about 44 nautical miles (81 kilometers) west of Brest, France, in position 48.16N, 05.33W, by depth charges from the RCN destroyers HMCS _'Ottawa' _(H 31, ex HMS Griffin), _'Kootenay' _(H 75, ex HMS Decoy) and _'Chaudiere' _(H 99, ex HMS Hero). All hands on the U-boat, 45 men, are lost.

German submarine _'U-188' _is scuttled at the U-boat base in Bordeaux when it is unable to escape the Allied advance.

Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Egon Albrecht and his III./JG 76 finished with their conversion training and moved from Stade to Athis, France. Major Anton Hackl was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 76 and moved with the III Gruppe to Athis. Hptm. Heinrich Offterdinger's I./JG 76 moved to Gahro.

*EASTERN FRONT:* A major Soviet offensive begins near Jassy and Tiraspol. This involves a massive artillery bombardment from Malinovsky's Second Ukraine Front and Tolbukhin's Thrird Ukraine Front. The defense is by the 3rd and 4th Rumanian Armies and the German 6. Armee, which contains many Rumanian troops. This is General Freissner's Army Group South Ukraine.

Stavka devised a plan that had three main objectives. The first and most important was the destruction of German forces in Romania. Politically, the new offensive was designed to knock Romania out of the war, then Soviet troops would advance into Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, outflanking the Germans and, hopefully, forcing Hungary to sue for peace. Finally, there was the economic objective. The Ploesti oil fields had to be seized. To accomplish these objectives the Soviets planned to strike in a pincer movement designed to isolate and destroy Army Group South Ukraine.

The sun rose blood-red when the Soviet offensive opened with a huge artillery bombardment from the massed guns of Malinovsky's Second Ukrainian Front. The shells fell without mercy on the surprised Romanians for 11 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, the positions of the 6. Armee and Third Romanian Army also came under a heavy barrage. Shells and bombs from the preliminary barrage had forced the men of Maj. Gen. Erick von Bogen's 302nd Infantry and Brig. Gen. Friedrich Blümke's 257th Infantry divisions deeper into their trenches. As the bombardment lifted, the roar of tank engines and the bloodcurdling Russian war cry could be heard from the enemy lines. Massed Soviet infantry formations soon charged on the German positions.

The combination of Soviet artillery, tank and air power proved too great for most of the Romanian divisions. While the 6. Armee managed to hold most of its sector, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies continued to melt away. The Red Army Air Force ruled the skies, and the two air armies supporting Malinovsky and Tolbukhin flew an estimated 3,000 sorties on the opening day of the attack. In comparison, Luftflotte 4, commanded by Maj. Gen. Paul Deichmann, could muster only 43 bombers, 57 ground support aircraft and 72 fighters to help stem the Russian tide.

Although the Germans had stood up to the initial Soviet attacks, a feeling of doom began to creep through the ranks. Once again the 6. Armee was in danger of being encircled. At General Johannes Friessner 's Army Group South Ukraine headquarters, when the Soviets' opening moves were realistically assessed, it soon became clear that the battle to hold the frontier was already lost. The few German divisions interspersed among the Romanian armies could do little to stop the Soviet onslaught, and they were themselves in danger of being surrounded.

Shellfire from _'Prinz Eugen' _assists in the successful defense against the Russian attack near Riga.

Two hundred twelve USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb the I.G. Farben oil refinery at Oswiecim with the loss of one aircraft.

German submarine _'U-9' _is sunk at 1030 hours local at the seaport of Constanta on the Black Sea, in position 44.10N, 28.38E, by bombs from Soviet aircraft.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Seventy six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the oil refinery at Dubrova without loss. 

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s attack three targets: 94 aircraft bomb the marshalling yard at Szolnok, 88 bomb Rakoczifalva Airfield at Szolnok with the loss of two aircraft, and six bomb the city of Szeged.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-1229' _is sunk about 315 nautical miles (584 kilometers) south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, in position 42.20N, 51.39W, by depth charges and rockets from three TBM Avengers and two FM Wildcats of Composite Squadron Forty Two (VC-42) in the US escort aircraft carrier USS _'Bogue' _(CVE-9). Forty one of the 59 U-boat crewmen survive.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* German submarine _'U-413' _is sunk about 28 nautical miles (53 kilometers) south of Brighton, Sussex, England, in position 50.21N, 00.01W, by depth charges from the RN escort destroyer HMS _'Wensleydale' _(L 86) and the destroyers HMS _'Forester' _(H 74) and _'Vidette' _(D 4 8 ). Only one of the 46 crewmen of the U-boat survived.


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## syscom3 (Nov 2, 2009)

*21 AUGUST 1944* *MONDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* A rapid advance across northern France begins by Allied units in pursuit of retreating German units. The first of the V-1 flying bomb launch sites were abandoned when the British 21st Army Group crossed the River Seine and moved toward the Pas-de-Calais. The US 3rd Army patrols reach Versailles. The US VI Corps is advancing on Aix-en-Provence and French forces on their left are moving on Toulon and Marseilles in the south of France.

In southern France, US Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers and fighters again blast enemy communications lines and gun positions and motor transport and train cars.

_'U-230' _runs aground in the Mediterranean in the Toulon roadsteads, France, in position 43.07N, 06.00E. She is scuttled by her crew during the Allied invasion of southern France. All 50 crewmen survive.

_'U-766' _is stricken near La Pallice, in position 46.10N, 01.14W, when unable to put to sea and surrendered to France.

The RCN corvette HMCS _'Alberni' _(K 103) is torpedoed with a Gnat torpedo amidships by _'U-480' _(Oberleutnant Hans-Joachim Forster) and sinks about 41 nautical miles (76 kilometers) southwest of Brighton, Sussex, England, within 30 seconds. Only 31 of her 90-man crew survive. Location: 50 18N 00 51W.

The RN Flower class corvette HMS _'Orchis' _(K 76) is mined off Normandy in Seine Bay. Her bows are blown off as far back as the gun, and she is beached "Juno" Beach at Courseulles- sur-Mer, and subsequently declared a Constructive Total Loss.

While there seemed to be no Allied claims on 20 August to account for the loss of two Junkers Ju 52 of II./TG 1 at Courmayeur, US Navy pilots claimed three such machines at 1615 hours on 21 August. The airmen concerned were members of VOF-1, which had both fighter and artillery-spotting roles, flying F6F-5 Hellcats off the escort carrier USS _'Tulagi' _(CVE-72). The 21st was the carrier's last day supporting the DRAGOON landings. During a fighter-bomber attack on a retreating transport convoy, two Ju 52s were claimed by Ensign Edward W. Olszewski and a third by Ensign Richard W.B. Yentzer. The location is variously described as "north of Orange" (a long way from Courmayeur) and " near La Capella." To match these claims with the two German losses, one has to allow for the possibility that either the Luftwaffe or the USN recorded a wrong date and that the Americans were not very precise about the location of the combat.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet 3rd Baltic and Leningrad Fronts move forward on both sides of Lake Peipus. Sandomierz on the west bank of the Vistula River falls to the First Ukraine Front. Kravchenko's Sixth Tank Army and the Second Ukrainian Front reserve were able to make substantial gains. Kravchenko's army, meeting stiff resistance but, managed to take some important positions on the Mare Ridge south of Jassy. German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte retake Tukkum in Estonia, reestablishing contact with Heeresgruppe Nord (Schoerner).

*UNITED STATES:* The Dumbarton Oaks Conference begins. This conference marks the beginning discussions about a postwar assembly that will become the United Nations. Stettinius for the US, Cadogan for Britain and Gromyko for the USSR are in attendance. The conference will last through the 29th.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* During the day, 102 B-24 LIberators of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb Boszormeny Airfield at Hajdu with the loss of two B-24s. During the night of 21/22 August, 70 RAF Liberators of No. 205 Group visually bomb Szony Airfield at Komoron with the loss of three aircraft. 

During the day, 117 B-24s of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb the airfield at Nis without loss.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-743' _is listed as missing in the Arctic Ocean or the North Atlantic with all hands, 50 men.

Whilst escorting convoy JW.59 (Loch Ewe, Scotland to Kola Fjord, U.S.S.R.), RN sloop HMS _'Kite' _(U 87) is torpedoed and sunk about 268 nautical miles WSW of Bjornoya (Bear Island), Norway, by _'U-344' _(Kapitanleutnant Ulrich Pietsch) using a spread of FAT torpedoes which ran a wandering course with regular 180-degree turns. There are 183 casualties and just 9 survivors. Position is 73 01N, 03 57E.

*GERMANY*: The rest of the pilots forming Oblt. Müller’s new Staffel of EKdo 262 finally arrived at Rechlin. The airfield was not really prepared to operate a fighter unit and lacked much of the equipment needed to do so, including the much needed ground radar. But this didn't stop the ground crew from making do. Signals Officer Viktor Preusker visited Berlin and found a complete Wurzburg radar set earmarked for the Eastern Front. With the help of some friends he was able to get the equipment written off as bomb damaged and re-routed to Rechlin.


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## syscom3 (Nov 2, 2009)

*22 AUGUST 1944* *TUESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* 2 British escort carriers and 3 fleet carriers, HMS _'Duke of York' _and supporting escorts of the Home Fleet under Admiral Moore sail toward Norway. Their mission, the German battleship _'Tirpitz' _in Kaafiord. The air attacks are heavily attacked on approach and the raid today is unsuccessful with heavy British losses.

Whilst refueling some of convoy JW.59 (Loch Ewe, Scotland, to the Kola Fjord, U.S.S.R.) escorts, the Canadian-manned escort aircraft carrier HMS _'Nabob' _[D 77, ex USN _'Edisto' _(CVE-41)] is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-354' _(Kapitanleutnant Hans-Jurgen Sthamer) about 422 nautical miles (782 kilometers) north of Tromso, Norway, in position 71.42N, 19.11E. Although the torpedo struck aft causing considerable damage, _'Nabob' _is able to make the 1100+ natucial mile (2 000+ kilometre) return trip to Rosyth, Scotland, U.K., but is not repaired and subsequently broken up. _'Nabob' _had just participated in a Home Fleet attack on _'Tirpitz'_, and was returning from that operation.

Frigate HMS _'Bickerton' _(K 466) is torpedoed in the same attack. There are 38 casualties. Although the ship was salvageable the force commander did not wish to be burdened by two crippled ships and since HMS _'Nabob' _was the more valuable unit, _'Bickerton' _was scuttled by destroyer HMS _'Vigilant' _(R 93).

German submarine _'U-344' _is sunk about 61 nautical miles (113 kilometres) west-northwest of Bjornoya (Bear) Island, Norway, in position 74.54N, 15.26E, by depth charges from a RN Swordfish Mk III in the escort aircraft carrier HMS _'Vindex' _(D 15). All hands on the U-boat, 50-men, are lost.

German officer Heinz Stahlschmidt blows up a bunker full of detonators, effectively preventing the destruction of Bordeaux by the retreating German army. Heinz Stahlschmidt had three ships sunk under him and he survived all three. He stayed behind and settled in Bordeaux after the war.

In the air over northern France, US IX Bomber Command operations are cancelled because of weather however, fighters fly sweeps, provide air cover for 2 infantry and 1 armored division, strafe numerous military and transportation targets, and fly armed reconnaissance from Evreux to Troyes.

In the air over southeastern France, weather restricts operations by the US Twelfth Air Force; A-20 Havocs hit motor transport in the Nice area during the night of 21/22 August and hit industrial buildings during the day; fighters hit motor transport west of the Rhone River and in scattered parts of southeastern France.

RN minesweeper HMS _'Loyalty' _(J-217, ex-HMS Rattler) is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-480' _(Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Joachim Forster) about 45 nautical miles (83 kilometers) south-southwest of Brighton, Sussex, England, in position 50.09N, 0.41W. This is about 11 nautical miles (20 kilometres) southeast of the position that _'U-480' _torpedoed and sank the Canadian corvette HMCS _'Alberni' _(K 103) yesterday. _'Loyalty' _sinks within seven minutes with the loss of 20 of her crewmen.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Red Army recaptured Jassy on the Dnestr river in the southern Ukraine. Two mechanized corps were thrown into the battle to widen the gap between the Third Romanian Army and the Sixth Army. Romanian units caught in the path of the advancing mechanized corps were either cut to ribbons or surrendered en masse. Unless he could get permission to retreat, General Maximilian Fretter-Pico knew his Sixth Army was doomed. The order finally came during the evening, but it was already too late.

The Soviet break through to Jassy convinces Romania's King Michael to sign an armistice with the Allies and concede control of his country to the USSR. 

Hptm. Wilhelm “Willi” Batz, Kommodore of III./JG 52 shot down six aircraft bringing his total to 208 enemy aircraft destroyed.

Soviet Premier Josef Stalin writes letters to U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill denouncing the leaders of the Warsaw rising as;


> "....a group of criminals."



*GERMANY:* Three targets are bombed by the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy: The Deschowitz synthetic oil facilities at Odertal is the target for 150 B-17 Flying Fortresses: 97 bomb visually and 53 use H2X radar to bomb. Five aircraft are lost. The I.G. Farben synthetic oil facilities at Blechhammer is the target for 114 B-24 Liberators: 66 bomb visually and 48 use H2X radar to bomb. Fourteen aircraft are lost. One aircraft bombs a marshalling yard as a target of opportunity.

Vienna is the target for 269 B-24 Liberators of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy: 150 bomb the Lobau oil refinery, 96 bomb the Korneuburg oil refinery and 23 bomb the Vienna oil refinery with the loss of 18 aircraft. All bombing is visually

*MEDITERRANEAN:* During the night of 22/23 August, 50 RAF Liberators of No. 205 Group bomb a marshalling yard at Miskolc with the loss of three aircraft.

During the night of 22/23 August, an RAF Liberator of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drops leaflets on Milan.


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## syscom3 (Nov 2, 2009)

*23 AUGUST 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The French resistance has largely freed Paris after fierce fighting. East of Paris Melun falls to US forces. South of Paris French troops with the US V Corps move forward to join the advance toward the French capitol. German SS engineers begin placing explosive charges around the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Montgomery advances toward the River Seine. In the south French troops reach the outskirts of both Marseilles and Toulon.

The Ninth Air Force sends 4 B-26s to drop leaflets in the Lisieux-Bernay area; fighters fly ground forces cover, sweeps, armed reconnaissance over the battle areas and along the Seine River, and attack artillery positions; 150+ C-47s fly supply and evacuation missions and several hundred reconnaissance aircraft fly tactical, visual, photographic, and artillery adjustment reconnaissance missions.

In France, 142 USAAF Eighth Air Force P-47s bomb and strafe rail transportation from Saint-Omer to Reims, France; 2 P-47s are damaged. The Eighth Air Force also dispatches 6 B-17s to drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night.

The forty or so Fw 190s of II./JG 6 arrived at their new airbase at Herpy near Reims. The base was not one of the known permanent bases as the Allies were constantly bombing these; so improvised airstrips in the country were being used. During the day, in getting familiar with the area, two Fw 190s crashed into each other during take-off.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet noose around the 6.Armee was almost complete by the evening of August 23. 12 divisions of the German 6.Armee are cut off by the Second and Third Ukraine Fronts. The Second Ukraine Front also takes Vaslui south of Jassy. In the west, elements of General Friedrich Mieth's 4.Armeekorps, which had been attached to the Fourth Romanian Army, had been trapped by the encircling Soviet armor south of Jassy and were being pushed toward the 6.Armee's positions. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Georg Postel's 30.Armeekorps, guarding the right flank of the 6.Armee, was forced to retreat to the southwest, suffering heavy casualties from enemy armor and air attacks. Along the entire front, Fretter-Pico's divisions fought delaying actions while attempting to reach the assumed safety of the Prut River.

As the German 6.Armee struggled to avert disaster, a political upheaval that would have far-reaching consequences for German forces in Romania was taking place in Bucharest, the nation's capital. King Michael dismissed Premier Ion Antonescu, who had been a leading supporter of Hitler and Romania's participation in the war against the Soviet Union.

The Luftwaffe, forced to fight a defensive battle, was rarely seen by the men of the Sixth Army. When the severity of the Soviet attack became clear, however, more air units were ordered to Romania by the Luftwaffe high command, but it was already too late to help Fretter-Pico's embattled troops.

Oblt. Franz Dörr, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 5, claimed six victories to record his 100th through 106th victories.

*GERMANY:* Eighty three Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack a railroad bridge at Ferrara with the loss of two aircraft. B-17s and B-24s of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bomb six targets in Austria: In Vienna, 68 bomb the Vosendorf Oil Refinery, 53 bomb the marshalling yard and 13 bomb the industrial area. Other targets hit are Markersdorf Airfield at St. Polten by 133 bombers, an aircraft engine plant at Wiener Neudorf by 94 aircraft (23 used H2X radar), and the industrial area at St. Leonhaid by 26 aircraft. Twelve aircraft are lost. One Fifteenth Air Force bomber bombs the marshalling yard at Nagykanizsa.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In France and Italy, USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack road and rail bridges north of the Arno River and roads leading north from Florence, and also hit bridges in the Rhone Valley of France; widespread haze in parts of France and Italy prevents accurate bombing; fighter-bombers continue to attack communications, gun positions, and road movements in the Provence battle areas.


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## syscom3 (Nov 2, 2009)

*24 AUGUST 1944* *THURSDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the north, the French 2nd Armored Division, under Major General Jacques LeClerc reaches the ourskirts of Paris. Fighting within the city again, due to German defensive movements. The French use back streets to crack the Germans' defenses of Paris and reach the heart of the city. Nearby, the US 4th Infantry Division pushes into Paris' suburbs. Meanwhile, the US 5th Infantry and 7th Armored Divisions bridge the Seine at Melun and Mandara, east of Paris.

In the south, US forces liberate Cannes and Antibes on the Riviera and Arles on the Rhone River while the Germans evacuate Bordeaux however, the Germans occupy fortified bunker positions on the Gironde estuary west of the city.

The first shipments of gasoline, ammunition, food and other military equipment begin streaming across France on the "Red Ball Express," a highway supply line using thousands of American trucks. Using two roads restricted to military traffic, Red Ballers hotrod form St. Lo in Normandy to advanced supply dumps of the US First and Third Armies. The Red Ball rolls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In the air, weather cancels a USAAF IX Bomber Command mission against 4 fuel dumps north of the Seine River; fighters give air cover to ground forces, mainly for 3 armored and 2 infantry divisions, bomb Seine River bridges, and fly armed reconnaissance along the Seine and around Troyes, Orleans, and Tours; about 270 C-47 Skytrains fly supply and evacuation missions.

During the night of 23/24 August, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s hit motor transport and targets of opportunity in the Rhone Valley; during the day, medium bombers bomb bridges at Montpelier, Avignon, and Lunel and score direct hits on gun positions in the Marseilles area; and fighters bomb and strafe gun positions, vehicles, roads and bridges throughout southeastern France.

At 18.00 hours on the 24th, Ob. West signaled that the Bf 109-equipped 5.(F)/123 would be transferring to Dijon to cooperate with Nineteenth Army. Its first task would be to cover the area east of the River Rhone plus Digne, Grenoble and Lyons, keeping in touch with the Army by radio. Earlier that day, Jafü Süd, by now also in Dijon, had been informed that the flying and ground elements of JGr. 200 assembling there were to be attached to Aufklärungsstaffel Kaatsch and operationally subordinated to Fernaufklärungsgruppe 123. This was the first Allied Intelligence had heard of the new Staffel. he 5.(F)/123 had already taken a battering over Normandy. While 5.(F)/123 would have been trained and - if it was receiving the right aircraft - equipped for photo reconnaissance, the new Staffel, composed of fighter pilots and ordinary Bf 109s, was presumably confined to visual observation. It was a measure of the trouble the Germans were in that they were having to convert the remains of an emergency fighter Gruppe into a stop-gap tactical reconnaissance Staffel. There had been an Fw 190 recon unit, 2./NAG 13, alongside JGr. 200 in the south but on 19 August orders had been given to move its operations to Italy and Bavaria and the unit was gone from JGr. 200.

*GERMANY:* In the air, the USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England dispatches 1,319 bombers and 739 fighters in four forces on visual attacks on strategic targets with some PFF on targets of opportunity; 26 bombers and 4 fighters are lost. (1) 433 B-24s are dispatched to attack aviation industry targets Waggum and Querum Airfields in Brunswick, Langenhagen Airfield in Hannover an oil refinery at Misburg; (2) 451 B-17s are dispatched to hit Merseburg oil refinery, Weimar and Kolleda Airfields and targets of opportunity; (3) 383 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil industry targets at Ruhland and Freital while 15 hit targets of opportunity; and (4) 43 B-24s hit Walther Airfield at Kiel while 3 others hit Hemmingstedt Airfield and 2 hit targets of opportunity. (5) 132 aircraft bomb the synthetic oil refinery in Brux while seven others bomb the industrial area; two aircraft are lost.

Eight Me 163 rocket fighters were sent aloft from Brandis to attack a formation of 185 B-17s on a raid on the oil refinery at Merseburg. Fw. Siegfried Schubert destroyed two B-17s while other rocket fighters destroyed two more bombers becoming the first victories for the little rocket bomber-destroyer. Two Komets were damaged, one from return fire of the bombers and another on landing.

The remaining pilots of Ekdo 262 at Lechfeld continued to fly missions in their jet fighters. Ofw. Helmut Baudach, a fifteen victory pilot from JG 2, shot down a Spitfire PR XIX of RAF No. 683 Squadron in his Me 262.

The second version of the Focke-Wulf Ta 152 crashed after developing engine trouble.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs three targets: 158 bomb the airfield at Pardurice while 110 hit the oil refinery in the same city; another 100 bomb the oil refinery at Kolin; 13 bombers are lost. 62 bomb the railroad bridge at Ferrara; individual bomber hit the railroad at Bordeno and Formignana and a target of opportunity at Polesella; two aircraft are lost. Forty nine heavy bombers visually bomb the railroad bridge at Szeged [Hungary] without loss. Fifty one visually bomb a marshalling yard at Vincovici [Yugoslavia].

During the day, medium bombers of the USAAF's Twelfth Air Force bomb bridges at Solignano Nuovo, and Castel del Rio. During the night of 23/24 August, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s hit motor transport and targets of opportunity at Genoa, Milan, and Turin while 74 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the Main marshalling yard at Bologna.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The German Heeresgruppe Sud Ukraine, under Freissner, has been shattered by Russian attacks and the defection of the Romanian forces attached. Kishinev falls to the Soviets. German forces in the area of Kishinev on the Southern front were surrounded by the Red Army. Although some gaps remained in the Soviet line guarding the Prut River, units of the IV Guards Mechanized Corps and the XVIII Tank Corps were able to link up, ensuring that most avenues of escape were effectively blocked. The encirclement of the 6.Armee was nearly complete.

Finnish President Mannerheim and the cabinet unanimously decide to seek peace with Soviet Union. It is agreed that the decision can't be postponed even if Germany is continuously providing Finland with war material and Hitler hasn't reacted to Mannerheim's message to Keitel that Finland will stay in the war only as long as it is in her interest to do so.

German submarine U-354 (Type VIIC) is sunk about 238 nautical miles (441 kilometres) north-northwest of Murmansk, U.S.S.R. (now Russia), in position 72.49N, 30.41E, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Mermaid (U 30) and Peacock (U 96), the frigate HMS Loch Dunvegan (K 425) and the destroyer HMS Keppel (D 84). All 51 crewmen on the U-boat are lost.

Elements of famed Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel's StG 2 were flown to a base near Ploesti during the final week of August. In his memoirs, Rudel described the situation as he arrived at the base:


> "As I come in to land, I see roads leading to the aerodrome are packed with endless streams of Romanian military trekking southward; in places convoys are halted by traffic jams. Heavy artillery of all calibers are among them. But there are no German units there. I am witnessing the last act of a tragedy. Whole sectors were held by Romanian units which have ceased to offer any resistance whatever and are now in full retreat. The Soviets are at their heels."


Rudel had seen the same thing near Stalingrad -- masses of Romanian troops fleeing in the face of a Russian attack. At that time, he later said, he would have bombed or strafed his erstwhile allies if he had any ammunition left. The same thought apparently crossed his mind as he witnessed this latest debacle.

Hptm. Erich Hartmann Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 52, became the first person ever to score 300 kills in an aircraft. German fighters claimed a total of twenty-four victories near Sandomierz.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* _'U-445' _(Type VIIC) is sunk about 148 nautical miles (274 kilometres) west of Saint-Nazaire, France, in position 47.21N, 05.50W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Louis' _(K 515, ex USN DE-517). All 53 crewmen on the U-boat are lost.


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## syscom3 (Nov 2, 2009)

*25 AUGUST 1944* *FRIDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In France: Paris is liberated by French and US troops. The French 2d Armored Division, bypassing resistance in the Versailles area, get forward elements into Paris from the southwest at 0700 hours local. The US 4th Infantry Division enters the city from the south at about 0730 hours local. FFI forces and jubilant French civilians assist in the methodical clearing of scattered strongpoints within the city. The German commander in Paris, Lt. General Dietrich von Cholitz, surrenders formally to Brigadier General Jacques-Philippe LeClerc of the French 2d Armored Division. The US 22d Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, establishes a bridgehead across the Seine River south of Paris. The Fall of Paris ended the Normandy campaign, but the Allies were still dependent on the port of Cherbourg for supplies.

The US VIII Corps begins a major attack on Brest at 1300 hours after preparatory bombardment for an hour but three divisions make little headway. The British battleship HMS _'Warspite' _bombards the German garrison with her 15-inch (38,1 centimetre) guns.

The British 43d Division establishes a bridgehead across the Seine River at Vernon under cover of artillery fire. The British XXX Corps enters Vernon on the Seine. The XII Corps prepares to cross at Louviers. Canadian forces liberate Elbeuf.

In Southern France, the US 3d Infantry Division drives through Cavaillon, Orgon and Avignon without opposition. Avignon in southern France is liberated by US forces. Fighting in Toulon and Marseilles continues.

The US IX Air Force sends about 240 A-20s and B-26s to attack various enemy strongholds in and around Brest supporting the ground forces' attempt to capture Brest harbor; fighters provide air cover for 5 divisions, fly armed reconnaissance along the Seine River, and sweeps in wide areas around Paris which is liberated; fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command raid, and set afire with napalm tanks, the reported HQ of Field Marshall Walter Model (Commander-in-Chief West) and Verzy.

A-20s of the US XII Air Force fly armed reconnaissance over the Rhone Valley and hit ammunition stores; B-25s and B-26s attack Rhone River bridges at Avignon, Culoz, Saint-Alban- du-Rhone, Pont d'Ain, and Loyes, and hit gun positions around Marseilles. 

The US VIII Air Force flies 3 missions; Mission 571: 10 B-24s fly an Azon glide bomb mission to Moerdijke, the Netherlands but the target is missed. Escort is provided by 36 P-47s. Mission 572: 107 bombers and 172 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on liquid oxygen and ammonia plants in Belgium and northern France: (1) 31 38 B-17s hit Henin Littard; and (2) B-24s bomb Willerbroeck (1 8 ), Tertre (17), Tiller/Liege (12) and La Louviere (10); 4 others hit St Trond Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity. Escort for Mission 572 is provided by 152 P-38s and P-51s. Mission 573: 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France and Belgium during the night. 1 C-47 Skytrain flies a CARPETBAGGER mission during the night.

German submarine _'U-667' _is sunk about 18 nautical miles (34 kilometres) west-southwest of the sub base at La Rochelle, by a mine in the minefield Cinnamon. All 45 men on the U-boat are lost. 

German submarine _'U-178' _is scuttled at Bordeaux to prevent capture by the Allies.

II./JG 6 flew its first operational sortie from the new base at Herpy. During a sweep of the Seine, the Gruppe was led by ground control to a squadron of P-38 Lightnings attacking the airfield at Clastres. As twelve P-38s of the USAAF 394th FS attacked the airfield, about forty Fw 190s bounced the American warplanes. Six P-38s were shot down in very quick succession. Distress calls from the US Squadron brought help from the USAAF 392nd and 393rd Fighter Squadrons who took on the Focke-Wulfs. The tables turned and sixteen Fw 190s were shot down, including that of Lt. Rudi Dassow, a Staffelkapitän with the 8./JG 6 and a successful bomber-destroyer pilot with twenty-two victories. The remaining fighters of JG 6 accounted for only one more P-38 before breaking off the engagement. The Gruppe had lost nearly half its strength and fourteen pilots killed.

The 474th FG lost 11 of 23 P-38s shot down against 75+ Bf 109s and Fw 190s from JG 26 and JG 76, some flown by top Luftwaffe aces such as Hptm. Emil Lang who claimed three of the Lightnings.


*MEDITERRANEAN:* During the night of 25/26 August, the British Eighth Army (British V, Canadian I and Polish II Corps) begin their main assault on the Gothic Line from the Metauro River line. The Germans, taken by surprise, offer only ineffective opposition. Meanwhile, 73 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group visually bomb the marshalling yard and canal at Ravenna.

B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the US XV Air Force based in Italy bomb four targets, three of them in Brno: 82 bomb the Kurim aircraft factory at Brno, 80 bomb Brno Airfield and 79 bomb the Lison aircraft engine factory at Brno; one bomber is lost. The fourth target is Prostejov Airfield which is hit by 71 bombers with the loss on one.

Three bombers of the US XV Air Force hit targets of opportunity in Hungary including a railroad bridge. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Before the ring finally closed on the 6.Armee in the Ukraine, most of the surviving troops of Hell's 7.Armeekorps had managed to cross the river and continued retreating to the southwest. The remnants of Mieth's 4.Armeekorps were also on the west side of the Prut. However, their attempt to escape would prove futile, as armored spearheads of the Second Ukrainian Front had already gained positions on the west banks of the Prut, Barladul and Siret rivers. The rapid Soviet advance forced the 6.Armee to change the direction of its retreat. Instead of heading southwest, the army was told to break out in a westerly direction in order to join with German forces in the Carpathian Mountains. ith Soviet forces blocking the German retreat, pressure was now increased on the main body of the 6.Armee north of the Prut. Heavy fighting occurred east of Kishinev and German casualties increased as Soviet tanks broke through the main defensive line, forcing both corps to retreat. While the generals debated what course of action they should take, the Second Ukrainian Front captured Hsui, closing the last German escape route. Instead of relatively weak forces in the southwest, the Germans now faced a double ring of steel.

King Michael of Romania concluded an armistice with Moscow and declared war on Germany. The armistice allowed many of the Soviet units participating in mopping up the remnants of the Romanian armies to be brought into action against the 6.Armee. Compounding the danger to the Germans, several Romanian units were almost immediately incorporated into the Red Army. With the wholesale capitulation of the Romanian army, the entire German front in southeast Europe was on the verge of collapse. Inside the pocket, General Postel issued orders to the encircled divisions:


> "We are surrounded. Begin a breakthrough in a southwesterly direction toward the Prut."


The mass retreat began during the night, in hopes there would be some relief from the constant bombing and strafing by the Soviet air force.

Major Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 54 shot down 5 Russian aircraft to bring his score to 172 victories.

The Finnish Ambassador in Stockholm, G. A. Gripenberg meets the Soviet Ambassador Alexandra Kollontay and hands her a letter written by Foreign Minister Enckell. In the letter Enckell informs the Soviet government that Finland is willing to start peace negotiations in Moscow. On the same day Finland officially informs Germany that the promise made by the ex-President Risto Ryti to Ribbentrop (that Finland shall not make peace unless in full agreement with Germany) is in force no more.

German submarines _'U-18' _and _'U-24' _are scuttled at Konstanza on the Black Sea. Eight men are killed on the _'U-18'_.

*GERMANY:* The US VIII Air Force in England flies 1 mission. Mission 570: 1,191 bombers and 708 fighters, in 3 forces, make visual bombing attacks against aircraft component plants, Luftwaffe experimental stations and the synthetic oil industry; 18 bombers and 7 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking the target. (1) B-24s attack aircraft component plants at Rostock (116), Schwerin (106), Wismar (91) and Lubeck (81); 11 others hit Grossenbrode Airfield and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 243 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 11-2-3 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost. (2) B-17s bomb the Rechlin Experimental Station (179) and oil refinery at Politz (169); 6 others hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s; escort is provided by 215 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-2 aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost. (3) B-17s attack the Peenemunde Experimental Station (146), Neubrandenburg Airfield (10 8 ) and Anklam Airfield (73); 21 others hit Parow Airfield and 5 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 171 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 36-0-28 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.

With the abandonment of He 177 operations due to the critical fuel situation, the crews from KG 1 'Hindenburg' were disbanded and incorporated into a new Geschwader, JG 7, that initially flew Fw 190s. Due to the scarcity of pilots, the Geschwader was equipped instead with Bf 109G-14s. III./KG 1 was ordered renamed II./JG 7 at Prowehren/East Prussia and was stationed at Ziegenhain airfield in Czechoslovakia. Formations were the Stab./JG 7 led by Obst. Johannes ‘Macki’ Steinhoff, I Gruppe formed from II./KG 1 led by Hptm Gerhard Baeker and II Gruppe formed from III./KG 1 at Prowehren/East Prussia.


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## syscom3 (Nov 3, 2009)

*26 AUGUST 1944* *SATURDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* General de Gaulle returns to Paris to participate in a ceremonial parade.

The US Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command, with fighter escort, strikes fuel dumps at Saint-Gobain, Fournival/Bois- de-Mont, and Compiegne/ Clairoix, and troop and equipment concentrations at Rouen; fighters fly ground forces and assault area cover, and armed reconnaissance in the Rouen, Dijon, Chatillon-sur- Seine and S Loire areas.

The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 7 missions: Mission 575: 359 B-17s attack gun batteries in the Brest, France area; targets are Brest/Pte de St Mathieu (35) and coastal batteries at Kerandieu (27), Cornovailles (21), Brest/Ile Longue (20), Brest/Kerviniov (9) and Brest/Ponscorf (7); targets of opportunity are Brest/Pte des Espagnoles II (21) and Brest/Pte des Espagnoles III (18 ); escort is provided by 48 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost. Mission 577: 9 B-24s fly an AZON bomb mission to Moerdijk rail bridge, the Netherlands but clouds prevent an attack. Escort is provided by 32 P-51s. Mission 578: 37 B-17s are dispatched to hit liquid oxygen plants at La Louviere, Torte and Willebroeck, Belgium but the mission is aborted due to clouds. Escort is provided by 18 P-51s. Mission 579: 3 B-17s fly a special bomb test using Micro H radar against aviation industry targets at Meaulte, France. Escort is provided by 7 P-47s. Mission 580: 3 B-17s fly a Micro H test mission; 2 of the aircraft also drop leaflets. Mission 581: 7 B-24s are dispatched on a radio countermeasures mission to aid the RAF Bomber Command. Mission 582: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night. 183 P-47s and 206 P-51s attack transport targets in Belgium, eastern France and western Germany in an attempt to prevent the escape of German forces; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-47s and 7 P-51s are lost.

During the night of 25/26 August, the US Twelfth Air Force sends fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance over the Nice, France area to bomb vehicles and other targets of opportunity, and during the day to bomb ammunition dumps in southeastern France; B-25s and B-26s hit guns in the Marseilles area but several missions into the Rhone Valley are aborted due to bad weather; fighter-bombers and fighters fly armed reconnaissance over southeastern France, attacking rail lines, roads, guns, vehicles, and other targets of opportunity.

The remaining planes of II./JG 6 were ordered to cover the retreating German forces crossing at the River Seine.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Solid bridgeheads are established by the British 8th Army over the River Metauro in Italy. The German 71.Division falls back in the face of attacks by V Corps.

During the night of 26/27 August, two RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly a night leaflet mission over Hungary.

During the day, USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s visually bomb five railroad targets without loss: 55 bomb the railroad viaduct at Venzone; 54 bomb the railroad bridge at Ferrara, 39 bomb the railroad viaduct at Aviso; 13 bomb the railroad bridge at Latisana and one bombs the railroad bridge at Piave. During the night of 26/27 August, 66 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack German troop concentrations at Pesano without loss.

USAAF Fiftheenth Air Force B-24s visually bomb three targets, two of them in Bucharest: 114 bomb Otoperni Airfield in Bucharest and 114 bomb 114 bomb tactical targets in Bucharest and 20 bomb the ferry at Giurgiu. 

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s visually bomb two targets without loss: 54 bomb the railroad bridge at Borovnica and one hits the marshalling yard at Nis.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Russian advance reaches the Danube River east of Galati, Romania. The German army in southeast Europe now began to disintegrate as division and regimental commanders took their own initiative in seeking avenues of escape. As soon as dawn broke, the rain of steel began anew as Soviet ground-attack aircraft set upon the columns of retreating Germans. Brigadier General Werner von Eichstadt, commanding the 294.Infantriedivision, and Maj. Gen. Hans de Salengre-Drabbe of the 384.Infantriedivision were both killed during the retreat while General Postel and General Erich von Bogen of the 302.Infantriedivision were wounded. In other areas, small groups of Germans found breaks in the Soviet lines and fled farther west. However, the majority of the 6.Armee was caught in a vise that continued to compress the pocket relentlessly. The bulk of the 6.Armee remained trapped near the Prut River, with smaller pockets encircled near Vulcani and Stalinesti.

Bulgaria withdraws from the war and disarms German troops.

The USS _'Yarnell' _(DD-143), was commissioned as HMS _'Lincoln' _(G-42) on 23 Oct. 1940, part of the destroyers-for- bases deal. Today, this ship is transferred to Russia as _'Druzhny'_. She joins several sister ships transferred earlier this year. They will return to the RN between 1949-1952.

*GERMANY:* The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 1 mission (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking). Mission 576: 588 bombers and 402 fighters, in 3 forces, attack oil refineries, fuel stores and chemical works in Germany; 10 bombers and 3 fighters are lost. (1) B-24s bomb the chemical works at Ludwigshafen (41); secondary targets hit are marshalling yards at Ehrang (33) and Kons/Karthaus (8 ); 11 others hit Alzey and 2 hit other targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 77 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost. (2) B-17s bomb oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen/ Buer (89) and Gelsenkirchen/ Nordstern (85); 19 hit Deelen Airfield, a secondary target, and 11 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 159 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s without loss. (3) B-24s hit the Dulmen fuel dump (73) and oil refineries at Salzbergen (71) and Emmerich (36); 36 others hit Eindhoven Airfield; escort is provided by 129 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-38 and 1 P-51 are lost.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The US IX Troop Carrier Command is relieved of its assignment to the Ninth Air Force upon transfer of the command and its service organizations from the IX Air Force Services Command to HQ First Allied Airborne Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton.


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## syscom3 (Nov 3, 2009)

*27 AUGUST 1944* *SUNDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In northern France, the Canadian 4th Armoured and 3d Divisions begin crossing the Seine River between Elbeuf and Pont de l'Arche and clear Tourlaville. The French 2d Armored Division and the US 4th Infantry Division drive northeast to the outskirts of Paris, the French overcoming strong opposition at Le Bourget Airfield. The US VIII Corps completes the encirclement of Brest while Third Army armored units reach the Marne River at Chauteau-Thierry, secure crossings, and overrun the town. The US 12th Army Group allocates priority in supply to the US First Army rather than Patton's Third Army. Supplies are becoming increasingly short.

In southern France, the French 2d Corps continues to clear the environs of Toulon but halts when the Germans agree to surrender the peninsula tomorrow. At Marseille, Fort St. Nicolas surrenders, but scattered opposition remains. In the evening, the German command requests an interview to discuss surrender terms.

Whilst attempting the clearance of a German minefield 5 miles (8 kilometres) off the Normandy coast between Fecamp and Cap d'Antifer near Le Harve, three British minesweepers are attacked by Allied aircraft: (1) HMS _'Hussar' _(J 82) of the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla is sunk by rockets fired by RAF Typhoon Mk IBs of No 263 and 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron resulting in 55 casualties; (2) HMS _'Britomart' _(J 22)is also sunk with 22 casualties; and (3) HMS _'Salamander' _(J 86) is so seriously damaged that she is beyond repair. In all 78 officers and ratings were killed and 149 wounded, in what was the most serious "friendly fire" incident involving RN ships of the war.

Two hundred twenty one RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb the Mimoyecquest V-1 site at Marquise while 24 Lancasters bomb two ships in Brest Harbor and claimed hits on both.

In southeastern France and Italy, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force sends B-25s and B-26s to hit gun emplacements in the Marseilles area.

In northern France, the USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command attacks troop concentrations in the Rouen area, Rouen bridge, the Boursin navigational beam station at Boulogne-sur- Mer, and Bucy-les-Pierrepont and Foret de Samoussy fuel dumps; fighters cover ground forces and fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance in the Senlis area and south of the Loire River claiming 16 aircraft (11 in the air) destroyed, and losing 6.

Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb eight targets: 45 bomb Heligoland Island using H2X radar, 37 bomb the port area at Emden, 35 bomb the airfield at Brondom, 34 bomb the Wilhelmshaven port area using H2X radar, five bomb the airfield at Husum, and six aircraft bomb individual targets of opportunity. Only two aircraft are lost. Sixty USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the airfield at Esbjerg with the loss of one aircraft and one aircraft bombs the marshalling yard at Flensberg.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 243 aircraft, 216 Halifaxes 14 Mosquitos and 13 Lancasters on a historic raid to Homberg, the first major raid by Bomber Command to Germany in daylight since 12 August 1941, when 54 Blenheims had attacked power-stations near Cologne for the loss of 10 aircraft. This raid was escorted by nine squadrons of Spitfires on the outward flight and seven squadrons on the withdrawal. One Bf110 is seen; the Spitfires drove it off. There was intense flak over the target but no bombers were lost. The target was the Rheinpreussen synthetic-oil refinery at Meerbeck. The bombing was based on Oboe marking but 5-8/10ths cloud produced difficult conditions, though some accurate bombing was claimed through gaps in the clouds.

During the night of 27/28 August, 27 RAF Mosquitos bomb Mannheim using H2S radar while four visually bomb Duisburg.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, bombs two I.G. Farben synthetic oil refineries at Blechhammer: 213 B-24s bomb the Blechhammer South facility (28 using H2X radar) and 137 B-17s bomb the Blechhammer North facility.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British Eighth Army makes steady progress northward toward the main Gothic Line positions. 

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack bridges at Berceto; fighter-bombers continue armed reconnaissance in the Po Valley and over roads leading north from the battle line north of the Arno River; and A-20 Havocs bomb targets of opportunity in the Po Valley.

During the night of 27/28 August, USAAF Twelfth Air Force aircraft fly armed reconnaissance in north central Italy.

One hundred fifty five B-24 Liberators of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force bomb four targets: 56 bomb the railroad bridge at Ferrara, 52 bomb a railroad viaduct at Aviso while 46 a second railroad viaduct at Aviso, and one bombs a railroad bridge at Latisana.
54 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb troop concentrations at Pesano.

Twenty nine B-24s of the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force visually bomb a railroad bridge at Borovnica and six bomb the marshalling yard at Pec.
During the night of 27/28 August, six RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group mine the Danube River.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Focsani falls to troops of the Second Ukrainian Front while Galati, the third largest city in Romania and chief port on the Danube, falls to troops of the Third Ukrainian Front.

The Red Army crossed the Carpathian Mountains and advanced into central Romania. In the end, the 6.Armee suffered the same fate as its predecessor at Stalingrad. It took the Soviets another week to eliminate the last pockets of resistance, but most of the German divisions had already been destroyed by the end of the month. The number of Germans killed during the Jassy-Kishinev operation was put at 100,000, with another 98,000 taken prisoner. All 14 German divisions of the 6.Armee were destroyed, though some of them were later rebuilt. The four corps commanders, along with most of the divisional commanders, were taken prisoner or killed. The 6.Armee was all but gone, and the 8.Armee was badly weakened. Romania was out of the war, and the oil fields at Ploesti were now in the hands of the Red Army.


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## syscom3 (Nov 3, 2009)

*28 AUGUST 1944* *MONDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In northern France, US Lt.General Leonard T. Gerow, Commanding General V Corps, in a letter to French General Pierre Joseph Koening, Military Governor of Paris, turns over the city to the French. The US First Army crosses the Marne River at Meaux while the US Third Army (Patton) rumbles 50 miles (81 kilometres) and closes in on Chalons-sur- Marne and Vitro-le-Francois. Patton's tanks and trucks are only 140 miles (225 kilometres) from the French-German border but are running out of diesel fuel and gasoline.

In northern France, the USAAF Ninth Air Force dispatches B-26s and A-20s, escorted by fighters, to bomb fuel dumps at Doullens, Barisis-aux- Bois, an ammunition dump at Querrieu, an ammunition and fuel dump at Compiegne/ Foret de Laigue, and an alcohol distillery and fuel storage depot at Hamm; fighters escort about 400 C-47 Skytrains on supply and evacuation runs, attack airfields at Bourges and Peronne, support ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance from Amiens to east of Dijon.

In southern France, French troops led by General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny eliminate German resistance in Marseilles and Toulon, France's biggest Mediterranean ports, and the German forces surrender. Marseilles's liberation is a godsend for the Allies, who badly need an undamaged French seaport. During the next three months, one-third of Allied supplies and equipment will be offloaded in Marseilles and forwarded to Eisenhower's armies. The German 11.Panzerdivision is cut off, south of Montelimar in the Rhone Valley. In attacking to the north they take severe losses from artillery and air strikes.

In southeastern France, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb railroad bridges in the Lyon area while fighter-bombers hit vehicles in the Rhone Valley.

The first Me-262 to be lost to direct enemy action was shot down near Brussels. Einsatzkommando Schenk suffered its only combat aircraft loss of the war when a flight of four P-47s from the USAAF 78th FG bounced Ofw. Hyronimus 'Ronny' Lauer near Brussels, Belgium who crashed his Me 262 trying to escape the Allied fighters. Ofw. Lauer survived.

*EASTERN FRONT:* A new government in Hungary takes office. Headed by Colonel-General General GŽza Lakatos, they announce their readiness to negotiate with the Russians.

The Third Ukraine Front takes Braila on the Danube. Units of the Second Ukraine Front drive into Transylvania through the Oituz Pass in the Carpathian Mountains.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British Eighth Army continues to gain ground toward the Gothic Line with the Polish 2 Corps reaching the Arzilla River. During the night of 28/29 August, elements of the 8th Indian Division capture Tigliano, north of Pontassieve.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders destroy several airplanes at Villafranca di Verona Airfield and a bridge at Parma; fighter-bombers bomb and strafe roads and bridges in the battle area north of the Arno River and hit shipping in Imperia and Savona harbors.

B-24s of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attack four targets: 59 bomb the railroad bridge at Ora, 40 bomb the railroad viaduct at Aviso, ten bomb the railroad bridge at Peschiera Del Grade and nine bomb the highway bridge at Zambana. Two aircraft are lost. 

During the night of 28/29 August, 50 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb troop concentrations at Pesano.

B-24s of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy attack three targets: 105 bomb the marshalling yard at Miskolc, 103 bomb the Szony Oil Refinery at Komarom, and 84 bomb the Szajol Railroad Bridge at Szolnok. Two aircraft are lost.

A B-24 LIberator of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs the marshalling yard at Subotica.

During the night of 28/29 August, nine RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group mine the Danube River.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* A USAAF Douglas (Model DC-4A) C-54A-1-DC, msn 10276, USAAF serial number 42-72171, crashes into a residential area at 0100 hours local in poor visibility while attempting to land at RAF Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, after a trans-Atlantic flight. All 20 aboard the aircraft and five people on the ground are killed.

*GERMANY:* One hundred fifty five B-17s of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomb the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery at Vienna without loss.

The commander of Luftflotte 6, Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim, was awarded the Schwertern, becoming the ninety-second soldier so honored.

Hptm. Wilhelm Fulda was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 302, replacing Hptm. Richard Lewens who had left on 20 August.


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## syscom3 (Nov 3, 2009)

*29 AUGUST 1944* *TUESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, directs that the main effort against the Germans will be made in the north.

In northern France, the 15,000 men of the U.S. 28th Infantry Division parade down the Champs ElysŽes in Paris at the request of Charles de Gaulle. Due to the extensive barricading of streets in the city, the parade serves the dual purpose of moving the 28th Division through Paris, and toward combat positions east of the city. For the first time in US military history, soldiers marched straight from a parade, into combat within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the US 5th Infantry Division captures Reims while the assault on Brest continues against unabated resistance.

Bad weather allows only minimum bomber and fighter operations by the USAAF Ninth Air Force; B-26s attack a fuel dump while a few fighters fly sweeps over northwestern France; 100+ C-47 Skytrains complete supply and evacuation missions.

In southern France, organized German resistance at Loriol and Livron ends.

US Marine Corps detachments from the heavy cruiser USS _'Augusta' _(CA-31) and light cruiser USS _'Philadelphia' _(CL-41) accept the surrender of two German-held islands in Marseilles Harbor and disarm the garrisons.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters attack targets in the Rhone Valley. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British 6th Armoured Division reaches Consuma while the Canadian 1st and British 5th Corps thrust to the Foglia RIver, behind which the Germans are moving reinforcements.

In the air, medium bombers of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force hit four bridges and a viaduct in northeastern Italy while A-20s hit a fuel station; fighter-bombers hit roads and bridges in northern Italy and support ground forces in the Arno River Valley; P-47s fly medium bomber escort and armed reconnaissance, claiming 100 vehicles destroyed.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force visually bombs two targets: 54 bomb the railroad bridge at Ferrara with the loss of two aircraft and 28 bomb the railroad bridge at Salcano.

During the day, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bombs four targets: (1) 47 bomb the marshalling yard at Szeged and (2) 30 bomb the railroad bridge at Szeged; (3) 38 bomb the marshalling yard at Szolnok with the loss of one aircraft; and (4) and 26 bomb the marshalling yard at Czegleb.

During the day, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs four targets: (1) 178 aircraft bomb the tank factory at Ostrave Moravaska (126 using H2X radar) with the loss of 12 aircraft; (2) 26 bomb the marshalling yard at Ostrave Moravaska using H2X radar; (3) 26 bomb the industrial area at Ostrava Moravaska using H2X; and (4) 32 bomb the oil refinery at Bohumin (27 using H2X) with the loss of five aircraft.

During the day, 28 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers visually bomb the railroad bridge at Borovnica while six others bomb the marshalling yard at Subotica.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The British and US governments recognize the Polish Home Army (AK) as a responsible belligerent. The Germans refuse to accept this and the fighting in Warsaw continues. Soviet and Polish Communists announce the finding of 1.5 million dead around the area of the Majdanek concentration camp.

Soviet troops capture Constanta, the Black Sea port.

The Soviet government announces that it cannot accept or recognize Bulgarian neutrality which was claimed on 26 August.

The Soviet government replies to the Finnish offer to start the peace negotiations. Before the negotiations can begin, Finland has to immediately and publicly sever all relations with Germany and demand all German troops to be withdrawn from the country by the 15 September. If the Germans fail to comply, they have to be disarmed and handed over to the Allies (=Soviets). The next day Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, President of the Republic and Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces, decides to accept the Soviet conditions. The Parliament, whose agreement is needed to affirm the acceptance, is set to decide on the matter on the 5 September.

During the night of 29/30 August, two RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group mine the Danube River.

During a daylight mission with IV(Sturm)./JG 3, Uffz. Willi Unger destroyed two B-17 Flying Fortresses around Trenein in Slovakia.

*GERMANY*: 189 Lancasters of the RAF 5th Bomber Group attacked Königsberg again wiping out 41% of the city and 20% of the industrial installations. Bomber crews reported significant interceptions by night fighters. Fifteen Lancasters were lost. 402 Lancasters and a single Mosquito of the RAF 1st, 3rd, 6th and 8th Bombing Groups attacked Stettin. Twenty-three Lancasters were lost, but the bombs destroyed sectors of the city which had survived previous bombings. One Lancaster was attacked by a night fighter and with heavy damage was diverted to Sweden. Victorious night fighter pilots to make claims over both Stettin and Königsberg were Fw. Irmscher of 12./NJG 5, Oblt. Breitfeld of 9./NJG 5, Major Werner Hoffmann of Stab I./NJG 5, Fw. Schäfer of Eins.St./NJG 102, Oblt. Scholl of Eins St./NJG 102, Oblt. Ernst Drünkler of 1./NJG 5 and Oblt. Peter Ehrhardt of 8./NJG 5. Lt. Kurt Welter of 1./NJG 10 brought down four RAF Lancaster four-engined bombers to bring his score to twenty-seven victories.


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## syscom3 (Nov 3, 2009)

*30 AUGUST 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*NORTH AMERICA:* Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis' Union Nationale Party returns to power in Quebec. Duplessis is the 16th premier of Quebec.

*WESTERN FRONT:* French General deGaulle's Provisional French Government is established in Paris. In northern France, the Canadian 2nd Division captures Rouen after suffering heavy casualties. The British XII Corps advances 25 miles (40 kilometers) to Gournay. The US XIX Corps drives rapidly northeast against light resistance reaching positions less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Beauvais while the VII Corps captures Laon. Elements of the US Third Army continue their assault on Brest while other units drives east toward the Meuse River and towards Verdun.

In the air over northern France, about 75 USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20s and B-26s bomb a fuel dump near Arques-la-Bataille, Rouxmesnil-Bouteill es, and gun positions around Ile de Cezembre; weather grounds the fighters.

In southern France, US Seventh Army elements drive through Nice to Beaulieu without opposition.The US VI Corps' next objective is Lyon and the Forces Francaises de l'Interieur (FFI or French Forces of the Interier, i.e., the underground) units within Lyon are alerted to assist the French and US columns when they arrive in the city; and elements of the French Army B captures Nimes and Montpellier.

USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-24s from England bomb eight V-weapon sites using radar: 45 bomb the site at Fiefs, 38 attack Flers, 37 bomb Crepieul, 22 hit Haute Maisnil, 19 bomb Cauche D'Ecques, eight bomb Fleury, five hit Villiers L'Hopital, and four attack Coubronne. Nine bombers also visually bomb a supply dump at Bricy Airfield in Orleans.

Johannes Antonius Kuhn was a Dutch National who, while flying a Douglas DB-8A, was shot down by a Bf 110 of II./ZG 1 on 10 May, 1940 and later joined the Luftwaffe, flying new or repaired aircraft from factories to front-line units.. Kuhn was based at Langendiebach and he regularly had to take-off in He 111s of TG 30 participating in supply flights for the German pockets of resistance on the Atlantic coast. The ferry pilots had to accept the risk of allied intruder fighters spoiling for a fight. Many pilots were shot down due to this cause. When the ferried aircraft finally reached the airfields, they were then likely to become targets for allied bombers. He decided to desert. To do so he had to wait for a favorable moment, which presented itself on 30 August 1944. He was flying one of fourteen FW 190A-8s being sent to reinforce JG 26 at Brussels-Melbroek. Kuhn was flying Werknummer 171747. At 11:30 hours he took off for Belgium. He passed Aachen and Ostend and then headed west, flying close to many ships as he crossed over the North Sea. So as not to run the risk of being shot down by British flak, he did not head for a known aerodrome, but managed to put his aircraft down in open country near Monkton in Kent. It was a good landing and his aircraft suffered only minor damage. It would receive the serial 'AM230' and would be on displayed to the public at Farnborough in 1945, then went to the Science Museum in London in 1946. It was later scrapped. As for Kuhn he remained a POW in Great Britain until 1949.

*GERMANY*: In the afternoon, USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s attack five targets without loss: (1) 327 bomb the Borgward armored fighting vehicle plant in Bremen using H2X radar; (2) 284 hit the Krupp U-Boat shipyard at Kiel; (3) one bombs a target of opportunity at Bassen; (4) one bombs the industrial area in Bremen; (5) three others attack targets of opportunity.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The Allied commander, British General Sir Harold Alexander, plans a bluff to crack the Germans' Gothic Line and liberate northern Italy. Alexander begins with an attack on the eastern end of the Gothic Line. Next week, Americans will attack the western end in an apparent main assault. The British will then make a second attack in the east. Alexander's three-punch strategy will be a partial success. The British Eighth Army begins an attack on the main defenses of the Gothic Line against stiffening resistance. Two brigades of the First Canadian Corps cross the Foglia River and fight their way through the German Gothic Line toward Rimini.

Heavy bombers of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bombs three targets: (1) 78 bomb a railroad bridge at Cuprija; (2) seven bomb the marshalling yard at Novi Sad; and (3) one bombs the marshalling yard at Brod.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Ploesti, the center of the Romanian oil industry, falls to troops of the Soviet Second Ukrainian Front, cutting off more than half of Germany's oil supplies. A new Romanian regime declares war on Germany.

Ofw. Rudolf ‘Rudi’ Rademacher with 1./JG 54 was transferred to 1./Jagdgruppe Nord based at Sagan, to undertake instructing duties. Despite his training duties Rademacher was able to engage in aerial combat and claimed five enemy aircraft shot down, including four four-engined bombers and P-47, during his stay with the unit.


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## syscom3 (Nov 3, 2009)

*31 AUGUST 1944* *THURSDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In northern France, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division drives quickly to Forges and Buchy. The British 11th Armoured Division captures Amiens and seizes the bridge across the Somme River intact. The US XIX Corps captures Chantilly, Creil, Pont Ste Maxence, Verberie and Compiegne. Operations against Brest are temporarily suspended by the US VIII Corps while elements of the US XX Corps establishes across the Meuse at Verdun.

In the air, 99 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s bomb an ammunition dump at Foret d'Arques and gun positions at Ile de Cezembre; fighters fly armed reconnaissance in the Amiens, Saint-Quentin, Albert, and Arras areas, ground forces cover for 3 armored divisions, battleship cover, and also dive-bomb Ile de Cezembre.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 594: 34 bombs visually bomb the supply depot at Bricy Airfield in Orleans. During the night of 31 August/1 September, six B-17s drop leaflets in France and 37 B-24 Liberators and C-47 Skytrains fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

In southern France, U.S. troops find Briancon free of Germans and the VI Corps speeds up the Rhone Valley toward Lyon.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The attack of the British 8th Army against the Gothic Line continues. There are some successes. West of the British Eighth Army, the US VI Corps follows up on a German withdrawal along the Arno River in Italy.

The USAAF's Twelfth Air Force dispatches B-25s and B-26s to attack railroad bridges in the Po Valley, cutting the bridge at Mira.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers attack communications targets.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Bucharest falls to the Russian Second Ukraine Front. The Soviets immediately begin the round-up of members of the 'Fascist' Antonescu government.

B-17s of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy commence *Operation REUNION* (the evacuation of US airmen interned in Romania); 38 B-17s evacuate more than 700 of the 1,100 US airmen from Bucharest (which falls to the Soviet Army today) to Bari, Italy. This operation is the brainchild of Romanian airmen and civilians who concentrate the Americans at a Romanian Air Force Base while contacting HQ Fifteenth Air Force in Italy by flying a high-ranking USAAF POW to Italy in a Romanian Air Force Bf-109. Everyone involved realizes that the operation must be kept secret from both the Germans and the Soviets. Meanwhile 45 P-51 Mustangs strafe the airfield at Reghin.

Ninety seven P-51 Mustangs of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy strafe airfields at Oradea and Kecskemet.

Allied aerial reconnaissance reported a large concentration of German aircraft at Saschsich-Regen airfield. Forty-eight P-51s of the 52nd FG took off to attack these, led by Lt Col Boedeker. As the P-51s of the 5th Fighter Squadron approached the airfield, they encountered three FW 190s in the landing pattern and shot them down (one was later reclassified as a probable). The bulk of the engagement took place around the Saschsich-Regen airfield being used by II./JG.52 and other units. An element of six Bf-109G of II./JG-52 led by Hptm Helmut Lipfert of 6./JG 52 and including Lt. Otto Fönnekold of 5./JG 52 attacked the 52nd FG which was attacking the airfield. The 2nd Fighter Squadron and 4th Fighter Squadron then joined the action. The Bf-109s shot down four P-51s but lost five Bf-109s, the only survivor being Hptm Lipfert, who claimed one P-51. The German dead were Uffz Heinz Krah, who shot down one Mustang, Ofhr. Nikolaus Schroder, Lt. Hans Otto Junge, Uffz Fritz Zaubitzer, and Lt. Otto Fönnekold. Lt. Fönnekold a 136-kill ace was killed by a P-51 Mustang while landing after shooting down three P-51s. A couple of other Luftwaffe and even Romanian airplanes were also shot down by trigger-happy Mustangs en-route to and from their target. A Ju 52/3m was shot down in air combat over that area and Gefr. Günter Stender of 6./JG 52 was also killed in combat.


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## syscom3 (Nov 4, 2009)

*1 SEPTEMBER 1944* *FRIDAY*

*UNITED KINGDOM:* German submarine _'U-247' _is sunk about 76 nautical miles west-southwest of Plymouth, Devonshire, England, UK, in position 49.54N, 05.49W, by depth charges from the Canadian frigates HMCS _'St John' _(K 456) and _'Swansea' _(K 32 8 ). All hands, 52-men, on the U-boat are lost.

The British corvette HMS _'Hurst Castle' _(K 416) is hit by one torpedo fired by German submarine _'U-482' _at 0722 hours GMT and sinks off the coast of Ireland, about 41 nautical miles northwest of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in position 55.27N, 08.12W. The corvette is escorting tanker convoy CU-36 (Caribbean to U.K.). There are no casualties, 105 survivors are rescued by the British destroyer HMS _'Ambuscade' _(D 3 8 ).

HQ of the USAAF's IX Troop Carrier Command comes under administrative control of HQ US Strategic Air Forces in Europe and under operational control of HQ First Allied Airborne Army, to increase efficiency, especially for planning, training, and preparation of airborne operations. Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force now can deal directly with all elements of an airborne force through a single unified command instead of through various army groups and air forces, e.g., 12th and 21st Army Groups, USAAF Ninth Air Force, and RAF components.

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Bulgaria, Prime Minister Dobri Bozhilov is replaced by Constantine Muraviev.

The Finnish government receives an ultimatum from the Soviet Union, stating that Finland has to accept the Soviet terms for starting the peace negotiations (as stated on the 29 August) by 2 September, or the hostilities will go on. Parliament, originally set to decide on the matter on 5 September, is hurriedly called to convene at 1800 hours local tomorrow.

German submarine U-23 enters Constanta harbor and fires three torpedoes at 0230 hours local; one torpedo hits the stern of the Romanian steamer SS Oituz causing the ship to sink. The ship is later re-floated and declared a total loss. U-23 left her attack position at 0400 hours and laid a mine barrage in Constanta roads near Tuzla lighthouse. No vessels are reported lost on the barrage.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The serious German collapse had caused bitter debate among senior Allied Generals. US.General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander, Supreme Headquarter Allied Expeditionary Force, favors a broad front strategy. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Commander of the 21st Army Group, advocates a single thrust strategy. This debate will continue for several months.

In northern France, the Canadian 2d Division liberates Dieppe and the port is reopened within a week. The US 12th Army Group, commanded by Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, is transferred to the direct command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) from the command of British General Bernard Montgomery. Elements of the US Third Armored Division advances quickly through Vervins to La Capelle. Meanwhile, the US Third Army, commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, is practically immobilized by an acute shortage of fuel. An enforced lull allows the German to build up fortifications behind the West Wall. The US VIII Corps continues preparations for renewing an all-out assault on Brest when ammunition is more plentiful.

In southern France, the French II Corps continues toward Lyon and captures Serriers and Firminy.

The first and most destructive phase of the V1 campaign, the bombardment of the United Kingdom from bases in the Pas de Calais, came to an end with the launch of the final weapon at 0400 hours. This initial phase of V-1 operations ended as the ground launching sites were being overrun by the Allies. Between 13 June and 1 September 1944, no fewer than 8,617 V1s had been fired at the United Kingdom from northern France.

In the air over northern France, USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s attack fortifications in the Brest area which artillery fire had been unable to reduce; escorting fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance in northern and eastern France, and fly cover for six divisions in the Amiens, Saint-Quentin, Cambrai, Reims, and Verdun areas and the Brussels, Belgium area.

Twenty seven USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers visually bomb the V2 supply dump at Bricy Airfield in Orleans.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 121 aircraft, 97 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos and nine Lancasters, to bomb two V2 rocket storage sites: 56 bomb La Pourchinte, 31 bomb the North site at Lumbres and 26 hit the South site at Lumbres without loss. Both raids are successful, the Lumbres attack particularly so.

Three USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s fly a Micro H mission to attack a fuel dump in the Bois del la Haussiere; escort is provided by two P-51s.

*GERMANY*: Azon-equipped USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24s hit the Ravenstein railroad bridge without loss; escort is provided by 15 P-51 Mustangs. One B-17 bombs a railroad junction at Hallach.

During the night of 1/ 2 September, 34 of 35 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos dispatched bomb the port at Bremen without loss.

Blohm and Voss finally launched the first flight of the BV 155, a plane with a convoluted past. Originally a design of Messerschmitt, the BV 155 was given to Blohm and Voss after it was felt the Messerschmitt factory was overloaded with work. What followed were numerous fights between the two companies over the design of the new interceptor bomber. The delays and redesigns only help in slowing production so that at the time of the Allied victory, the BV 155 had only gone so far as the V4 series of prototypes.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Because of Allied successes on other fronts, German Heeresgruppe F is forced to begin withdrawing from Greece and islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. The main withdrawal route, the rail line through Skoplje and Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is so effectively hit by heavy bombers of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force during the first half of September that an aerial withdrawal of German troops is begun from airfields in the Athens area. All three airfields are made unserviceable by USAAF attacks during the latter half of the month.

The US Fifth Army begins pursuing the Germans across the Arno River. The British V and Canadian I Corps penetrate the main defenses of the Gothic Line on Mounts Gridolfo and Tomba di Pesaro, commanding the Foglia River valley.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s score excellent results against road and railroad bridges north and northeast of Venice; fighter-bomber and fighters bomb and strafe roads, troop concentrations, supply dumps, and German HQ in the battle area north of Florence, and fly armed reconnaissance from Ventimiglia along the coast to La Spezia. During the night of 1/2 September A-20s hit a pontoon bridge and targets of opportunity in the Po Valley; and fighter-bombers blast roads, bridges and gun emplacements in Po Valley, docks at Savona, and shipping off shore.

Twenty six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers visually bomb the Pisani railroad bridge at Bora without loss.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s visually bomb five targets: (1) 52 bomb the marshalling yard at Debrecen; (2) 51 bomb the marshalling yard at Szajol; (3) 31 bomb the railroad bridge at Szolnokl (4) 25 bomb the railroad bridge at Mezotur; and 11 bomb the marshalling yard at Berettyo Ujfalu. Two B-24s are lost.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers visually bomb five targets: (1) 56 B-24s bomb the railroad bridge at Mitrovica; (2) 56 bomb the railroad bridge at Mesgrada; (3) 55 bomb the railroad bridge at Kraljevo; (4) 55 B-17s bomb the airfield at Nis; and (5) 17 bomb the marshalling yard at Novi Sad.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The US Coast Guard gunboat, USCGC _'Northland' _(WPG-49), locates the German weather ship _'Kehdingen' _off Great Kodeyey Island and gives chase. The crew of the weather ship scuttles it to avoid capture. Also in the area is the German U-boat _'U-703' _which attempts to attack USCGC _'Northland' _but is blocked by ice.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Selective Service announces that no men over 26 years old will be drafted (conscripted) during the rest of 1944.

*Project Bumblebee* (as it is later known) came into being as the USN's Bureau of Ordnance reports that a group of scientists from Section T of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) are investigating the practicability of developing a jet-propelled, guided, anti-aircraft weapon. Upon completion of the preliminary investigation, a developmental program is approved in December by the Chief of Naval Operations. In order to concentrate upon the guided missile phase of the anti-aircraft problem, the OSRD and Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, completed withdrawal, also in December, from the proximity fuse program which thus came completely under the Bureau of Ordnance.


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## syscom3 (Nov 4, 2009)

*2 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SATURDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* While tracking Convoy RA 59A (Kola Fjord, U.S.S.R. to Loch Ewe, Scotland) in the Norwegian Sea, German submarine _'U-394' _was sunk about 270 nautical miles (500 kilometers) northwest of Bodr, Norway, by rockets and depth charges from a Swordfish Mk. III of the British Fleet Air Arm No. 825 Squadron in escort aircraft carrier HMS _'Vindex' _(D15) and the destroyers HMS _'Keppel' _(D 84) and Whitehall (D 94) and the sloops HMS _'Mermaid' _(U 30) and _'Peacock' _(U 96); all 50 crewmen in the U-boat were lost. This was the boats second patrol; she was not credited with any sinkings.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US VII Corps and XIX Corps gets advance elements into Belgium and drive toward Tournai. In northern France, the British XXX Corps continues northward so rapidly that the planned drop of airborne forces in the Tournai area was not necessary. The US V Corps continues steadily northeast, overrunning Noyon and St. Quentin until ordered to halt. The US Third Army was still immobilized for lack of fuel but the VIII Corps continues to batter the outer defenses of Brest. Elements of the US 83d Infantry Division invade Ile de Cezembre, which surrenders.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, holds a commanders conference and outlines plans for the US Third Army and V Corps of the US First Army to drive to the West Wall (the Siegfried Line) after the supply situation improves. 

In southern France, the US 36th Infantry Division halts just east and southwest of Lyon to permit the French II Corps to take the city. So far, 190,000 men; 220,000 tons of supplies; and 41,000 vehicles have been landed.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 596: 34 P-47s strafe gun positions and road and rail traffic in the Bruges-Ghent- Courtrai- Roulers area. Thirty six USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s in England attack a supply dump at Bricy Airfield in Orleans. Two B-24s and two C-47 Skytrains fly CARPETBAGGER missions over France during the night of 2/3 September.

Sixty four of 67 Lancasters of the RAF Bomber Command bombed ships in Brest harbor in clear visibility. No aircraft were lost. 

In northern France, weather grounds USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers but fighters fly armed reconnaissance and area support to ground forces in Belgium and northwestern, northeastern and eastern France.

Fighter-bombers of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force were hampered by poor weather, but hit barracks and rail lines in the Lyon area. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* A Soviet Navy fleet minelayer was sailing with a Romanian minelayer when the Soviet minesweeper BTSC-410 Vzryv was struck by a torpedo at 0622 hours fired by German submarine _'U-19' _and sinks about 31 nautical miles southeast of Constanta, Romania, in position 43.51N, 29.12E; she was the last victim of the U-boats in the Black Sea. Since Romania had only recently declared war on Germany, the Soviets accused the Romanian Navy of treachery and complicity in the sinking of this vessel, because the Romanian minelayer was not attacked. On 5 September, the Soviets sited this sinking as an excuse for the seizure of the Romanian fleet.

Prime Minister Antii Hackzell announces the break in diplomatic relations with Germany and demands that all German troops be withdrawn from Finland. Yesterday evening the Finnish government received an ultimatum from the Soviet Union: Finland had to officially accept the Soviet conditions for starting the peace negotiations by the end of 2 September, or the war will go on. The Parliament, originally set to decide on the matter on 5 September, was hurriedly called to convene at 1800 hours today and 157 out of 200 Members of Parliament have been able to gather at Helsinki. Prime Minister Antti Hackzell informs the Parliament of the Soviet demands and recommends the starting of negotiations. One hundred eight vote for the negotiations, 45 against and the peace progress can go on.

(Master Sergeant) Frantisek Cyprich was performing a test flight of Avia B-534.217, at Tri Duby airfield, which was the base for the Combined Squadron. He later reported:


> "I had overtaken the Ju 52 over Radvana. I made the first attack from behind - it filled my aim cross - it was in front of me, big as a barn. I was sure that all my bullets would go into the Ju52 but I realized that I must do another type of attack. When I made the second attack, I aimed at one engine and opened fire until I saw smoke coming from the engine. Then I made the same attack against the second engine and after that I saw the Ju 52 coming down. I was very happy that I shot down the first enemy plane during SNP and I was very proud when I landed on our own airfield."


He landed back on base and went to report to Colonel Singlovic. He was however surprised, when he saw instead of his smile only his strict sight. The colonel only had one question:


> "Why you didn't force them to land on our base?"


Pilot on the Junkers that Cyprich shot down was fšhadnagy (Lieutenant) Gyšrgy G‡ch, in a Hungarian Junker Ju 52/3m from Magyar LŽgiforgalmi Rt. (MALERT). The co-pilot was Nandor Vermes. This was the first victory of the Slovak National Uprising and the last confirmed air to air kill by a biplane fighter in the Second World War (and probably the world's last). In 1991 after 47 years Frantisek Cyprich and the Hungarian co-pilot Nandor Vermes meet and shook hands.

The Polish Home Army evacuates Warsaw's Old City; 2000 Polish fighters escape through a single manhole and 4 miles (6,4 kilometers) of sewers.

The remnants of German forces surrounded in the Kishinev pocket surrender to the Soviet Army.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The U.S. IV Corps crosses elements over the Arno River and clears the northern part of Pisa. A partial breakthrough and advance of several miles was achieved by Canadian forces of the British Eighth Army. The advance reaches the Conca River to the west of Cattolica. San Giovanni was liberated. Polish forces have effectively liberated Pesaro. Despite the arrival of German reserve forces these actions demonstrate the destruction of the German Gothic Line.

B-25s of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force bomb three bridges in the Po Valley.

During the night of 2/3 September, 66 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Ferrara with the loss of two aircraft.

B-24s of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy visually bomb seven transportation targets: (1) 109 bomb the railroad bridge at Kraljevo; (2) 58 bomb the south marshalling yard at Nis; (3) 55 bomb the railroad bridge at Mitrovica; (4) 55 bomb the main marshalling yard at Nis; (5) 51 bomb the west marshalling yard at Nis; (6) 29 bomb the highway bridge at Supovac; and (7) 26 bomb the marshalling yard at Mitrovica. Only one bomber was lost. The escort fighters begin low-level attacks: 27 P-38s dive-bomb the Cuprija road bridge while 57 P-38s and 112 P-51 Mustangs strafe roads and railways in the Nis and Belgrade areas; other P-51s escort Nis and Supovac bombing missions.


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## syscom3 (Nov 4, 2009)

*3 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SUNDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery orders the British Second Army to drive speedily to the Rhine River and secure a crossing. The British Guards Armoured Division drives into Brussels and blocks the exits from the city while the U.S. 3d Armored Division captures Mons.

German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt assumes command of the German armies in the West.

The US First Army (Hodges) reaches the border of Luxembourg. The fleeing Germans are suffering huge losses. Hodges's troops surround and will soon capture 30,000 troops near Mons. Tournai and Abbeville are liberated by the 21st Army Group and the US Third Army crosses the Moselle River.

In southern France, the commander of the US 36th Infantry Division orders his men to halt and allow the French 1st Infantry Division to liberate Lyon, France's third-largest city. Most of the German 19.Armee have managed to withdraw northward.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s supporting ground troops pound strongpoints and bridges in the Brest area; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, ground support, and sweeps in northern and eastern France, Belgium, and western Germany.

USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 601: 391 B-17s make a visual attack on 16 gun batteries and defensive installations in the Brest area; 2 B-17s are lost; escort was provided by 15 P-51s without loss but bad weather cancels fighter-bomber mission by 50 P-38s against strongpoints in the same area. A second mission was flown by 61 aircraft against a supply dump at Bricy Airfield in Orleans. Eighth Air Force P-47s strafe transportation targets in Namur.

JG 54’s Hptm. Emil Lang, known as “Bully” to his comrades, battled several USAAF P-47s over St. Trond. Dogfighting down to a level of seven hundred feet, he was hit in his hydraulic system, which released his landing gear. Unable to maneuver, he was quickly shot down and killed. Hptm. Lang had 173 kills, most of those victories on the Eastern Front.


*GERMANY:* In the air, 325 B-17s of the USAAF Eighth Air Force using H2X radar to bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen and one hits a target of opportunity. P-47s strafe transportation targets at Cologne.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 675 aircraft, 348 Lancasters, 315 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos, to carry out heavy raids on six airfields: 112 aircraft hit Soesterberg, 112 bomb Venlo, 112 attack Volkel, 104 hit Gilze-Rijen, 103 bomb Eindhoven and 88 bomb Deelen. All raids are successful and only one Halifax was lost from the Venlo raid.

Oblt. Erich Sommer of Sonderkommando Götz (III./KG 76) and his Ar-234s and their airfield at Volkel were plastered by 100 RAF Lancasters in a daylight raid. The Ar-234s were then withdrawn further back to Germany. By this time, Ar-234Bs were available for operational use and the prototypes were no longer needed.

Hitler became enraged at the Luftwaffe and berated the General der Flieger Werner Kreipe. During his torrent, the Führer dismissed all those in the Luftwaffe that he considered to have failed to defend the country .

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British 46th Division cross the River Conca River while the Canadian 5th Armoured Division clears Misano.

In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack railroad and road bridges in the western Po Valley while fighter-bombers blast motor transport and rolling stock in the Turin area.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers visually bomb three rail targets: 58 bomb railroad bridge at Szeged while one bombs a marshalling yard in the same city and 54 bomb the railroad at Szajol.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers visually bomb four transportation targets: (1) in Belgrade, 98 bomb the Sava railroad bridge and (2) 54 bomb the Pancovo railroad bridge; (3) 54 bomb the ferry at Smederevo; and (4) one bombs the Subotica marshalling yard.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* In England, Lieutenant Ralph Spalding, USN, and a radio operator of the Special Air Unit, Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7), takes off in a TORPEX laden PB4Y-1 Liberator from Fersfield, Norfolk, sets the radio controls and then parachutes to the ground. Ensign James M. Simpson, USNR, in a PV-1 Ventura, takes control and flies the PB4Y to attack German submarine pens on Helgoland Island. Unfortunately, the PV-1 crew loses sight of the Liberator in a rainstorm and it crashes into a barracks and industrial area on Dune Island. A second attempt was later made with Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, at the controls of a PB4Y-1 but the aircraft explodes before Kennedy and the radio operator can bail out and Project APHRODITE was then cancelled.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2009)

*4 SEPTEMBER 1944* *MONDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The British 11 Armoured Division drives into Antwerp and clears the city except for the northern suburbs and the dock area. Antwerp's docks are undamaged, but the Germans control part of the 70-mile (113 kilometre) waterway leading to the city. The British liberate Lille in northern France while Lieutenant General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army refuels, storms across the Moselle River and pushes toward Nancy, capital of the French province of Lorraine.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, states the general objectives of the Allied armies. The Canadian First Army and British Second Army along with the US First Army are given the task of advancing toward the Ruhr. The US Third Army will drive to the Saar.

In southern France, the US VI Corps and French II Corps continue their advance on Besancon and Dijon while the US 45th Infantry Division captures Bourg-en-Bresse.

In the air, weather prevents bomber activity; fighters fly armed reconnaissance over Belgium, eastern France, Luxembourg, and eastern and central Germany, and defensive night patrols over western and northwestern France. Three USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers hit a supply dump at Bricy Airfield in Orleans. During the night of 4/5 September, 44 USAAF Eighth Air Force aircraft fly CARPETBAGGER missions over France.

During the night of 4/5 September, nine RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Steenwijk Airfield without loss.


*EASTERN FRONT:* The Russian-Finnish cease fire is agreed to and is effective immediately. A delegation leaves Finland for Russia to negotiate the Peace Treaty. The Finnish troops cease hostilities at 0700 hours as ordered, but the Soviet troops keep on fighting until tomorrow morning. The reason is in Prime Minister Hackzell's oversight making the Finnish agreement to Soviet conditions public. As he accidentally forgot to mention that Finland will break the relations with Germany, the Soviet view is that Finland hasn't fulfilled all the conditions. The matter is clarified, but the time this hassle takes delays the sending of Soviet orders to cease hostilities, and most of the Soviet formations receive them late.

Brasnov and Senaia are taken by the Soviet Army.

*GERMANY:* During the night of 4/5 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 43 Mosquitos to bomb Karlsruhe; 42 attack the target without loss.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The US Fifth Army issues final orders for the attack on the Gothic Line.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s hit several road and railroad bridges and tunnel in the Po Valley while fighter-bombers strike pontoon bridges, roads, bridges, and motor transport in preparation for an Allied ground assault on the Gothic Line.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s visually bomb six targets: 165 attack the U-boat base at Genoa; 59 hit the railroad bridge at Latisana; 58 attack the railroad bridge at Casarsa; 56 hit the railroad viaduct at Aviso; 53 bomb the North marshalling yard at Trento; and at Ora, 51 hit the railroad bridge and 48 bomb the marshalling yard.

During the night of 4/5 September, 65 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Ravenna.) Six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack highways.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2009)

*5 SEPTEMBER 1944* *TUESDAY*

*EASTERN FRONT:* In the Kara Sea, German submarine _'U-362' _(Type VIIC) is sunk about 33 nautical miles (62 kilometers) west-northwest of Lomonosovo, Russia, USSR, by depth charges from the Soviet minesweeper T-116. All 51 crewmen are lost. This is the boats seventh patrol but she is not credited with sinking any ships.

The Finnish peace delegation arrives in Moscow. Hostilities have ceased for 2 days. (Gene Hanson) The Finnish delegation won't leave until the 7th of September (more info then), and the hostilities have been suspended since the 4th/5th for the duration of negotiations.

The Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria. Bulgaria declares war in return, their attempts to stay out of the war have been unsuccessful.

UNTERNEHMEN ZEPPELIN: During the night two secret agents boarded an Arado Ar 232B of KG 200 and took off for Moscow. Their mission, codenamed “*Operation ZEPPELIN*”, was to assassinate Stalin. Nothing was heard from the plane until an agent reported that the plane had crashed and the agents scattered. Some of the crew were able to make it back to friendly lines but the two agents were captured.

A German-Hungarian counterattack in the area of Klausenburg in Romania failed.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The British 7th Armoured Division captures Ghent but the German continue to hold the northern outskirts for several days. The US 2d Armored Division and the 113th Cavalry Group push deep into the country to a general line from Brussels to Gembloux. Namur and Charleroi are liberated by the US First Army. The Canadian 3rd Division moving along the coast, bypasses Boulogne and reaches the Calais area; the Germans are prepared to defend both ports. Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Commanding General of the US Third Army, orders the XII Corps to cross the Moselle River, secure Nancy, and be prepared to continue to Mannheim and the Rhine River. The US 80th Infantry Division, Third Army, attempts to bridge the Moselle River but is rebuffed by new German defenses.

In northern France, the U.S. Ninth Army becomes operational taking command of troops on the Brittany Peninsula.

The Germans under Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Commander-in-Chief West, organize a new Western Front using remnants of Army units that escaped from Normandy reinforced with teenage and middle-age conscripts and displaced Luftwaffe ground crews and sailors. The new front runs across the southern Netherlands and northern Belgium to Germany's western border, then extends south through Luxembourg and eastern France.

During the night, seven USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s visually drop leaflets over the country.

The Benelux Customs Union, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, is established by the exile governments of these countries. This will eventually lead to the formation of the European Economic Community.

Six of 12 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos dispatched to bomb Havelte Airfield at Steenwijk hit the target.

In the air over northern France, 300+ USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s bomb strongpoints in the Brest area and a coastal battery at Pointe du Grand Gouin while fighters hit gun positions and other military targets in the Brest area and fly cover for six armored and infantry divisions.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 348 aircraft, 313 Lancasters, 30 Mosquitos and five Stirlings, to carry out the first of a series of heavy raids on the German positions around Le Havre which are still holding out after being bypassed by the Allied advance; 335 aircraft bomb the target. This is an accurate raid in good visibility. A second force of 60 Lancasters and six Mosquitos is sent to bomb gun positions outside Brest, whose garrison is also still holding out; 63 aircraft bomb the target.

In the air over southern France, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters fly sweeps through the Rhone Valley.

143 USAAF (USAAF) Eighth Air Force B-17s make a visual attack on enemy positions in the Brest, France area; two B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 21 P-51 Mustangs without loss. The supply dump at Bricy Airfield in Orleans is visually bombed by 84 B-17s without loss.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force bombs seven targets: (1) 237 B-17s use H2X radar to bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen and 85 bomb the lubricating oil facilities ; (2) 203 B-17s attack Unterturkhheim aircraft engine factory at Stuttgart; (3) 185 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Karlsruhe;
(4) four aircraft bomb targets of opportunity; (5) individual aircraft bomb targets of opportunity at Gemersheim, Hockenheim and Ludwigshafen. During the missions, a Swiss Air Force Bf 109 is shot down by a P-51 Mustang near Dubendorf.

During the night of 5/6 September, 41 of 43 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the city of Hannover without loss.

After retreating across France and Belgium, Einsatzkommando Schenk was ordered to return to the 3rd Staffel of I./KG 51, now fully equipped with Me 262s and based at Rheine. But two aircraft were retained by Major Schenk to test the new nose-mounted TSA (low-level and dive) bomb-aiming device. This small unit was sometimes jokingly known as ‘Kommando Edelweiss’. The rest of the experimental unit of jet Me 262 pilots, EKdo 262 at Lechfeld, continued to prowl the skies. Lt. Alfred Schreiber, an ex-ZG 26 Zerstörer Experte, downed a Spitfire PR XI of the USAAF 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group over Stuttgart.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British V Corps and Canadian I Corps continues strong attacks on Coriano and Gemmano ridges in Italy. The German forces hang on. The US 1st Armored Division takes Lucca and the South African 6th Armoured Division gets forward elements to Monsummano and clears part of Mount Albano. Meanwhile the Germans pull back from positions north of Florence.

Medium bombers of the USAAF (USAAF) Twelfth Air Force again strike, with excellent results, road and rail bridges in the Po Valley while fighter-bombers blast rail lines and rolling stock south of the river; fighters support the limited ground force advance in preparation for a major assault on the Gothic Line.

Ninety nine USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the railroad bridge at Ferrara while during the night of 5/6 September, 56 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the marshalling yard at Ferrara.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack five transportation targets: 106 B-17s visually bomb the North Railroad Bridge in Budapest while 51 attack the South Railroad Bridge; 93 B-24s bomb the Szolnok railroad bridge; 85 B-24s bomb the railroad bridge at Szob; and one aircraft bombs a target of opportunity.

During the night of 5/6 September, four RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group lay mines in the Danube River.

A USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberator bombs the marshalling yard at Subotica and during the night of 5/6 September, seven RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group lay mines in the Danube River.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Heinkel He111s of III./KG 3 launched nine V-1 flying bombs on the cities of London, Southampton and Gloucester. The Air-launched bombs were less accurate than the ground launched and this was shown to good effect when not one of the weapons hit Gloucester and the craters south of Southampton, caused by the bombs, covered an area so large that it was recorded as an unsuccessful strike at Portsmouth.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2009)

*6 SEPTEMBER 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* British forces capture Namur, Ghent and Courtrai while the US VII Corps advances on Liège. In northern France, the Canadian II Corps reaches the English Channel north of Calais and just south of Boulogne while the US Third Army crosses the Moselle River. British forces capture Armentieres.

In southern France, the French II Corps enters Chalons-sur- Saòne while the U.S. VI Corps advances towards Besancon.

In southern France, during the day, weather grounds the USAAF Twelfth Air Force’s XII Tactical Air Command aircraft except for a few fighters based in France which fly armed reconnaissance over the Belfort, Dijon, and Colmar areas, destroying or damaging numerous motor transport and railroad cars and several locomotives, field guns, trailers, and a tank. 

In northern France, USAAF (USAAF) Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s hit Brest area strongpoints, a coastal battery at Pointe du Grand Gouin, defenses at Saint-Pierre- Quilbignon, and a Brest area bridge; fighters hit Brest area gun positions and ammunition dump and fly cover for several armored and infantry divisions.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 344 aircraft, 311 Lancasters, 30 Mosquitos and three Stirlings, to bomb bombed German fortifications and transportation targets at Le Havre ; 271 actually bomb without loss. Three RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes lay mines off Texel Island.

B-17s of the USAAF’s Eighth Air Force bomb the supply dump at Bricy Airfield at Orleans.

III./KG 53 started with the Umrüstung for V-1 missions in Nieder-Seyfersdorf near Grottkau in Schlesien. III.KG 3 moved to Münster-Handorf for V-1 operations. Meanwhile, parts of KG 53 trained for V-1 drop flights too.

*GERMANY*: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 181 aircraft, 105 Halifaxes and 76 Lancasters, to bomb Emden; 180 aircraft bomb the target. This is the first large raid to Emden since June 1942; it is also the last Bomber Command raid of the war on this target. The force is provided with an escort, first of RAF Spitfires and then of USAAF P-51s. The bombing is accurate and Emden is seen to be a mass of flames, but no local report is available other than a brief note which states that several small ships in the harbor are sunk.

During the night of 6/7 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Mosquitos to Hamburg and six to Emden; 29 bomb Hamburg and six bomb Emden. Four Halifaxes lay mines in the River Ems. 

Another pilot of EKdo 262 began his jet victory scoreboard. Ofw. Hubert Göbel, an ex-JG 301 pilot, downed a Mosquito PR XVI of RAF No. 540 Squadron.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The Japanese ambassador to Italy reports back to Tokyo that partisan activity, especially around Turin and the Franco-Italian border, has widened, despite German purges. This information is intercepted by British intelligence and decoded, reassuring the British forces fighting within Italy that they are not alone in fighting the Germans. By war's end, Italian guerrillas control Venice, Milan, and Genoa, but at considerable cost. All told, the resistance lost some 50,000 fighters. 

During the night of 6/7 September, 51 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the North marshalling yard at Bologna with the loss of one aircraft. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb three rail targets at Oradea: 56 attack the East marshalling yard, 55 bomb the West marshalling yard, and 28 bomb the Sebes Koros River railroad bridge. Meanwhile, two bombers, with fighter escort, evacuate interned U.S. airmen from Bucharest.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s attack two targets: 111 hit the marshalling yard at Nyiregyhaza and one bombs Kiskun Airfield. During the night of 6/7 September, ten RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group mine the Danube River. 

During the day, USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s visually bomb five targets: 77 bomb tactical targets at Leskovac; 59 bomb the East marshalling yard at Novi Sad and 57 bomb the South marshalling yard; 54 bomb the East railroad bridge in Belgrade; and 25 bomb the marshalling yard at Leskovac.

During the night of 6/7 September, seven RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group mine the Danube River while another aircraft drops leaflets. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops capture Ostroleka only 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the border of East Prussia. The Soviet advance through Romania reaches the border with Yugoslavia at Turnu-Severin on the Danube.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Blackout and other civil defense measures in Britain are relaxed. Compulsory training and drills for the British Home Guard are ended by the war office.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The USN awards a contract to McDonnell Aircraft Corporation for the development of the Gargoyle or LBD-1, a radio controlled low-wing gliding bomb fitted with a rocket booster and designed for launching from carrier-based dive-bombers and torpedo planes against enemy ships.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2009)

*7 SEPTEMBER 1944* *THURSDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The British Second Army and the US First Army reach the Albert Canal and elements of the US 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) cross the canal near Hasselt while elements of the US VII Corps approach Liege. In northern France, the US.Third Army's second attempt to take Metz in is thwarted by hard-fighting Germans. 

In southern France, troops of the US 3d Infantry Division enter Besancon.

Bad weather grounds the bombers of the USAAF Ninth Air Force but fighters provide air cover for the US 8th and 29th Infantry Divisions. Weather cancels all USAAF Twelfth Air Force flying in France. 

Stab./LG 1 was placed under Luftflotte 3's command and would operate as "Gefechtsverband Helbig". The following units were subordinated to the Geschwader HQ; III./KG 51, NSG 2, Ops. Detachment I./KG 51, who would operate until the arrival of the Me 262 Gruppe and the remaining units of Einsatzgruppe KG 101 who were a Mistel Staffel. Oberst Helbig was LG 1's Kommodore. The order was given for IX. Fliegerkorps to be transferred to airfields in the Reich together with a list of subordinate bomber Gruppen, many of which (but not all) became KG(J)s. Other Gefechtsverbands operating under 3. Jagddivision were Gefechtsverband JG 4 with Stab/JG 4, I./JG 3, III./JG 300, II./JG 77, III./JG 53; Gefechtsverband 'Spaete' with III./JG 11 and IV./JG 54, conducting Jabo missions and Gefechtsverband JG 11 with Stab/JG 11, II./JG 27 and I./JG 76.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Bulgarian government declares war on Germany. The Hungarians declares war on Romania. 

The Finnish peace delegation leaves for Moscow. Prime Minister Antti Hackzell acts as the chairman of the delegation, the other members are Minister of Defence General of Infantry Karl Rudolf Walden, Chief of General Staff General of Infantry A. Erik Heinrichs and Lieutenant General Oscar P. Enckell (brother of Foreign Minister Carl Enckell), Special envoy of the Commander in Chief. They cross the Fenno-Soviet frontline in Juustila, and arrive at Moscow in the evening.

The Finnish government inquires whether the Swedish government can receive some 100 000 Finnish refugees from northern Finland. The Swedes reply in affirmative. When the Finns later in autumn initiate hostilities against the Germans in northern Finland, this Swedish help in taking care of the civilian population proves invaluable.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The US II Corps completes preparations for an attack, but the German withdrawal during the night of 7/8 September to the Gothic Line itself from delaying positions on the hills around Florence makes the first phase of the assault unnecessary. 

Weather cancels all flying in Italy except for weather reconnaissance by a few P-47s.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2009)

*8 SEPTEMBER 1944* *FRIDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In northern France, the Canadian 2d Division captures Dunkirk while the 4th Armoured Division reaches the outskirts of Bruges and Polish armor reaches Thielt. The US 2d, 8th and 29th Infantry Divisions of the US Ninth Army begin an all-out assault on Brest at 1000 hours local. The German 106.Panzerbrigade counterattacks the troops of the US 90th Infantry Division but becomes disorganized and is virtually wiped out losing 30 tanks, 60 half-tracks and almost 100 other vehicles. The enemy pocket in Briey surrenders to units of the U.S. XX Corps. The US VII Corps captures Liege. The Canadian First Army captures Nieuwpoort (Nieuport) and Oostende (Ostend). The U.S. 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) drives almost to Maastricht and patrols the Albert Canal in Belgium. German troops withdraw from Luxembourg to positions behind the Siegfried Line.

The Belgian government, exiled in London for the past four years, returns to Brussels.

In southern France, the 1st Airborne Task Force captures Menton and drives to the Italian border. The French 1st Armoured Division captures Autun. The Germans are beginning to withdraw from the Baume-les-Dames area to avoid being encircled. 

During the night of 8/9 September, two of three RAF Mosquitos bomb Havelte Airfield at Steenwijk.

One hundred ten USAAF’s Eighth Air B-24s fly a TRUCKIN' (supply) mission from the U.K. to Bricy Airfield at Orleans. 

In northern France, the weather prevents USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber missions. Fighters fly cover for troops in the Brest area and for the US 2d, 5th, 8th, and 29th Infantry Divisions, and the XX Corps area; escort troop movements and fly defensive patrols while several hundred C-47s fly supply and evacuation missions.

In southern France: USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s fly supply missions to an airfield near Lyon; fighters strafe the Belfort area, hitting 10 trains with good results, and blast a horse-drawn vehicle convoy near Strasbourg. 

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 333 aircraft, 304 Lancasters, 25 Mosquitos and four Stirlings, to bomb German positions at Le Havre but the weather is bad, with a low cloud base, and only 109 aircraft bombed, with indifferent results. Two Lancasters are lost. The four Stirlings on this raid are the last Bomber Command Stirlings to carry out a bombing operation.

This morning, another rocket landed on the outskirts of Paris, France. By coincidence today Britons are told by Duncan Sandys, a junior minister, that the attack by V1 flying bombs is virtually over "except possibly for a few last shots." The launching sites near Calais, France, have been captured, but a small number of V-1s are still being air-launched by Heinkel bombers over the North Sea. In the 80 days since they began, 2,300 V-1s got through to London, killing 5,475 people, injuring 16,000 and destroying 25,000 houses.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet troops cross the border into Bulgaria, ostensibly because of Bulgaria's refusal to declare war on Germany.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF’s Eighth Air Force flies Mission 611: 1,070 bombers and 349 fighters in three forces are dispatched to hit industrial; attacks are visual at the primary targets; ten bombers are lost: 344 B-17s, escorted by 88 P-51s, bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Ludwigshafen with the loss of five aircraft and three others bomb the industrial area in the city; 243 B-24s, escorted by 82 P-51s, bomb the Karlsruhe marshalling yard with the loss of four B-24s and a P-51; 309 B-17s, escorted by 144 P-51s,hit the Kastelan ordinance depot at Mainz; 22 bomb the industrial area at Neuweid; 13 bomb the industrial area at Rudesheim; and nine other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. 

During the night of 8/9 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches Mosquitos to two targets: 44 of 45 Mosquitos dispatched bombed Nuremberg and four of six bombed Emden. 

With the Nazi empire under extreme pressure on all fronts on land and in the air, the German Air Ministry acknowledged Germany's desperate circumstances by issuing a requirement for a new jet fighter that would be simple, cheap, and easy to build in large quantity. The aircraft would be built in such quantities that little maintenance would be required, as a defective aircraft could simply be discarded and replaced with a new one. The Air Ministry called this aircraft the "Volksjäger", or "People's Fighter". Such a measure made some sense under the circumstances, but there were those in the Nazi leadership, including Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, who went further, believing that this new fighter would be piloted by Hitler Youth. These adolescents would be given elementary pilot training by flying gliders based on the Volksjäger, and then would immediately be put behind the controls of the fighter itself to sink or swim in flight operations and air combat. Generalleutnant Adolf Galland, in command of the Luftwaffe's fighter force, bitterly opposed the Volksjäger, as he felt it would divert resources from existing aircraft programs, particular the Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter. He was supported in his objections by Willi Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf's Kurt Tank. As the Volksjäger proposal was backed by Reichsmarschall Göring and Armaments Minister Albert Speer, the objections were overruled. The Air Ministry requirement specified a single-seat fighter, powered by a single "BMW-003" turbojet engine with 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) thrust. The aircraft was to weigh no more than two tonnes (4,400 pounds), making it a featherweight in the air combat environment. Maximum speed was specified as 750 KPH (466 MPH) at sea level; operational endurance was to be at least a half hour; and the takeoff run was to be no more than 500 meters (1,640 feet). Armament was specified as either two 20 millimetre cannon with 100 rounds per gun, or two 30 millimetre cannon with 50 rounds per gun. The Air Ministry specified that proposals were to be submitted no later than 20 September. The Volksjäger was to be ready to go into full production by New Year's Day, 1945. All major German aircraft manufacturers were sent the requirement, and all were interested.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Soviet troops are now 26 miles (41,8 km) inside Greece. 

Units of the US Fifth Army cross the Serchio River and enter Vecchiano without opposition. The flooded Arno River prevents the South African 6th Armoured Division from crossing reinforcements. The British Eighth Army continues its attacks on Gemmano and Coriano ridges in Italy. Two days of rain have seriously interrupted operations. These attacks are heavily fought and the positions remain in German possession.

During the night of 8/9 September, 71 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the canal at Ravenna.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-51s escort RAF Beaufighters to Trieste, Italy.

Three hundred fifty four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s escorted by P-38s bomb transportation targets: 103 bomb the Sava River railroad bridge in Belgrade; in Nis, 56 bombers attack the West marshalling yard and 48 hit the North marshalling yard; in Sarjaevo, 54 bomb the West marshalling yard and 15 hit the main marshalling yard; 41 bomb the Sava River railroad bridge at Brod;

Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force C-47 Skytrains fly evacuation missions to Bucharest, Romania, and return to Italy carrying Allied POWs. 

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The first German A4 (Vergeltungwaffe 2 or V-2) rocket lands on Staveley Road, a quiet suburban road in Chiswick, West London, at 1843 hours, killing three people, seriously injuring 17, destroying six homes and leaving a massive crater. This is one of Hitler's vaunted "vengeance weapons." It is fired, minutes before by Mobile Artillery Section 485 from a mobile launcher from the Koekoeslaan (Cuckoo's Lane) a suburban road of The Hague, in the Netherlands, The explosion, and a second, just 16 seconds later (which lands in open countryside in Epping (north-east of London), but causes no casualties) are heard over much of London. Each sounded like a double thunder-clap followed by the rush of an express train. It has been aimed at the Fire Station in Southwark Bridge Road but missed by 8 miles (13 kilometers). To avoid panic, and against the advice of scientists, no announcement of the new weapon is made. There are rumors that exploding gas mains are responsible.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2009)

*9 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SATURDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* While tracking fast Convoy ONF-252 (U.K. to North America), German submarine _'U-484' _is sunk about 156 nautical miles (288 kilometers) west-northwest of Londonderry, County Derry, Northern Ireland, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS _'Porchester Castle' _(K 362) and the frigate HMS _'Helmsdale' _(K 253); all 52 crewmen are lost. This is the boats first patrol.

German submarine _'U-865'_, missing since leaving Trondheim, Norway, is reported lost; all 59 men aboard are lost. This is the boats first patrol.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The U.S 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) enters the Dutch panhandle near Maastricht. Troops of the Canadian 2 Corps moving along the coast enter Ostend and Nieuport.

Prince Felix and Crown Prince Jean enter Luxembourg with U.S. troops. 

During the night of 9/10 September, four RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Havelte Airfield at Steenwijk.

In southern France, Beaune, Le Creusot and Autun fall to French forces in the south of France.

Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle forms a provisional French government that includes Communists. Geogres Bidault is now the Foreign Minister. The Provisional Government of France issued a proclamation abolishing all laws promulgated by the Vichy government. 

The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions. Mission 613: 68 B-17s fly Operation GRASSY to drop 180 containers of supplies to French Resistance fighters 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Besancon without loss. Escort is provided by 30 of 32 P-51s without loss. 

The USAAF Ninth Air Force flies tactical missions in northern France. Fighters fly escort, furnish ground force cover for the US VIII Corps in the Brest area, the 2d, 5th, and 8th Infantry Divisions of the US Third Army's XX Corps area west of Metz, and fly armed reconnaissance in areas around Nancy, and Aachen, Cologne, Koblenz, Bonn, and Saarbrucken, Germany; fighters also hit bridges at Custines and Pompey; 700+ C-47 Skytrains fly missions. B-26 Marauders fly a leaflet mission to coastal France and Belgium. 

The USAAF Twelfth Air Force flies tactical missions in southern France. Motor transport and rolling stock are bombed and strafed in eastern France, with particular success in the Belfort-Mulhouse- Freiburg, France areas. 

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 272 aircraft, 230 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos, to Le Havre but, because of poor visibility, the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be abandoned and only 16 aircraft bombed. No aircraft lost. 

*GERMANY:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 614: 1,140 bombers and 435 fighters, in three forces, are dispatched to hit targets in western Germany; the primaries are attacked by both visual and PFF means; 14 bombers and 1 fighter are lost. (1) 284 B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Mannheim using H2X radar; (2) 248 B-17s bomb the Borsig armament factory at Dusseldorf;
(3) 212 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Mainz using H2X radar; (4) 24 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Worms; and various other targets of opportunity.

During the night of 9/10 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 113 Lancasters and 24 Mosquitos to carry out a devastating raid on the center of Mönchengladbach; 128 aircraft bomb the city without loss. One aircraft bombs Emden. Also, 39 Mosquitos bomb Brunswick. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The USAAF Twelfth Air Force flies tactical missions in southern Italy. B-26s achieve excellent results against rail bridges in the eastern Po Valley while B-25s bomb troop concentrations and supply points south of Bologna; fighter-bombers and fighters attack railways and roads in the Po Valley and from Genoa to Turin and motor transport and rolling stock are bombed and strafed in northern Italy.


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## syscom3 (Nov 5, 2009)

*10 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SUNDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* Conferring with his commanders in Brussels, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in- Chief Supreme Headquarter Allied Expeditionary Force, decides to defer operations to open the port of Antwerp until after Operation *MARKET-GARDEN* to secure a Rhine bridgehead. 

In the British XXX Corps area, the Germans disposed along the Albert Canal continue to offer stiff opposition to Allied forces holding bridgeheads across it. The US 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) crosses the Meuse River at Liege and drives north. Meanwhile the 28th Infantry Division overruns Bastogne, Longvilly, Wiltz, Selange and Arlon. Combat Command A of the US. 5th Armored Division, takes the city of Luxembourg with ease and probes eastward toward German; Combat Command R drives to within 8 miles (13 kilometers) of the German border.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 992 aircraft, 521 Lancasters, 426 Halifaxes and 45 Mosquitos to attack eight different German strong points around Le Havre; 961 aircraft bomb targets. Each target is separately marked by the Pathfinders and then accurately bombed. No aircraft lost.

The British I Corps, after a very strong aerial bombardment during which almost 5,000 tons (4 636 tonnes) of bombs are dropped, and after naval softening of defenses by the British battleship HMS _'Warspite' _(03) and the monitor HMS _'Erebus' _(I 02), launches an all-out assault on Le Havre at 1745 hours with two divisions penetrating the German defenses.

US VIII Corps closes up to Brest proper and finishes clearing the Le Conquest Peninsula. The XIX Corps advancing northeastward with little difficulty, finds Fort Eben Emael undefended. The US 90th Infantry Division takes Aumetz, Hayange and Algrange. The 5th Infantry Division begins crossing the Moselle River between Noveant and Arnaville about 0200 hours under a smoke screen taking the Germans by surprise. In southern France, the French II Corps reaches Dijon. The XV Corps makes contact with the French II Corps that landed in southern France. 

US Lt.General Omar Bradley, Commanding General 12th Army Group, orders the US First Army to break through the West Wall and secure crossings over the Rhine River in the vicinity of Koblenz, Bonn and Cologne; US Third Army is to secure crossings of the Rhine at Mannheim. This offensive is scheduled to open on 14 September.

During the night of 10/11 September, one of two RAF Bomber Command Lancasters lays mines off Texel Island.

Advance HQ, USAAF Ninth Air Force, assigns rail lines approaching the Rhine River from the west, north of Karlsruhe, to be attacked by IX and XIX Tactical Air Command fighters in the first of a series of orders setting up rail interdiction programs to cut lines west and east of the Rhine River in September and early October; changes and additions to targets appear on 12 and 14 September when a list of all lines to be cut is published.

In northern France, about 340 B-26s and A-20s hit strongpoints and ammunition stores at Foret de Haye, Custines rail bridge, and a road bridge over the Mosel River; escorting fighters provide general air cover in the Metz-Nancy area, and support US Third Army ground forces in stemming a counterattack there; 800+ C-47 Skytrains complete supply and evacuation missions; the southern invading forces and those of the Normandy invasion meet.

In the air in southern France, 54 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack Bron supply depot at Lyon. Fighters and fighter-bombers of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force’s XII Tactical Air Command attack communications in the Belfort and Dijon areas, cutting railroads and hitting several trains. 


*GERMANY:* The USAAF’s Eighth Air Force flies Mission 619: (1) 1,144 bombers and 570 fighters, in three forces, attack targets in the Stuttgart area: (2) 247 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Ulm using H2X radar; (3) 70 B-17s hit the M.A.N. tank factory at Nurnburg using H2X radar; (4) 140 B-17s hit the Diamler-Benz motor vehicle factory at Gaggenau; (5) 112 B-17s bomb Giebelstadt Airfield; 99 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Heilbronn; (6) 73 bomb the Diamler-Benz engine factory at Sindelfingen; (7) 69 B-17s bomb the Zuffenhausen Me 262 engine factory at Stuttgart; (8 ) 62 B-17s bomb the Me 262 assembly factory at Furth; (9) 13 B-17s bomb the industrial area at Darmstadt; (10) 12 aircraft each bomb the Zuffenhausen marshalling yard at Stuttgart, and targets of opportunity; and individual aircraft bomb six targets of opportunity. Mission 620: A B-17 flies a mission to trial the GB-4 radio/visual control bomb against a railroad bridge at Duren.

During the night of 10/11 September, 25 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24s and C-47 Skytrains fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

During the night of 10/11 September, 41 of 47 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Berlin without loss; one Mosquito bombs Lubeck. 

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 344 B-17s and B-24s to bomb four targets in the Vienna area: 134 bomb the industrial area; 82 hit an oil refinery; 79 bomb the Schwechat synthetic oil refinery; and 50 attack the Ostmark Ordnance Depot. Seventeen aircraft are lost. 

The Luftwaffe’s current highest scoring Experten, Erich Hartmann of JG 52, with at this time 301 victories, married his girlfriend, Ursula, whose nickname “Usch” Hartmann had painted on his aircraft with a bleeding heart.

Oblt. Müller’s Staffel of EKdo 262 began flying operations from Rechlin airbase. A new Sturmgruppe was formed when II (Sturm)./JG 4 was formed led by Oblt. Hans-Günther von Kornatzki, the originator of the Sturmbock idea. The original Sturmstaffel 1 was used to form the new Gruppe.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the US Fifth Army area, the 6th Armored Infantry Battalion takes Villa Basilica and the II Corps opens a drive toward the Gothic Line at 0530 hours with two divisions abreast. The British XIII Corps attacks toward the Gothic Line with three divisions with their main effort on the left in support of the US II Corps.

B-25s and B-26s of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force continue the campaign against railroad bridges in the Po Valley and execute four attacks against supply and ammunition dumps; fighter-bombers hit dumps and communications as the ground assault on the Gothic Line commences during the early morning.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 80 B-24s to bomb the port area at Trieste.

Three German submarines, _'U-19'_, _'U-20' _and _'U-23'_, are scuttled by their crews in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey in position 41.16N, 31.26E.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*11 SEPTEMBER 1944* *MONDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* In the North Sea, the German submarine _'U-855'_, is listed as missing in the area west of Bergen, Norway with all 56 crewmen. The cause is unknown. She is on her first patrol.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US First Army units takes Malmedy. The US First Army under Major General Courtney Hodges enters Luxembourg City and the liberation of the Grand Duchy from German occupation is completed. Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Jett is placed in charge of maintaining order and restoration of public services. In northern France, the British I Corps attacks Le Havre after an RAF raid.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 218 aircraft, 105 Halifaxes, 103 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos, to attack German positions outside Le Havre; 171 aircraft bombed the target. The bombing is carried out accurately in conditions of good visibility but the Master Bomber ordered the final wave to cease bombing because of smoke and dust. None are lost.

RAF Bomber Command dispatched seven Mosquitos to bomb Havelte Airfield at Steenwijk; three aircraft bomb the target.

In northern France, the USAAF Ninth Air Force continues tactical support of ground forces: 358 B-26s and A-20s, escorted by fighters, in support of the US Third Army, hit gun positions and strongpoints in the Metz area;, and support Third Army ground forces in the Metz area; fighters also support ground forces in the Brest area. USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters fly armed reconnaissance over the Lissendorf and Duren areas.

In southern France, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy limits operations to supply mission by 54 B-24s to Lyons due to bad weather.

12./JG 1 was formed from 1./KG 2, and III./JG 1 now had four Staffeln.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The Octagon Conference at Quebec City, Quebec begins. British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with their staffs, meet to discuss overall strategy of the war. The plans for continued attacks in Italy and Northern Europe are not changed. British attacks in Burma are approved. British Fleet participation in the Pacific is approved for the final campaigns against the Japanese. This conference will last through 6 September.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Thirty nine USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s bomb a synthetic oil refinery at Brux using H2X radar. This is part of Operation FRANTIC that along with 64 P-51s, continues on and lands in the USSR. 

The Finns and the Germans start secret negotiations about the German withdrawal from northern Finland at Rovaniemi. The Soviet-imposed deadline for the German withdrawal is only four days away, and it is evident the Germans are unable to leave Finland in time. However, both armies are willing to avoid bloodshed, and agreement is reached. Germans would retreat according to a prearranged plan, destroying roads and bridges, while Finns would advance slowly to areas already abandoned by Germans. The slow rate of Finnish advance could be excused by the German policy of scorched earth. While the negotiations are going on, the Swedish government has already agreed to receive the Finnish civilian population wishing to leave the German occupied areas.

*GERMANY:* Armored reconnaissance elements of the US Third Army cross into Germany, the first Allied unit to do so.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 623: 1,131 bombers and 440 fighters, in 3 forces, are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants and refineries in Germany; they encounter an estimated 525 Luftwaffe fighters; 40 bombers and 17 fighters are lost; the USAAF claim 115-7-23 aircraft in the air and 42-0-43 on the ground. B-17 targets are (number in parenthesis indicates number of aircraft bombing): I. G. Farben synthetic oil refineries at Merseburg (111) and Lutzkendorf (85); Braunkohle synthetic oil refinery at Bohlen (75), Chemnitz (74) and Schwartzhelde synthetic oil refinery at Ruhland (22); targets of opportunity are a tire plant at an aircraft engine factory at Eisenach (81); Fulda (64), a marshalling yard at Fulda (42), Labejum (12), Rossla (6) and 41 others. B-24 targets are Misburg oil refinery at Hannover (87) and a tank factory at Hannover (84), the Friedrichstadt ordinance depot at Magdeburg (60); targets of opportunity hit are the industrial area at Magdeburg (70), Stendal Airfield (45), Diepholz Airfield (9) and three others.

The Allied formations first made a decoy run towards Berlin to deceive the Luftwaffe fighters then headed for their targets. But close to 500 German fighters intercepted the formations. First to reach the bombers shortly after 12.00 hours were the Fw 190s of JG 4 including those of the new Sturmgruppe II, the specially armed fighters used for destroying the four-engined bombers. The first section of JG 4, II (Sturm)./JG 4 led by Gruppenkommandeur Major von Kornatzki, barreled into the bomber formations head-on from the six o’clock position out of the sun and destroyed six bombers immediately. The rest of the fighters soon engaged the bombers along with P-51 Mustangs of the Allied escorting force. Intercepting were elements from JG 3, JG 53, JG 300 and JG 76. Uffz. Schubert of 1./JG 400 claimed a B-17 near Brandis. Altogether forty-five B-17s were shot down including fourteen out of thirty-six aircraft of the USAAF 100th BG and the whole lower box of the 350th BS. Four P-51s of the USAAF 55th FG were also destroyed and three pilots of the 355th FG crashed. The fighters of JG 4 lost ten Fw 190s and Bf 109s shot down with twenty-one pilots killed. The Sturmbock pilots suffered an almost 50% casualty rate in the day’s operations.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 379 aircraft, 205 Halifaxes, 154 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos, to attack three synthetic oil plants; 121 bomb the Klocknerwerke plant at Castrop Rauxel; 116 hit the Chemischewerke plant at Kamen; and 114 attack the Nordstern plant at Gelsenkirchen. The first two targets are clearly visible and are accurately bombed but the Nordstem plant is partially protected by a smoke-screen which hindered bombing and prevented observation of the results. The three forces are escorted by 26 squadrons of fighters, 20 squadrons of Spitfires and three each of Mustangs and Tempests. No German fighters are encountered. Five Halifaxes and two Pathfinder Lancasters are lost from the Nordstem raid and a Lancaster is lost from each of the other raids. These loss are caused by flak or by 'friendly' bombs.

During the night of 11/12 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 226 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos to bomb Darmstadt; 234 aircraft bombed the city with the loss of 12 Lancasters, 5.3 per cent of the Lancaster force. A previous attack in August had failed to harm Darmstadt but, in clear weather conditions, the group's marking methods produced an outstandingly accurate and concentrated raid on this almost intact city of 120,000 people. A fierce fire area is created in the centre and in the districts immediately south and east of the center. Property damage in this area is almost complete. Casualties are very heavy. The Darmstadt raid, with its extensive fire destruction and its heavy casualties, is held by the Germans to be an extreme example of RAF “terror bombing” and is still a sensitive subject because of the absence of any major industries in the city. Bomber Command defended the raid by pointing out the railway communications passing through Darmstadt; the directive for the offensive against German communications had not yet been issued to Bomber Command, although advance notice of the directive may have been received. Darmstadt is simply one of Germany's medium-sized cities of lesser importance which succumbed to Bomber Command's improving area-attack techniques in the last months of the war when many of the larger cities are no longer worth bombing. A second target during the night is Berlin which is hit by 42 Mosquitos. Seventy six Halifaxes and Lancasters are dispatched on mine laying missions during the night: 17 laid mines in the Kiel area, 16 off Swinemunde, nine off Kattegat and seven in the Fehmarn Channel. Two Lancasters are lost off Swinemunde.

The first P-51 Mustang to fall to a jet fighter was shot down by Ofw. Baudach flying an Me 262 of EKdo 262 from Lechfeld airbase. The Mustang was from the USAAF 339th FG.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The US Fifth Army continues to advance in Italy. Pistoia is liberated by South African units of the British XIII Corps.

In the air, the US Twelfth Air Force continues tactical operations. B-26s hit defensive positions as US Fifth Army elements push through northern Italian mountain passes toward Gothic Line defenses; B-25s bomb railroad bridges at Vigevano and Canneto sull'Oglio and supply areas; fighter-bombers and fighters attack roads, railroads, guns, supply areas, bridges, and other targets at Vernio, and in the Alessandria, Turin, Piacenza, and Milan areas.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*12 SEPTEMBER 1944* *TUESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Polish 1st Armoured Division pushes forward to Lokeren and St Nicholas while the 4th Armoured Division clears the Bruges area and reaches the Leopold Canal. The US 2d Armored Division reconnaissance battalion clears the bridge site along the north bank of the Albert Canal and the bridge is completed there at midnight. Combat Command A of the 2d Armored Division begins crossing the bridge immediately.

In northern France, the German garrison of 12,000 surrenders at Le Harve to the British I Corps. Units of the US Third Army eliminate all resistance west of the Moselle River in the Thionville area and clears Thionville west of the river except for an approach to the main bridge there. The Germans destroy the bridge. At 1200 hours engineers finish bridging the Moselle, thus permitting tanks and tank destroyers of the U.S. 7th Armored Division to cross into the bridgehead. A regiment of the 80th Infantry Division attacks across the Moselle in the Dieulouard area early in the morning and finds the east bank lightly held; another regiment follows just before noon and weapons and vehicles start across later in the day.

In southern France, elements of the French 2d Corps reach the outskirts of Langres.

In northern France, 400+ C-47 Skytrains of the First Allied Airborne Army's IX Troop Carrier Command complete supply and evacuation missions. The USAAF Ninth Air Force flies tactical missions attacking fortifications around Nancy while fighters continue ground support in the French/German border area.

In southern France, the 54 B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy fly a supply mission.

Five RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attack Havelte Airfield at Steenwijk.

Twelve RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes are dispatched to mine Oslo harbor; only one aircraft lays mines and it is lost; the other eleven are recalled.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF Ninth Air Force flies tactical missions with B-26s and A-20s hitting Westwall fortifications and the Sankt Wendel station, where an armored division and important technicians are to entrain.

Noor Inayat Khan, also known as the SOE agent Madelaine is executed at Dachau concentration camp.

The US 1st Infantry Division thrusts at Aachen Municipal Forest, south of Aachen, where it repels a counterattack. One US 3d Army Division column, driving northeast from Eupen, stops for the night on the edge of Eynattener Wald, within about 1,000 yards (914 meters) of the West Wall; another column probes east from Eupen, some elements reaching the West Wall at Schmidthof and others reaching Roetgen, just short of the West Wall. Major General J. Lawton Collins, Commanding General VII Corps, decides to bypass Aachen, isolating it in conjunction with the XIX Corps, and drive toward the Stolberg corridor. The V Corps begins limited attacks against the West Wall.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 626: For the second day, 888 bombers and 662 fighters, in three forces, are dispatched on a major assault on the German oil industry; they are intercepted by 400-450 Luftwaffe fighters; USAAF claims 81-16-20 aircraft in the air; 35 bombers and 12 fighters are lost. (1) B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb oil refineries at Ruhland (59); targets of opportunity are Lauta (48 ), Plauen (30), Etterwinden (12), Kitzingen (11) and others (20); PFF methods are used for all targets; they claim 14-9-7 aircraft; 19 B-17 Flying Fortresses are lost; escort is provided by 238 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 29-2-4 aircraft in the air and 21-0-16 on the ground; 10 P-51s are lost. (2) B-17s bombing visually attack Magdeburg/Rothensee (144), Magdeburg/Friedrichstadt (73) and Bohlen (35); targets of opportunity are Fulda (46), Molbis (11) and other (8 ); they claim 13-5-5 aircraft; 12 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 236 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 25-0-4 aircraft in the air and 5-0-15 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost. (3) B-24s hit Hemmingstedt (66), Kiel (58 ) and Misburg (34); targets of opportunity are Laharte (38 ), marshalling yard at Northeim (12), Hannover (11), Hemmingstedt (3) and other (3); PFF is used for bombing; 4 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 105 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s without loss. Thirty six B-24 Liberators and C-47 Skytrains are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

During an Allied raid to Magdeburg JG 4 lost fourteen Fw 190's this day with eleven pilots killed, one baled out wounded, one missing and one wounded. Obstlt. Hans-Gunther von Kornatzki, Gruppenkommandeur of the new Sturmgruppe, II(Sturm)./JG 4, and the originator of the Sturmbock concept, was killed in combat. The Major had five aerial victories. Major Rudolf Schroeder was appointed as Gruppenkommandeur.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force sends nearly 330 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24s supported by P-38s and P-51s to bomb three targets: 263 B-17s bomb Lechfeld Airfield at Munich; 91 B-24s bomb the Allach engine works producing engines for the FW 190 at Munich; and 78 B-24s bomb the Wasserburg jet aircraft factory.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 412 aircraft, 315 Halifaxes, 75 Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos, to attack three synthetic oil plants:141 hit the Buer plant at Gelsenkirchen, 120 hit the Krupp Treibstoff plant at Wanne-Eikel, and 110 hit the Hoesch plant at Dortmund. The Dortmund raid is particularly successful, but smoke-screens prevented observation of results at the other targets. Seven aircraft are lost. In a second raid, 119 Halifaxes and five Pathfinder Lancasters carried out the first raid by RAF heavies on Münster since June 1943; 121 aircraft bombed the target. Two Halifaxes are lost. Many fires are seen but smoke prevented an accurate assessment of the bombing results. A brief report from Münster describes a “sea of fire” in the southern part of the town which could not be entered for several hours and tells of water mains destroyed by high-explosive bombs so that;


> “..the firemen could only stand helpless in front of the flames.”


The railway station in the heart of the city is one of the targets.

During the night of 12/13 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 378 Lancasters and nine Mosquitos on the last major RAF raid of the war against Frankfurt-am- Main; 366 bomb the city. Seventeen Lancasters are lost, 4.5 per cent of the Lancaster force. The local report says that the raid occurred when many of the city's firemen and rescue workers are away working in Darmstadt. The bombing caused severe destruction in the western districts of the city, which contained many industrial premises. Property damage is extensive. A troop train is hit at the West Station. A second target is Stuttgart with 204 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos dispatched; 211 bomb the target with the loss of four Lancasters. The attack is a success and local reports state that a firestorm occurred. A third target is Berlin with 29 Mosquitos bombing.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* German troops evacuate Rhodes and other Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean. The exiled Greek government moves from Cairo, Egypt to Caerta.

The South African 6th Armoured Division continues to gain ground as the Germans fall back to prepared positions of the Gothic Line.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit defended positions in the central battle sector of the Gothic Line; B-25s pound Po River railroad bridges and attack guns and strongpoints in the battle zone as the Germans fall back to prepared Gothic Line defenses and the rapid Allied advance halts; and fighter-bombers strike at guns, troop concentrations, strongpoints, and flak positions in the Genoa and Milan areas.

During the night of 12/13 September, 84 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb East marshalling yard at Bologna.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Germans and Hungarians begin a counter-offensive toward Arad and Temesvar.

The Romanian government signs an armistice, drawn up in Moscow, with the United Kingdom, United States and Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. The agreement commits Romania to co-operate in the war against Hungary and Germany and to pay reparations. The boundary between the USSR and Romania is to be that established by the Soviet-Romanian agreement of 28 June 1940. The Soviets promise to return Transylvania to Romania.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*13 SEPTEMBER 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The destroyer USS _'Warrington' _(DD-383) and the stores ship USS _'Hyades' _(AF-28 ) are caught in the center of a hurricane off the Florida coast in the US In the evening the storm forced the destroyer to heave to while _'Hyades' _continues on her way alone. Keeping wind and sea on her port bow, _'Warrington' _rode relatively well through most of the night. Wind and seas, however, continued to build during the early morning hours today and _'Warrington' _begins to lose headway and, as a result, starts to ship water through the vents to her engineering spaces. The water rushing into her vents causes a loss of electrical power which sets off a chain reaction. Her main engines lose power, and her steering engine and mechanism go out. She wallows there in the trough of the swells continuing to ship water. She regains headway briefly and turns upwind, while her radiomen desperately, but fruitlessly, tries to raise _'Hyades'_. Finally, she resorted to a plain-language distress call to any ship or shore station. By noon today, it is apparent that _'Warrington's _crewmen could not win the struggle to save their ship, and the order went out to prepare to abandon ship. By 1250 hours, her crew has left _'Warrington'_; and she went down almost immediately. A prolonged search by USS _'Hyades'_, the destroyer escorts USS _'Frost' _(DE-144), USS _'Nuse' _(DE-145), USS _'Inch' _(DE-146), USS _'Snowden' _(DE-246), USS _'Swasey' _(DE248 ), USS _'Woodson' _(DE-359), USS _'Johnnie Hutchins' _(DE-360), ATR-9, and ATR-62 rescue only five officers and 68 men of the destroyer's 20 officers and 301 men.

*WESTERN FRONT:* General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in- Chief Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, directs the capture of two objectives: the Ruhr and a deepwater port, either Antwerp or Rotterdam.

In northern France, the German garrison at Brest refuses a request to surrender although the garrison is being steadily compressed on all sides. In the US XII Corps area, the Germans have decided to abandon Nancy in order to mass forces with which to overwhelm the Dieulouard bridgehead. A regiment of the 79th Infantry Division takes Neufchateau.

In southern France, the French 1st Armoured Division takes Langres. In the VI Corps area, the Germans surrender Vesoul and the 45th Infantry Division overruns Villersexel. VI Corps takes more than 1,300 POWs during the day.

First Allied Airborne Army's IX Troop Carrier Command C-47 Skytrains fly numerous supply and evacuation missions.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force's HQ XIX Tactical Air Command accompanies HQ US Third Army HQ to ChaIons-sur- Marne; B-26s fly a leaflet mission to coastal northern France and Belgium; fighters support ground forces in the Brest and Nancy-Metz areas (air-ground coordination being especially effective between XIX Tactical Air Command and French 2d Armored Division in defeating the German move on Vittel. The USAAF Ninth Air Force flies armed reconnaissance over the Cologne, Aachen, Koblenz, Linz/Rhine, and Wahn areas; the XIX Tactical Air Command inaugurates a rail cutting campaign.

*GERMANY:* The U.S. VII Corps penetrates the West Wall at two points.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions. Numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of aircraft bombing the target. Mission 628: 1,015 bombers and 477 fighters, in three forces, attack oil and industrial targets in southern Germany by visual means; 15 bombers and 8 fighters are lost. (1) B-17s bomb Sindelfingen oil refineries at Stuttgart (109) and Ludwigshafen (74); secondary targets hit are Darmstadt (95) and Wiesbaden (8 ); targets of opportunity hit are Mainz (22), a marshalling yard near Wiesbaden (12) and others (3); four B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 73 P-47s, they claim 6-0-2 aircraft on the ground. (2) B-24s attack Schwäbisch Hall Airfield (65), a munitions dump at Ulm (65) and Weissenhorn (45); a target of opportunity hit is Reichelsheim (1); four B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 99 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 14-0-5 aircraft on the ground; two P-51s are lost; and (3) B-17s hit oil refineries at Merseburg (141) and Lutzkendorf (77); targets of opportunity hit are Giessen (17), Eisenach (12), Altenburg (7), Gera (7) and other (19); they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; seven B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 233 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 33-0-4 aircraft in the air; 6 P-51s are lost. Mission 629: B-24s are dispatched on an Azon mission to the oil refinery at Hemminstedt (6);five hit the secondary target, ammunition dumps at Kropp. Escort is provided by 15 P-51s without loss.

The Allies attacked the II./NJG 6 base at Schwäbisch Hall. Losses at II./NJG 6 included five night-fighter type Ju 88s and some message/radio equipment.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 140 aircraft, 102 Halifaxes, 28 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos to attack the Nordstern synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen; 100 bombed the target and 14 bombed the city. Large explosions are seen through the smoke-screen. 2 Halifaxes lost. In a second raid, 98 Halifaxes and 20 Lancasters are dispatched to attack Osnabrück; 80 aircraft bomb the marshalling yard and 37 bomb the city. The marking and bombing are accurate but no details are available. No aircraft lost.

During the night of 13/14 September, 36 Mosquitos of RAF Bomber Command are sent to Berlin and three to Karlsruhe. All aircraft bomb their targets with the loss of two aircraft bombing Berlin.

Kommodore Dahl of JG 300 brought down a USAAF four-engined bomber by ramming it.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British 8th Army has cleared the Coriano Ridge of German positions in Italy. U.S. forces continue attacking the Gothic line but make little progress against stiff resistance.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25s destroy a bridge at Peschiera del Garda, cutting the Milan-Verona line; B-25s and B-26s bomb guns and defensive positions north of Florence; fighter-bombers attack railroads, rolling stock, and bridges in northern Italy, although a heavy overcast hampers operations in the northwest.

B-24s bomb three targets: 50 bomb the railroad viaduct at Aviso, 28 bomb the railroad bridge at Ora and 27 bomb the railroad bridge at Mezza Corona.

Three USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the railroad at Berzence, Papa Airfield and an industrial area.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The 2nd Belorussian Front takes Lomza on the Narew River. The Red Army captured the Warsaw suburb of Praha on the east bank of the Vistula. Belated Russian supply drops to the Polish Home Army in Warsaw begin.

B-24s of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs two targets: 96 B-24s bomb the I.G. Farben oil refinery at Oswiecim and 25 bomb the marshalling yard at Wadowice. The Auschwitz concentration camp is located near Oswiecim and some of the bombs land inside the main camp destroying a barracks, killing 15 SS men and injuring 28. A cluster of bombs is also mistakenly dropped farther west at Birkenau, damaging the railroad but missing the crematoria. One hundred sixteen B-17s bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer while 112 B-24s bomb the Deschowitz synthetic oil refinery at Odertal.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*14 SEPTEMBER 1944* *THURSDAY*

*GERMANY:* The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 632: 2 B-17 control aircraft and 2 B-17 CASTOR drones fly an APHRODITE mission to the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt, Germany; the target is missed.

Lt. Joachim Weber of EKdo 262 adds to his jet score by downing a reconnaissance Mosquito.

_'U-2513' _and _'U-3008' _launched. _'U-2346' _laid down.

*WESTERN FRONT:* C-47s of the First Allied Airborne Army's US IX Troop Carrier Command continue large-scale supply and evacuation missions in France. The US Ninth Air Force activates HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) at Vermand, in anticipation of operating with the US Ninth Army, shortly to join the Twelfth Army Group; Brigadier General Richard E Nugent is Commanding General; about 140 B-26s and A-20s bomb gun emplacements and strongpoints in the Brest area. In southern France, bad weather limits US Twelfth Air Force fighters to a few sweeps.

One of Britain's most successful secret weapons - a midget submarine able to penetrate the best defended waterways - has struck again. This time the target was a big floating dock, blown up in Bergen harbour. Lt. H. P. Westmacott skippered the four-man craft, X24, as it slipped through 30 miles of islands offshore and a minefield and into a fjord to sail at periscope depth to the harbour. After diving to 35 feet to avoid collision with a merchant ship, Westmacott attached delayed-action charges to the target and escaped. It is the second such raid on Bergen by Westmacott in X24.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Units of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front enter the Warsaw suburb of Praga. The Soviets attack Heereseruppe Nord with 130 Divisions which was forced to fall back to defensive positions around Riga. General Schorner asks Hitler to let Estonia to go. This time Hitler allows a retreat.

The Finnish peace delegation has waited for a week at Moscow for the negotiations to begin. Delay is caused by disagreements between the Soviets and British over the terms of the interim Peace Treaty (the final treaty will be the one concluded with the Soviet Union, UK and the Dominions at Paris in 1947). Today the two allies finally reach an agreement, and the Fenno-Soviet negotiations are to begin in evening. However, Prime Minister Antti Hackzell, who is the chairman of the Finnish delegation, suffers brain haemorrhage just hours before the first session is to start and is paralysed. Minister of Defence Gen. Rudolf Walden acts as the head of the delegation in the first session. Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Enckell arrives two days later to replace Hackzell.
By this date all German troops have left Southern Finland.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* The British 8th Army begins its continued advance, toward the Marano River, after capturing the Gemmano Ridge.

US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack defensive positions in the east and central parts of the Gothic Line as the enemy fiercely resists, especially at Il Giogo Pass and on Monte Altuzzo; fighter-bombers continue strikes against communications and movement in the Po Valley.

The sailing yacht _'EROS' _is torpedoed and sunk by US PT boats off Genoa. She is ex-mercantile, originally built as a yacht for the Rothschild family. 1,019 tons built 1926 in England with some guns. She was seized by the Germans at Toulon in 1942 and redesignated Kriegsmarine Uj.2216 in 1943.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Frigate HMCS _'Waskesiu' _departed departed Londonderry with Convoy ONF-253.

Frigate HMCS _'Stettler' _attacked by _'U-802' _Kptlt Helmut Schmoeckel CO. _'U-802' _was a type IXC/40, U-boat, built by Deutsche Schiff und Machinen Bau AG Seebeck Yard Bremen, commissioned 12 Jun 43, in service 23 months, with a record of sinking 1 ship on 14 Sep 44. _'Stettler' _together with other frigates were on a routine patrol of Gaspe Passage when they fell within torpedo range of _'U-802'_. Assuming a convoy following astern of the sweep, _'U-802' _tried to slip through the screen. Asdic sounds surrounded it as the formation zigzagged around its base course in full view of Schmoeckel's periscope;


> "Suddenly a destroyer turns bows on at full speed, making black smoke".


Incorrect though his assumption was, Schmoeckel could only conclude in that split second that HMCS _'Stettler' _had gained asdic contact and was commencing her attack. Pressed by the apparently threatening frigate slicing through an "absolutely smooth, leaden sea (at approximately) 20 knots" Schmoeckel hastily fired a T-5 acoustic Gnat at a range of 500 m. An "explosion," in the words of the Canadian report, "believed to be a torpedo, occurred 40 yards astern of HMCS _'Stettler' _in the ship's wake." The crew of _'U-802' _heard their torpedo explode, followed by "the sounds of sinking," and credited themselves with a kill. Lying under protective layers at a depth of 170 m eight minutes after their attack, they listened in safety to the counter-attacks as "destroyers" crossed overhead. _'U-802' _rounded Cap de la Madeleine by late afternoon on 15 Sep, and let itself drift eastward with the prevailing set of the Gaspe stream.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*15 SEPTEMBER 1944* *FRIDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Canadian 4th Armoured Division establishes a bridgehead across Canal de Derivation near Balgerhoek. In northern France, the US 2d and 29th Infantry Divisions continue to make slow progress at Brest. Units of the Task Force Sebree move into Nancy from Toul without opposition. In preparation for Operation MARKET-GARDEN, the British Second Army crosses the Meuse-Escaut canal. The US First Army takes Eisden and Maastrich. 

In southern France, the 6th Army Group becomes operational at 0001 hours local and assumes control of the Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) forces that are in France. At the same time, operational control of the 6th Army Group passes AFHQ to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, a move previous agreed upon between American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in- Chief Supreme Headquarter Allied Expeditionary Force, and British General Henry Wilson, Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean. French Army B acquires autonomy and is on a par with the U.S. Seventh Army. French Army B regroups during the next few days for a drive eastward. 

Marshal Henri Pétain, the Vichy French head of state and others of his government, are ordered arrested by the government of Brigadier General Charles deGaulle, Prime Minister of the Provisional Government. 

In northern France, bad weather prevents US AAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations; the US IX Tactical Air Command supports US First Army troops and in Germany, flies armed reconnaissance around Cologne and from Trier to the Rhine River area; the USAAF XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US Third Army and flies armed reconnaissance in the Nancy-Strasbourg area. HQ XII Tactical Air Command, based in southern France, remains assigned to the USAAF Twelfth Air Force but is put under operational control of the Ninth Air Force.

In southern France, 53 B-24s fly a supply mission from Italy. 

Thirty eight Lancasters and a weather reconnaissance Mosquito of RAF Bomber Command had set out on 11 September to fly to Northern Russia in preparation for this raid on the German 45,000 ton battleship _'Tirpitz'_, which is at anchor in Kaa Fjord in Northern Norway. One aircraft returned to the U.K. and six crash-landed in Russia but their crew members are not seriously hurt. Only 27 Lancasters and a further Lancaster with a cameraman on board are available for the raid on the _'Tirpitz'_, which eventually took place today. Twenty aircraft are loaded with the 12,000 pound (5 443 kilogram) Tallboy bomb and six (or seven, the records are not clear) carried several 'Johnny Walker' mines, of 400-500 pound (181-227 kilogram) weight developed for attacking capital ships moored in shallow water. The attack caught the _'Tirpitz' _by surprise and her smoke-screens are late in starting. One Tallboy hit the _'Tirpitz' _near the bow and caused considerable damage. The shock caused by the explosion of this bomb, or possibly from other bombs which are near misses, also damaged the battleship's engines. The Germans decided that repairs to make _'Tirpitz' _fully seaworthy are not practicable and she is later moved to an anchorage further south in Norway, but only for use as a semi-static heavy artillery battery. These results of the raid are not known in the U.K. at the time and further raids against _'Tirpitz' _would take place. None of the Lancasters are shot down on the raid and all returned safely to the airfield in Russia but one aircraft crashed in Norway while returning to the U.K. two days later with 11 men on board. 

During the night of 15/16 September, six RAF Bomber Command aircraft laid mines in Kaa Fjord.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Today is the deadline by when all Germans should have evacuated Finland. Southern Finland has been evacuated in time, but in Finnish Lappland (where Germans have manned the frontline since 1941) it has been evident all the time that the Germans could not and would not leave in time. That is why Finns and Germans have secretly agreed to orchestrate the German withdrawal so that there would be no fighting. Despite the agreement, this day sees the first bloodletting between the former "Waffenbruderen" . In eastern Gulf of Finland a major battle is fought when Germans launch Operation Tanne Ost, capture of the island of Suursaari (today Gogland or Sur-Sari in Russian possession). After midnight some 2,000 men invade the island. Germans expect to gain the island without a fight but the Finnish defenders, led by Lieutenant Colonel Martti Miettinen, refuse to surrender and fight back. After dawn it's clear the German situation is hopeless. They are pinned down on the beach by the Finnish defenders and are strafed by Soviet fighters who have also driven away the German ships giving fire support to the operation. In the end Germans surrender. They have lost 153 killed and 1,231 POW's (who are later handed over to the Russians). For Finnish political leadership this action is heaven-sent. The peace negotiations are going on at Moscow, and now there's proof that Finns are seriously fighting Germans. It is hoped (vainly) that this would help the negotiators to get a little better deal.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 632: As part of Operation FRANTIC, 110 B-17s are dispatched to drop supplies to Warsaw patriots and then proceed to bases in the U.S.S.R.; a weather front is encountered over the North Sea and the bombers are recalled. Escort is provided by 149 P-51s; two P-51s collide in a cloud and are lost.

During the night of 15/16 September, nine RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Gdynia.

On the Northern front, the Soviets achieved a breakthrough at Narva.

*GERMANY:* The U.S. 1st Infantry Division almost encircles Aachen. The U.S. 3d Armored Division heads east toward Eschweiler battling the second defense belt of the West Wall, called the Schill Line. Task Force Lovelady of the 3d Armored Division cross the Vicht River upon completion of a bridge and with little difficulty achieves complete breakthrough of West Wall fortifications driving through Mausbach toward Eschweiler. 

During the night of 15/16 September, RAF Bomber Command sent 490 aircraft, 310 Lancasters, 173 Halifaxes and seven Mosquitos, to Kiel; 465 bomb the target. Four Halifaxes and two Lancasters are lost. The evidence of returning crews and of photographs caused Bomber Command to record this as “a highly concentrated raid” with “the old town and modern shopping center devastated.” Other targets are also bombed: 24 of 27 Mosquitos bombed Berlin with the loss of one aircraft; 7 of 9 Mosquitos bombed Lübeck; and 7 of 8 Mosquitos bombed the marshalling yard at Rheine. Minelaying missions included 13 aircraft mining Kiel Harbor, nine mining off Pillau, nine mining the Fehmarn Channel, six mining the Elbe River and five mining the Kattegat.

Out of numerous proposals for the Volksjäger, only two were chosen. Heinkel had been working on a similar concept for several months, and was able to respond quickly with a proposal with the company designation "P.1073". Blohm und Voss submitted a competing proposal, the "P.211", which was a much more advanced design that looked forward to the next generation of swept-winged jet fighters, such as the F-86 Sabre and the MiG-15. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy bombs four targets in Greece. One hundred nine B-17s bomb Kalamaki Airfield in Athens while 51 bomb the German U-boat base at Salamis; 113 B-24s bomb Tatoi Airfield and 54 bomb Eleusis Airfield, both in Athens. P-38s and P-51s fly escort, target cover, and sweep target areas; the attacks are aimed at hampering the withdrawal of German forces from the area.

The US IV Corps occupies Viareggion. The 6th Regimental Combat Team, Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF), under command of Brigadier General Euclydes da Costa, enters the line. These are the first Brazilians to fight on European soil and the first echelon of the Brazilian 1st Infantry Division to arrive, the rest of the division is coming later. The British 1st Division completes the capture of Poggio Prefetto. The British Eighth Army drives quickly toward the Rimini Line while the British 46th Division takes Montescudo. 

All USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bomber missions are cancelled or aborted due to weather; fighter-bombers, though restricted by weather, carry out armed reconnaissance against German communications and defensive positions in the Milan-Genoa- Modena-Pistoia areas, as Allied forces (joined on this date by elements of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force) attempt to penetrate German strongholds in the northern Apennines. 

Twenty four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force 24 B-24 Liberators begin evacuating aircrews formerly imprisoned in Bulgaria from Cairo to Bari, Italy.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*16 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SATURDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine _'U-703' _is last heard from in the Arctic east of Iceland today, position unknown. All 54 hands on the U-boat are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* In accordance with the terms of the Bulgarian armistice, Soviet forces occupy Sofia. The Soviets begin new attacks toward Tallinn. The Soviets begin new attacks toward Riga. The 3rd Ukraine Front turns west after crossing the Danube River to threaten the retreating Germans from Greece.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The Second Quebec Conference (Octagon) attended by US President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Canadian Prime Minister MacKenzie King and the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) ends. The CCS approves Admiral William F Halsey's plan to move the date of the Leyte invasion from 20 December to 20 October. Agreement is also reached on invading Japan; Kyushu will be invaded in October 1945 and Honshu in December 1945.

*WESTERN FRONT:* A general strike, by the Danish Resistance, begins. This strike will extend for five days and is a protest against recent deportations by the Germans.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 54 B-24s to fly supplies to southern France.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force dispatches 150+ B-26s and A-20s, escorted by fighters, to attack the Bath dike and Arnemuiden road and rail embankment.

During the night of 16/17 September, RAF Bomber Command's main operations are in support of the landings by British and American airborne troops at Arnhem and Nijmegen which took place the following morning. Two hundred Lancasters and 23 Mosquitos bombed three airfields: 54 hit Havelte Airfield at Steenwijk, 51 bombed Hopsten Airfield and 50 attacked Leeuwarden Airfield. A second mission 54 Lancasters and five Mosquitos are sent to bomb a flak position at Moerdlik Bridge; 54 aircraft bombed . The runways of all the airfields are well cratered but there are only near misses at the flak position, although its approach road is cut. 2 Lancasters lost from the Moerdijk raid.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The loss of ground launch sites to the advancing Allies forced the Luftwaffe to increase air launched V-1 raids. But these were not always successful due to the Allied defenses and the inaccuracy of the launching. This night fifteen He111s of III./KG 3 took off from northern Germany and launched their bombs over the Thames Estuary. Only nine V-1s were launched successfully. Three were destroyed by British ships or aircraft. Over land, two more were shot down by RAF fighters. Two more bombs landed in open country leaving only two bombs to fall on Greater London – one on Woolwich and the other on Barking. Despite this no launching aircraft were lost and all the Heinkels returned to their airbase.

*GERMANY:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 635: 178 P-47s and 149 P-51s are dispatched to bomb and strafe the Hannover-Bremen- Osnabruck areas, bomb Ahlhorn Airfield and the Mannheim-Kaiserslau tern area; they claim 6-0-1 aircraft on the ground; a P-51 is lost.

USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters fly sweeps, and armed reconnaissance over Rastatt and Haguenau.

During the night of 16/17 September, RAF Bomber Command attacks four targets: 51 aircraft bombed Hopsten Airfield and another 51 hit Rheine Airfield; 26 of 29 Mosquitos sent to Brunswick bomb the city with the loss of one aircraft; and three of four Mosquitos dispatched to the Hoesch synthetic oil refinery at Dortmund hit the plant.

*MEDITTERRANEAN:* The territorial demands on Italy by Yugoslavia's Marshal Josip Tito, Commander-in- Chief Yugoslav Liberation Army, including Istria and Trieste, causes dismay among Italians.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack fuel and supply dumps and defensive positions in the Bologna and Rimini areas while fighter-bombers and fighters bomb and strafe rail and road targets north of the battle areas in the northern Apennine Mountains as U.S. Fifth Army forces struggle to break through strong German defenses in the hills north of Prato, along the main Monte Altuzzo ridge, on Monte Veruca, Monte Monticelli, and other mountain positions.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*17 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SUNDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Miniature submarine X-8 is scuttled in the Norwegian Sea after it has been found necessary to jettison both her explosive side cargoes which have flooded. There are no casualties. X-8, and five other miniature submarines are being towed to Northern Norway to undertake attacks on the German battleships Scharnhorst and Tirpitz and the heavy cruiser Lützow. One of the group had been lost with its passage crew the previous day.

German submarine _'U-855' _(Type IXC/40) missing since 11 September in the area west of Bergen, Norway. 56 dead (all crew lost). The boat is returning from a weather reporting patrol when she possibly hit a mine on or about the 17 September in the Iceland-Faroes mine barrage.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The British I Corps starts to clear the Schelde Estuary in order to open the port of Antwerp. In northern France, the Canadian 3rd Division, with strong air and artillery support, begins a six-day battle for Boulogne, making slow progress against strong fortifications. The US VIII Corps continues the battle for Brest.

In southern France, the US Seventh Army's French II Corps makes contact with the US Third Army's French 2d Armored Division near Bains-les-Bains, southeast of Epinal.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US VIII Corps in the Brest area.

One hundred two USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers deliver supplies from England to Chartres but bad weather hampers all but eight of 54 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s flying supplies from Italy to southern France.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 762 aircraft, 370 Lancasters, 351 Halifaxes and 41 Mosquitos, to attack German positions around Boulogne; 688 aircraft dropped more than 3,000 tons of bombs in preparation for an attack by Allied troops. The German garrison surrendered soon afterwards. A Halifax and a Lancaster lost. In a second mission, 27 Lancasters and five Mosquitos attacked a V1 rocket depot at Eikenhorst without loss.

Operation MARKET-GARDEN: US Army General George S. Patton’s Third Army, driving hard, had run off the French maps and were advancing on the German city of Aachen, the first German territory to come under attack. Hitler was determined to hold the city, but the Allies’ increasing supply problems stopped Patton cold. He was sure that given more gas, he could advance on Berlin. Montgomery was given authorization to try his narrow advance. Holland had been under German occupation for four years, and he believed that the German forces there were weak. If airborne units could land and hold key bridges, he could send a heavy armored force racing through Holland and sweep around to take Berlin before the end of the year. The plan, "*Operation Market-Garden*", called for the largest airborne drop in military history. Three Allied divisions would be involved. The US Army 101st Airborne would drop on Eindhoven and take the canal crossings at Veghel. The US Army 82nd Airborne would land on bridges over the Maas and Waal Rivers. 60 miles behind the German lines, the British 1st Airborne, then later the Polish 1st Airborne Brigade, would be dropped on the Rhine bridges at Arnhem. This was the “*Market*” plan. UK General Brian Horrocks, commanding the XXX Corps, would dash up these Allied-held river crossings to relieve the 1st Airborne in the “*Garden*” phase of the operation.

On the morning of September 17, 1944, the airborne landings began, and the Dutch population, confident that they were about to be liberated, watched from their rooftops. The Germans were even in awe of the force that was descending on them. The same morning the XXX Corps began to advance.However, this plan was frustrated by the presence of the 9. and 10. SS Panzerdivisions in the area selected for the assault. Working up a single road, the Germans poured fire down on the tanks and vehicles, and the assault was stalled almost as it began. Allied air support was inadequate, and the Germans recovered quickly. The British 1st Airborne “Red Devils” had dropped five miles from their target, and could only take the North side of the bridge. Worse, they had dropped on part of a Panzer division, and were beating back tank attacks from across the Rhine. Units were cut off, and the division commander, Major General “Roy” Urquart, was out of touch with his men for thirty-six critical hours.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 637 supporting Operation MARKET-GARDEN: 875 B-17s are dispatched to bomb 117 flak batteries and installations and an airfield, all in the Netherlands; 815 B-17s attack the primaries and six hit Eisenach; two B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 141 P-51s; a P-51 is lost. USAAF Eighth Air Force dispatches 503 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s to escort aircraft of the First Allied Airborne Army. The fighters bomb and strafe flak positions and other ground targets, encountering intense flak and about 30 fighters; they claim 7-0-0 aircraft in the air, 1-0-0 on the ground and the destruction of 107 flak positions; six P-47s and seven P-51s are lost.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force supports the US 2d and 5th Armored Divisions and 4th Infantry Division in the Netherlands, and participates in Operation MARKET-GARDEN. Between 17-26 September, the US IX Troop Carrier Command, assigned to the First Allied Airborne Army, supports Operation MARKET-GARDEN as follows:
- Aircraft dispatched: 3,996 of which 3,634 are successful
- Gliders dispatched: 1,899 of which 1,635 are successful
- Losses: 98 aircraft and 137 gliders
- Troops dropped or landed: 30,481
- Vehicles dropped or landed: 1,001
- Artillery weapons dropped or landed: 463
- Tons of equipment, including fuel, dropped or landed: 3,559

In support of Operation Market Garden during the day, RAF Bomber Command sent : 112 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos to attack three targets: 34 aircraft bombed coastal installations at Westkapelle, 32 hit gun emplacements at Biggerkerke and 30 attacked gun emplacements at Flushing. During the night of 17/18 September, 241 aircraft made two diversionary sweeps, one to the Dutch coast and one into the Netherlands, in order to draw up German fighters from Southern Holland. This intention is not achieved. No aircraft lost.

After gaining his seventy-fifth victory and flying a Bf 109G “Black 25”, Major Klaus Mietusch of JG 26 was shot down and killed in the vicinity of Rath-Aldekerk by the American ace Lt. William Beyer of the USAAF 376 FS/361 FG. Major Mietusch had 75 victories with 60 Western Front kills including 16 four-engined bombers. He was shot down ten times during his career. Hptm. Paul Schauder took his place as Gruppenkommandeur of III Gruppe.

*GERMANY:* The US 30th Infantry Division crosses the German border east of Simpelveld.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force's XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance over the Trier and Saarbrucken areas and IX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance in the Dusseldorf, Duren, Cologne, and Linz/Rhine areas.

During the night of 17/18 September, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bombed two targets: 42 hit Bremen and six bombed Dortmund.

*EASTERN FRONT:* B-17s and B-24s of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy attack five targets in the Budapest area in an attempt to hit Germany's principal remaining oil supply and to aid the Soviets and other friendly forces on the southern front: 209 aircraft bomb the Rakos marshalling yard, 72 bomb the Ferencvaros marshalling yard, and 40 attack the Kobanya marshalling; two oil refineries are hit with 55 aircraft bombing the Shell refinery and 48 hitting the Magyar refinery. Eight other aircraft bomb the Baja railroad bridge as a target of opportunity.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Twenty two bombers return from Cairo, Egypt, to Italy with Allied airmen formerly imprisoned in Bulgaria while two B-17s, escorted by 41 P-51 Mustangs, evacuate wounded airmen from Czechoslovakia to Italy.

In the mountains south of the Po Valley, the US II Corps break through the Gothic Line at Il Giogo Pass, take Monte Altuzzo and Pratone, finish clearing Monte Veruca, and gain the crest of Monte Monticelli. During the night of 17/18 September, the Germans begin a withdrawal from the Gothic Line.

During the night of 17/18 September, 92 RAF heavy bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the Brescia West marshalling yard.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit troop concentrations in the British Eighth Army battle area in the vicinity of Rimini; B-25s also bomb rail bridges in the western Po Valley, while fighter-bombers operating in the Po Valley attack rails, roads, rolling stock, road bridges, motor transport and other targets.

Bombers in Italy bomb two marshalling yards: eight aircraft hit the Vincovici marshalling yard and five bomb the Osijek marshalling yard. One other bomber attacks a railroad bridge.

The last UK-USSR -Italy-UK shuttle mission (Operations FRANTIC) is completed as 72 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17s and 59 P-51s fly without bombs from Italy to the UK; two B-17s and a P-51 abort and a P-51 crash lands southwest of Paris; 70 B-17s and 57 P-51s land safely in the UK.

*NORTH AMERICA:* While British airborne troops are landing at Arnhem, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill travels by train to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's home at Hyde Park, New York. From Hyde Park he returns to New York City where he boards the RMS _'Queen Mary' _for the voyage home to England. Upon his return he immediately prepares to leave for Moscow.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*18 SEPTEMBER 1944* *MONDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT: 8th AF:* The US Eighth Air Force in England flies 3 missions. 
- Mission 639: 248 B-24s drop supplies to the First Allied Airborne Army in the Netherlands; intense flak downs 7 B-24s. 500+ P-38s, P-47s and P-51 Mustangs escort the B-24s and escort C-47s of the First Allied Airborne Army as the second troop echelon is dropped in the Netherlands to participate in heavy fighting around the Arnhem area; 2 fighter groups strafe rail and highway traffic and 50+ fighters bomb flak positions; 100+ Luftwaffe fighters attack; USAAF claims 29-0-1 aircraft in the air; 20 fighters are lost.
- Mission 640: In the last Operation FRANTIC mission, 107 B-17s drop 1,248 containers of supplies to Polish forces in Warsaw, fewer than 250 are picked up the Polish Home Army; 1 B-17 is lost; escort is provided by 137 P-51s (64 P-51s continue to the USSR), they claim 4-0-0 aircraft in the air and 3-0-6 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.
Some of the P-51s are provided by the 361st Fighter Group. One of these aircraft is flown by Major. Urban L. (Ben) Drew. As the 361st approached its break-off point south of Sweden, Drew saw a twin-engine bogey skimming the water off the German coast. He is given permission to investigate and, with two wingmen, headed for the deck, where he destroyed an He-111 bomber. Climbing back up, he spotted "the biggest aircraft I had ever seen" sitting on the water at a seaplane base. The six-engine aircraft he and his wingmen spotted was later acknowledged to be a BV-238 V1, a new very-long-range transport and reconnaissance flying boat that had just finished its operational tests.
- Mission 641: 8 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.
*9th AF:* Weather cancels all US Ninth Air Force bomber activity; less than 100 fighters support US VII Corps in western Germany and fly cover in the area of Brest, France, where organized resistance comes to an end. 

The British XXX Corps links with the Us 101st Airborne Division at Eindhoven and Veghel in Operation Market-Garden. They continue their advance towards Nijmegen and Arnhem. Their plan is to meet the US 82nd at Nijmegen and the British 1st at Arnhem. Throughout the night of 17-18 September soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Parachute Brigade had fought with the Germans for the Arnhem bridge. Both sides attacked, the Paras south to seize then entire bridge and the Germans north to eliminate the 2nd Battalion.

*MEDITERRANEAN :* The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 463 B-17s and B-24s, some with fighter escort, to hit marshalling yards at Subotica and Szeged, Hungary and railroad bridges at Novi Sad and Belgrade, Yugoslavia and Szob, and Budapest, Hungary; fighters maintain cover over the Budapest area.

US Twelfth Air Force B-25s continue to hit troop concentrations and gun positions, in support of the British Eighth Army forces which open an assault on defenses in the Rimini area; despite bad weather B-26s and P-47s maintain attacks on bridges, rail lines, and transportation in the Po Valley.

*GERMANY:* 'U-2338' launched. 'U-3018' laid down.

*EASTERN FRONT:* A force of B-17s drops 1,284 containers to the Polish Home Army, under siege, in Warsaw. Due to the distance, the bombers must make a 1 way trip and land at Soviet airfields. This will be the only supply drop allowed by the Soviets. Only 228 of the containers fall in Polish-held territory. The rest are lost.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Finns prepare to start hostilities against Germans in northern Finland. Three divisions (among them the one and only Panzer Division) and two brigades are transferred from eastern border and given orders.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* After being damaged by a Liberator (Sqn 224/R) 'U-1228' suffered Schnorchel damage which resulted in a CO2 poisoning of its crew. One man died.

'U-925' listed as missing in the North Atlantic or Arctic Sea north of Britain after 24 August 1944. No explanation exists for its loss. 51 dead (all hands lost).

On 18 September 1944 on 1900hrs, a lookout on destroyer ORP '_Garland_' spotted an enemy U-boat. The U-boat was promptly attacked, but without any result. Later four British destroyers, HMS '_Troubridge_', '_Terpsichore_', '_Brecon_' and '_Zetland_', joined the Polish destroyer and started the hunting which lasted for 10 hours. On 0600hrs the following day the U-boat surfaced and was spotted again by the Polish destroyer, this time the attack, 10 depth charges, was deadly. The German U-boat 'U-407' was sunk. The survivors were picked up by '_Garland_' as war prisoners.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*19 SEPTEMBER 1944 TUESDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* While on her first patrol, German submarine 'U-867' is sunk about 150 nautical miles (279 kilometers) northwest of Bergen, Norway, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft of No. 224 Squadron based at Milltown, Morayshire, Scotland; all 60 crewmen are lost.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Troops of the Soviet Third Baltic Front overrun Valga, on the Estonian--Latvian border. Other Soviet forces are approaching Tallinn and Riga.

The peace treaty between Finland and Soviet Union is signed in Moscow today at 1200 hours local. The Finnish delegation, led by Prime Minister Antti Hackzell had arrived Moscow already on 7 September, but they have to wait a week while the Soviets and British are negotiating what kind of conditions shall be presented (British actually manage to persuade the Soviets to halve the amount of reparations demanded). The first meeting is on 14 September, but there's a further delay as Prime Minister Hackzell suffers a brain hemorrhage and is paralyzed; Foreign Minister Carl Enckell is sent to Moscow to replace Hackzell. On the evening of 18 September, Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs Viachislav M. Molotov presents an ultimatum: Finns have to accept the Soviet demands by the 1200 hours local today, or the hostilities would be started again. The main points of the treaty are:
- The territories lost in 1940 are again ceded to Soviet Union as is Petsamo in far north. The peninsula of Porkkala (uncomfortably near to Helsinki!) is leased to Soviet Union for 50 years as a naval base (Khruschev will give it back in 1956)
- Finland pays US$300 million (UK£74 million) as war reparations - that is in uninflated 1938 US dollars ("We have no intention of letting you to gain any benefit of the war." comments Molotov; the reparations are paid by 1952)
- Finland agrees to banish all German troops from the country
- Finland agrees to prosecute all war-criminals and those deemed guilty of initiating the war and allying Finland with Germany.
- There are also many minor points, like freeing the political prisoners, disbanding all "hitlerite" organisations, limiting the size of the armed forces etc. A Soviet-dominated Allied Supervisory Committee is situated at Helsinki to ensure that Finland will comply with the treaty.
The so-called Autumn Maneuvres, the orchestrated German withdrawal and Finnish advance in northern Finland, begin. The advance is arranged in such a way that Finns arrive always one day after Germans have left. This phase of the Lappland War will be short, however. The Soviets soon smell the rat and demand real action. Meanwhile the civilian population in the areas manned by Germans is being evacuated to Sweden.

*WESTERN FRONT: *In the U.S. Ninth Army area, VIII Corps successfully concludes the Brittany campaign as the 8th Infantry Division finishes clearing the Crozon Peninsula and captures German Major General Hermann Bernhard Ramcke, fortress commander of Brest. In the 6th Army Group area: Commanders conference is held at Lyon to plan for future operations. The French Army B is renamed the French 1st Army.

Operation MARKET GARDEN: In the British Second Army area, poor weather conditions sharply curtail airlift and support of ground forces fighting around Arnhem. The British XXX Corps. At 0600 hours local, British engineers complete the bridge over the Wilhelmena Canal at Zon and at 0610 hours the Grenadier Group of the Guards Armoured moves across the bridge. The group arrives at Grave at 0830 hours where it halts because General Browning, commander the British Airborne Corps, wants to see the two battalion commanders at his command post 5 miles (8 kilometers) to the east.

One hundred seventy two USAAF Eighth Air Force P-51 Mustangs supporting the First Allied Airborne Army engage 100+ German fighters, claiming 23-4-14; six P-51s are lost.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 56 aircraft, 28 Lancasters, 27 Halifaxes and a Mosquito, to attack the Domburg coastal battery but are recalled. A Halifax crashes in England.

*GERMANY: *In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the U.S. 2d Armored Division drives through Gangelt toward Geilenkirchen, forcing a salient between two German armies, but the Germans restore contact during counterattacks. Corps faces the West Wall and prepares to attack it tomorrow.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 642: 796 B-17 Flying Fortresses, in two forces, are dispatched against marshalling yards in western Germany; weather prevents about half from bombing primary targets but most manage to bomb targets of opportunity; seven bombers and a fighter are lost. (1) B-17s hit targets of opportunity, i.e., marshalling yards at Koblenz (87), Dillenburg (39), Limburg (37) and Darmstadt (24); bridges at Limburg (35), Koblenz (25) and a bridge over the Rhine River at Koblenz (13); and Wiesbaden (38), Wetzlar (14), the railroad line at Koblenz (13) and Wiesbaden Airfield (12); four B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 131 P-47s and P-51 Mustangs; a P-47 is lost. (2) B-17s bomb marshalling yards at Hamm (186) and Soest (32) and Dortmund/Unna depot (64); other targets hit are marshalling yards at Raesfeld (11), Wesel (9), Rheine (6) and Munster (3); Dillenburg (11), Emmerich (7), Hamm (5), Osnaburck (2) and others (6); three B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 109 P-47s and P-51s.

During the night of 19/20 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 227 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos of Nos 1 and No 5 Groups to the twin towns of Mönchengladbach/ Rheydt; 233 bombed the target with the loss of four Lancasters and a Mosquito lost. Bomber Command claimed severe damage to both towns, particularly to Mönchengladbach. The Master Bomber for this raid is Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, DSO, DFC flying a Mosquito from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England, where he is serving as Base Operations Officer. Gibson's instructions over the target are heard throughout the raid and gave no hint of trouble, but his aircraft crashed in flames, according to a Dutch eyewitness, before crossing the coast of Holland for the homeward flight over the North Sea. There are no German fighter claims for the Mosquito; it may have been damaged by flak over the target or on the return flight, or it may have developed engine trouble. It is possibly flying too low for the crew to escape by parachute. Gibson and his navigator, Squadron Leader JB Warwick, DFC are both killed and are buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at Steenbergen- en-Kruisland, 13 kilometers (8 miles) north of Bergen-op-Zoom. Theirs are the only graves of Allied servicemen in the cemetery.

*EASTERN FRONT: *One hundred B-17s and 61 P-51s takeoff from bases in the U.S.S.R. and 91 B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Szolnok and continue on to bases in Italy.

*MEDITERRANEAN :* B-24s based in Italy attack two railroad bridges: 48 bomb the bridge at Mitrovica and 48 bomb the bridge at Kraljevo while 70 P-38s provide target area cover.

During the night of 19/20 September, 85 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Szekesfehervor.

In U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, two antiaircraft battalions reach Montrone on the coast and Pietrasanta, northeast of Montrone. In Br Eighth Army area, 10 Corps continues to battle the Rimini Line, meeting particularly stubborn opposition in the vicinity of Ceriano, but the 46th Division succeeds in breaching the line during night of 19/20 September at Torraccia after crossing the Ausa River at Serravalle.

Bad weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighter-bombers hit guns and defensive positions along the Gothic Line and attack roads and bridges in the Bologna area.

German submarine 'U-407' is sunk about 73 nautical miles (136 kilometers) north-northwest of Iráklion, Crete, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS '_Troubridge_' and '_Terpischore_' and the Polish destroyer ORP '_Garland_' (H 37); 48 of the 53 crewmen survive. The boat is on her 12th patrol and has been credited with sinking four ships for a total of 34,068 tons and damaging three others for a total of 24,107 tons.


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## syscom3 (Nov 13, 2009)

*20 SEPTEMBER 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the Canadian First Army's 2 Corps area, Polish armor overruns Hulst and Axel.

In the U.S. Third Army area, troops of the 5th Infantry Division seize Pournoy-la-Chetive and overrun Coin-sur-Seille. 80th Infantry Division elements push into Bois de la Rumont. The Germans counterattack and recover Agincourt; the 35th Infantry Division attempts in vain to drive through Foret de Champenoux to the Amance plateau but the artillery ammunition supply runs out. Elements of the 79th Infantry Division drive through Luneville and turns southeast in an effort to outflank German's Martha River line.
In U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, Lieutenant General Lucien K Truscott orders corps to cross the Moselle River and seize communications centers in the Vosges Mountains to open the way to the Alsatian Plain and the Rhine River. The 45th Infantry Division upon crossing the Moselle at Epinal, is to seize Rambervillers and Baccarat and force the Saverne Gap. The 36th Infantry Division is to cross the Moselle in the Eloyes area and take St Die near Saales Pass. The 3d Infantry Division is to cross the Moselle in the Rupt area and seize Gerardmer near the Schlucht Pass. The 36th begins a reconnaissance in force of the proposed Moselle crossing site near Remiremont. The site near Eloyes is reported to be suitable, and a regiment moves forward to it during the night of 20/21 September. The French 1st Army now holds the sector to the right of the U.S. Seventh Army, the 2d Corps taking up positions in new sector to the left of the 1st Corps.

In the air, USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters provide air cover for the US XV and XX Corps in the Nancy area.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sent 646 aircraft, 437 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes and 40 Mosquitos, to attack German positions around Calais; 633 bomb the target. Visibility is good and the bombing is accurate and concentrated. One Lancaster is lost.

In the air, 679 USAAF Eighth Air Force P-38s, P-47s and P-51s are dispatched to support the First Allied Airborne Army in the Arnhem and Nijmegen areas; 644 aircraft strafe and bomb ground targets; intense light flak claims a P-51; air attacks aid ground troops in taking valuable bridges in the area and in the advance toward Arnhem.

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the assault on the West Wall is postponed because of unfavorable flying conditions. Other deterring factors are the very short supply of artillery ammunition and exposed left flank of corps. In the VII Corps area, the Germans decide to go on the defensive instead of counterattacking as planned. In the V Corps area, IX Tactical Air Command again assists corps in maintaining positions.

In the air, about 40 B-26s hit the marshalling yard at Trier and defensive positions at Herbach to complicate rail transportation and aid in the Allied ground attack on Aachen; fighters fly air cover for the US V and VII Corps in western Germany near the Dutch boundary, and fly armed reconnaissance over the Bonn, Mannheim, Hamburg, Koblenz, and Ruhr Valley areas.

*EASTERN FRONT:* B-17s bomb five targets: 117 bomb the marshalling yard at Hatvan; 56 bomb the railroad bridge at Szob; 56 bomb the South railroad bridge and 53 bomb the North railroad bridge both in Budapest; and 54 bomb the marshalling yard at Gyor. Two B-17s are lost.

B-24s bomb three targets: 111 bomb Malacky Airfield, 28 bomb the Apollo oil refinery at Bratislava and 28 bomb a synthetic oil refinery at Bratislava.

During the night of 20/21 September, 58 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Hegyeschalom; four aircraft are lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the British Eighth Army area, the battle for the Rimini Line ends as the Germans withdraw, during the night of 20/21 September, behind the Marecchia River under cover of a drenching rain. In the British 5 Corps area, San Marino, in the small independent Republic of San Marino, falls to the Indian 4th Division. The 46th Division holds La Torraccia against counterattacks. The 1st Armoured Division joins the 56th Division in the fight for Ceriano ridge, where the continues to resist tenaciously throughout the day before withdrawing. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division battles the encircled Germans at San Fortunato, frustrating German efforts to break out.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Regimental Combat Team 6 of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force gains positions on Mount Prano but cannot reach the crest. In the II Corps area, the 91st and 85th Infantry Divisions continue to pursue the Germans toward the Santerno River. 337th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, crosses it east of Firenzuola at San Pellegrino. In the British 13 Corps area, the Germans withdrawal from Casaglia Pass permits the 1st Division to push rapidly eastward toward the Indian 8th Division.

In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Fighter Command begins operations in support of the U.S. Fifth Army; weather again grounds medium bombers and severely restricts fighters which fly uneventful reconnaissance missions.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*21 SEPTEMBER 1944* *THURSDAY*

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Finnish military intelligence begins to execute Operation STELLA POLARIS. In the following days the personnel, equipment and archives of the military intelligence is transferred covertly by sea to Sweden, so that under no circumstances they would fall in the Soviet hands. Many of the officers involved use the intelligence they have to secure jobs in the Swedish and diverse western Allied intelligence services.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 5th Infantry Division remains in place because of an ammunition shortage and the 10th Infantry Regiment, suffers heavily under continuous German fire and repeated counterattacks against Pournoy-la-Chetive. In the XII Corps area, the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division, recovers Agincourt in bitter fighting; the 137th is still held up in Foret de Champenoux. The 4th Armored Division, continues sweeping its zone, taking Eures and Coincourt with ease and reaching the canal to the south. In the XV Corps area, the 313th Infantry Regiment of 79th Infantry Division, leaving a battalion at Luneville where fighting continues in the streets, drives southeast along the Meurthe River, clearing Moncel and halting under fire at the edge of Foret de Mondon; against heavy fire, the 3d Battalion of the 314th Infantry crosses the Meurthe River near St Clement but is unable to advance across open ground leading to Foret de Mondon and withdraws after dark.

In the U.S. Seventh Army area, the VI Corps begins crossing the Moselle River. On the left flank, the 157th Infantry Regiment (-) of the 45th Infantry Division, having shuttled to the Epinal area, begins crossing XV Corps' bridge at Chatel, during the night 21/22 September, and moves to Vaxoncourt; the 3d Battalion, with the task of clearing Thaon before crossing, gets patrols into the town and wades the river near Igney. The Germans are delaying advance of 3d Infantry Division toward the Moselle.

In the French 1st Army area, the 2d Corps, which has been reinforced for the coming offensive, is moving forward to gain contact with the Germans.

One hundred twenty two USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers transport supplies from England to Lille.

Operation MARKET GARDEN: U.S. 101st Airborne Division: The British VIII and XII Corps of the British Second Army move north onto the flanks of the U.S. 506th Parachute Infantry and take over responsibility for the area. Other regiments conduct local attacks in order to widen the corridor. The U.S. 82d Airborne Division continues to defend their area. British Guards Armoured Division must now advance from its forward positions, in the vicinity of Lent, over an 11 mile (18 kilometer) road which is built to a height of six feet (1,8 meters) above the surrounding ground. The division will have to continue to advance on a one tank front as it did south of Nijmegan. There is a difference now. The tanks will not be able to deploy off the road when resistance is met. Only infantry can do this. At dawn five hours before the Guards Armoured Division attack began, 2 Parachute Battalion has an effective strength of 150 men holding positions on the northern end of the Arnhem Bridge. At 0900 hours SS panzer grenadiers overrun the positions of the battalion and soldiers, out of ammunition, have to surrender.

The same morning, howitzers of the British 64th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, begin firing in support of the remainder of the division in its perimeter centered on the division command post in the Hartenstein Hotel. The fires are controlled by the Commander Royal Artillery, 1st Airborne Division, using his radio. He had also been in contact with his observers at the bridge until they, too, are overrun. 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade is attached to the British 1st Airborne Division. Its drop in the area has been delayed for two days by bad weather at airfields in the U.K. On the run up to its dropping zone less than 2 miles south of Driel, 0.5 miles south of the river, the aircraft carrying the paratroopers is attacked by Luftwaffe fighters and anti-aircraft fire. At 1508 hours Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski, its commander, goes out the door of his C-47. The drop zone and the men dropping are under fire from the Germans. They assemble and look for the ferry which they are supposed to use to cross the river to the British side. They are unable to locate it. Promised rafts to carry them across the river do not arrive.

In the air, 90 USAAF Eighth Air Force P-47s and P-51s support the First Allied Airborne Army's C-47 Skytrains dropping supplies and paratroops of the Polish 1st Brigade near Driel; they encounter about 50 Luftwaffe fighters, claiming 20-0-2; three P-47s are lost.

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the West Wall offensive is again postponed because of weather conditions. In the VII Corps area, Combat Command A of the 3d Armored Division completes the mop up of the Muensterbusch area; in Combat Command B's sector, Task Force Mills, leaving the defense of Donnerberg to Task Force Lovelady, drives into the town of Donnerberg, a suburb of Stolberg, gaining a precarious foothold. The V Corps authorizes the withdrawal of the Wallendorf bridgehead. This is accomplished before dawn of 22 September, using a ford since the Germans have destroyed the Wallendorf bridges. The USAAF's IX Tactical Air Command, Ninth Air Force, gives unusually effective air support.

In the air, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 644: 486 bombers are dispatched to hit targets in western Germany using pathfinder force methods; two bombers are lost: (1) 154 B-17 Flying Fortresses escorted by 39 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs, are dispatched to hit the synthetic Opau oil plant at Ludwigshafen and two others hit targets of opportunity; (2) 153 B-17 Flying Fortresses, escorted by 34 P-51s, are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Mainz; and (3) 179 B-24 Liberators, escorted by 44 P-51s, are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Koblenz while 12 others hit targets of opportunity.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force dispatches 79 B-26s and A-20s to bomb marshalling yards at Gerolstein, Pronsfeld, and Ebrang; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance over the Bonn, Koblenz, Karlsruhe, Cologne, and the Strasbourg area, and support the US First and Third Armies in western Germany and eastern France; the IX Tactical Air Command is exceptionally effective in aiding the V Corps withdrawal from the Wallendorf bridgehead; during the evening IX Air Defense Command fighters patrol the Luxembourg-Chaumont , France area.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* German forces of Army Group E evacuate the Peloponnes peninsula.

During the night of 21/22 September, 71 RAF heavy bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the Salonika port area.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Regimental Combat Team 6, Brazilian Expeditionary Force, tries unsuccessfully to take Mt Prano. The South African 6th Armored Division reaches Serra. In the II Corps area, the 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, seizes Firenzuola; the 339th Infantry Regiment takes Mt Frena and Mt Coloreta. The 91st Infantry Division, to the west, gets advance elements of 361st and 363d Infantry Regiments to the Santerno River; the 362d, against rear-guard opposition, clears St Lucia and Mt Gazzari and enters Futa Pass, but the Germans retain the hill dominating it to west. On the left flank of the corps, the 133d Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division at last clears Torricella Hill. On the right flank of the corps, the 88th Infantry Division is committed through the right flank of the 85th Infantry Division and, with the 349th Infantry Regiment on the left and 350th on right, starts quickly down the Santerno valley toward Imola. In the British 13 Corps area, the 1st Infantry Division is half way between Crespino and Marradi. The 6th Armoured Division takes Mt Peschiena.

The British Eighth Army pursues the retreating Germans toward the Marecchia River. 5 Corps finds the Ceriano ridge abandoned and gets patrols to the river before dawn of 22 September. The strength of the 1st Armoured Division and 56th Division is so badly depleted that the divisions must be reorganized. The 56th Division is ordered to withdraw from the line on 22 September. In the Canadian I Corps area, the British 4th Division gets patrols across the Marecchia River during the night 21/22 September. The Canadian 1st Division mops up the San Fortunato position and establishes a bridgehead across the Marecchia River west of Rimini; the attached Greek 3d Mountain Brigade, having cleared the airfield south of Rimini, enters the coastal city, from which the Germans have withdrawn.

In the air, bad weather and unserviceable landing grounds cancel all USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations.

The small [24 square mile] San Marino republic in central Italy declares war on Germany.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers bomb four transportation targets: 46 hit the railroad bridge at Novi Sad; 26 bomb the marshalling yard at Brod; two bomb the marshalling yard at Vincovici; and one bombs the marshalling yard at Subotica and 42 P-38 Lightnings dive-bomb the Osijek marshalling yard . Two C-47 Skytrains, with eight P-51 Mustangs escorting, evacuate Fifteenth Air Force personnel from Yugoslavia to Italy.

USAAF heavy bombers attack six transportation targets: 103 bomb the marshalling yard at Debrecen; 56 bomb the marshalling yard at Bekescaba; 54 hit the railroad bridge at Baja; 32 attack the railroad bridge at Tiza Fured; 21 bomb the railroad bridge at Kiskore; and ten hit miscellaneous railroad targets. Two bombers are lost.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*22 SEPTEMBER 1944* *FRIDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Canadian First Army's 2 Corps area, the 3d Division receives the surrender of the 9,500 German troops of the Boulogne garrison. The 4th Armoured Division has cleared as far north as the Leopold Canal and on the right flank has reached the Schelde Estuary. With the capture of Terneuzen by Polish armor, the Germans are confined to "Breskens Pocket," the region north of the Leopold Canal and west of Savojaards Plaat.

General Dwight D Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, conferring with his top commanders at Versailles, gives top priority to the opening of the Schelde approaches to Antwerp, Belgium, since a deep-water port is needed in order to sustain the main Allied offensive of enveloping the Ruhr from the north. The offensive is to be conducted by 21 Army Group, assisted by the U.S. First Army. The boundary between 21 and 12th Army Groups is adjusted, effective 25 September, to extend northeast from Hasselt, the Netherlands, through Bree, Ween, Deurne, and Venray (all to 12th Army Group) to the Maas River at Maashees and along the river to the original boundary north of Maastricht. This boundary change gives XIX Corps of the U.S. First Army a corridor west of the Maas that contains more than 500 square miles and includes the extensive swampland of the Peel Marshes To secure this corridor, XIX Corps is to have two new divisions, the 29th Infantry Division from Brest and the 7th Armored Division from the Moselle River sector near Metz. Since supply requirements of the Ruhr offensive are to be met fully first, the U.S. Third Army is to limit its action to that permitted by the supply situation.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans evacuates Cheminot, since it has become an untenable pocket between XX and XII Corps.

In XII Corps area, Combat Command B, 6th Armored Division, circling west and south from Foret de Gremecey to take the Germans in the Amance area from the rear, clears strongly occupied Armaucourt. The 134th Infantry, 35th Infantry Division, attacks into the Bois de Faulx at noon; 137th Infantry pushes through rest of Foret de Champenoux, from which the Germans flees under air and artillery attack, abandoning the Amance plateau. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, halts German tank-infantry attack toward Moyenvic in the region west of Juvelize and inflicts heavy losses on the Germans. In the XV Corps area, the French 2nd Armoured Division crosses the Meurthe River between Flin and Vathimenil, during the night of 22/23 September, and patrols through the southern part of Foret de Mondon to La Vezouse R at Benamenil but is driven back.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 157th Infantry of the 45th Infantry Division maintains a bridgehead at Igney while the 179th Infantry crosses the Moselle at Arches and clears Archettes; the 180th Infantry continues to clear Epinal, from which the Germans begin withdrawing. The 36th Infantry Division finishes clearing Eloyes and is attacking Remiremont.

108 B-24s fly fuel to France. 68 B-24s fly a supply mission to southern France.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Soviet forces capture the capital Tallinn.

The first Soviet members of the Allied Supervisory Committee arrive in Helsinki. The mission of the Committee is to see that Finns comply with the terms of the Interim Peace Treaty concluded at Moscow three days earlier. A small British contingent arrives later.

Lieutenant General Hjalmar Siilasvuo is nominated to conduct the campaign against the Germans in northern Finland. His plan is to strike behind the German back by invading Tornio, the northernmost point of the Gulf of Bothnia, by sea. Finland breaks diplomatic relations with Japan.

*GERMANY: *The U.S. First Army goes on the defensive along most of its line. XIX Corps postpones an offensive against West Wall indefinitely. In the VII Corps area, the Germans make an all-out counterattack
against the 9th Infantry Division, at Schevenhuette but are driven back with extremely heavy losses. V Corps remains on the defensive.

In the air, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 645: 661 bombers are dispatched to hit the Henschel armored vehicle and motor vehicle factories at Kassel bombing by pathfinder methods; 453 B-17s are dispatched; 410 hit the primary, ten hit Wetzlar and seven hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 268 P-51s; 1 is lost.

Weather grounds USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers but fighters attack railroads, supply and ordnance depots, and strongpoints, and fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over the Cologne, Dusseldorf, Aachen, Koblenz, Trier, Bonn, Mannheim, and Strasbourg areas.

B-17s and B-24s bomb six targets, five of them in Munich: in Munich,
108 bomb Riom Airfield; 100 bomb the industrial area; 82 bomb a marshalling yard; 50 bomb the BMW aircraft engine plant making engines for the Fw 190 fighter; and 25 bomb Oberweisenfeld Airfield.

*MEDITERANEAN:* 76 B-24Ss bomb the marshalling yard at Larissa. One heavy bomber bombs the airfield at Formia.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, the South African 6th Armoured Division is ordered forward in pursuit since the Germans appear to be withdrawing from positions above Pistoia. The II Corps virtually completes operations against the Gothic Line and is ready for the drive north to the Radicosa Pass and northeast to Imola. The 362d Infantry, 91st Infantry Division, completes the reduction of Futa Pass defenses; other elements of the 91st Infantry Division establish outposts across the Santerno River. The 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, screening the left flank, finds Vernio abandoned by the Germans. In the British 13 Corps area, the Indian 8th Division completes the occupation Giogo di Villore without opposition.

In the British Eighth Army area, 5 Corps, with the Indian 4th Division on the left, the 46th Division in the center, and the 1st Armoured Division on the right, attacks across the Marecchia River, during the night of 22/23 September, and begins the struggle for ridges north of the river. The 56th Division withdraws from the line; its 168th Brigade ceases to exist as a fighting unit. In the Canadian I Corps area, the British 4th Division establishes a bridgehead across the Marecchia River on the left flank of the corps, and the 5th Armoured Division prepares to attack through it. The New Zealand 2d Division takes command of the coastal sector, releasing the Canadian 1st Division and attached Greek 3d Mountain Brigade for a welcome rest.

The USAAF Twelfth Air Force, operating north of the Italian battle area, sends medium bombers to bomb road and rail bridges, while fighter-bombers continue hitting roads, railroads, and transportation, and support ground forces. During the night of 22/23 September, 60 RAF heavy bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the pontoon bridge at San Benedetto.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* The last USAAF FRANTIC mission ends as 84 B-17s and 51 P-51s of the Eighth Air Force return to the UK from Italy; the remaining aircraft return on 8 October.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*23 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SATURDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Canadian units cross the Escaut canal during their advance to clear the north bank of the Scheldt.

In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division clears Bois de Faulx of German rear guards, capturing many. In the XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division clears Foret de Mondon. A French patrol crosses the La Vezouse River and takes Domjevin but the Germans restore positions along the river. After nightfall, the final German remnants fall back across the river to organize a new defense line. In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 36th Infantry Division finishes clearing Remiremont and begins crossing the Moselle. The 3d Infantry Division, reaches the Moselle across from Rupt and about midnight begins crossing over a bridge, which is found to be intact. In the French 1st Army area, General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny revises his plan of attack as a result of Lieutenant General Lucian K Truscott's decision to make the main effort with the U.S. Seventh Army while French forces provide flank protection. He calls for an offensive limited in strength to one combat command of the French 1st Armored Division and one regimental combat team of the French 1st Infantry Division. The armor is to attack on an axis Melisey-Le Thillot; the infantry is to conduct diversionary attacks.

162 USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24s fly a TRUCKIN' mission to France delivering fuel. Fighters support the US Third Army in the Chateau-Salins area.

The fighting in Arnhem continues between the Allied paratroops and the Germans. The British XXX Corps continues attacks in its attempts to advance.

559 USAAF Eighth and Ninth Air Forces P-38s, P-47s and P-51s bomb and strafe flak positions and other ground targets in two landing zones in the Nijmegen area, immediately preceding the arrival of the remainder of the US 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions and the Polish 1st Brigade; the P-38s are flown by Eighth and Ninth Air Force units; they engage 150+ Luftwaffe fighters; the USAAF claims 27-2-6 aircraft in the air; four P-47s and ten P-51s are lost.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sent 50 aircraft, 34 Halifaxes, ten Mosquitos and six Lancasters, to bomb coastal batteries at Domburg; 49 bombed the target without loss. One particularly large explosion is seen.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Soviet Army troops reach the Gulf of Riga at Paernu.

*GERMANY: *B-26s and A-20s sent against targets in are recalled due to weather; fighters support the US First Army in western Germany, escort bombers (recalled), and fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas.

During the night of 23/24 September, RAF Bomber Command sent 549 aircraft, 378 Lancasters, 154 Halifaxes and 17 Mosquitos, to bomb Neuss; 492 aircraft bombed the target with the loss of five Lancasters and two Halifaxes. Bomber Command's report states that most of the bombing fell in the dock and factory areas. In a second raid, 136 Lancasters and five Mosquitos are sent to bomb the banks of the two parallel branches of the Dortmund-Ems canal at a point near Ladbergen, north of Munster, where the level of the canal water is well above the level of the surrounding land. Ninety nine aircraft bombed the Munster Aqueducts with the loss of 14 Lancasters, more than 10 per cent of the Lancaster force. Despite the presence of 7/10ths cloud in the target area, breaches are made in the banks of both branches of the canal and a 6-mile (9,7 kilometer) stretch of it is drained. Most of this damage is caused by two direct hits by 12,000 pound (5 543 kilogram) Tallboy bombs dropped by aircraft of No 617 Squadron at the opening of the raid. In a third raid, 113 aircraft, 107 Lancasters, five Mosquitos and a Lightning, carried out a supporting raid on Handorf Airfield the local German night-fighter airfield just outside Munster; one Lancaster is lost. No photographic reconnaissance flight is carried out after this raid. Sixty five aircraft also bombed MÃ¼nster itself; the town records 100 high-explosive bombs but no fatal casualties. Two other raids are flown by Mosquitos, 42 bombing Bochum and six bombing the Rheine marshalling yard.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British Special Boat Squadron, Mediterranean, is dropped on Araxos, on the northwest coast of the Peloponnesus Peninsula, to seize an airfield, from which retreating Germans can be harassed, and to occupy Patras.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division, with the capture of Montepiano, is through the Gothic Line. In the British XIII Corps area, the 1st Division occupies Poggio Cavalmagra and pushes on toward Palazzuolo on the left and Marradi on the river. The Indian 8th Division occupies Mt Villanova. In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps is vigorously engaged with the Germans north of the Marecchia River on a delaying line San Arcangelo-Poggio Berni-Montebello. The Canadian I Corps continues to pursue the Germans toward the Uso River.

In the air, several missions are aborted by bad weather but USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack several railroad bridges in the Po River Valley; fighter-bombers hit guns and rail and road targets in the battle area. B-24s attack seven railroad targets: 118 bomb the Piave Ponte di Piave railroad bridge, 61 bomb the Casarsa railroad bridge, 14 bomb the South railroad bridge at Pinzano, 13 each bomb the Nervesa and Latisana railroad bridges and ten bomb the Venzone railroad bridge.

One hundred thirty B-17s, escorted by P-38s and P-51s, bomb the synthetic oil refinery at Brux. Four bombed visually and 126 used H2X radar. Ten B-17s, escorted by P-38s and P-51s bomb the marshalling yard at Wels.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet troops reach the Hungarian border after capturing Arad.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*24 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SUNDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the Canadian First Army's British I Corps area, the Canadian 2d Division establishes a bridgehead across the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal south of St Leonard. Elements of the 49th Division reach Turnhout. In the British Second Army's I Airbourne Corps area, two companies of the 43d Division cross the Neder Rijn in assault boats during the night of 24/25 September but are unable to reach the British-held perimeter at Hartestein. Polish forces on the south bank lack assault boats for crossing. Lieutenant General B. G. Horrocks, Commanding General XXX Corps, issues and within a few hours revokes an order for the 43d Division to prepare to cross at Renkum. In the XXX Corps area, other elements of the 43d Division continue to fight for Elst and Bemmel. Continuing attacks toward Veghel, the Germans cut the highway northeast of the village of Koevering, between St Oedenrode and Veghel. In the VIII Corps area, Deurne falls to the 11th Armoured Division.

In the U.S. Third Army area, General George S Patton, in accordance with an order from General Dwight D Eisenhower, halts offensive operations for an aggressive defense, calling for limited actions, as supplies permit, to improve defensive positions. In the XII Corps area, Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, holds its perimeter between Chateau-Salins and Fresnes-en-Saulnois against determined tank-infantry attacks that USAAF Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts help repulse. Heavy German fire continues from Foret de Chateau-Salins, however. The Germans lost about 300 dead and 11 tanks in this action.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division, seizes Girmont and continues clearing Epinal. The 36th Infantry Division takes St Ame, east of Remiremont. The 3d Infantry Division clears Rupt of snipers and expands its bridgehead to include La Roche and Maxonchamp.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 188 aircraft, 101 Lancasters, 62 Halifaxes and 25 Mosquitos, to bomb German tactical positions at Calais; 127 bomb the target. The German positions are completely covered by cloud at 2,000 feet (610 meters) and most of the 127 bombed Oboe-aimed skymarkers, but some aircraft came below cloud to bomb visually. Seven Lancasters and a Halifax are shot down by light flak, which is very accurate at such a height.

B-24s fly a TRUCKIN' mission delivering fuel to France.

*GERMANY: *Weather grounds USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers. The XIX Tactical Air Command supports the 7th Armored Division of the US Third Army in eastern France and flies armed reconnaissance over eastern France and western Germany. The IX Air Defense Command flies night patrols from Paris to Aachen, Germany.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* RAF personnel land at Araxos by sea and together with the Special Boat Squadron move northeast to Patrai. [Araxos is located in Western Greece about 126 miles (203 kilometers) west of Athens.] Commander of Land Forces, Adriatic, controls this operation.

Two German Type VIIC submarines, 'U-565' and 'U-596', are scuttled in Skaramanga Bay near Salamis; Salamis is located about 14 miles (22 kilometers) west of Athens. Both submarines had been damaged by bombs from USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s. Five men had been killed in 'U-565' and one in 'U-596'. The wreck of 'U-596' is blown up on 30 September 1944 (?).

B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb five targets: 117 hit Tatoi Airfield at Athens, 84 bombed Kalamaki Airfield at Athens, 58 bomb the West marshalling yard at Salonika, 52 attacked the port area at Scaramanga and 52 bombed Eleusis Airfield at Athens.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division sends the 11th Armored Brigade north along Highway 6620 to St Ippolito while the rest of the division pursues the Germans up Highways 64 and 66. In the II Corps area, the U.S. 34th Infantry Division, driving toward Mt Bastione, gains the crest of Mt Coroncina and holds it against counterattack; and overruns Roncobilaccio. The U.S. 88th Infantry Division runs into strong resistance at Mt Acuto and undergoes vigorous counterattacks as it continues toward Imola. In the British XIII Corps area, the 1st Division takes Palazzuolo and Marradi, but the Germans are holding out on Mt Gamberaldi. The 6th Armoured Division advances to St Benedetto in Alpe, on Highway 67. In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps secures the heights north of the Marecchia River from Montebello to Poggio Berni to St Arcangelo, and the 46th Division, in the center, establishes a bridgehead across the Uso River, taking Camerano on the far bank.

In the air, weather cancels USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium and light bomber operations; fighter-bombers support ground forces, bombing and strafing strongpoints, troop concentrations, and frontline communications targets.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*25 SEPTEMBER 1944* *MONDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* Helmond and Deurne, east of Eindhoven, Holland, fall to the British 2nd Army.
British paratroops in Arnhem will begin evacuation across the Rhine tonight by boat. 2400 will cross tonight. In the British Second Army's I Airborne Corps area, it is decided to withdraw the bridgehead north of the Neder Rijn in the Arnhem sector under cover of darkness, 25/26 September. Leaving the wounded behind, the British 1st Airbourne Division starts crossing the river, some by ferry and others swimming. The U.S. 101st Airborne and British 50th Divisions partially envelop the enemy's roadblock near Koevering, and the Germans abandon it after nightfall. 30 Corps clears Elst and Bemmel. 8 Corps takes Helmond and Gemert, northeast of Eindhoven and makes patrol contact with 30 Corps in the St Antonis area. In the U.S. First Army area, XIX Corps takes responsibility for the corridor containing the Peel Marshes from the British, who by this time have cleared it as far as the Nederweert-Wessem Canal except for triangular position about Wessem. The Belgian 1st Brigade, although attached to British 8 Corps, holds outposts south of the canal within a new zone of the corps.
The U.S. 7th Armored Division from the U.S. Third Army and the U.S. 29th Infantry Division from Brest, France, are to be employed by the corps in clearing the new sector. In the VII Corps area, elements of the 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, fighting in the forest on the southern flank of the corps, are by this time so weakened that they are almost incapable of continuing the battle.

In the Canadian First Army's 2 Corps area, the 3d Division, having moved up to Calais from Boulogne, begins an all-out assault after preparatory bombardment. Polish armor is moving from the east flank of 2 Corps to the east flank of the British I Corps. In the U.S. Third Army area, General George S Patton lists the priorities for limited attacks. In the XX Corps area, the 5th Infantry Division, extending southward, completes relief of the 7th Armored Division and withdraws to a new main line of resistance, pulling back its outpost line. Corny and Pournoy-la-Chetive, secured at great cost, are abandoned in the retrograde movement. The 83d Infantry Division, tasked with clearing rear guards from the northern flank of the corps west of the Sauer and Moselle Rivers, reaches the west bank of the Moselle River at Remich. Task Force Polk then moves south to the Thionville area. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division is relieving the 6th Armored Division (-) in the Foret de Gremecey sector. In powerful counterattacks against the salient held by Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, a German Fifth Panzer Army column drives through Marsal and Moyenvic to Vic-sur-Seille where contact is made with the German First Army. The enemy also thrusts sharply at other points of Combat Command A's perimeter and overruns Moncourt; Combat Command B turning over its positions west of Chateau-Salins to the 35th Infantry Division, moves to the south of Combat Command A, between Rechicourt and the canal. In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division completes clearing Epinal. The 36th Infantry Division is attacking toward Bruyeres and Tendon and the 3d Infantry Division takes over St Ame area from 36th Infantry Division. In the French 1st Army area, the 2d Corps opens a limited offensive with the 1st Armored Division, whose third combat command has now joined it, and the 1st Infantry Division. Progress is limited because of firm opposition.

176 B-24s on a TRUCKIN' mission fly fuel to France; 1 B-24 is lost. The USAAF Ninth Air Force’s IX Air defence Command flies night patrols from Paris east to Luxembourg and the German border.

*GERMANY:* Mission 647: 1,306 bombers and 622 fighters are dispatched to attack marshalling yards in western Germany and the synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen bombed by the Pathfinder Force; 5 bombers and 3 fighters are lost.
(1) 400 B-17s, escorted by 200 P-51s, bomb the Opau oil plant and the marshalling yard at Ludwigshafen; 46 others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost;
(2) 410 B-17s, escorted by 210 P-38s and P-51s, bomb the Frankfurt industrial area and 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s and 2 fighters are lost; and
(3) 257 B-24s, escorted by 157 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s, bomb the Mosel and Rhein marshalling yards at Koblenz; 1 P-51 is lost.

Due to bad weather, no bomber missions are flown by the USAAF Ninth Air Force but the fighters fly cover for U.S. First Army units in western Germany, dive-bombs rail lines, and armed reconnaissance over the Trier-Koblenz- Aachen area.

Berlin: Allied Intelligence has a poor opinion of some of the new recruits appearing in the front line facing the Allies in the west - "policemen ... boys of 16 and men with duodenal ulcers have been taken prisoner recently". Hitler's new recruits are likely to be of yet poorer calibre. The formation of the new "home guard", the Volkssturm, was announced today. It will be organized by Nazi Gauleiters under the direction of Himmler and Bormann. Hitler's mistrust of his generals is such that he believes that the Nazi Party, rather than the military, will mount the final defence of Germany. The Volkssturm will be operational next month. On paper, the Fuhrer still has ten million men in his armed forces, seven and half million of them in the army. Most are scattered across Europe, in the Baltic states, the Balkans, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and northern Italy, instead of coming to the defence of the Reich. Many of the regular formations assigned to home defence, and identified as divisions, are of no more than battalion strength.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* A Crewmember of 'U-1221' committed suicide. Matrosengefreiter Emil-Heinz Motyl jumped overboard in the North Atlantic after a punishment for sleeping on the watch.

*MEDITERRANEAN: *In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Task Force 92, consisting of the 370th Infantry of the 92d Infantry Division and Combat Command B of the 1st Armored Division, takes command of the zone previously held by the 1st Armored Division. Elements of the South African 6th Armoured Division move to Mt. Casciaio, west of Mt. Coroncina, and relieve the 34th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop of the task of screening the left flank of II Corps. In the II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division progresses slowly toward Mt. Bastione on the left flank of the corps. The 91st Infantry Division takes Mt. Beni, below Mt. Oggioli, on the right but makes little headway on the left under fire from Mt. Bastione. The 338th Infantry, 85th Infantry Division, attempts to outflank the enemy on Mt. Canda by attacking first toward Torre Poggioli to the northeast, but is unable to gain this objective; the 3d Battalion, 339th Infantry, tries to assist the attack on Torre Poggioli but is stopped by opposition from Montarello. The boundary between the 85th and 88th Infantry Divisions is altered in preparation for a strong effort by the 88th Infantry Division on 26 September to break through the last heights before Imola. The 337th Infantry, 85th Infantry Division, takes responsibility for Mt. la Fine, releasing the 349th Infantry, 88th Infantry Division. The British 13 Corps battles for the heights commanding Palazzuolo, Marradi, and San Benedetto. Several attempts by the 1st Division to take Mt. Gamberaldi fail. The Indian 8th Division begins an attack on Mt. di Castelnuovo, where the enemy resists strongly. The 6th Armoured Division, previously ordered to the Eighth Army front, is directed to remain in place and contain enemy on right flank of corps. In the British Eighth Army's 5 Corps area, the Indian 4th Division is delayed in crossing the Uso River on the left flank of corps by fire from Cornacchiara on the far bank, but the enemy withdraws during the night of 25/26 September. The 46th Division expands its Uso bridgehead toward Canonica. The 1st Armoured Division, after establishing a bridgehead across the Uso at San Arcangelo and Highway 9, is relieved there by the 56th Division. In the Canadian I Corps area, the 5th Armoured Division secures a bridgehead across the Uso River.

Medium bombers and A-20s cancel operations due to bad weather; fighter-bombers hit barracks areas, railroads, roads, and transportation in or near Bologna, Bozzolo, Parma, Castelfranco Veneto, and Canneto sull'Oglio, and in the immediate battle areas as the US Fifth Army meets strong opposition, especially in the vicinity of Mt Bastione, and near Torre Poggioli, Mt Gamberaldi, and Mt Castelnuovo.

51 B-24s, with P-51s and P-38s providing target cover and close escort, bomb Piraeus, Skaramanga, and Salamis harbors in Greece.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Haapsalu, is captured by the Soviet Army. Partisan forces liberate Banja Luka.

Three U-boats, 'U-711', 'U-739' and 'U-957' attacked and destroyed the Soviet radio station Sterlingova at Novaja Sjemla. Five men were captured.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*26 SEPTEMBER 1944* *TUESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, Major General Walton Walker orders a limited attack on Fort Driant to begin on 27 September, regardless of weather. The U.S. XIX Tactical Air Command begins daily attacks on the Metz forts. The 3d Battalion, 359th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division, makes a limited attack to clear road between Gravelotte and St Hubert's Farm in preparation for a large-scale attack. In the XII Corps area, the 4th Armored Division slightly reduces its mail line of resistance on the right flank of the corps in order to improve defensive positions, and the enemy quickly moves into Juvelize and Coincourt without opposition. Both divisions makes a vain effort to close up to the Seille River line in a limited attack against well-dug-in enemy: elements of the 318th Infantry attempt unsuccessfully to take Mt St Jean while the 317th Infantry force makes a futile effort to push into Moivron. The 35th Infantry Division completes the relief of the 6th Armored Division in the Foret de Gremecey area, the6th Armored Division becoming corps reserve, although Combat Command B is still linking the 80th and 35th Infantry Divisions in the Leyr corridor. The enemy begins a series of attacks to regain Foret de Gremecey in the evening, driving in the 35th Infantry Division's outposts.

In the British Second Army's I Airborne Corps area, daylight halts withdrawal of the 1st Airbourne Division; about 300 remain on north bank of the Neder Rijn; some of these later escape southward. Those who attempted to seize and secure the "Bridge Too Far," members of the British 1st Airborne Division, withdrew from their last positions, vicinity of Oosterbeek, west of Arnhem, to the south bank of the Lower Rhine. The British had taken 10,095 men north of the river; 2,490 came back. In the next month the 506th Parachute Infantry would bring back a few more of their airborne comrades. Although MARKET-GARDEN has not accomplished the major objectives of gaining a bridgehead beyond the Neder Rijn, outflanking the West Wall, securing positions from which to attack the Ruhr, or bringing about the collapse of the enemy in this area, it has gained valuable ground and improved the Allied positions. Both U.S. Infantry Divisions are still badly needed. The 101st Airborne Division front is stabilized as engineers remove mines and reopen the St Oedenrode-Veghel road.

In the air, 320 USAAF Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-38s (Ninth Air Force), P-47s and P-51s support the First Allied Airborne Army in the Netherlands; they claim 32-1-8 aircraft in the air; 1 P-38 is lost.

165 B-24s fly a TRUCKIN' mission carrying fuel to France. The USAAF Ninth Air Force tactical fighters support the US First Army in the Bonn area and cuts rail lines west of the Rhine River and hits fortifications near Metz.

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, to ease pressure on the weak battalion of the 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, in the Huertgen Forest, the 60th Infantry commander moves two Battalions, an attached battalion of 39th Infantry and his reserve Battalion, southward from the contested ridge to cut Lammersdorf- Huertgen highway at its junction with the road leading northwest to Zweifall.

In the air, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 648: 1,159 bombers and 432 fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets and armored vehicle factories in western Germany; 9 bombers and 2 fighters are lost:
(1) 383 B-17s, escorted by 134 P-51s, bomb the marshalling yard and steel industry at Osnabruck; other targets hit are Rheine Airfield and Hesepe Airfields: 2 B-17s are lost;
(2) 274 B-24s, escorted by 138 P-51s, bomb the marshalling yard at Hamm and 1 hits Liesborn; 3 B-24s and a P-51 are lost;
(3) 381
B-17s, escorted by 133 P-51s, bomb the armored vehicle factories at Bremen and 13 bomb Bremerhaven; 4 B-17s and a P-51 are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Auschwitz-Birkenau: Dr. Josef Mengele presides over a "selection" of a thousand children, fixing a board to a post and sending all who fail to reach it straight to the gas chambers.
The Germans recapture the Mokotow district of Warsaw.

Soviet forces occupy Estonia.

*MEDITERRANEAN: *During a meeting at General Sir Henry Wilson's headquarters at Casecta, an agreement between the exiled Greek government and various guerrilla leaders is reached. The arrangements call for the orderly reoccupation of Greece with British Lieutenant General R.M. Scobie controlling all guerrilla forces operating within the country. Security battalions, i.e., political police formed to eliminate ELAS bands (the Communist Hellenic People’s Army), are outlawed. This staves off a threat of a Greek civil war. With German withdrawal from Greece seemingly imminent, the danger of a clash between the extreme left-wing ELAS party and the neo-fascist EDES appeared inevitable. ELAS is well-armed and disciplined, and the possibility that Greece might fall under the Soviet mantle after the war is causing Churchill grave concern.
The conference was called by General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, supreme Allied commander Mediterranean. The ELAS commander General Safaris and General Zervas of EDES have agreed to serve under the exiled premier, George Papandreou, on his return. It is a fragile truce, however. Both antagonists have laid claim to large areas of Greece, and they have had three years in which to prepare for civil war.

Like Caesar's legions before it, the British Eighth Army crossed the Rubicon river today - this time in the opposite direction. The Allies are fighting hard on the flanks of the bridgehead opened on the Gothic Line, threatening to break out on the northern plains in full force along the eastern flank of the Apennines. General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, the Allied Mediterranean C-in-C, has sent congratulations to the Allied armies, "I hope that the crossing of the Rubicon will lead, as with a famous commander in the past, to a decisive victory and the destruction of Kesselring's army," he wrote.

In the British Eighth Army's 5 Corps area, the Indian 4th Division establishes a bridgehead across the Uso River in the vicinity of Cornacchiara but meets firm resistance from the heights beyond when trying to expand the bridgehead. The 46th Division crosses additional elements over the Uso and secures Canonica. The 56th Division advances along Highway 9 from San Arcangelo to positions about halfway to Savignano. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 5th Armored Division enlarges their bridgehead across the Uso. A brigade of the New Zealand 2d Division reaches the Uso in the coastal sector. The Greek 3d Mountain Brigade Group is attached to the New Zealand 2d Division and takes up positions on right flank. US advisers parachute down to set up an intelligence network for the Italian partisans.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Task Force 92 begins their advance along the Serchio valley north of Pescia. Continuing along Highway 6620 on the right flank, elements of the South African 6th Armoured Division reach the slopes of Mt. Gatta. The division halts the advance of the 24th Guards Brigade up Highway 66 northwest of Pistoia but continues up Highway 64 with the 12th Motorized Brigade. In the II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division meets strong opposition in the Bruscoli-Gambellate Creek area. The 91st Infantry Division, with the capture of Mt. Freddi, is ready to attack Mt. Oggioli. The 85th Infantry Division again attacks unsuccessfully toward Torre Poggioli, employing the 1st Battalions of the 338th and 339th Regiments; the 2d Battalion of the 338th tries in vain to take Sambuco; the 3d Battalion, 339th, seizes Montarello. The 88th Infantry Division takes Mt. Pratolungo on the left, pushes toward Castel del Rio in the center, and on the right takes Mt. del Puntale. The 1st Armored Division, less Combat Command B, is gradually being committed to protect the exposed right flank of the corps. In the British 13 Corps area, the 1st Division continues a futile frontal assault on Mt. Gamberaldi and at night begins moving elements toward Mt. Toncone in an effort to outflank the enemy. The Indian 8th Division suspends their attack on Mt. di Castelnuovo. On the right flank of the corps, the 6th Armored Division's 61st Brigade drives along Route 67 to Bucconi without opposition.

During the night of 25/26 September, A-20s bomb targets of opportunity in the Po Valley; throughout the day B-25s and B-26s pound rail and road bridges in the eastern and northwestern parts of the Po Valley while fighter-bombers and fighters of the XII Fighter Command attack road nets, rails, motor transport, and supply points at many locations in the valley.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German submarine 'U-871' is sunk northwest of the Azores, in position 43.18N, 36.28W, by depth charges from an RAF Fortress of No 220 Squadron based at Lagens in the Azores. All hands, 69 men, on the U-boat are lost.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*27 SEPTEMBER 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* In the North Sea, the British destroyer HMS '_Rockingham_' [G-56, ex USN USS '_Swasey_' (DD-273)] struck a mine and sank in tow about 52 nautical miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in position 56.30N, 01.00W, while acting as target ship for aircraft training. While returning to Aberdeen, poor navigation brought her into the defensive minefields off the east coast of the United Kingdom, and after striking a mine '_Rockingham_' is abandoned and sank with the loss of one life. USS '_Swasey_' (DD-273), commissioned as HMS '_Rockingham_' (G-58 ) on 26 November 1940, part of the destroyers-for- bases deal.

*WESTERN FRONT:* British Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, General Officer Commanding 21st Army Group, orders Canadian General Henry Crerar, General Office Commanding First Canadian Army, to clear the Schelde, the navigable river running through Antwerp, as quickly as possible.

In U.S. Third Army's XX. Corps area, the 5th Infantry Division begins limited attacks against Fort Driant, the outer bastion of Metz barring the northern approach to the city; after ineffective aerial bombardment at low level. In the XII Corps area, massed German tanks again attempt to drive in 4th Armored Division's salient, making main effort on the southern flank where they succeed in taking Hill 318, southeast of Arracourt, which commands road to Nancy; subsidiary thrusts at Bezange-la-Petite and Xanrey are largely contained. The 35th Infantry Division, holding the Fort de Grmecey salient, undergoes sharp counterattacks. German columns push toward Grmecey and Pettoncourt from Chambrey, reaching the latter. When reinforcements from the 35th Infantry Division arrive, the Germans fall back toward Chambrey. Other German forces make limited penetration into the northeastern edge of the forest after infiltrating from Fort de ChateauSalins, but most of lost ground is recovered.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 341 aircraft, 222 Lancasters, 84 Halifaxes and 35 Mosquitos, to attack positions in the Calais area; 323 aircraft bombed. The target areas are covered by cloud but the Master Bomber brought the force below this to bomb visually. The attacks on the various German positions are accurate and only one Lancaster is lost. German aircraft make large-scale but futile efforts to destroy Nijmegen bridges.

During the day, 73 RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes fly petrol (gasoline) carrying flights from the U.K. to Melsbroek Airfield in Brussels. 163 B-24 Liberators on a TRUCKIN' mission carry fuel from the U.K. to France.

Fighters fly armed reconnaissance, cover U.S. First and Third Army forces in western Germany and eastern France and later fly night patrols in Belgium, Luxembourg, and western German areas. In France, nearly 300 B-26s and A-20s abort missions due to weather; 8 manage to bomb a target at Foret de Parroy.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Canadian Defense Minister James Layton Ralston leaves Montreal, Quebec, on a flight to Europe to check reports of Canadian infantry shortages.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The organized German resistance on mainland Estonia is over. The Soviets land on Vormsi Island west of Haapsalu.

*GERMANY: *The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 650: 1,192 bombers and 678 fighters, in three forces, are dispatched to hit industrial and transportation targets in western Germany using Pathfinder Force (PFF) methods for all targets; 28 bombers and two fighters are lost.
(1) 421 B-17s hit a secondary target (Cologne) and ten others hit Blatzheim; escort is provided by 221 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-0 aircraft in the air.
(2) Two hundred fourteen B-17s bomb the Opau oil refinery at Ludwigshafen while 171 bombed Mainz; four others hit targets of opportunity; two B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 212 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air.
(3) Two hundred forty eight B-24s attack the Henschel aircraft plant at Kassel; 35 also hit Gottingen; they claim 5-3-0 aircraft; 26 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 207 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 25-0-6
aircraft in the air and 5-0-1 on the ground; two P-51s are lost.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 175 aircraft, 96 Halifaxes, 71 Lancasters and eight Mosquitos, to attack the Ruhroel AG synthetic-oil plant in the Welheim suburb of Bottrop; 134 bombed the target and 21 bombed the city. The target is almost entirely cloud-covered and most of the bombing is aimed at Oboe skymarkers, although a few aircraft are able to bomb through small breaks in the cloud. Explosions and black smoke are seen. No aircraft lost. In another mission, 171 aircraft, 143 Halifaxes, 21 Lancasters and seven 7 Mosquitos, attempted to bomb the Sterkrade oil plant; only 28 aircraft bombed the main target, through thick cloud; 49 aircraft bombed alternative targets, most of them aiming at the approximate position of Duisburg. No aircraft are lost.

During the night of 27/28 September, RAF Bomber Command sent 217 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos in the only major raid carried out by Bomber Command during the war on Kaiserslautern; 167 aircraft bombed the target and a Lancaster and a Mosquito are lost. Mosquito attacks during the night included 45 aircraft bombing Kassel, two bombed Aschaffenburg and two hitting Heilbronn.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* German forces of Army Group E evacuate western Greece.

In U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, The South African 6th Armoured Division column, moving along Highway 64, reaches Collina. In II Corps area, the 85th Infantry Division reaches the crest of Torre Poggioli and clears Sambuco. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Canadian I Corps issues instructions for future action of troops upon relief, scheduled to begin on 29 September, by the Polish II Corps. It is subsequently decided to employ the Polish II Corps in another sector and keep the Canadian I Corps in cthe oastal zone. Forward elements of corps are approaching the Fiumicino River. St. Mauro di Romagna and La Torre are cleared of Germans.

In the air during the day bad weather cancels medium bomber operations and restricts the XII Fighter Command; yet fighter-bombers effectively support the US Fifth Army, especially on Monte Oggioli, blasting defensive positions, troop concentrations, roads, and motor transport, and cutting rail lines between Parma and Piacenza.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Cluj is the scene of heavy fighting due to repeated German counterattacks.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*28 SEPTEMBER 1944* *THURSDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* During the day, 75 RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes deliver petrol (gasoline) from the U.K. to Melsbroek Airfield in Brussels. A TRUCKIN' mission is flown to France with fuel by 194 B-24s of the USAAF's Eighth Air Force. 

USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers hit the defended area of Foret de Parroy; fighters escort bombers, attack railroads west of the Rhine River. During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 494 aircraft, 230 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 50 Mosquitos, to attack four German positions at Calais and six battery positions at Cap Gris Nez; approximately 50 aircraft are allocated to each position. Only 68 aircraft bombed at Calais before the Master Bomber cancelled the raid because of worsening cloud conditions and only 198 (of 301) aircraft bombed at Cap Gris Nez. No aircraft are lost. Calais surrendered to the Canadian Army soon after this raid and all the French Channel ports are thus in Allied hands, although most of the facilities required extensive clearance and repair. This, and the continuing presence of German troops along the River Scheldt between Antwerp, Belgium, and the sea, would cause the Allied ground forces serious supply difficulties for several more weeks. The Canadian 3rd Division pushes into Calais and takes the Citadel. The Canadian commander refuses a German request that Calais be declared an open city but agrees to 24 hour truce to allow evacuation of civilians. A U.S. Third Army directive places Metz first on the priority list.

In the British Second Army area, the Germans make a particularly strong counterattack against the Eindhoven-Arnhem salient in a futile effort to take highway bridge at Nijmegen.

USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance in the Arnhem area (from which British airborne troops have relinquished their hold because of strong German opposition).

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The first Finnish offensive action against the retreating Germans in northern Finland takes place today, as the troops of Jager Battalion 5 clash with the Germans near Pudasjarvi. This comes as a complete surprise to the Germans, who have been under the impression that the Finns are still honoring the agreement that Finns will only advance once the Germans have left a given locality. Many POWs are taken

*GERMANY: *The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 652: 1,049 bombers and 724 fighters, in three forces, attack oil and military vehicle factories in central Germany using Pathfinder Force means; 34 bombers and seven fighters are lost.
(1) B-17s attack the Rothensee oil refinery at Magdeburg (23); 359 hit the secondary at Magdeburg and 35 hit targets of opportunity; 23 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 263 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 24-0-13 German aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; five P-51s are lost.
(2) B-17s bomb the Leuna oil refinery at Merseburg (301); ten others hit targets of opportunity; ten B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 212 P-51s; they claim 2-1-0 aircraft in the air; a P-51 is lost.
(3) B-24s hit the Henschel motor transport plant at Kassel (243); one hits a target of opportunity; one B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 171 P-47s; a P-47s is lost.

USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters attack the Koblenz, Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, and Mannheim areas, and support US First and Third Armies in eastern France and western Germany.

During the night of 28/29 September, RAF Bomber Command sends Mosquitos to attack various targets: 44 bomb Brunswick, four bomb the marshalling yard at Heilbronn, two bomb Heilbronn and Aschaffenburg, and individual aircraft bomb Obernburg and Partenstein.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the U.S. IV Corps area, Task Force 92 gains control of east-west Highway 12 and takes Lucchio. The II Corps finds that the Germans have abandoned former strongpoints in the Radicosa Pass. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Canadian I Corps reaches positions generally along the Fiumicino River. A company of the Canadian 5th Armoured Division crosses but is wiped out by the Germans. Operations, except for patrolling, are almost at a standstill after this because of heavy rains and flooding.

Weather grounds US Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs and medium bombers; fighter-bombers, operating on a reduced scale bomb Bologna and hit roads and rail lines at four locations.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet Army begins an offensive from western Bulgaria and Romania toward Belgrade.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*29 SEPTEMBER 1944* *FRIDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* While on her first patrol, German submarine U-863 is sunk about 579 nautical miles (1 072 kilometers) east-southeast of Recife, Brazil, by depth charges from two PB4Y-1 Liberators of USN Bombing Squadron One Hundred Seven (VB-107) based on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic; all 69 crewmen are lost.

*WESTERN FRONT: *During the day, 72 RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes fly petrol (gasoline) from the U.K. to Melsbroek Airfield in Brussels.

In the Canadian First Army’s II Corps area, an armistice for the withdrawal of civilians interrupts the battle at Calais. In the U.S. Third Army area, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Commanding General Third Army, approves a plan for XX Corps to attack Fort Driant again, beginning on 3 October.

In the British Second Army area, German swimmers damage bridges at Nijmegen with submarine charges, but the bridges are soon repaired. XII Corps reaches line of the Hertogenbosch-Oss railroad southwest of Nijmegen.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The Russian Eighth Army lands units on Muhu Island in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Estonia. German forces withdraw to the island of Saaremaa to the west of Muhu..

*GERMANY: *Over four hundred B-26s and A-20s hit marshalling yards and rail sidings at Prum, Euskirchen, and Bingen, dragon's teeth antitank defenses near Webenheim, and marshalling yards, rail sidings, warehouses and barracks at Julich and Bitburg; 1,500+ fighters escort the bombers, hit railroads, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over wide areas of the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, eastern France, and in western Germany as far east as Frankfurt/Main.

During the night of 29/30 September, 39 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bombed Karlsruhe and nine Lancasters laid mines in the Heligoland Bight in the south-east corner of the North Sea and four laid mines in the Kattegat, a bay of the North Sea bounded by Denmark and Sweden..

*MEDITERRANEAN:* About 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Bologna is the massif of Monte Sole, part of the Apennine range. Around this area are dozens of small villages and towns, Marzabotto, Sperticano, Cerpiano, San Martino, Creda and Casaglia to name but a few. When Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943, Fascist and German troops continued their harassment of these poor mountain people. Forming themselves into small partisan groups, augmented by deserters from the Italian and German armies (ex Soviet POWs) their strength grew to around 1,200 men. Calling themselves the Stella Rossa (Red Star) they confined their activities to sniping, derailing freight trains and the occasional ambush. In their efforts to subdue the Stella Rossa, the German SS often raided small villages and shot hostages. This only increased the determination of the partisans to commit more attacks on the enemy and for the Germans to shoot more hostages. As the British and Americans fought their way north, the SS formed up for a mass attack on Monte Sole. At dawn today, the SS attacked. At Creda, the SS surrounded a barn where a group of partisans were hiding. All the men, women and children of Creda, were assembled in the barn and after their valuables and money is confiscated they are machine-gunned, grenades and incendiary bombs are thrown in and the group, about 90, are left to burn. This scene is repeated at every tiny village and farmlet as the SS units continue their march. Soon, hundreds of fires could be seen on and around Monte Sole, each one a funeral pyre. During the three days of the rastrellamento (29 September to 1 October) a total of around 1,830 men, women and children, are brutally murdered by the SS and 420 houses burned. When the SS murder squads move on, the killing continues as relatives of the victims, searching for the bodies of their loved ones, stepped on the deadly mines laid by the SS. Their commander, one-armed SS Major Walter Reder, an Austrian national, is later arrested by the Americans in Salzburg and handed over to the British who in turn pass him over to the Italians. In 1951, in an Italian military court in Bologna, Walter Reder is sentenced to strict life imprisonment in the military prison at Gaeta. He is released in 1985 and dies six years later in 1991.

In the U.S. Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, elements of Regimental Combat Team 6, Brazilian Expeditionary Force, take Stazzema; In the U.S. II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division repels a counterattack on the left at Montefredente and on the right reaches Fornelli. In the British XIII Corps area, the Germans withdraw from Mont di Castelnuovo. The British Eighth Army is hampered all along line by heavy rains and flooding. V Corps advances on its right flank during the night of 29/30 September, taking Savignano and Castelvecchio ridge without opposition, as Germans make limited withdrawal. Patrols cross the Fiumicino River.

A-20s and medium bombers are again grounded by weather; fighter-bombers, hampered by weather, fly 52 sorties in the afternoon, cutting rail lines leading south from Milan.

*NORTH AMERICA: *The Mexican government agrees to pay US$24 million (US$ 250 million in 2003 dollars) with three percent interest for the U.S. oil company property the Mexicans had expropriated in 1938. This agreement marked the conclusion of the tensions between the U.S. and Mexican governments over Mexico's petroleum policies.


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## syscom3 (Nov 20, 2009)

*30 SEPTEMBER 1944* *SATURDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German “Milch Cow” submarine 'U-1062' left Bergen, Norway, on 3 January 1944 with 39 torpedoes to supply the Monsun boats in the Far East. The boat made it to Penang, Malaysia, on 19 April. 'U-1062' unloaded the torpedoes and left Penang for Europe on 6 July but is intercepted by a USN escort carrier group, consisting of the escort aircraft carrier USS _'Mission Bay_' (CVE-59) and destroyer escorts, in the central Atlantic today. TBM-3 Avengers of Composite Squadron Thirty Six (VC-36) in USS '_Mission Bay_' drop sonobuoys and destroyer escort USS '_Fessenden_' (DE-142) homes in on sonobuoy indications and sinks her with depth charges about 685 nautical miles (1 268 kilometers) west-southwest of the Portugese Capre Verde Islands in position 11.36N 34.44W. All 55 hands on the U-boat are lost. The U-boat was on her third patrol.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Canadian First Army continues its attack north and west of Antwerp. B-26 Marauders bomb the Arnhem road bridge with poor results.

Bomber Command sends 74 Halifaxes to deliver fuel to Melsbroek Airfield in Brussels. One hundred sixteen USAAF Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly a TRUCKIN' mission carrying fuel from the U.K. to France.

In the Canadian First Army’s II Corps area, the Canadian 3d Division resumes their attack on Calais after the armistice ends at 1200 hours. Organized resistance ceases by the evening and mopping up is begun. In the British I Corps area, the Polish 1st Armoured Division takes Merxplas, northwest of Turnhout. In the U.S. Third Army’s XII Corps area: In a desperate attempt to recover Fort de Grémecey, the Germans make a strong attack against both flanks of the 35th Infantry Division’s perimeter, breaching lines of 134th and 137th Infantry Regiments within the forest. So grave is the situation that the corps commander, at about 1420 hours, orders the 35th Infantry Division to fall back behind the Seille River after dark, but Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Commanding General Third Army, directs a counterattack by the 6th Armored Division to restore the situation. The 35th Division committing its last reserves, manages to hang on and Germans begin a planned withdrawal. In The U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division continues to meet strong opposition in Fort de Parroy area. Elements of the French 2d Armoured Division assist the U.S. 45th Infantry Division of the VI Corps in their attack on Rambervillers.

A group of Dutch resistance fighters ambush four German soldiers near the small Dutch village of Putten The attack goes wrong and three of the soldiers escape to raise the alarm, the fourth being kept hostage. The German commander of the area, General Heinz Helmuth von Wuhlisch, orders all inhabitants arrested and the village burned down. Thirty nine are arrested immediately and lined up on the square. Hoping to save the 39 men, the resistance group release the hostage, Lieutenant Eggert. It makes no difference, all the other men in the village are rounded up and together with the 39 men on the square, forced to board a train bound for the Reich. In all, 589 men from the village are transported to Germany for forced labour. Only 49 are alive at the end of the war. Luckily, of the 600 or so houses in Putten, “only” 87 were burned down.

*GERMANY: *The USAAF Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 655: 834 bombers and 629 fighters, in three forces, are dispatched to make pathfinder force attacks on marshalling yards and airfields in western Germany; eight bombers are lost.
(1) 257 B-17s hit Bielefeld marshalling yard; four B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 240 P-47s and P-51s.
(2) 206 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Hamm; 12 hit targets of opportunity at Munster; a B-24 is lost; escort is provided by 170 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s.
(3) 35 B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Munster and 14 Handorf Airfield at Munster; 239 bomb targets of opportunity at Munster; three B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 177 P-47s and P-51s.

RAF Bomber Command Missions:
- During the day, 139 aircraft, 108 Halifaxes, 21 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos, attempt to attack the Holton synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade but the target is cloud-covered and only 24 aircraft attacked the main target; 103 aircraft bomb the general town area of Sterkrade. One Halifax lost.
- During the day, 136 aircraft, 101 Halifaxes, 25 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos, encounter similar conditions at Bottrop in their attempt to bomb the Welheim synthetic oil refinery. Only four aircraft attempt to bomb the oil plant; the remainder of the force bombed the estimated positions of various Ruhr cities. No aircraft lost.
- During the night of 30 September/1 October, 45 of 46 Mosquitos dispatched bomb Hamburg.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the U.S. Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, Regimental Combat Team 6 of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF) advances its right flank to Fornoli, at the junction of the Serchio River and Lima Creek. In the U.S. II Corps area, the 351st Infantry Regiment of the 88th Infantry Division seizes Mont Cappello after hard fighting but other troops on Mont Battaglia are almost driven off by further German attacks. The Corps is now ready for drive on the Po Valley and Bologna, although wearied by recent fighting and hampered by heavy rains. In the British XIII Corps area, the Indian 8th Division, reaches San Adriano, on the road to Faenza. In the British Eighth Army’s V Corps area, the Indian 4th Division clears the Germans from Tribola while the British 46th Division takes Montalbano and patrols as far as the Fiumicino River. The V Corps begins a general attack during the night of 30 September/1 October. The Indian 4th Division takes Mont Reggiano and Borghi before dawn, but the British 46th Division in the center and the 56th Division on the right are unable to force the Fiumicino River.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb road and railroad bridges in the Po Valley at Piacenza, Voghera, Sesto Calende, Lonate Pozzolo, Galliate, Cittadella, Borgoforte, and Tortona; B-26s hit fuel dumps at Cremona, and bridges at Padua, Turbigo, and San Nazzaro; XII Fighter Command fighters hit motor transport, rail lines, roads, bridges, and rolling stock in the Po Valley.

During the night of 30 September/1 October, 41 heavy bombers of RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the pontoon bridge at San Benedetto.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Germans recapture Zoliborz district of Warsaw.

Troops of the Soviet Third Ukrainian Front, having secured the Iron Gate, the Turnu-Severin- Orsova area in Romania, where the Danube River passes through the Transylvanian Alps, cross the Danube in force and push toward Belgrade.


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## Njaco (Nov 27, 2009)

*1 OCTOBER 1944 SUNDAY*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: British Commandos land at Poros. Greek troops land at Mitilini, Lemnos and Levita.

HQ 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Group and the 15th, 23d and 32d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadrons are assigned to HQ Fifteenth AF, completing the full establishment of 21 heavy bomber groups, 7 fighter groups, and 1 reconnaissance group, as authorized in the War Department directive of 23 Oct 43. Weather permits only photo and weather reconnaissance missions.

In Italy, the US 2nd Corps (part of US 5th Army) attacks northward in the direction of Bologna. General McCreery takes over command of the British 8th Army, in Italy. The former commander, General Leese, is assigned to command Allied Land Forces, Southeast Asia.

In Italy, B-25s and B-26s attack bridges, fuel dumps, factory, and barracks in C and W Po Valley, including 3 attacks on Piacenza while XII Fighter Command's A-20s hit a fuel dump and bivouacs and fighter-bombers blast guns and communications in the mountainous battle areas between Florence and Bologna; the 416th Night Fighter Squadron, 62d Fighter Wing, moves from Rosignano to Pisa with Mosquitos.

*WESTERN FRONT*: 2 RAF Liberators and 1 Wellington on signals investigation patrols, 6 Hudsons on Resistance operations, 73 Halifaxes on petrol-carrying flights. No aircraft lost.

The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division begins an advance north of Antwerp, Belgium, to close the eastern end of the South Beveland isthmus.

In France, HQ 50th Troop Carrier Wing moves from Exeter, England to Le Mans; the 99th and 301st Troop Carrier Squadrons, 441st Troop Carrier Group, move from Villeneuve/Vertus to
St Marceau with C-47s.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 657: 9 of 10 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Belgium during the night.

In France, HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) locates advance HQ at Arlon; weather prevents bomber operations; a few fighters fly armed reconnaissance over E France and wide
areas of W Germany and patrol the battle areas; night patrols are flown over E France and Luxembourg; HQ 36th Fighter Group moves from Athis to Juvincourt; HQ 371st Fighter Group and the 406th Fighter Squadron move from Perthes to Dole/Tavaux with P-47s; the 553d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 386th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Great Dunmow, England to Beaumont-sur-Oise with B-26s; the 573d, 574th and 575th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 391st Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Matching, England to Roye/Amy with B-26s. In Belgium, HQ 84th Fighter Wing moves from Vermand, France to Arlon; HQ 404th Fighter Group and the 506th, 507th and 508th Fighter Squadrons move from Juvincourt, France to St-Trond with P-47s; HQ 474th Fighter Group moves from Peronne, France to Florennes; the 125th Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached to Ninth Army), moves from Rennes, France to Arlon with L-5s. In Luxembourg, HQ 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group moves from Le Mans, France to Luxembourg City. In Belgium, during Oct 44, HQ IX Fighter Command moves from Charleroi to Verviers.

German army and naval units defending the fortress of Calais behind Allied lines surrender to British forces.

*GERMANY:*48 RAF Mosquitos to Brunswick, 8 each to Heilbronn and Krefeld and 6 each to Dortmund and Koblenz, 2 RCM sorties. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Dec 1, 2009)

*2 OCTOBER 1944 MONDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT*: British bombers drop leaflets on Walcheren island, warning of imminent flooding from breaching walls. 3 RAF Liberators and 2 Wellingtons on signals investigation patrols, 8 Hudsons on Resistance operations, 71 Halifaxes on petrol-carrying flights. No aircraft lost. 34 RAF Mosquitos to Brunswick, 7 to Pforzheim and 4 each to Dortmund and Frankfurt, 3 RCM sorties, 39 Mosquito patrols, 1 aircraft on a Resistance operation. No aircraft lost.

The US 1st Army (part of US 12th Army Group) launches an offensive against the German-held Siegfried Line between Aachen, to the south, and Geilenkirchen, to the north.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 660: 2 B-17s, escorted by 15 P-51s, drop leaflets on Dutch island during the day.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 661: 5 B-24s and 3 B-17s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

US Ninth Air Force HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) goes into operation along with the US Ninth Army (this new Tactical Air Command is formed from elements of the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands).

US Ninth Air Force fighters fly armed reconnaissance (and later night patrol) over Belgium, E France, and W Germany and support the US First, Third, and Seventh Armies in E France and W Germany.

In Belgium, HQ IX Tactical Air Command moves advanced HQ from Janoulx to to Verviers maintaining the close association with the US First Army;

HQ 368th Fighter Group and the 395th, 396th and 397th Fighter Squadrons move from Laon, France to Chievres with P-47s; the 428th, 429th and 430th Fighter Squadrons, 474th Fighter Group, move from Peronne, France to Florennes.

In France, HQ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 552d, 554th and 555th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Great Dunmow, England to Beaumont-sur-Oise with B-26s. In Luxembourg, the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Montrevil, France to Sandwieler with F-6s.

*GERMANY*: 2 US Eighth Air Force missions are flown: Mission 658: 887 B-17s and 549 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on industrial targets at Cologne and Kassel, Germany; 2 B-17s are lost: 305 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Bettenhausen ordnance depot at Kassel (129); targets of opportunity are Kassel (143), Fritzlar Airfield (12) and other (1); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 89 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 228 P-47s and P-51s without loss.

458 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Henschel motor vehicle plant at Kassel (384); targets of opportunity are Wiesbaden (31), Gesecke (9) and other (17); 2 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 144 damaged; 16 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided by 219 P-47s and P-51s without loss.

110 of 124 B-17s hit the Ford motor vehicle plant at Cologne; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged. Escort is provided by 53 P-47s and P-51s without loss.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 659: 308 B-24s are dispatched to make a PFF attack on the marshalling yard at Hamm (266); targets of opportunity are Handorf Airfield (29) and Munster (1); 2 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 144 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 212 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA), 2 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 1 pilot is KIA.

US Ninth Air Force 9th Bombardment Division strikes the industrial area of Ubach and defended positions at Herbach.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Warsaw uprising, led by the Polish Home Army (AK), comes to an end. An estimated 200,000 Poles have died in the fighting. Most of central Warsaw is in ruins.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Fifteenth Air Force: Unfavorable weather again cancels bombing missions and limits operations to weather reconnaissance. The
885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Fifteenth AF (attached to Mediterranean Allied Air Forces), begins a movement from Maison Blanche, Algeria to Brindisi, Italy with B-24s (the squadron transports supplies to partisans and drops leaflets in the MTO).

US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, weather grounds medium bombers and restricts fighters to reconnaissance and patrols; during the night of 1/2 Oct A-20s bomb targets of opportunity in the Po Valley; HQ 27th Fighter Group and the 522d, 523d and 524th Fighter Squadrons move from Loyettes, France to Tarquinia with P-47s.


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## Njaco (Dec 1, 2009)

*3 OCTOBER 1944 TUESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT*: North of Aachen, elements of US 1st Army (part of US 12th Army Group) break through the German forces holding the Siegfried Line. The allies begin a 60-hour truce at Dunkirk to allow the evacuation of civilians. The US Third Army resumes its attack on Fort Driant, Metz for the next 10 days.

252 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos commenced the attack on the sea walls of Walcheren island. Coastal gun batteries at Walcheren dominated the approaches to the port of Antwerp, whose facilities could handle 40,000 tons per day of much needed supplies when ships could safely use the approaches. The intention was to flood the island, most of which was reclaimed polder below sea level. The flooding would submerge some of the gun batteries and also hamper the German defence against eventual ground attack. The target for this first raid was the sea wall at Westkapelle, the most western point of Walcheren. The main bombing force was composed of 8 waves, each of 30 Lancasters, with marking provided by Oboe Mosquitos and Pathfinder Lancasters, with the whole operation being controlled by a Master Bomber. The attack went well and a great mass of high-explosive bombs, mainly 1,000- and 500-pounders but with some 4,000-pounders, forced a gap during the fifth wave of the attack. Later waves widened the breach until the sea was pouring in through a gap estimated to be 100 yards wide. 8 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron which were standing by were not needed and carried their valuable Tallboy bombs back to England. No aircraft were lost from this successful operation.

German V-2 rocket launches against London are resumed.

US Ninth Air Force fighters fly armed reconnaissance over W Germany, hit railroads W of the Rhine River, and support the US Third Army in the Metz, France area. The IX Air Defense Command continues night patrols.

In Belgium, HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Marchais, France to Liege; HQ 303d Fighter Wing moves from Vermand, France to Arlon.

In France, HQ 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) moves from Chartres to Laon/Athies; the 23d Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, moves from Athis to Juvincourt with P-47s; and the 405th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, moves from Perthes to Dole/Tavaux with P-47s.

*GERMANY*: The Me 262 jet fighter squadron 'Kommando Nowotny' becomes operational. A total of 40 jets are deployed at a base near Osnabruck but during the first half of October no fewer than 10 will be either destroyed or damaged.

43 RAF Mosquitos to Kassel, 6 each to Aschaffenburg and Pforzheim, 5 to Münster and 4 to Kamen, 1 RCM sortie, 19 Intruder patrols. No aircraft lost.

US Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown: Mission 662: 1,065 bombers and 753 fighters make PFF and visual attacks against airfields and industrial targets in Geramny; 3 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 380 B-17s are dispatched to hit Giebelstadt Airfield (49); targets of opportunity are Nurnberg (256), Ludwigshafen (13), Ulm (11) and others (24); 130 B-17s are damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 260 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA0 and 1 is damaged beyond repair. 228 B-17s are dispatched to hit motor vehicle facotry at Nurnberg (198); 10 others hit Ottingen Airfield; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 63 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 28 MIA. Escort is proivded by 227 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 119 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil refinery at Wesseling (87); targets of opportunity are Cologne (26) and 1 other; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 51 damaged. Escort5 is provided by 24 of 24 P-47s. 338 B-24s are dispatched to hit Gaggenau (139) and Lachen/Speyerdorf (111) visually; secondary targets hit are Offenburg marshalling yard (19) and Pforzheim Airfield (19); targets of opportunity are Speyer Airfield (30) and Lachen (2); 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 38 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 188 P-38s and P-47s. For the defenders, JG 76 losses include 2 pilots missing and 2 wounded, 2 victories being credited to the French Spitfire pilot Capt. Mangin.

US Ninth Air Force: 220+ B-26s and A-20s sent to bomb targets at Durena and Aldenhoven, Germany, and Arnhem, the Netherlands are recalled because of weather.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the Baltic, Soviet forces seize the Hiiuma Island off the coast of Estonia.

A Soviet aircraft attacked _'U-711' _in the Arctic Sea, but the U-boat crew was able to drive it off.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: "A" Flight of the 121st Liaison Squadron, AAF, MTO, moves from Lyons to Vittel, France with L-4s and L-5s (squadron is based at Pomigliano, Italy).

In Italy, US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers continue to pound road and rail bridges and fuel dumps in the Po Valley; A-20s, fighter-bombers, and fighters of the XII Fighter Command hit fuel dumps, rail lines, and transportation in the Valley and support US Fifth Army forces in the battle areas in the N Apennines S and SW of Bologna and N of the Arno River Valley; the 4th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Galera Airfield to Malignano Airfield with C-47s.


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## Njaco (Dec 8, 2009)

*4 OCTOBER 1944 WEDNESDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT*: German forces counterattack elements of US 1st Army (part of US 12th Army Group) that have broken through the Siegfried Line defenses. The American forces hold the attack.

HMCS _'Chebogue' _(K 317) (T/A/LtCdr M.F. Oliver, RCNR) was hit by a Gnat from _'U-1227'_, while escorting the convoy ONS-33 as part of the Escort Group C-1. The badly damaged frigate was taken in tow by HMCS _'Chambly' _(K 116) (T/Lt S.D. Taylor, RCNR) and escorted by HMCS _'Arnprior' _(K 494) (T/Lt S.D. Thorn, RCNVR) and HMS _'Ribble' _(K 525) (T/A/LtCdr A.B. Taylor, RCNR) to Port Talbot where she was declared a total loss. Broken up in February 1948.

German U-boats had been forced out of the Biscay ports following the Allied liberation of France and Bergen was one of several Norwegian ports now being used as the forward operating bases for the U-boats. The pens at Bergen were being enlarged with an influx of German technicians and a large labour force. 93 Halifaxes and 47 Lancasters of RAF Nos 6 and 8 Groups were dispatched to attack Bergen, most of the aircraft being allocated to the pens but 14 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters were ordered to bomb individual U-boats known to be moored in the harbour. 12 Mosquitos of RAF No 100 Group acted as a long-range fighter escort. The raid appeared to be successful and only 1 Lancaster was lost. 7 bombs hit the U-boat pens, causing little structural damage because of the thickness of the concrete roof, but the electrical-wiring system in the pens was completely put out of action. Nearby ship-repair yards were seriously damaged. 3 U-boats were damaged by the bombing but they did not sink. 3 other small ships were hit; two of them sank and the third the German auxiliary _'Schwabenland'_, had to be put in dry dock for repair.

6 RAF Mosquitos to Pforzheim and 5 to Heilbronn, 4 RCM sorties, 36 Mosquito patrols, 47 Lancasters and 31 Halifaxes minelaying off Oslo and in the Kattegat, 15 aircraft on Resistance operations. 4 aircraft were lost - 1 Mosquito from the Heilbronn raid and 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax from the minelaying operations.

US Eighth Air Force Mission 664: 5 B-24s and 4 B-17s drop leaflets in the Low Countries, France and Germany during the night.

US Ninth Air Force Bombers drop leaflets in the Metz and Saint-Die, France and Saarburg, Germany areas; fighters support the US First and Third Armies in W Germany and E France, escort B-26s, and fly armed reconnaissance in forward areas, attacking rail and military targets. In Belgium, HQ 365th Fighter Group and the 386th, 387th and 388th Fighter Squadrons move from Juvincourt, France to Chievres with P-47s.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops of 3rd Ukrainian Front capture Pancevo on the north bank of the Danube River, east of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Other Soviet troops reach Vladimirovac and link up with partisan forces nearby.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Greece, Allied forces land on the Peloponese near Patras. Other forces occupy Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

In Italy, around 400 other heavy bombers, attack the rail line in the Trento-Mezzaselva area covering 50+ miles (80+ km) of the Brenner route, Aviano Airfield, Avisio viaduct, and railroad and road bridges at Pinzano al Tagliamento, Pordenone, Latisana, Casarsa della Delizia, Mezzocorona, Ora, and San Dona di Piave. In Greece, 39 P-51s strafe Tatoi, Kalamaki, and Eleusis Airfields. Other P-51s escort Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) C-47s and fly reconnaissance.

In Italy, weather restricts US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers to attacks on 2 bridges at Bistagno and Villafranca d'Asti; fighter- bombers closely support ground forces fighting in the Loiano-Quinzanod'Oglio- Sassoleone areas, and hit communications N of the battle areas; HQ 47th Bombardment Group (Light) and the 84th, 85th and 86th Bombardment Squadrons (Light) move from Follonica to Rosignano Airfield with A-20s; HQ 79th Fighter Group and the 86th and 87th Fighter Squadrons move from Southern France to Iesi with P-47s.

*GERMANY*: 327 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb the Munich W, Germany marshalling yard.


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## Njaco (Dec 9, 2009)

*5 OCTOBER 1944 THURSDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* (US Eighth Air Force): General Order 507 implements the decision of 15 Sep to assign staff officers of HQ VIII Fighter Command to HQ Eighth AF to represent units in administrative functions, thus eliminating the administrative and operational control from HQ VIII Fighter Command and placing it under HQ Eighth AF; this is necessitated by the transfer of fighter groups to Bombardment Divisions.

(IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 442d Troop Carrier Group and the 303d and 304th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Weston Zoyland, England to Bonnetable and Peray, France respectfully, with C-47s.

(US Ninth Air Force): 330+ B-26s and A-20s dispatched against targets in Arnhem, the Netherlands and Aldenhoven and Duren, Germany are recalled; fighters hit pillboxes along the Westwall, support ground forces of the XV Corps in France, fly armed reconnaissance in the Prum, Bonn, Koblenz, Trier and Landau, Germany areas, hit targets along the Rhine-Marne Canal, and during the night of 5/6 Oct fly patrol in Belgium, E France, and W Germany. In Belgium, the 493d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, moves from Cambrai/Niergnies, France to St Trond with P-47s. In France, the 22d Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, moves from Athis to Juvincourt with P-47s.

The Canadians enter Holland. Allied forces cross the Belgian-Dutch border north of Antwerp. During the night (October 5-6), an attempted German raid off the coast of the Scheldt, using mini-submarines results in a loss of 36 of the attacking boats.

*GERMANY*: 2 US Eighth Air Force missions are flown: Mission 665: 1,090 bombers and 733 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial targets, airfields and railways in W Germany; 9 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 348 B-17s dispatched hit targets of opportunity at Cologne (248), Brechten (27), Dortmund (14) and Coblenz (11) using GH and H2X; 3 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 156 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 16 MIA. Escort is provided by 181 of 193 P-51s; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 360 B-24s are dispatched to hit Lippstadt Airfield (175), Rheine marshalling yard (107) and Paderborn Airfield (28) visually; targets of opportunity hit are Herford marshalling yard (8) and Lipperode Airfield (2); 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged. Escort is provided by 260 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 15-0-7 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 damaged. 3. 382 B-17s are dispatched to hit Munster/Loddenheide Airfield (235) and Munster/Handorf Airfield (68) using PFF means; targets of opportunity hit are the Rheine marshalling yard (10) and other (2); 6 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 190 damaged; 6 airmen are WIA and 55 MIA. Escort is provided by 234 P-47s and P-51s without loss. Mission 666: 8 of 10 bombers drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.

227 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group attempted to bomb Wilhelmshaven through 10/10ths cloud. Marking and bombing were all based on H2S and the raid appeared to be scattered. 18 Lancasters did not join in the main attack but bombed a group of ships seen through a break in the cloud over the sea. Wilhelmshaven's diary only states that 12 people died. 1 Lancaster lost.

5 RCM sorties, 5 aircraft on Resistance operations. No losses.

531 RAF Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups on the first major RAF raid to Saarbrücken since September 1942. 3 Lancasters lost. The raid was made at the request of the American Third Army which was advancing in this direction; the intention was to cut the railways and block supply routes generally through the town. The bombing was accurate and severe damage was caused in the main town area north of the River Saar, the area through which the main railway lines ran. Damage was particularly severe in the Altstadt and Malstatt districts.

20 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 26 to 5 other German targets, 36 RCM sorties, 47 Mosquito patrols, 10 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland and 9 Mosquitos of No 8 Group minelaying in the Kiel Canal. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Allied forces occupy Patras.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 4/5 Oct A-20s bomb targets of opportunity in the battle area in the mountains S of Bologna and N of the Arno River Valley; during the day weather grounds medium bomber wings and the XII Fighter Command; the 8th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Galera Airfield to Malignano Airfield with C-47s; the 85th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group, moves from Southern France to Iesi with P-47s.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the Baltic, Soviet forces land on Saaremaa Island. German forces withdraw, under pressure, toward the Syrve peninsula. Meanwhile, Soviet forces continue their advance in the Baltic states. German Army Group North is under pressure by Soviet forces approaching Riga.


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## syscom3 (Dec 9, 2009)

*6 OCTOBER 1944 FRIDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the Canadian First Army area, II Corps opens an assault on the Breskens Pocket, while the Canadian 3d Division forces the Leopold Canal north of Maldegem and establishes a small bridgehead against stubborn resistance.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, heavy German fire fails to dislodge the Americans from the slag pile to the northwest of Metz. Task Force Warnock, which is strengthened by elements of 3d Battalion, 2d Infantry Regiment, and the 7th Combat Engineer Battalion, prepares to renew the attack on Fort Driant tomorrow. In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division continues the battle for Vagney and clears the Germans from positions astride the Tendon-Le Tholy road. In the French First Army's II Corps area, German counterattacks prevent French forces from progressing against the heights north of the Moselle River and isolate forward elements.

In the British Second Army area, attacks by the Canadian II Corps begin south of the Scheldt between the Leopold canal and the river near Breskens. Due to flooded conditions the going is slow. The costly effort to clear the Peel Marshes comes to an end as the U.S. 7th Armored Division breaks off the attack; the division has gained less than 2 miles in this operation and is still within the British zone.

During the night of 6/7 October, four RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Texel Island.

Three hundred plus USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s hit marshalling yards, barracks, and ammunition dump at Hengelo, the Netherlands and Duren, Germany and bridges at Arnhem, the Netherlands and Aldenhoven, Germany; in Germany, fighters fly armed reconnaissance in the Dusseldorf, Aachen, Trier, Dieuze, and Koblenz areas, sweeps and patrols in forward areas, attack railroads in the Dorsel area, and support the First, Third, and Seventh Armies' forces in eastern France and western Germany.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Soviet forces of the Leningrad Front land on Oesel (Saarema) Island, off the coast of Estonia, and begin clearing the island.

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, Lieutenant General Charles Corlett, Commanding General of the corps, issues orders late in the day, as the corps' West Wall bridgehead is being firmly established, halting further advance until link-up has been made with VII Corps. The 2d Armored Division, instead of driving east to secure crossings of the the Roer River is to maintain their current positions on the north flank of the bridgehead while assisting the 30th Infantry Division to push southeast. Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, is stopped by the Germans on the left flank less than 1,000 yards from Geilenkirchen; on the right, they take the villages of Beggendorf and Waurichen, the latter northeast of Uebach. Combat Command A joins the 117th Infantry Regiment in an attack to the southeast that receives close air support and overruns the crossroads hamlet about halfway between Uebach and Alsdorf; a Combat Command A column thrusts east almost to Baesweiler. Task Force Cox of the 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, undergoes a counterattack that overruns four pillboxes before it is checked; these are later recovered. The Germans are again aided by massed artillery fire, but after a day's action offer less resistance. In the VII Corps area, 39th and 60th Infantry Regiments of the 9th Infantry Division attack at 1130 hours after preparatory bombardment, in the Huertgen Forest toward Schmidt against tenacious opposition.

During the day, the USAAF Eighth Air Force dispatches 1,271 B-17s and B-24s and 784 fighters to hit industrial targets in northern Germany; with one exception, all attacks are visual; 19 bombers and four fighters are lost: 163 hit Stargard Airfield, 146 bomb a power plant at Stralsund, 140 attack the Spandau aircraft engine factory in Berlin, 137 bomb the Spandau ordnance depot in Berlin, 129 hit the Rhenania oil refinery at Hamburg, 89 each bomb the Glinde ordnance depot at Hamburg and the Tegel-Altmarkisches armored vehicle factory in Berlin, 79 bomb the Klockner aircraft engine factory at Hamburg, 73 bomb the Focke Wolfe Fw 190 assembly plant at Neubrandenburg, 54 hit the Me 262 assembly plant at Wenzendorf, 36 hit the Luftwaffe training school at Stargard, 31 attack Stade Airfield, 12 bomb the Heer armored training school at Stettin, three each bomb Nordholz Airfield and miscellaneous targets and one each attack targets of opportunity at Breme rvord and Ottesberg.

During the night of 6/7 October, six B-24s and four B-17s drop leaflets over Germany. The escort fighters claim 19-1-8 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 30-0-14 on the ground.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 320 aircraft, 254 Halifaxes, 46 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos, to attack the Holten synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade and the Buer synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen; 145 bomb the former and 147 hit the latter. Both raids take place in clear conditions and the bombing ias considered to be accurate. Nine aircraft are lost, four Halifaxes and two Lancasters at Gelsenkirchen and three Halifaxes at Sterkrade.

During the night of 6/7 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 523 aircraft, 248 Halifaxes, 247 Lancasters and 28 Mosquitos, to bomb Dortmund; 483 aircraft bomb the city. No. 6 (RCAF) Group provides 293 aircraft 248 Halifaxes and 45 Lancasters, the greatest effort by the Canadian group in the war. This raid opens a phase which some works refer to as "The Second Battle of the Ruhr." Five aircraft, two Canadian Halifaxes, two Lancasters and a Mosquito, are lost, less than 1 per cent of the force raiding this Ruhr target on a clear night. The Pathfinder marking and the bombing were both accurate and severe damage is caused, particularly to the industrial and transportation areas of the city, although residential areas also suffered badly. The second major raid of the night is against Bremen. A total of 253 aircraft, 246 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos carry out the last of 32 major Bomber Command raids on Bremen during the war; 246 aircraft bomb the city with the loss of five Lancasters. The raid, based on the No 5 Group marking method, is an outstanding success. Severe damage is caused to the AG Weser shipyard, the two Focke-Wulf factories, the Siemens Schuckert electrical works and other important war industries. The "transport network" is described as being seriously disrupted.
(It is interesting to note the increased efficiency and hence destructive power of Bomber Command at this time. Bremen, with its shipyards and aircraft factories, had been the target for many carefully planned Bomber Command raids earlier in the war and is the target for one of the much publicized 1942 1,000-bomber raids. Now this raid by no more than a quarter of the total strength of Bomber Command, hardly mentioned in the history books, has finished off Bremen and this city need not be attacked by Bomber Command again.)
Other raids during the night consisted of 20 Mosquitos bombing Berlin, ten hitting Ludwigshafen and two attacking Saarbruecken. Mining missions for the night were ten aircraft laying mines in the Heligoland Bight and five in the Weser River.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Thirty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38s strafe airfields at Sedhes, Megalo Mikra, Megara, Eleusis, and Tatoi while 55 P-51s strafe Kalamaki airfield.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division takes Mt. Vigese in a surprise attack under cover of a heavy mist, and pushes on toward Mt. Stanco. In the IV Corps area, Task Force 92 begins a protracted struggle in the coastal sector for Mt. Cauala. In the II Corps area, the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Div finishes clearing the left flank of corps, the Germans having withdrawn from Hill 747; the 133d Infantry Regiment, faced with difficult supply problems, presses toward the Monterumici hill mass. In the 91st Infantry Division zone, the 362d Infantry Regiment attacks the German delaying line based on Mt. Castellari. The 85th Infantry Division continues their attack with the 338th and 337th Regiments; the 338th pushes toward Castelnuovo di Bisano and La Villa. The 88th Infantry Division continues their efforts to take Hill 587. In the British XIII Corps area, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Division, attacking in the evening, gains a precarious hold on slopes of Mt. Ceco. In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps postpones their general assault across the Fiumicino River for 24 hours. The 20th Brigade, Indian 10th Division, makes a preliminary attack toward Mt. Farneto, the dominating feature northwest of Sogliano, pushing through Strigara and gaining the crest before dawn of 7 October.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet Army launches an offensive near Arad.


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## syscom3 (Dec 9, 2009)

*7 OCTOBER 1944 SATURDAY*

*MEDITERRANEAN:* USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack three targets in Vienna: 251 hit the Winterhafen oil storage facility, 88 hit Lobau oil refinery, and 24 bomb the Schwechat synthetic oil (benzine) facility; 15 aircraft are lost. One other bomber hits a target of opportunity. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack ten targets: 157 bomb the Ersekujvar marshalling yard at Nove Zamky, 104 hit the marshalling yard at Komarom, 66 attack Gyor Airfield, 19 bomb the marshalling yard at Szombathely, seven hit the marshalling yard at Zalaegerszeg, three attacked the marshalling yard at Kormend, two bombed the railroad at Celldomolk and six aircraft bomb five targets of opportunity.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division gets two companies of Frontier Force Rifles to the crest of Mt. Stanco, where they are out of communication with the main body and are forced back to Prada. In the IV Corps area, Task Force 92 tries in vain to reinforce troops driving on Mt. Cauala with tanks and tank destroyers, but the weapons are unable to cross swollen streams. In the II Corps area, the 133d Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division continues toward the Monterumici hill mass. An attack by 362d Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division, on Mt. Castellari fails. The 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, takes Castelnuovo di Bisano but is still short of La Villa; the 337th Infantry Regiment is unable to advance from Hill 566. The 349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, continues to their attack on Hill 587 and seizes the ridge below Il Falchetto Hill. In the British XIII Corps area, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Division maintains a weak hold on the slopes of Mt. Ceco. The 19th Brigade, Indian 8th Division, clears Mt. Cavallara.
In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps opens an attack across the Fiumicino River in the evening with a heavy volume of artillery support. The assault is preceded by light and fighter bomber strikes on German positions. The Indian 10th Division and the 46th Division make the attack while the 56th Division simulates an attack in the Savignano area. The 20th Brigade, Indian 10th Division, under heavy German pressure on Mt. Farneto, is unable to gain the initiative, but the 25th Brigade secures positions on the ridge between Roncofreddo and St. Lorenzo. The128th Brigade of the 46th Division seizes Montilgallo and pushes west toward Longiano and south toward St. Lorenzo.

Weather again grounds the medium bombers but USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers hit guns and troop concentrations in the battle area, which extends over a wide front south of Bologna in the region of Monte Stanco, Monte Cauala, Monte Castellaro, and Monte Ceei, and communications to the north.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* The German 20.Gebirgsarmee (Generaloberst Lothar Rendulic) retreats in the face of strong Soviet attacks on the Carelian front. The Finnish Army starts an attack aimed to encircle and destroy the German troops in the town of Kemi, northern Finland.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans strongly counterattack Company F of the 327th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Divsion, on the slag pile northwest of Maizia-res-les-Metz. While the Germans are thus engaged, Companies E and G bypass the slag pile and push into the town, clearing the northern half and gaining a foothold in the factory area. The Germans move up reinforcements at night. Wormeldange is captured by the 331st Infantry Regiment, 83d Infantry Division, and the region west of the Moselle River area is cleared. Task Force Warnock, employing the 1st Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, attacks to expand positions at Fort Driant, making limited progress at great cost; two platoons are cut off and destroyed. In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, Vagney falls to 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3d Infantry Division.

In the Canadian First Army"s II Corps area, the corps is now responsible for the first phase of operation to open Antwerp, Belgium, port, clearing Zuid Beveland as well as the Breskens Pocket south of the Schelde. The Canadian 3d Division gets reinforcements to north bank of Leopold Canal against strong resistance that prevents bridging.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 121 Lancasters and two Mosquitos to continue the attack on Walcheren Island and the sea walls which were breached near Flushing; 122 aircraft hit the target without loss.

HQ USAAF Ninth Air Force cancels previous instructions against bombing bridges and opens an attack on all bridges on the U.S. front, except those over the Rhine River. Three hundred plus B-26s and A-20s strike bridges at Arnhem, the Netherlands, and in Germany, bridges at Bullay and Dillingen, a supply depot at Euskirchen, and marshalling yard and warehouse at Hengelo and Trier; and fighters fly bomber escort, sweeps and armed reconnaissance in the forward areas, hitting railroads, barges, and troop concentrations, and support ground forces in eastern France and western Germany.

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division, assisted by Combat Command of the 2d Armored Divsion, makes substantial gains and takes about 1,000 prisoners: The 117th Infantry Regiment thrusts to Aldsdorf; Combat Command A reaches Baesweiler; the 119th Infantry Regiment, assisted by an air strike on Merkstein, reaches positions across the Wurm River from Kerkrade. This puts the 30th Infantry Division within about 3 miles of Wuerselen, where contact with the VII Corps is expected to be made.
In the VII Corps area, the 9th Infantry Division continues their attack in the Huertgen Forest toward Schmidt. Forward elements reach the edge of woods near Aermeter and Richelskaul, but the main body is held up far behind. In the V Corps area, the 28th and 4th Infantry Divisions advance to the line of departure for the West Wall offensive. In U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 3d Battalion of the 329th Infantry Regiment, 83d Infantry Division, takes Echternach, on the west bank of the Sauer River, after nearly a week of fighting.

Mission 669: 1,422 B-17s and B-24s and 900 fighters are dispatched to hit oil installations and armored vehicle plants in Germany; with one exception, bombing is visual; 40 bombers and 11 fighters are lost; the escorting fighters claim 37-0-4 aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground. 153 hit the Henschel armored vehicle plant at Kassel, 141 hit the synthetic oil facility at Politz, 129 bomb the Zellerfeld explosive factory at Clausthal, 115 bomb the I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Merseberg, 91 bomb the synthetic oil refinery at Lutzkendorf, 87 attack the Braunkohle synthetic oil refinery at Bohlen, 67 hit the Altenbauna aircraft engine factory at Kassel, 63 bomb the Buchau/Krupp armored vehicle factory at Magdeburg, 59 each bomb the Schwartzhelde synthetic oil refinery at Ruhland and the ordnance depot at Bielefeld, 47 hit the aviation repair facility at Zwickau while 35 bomb the motor vehicle factory at Zwickau, 30 hit the Friedrichstrasse industrial area in Dresden, 27 bomb the Nordhausen Airfield, 25 attack Schneeburg, 24 bomb the Freiburg marshalling yard, 13 each bomb Wurzen and an oil refinery at Rositz, 12 each bomb Roszla and marshalling yards at Altenburg and Gera, ten each attacked Munster Airfield and the Steinfort marshalling yard at Bergen, and six aircraft attacks individual targets.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 351 aircraft, 251 Halifaxes, 90 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos, to bomb the small German town of Kleve which, together with Emmerich, stands on the approach routes by which German units could threaten the vulnerable Allied right flank near Nijmegen which had been left exposed by the failure of Operation Market Garden; 339 bomb the target with the loss of two Halifaxes.
Visibility was clear and the center and north of the town were heavily bombed, although some crews bombed too early and their loads actually fell in the Netherlands near Nijmegen. A second mission consisting of 340 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos carries out an even more accurate attack on Emmerich; 341 aircraft hit the target with the loss of three Lancasters.

Another target was the Kembs Dam. This was another No 617 Squadron special operation. The Kembs Dam on the Rhine, just north of Basle, held back a vast quantity of water and it was feared that the Germans would release this to flood the Rhine valley near Mulhouse, a few miles north, should the American and French troops in that area attempt an advance. The Squadron was asked to destroy the lock gates of the dam. Thirteen Lancasters were dispatched. Seven aircraft were to bomb from 8,000 feet and draw the flak, while the other six would come in below 1,000 feet and attempt to place their Tallboys, with delayed fuses, alongside the gates.
USAAF Eighth Air Force P-51s would attempt to suppress flak positions during the attack. The operation went according to plan with 12 Lancasters attacking the target. The gates were destroyed but two Lancasters from the low force were shot down by flak. Radio listening stations in England hear the German controllers plotting the supposed force "vigorously," but few night fighters are scrambled. Mosquito Intruders and Serrate aircraft, which are part of the No 100 Group force, then fly on towards Bremen and claim a Bf110 destroyed and a Ju 88 damaged.

One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber attacks the marshalling yard at Pec.


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## syscom3 (Dec 12, 2009)

*8 OCTOBER 1944 SUNDAY* 

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The Canadian minesweeper HMCS '_Mulgrave_' (J 313) strikes a mine in the English Channel off Le Havre, France, and is heavily damaged. She is beached and later refloated and towed back to Portsmouth, England, but is never repaired.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Fighting in both Kemi and Tornio comes to an end today as the Germans withdraw, leaving behind two encircled battalions. Some Germans manage to reach their own lines in groups and individually, but the rest are taken POWs. Kemi and Tornio are not the last areas held by the Germans in Finland -- there still are lots of stiff fighting to do. The last German forces didn't leave the Finnish territory until late April 1945.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 2d Battalion, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, fights from house to house within Metz for some time to come without clearing the rest of the town. Confused and bitter fighting continues at Fort Driant without much change in positions. In XII Corps area, after an hour of preparatory bombardment, corps begins a concerted drive toward the Seille River at 0615 hours.
The 6th Armored Division, making the main effort, takes Moivron, where it is relieved by the 80th Infantry Division; in conjunction with the 80th Infantry Division, they envelop and take Jeandelincourt, clear Bois de Chenicourt, though the Germans retain the town of Chenicourt, and seize Arraye-et-Han. To the left, 80th Infantry Division's 318th Infantry Regiment takes Manoncourt; the 319th Infantry seizes, Mt Toulon, and Sivry; and the 317th Infantry clears Mt St Jean. The 35th Infantry Division closes up the Seille River on its left flank, taking Ajoncourt and Fossieux; USAAF Ninth Air Force P-47s assist with attacks on the heights between Moivron and Jeandelincourt. In U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3d Infantry Division moves from Vagney northeast to Sapois. In the French First Army's II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division gains the crest of Longegoutte heights after several days of bitter fighting.

A revision and elaboration (from 28 September-8 October) of the USAAF Ninth Air Force interdiction program against railroads connected with the Rhine River results in the issuance of a new interdiction program; it includes rail lines further to the east and requires attacks by all four Tactical Air Commands of the Ninth Air Force, plus aid from the British Second Tactical Air Force.
Meanwhile, 300+ Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s, with fighter escort, hit strong points and bridges over wide areas of eastern France and western Germany; and fighters support ground forces of the US VII, XV, XIX, and XX Corps in eastern France and western Germany, and attack airfields, railroads, and numerous military targets in forward areas.

*GERMANY:* In U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division's hopes of making a speedy junction with the VII Corps at Wuerselen arc soon dashed by German opposition on the east flank. The 119th Infantry Regiment, following the Wurm River valley southward, gets 1.5 miles beyond Herzogenrath; the 120th Infantry, whose relief at Kerkrade has been completed by the 29th Infantry Division, is committed between the 119th and 117th Infantry Regiments and takes two hamlets; the 117th Infantry, upon reaching the railroad west of Mariadorf, is counterattacked strongly by fresh German forces from Mariadorf, part of whom push to Alsdorf, where they are halted. Both sides suffer heavy losses and the 117th Infantry pulls back to the edge of Alsdorf.
Combat Command A, 2d Armored Division, seizes Oidtweiler, northeast of Alsdorf. In the VII Corps area, the 1st Infantry Division begins an attack to encircle Aachen in conjunction with XIX Corps: while the 18th Infantry Regiment pushes northward through Verlautenheide, the 26th Infantry is getting into position to drive through the heart of the city from east; the 16th Infantry holds a defensive line near Eilendorf. Tanks and tank destroyers arrive by nightfall to help the assault regiments of the 9th Infantry Division to break out of the Huertgen Forest toward Schmidt. In the V Corps area, the 28th Infantry Division encounters outlying positions of the German's West Wall defenses.

*MEDITERRANEAN: *British forces from Araxos have reconnoitered along the north coast of the Peloponnesus to Corinth, which is free of Germans; elements of 9 Commando are in Nauplia, on the Gulf of Nauplia south of Corinth.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Task Force 92 reaches the slopes of Mt. Cauala but is forced back by German fire. In the II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division continues their attack on the Monterumici hill mass, the 135th Infantry Regiment working slowly forward from the and the 133d from west. The 362d Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division, gets elements to the crest of Mt. Castellari, during the night of 8/9 October; the 361st Infantry Regiment makes substantial progress to the east, clearing the villages east of Mt. Castellari, cutting Highway 65 at La Fortuna, and pushing to the edge of the Livergnano escarpment, a feature strongly favored by nature for defense. The 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, forces the Germans back to Mt. delle Formiche; the 337th Infantry is still unable to progress appreciably from Hill 566. The 349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, upon reaching crest of Hill 587, finds it undefended and elements seize II Faichetto Hill. In the British XIII Corps area, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Division gains the summit of Mt. Ceco, but the Germans retains the heights nearby. On the right flank of the corps, the 6th Armoured Division thrusts along Highway 67 to the edge of Portico but cannot force an entrance; elements probe toward Tredozio. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, since the 20th Brigade of the Indian 10th Division is still held up on Mt. Farneto, the 10th Brigade is committed to outflank the Germans, some elements pressing toward Montecodruzzo on the left and others taking St. Paola on the right. The Indian 25th Brigade takes St. Lorenzo and drives toward Roncofreddo. The 46th Division is working toward Longiano.

Bad weather forces USAAF heavy and medium bombers to cancel missions; XII Fighter Command fighters are airborne to support ground forces over the battle area and abort all missions.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Wendell Lewis Willkie, the Republican candidate in the 1940 Presidential election, dies in New York City of complications from an August heart attack. He is 50-years-old.


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## syscom3 (Dec 12, 2009)

*9 OCTOBER 1944* *MONDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, it is decided to break off costly action against Fort Driant. Indecisive fighting continues within Metz. In XII Corps area, Combat Command A of the 6th Armored Division, attacking through Combat Command B attempts to take the final objective of the division, a plateau west of Latricourt; elements clear the woods southwest of Latricourt but the column to right comes under heavy fire from Chenicourt and cannot reach Latricourt. The Germans retain Latricourt and from time to time mount small, ineffective counterattacks. German force breaks into Fossieux, where it is engaged by the 35th Infantry Division. Corps front is largely quiet for rest of month and early days of November. Regrouping and rotation of front-line troops is thus possible. In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division makes all-out effort to clear the rest of Foret de Parroy, gaining the main road junction in center and thereby making the German positions untenable. The Germans withdraw from the forest after nightfall. In the French 1st Army's II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division forces the Moselotte River in the Thiafosse-Saulxures region and takes the village of Trougemont.

In the Canadian First Army area, II Corps continues clearing the Breskens Pocket. An amphibious assault force of the Canadian 3rd Division lands at the east end of the pocket, taking the Germans by surprise and establishing a bridgehead; other elements of the division expand the holdings north of the Leopold Canal in the Maldegem area.

The 4th Armoured Division exerts pressure on German positions at the east end of the canal. The Germans continue a vigorous defense of the Zuid Beveland causeway, holding the 2d Division to slight gains in the Woensdrecht area.

*GERMANY: *In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the 119th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division drives through Bardenberg to North Wuerselen; the 120th is kept from Euchen and Beck, villages astride road to Bardenbcrg, by a German force crossing its front en route to Bardenberg; the 117th clears Schaufenberg and tries unsuccessfully to reach Mariadorf, then is authorized to go on the defensive in the Alsdorf-Schaufenberg region. At night, a German force reaches Bardenberg and routs the small holding force of the 119th Infantry, isolating the main body of that regiment in North Wuerselen; 119th Infantry Regiment reserves attempt to regain Bardenberg from the north but are stopped at the village. In VII Corps area, the 1st Infantry Division continues operations against Aachen. The 9th Infantry Division attacks to break out of Huertgen Forest; assisted by tanks, the forward battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment emerges in the Richelskaul area and two platoons of the 39th Infantry Regiment at Wittscheidt. In the V Corps area, a planned attack on West Wall is postponed until 11 October.

The Soviet Army reaches the Baltic coast, encircling Memel, the northernmost city in Germany.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 670: 1,110 B-17s and B-24s and 878 fighters are dispatched to make pathfinder force attacks on industrial targets in southern and central Germany; one B-24 is lost:
- B-17 targets: (1) 329 B-17 hit the secondary target, ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt; one other hit a target of opportunity; escort is provided by 338 P-51 Mustangs. (2) 211 bomb the marshalling yard at Mainz and 148 hit the aircraft engine plant at Gustavsburg; escort is provided by 202 Ninth Air Force P-38s and P-47s.
- B-24 targets: 360 bomb the Moselhit marshalling yard at Koblenz and hits a target of opportunity; one B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 271 P-51 Mustangs which claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground. Captain Ken L. Gilbert landed the 93d Bombardment Group (Heavy) B-24 "Missouri Sue," completing his 75th combat mission. He flew two consecutive combat tours in a six-month period, beginning his first tour on 12 April 44 and completing it on 12 July 44. This is an Eighth Air Force record that is believed to be unsurpassed in WW II.

During the night of 9/10 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 435 aircraft, 375 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos, to bomb Bochum; 404 actually bomb the target with the loss of five aircraft, four Halifaxes and a Lancaster.. This raid is not successful. The target area is covered by cloud and the bombing is scattered. In a second mission, 46 Mosquitos bomb Wilhelmshaven without loss; other targets hit during the night by Mosquitos are four aircraft bombing Saarbrucken , three to Krefeld and three to Lohausen Airfield at Dusseldorf.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Aircraft of the RAF's No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack three airfields in the Athens area during the night of 9/10 October without loss: ten bomb Kalamaki Airfield, six hit Tatoi Airfield and three attack Eleusis Airfield.

In the U.S. Fifth Army IV Corps area, Task Force 92 pushes to the top of Mt. Cauala without opposition but later in the day is forced to withdraw. The next two days are devoted to preparations for another assault. Regimental Combat Team 6 of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, pushing northward along the Serchio River, halts near Barga to avoid a possible German counterattack. In II Corps area, 34th Infantry Division continues to make slow progress against the Monterumici hill mass. The 91st Infantry Division repels a counterattack from Livergnano, mops up, and prepares for a co-ordinated effort against the formidable Livergnano escarpment: Company K of the 361st Infantry Regiment reconnoiters to the edge of Livergnano, where it is cut off from the main body; Companies E and G move to positions above Bigallo and are pinned down. The 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, now well ahead of 337th, prepares to attack Mt. delle Formiche in conjunction with attack of the 91st Infantry Division; 1st Battalion outflanks La Villa. The 337th Infantry Regiment prepares for a full-scale effort against Hill 578, the peak of Monterenzio hill mass. The 349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, begins clearing ridge leading to Mt. delle Tombe; the 351st Infantry Regiment reaches the edge of Gesso. In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division, reinforced, takes responsibility for Mt. Battaglia and Mt. Cappello, on the left flank of the corps; the 1st Guards Brigade, 6th Armoured Division, remains on Mt. Battaglia. In the British Eighth Army area, X Corps, upon regrouping in connection with the arrival of 1st Armoured Division headquarters, pursues retreating Germans northward along Highway 71; reconnaissance elements find Mt. Castello and Mercato Saraceno clear. In the V Corps area, hard fighting develops at St. Paola as the Germans make an unsuccessful attempt to recover it.

Weather again grounds the USAAF heavy and medium bombers. USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers, and fighters hit roads, rail crossing, transport and other targets in the Bologna and Sabbioso areas.

*NORTH AMERICA:* The Dumbarton Oaks Conference consisting of representatives from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and the Soviet Union, which began meeting in Washington, D.C. on 21 August, concludes.
The purpose of the conference is to plan for the establishment of the United Nations. The objective of the UN is to replace the League of Nations with a more effective organization to preserve world peace and security. The UN proposal is officially unveiled today.

*EASTERN FRONT*: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden arrive in Moscow to discuss the political future of Eastern Europe. The London based, exiled Polish government is present for some of the discussions. They achieve no concessions. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin insists that Bulgaria and Romania are part of a Soviet sphere of influence, while Greece is in the British sphere. In Hungary and Yugoslavia influence is to be divided. This conference will last through 20 October.


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## syscom3 (Dec 12, 2009)

*10 OCTOBER 1944* *TUESDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* 'U-2331' (Type XXIII) sank near Hela, Poland, at approximate position 54.00N, 18.00E, in an accident. Four of the 19 crewmen survive. The boat is raised and towed to Gotenhafen, further details unknown.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* In retaliation for Finland's "ase and unhonourable acts, "German Colonel-General Lothar Rendulic, commander of the 20th Mountain Army, orders that all state owned buildings at Rovaniemi, the largest city of Finnish Lappland, be destroyed. This results in almost complete destruction of the center of the city. Even if the Germans cause widespread destruction in some parts of northern Finland, it has to be stressed that the civilian population (what is left of it after evacuations to Sweden) is spared. After the Finnish invasion of Tornio some hostages are taken, but they are not maltreated and are soon released.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the U.S. Third Army area's XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division captures Fossieux.
In the French First Army area, the II Corps expands the Moselotte bridgehead to Planois, on the east-west road to La Bresse. Hopes of a quick lateral thrust to secure that communications center are dashed when II Corps is asked to extend northward to the line Fougerolles-Remiremont-Le Tholy-Gerardmer, effective on 14 October, to relieve the southern flank units of U.S. Seventh Army. No further effort is made at this time to extend holdings along north bank of the Moselotte River.

First Lieutenant Charles "Chuck" Yeager, 363d Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, USAAF Eighth Air Force, downs five Bf 109s (bringing his total to 6.5) near Assen at about 1100 hours. Yeager ends the war with 11.5 kills.

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, after further efforts to clear Bardenberg, a reserve battalion of the 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, withdraws at night to permit the shelling of the Germans there; the 120th Infantry Regiment seizes the Birk crossroads, which controls the road to Bardenberg, thus jeopardizing German forces at Bardenberg; the 30th Infantry Division claims 20 German tanks during fighting yesterday and today. In the VII Corps area, so favorable do the prospects of closing the Aachen gap appear that 1st Infantry Division delivers an ultimatum calling for surrender of the city within 24 hours; the ultimatum states, "Surrender or retreat within 24 hours or the city will be blasted to bits."

In the Huertgen Forest, the Germans overrun the two forward platoons of the 39th Infantry Regiment of 9th Infantry Division in the Wittscheidt area early in day; the 39th Infantry Regiment later recovers lost ground and takes Germeter without opposition; the 60th Infantry Regiment units re-enter the woods and seize a road junction almost 1 mile southwest of Richelskaul.

During the night of 10/11 October, RAF Bomber Command sends Mosquitos to hit six targets: 47 bomb Cologne, six bomb the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Pforzheim, five each bomb Duisburg and the M/Y at Aschaffenburg, two bomb Lohausen Airfield at Dusseldorf, and one bombs the city of Aschaffenburg .

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division makes another futile attempt to take Mt. Stanco, getting almost to the crest before being driven back. The II Corps opens the third phase of an offensive toward Bologna. The 34th Infantry Division tries in vain to outflank the Monterumici hill mass. In the 91st Infantry Division zone, the 361st Infantry Regiment makes it's main effort against the Livergnano escarpment without appreciable gains. Efforts to relieve Company K in Livergnano fail; most of the company is captured by the Germans. The 2d Battalion of the 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division attacks lofty Mt. delle Formiche but, although strongly supported by air and artillery, is stopped short of the crest; The 337th, reinforced by the 1st Battalion of the 338th, makes some progress toward Hill 578 of Monterenzio hill mass.

In the British XIII Corps area, the Indian 8th Division gains positions near top of Mt. Casalino.
In the British Eighth Army’s V Corps area, German opposition along the Fiumicino River collapses with the capture of Spaccato by the Indian 10th Division. The 46th Division takes Longiano and La Crocetta. The Canadian I Corps regroups for a drive across the Fiumicino River. Reconnaissance elements of the 1st Division cross at Savignano di Romagna without opposition; bridging is begun at the crossing site.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers are again grounded due to weather; fighter-bombers, though also hampered by weather, manage to closely support ground forces, particularly at Monte delle Formiche and attack communications north of the battle area in the Northern Apennines. One hundred thirty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Forces B-17s and B-24s attack five transportation targets: 68 bomb the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Mestre, 33 attack the M/Y at Treviso, 31 hit the railroad bridge at Nervesa, 30 hit the railroad bridge at Piave Ponte di Piave, and one hits a target of opportunity. About 90 fighters provide support in the Treviso area. Over 350+ other B-17s and B-24s are forced to abort the mission because of weather.

During the night of 10/11 October, 33 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the East marshalling yard at Verona.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet Army's First Baltic Front reaches the Baltic Sea near Memel and cuts off 26 German divisions in northern Lithuania and Latvia. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler refuses to evacuate the beleaguered army, which remains isolated until war's end.

Eight hundred Gypsy children, including more than 100 boys between 9 and 14 years old, are gassed at Auschwitz.

Forces of the Soviet Third Ukrainian Front cut the Nis-Belgrade railroad at Velika Plana.


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## Njaco (Dec 13, 2009)

*11 OCTOBER 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The 1st Canadian Infantry Division returns to active duty in Italy. The 5th Canadian Armoured Division in Italy is put into reserve. The US 91st Division of US 2nd Corps (part of US 5th Army) encounters heavy German resistance at Livergnano. Forces of the British 8th Army capture Lorenzo.

In Italy, despite bad weather US Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack bridges and supply dumps in the Po Valley; fighter- bombers and fighters closely support ground forces in the Apennine Mountains between Florence and Bologna where fierce fighting rages on Monte delle Formiche, Livergnano escarpment, Monte delle Tombe, Gesso ridge, and Monte Battaglia; also hit are communications behind the battle area and as far W and N as Genoa, Turin, and Savona; the detachments of the 16th and 35th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 64th Troop Carrier Group, operating from Istres, France returns to base at Ciampino with C-47s.

*GERMANY*: German Colonel Baron Alexis von Roenne is executed by Nazi authorities for treason. He was the head of German intelligence, and had convinced Adolf Hitler that the Allied landing would be in the Pas de Calais.

46 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Wiesbaden and 4 to Heilbronn. 1 aircraft lost from the Berlin raid.

US Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown. Mission 672: 135 B-17s are dispatched to bomb the Wesseling synthetic oil plant (57); 73 others hit the secondary, the Koblenz marshalling yard; 4 B-17s are lost and 61 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 38 MIA. Escort is provided by 135 of 139 P-47s; 1 P-47 is lost. Mission 673: 9 aircraft drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Scheldt estuary, Canadian 1st Army forces cut the causeway between the mainland and Beveland and Walcheren. The Canadian Highland Light Infantry reaches the village of Biervliet, Holland. German forces had vacated the town, heading south. Around Aachen, elements of US 19th Corps (part of US 1st Army) capture Bardenburg. Around Metz, forces of US 3rd Army capture Parroy after clear the nearby Foret de Parroy.

160 RAF Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked the Fort Frederik Hendrik battery position at Breskens, on the south bank of the Scheldt, and 115 Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked guns near Flushing on the north bank. Both attacks started well but more than half of the Breskens force had to abandon the raid because their target was covered by smoke and dust. Two large explosions were seen at Flushing. 1 Lancaster lost from the Breskens raid.

61 RAF Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attempted to breach the sea walls at Veere on the northern coast of Walcheren Island but were not successful. No aircraft lost.

US Ninth Air Force: In France, 99 B-26s and A-20s, with fighter escort, sent to bomb the Camp-de-Bitche military camp are recalled when Pathfinder equipment malfunctions and weather prevents visual bombing. In Germany, fighters fly armed reconnaissance, cut rail lines in the Aachen- Rhine area, and support the US VII and XIX Corps in the Aachen area, and US XII, XV, and XX Corps in the Metz-Saarlautern area. In Luxembourg, the 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Montrevil, France to Sandweiler with F-6s.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, troops of the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front cross the Tisza River around Szeged and capture the town. To the east, there is heavy fighting around Debrecen and Cluj is captured during the day.

In Austria, about 180 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb Vienna S ordnance depot, Graz motor works, S and SW areas of Vienna, the towns of Hirtenberg and Enzesfeld, the marshalling yard at Zeltweg, the Dravograd, Yugoslavia railroad bridge on the Yugoslav-Hungarian boundary, and in Italy, railroad and highway bridges at Cesara, and Trieste harbor; 250+ heavy bombers fail to complete missions because of bad weather; 18 P-51s strafe targets in the Bratislava, Czechoslovakia and Budapest, Hungary areas, including supply dumps, and trains and destroy 17 airplanes at Esztergom landing ground, Hungary; 37 other P-51s strafe Prostejov Airfield, Czechoslovakia and targets of opportunity in the surrounding area, destroying nearly 30 aircraft and trucks, locomotives, and railroad cars.


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## Njaco (Dec 13, 2009)

*12 OCTOBER 1944* *THURSDAY*

*GERMANY*: US Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown. Mission 674: 552 bombers and 514 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; they claim 18-3-1 aircraft; 3 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. Weather prevents the 290 B-24s dispatched to hit the primaries at Vechta, Achmer, Rheine and Varrelbusch; PFF means were used to hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Osnabruck (267); 5 others hit Diepholz Airfield, a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost and 67 damaged; 19 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 210 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-1-0 aircraft in the air. 2. 262 B-17s are dispatched to aviation industries at Bremen (267) bombing visually; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 59 damaged. 7 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 273 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 17-2-1 aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). Mission 675: 8 aircraft are dispatched to drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night; 2 B-24s are lost.

Adolf Hitler orders that London be the sole British target of V-2 rockets.

111 RAF Halifaxes and 26 Lancasters of Nos 6 and 8 Groups attacked the oil plant at Wanne-Eickel. A direct hit on a storage tank early in the raid produced dense cloud and smoke which hindered later bombing. A German report says that the refinery itself was not seriously damaged but that the GAVEG chemical factory was destroyed; it is possible that the bombers were aiming at the wrong target.

86 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked a gun battery near Breskens and destroyed 2 of the 4 gun positions. No aircraft lost.

Mosquitos went to bomb the following targets: Hamburg, 52 aircraft; Düsseldorf and Wiesbaden, 6 aircraft each; Koblenz, 4 aircraft; Schweinfurt, 2 aircraft. 1 aircraft lost from the Hamburg raid.

The jets of Kommando Nowotny are scrambled from Achmer with the new 'long-nose' Fw 190Ds of JG 54's “Wurger Staffel”, flying cover. Six Focke-Wulfs are shot down but Oblt. Bley and Lt. Lennartz each claim a USAAF P-51 with their Me 262s. Upon returning to base, the machines of both pilots are damaged in forced landings, reducing the number of available fighters.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US Ninth Air Force: HQ Ninth AF is delegated administrative (in addition to operational) control over HQ XII Tactical Air Command hitherto assumed by US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF). Advanced HQ XIX Tactical Air Command arrives at Nancy, France, following the advance of the US Third Army. Almost 250 B-26s and A-20s bomb Camp-de-Bitche, France military camp, rail bridges at Grevenbroich and Ahrweiler, Germany, city areas of Langerwehe and Aldenhoven, Germany, and Venraij, the Netherlands, and various targets of opportunity; escorting fighters also fly armed reconnaissance and rail cutting in the Dusseldorf and Aachen, Germany and Belfort, France areas, and support the VIII, XII, XV, and XX Corps in E France and W Germany. In France, the 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Third Army), moves from Gussainville to Nancy with L-5s; the 365th, 366th and 367th Fighter Squadrons, 358th Fighter Group, based at Vitry-le-Francois, begins operating from St Dizier with P-47s; the 586th and 587th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 394th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Bricy to Cambrai/Niergnies with B-26s.

The Canadian 8th Brigade crosses the Scheldt, landing south-east of Hoofdplaat, then advances south to create a land route for a supply line.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US Fifteenth Air Force:Around 700 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter support, pound ammunition and fuel dumps and depots, bivouac area, barracks, vehicle repair shop, munitions factory and targets of opportunity in the Bologna, Italy area (Operation PANCAKE) supporting the US Fifth Army offensive in that sector. 160 P-51s strafe the mainline railroad and Danube River traffic in the Vienna, Austria-Gyor, Hungary-Budapest, Hungary areas and strafe Seregelyes Airfield, Hungary, disrupting traffic and destroying many enemy airplanes.

US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, medium bombers, supporting the US Fifth Army, attack communications, supply dumps, and bivouac and barracks areas S of Bologna; fighter-bombers and XII Fighter Command fighters, mainly in support of the US Fifth Army, blast supply dumps, gun positions, troop concentrations, and communications in the high country S of of Bologna while the Desert Air Force (DAF) gives similar support to the British Eighth Army in the Rimini area.

In Greece Allied paratroops land at Athens airfield. Other British forces land on Corfu. German forces evacuate the Piraeus.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, Oradea is captured by Soviet forces of 2nd Ukrainian Front. The battle for Debrecen continues. South of Szeged, Yugoslavian partisans and Soviet forces capture Subotica in a joint attack.


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## Njaco (Dec 15, 2009)

*13 OCTOBER 1944* *FRIDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Canadian North Novas take Hoofdplatt, after two days fighting with heavy casualties. Elements of British 8th Corps (part of British 2nd Army) launch attacks toward Venlo from Nymegen. Around Aachen, US 1st Division of US 19th Corps (part of US 1st Army) enters the city from the east and is engaged in street fighting.

The first German V1 and V2 attacks land on the port of Antwerp.

(US Ninth Air Force): 9th Bombardment Division bombers hit bridges at Saarlouis, France, Roermond and Venlo, the Netherlands, and Euskirchen and Mayen, Germany, plus several targets of opportunity. Escorting fighters also fly armed reconnaissance over the areas of Metz, France and extensively over W Germany, attacking railroads and other targets, and support the US First, Third, and Seventh Armies. In France, HQ 323d Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 453d, 454th, 455th and 456th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Chartres to Laon/Athies with B-26s; the 425th Night Fighter Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command, moves from Coulommiers to Prosnes with P-61s.

French Forces of the Interior become part of the regular French army.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: To the west, forces of US 5th Army continue fighting south of Bologna. In the east, the British 46th Division, part of British 5th Corps (part of British 8th Army), captures Carpineta.

In Greece, Advance elements of a joint British-Greek force land at Piraeus. British forces occupy Athens and the island of Corfu in the Adriatic.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather cancels all medium bomber operations except for attacks on 4 targets (bridges and supply dumps) in the battle area S of Bologna; fighter-bombers support US Fifth Army operations more successfully in the area, hitting gun emplacements, troop concentrations, supply dumps, bridges, and vehicles; the 23d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Group [attached to 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance)] moves from Valence, France to Malignano with F-5s.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Latvia, elements of the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts break through the German defensive positions around Riga, the capital city. During the day, Soviet forces reach the outskirts of the city. German troops evacuate Riga and form what was to become known as the Kurland pocket.

(US Fifteenth Air Force):650+ fighter escorted B-17s and B-24s bomb oil refineries at Blechhammer, Germany and Vienna/Floridsdorf, Austria; motor works, locomotive shops, and marshalling yard at Vienna and Graz, Austria; Banhida, Szekesfehervar and Papa, Hungary; and Hranice and Mezirici, Czechoslovakia; some of the escorting fighters strafe railroads, roads, and an airfield in the areas of Balaton Lake, Hungary; Neusiedler Lake and Vienna, Austria; and Prostejov, Czechoslovakia; other fighters strafe roads, railroads, and Danube River traffic in the Vienna-Gyor, Hungary- Budapest, Hungary areas.

*GERMANY*: 57 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne and 4 to Stuttgart. No aircraft lost. A report from Cologne shows that bombs were scattered across the city, causing mostly minor damage.

Two more Me 262s of Kommando Nowotny are destroyed, again decreasing the available machines at Achmer. Because of this and recent losses, Major Nowotny imposes a two week ban on operational flying until Messerschmitt representatives can evaluate the problems of the fighter jet.


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## Njaco (Dec 15, 2009)

*14 OCTOBER 1944* *SATURDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT*: Lead elements of Canadian 2nd Corps (part of Canadian 1st Army) link up with the landing forces at Breskens.

(US Ninth Air Force): Bad weather grounds the A-20s and B-26s; fighters escort a leaflet mission, fly sweeps and rail cutting operations, armed reconnaissance over E France and W Germany, and support the US Third Army.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Greece Allied forces occupy Athens and the Piraeus. Further British forces land on Corfu. The British 3rd Corps is about to land at Piraeus. 55 P-38s escort MATAF C-47s carrying airborne forces to Megara Airfield, Greece.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather cancels all medium bomber operations; 100+ fighters and fighter-bombers pound troop concentrations, gun positions, supplies, bridges, roads, and rail lines S, of Bologna where hard fighting is taking place in the Monterumici, Livergnano, and Gesso ridge areas.

*EASTERN FRONT*: (US Fifteenth Air Force):317 B-17s and B-24s hampered by bad weather, bomb oil refineries at Blechhammer and Odertal, Germany, and several targets of opportunity including marshalling yards at Bratislava and Nove Zamky, Czechoslovakia, and in Hungary, Komarom and the Nove Zamky railroad bridges, Borzavar industrial area, and Ugod military garrison; escorting fighters strafe airfields, rail and road traffic and other targets of opportunity in the target areas; 52 B-24s bomb a railroad bridge and marshalling yard at Maribor, Yugoslavia; 54 P-51s on a strafing mission in the Balaton Lake area of Hungary attack airfields at Szekesfehervar and Seregelyes.

*GERMANY*: Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel is visited at home by Nazi government representatives. He is suspected of complicity in the July 20th plot to assassinate Hitler. Rommel is given the choice of a People's Court trial, or taking poison. Feldmarschall Rommel commits suicide to save his family from disgrace. His death is publicly announced as resulting from wounds.

*OPERATION HURRICANE*. This raid was part of a special operation which has received little mention in the history books. On 13 October, Sir Arthur Harris received the directive for *Operation Hurricane*: _'In order to demonstrate to the enemy in Germany generally the overwhelming superiority of the Allied Air Forces in this theatre ... the intention is to apply within the shortest practical period the maximum effort of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command and the VIIIth United States Bomber Command against objectives in the densely populated Ruhr._' Bomber Command had probably been forewarned of the directive because it was able to mount the first part of the operation soon after first light on 14 October. No heavy bombers had flown on operations for 48 hours and 1,013 aircraft - 519 Lancasters, 474 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos - were dispatched to Duisburg with RAF fighters providing an escort. 957 bombers dropped 3,574 tons of high explosive and 820 tons of incendiaries on Duisburg. 14 aircraft were lost - 13 Lancasters and 1 Halifax; it is probable that the Lancasters provided the early waves of the raid and drew the attention of the German flak before the flak positions were overwhelmed by the bombing. For their part in *Operation Hurricane*, the American Eighth Air Force dispatched 1,251 heavy bombers escorted by 749 fighters. More than 1,000 of the American heavies bombed targets in the Cologne area. American casualties were 5 heavy bombers and 1 fighter. No Luftwaffe aircraft were seen.

During the night, Bomber Command continued _Operation Hurricane _by dispatching 1,005 aircraft - 498 Lancasters, 468 Halifaxes, 39 Mosquitos - to attack Duisburg again in 2 forces 2 hours apart. 941 aircraft dropped 4,040 tons of high explosive and 500 tons of incendiaries during the night. 5 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost. Nearly 9,000 tons of bombs had thus fallen on Duisburg in less than 48 hours. Local reports are difficult to obtain. The Duisburg Stadtarchiv does not have the important Endbericht - the final report. Small comments are available: 'Heavy casualties must be expected.' 'Very serious property damage. A large number of people buried.' 'Thyssen Mines III and IV: About 8 days loss of production.' 'Duisburg-Hamborn: All mines and coke ovens lay silent.' Not only could Bomber Command dispatch more than 2,000 sorties to Duisburg in less than 24 hours, but there was still effort to spare for No 5 Group to attack Brunswick with 233 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos. The various diversions and fighter support operations laid on by Bomber Command were so successful that only 1 Lancaster was lost from this raid. Bomber Command had attempted to destroy Brunswick 4 times so far in 1944 and No 5 Group finally achieved that aim on this night, using their own marking methods. It was Brunswick's worst raid of the war and the old centre was completely destroyed. A local report says 'the whole town, even the smaller districts, was particularly hard hit'. It was estimated by the local officials that 1,000 bombers had carried out the raid. Total effort for the 24 hours: 2,589 sorties, 24 aircraft (0.9 per cent) lost. Total tonnage of bombs dropped in 24 hours: approximately 10,050 tons. These record totals would never be exceeded in the war.

141 RAF training aircraft on a diversionary sweep to Heligoland, 20 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 16 to Berlin, 8 to Mannheim and 2 to Düsseldorf, 132 aircraft of 100 Group on RCM, Serrate and Intruder flights (no sub-totals are available), 8 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Halifax was lost on the diversionary sweep - it was seen to dive into the sea in flames - and 1 Mosquito was lost from the Berlin raid.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 676: 211 bombers and 258 fighters make GH attacks on 2 targets in Germany: 1 fighter is lost: 1. 90 of 94 B-17s hit a marshalling yard at Saarbrucken; 8 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 105 of 107 P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 117 of 117 B-24s hit Kaiserslautern; 8 B-24s are damaged. Escort is provided by 148 of 151 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). Mission 677: 1,040 bombers and 491 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on Cologne, Germany; 5 bombers are lost: 1. 434 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Gereon marshalling yard (326); 1 hits a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 93 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided by 141 of 153 P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 318 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Gremberg (127) and Eifelter (121) marshalling yards; 9 others hit Euskirchen; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 137 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided by 177 of 184 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 3. 314 of 379 B-17s hit the secondary target, the Gereon marshalling yard; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 123 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 3 WIA. Escort is provided by 151 of 154 P-47s and P-51s without loss.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In the St. Lawrence seaway off Pointe-des-Monts, Quebec, Canada, German submarine _'U-1223' _torpedoes Canadian frigate HMCS _'Magog'_. The ship survives, but does not re-enter active service.


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## Njaco (Dec 15, 2009)

*15 OCTOBER 1944* *SUNDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 679: 5 B-17s and 4 B-24s fly a night leaflet mission over the Netherlands, France and Germany without loss.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber operations; fighters fly rail cutting missions and support elements of the US First, Third, Seventh, and Ninth Armies in E France and W Germany.

German battleship _'Tirpitz' _leaves Kaafjord, Norway, heading for a final resting place near Tromsö.

Forces of Canadian 1st Army (British 21st Army Group) continue the battle for the Scheldt estuary. Around Aachen, elements of US 5th Army (part of US 12th Army Group) continue efforts to capture the city. To the south, the US 6th Corps, part of US 7th Army (part of US 12th Army Group), begins an offensive to the west of Epinal.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s bomb bridges in the W Po Valley; B-26s hit bridges in the E part of the Valley, and have excellent success bombing a railway fill at Ossenigo, trapping 300+ railway cars N of the target; fighters and fighter-bombers concentrate their efforts toward support of ground forces along a wide front in the mountains S of Bologna; HQ 63d Fighter Wing moves from Bastia, Corsica to San Pietro.

In Italy elements of US 5th Army gain ground near Livergnano and Grizzana. In the east, forces of British 8th Army also make progress. The Polish 2nd Division (part of Polish 2nd Corps) captures Gambettola.

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Budapest Admiral Horthy, the prime minister and regent, asks for an armistice with the USSR in a radio broadcast. Shortly after announcing Hungary's withdrawal from the war against the USSR, Admiral Horthy is taken prisoner by a commando unit led by SS major Otto Skorzeny. A new government under Ferenc Szalasi vows to continue the alliance with Germany.

In Finland the Soviet 14th Army occupies Petsamo in the far north. In Latvia, Soviet forces of 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts capture Riga.

Lt. Anton “Toni” Hafner of JG 51 downs five Russian fighters bringing his victory total past 200 to 203 victories.

The Red Army and Yugoslav partisans under the command of Josip Broz Tito liberate Belgrade. The Red Army forces are also in East Prussia.

*GERMANY:* (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 677: 754 bombers and 464 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial, oil and rail targets in the Cologne, Germany area; all but 1 force bombs by PFF methods; 7 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 1. 454 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Geron (141), Nippes (127) and Kalk (111) marshalling yards; 11 others hit the Koblenz/Lutzel marshalling yard; 4 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 293 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 40 MIA. Escort is provided by 146 of 151 P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 385 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Eifeltor (148) and Imbert (24) marshalling yards; secondary targets are the Kalk (117) and Gereon (50) marshalling yards; other targets are Wester marshalling yard (11) and other (1); 2 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 230 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 19 WIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 150 of 154 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 369 B-24s are dispatched to hit oil facilities at Monheim/Rhenania (64) and Reisholz (61) visually; secondary targets are Cologne/Gereon marshalling yard (185) and Dormigeon (13); targets of opportunity are Worringen (12), Cologne Airfield (12) and Limburg marshalling yard (6); 1 B-24 is lost and 106 damaged; 3 B-24s are lost and 106 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 131 of 141 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. Mission 678A: 2 of 9 B-17s make an APHRODITE attack on naval installations on Heligoland Island, Germany; 23 of 24 B-17s fly a cover mission to the same targets. Escort is provided by 15 of 16 P-51s and 2 P-38s without loss.

18 RAF Lancasters of No 9 Squadron to attack the dam at the Sorpe reservoir, the second most important supply of water for the Ruhr and one of the targets for the original Dams Raid by No 617 Squadron in 1943. 16 aircraft dropped Tallboys or other bombs from 15,000ft and hits were seen on the face of the earth dam but no breach was made. No aircraft lost.

506 RAF aircraft - 257 Halifaxes, 241 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - from all groups except No 5 Group on the last of 14 major Bomber Command raids on Wilhelmshaven that began in early 1941. Bomber Command claimed 'severe damage' to the business and residential areas. 44 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 6 to Saarbrücken and 2 each to Düsseldorf and Kassel, 33 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 22 Halifaxes and 15 Lancasters minelaying off Denmark, 2 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost from the minelaying operation.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*16 OCTOBER 1944* *MONDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Outward bound from her base at Bergen, Norway,German submarine 'U-1006' (Type VIIC41) is sunk about 83 nautical miles southeast of Torshavn, Faroe Islands, in position 60.59N, 04.49W, by depth charges from the Canadian frigate HMCS '_Annan_' (K 297). Forty four of the 50 man U-boat crew survive.

*GERMANY:* USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, with fighter escort, bomb marshalling yards (M/Ys) and aircraft factories in Austria: 64 each attack a tank factory in St. Valentin and an aircraft assembly plant at Graz Neudorf: 40 hit the M/Y at Spittal: 37 bomb the Diamler-Puch aircraft assembly plant at Steyr: 36 attack the Main M/Y at Linz: 34 hit the Hermann Goering benzine synthetic oil refinery at Linz: 28 each bomb the Main M/Y at Graz, the Walziagerwerke aircraft assembly plant at Steyr and an ordnance depot at Linz; 17 hit a railroad bridge at Villach; 12 bomb a M/Y at Klagenfurt, nine attack the Tribin M/Y; three hit Zeltweg Airfield, and five bomb miscellaneous targets.

Soviet forces of the Third White Russian Front launch an offensive to break into East Prussia, which the Germans are prepared to defend. Thousands of German civilians in the area flee in panic.

In the U.S. First Army area, the army closes the ring about Aachen as patrols of XIX and VII Corps establish contact on Ravels Hill at 1615 hours. In the XIX Corps area, the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division continues to batter Wuerselen, the 30th Infantry Division attacks southward astride the Wurm River with the 119th Infantry Regiment; a patrol makes contact with a patrol of the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, VII Corps. In the VII Corps area, the Germans react promptly and vigorously to the closing of Aachen gap, attempting to overrun a roadblock on the Aachen-Wuerselen highway, during the night of 16/17 October. The 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, stabilizes positions in the Eilendorf area.
15th AF: The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacks four targets: 32 bomb the Main marshalling yard and 18 hit a railroad bridge at Salzburg and 18 attack the industrial area and a railroad bridge at Liezen.

*NORTH AMERICA:* In Ottawa, Ontario, Lieutenant General Henry Crerar, General Officer Commanding First Canadian Army in the Netherlands, is promoted to the rank of General; he is the first Canadian to hold that rank in the field.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Finnish troops reach the ruins of Rovaniemi which had been destroyed by the Germans on 10 October.

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 45th and 36 Infantry Divisions, against firm opposition, close in on Bruyres, a column from the south pushing through Laval. In the French First Army's II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division and the French1st Armored Division begin an attack to pierce German’s winter line in the Vosges mountain range, pressing toward heights east of the Moselotte River against violent opposition.

In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, Zuid Beveland Isthmus is virtually sealed off with the capture of Woensdrecht by the Canadian 2d Division. Canadian The 3d Division continues to reduce the Breskens Pocket south of the Schelde River. The pocket is about half its original size. In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, the 3d Division reaches the outskirts of Venray. Combat Command B, U.S. 7th Armored Division, establishes a bridgehead across the canal on the Deurne-Venray road.

Sergeant George Harold Eardley (b.1912), King's Shropshire Light Infantry, wipes out three machine-gun posts, allowing the capture of a key position.

All USAAF Ninth Air Force operations are cancelled due to weather. During the night of 16/17 October, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 680: two B-17s and seven B-24s drop leaflets over the country without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Hungarian government is arrested in Budapest and sent to Germany.

One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber hits marshalling yard at Hereny.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the 6th South African Armoured Division, in conjunction with the II Corps to right, renews their northward attack between the Reno and Setta Rivers. II Corps begins the final phase of attack toward Bologna, making the main effort in center; the left flank is still held up below the Monterumici hill mass. The 34th Infantry Division attacks with two regiments abreastn the left, the 133d Infantry Regiment drives through the 91st Infantry Division on a narrow front toward Mt. Belmonte, target for artillery and aerial bombardment. Searchlights provide illumination for night action. At this time the use of artificial moonlight is still in the experimental stage. The 85th Infantry Division's 339th Infantry Regiment attacks toward a ridge above Monterenzio, taking Hill 622. 88th Infantry Division drives toward the Mt. Cuccoli-Mt. Grande ridge on the right flank of corps: the 349th Infantry Regiemnt takes Mt. delle Tombe and reaches St. Clemente. In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division completes relief of U.S. forces on Gesso ridge. In the British Eighth Army area, the V Corps clears Mt. Romano and Mt. Reale, during the night of 16/17 October. Elements of the 20th Brigade, Indian 10th Divsion, establish a small bridgehead across the Savio River near its confluence with the Borello River on the south flank of the corps. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division advances quickly toward Cesena, elements crossing Pisciatello River. Orders are issued for a concerted attack on Cesena by the Canadian I and British V Corps. The New Zealand 2d Division takes Bulgarno without opposition.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations are cancelled by bad weather while A-20s and fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations, bridges, gun positions, road, rail lines, and vehicles in the battle area, particularly in the Monte Belmonte vicinity. Eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit transportation targets of opportunity. RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group sends 69 bombers to attack the marshalling yard at Zagrab.

Soviet and Yugoslav forces are fighting side by side in the streets of Belgrade. Nis, on the Sofia-Belgrade railroad line, is captured by Soviet forces.

*UNITED KINGDOM:* Private Salter of the Pioneer Corps is the first British soldier to be demobilized, and given a regulation "demob suit".


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*17 OCTOBER 1944* *TUESDAY*

*GERMANY:* The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacks targets in the Vienna area: 62 bomb the industrial area, 26 bomb the Saurerwerke armament factory, 22 bomb the marshalling yard and 16 bomb the city. Other targets hit are: 25 bomb the railroad at Furstenfeld, six bomb the marshalling yard at Strauss, and individual aircraft bomb four targets. Twelve bombers are lost. Seven USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs hit two targets of opportunity with six bombing Ostrava Moravaska. One hundred fifteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the I.G. Farben South synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer with the loss of five aircraft; two other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

During the day, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 681: 1,338 bombers and 811 fighters are dispatched on Pathfinder Force (PFF) attacks on three marshalling yards (M/Y) in the Cologne area; four B-17 Flying Fortresses and a P-51 Mustang are lost: 514 bombers hit the Kalk M/Y, 503 bomb the Gereon M/Y and 217 attack the Eifeltor M/Y. Four other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attack targets in Hungary: 15 bombers hit the marshalling yard at Nagykanizsa, six bomb the marshalling yard at Szombathely, and 14 aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

*WESTERN FRONT: *The French War Ministry and the national Council for the Resistance agree on how to integrate the French Interior Forces (Forces Francaises de l'Interieur or FFI), i.e., resistance fighters, into the regular army. Political loyalties of the various resistance groups have caused many problems with this process.

In U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division, untried in combat, closes in the Lunévile area. In the VI Corps area, the 45th and 36th Infantry Divisions are slowed by strong opposition as they continue to close in on Bruyéres. In the French First Army’s II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division and French 1st Armored Division make limited gains but at such high cost that General Jean de Lattre, Commanding General of the French First Army, calls a halt and the corps goes on the defensive. The Army commander decides to drive on Belfort in the I Corps zone. In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, Venray falls to the 3d Division.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force clears all Rhine River rail and road bridges for attack; two days later Advance HQ prescribes bridges as having priority on the target list second only to rail lines. In Germany, 35 B-26s hit rail bridge at Euskirchen; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance in the Strasbourg-Colmar- Mulhouse area, attack railroads in the Allendorf an der Lahn-Gemunden area, and marshalling yard at Dielkirchen.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Rival partisans, i.e., the moderate EDES and the Communist ELAS, begin to fight each other and a bomb explodes during a victory parade.

General Mark Clark's Fifth Army is making a last effort to take Bologna and northern Italy but the offensive is crippled by torrential rains and manpower and ammunition shortages. In the U.S. Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, a patrol of Task Force 92 reaches the crest of Mt. Cauala, during the night of 17/18 October. In II Corps area, a coordinated attack by Combat Command A, 1st Armored Division, and the 135th Infantry Regiment against the Monterumici hill mass makes little progress. The 91st Infantry Division takes Lucca and improves positions to the east. Particularly heavy German fire is directed against the Livergnano area. The 34th Infantry Division is clearing the slopes of Mt. Belmonte and takes the crest of Mt. della Vigna. In the British XIII Corps area, the 21st Brigade of the Indian 8th Division begins an assault on Mt. Pianoreno. The 1st Division's 66th Brigade attacks in the Mt. Ceco area. In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps opens an offensive toward Forli in the evening, although all its forces have not yet assembled. The 5th Kresowa Division leads off, pushing toward Galeata from St. Piero in the Bagno area, its right flank protected by the British 1st Armoured Division. V Corps is meeting strong opposition at Acquarola and Celincordia.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter bombers flew limited sorties in the battle area south of Bologna, hitting roads, rail lines and bridges. A-20s bomb targets over the Po Valley area and cause explosions on the north edge of Revenna. During the night of 17/18 October, A-20s on armed reconnaissance bomb lights and vehicles east of Bologna.

The British Military L I a I s o n Headquarters, Greece begins arriving in Athens to distribute relief supplies.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs escort several C-47s transporting personnel to Araxos Airfield south of Araxos.

*EASTERN FRONT:* German forces successfully repulse heavy Soviet attacks near Debrecen.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-51s escort a B-17 carrying a photo crew to Romania to photograph Ploesti.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs four targets: 17 aircraft bomb the Southwest Marshalling Yard at Maribor and 17 hit the railroad bridge in the same city; two other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. Additionally, P-51 Mustangs escort a C-47 Skytrain picking up personnel at Valjevo Airfield.

During the night of 17/18 October, 74 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Vinkovci.


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## Njaco (Dec 19, 2009)

*18 OCTOBER 1944* *WEDNESDAY*

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Moscow it is announced that the 4th Ukrainian Front (Petrov) has entered Czechoslovakia. German forces from Greece and southern Yugoslavia are rapidly falling back to avoid being cut off by advancing Soviet forces. German forces in Slovakia begin a counter-offensive against the Slovak insurgency.

*GERMANY:* All able-bodies males between the ages of 16 and 60 are now liable for conscription into the Volkssturm (the home defense force).

Bonn. This was the first major operation by RAF No 3 Group in the new independent role which its commander, Air Vice-Marshal R Harrison, had been granted. Approximately one third of the group's Lancasters were now fitted with the G-H blind-bombing device and No 3 Group were to operate on days when the ground was concealed by cloud but when the cloud tops did not exceed 18,000ft. Aircraft with G-H had their tail fins painted with a prominent design; aircraft without G-H found a G-H 'leader' to follow into the target area and bombed when that aircraft bombed. G-H was a relatively accurate, easy-to-operate and very useful device and No 3 Group were to make good use of it in the remaining months of the war. The device had been used before, but not by a large force. Air Vice-Marshal Harrison requested that the almost unbombed and unimportant town of Bonn should be the target for this first operation, possibly so that post raid reconnaissance photographs could show the results of the first G-H raid without the effects of other bombing confusing the interpretation of the photographs. 128 Lancasters were dispatched; the raid appeared to go well and only 1 aircraft was lost. The attack was a complete success. The heart of old Bonn was destroyed, with its university, many cultural and public buildings and a large residential area being burnt out. The local report says that the home in which Beethoven lived was saved 'by the courageous actions of its caretakers'. 700 buildings were destroyed and 1,000 were seriously damaged.

19 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 18 to Mannheim, 8 to Düsseldorf, 5 to Pforzheim and 4 to Wiesbaden. 1 aircraft lost from the Pforzheim raid.

US Eighth Air Force: Mission 682: 567 bombers and 604 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; 5 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 337 B-17s are dispatched to make a PFF attack on Kassel/Mittefeld (300); targets of opportunity are Cologne (1) and other (2); 2 B-17s are lost; 1 airman is WIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 388 P-47s and P-51s; 4 P-51s are lost. 2. 118 B-17s are dispatched to make a GH attack on the Ford Plant at Cologne (79); 30 others hit Cologne/Nippes marshalling yard; 22 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 2 WIA. Escort is provided by 38 of 45 P-47s without loss. 3. 112 B-24s are dispatched to make a GH attack on the industrial complex at Leverkusen (39); 30 others hit the Cologne/Nippes marshalling yard; 3 B-24s are lost and 26 damaged; 27 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 139 of 146 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost.

US Ninth Air Force: Weather prevents operations of all commands (including the 9th Bombardment Division) except IX Tactical Air Command fighters which fly sweeps, rail cutting missions, and night patrols, and provide air cover for the US 1st Infantry Division in the Aachen, Germany area.

*MEDITERRANEAN: *The Greek government in exile returns. British forces occupy Santorini and Scarpanto. The port of Patras becomes operational.

US Fifteenth Air Force:38 P-38s dive-bomb Vinkovci, Yugoslavia. 41 P-51s escort C-47s to Greece.

US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, most medium bomber missions are aborted because of weather, but B-26s effectively hit Castel San Pietro dell'Emilia warehouses and a railroad bridge at Padua; fighters and fighter-bombers, operating on restricted schedule due to weather, offer effective close support to ground forces in the mountains S of Bologna and hit communications targets in the Bologna and Modena areas; during the night of 17/18 Oct A-20s on armed reconnaissance bomb lights and vehicles E of Bologna.

Motor torpedo boat PT-558 is damaged in engagement with two German R-boats west of Portofino; while retiring to Leghorn, Italy, PT-561 is damaged by heavy seas. Tank landing ship LST-906 drags anchor and is damaged when driven ashore by heavy sea, Leghorn.

*WESTERN FRONT:* General McClain takes command of the US 1st Army on the western front. He replaces General Corlett.

Naval Advanced Base, La Havre, France, is established.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Canadian Defence Minister James Ralston returns to Canada after touring Canadian forces in Europe. He urges the prime minister to impose conscription to help supply properly trained replacement soldiers on the battlefield. Ralston reports that a further 16,000 trained infantry are required.


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## Njaco (Dec 19, 2009)

*19 OCTOBER 1944* *THURSDAY*

*WESTERN FRONT:* American attacks on Aachen continue. Farther south, forces of the US 7th Army capture Bruyeres. Nearby, other units prepare to assault St. Die.

US Ninth Air Force: Weather prevents bomber operations; fighters attack a tank concentration E of Luneville, France, strafe targets NW of Kaiserslautern, Germany, fly reconnaissance in W Germany, and provide cover for US Third and Seventh Army forces in E France.

Spain closes the frontier with France.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Troops of the British 10th Indian Division, part of British 5th Corps (an element of British 8th Army) attack across the Savio River.

US Twelfth Air Force: Twelfth AF redesignates HQ XII Fighter Command as HQ XXII Tactical Air Command following a reorganization period during which the XXII Tactical Air Command was temporarily referred to as "X" Tactical Air Command and "X-Ray" Tactical Air Command, to distinguish it from HQ XII Fighter Command around which it was formed. In Italy, B-26s attack the Mantua causeway, a railway fill at Ossenigo, and bridges at Calcinato and Peschiera del Garda; a Luftwaffe fighter attack NW of Mantua accounts for 2 B-26s lost and 1 missing; at least 2 of the attacking fighters are destroyed; B-25s attack bridges in the Milan area at Lonate Pozzolo, Cameri, and Magenta; fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command hit targets in support of ground forces, concentrating on the Monte Grande area, and attack rail lines and bridges N of the battle zone. On the night of 18/19 Oct A-20s hit targets of opportunity during armed reconnaissance in the Genoa and Bologna areas.

*GERMANY:* Stuttgart: 565 RAF Lancasters and 18 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups in 2 forces, 4½ hours apart. 6 Lancasters lost. The bombing was not concentrated but serious damage was caused to the central and eastern districts of Stuttgart and in some of the suburban towns. Among individual buildings hit were the important Bosch factory.

263 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group dispatched to Nuremburg. 2 Lancasters lost. This was only a partial success for the No 5 Group method and the knock-out blow on Nuremberg, which had eluded Bomber Command for so long, was not achieved. The target area was found to be almost completely cloud-covered. The aiming point is believed to have been the centre of the city but the local report says that the bombing fell almost entirely in the southern districts, but this was the industrial area of Nuremberg.

48 RAF Mosquitos to Wiesbaden and 6 to Düsseldorf, 49 RCM sorties, 82 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito Intruder was lost but other Mosquitos claimed 2 Ju 88s, 1 Ju 188 and 1 Me 110 destroyed and 3 other night fighters damaged, a better-than-average night's success.

Total effort for the night: 1,038 sorties, 9 aircraft (0.9 per cent) lost.

US Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown. Mission 683: 1,022 bombers and 753 fighters attack targets in Germany using PFF or GH; 6 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 381 B-24s are dispatched to hit the diesel engine and armored vehicle plant at Gustavsburg (50) and the Mainz marshalling yard (280) the secondary target; 5 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 148 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA and 49 MIA. Escort is provided by 195 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 217 of 267 B-17s hit the secondary target, Mannheim; 34 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 97 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 286 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 374 B-17s are dispatched to hit an artillery tractor plant at Mannheim (25); 257 hit the secondary, Mannheim; targets of opportunity are Karlsruhe (32), Kreuznach (10), Rudesheim (9), Bad Kreuznach (8), Steyer (2) and other (21); 182 B-17s are damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 4 WIA. Escort is provided by 226 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. Mission 684: 5 B-17s and 5 B-24s are dispatched to drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Hitler orders the annihilation of Warsaw.

German troops evacuate Belgrade.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*20 OCTOBER 1944* *FRIDAY *

*GERMANY:* Forty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck; one aircraft is lost. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb six targets: 95 bombers hit the marshalling yard at Rosenheim; 77 B-17s bomb two targets in Regensburg, 34 hitting an oil storage facility and 33 bombing the industrial area; 11 B-24s attack the airfield at Bad Arling; and three aircraft bomb targets of opportunity.

In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, which is being assisted by elements of 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, forces the Germans to the western and southwestern suburbs of Aachen.

*WESTERN FRONT:* An offensive towards the north beginning northeast of Antwerp begins involving the British I Corps and the 1st Canadian Army. In the Canadian First Army area, British I Corps, protecting the right flank of II Corps, opens a drive toward the Bergen-op-Zoom-Tilburg highway with the Canadian 4th Armoured Division on the left, the 49th Division in the center, and the Polish 1st Armored Division on the right.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force’s 9th Bombardment Division hits the Parenboom rail bridge at Geertruidenberg and the Moerdijke rail bridge; attacks on other targets are aborted because of bad weather. USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters fly armed reconnaissance over eastern France and widespread areas of western Germany, attack railroads and various military targets, and support US Third and Seventh Armies' elements in E France.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans heavily shell 90th Infantry Division elements at Maizières-lès-Metz. In the XII Corps area, USAAF Ninth Air Force P-47s breach a dam at Dieuze because the Germans are getting ready to flood the Seille River valley. The destruction of this dam releases the waters of the Etang de Lindre (Pond of Lindre) in the rear of German lines which the II Corps is attacking. In the U.S. Seventh Army area, two fresh U.S. infantry divisions (100th and 103d) arrive at Marseille. In the VI Corps area the 179th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division attacks for Brouvelieures after preparatory fire and gains the heights commanding the town; the 180th Infantry Regiment, which has been pushing toward the Mortagne River from the Freinifontaine area, tries in vain to break through the German defenses along the river. The 3d Infantry Division begins a drive on St Die, employing the 7th Infantry Regiment, which heads for Vervezelle, northeast of Bruyères.

*EASTERN FRONT:* One hundred thirty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb a synthetic oil plant at Brux with the loss of three aircraft. Two other B-17s bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen and a target of opportunity.

Soviet units liberate Debrecen.

During the night of 20/21 October, 59 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the airfield at Szombathely with the loss of five aircraft.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division maintains positions on Mt. Salvaro under repeated German counterattacks and gains the slopes of Mt. Alcino. In the II Corps area, the 88th Infantry Division continues the offensive on the right flank of the corps, the 350th Infantry Regiment reaching the top of Mt. Cuccoli and taking Farneto. To forestall German counterattacks against the Mt. Grande hill mass, aircraft and artillery interdict all approaches. The rest of the corps front is virtually static. In the British XIII Corps area, the Germans recapture Mt. Spadura from the 78th Division. The 21st Brigade, Indian 8th Division, begins a drive on Mt. Romano. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Germans destroy a bridge in Cesano as the 4th Division reaches it, but elements of the 12th Brigade wade the river near the bridge site. The 25th Brigade, Indian 10th Division, strengthens the bridgehead in the Castiglione area and takes St. Carlo; to the south, elements of the 20th Brigade secretly cross the Borello River. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division attacks across the Savio River with two companies but cannot hold the bridgehead. In the coastal sector, Cesenatico is occupied after the Germans withdraw.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack five targets: 102 attack three targets in Milan, 38 bombing the Isotta Fraschini industrial area, 35 hitting the Breda armaments factory and 29 attacking the Alfa Romeo truck factory; and three other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. During the night of 20/21 October, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s bomb targets of opportunity during intruder missions north of battle area.

Nine RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit a pontoon bridge at San Benedetto.

Tito's partisans and Soviet units complete the liberation of Belgrade. . Dubrovnik on the Adratic is liberated by partisans. Actually, the "Soviet" units involved are primarily the Romanian 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions, plus the Tudor Vladimirescu Division (the latter organized and equipped like a standard Soviet rifle division but made up entirely of Romanian volunteers recruited from POW camps in the Soviet Union: many joined simply to escape the virtual death sentence of harsh Soviet captivity). These three units, comprising the "Soviet" 27th Army, are of course under Soviet command and, the Tudor Vladimirescu division nominally commanded by a Romanian colonel, is in reality controlled by its Soviet "advisors."


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*21 OCTOBER 1944* *SATURDAY*

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The German patrol boat F 631 attacked 'U-245' in the North Sea by error.

*GERMANY:* Aachen finally surrenders to US forces. The extended battle by elite German formations including paratroopers, and ten day siege leaves much of it in ruins. The city was taken only after close-quarter battles fought from house to house. Five brave attempts to break the siege line were made last night, all broken by American fire-power. This morning the garrison commander, Col. Gerhardt Wilck, sent two US captives as messengers to negotiate surrender. With about 400 men he marched to the headquarters of Lt-Col. John Cortez to insist upon proper treatment for his defeated soldiers. From the back of a US Jeep he told his men: "I believe further fighting is useless. I have acted against my orders, to fight to the last man. The American commander says I cannot give you 'Sieg Heil' or 'Heil Hitler', but we say it in our hearts." The garrison, totaling 1,626 men, had run out of food, ammunition and water. Most of the town's ancient streets had become impassable because of debris. In the centre only the mediaeval cathedral was still basically intact. The civilian population demanded a surrender ten days ago.

Once again Grand Admiral Donitz has shown himself to be a formidable opponent. The Royal Navy hoped that the war at sea would be virtually over as soon as the Allied forces captured the heavily-armoured French bases which have harboured the U-boats for most of the war. Donitz was ahead of them. He moved the main U-boat fleet out to bases in Norway and has been rapidly refitting the fleet with a newer and more sophisticated Schnorkel. Yet despite the new device, the Allies managed to sink 19 U-boats last month. The advantages of the Schnorkel were demonstrated by Count von Matuschka in 'U-482'. He did a round voyage from Norway of 2,729 miles, over 90% of which was under water. He preyed undetected on the main sea route north of Ireland and sank the corvette HMS '_HURST CASTLE_' and four ships. The Germans first started experimenting with Schnorkel devices as early as 1940. Donitz started to fit them in large numbers as soon as he realized that British aircraft were decimating the U-boats. The Schnorkel not only allows them to stay submerged but also enables them to pick up long-range wireless signals undetected by the British. It does tend to slow a U-boat by several knots. So far German successes have been small in number. But the presence of the Schnorkel boats is still tying up a large number of Royal Navy ships in escort duties for merchant ships.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* The British V and Canadian I Corps continue crossing the Savio River. Pte. Ernest Alvia Smith (b.1914), Canadian Army, destroyed two tanks and two self-propelled guns and routed a number of German troops.

*NORTH AMERICA:* Major General Clayton L. Bissell becomes Assistant Chief/Air Staff, Intelligence (A-2) in Washington, DC. He was formerly CG of the US 10th Air Force.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*22 OCTOBER 1944* *SUNDAY*

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Advance units of the Soviet 14th Army reach the Norwegian border in the far north of Finland.

*WESTERN FRONT:* French General Charles de Gaulle's administration is recognized by the Allies as the "de jure" Provisional Government of France.

In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 26th Infantry Division, untried in combat as a unit, makes a limited attack to gain experience and to improve positions east of Arracourt, securing ground west of Moncourt with support of troops from 704th Tank Destroyer Battalion. In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division finishes clearing the high ground east of Forêt de Parroy. In the VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division advances steadily northeast along the Mortagne River toward St Die. The 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, completes the mop up of Brouvelieures; the 180th forces the Mortagne River east of Fremifontaine but falls back under German fire.

Elements of Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, accompanied by two forward observer teams of the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion, crossed the Lower Rhine east of Arnhem in British small boats. They bring back 125 members of the British 1st Airborne Division, ten Dutch resistance fighters and five USAAF pilots from the German occupied north side of the river. These men have been hiding out since the night of 26 September when 2,163 survivors of the 1st Airborne Division had been withdrawn across the river. The Germans are unaware of the operation and not a round is fired. This is the end of the Battle of Arnhem.

In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, Breskens falls to the Canadian 3d Division. The Breskens Pocket is now less than half its original size. In the British I Corps area, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division reaches Esschen.

In the British Second Army area, XII Corps begins a westward offensive to clear the region west of the Maas River. The 15th Division heads for Tilburg and the 7th Armoured and 53d Divisions, followed by the 51st Division, towards Hertogenbosch.

Advance Headquarters of the USAAF Ninth Air Force's XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) and HQ 84th and 303d Fighter Wings move from Arlon, Belgium to Maastricht to maintain close association with the US Ninth Army. Weather prohibits USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations; fighter sweeps and armed reconnaissance support US Third and Seventh Army elements in eastern France and western Germany.

*GERMANY:* In East Prussia, Soviet forces stop short of Insterburg, 45 miles from Chancellor Adolf Hitler's Rastenburg headquarters.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 685: 1,131 bombers and 785 fighters are dispatched on PFF attacks on targets in western Germany; two bombers and a fighter are lost. Two marshalling yards (M/Ys) are hit: 353 bombers attack the M/Y at Munster and 343 bomb the M/Y at Hamm and two armored vehicle factories are hit: 171 aircraft attack the Hannomag factory at Hannover and 149 hit the NAG plant at Brunswick. Targets of opportunity are: 35 aircraft bombing the industrial area at Bielefeld, ten hit the industrial area at Recklinghausen and 13 aircraft hit miscellaneous targets.

During the day, 97 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters bomb Neuss; none lost. This G-H raid is not as concentrated as the recent Bonn raid and bombing is scattered. The local report says that 94 houses and three industrial buildings are destroyed and 545 houses, 18 industrial buildings and a public building are seriously damaged.

During the night of 22/23 October, 44 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Hamburg, four hit Wiesbaden and two each attack Düsseldorf and Cologne. Meanwhile, 38 Lancasters and Halfaxes lay mines in the Kattegat.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division continues toward the crest of Mt. Salvaro in a drenching rain. The II Corps receives verbal orders to continue their offensive on the right flank to a line Ribano Hill-Mt. Castelazzo, then to Highway 9. Accordingly, the 88th and 85th Infantry Divisions jump off, on the night of 22/23 October, and get about a mile (1,6 kilometers) beyond Mt. Grande by dawn, taking Hill 568, Mt. Castellaro, and Hill 459. The British XIII Corps is ordered to take Mt. Spadura and continue northward between Imola and Castel San Pietro roads. The 78th Division places fire on Mt. Spadura. The German withdrawal to the east permits other units of the corps to advance. The 21st Brigade, the Indian 8th Division, takes Mt. Romano without opposition. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division expands its Savio River bridgeheads westward, the 20th Brigade pushing almost to the crest of Mt. Cavallo. The 4th Division is unable to progress from its bridgehead until heavy equipment can be crossed to it. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division is handicapped by the swollen Savio River and is unable to cross supporting weapons into the bridgehead. On the Savio River, Seaforth Highlanders Private Ernest Alva 'Smoky' Smith shows conspicuous heroism, holding the Savio River crossing against German counter-attacks and destroying at least two German tanks; awarded the Victoria Cross.

Bad weather grounds all USAAF Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Force bombers; Twelfth Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers, flying less than 20 sorties, hitting rail lines and trains in northern Italy.

*EASTERN FRONT:* With the fall of Sombor, southwest of Subotica, Soviet forces control most of the east bank of the Danube as far north as the Hungarian town of Baja.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*23 OCTOBER 1944* *MONDAY*

*EASTERN FRONT:* One hundred twenty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb the Skoda armament factory at Pilsen. Two aircraft are lost.

*NORTHERN FRONT:* Russian units clear the area around Petsamo.

An international Jewish conference held at Stockholm thanks the Finnish government and people for their attitude towards the Jews during the war.

*WESTERN FRONT:* General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces, in a personal letter to Lieutenant General Jacob Devers, Commanding General 6th Army Group, order the Group to protect the southern flank of 12th Army Group in a coming offensive toward the Rhine River.

In U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division is meeting stronger resistance as it approaches Les Rouges Eaux, on the road to St Die. To the corps' left, the180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, succeeds in establishing a bridgehead across the Mortagne River east of Fremifontaine, from which they will push northeast toward Raon-l'Etape. On the right flank, the 36th Infantry Division extends positions east of Bruyres to Biffontaine; a battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment, attempting to secure the heights north of La Houssière, becomes isolated in Forêt Domaniale de Champ.

In the Canadian First Army's British I Corps area, the U.S. 104th Infantry Division, inexperienced in combat, begins moving into line along the Antwerp-Breda highway between the 49th Division and the Polish 1st Armored Division. On the left flank of the corps, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division swings west from Esschen toward Bergen-op-Zoom to seal off the Beveland Isthmus, along which the Canadian 2d Division of II Corps is preparing to drive.

Sicherheitsdienst (S.D. or security service of the SS) officer Herbert Oelschagel is murdered by the Dutch resistance in Amsterdam and the German reprisal is swift and severe. The next day, 29 civilians are arrested and pedestrians on the Apolloaan are forced at gunpoint to witness their execution. At the same time, several buildings are deliberately set on fire.

Weather prevents all USAAF Ninth Air Force commands, including the 9th Bombardment Division, from flight operations.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 112 Lancasters to attack the Flushing battery positions; 92 bomb but visibility is poor and the bombing is scattered. Four Lancasters are lost.

During the night of 23/24 October, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 686: three B-17s and six B-24s drop leaflets over the country.

*GERMANY: *USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit five targets: 79 bomb the M.A.N. diesel engine factory at Augsburg; 67 bomb the BMW aircraft engine factory at Munich; 63 attack the Winterhafen oil storage facility at Regensburg; 34 bomb the industrial area at Plauen; and 32 bomb the marshalling yard at Rosenheim.

During the night of 23/24 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 1,055 aircraft, 561 Lancasters, 463 Halifaxes and 31 Mosquitos, to bomb to Essen; 955 bomb the city. This is the heaviest raid on this target so far in the war and the number of aircraft dispatched is also the greatest number to any target so far; five Lancasters and three Halifaxes are lost. The aircraft drop 4,538 tons (4 117 metric tonnes) of bombs. More than 90 per cent of this tonnage is high explosive and includes five hundred nine 4,000-pound bombs because it is now considered that most of the burnable buildings in Essen have been destroyed in earlier raids. The greater proportion of high explosive, against all the trends in earlier area-bombing raids, is now quite common in attacks on targets which has suffered major fire damage in 1943. Mosquitos are also sent to various targets: 32 hit Berlin, ten bomb Wiesbaden and two bomb Aschaffenburg

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Division, attacking in force toward Mt. Salvaro, drives to the summit; elements to the right begin assault on Mt. Termine. In the II Corps area, the Germans counterattack and recover Hill 459 from the 85th Infantry Division. Elsewhere on the right flank of corps, counterattacks are repulsed and bypassed pockets cleared. At night, the 2d Battalion of the 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, attacks toward Vedriano and takes Vedriano by dawn of 24 October. The 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, seizes Mt. Belmonte. In British XIII Corps area, 78th Division, renewing their assault on Mt. Spadura with the 11th and 38th Brigades, clears this feature. The 1st Division takes Mt. Cornazzano without opposition and gains ground north of Mt. Ceco. The 21st Brigade, Indian 8th Division, seizes Mt. Giro and pushes on toward Mt. Colombo; the 17th Brigade takes Mt. Casalino.

In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division reaches the crest of Mt. Cavallo ridge, which extends northward to Bertinoro, commanding Highway 9; the Germans begin to pull back. The Savio River is subsiding and reinforcements are crossed into the 4th Division’s bridgehead. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division maintains a bridgehead across the Savio River but is unable to strengthen it. The 11th Brigade, Canadian 5th Armoured Division, reaches the Savio River. 

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit various targets: 27 bomb the railroad in the Brenner Pass; 19 hit the industrial area of Trieste; 12 attack a railroad bridge at Casarsa; two hit the railroad bridge at Latisana; one attacks the railroad at Treviso; and 28 bomb targets of opportunity.

During the night of 23/24 October, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s attack targets of opportunity in the Po Valley. Bad weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighters and fighter-bombers, although cancelling many operations, cause much damage to transportation, destroying or damaging numerous locomotives, railroad cars, and motor transport, and damaging vessels in the Savona, Turin, Padua, and Genoa areas.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* In the North Sea: German submarine U-673 is sunk at 0115 hours about 22 nautical miles N of Stavanger, Norway, after running aground near Smaaskjär following a collision with U-382. The boat is raised on 9 November 1944 and moved to Stavanger and is surrendered to Norway at the end of the war.

*FRANCE:* French automaker and accused German collaborator Louis Renault dies on this day in a Paris military prison hospital of undetermined causes. During World War I, Renault served his nation with the "Taxis de la Marne," a troop-transport vehicle, and in 1918, with the Renault tank. With the German occupation of France during World War II, the industrialist, who had served his country so well during World War I, mysteriously offered his Renault tank factory and his services to the Germans, perhaps believing that the Allies' cause is hopeless. The liberation of France in 1944 saw the arrest of Louis Renault as a collaborator, and the Renault company is nationalized. The 67-year-old Renault, who likely suffered torture during his post-liberation detainment, died soon after his arrest and before he is tried. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division commits its full strength to a drive on St Die as the 30th Infantry Regiment, having moved north, joins in an attack to right of 7th Infantry Regiment. The 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, takes the town of Mortagne, on the German side of the Mortagne River. 
In the French 1stArmy area, General Jean de Lattre, commander of the 1st Army, issues secret instructions to I Corps for an offensive toward Belfort, Operation INDEPENDENCE. I Corps is to be strongly reinforced for the operation. Extensive deceptive measures are taken to conceal the place of projected attack and take the Germans by surprise. 

*GERMANY:* 
*8th AF:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force dispatches 415 P-47s and P-51s to attack aircraft and ground targets in the Hannover-Kassel area; 73 bomb flak positions at Elburg, a factory near Nienburg, and miscellaneous ground targets; bad weather causes other fighter-bombers to jettison bombs in the English Channel and Zuider Zee in the Netherlands; the fighter-bombers strafe transportation and other ground targets with good results. 
*9th AF:* Bad weather cancels all USAAF Ninth Air Force operations except fighter patrols by the IX and XXIX Tactical Air Commands over western Germany; the fighters attack rail targets. 
*RAF: *During the night of 24/25 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 57 Mosquitos to bomb Hannover; 54 bomb the city without loss. Other Mosquito targets are: four bomb Oberhausen, three hit Aschaffenburg, two hit the marshalling yard at Aschaffenburg and one bombs Rheine; there are no losses. Lancasters and Halifaxes lay mines in the Kattegat. 

*GREECE:* British units enter Lamia, about 95 miles NW of Athens.

*ITALY:* In the U.S. Fifth Army area, Mt Termine falls to the South African 6th Armoured Division. In the II Corps area, the Germans regain Vedriano and capture most of Company G, 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division. The 88th and 85th Infantry Divisions continue an attack the on right flank of corps during the night of 24/25 October but make little headway. In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division consolidates positions on Mt. Spadura while the 61st Brigade, 6th Armoured Division, pushes toward Mt. Taverna, reaching Orsara. 
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division drives quickly toward the Ronco River on the south flank of the corps; the 4th Division advances its left flank to a road junction of Madonna di Cerbiano and its right, along Highway 9, to Castellaccio. The Canadian I Corps pursues retreating Germans toward the Ronco River. 
*12th AF: *Weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers but 300+ XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers attack targets in support of the U.S. Fifth Army south of Bologna and hit communications and shipping in the Turin-Genoa and eastern Po Valley areas, destroying 14 locomotives and 100+ railroad cars. 

*NETHERLANDS:* When S.D. (Sicherheitsdienst, the security service of the SS) officer Herbert Oelschagel is murdered by the Dutch resistance on 23 October in Amsterdam, the German reprisal is swift and severe. Today, 29 civilians are arrested and pedestrians on the Apolloaan are forced at gunpoint to witness their execution. At the same time, several buildings are deliberately set on fire. 
In the Canadian First Army’s II Corps area, the methodical reduction of Breskens Pocket continues. The Canadian 2nd Division begins drive along the Beveland Isthmus, leaving containing forces at its neck. 

*NORWAY:* Eight RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Oslo without loss.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*15th AF: AUSTRIA:* Weather again interferes with USAAF Fifteenth Air Force operations and only seven B-17s bomb three targets: three each bomb the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck an aircraft factory at Klagenfurt while one hits the marshalling yard at St. Viet. 

*FRANCE:* In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division withstands repeated counterattacks against its positions east of Forét de Parroy. The French 2d Armoured Division is ordered to attack on the right flank of the corps in support of the VI Corps before 1 November. In VI Corps area, the 36th Infantry Division attempts in vain to relieve an isolated battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment north of La Houssière. 

*9th AF:* Headquarters, USAAF First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) is established, but not yet organized, therefore Headquarters Ninth Air Force continues to administer, supply, and control all XII Tactical Air Command and assigned units until mid- November when the First Tactical Air Force assumes full control. The First Tactical Air Force (First TACAF) is assigned to the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe which has some operational control of the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces and some administrative control of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. Composed of both French Air Force and USAAF units, the new air force will provide tactical air support for the U.S. Seventh Army in southern France.

*GERMANY:* 
*8th AF:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 688: 1,250 bombers and 522 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and industrial targets in western Germany; two bombers and a fighter are lost: 718 aircraft hit the Rhenania oil refinery at Hamburg, 216 bomb the Bf 109 repair facility at Neumunster, 92 bomb the Buer and 27 hit the Nordstern synthetic oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, 100 attack the marshalling yard at Hamm, 37 bomb the marshalling yard at Munster, and six aircraft attack targets of opportunity. 
Shortly after take off from their base at Subury, Suffolk, England, the pilot of the USAAF Eighth Air Force's 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy) B-17 Flying Fortress named "Deepseat - Baker" is informed that a ground man, a Corporal, has stowed away on board. The pilot radios the Air Leader for advice and is told to continue the mission as there is flight clothing aboard and an oxygen mask in the bomber. The Corporal is originally in a distressed state but appears to settle down in the rear fuselage. When the bomber has reached 19,000 feet on its way to the target, and while the waist gunners are looking out the windows, the stowaway suddenly releases the side door and jumps out. He is not wearing a parachute. 
*9th AF:* USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division's missions are cancelled because of bad weather. Fighters fly sweeps, hit rail and military targets in the Saarbrucken area, and support the U.S. XIX Corps in western Germany. 
*RAF:* During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 771 aircraft, 508 Lancasters, 251 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos, to attack Essen; 740 aircraft bomb the city with the loss of two Halifaxes and two Lancasters. The bombing is aimed at skymarkers, because the target area is covered by cloud.
The Bomber Command report states that the attack became scattered, but the local Essen report shows that more buildings are destroyed, 1,163, than in the heavier night attack which had taken place 36 hours previously.
A photographic reconnaissance flight which took place after this raid shows severe damage to the remaining industrial concerns in Essen, particularly to the Krupps steelworks. Some of the war industry has already moved to small, dispersed factories but the coal mines and steelworks of the Ruhr are still important. The Krupps steelworks are particularly hard-hit by the two raids and there are references in the firm's archives to the "almost complete breakdown of the electrical supply network" and to "a complete paralysis."
The Borbeck pig-iron plant ceases work completely and there is no record of any further production from this important section of Krupps. Much of Essen's surviving industrial capacity is now dispersed and the city lost its role as one of Germany's most important centres of war production.
A second target is the Meerbeck synthetic oil plant at Homberg. A total of 243 aircraft, 199 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos are dispatched to this target and 228 attack without loss. The target is covered by cloud and bombing is scattered in the early stages but later became more concentrated on the skymarkers. No aircraft are lost. 

*ICELAND:* Canadian destroyer HMCS Skeena (D 59) anchored at Reykjavik dragged her anchor and is driven ashore on Videy Island. Bad weather prevents salvage, and she is written off as a total loss in December. Fifteen ratings (enlisted men) are lost.

*ITALY:* In U.S. Fifth Army area, elements of the South African 6th Armoured Division wade Setta Creek and take Hill 501, below Mt. Sole. In the II Corps area, further efforts to deepen the Mt. Grande salient, during the night of 25/26 October, are costly failures.
In the British XIII Corps area, the 61st Brigade of the 6th Armoured Division gets elements to Mt. Taverna, night of 25/26 October, but withdraws them because of tenuous supply situation. 
In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps reaches the Ronco River from heights across from Meldola to Highway 9. The 4th Division takes Forlimpopoli without a fight. In an attack across the Ronco River during the night of 25/26 October, the Indian 10th Division establishes small bridgeheads south and north of Meldola and the 4th Division crosses two companies northwest of Selbagnone and two others at Highway 9. The Canadian I Corps continues to pursue Germans toward the Ronco River, with coastal elements reaching the Bevano River. 
*12th AF:* Weather continues to ground USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighter-bombers attack guns, vehicles, and communications in the battle area south of Bologna while fighters destroy 20+ locomotives in the Piacenza area. 

*NETHERLANDS:* In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the Canadian 2d Division, working slowly west along the Beveland Isthmus, reaches Rilland. In the British I Corps area, the U.S. 104th Infantry Division drives north with three regiments abreast toward Zundert. 

*NORWAY:* Soviet Army units enter Norway, and capture Kirkenes. There is support from Soviet naval units in this far north campaign.

*ROMANIA:* Transylvania is completely cleared by Soviet advances.

*YUGOSLAVIA:* During the night of 25/26 October, 25 bombers of RAF's No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly supplies to the partisans.


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## syscom3 (Dec 19, 2009)

*15th AF: AUSTRIA:* Weather curtails operations of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force but four B-17s bomb the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck. 

*FRANCE:* In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, action at Maizieres-lès- Metz centers about the strongly held Hotel de Ville. The 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Division, reaches the hotel but is driven back. 
In U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division continues toward St Die under exceptionally heavy artillery fire, the 7th Infantry Regiment, in the center, overrunning Les Rouges Eaux. On the left flank of corps, the 45th Infantry Division is clearing Fort d'Housseras and working toward Raon-l'Etape. The 36th Infantry Division, on the southern flank, is relieving its isolated 141st Infantry Regiment force, which begins a drive to the west in an effort to break out. 

*GERMANY:*
*8th AF:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 689: 1,225 bombers and 674 fighters make PFF attacks on industrial and communications targets in western Germany; one fighter is lost. Targets are: 375 bombers bomb the Hannomag armored forces vehicle factory at Hannover, 242 bomb the Minden Aquaduct, 192 attack the marshalling yard at Munster, 191 bomb an ordnance depot at Bielefeld, 65 hit the Welheim synthetic oil refinery at Bottrop, 36 bomb the Munster area, 35 attack the gas works at Bielefeld, 23 hit the marshalling yard at Gutersloh and two bomb targets of opportunity. 
*RAF:* During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 105 Lancasters to carry out a G-H raid on Leverkusen, with the chemical works as the centre of the intended bombing area; 102 aircraft bomb the target. The raid appeared to proceed well but cloud prevented any observation of the results. No aircraft lost. 
During the night of 26/27 October, nine RAF Bomber Command Lancaster lay mines off the Heligoland Bight with the loss of one aircraft. 

*HUNGARY:* Soviet forces of the Fourth and Second Ukrainian Fronts link up near Mukacevo in eastern Hungary. 

*ITALY:* Heavy rains and flooding slow operations all along the line. In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Division halts efforts to take Mt. Sole; elements on Hill 501 are virtually isolated. In the II Corps area, a flash flood prevents commitment of 362d Infantry Regiment across the Sillaro River as planned. The 88th and 85th Infantry Divisions are given verbal orders to break off offensive and organize defensive positions on more tenable ground. In the British XIII Corps area, the 17th Brigade of the Indian 8th Division pushes to Lutirano and Tredozio. The 61st Brigade, 6th Armourd Division, after repelling an attack against Orsara and making another futile attempt to take Mt. Taverna, confines its activities to patrolling. 
In the British Eighth Army's Polish II Corps area, the 5th Kresowa Division, having cleared the Mt. Mirabcllo-Mt. Colombo ridge, sends elements into Predappio Nuovo, on the Rabbi River, but is forced back. In the V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division consolidates bridgeheads across the Ronco River, but the 4th Division is unable to hold on without tank support and suffers heavy losses while withdrawing. Since the river is now in flood, corps operations temporarily come to a standstill. The Canadian I Corps makes little progress because of flooding. 
*12th AF:* Weather suspends all USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations. 

*NETHERLANDS:* In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the British 52d Division makes an amphibious assault on Beveland from Terneuzen landing on the south coast near Baarland and establishing a bridgehead. The Canadian 2d Division continues to push west along the Beveland Isthmus. The Canadian 3d Division is steadily reducing the Breskens Pocket. .
In the British Second Army's XII Corps area, the 53 Division overruns Hertogenbosch. 

*POLAND:* Reichsfuhrer- SS Heinrich Himmler issues orders to destroy the crematoriums at Auschwitz-Birkenau in an attempt to eliminate the evidence of Nazi mass murder. 

*ROMANIA:* Mukachevo in the southern Carpathian Mountains is the site of a link up between the Second and Fourth Ukraine Fronts in a pincer movement.
*
9th AF: WESTERN EUROPE:* There are no USAAF bomber operations as bad weather prevails; fighters sweep areas of eastern France and western Germany from Metz, France to Cologne, Germany, attacking rail and road traffic, rail bridges, and marshalling yards.


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## Njaco (Dec 20, 2009)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Latvia, new Soviet attacks begin. In Hungary, Soviet 4th Ukrainian Front captures Uzhgorod in the northeast. 3rd Belorussian Front becomes first Soviet army group to enter Germany, crossing the border into East Prussia. Slovak insurgents evacuate Banská Bystrica.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Scheldt, forces of the Canadian 1st Army continue attacks on Beveland and inland. Bergen-op-Zoom is captured. Meanwhile, German forces counterattack the British 2nd Army to the right. Tilburg is captured by British forces. 

US Eighth Air Force: Mission 690: 2 B-17s and 7 B-24s drop leaflets on 38 locations in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

US Ninth Air Force: Brigadier General William L Richardson reassumes command of the IX Air Defense Command. Adverse weather prevents all operations except patrols by XIX Tactical Air Command and supply dropping missions (to VI Corps near Saint-Die, France) by the XII Tactical Air Command. In Belgium, the 22d Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, moves from Juvincourt, France to Le Culot with P-47s; the 412th Fighter Squadron, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Reims, France to Le Culot. In France, the 394th Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from Clastres to Juvincourt with P-38s. 

German submarine _'U-1060' _was grounded in the North Sea south of Bronnoysund, after damages by rockets and depth charges from Firefly and 2 Barracuda aircraft of the British carrier HMS _'Implacable'_, 2 British Handley Page Halifax aircraft (Sqdn 502/D/T) and from 2 Czechoslovakian Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 311/H/Y). 12 dead and 43 survivors.

Student Pilot Flieger Fähnrich Werner Speckmann of 1./ JG 102 was practising touch and go landing in a Bf 109G at Fliegerhorst Aalborg Ost. After having touched down he apparently pushed the throttle forward too fast. The great torque of the Daimler Benz engine forced the aircraft to rotate around itself and it hit the ground upside down thus killing Speckmann.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Field Marshal von Richthofen, the former commander of the elite close support force Fliegerkorps 8 in France, the Balkans and the Soviet Union, and cousin of the "Red Baron" is forced to retire from the command of Luftflotte 2 in Italy, following brain surgery.

The Allied advance is limited by poor winter weather.

US Twelfth Air Force: Weather curtails operations; fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance in the Genoa-Novi Ligure-Turin area hit communications and transportation targets. 

*GERMANY:* 60 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 21 in small numbers to 6 other targets. No aircraft lost.

A new jet unit is formed using Me 262s. The III Gruppe of Ergänzungsjagdgeschwader (EJG) 2 is formed at Lechfeld with the former Kommandeur of EKdo 262, Hptm. Horst Geyer appointed as Gruppenkommandeur.


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## Njaco (Dec 20, 2009)

*EASTERN FRONT:* As Major Erich Rudorffer of II./ JG 54 returns from a mission and is about to land, he spots a formation of Russian IL-2 Sturmoviks. He aborts the landing and intercepts the ground attack aircraft. In less than ten minutes he shoots down nine of the Russian planes causing the rest to flee in panic. Later during an afternoon mission he shoots down two more Soviet aircraft, his total for the day at eleven kills.

The USSR-Bulgaria armistice is signed. There are provisions for the integration of Bulgarian troops into the Soviet command system. This has already been established in practice.

German troops begin to pull out of Albania.

*GERMANY:* Operations resume for the Me 262s of Kommando Nowotny. Lt. Schreiber downs a USAAF P-38 and Lt. Schall claims a USAAF P-51. But Lt. Schall damages his plane when his nose wheel jams upon landing back at Hesepe. Fw. Buttner of the jet unit claims two Allied P-47s destroyed.

At Achmer, Oblt. Bley collides in his Me 262 on take off with a construction machine working on a new building just beyond the airfield perimeter and is killed. His place as Staffelkapitän is taken by Oblt. Georg-Peter Eder, who was waiting to be Staffelkapitän of the jet unit’s planned 3rd Staffel.

Cologne: 733 RAF aircraft - 28 Lancasters, 286 Halifaxes, 19 Mosquitos. 4 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters lost. The bombing took place in 2 separate waves and the local report confirms that enormous damage was caused. The districts of Mülheim and Zollstock, north-east and south-west of the centre respectively, became the centre of the 2 raids and were both devastated. Much damage was caused to power-stations, railways and harbour installations on the Rhine. 

277 RAF aircraft - 155 Halifaxes, 86 Lancasters, 36 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups carried out raids on gun positions at 5 places on the rim of the newly flooded island of Walcheren. Most of the bombing appeared to be successful. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost.

237 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to attack the U-boat pens at Bergen. It is probable that No 5 Group had been waiting to attack this important target for several days; the Group had not flown any operations since 23 October. Clear conditions were forecast for the target area, although there were some doubts about this. Unfortunately the area was found to be cloud-covered. The Master Bomber tried to bring the force down below 5,000ft but cloud was still encountered and he ordered the raid to be abandoned after only 47 Lancasters had bombed. 3 Lancasters lost.

30 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne, 4 to Karlsruhe and 3 to Rheine, 8 RCM sorties, 5 Mosquito patrols, 14 Lancasters minelaying off Oslo. No aircraft lost.

US Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown. Mission 691: 382 bombers and 217 fighters are dispatched on PFF attacks on marshalling yards in Germany; 3 bombers and 2 fighters are lost. 1. 184 of 192 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Hamm; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 42 damaged. Escort is provided by 93 of 105 P-51s without loss. 2. 178 of 190 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Munster; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 96 damaged; 12 airmen are WIA and 29 MIA. Escort is provided by 106 of 112 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). Mission 692: 3 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

US Fifteenth Air Force: Bad weather again limits operations; 10 B-17s bomb a Klagenfurt, Austria aircraft factory; 6 P-38s fly reconnaissance missions, during the early part of the night; 8 B-17s bomb Munich W, Germany marshalling yard; 1 bombs Erlsbach, Austria. 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Allied forces attack the German paratroop forces who advanced the previous day. Troops of the British 2nd Army capture Tilburg, southwest of Arnhem.

US Ninth Air Force: HQ 9th Bombardment Division moves from Chartres to Reims, France. In Germany, 45 B-26s bomb rail bridges at Sinzig, Kempenich, and Ahrweiler, and airfield at Euskirchen; fighters escort the bombers, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over W Germany, attack 6 bridges and 1 tunnel, and support US XIX Corps in Belgium near the German border. In Belgium, the 23d Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, moves from Juvincourt, France to Le Culot with P-47s. In France, HQ 367th Fighter Group and the 392d and 393d Fighter Squadrons move from Clastres to Juvincourt with P-38s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, bad weather again grounds the medium bombers, and restricts the XXII Tactical Air Command; fighter-bombers and fighters, flying 65 sorties, attack vehicles and trains in the Turin-Milan-Genoa area. 

Destroyer _'Gleaves' _(DD-423) bombards troop concentrations, barracks, and gun emplacements; she achieves excellent results. Enemy shore battery fire is inaccurate. U.S. motor torpedo boats attack northbound convoy--four F-lighters with escorts--and sink two F-lighters.


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## Njaco (Dec 20, 2009)

*GERMANY:* Despite a dwindling number of aircraft, the pilots of Kommando Nowotny continue to score against the Allies. Two Allied P-47s are claimed destroyed by the unit and a P-51D is downed by Fw. Buttner. Lt. Schreiber has an exciting day when he first downs a Reconnaissance P-38 Lightning and then has to bail out after colliding with a RAF Spitfire.

358 RAF aircraft - 194 Lancasters, 128 Halifaxes, 36 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 3, 4 and 8 Groups attacked 11 different German ground positions on Walcheren. Visibility was good and it was believed that all the targets were hit. 1 Lancaster lost.

59 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne and 6 to Mannheim, 55 Mosquitos on Serrate and Intruder patrol. No aircraft lost.

US Ninth Air Force: About 170 B-26s and A-20s bomb rail bridges at Mayen, Konz-Karthaus, and Euskirchen, Germany and Ellern and Moerdijke, the Netherlands; fighters fly escort to bombers, sweeps, defensive patrols, armed reconnaissance over wide areas of E France, the Netherlands, and Germany, bomb rail targets and bridges, and fly cover for the US XIX Corps in Belgium.

US Fifteenth Air Force: In Germany, 35 of over 155+ B-24s dispatched with fighter escort, bomb Munich W marshalling yard; the remainder and 670 other bombers, dispatched against targets in S Germany, abort the mission due to bad weather. In Austria, 30 P-38s, after escort duty, strafe communications lines from Wels to Kienberg destroying 17 locomotives and several other road and rail transportation targets. 

*WESTERN FRONT:* On Beveland, the Canadian 2nd Division reaches Goes in the ongoing battle for the Scheldt by Canadian 1st Army. Inland, Breda falls to the Polish 1st Armored Division.

37 RAF Lancasters - 18 from No 9 Squadron, 18 from No 617 and a film unit aircraft from No 463 Squadron - were dispatched from Lossiemouth in Scotland to attack the battleship _'Tirpitz'_, which was now moored near the Norwegian port of Tromso. The removal of the Lancasters' mid-upper turrets and other equipment and the installation of extra fuel tanks, giving each aircraft a total fuel capacity of 2,406 gallons, allowed the Lancasters to carry out this 2,250 mile operation. A weather reconnaissance Mosquito had reported the target area free of cloud and the Lancasters formed up at a lake near the bay in which the _'Tirpitz' _was moored and commenced their attack. Unfortunately the wind had changed and a bank of cloud came in to cover the battleship 30 seconds before the first Lancaster was ready to bomb. 32 aircraft released Tallboy bombs on the estimated position of the battleship but no direct hits were scored. 1 of No 617 Squadron's Lancasters, which was damaged by flak, crash-landed in Sweden and its crew were later returned to Britain. 

In Belgium, HQ 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group and the 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron move from Luxembourg, Luxembourg to Le Culot with F-6s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, weather again restricts operations; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers fly 15 sorties against railroad targets in the Po Valley. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet Karelian Front stops advance and hands responsibility to the Norwegian Resistance. 

End of a huge tank battle near Debrecon, three Soviet corps are badly handled.

The Slovak insurgent army is dissolved into smaller units which carry out guerilla attacks.


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## Njaco (Dec 22, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* Elements of Canadian 1st Army fight across south Beveland and reach the Walcheren Channel.

102 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group successfully attacked gun batteries on Walcheren. 1 Mosquito lost. This was the last Bomber Command raid in support of the Walcheren campaign and the opening of the River Scheldt. The attack by ground troops on Walcheren commenced on 31 October and the island fell after a week of fighting by Canadian and Scottish troops, including Commandos who sailed their landing craft through the breaches in the sea walls made earlier by Bomber Command. It required a further 3 weeks before the 40 mile river entrance to Antwerp was cleared of mine and the first convoy did not arrive in the port until 28 November.

US Ninth Air Force: B-26s are recalled from a mission (mainly against bridges) because of bad weather; fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance over NE France and in W Germany around Aachen and the Rhine River; XIX Tactical Air Command escorts B-26s and heavy bombers of the Eighth AF. In France, HQ 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) moves from Chateaudun to Clastres. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Caserta, the Greek government in exile bans the ELAS National Militia -- the Communist resistance movement.

The 16th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy, Special), AAF, MTO, begins a movement from Foggia, Italy to the US; the squadron flew combat in the MTO and ETO with B-17s as a radar detection and countermeasures unit from Sep 43 to Sep 44. 

US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, weather again grounds the medium bombers and limits XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers and fighters to 51 sorties against scattered targets in the Po Valley. In France, the 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, XII Tactical Air Command (attached to Provisional Reconnaissance Group), moves from Dijon to Azelot with F-6s. 

Destroyer _'Madison' _(DD-425) bombards and destroys German motor convoy, southern France, and sinks floating mines offshore. 

*GERMANY:* 102 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the oil refinery at Wesseling. No results were seen because of the cloud but the bombing was believed to be accurate. No aircraft lost.

Cologne: 905 RAF aircraft - 438 Halifaxes, 435 Lancasters, 32 Mosquitos. No aircraft lost. This was an Oboe-marked raid through cloud, and Bomber Command estimated that only 'scattered and light' damage was caused in the western parts of the city. But the local report shows that enormous damage was caused in the suburbs of Braunsfeld, Lindenthal, Klettenberg and Sülz, which were 'regelrecht umgepflügt' - 'thoroughly ploughed up' - by the huge tonnage of high explosive dropped (3,431 tons of high explosive and 610 tons of incendiaries were dropped). A vast amount of property, mostly civilian housing, was destroyed but railways and public utilities were also hit. There was little industry in the area which was bombed.

62 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 3 each to Heilbronn and Oberhausen, 42 RCM sorties, 57 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos were lost - 1 from the Berlin raid and 1 Intruder.

US Eighth Air Force: 3 missions are flown. Mission 693: 1,279 bombers and 978 fighters fly a major mission against German oil production facilities; 2 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 357 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Harburg oil refinery (72) and Rhenania oil refinery (67) at Hamburg; targets of opportunity are Hamburg (28), Cuxhaven (25), Wesermunde (21), Uetersen (9), Bremen (1) and other (1); 2 B-24s are lost and 30 damaged; 19 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 293 P-47s and P-51s; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 463 B-17s dispatched hit secondary targets, the marshalling yards at Hamm (209) and Munster (192); targets of opportunity are Osnabruck (12), Enschede (2) and other (4); 17 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 2 MIA. Escort is provided by 123 of 135 P-47s; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 459 B-17s dispatched to hit the Leuna oil refinery at Merseburg are recalled due to deteriorating weather; 2 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 482 of 508 P-51s without loss. Mission 693A: 2 of 5 B-17s make an APHRODITE attack on Heligoland Island, Germany; escort is provided by 7 of 7 P-47s. 26 of 27 B-17s, escorted by 8 of 8 P-47s, fly a cover mission to Heligoland without loss. Mission 694: 2 B-17s and 7 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

The plans for the He 162 jet fighter are ready for production.

The first versions of the Bf 109K-4 fighter is delivered to III./JG 27.


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## Njaco (Dec 22, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* Canadian forces begin amphibious crossings and attacks on Walcheren Island. The 9th Brigade of the Canadian 3rd Division enters Knock-sur-Mer. Allied forces take the peninsula of South Beveland, Belgium.

Gestapo Headquarters, the Shell House in Aarhus, is destroyed by a precision bombing raid by the RAF. The objective of the attack is to destroy as many records as possible, to aid resistance members.

101 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a good G-H attack on the oil plant at Bottrop. 1 Lancaster lost.

1 RAF Wellington carried out a signals patrol and 1 Hudson flew a Resistance operation.

US Eighth Air Force: Mission 695: 3 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

US Ninth Air Force: Weather forbids bomber operations and limits fighters; the XII and XIX Tactical Air Commands fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance over E France and W Germany; the XII Tactical Air Command also supports US Seventh Army elements in the Metz, France area. In Belgium, the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Sandwieler, Luxembourg to Le Culot with F-6 and P-51s. 

_'U-170' _reported an attack on a convoy escorted by "destroyers" and fires a T-5 torpedo but is in return depth charged and severely damaged (War diary of the boat, KTB). 

*EASTERN FRONT:* German Army Group North is cut off in the Courland Peninsula in Lithuania. 

_'U-475' _fired a Gnat at an escort vessel off Osmussaari in the Baltic Sea, observed a hit after 8 minutes 13 seconds and the sinking of the ship. The vessel attacked was probably the SB-2.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* German forces withdraw from Salonika. Remaining German island garrisons are now trapped. During recent weeks, numerous German troops on the islands in the Aegean have been removed by small vessels, despite Allied patrols. 

US Fifteenth Air Force-38s fly photo and weather reconnaissance; 174 B-24s, dispatched against a target in Yugoslavia, are forced to return because of weather. The 885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), Fifteenth Air Force (attached to Mediterranean Allied Air Forces), arrives at Brindisi, Italy from Algeria with B-17s and B-24s (the squadron transports supplies to partisans and drops leaflets in the MTO). 

US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, B-26s hit a bridge and causeway at Nervesa della Battaglia and bridges at Montebello and Piazzola sul Brenta; fighter-bombers attack guns and positions in the battle area S of Bologna in the Apennines, and communications and shipping targets in the Po Valley and on the Po River. 

*GERMANY:* Cologne: 493 RAF aircraft - 331 Lancasters, 144 Halifaxes, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 3, 4 and 8 Groups. 15 further Mosquitos carried out a feint attack just before the main raid. 2 Lancasters lost. This was another Oboe-marked attack through thick cloud. Most of the bombing fell in the southern districts, with Bayental and Zollstock, according to the local report, being the hardest hit, although damage was not as severe as in other recent raids.

49 RAF Mosquitos to Hamburg, 4 to Saarbrücken and 2 to Schweinfurt, 36 RCM sorties, 59 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.


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## syscom3 (Dec 22, 2009)

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* The British frigate HMS Whitaker (K 580, ex USN DE-571) is torpedoed by German submarine U-483 (Kapitanleutnant Hans-Joachim von Morstein) about 32 nautical miles NNW of Londonderry, County Derry, Northern Ireland, in position 55.30N, 07.39W. The propellant for the 24 Hedgehogs on the launcher in front of the bridge explodes, blows off her bows and wrecks her bridge structure. She is towed into Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, laid up but not repaired. 

*15th AF: AUSTRIA:* Over 320 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escorts, attack targets in Austria. Graz is heavily hit: 103 aircraft bomb the Main marshalling yard, 32 bomb the city, 17 attack the industrial area, 12 bomb the Wetzeldorf Ordnance Depot, and three bomb targets of opportunity. Vienna’s Schonbrunn ordnance depot is hit by 54 aircraft while 25 hit the Sauerwerke tank factory; and 35 aircraft hit targets of opportunity. 

*FINLAND:* The demobilization of the Finnish army to peacetime levels begins according to the terms of the interim peace agreement. This begins to hamper the Finnish actions against Germans. 

*FRANCE:* In the U.S. Third Army area, Lieutenant General George S. Patton and his commanders draw up plans for the Third Army offensive. After First Army's attack on D-Day, XII Corps will attack on D+1, XX Corps on D+2, and III Corps will eventually be responsible for mopping up the Metz pocket. Regrouping is in progress. In the XX Corps area, the 5th Infantry Division the reoccupies Arnaville bridgehead south of Metz, relieving the 95th Infantry Division.
The XII Corps, in preparation for the offensive, makes a limited attack with the 319th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division, to clear the Seille River bend in the Laetricourt-Abaucourt area and quickly takes both towns. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the French 2d Armored Division, after completing the capture of Baccarat, driving to the Blette River at Herbaeviller and Mignaeville, and helping 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (VI Corps) take Bertrichamps, halts to await relief.
In the VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division's 15th Infantry Regiment seizes La Bourgonce, in the valley northwest of St Die. 

*8th AF: GERMANY:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 696: 324 bombers and 321 fighters are dispatched to attack two synthetic oil plants near Gelsenkirchen and a bridge at Rudesheim; 1 P-51 is lost: 143 B-24s bomb the Buer synthetic oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen while113 B-17s bomb the Nordstern synthetic oil refinery. Two marshalling yards (M/Ys) are also bombed, 73 B-17s hit the Mosel M/Y at Koblenz and 23 B-17s bomb the M/Y at Hamm while 13 B-17s attack a railroad bridge at Rudesheim. 
RAF: During the day, 226 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of RAF Bomber Command are sent to attack the Meerbeck oil plant at Homberg; 167 bomb the target; one Lancaster is lost. 
During the night of 1/2 November RAF Bomber Command dispatches 288 aircraft, 202 Halifaxes, 74 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos to attack Oberhausen; 282 bomb the city with the loss of three Halifaxes and a Lancaster. The target area is cloud-covered and the bombing is not concentrated. Mosquitos area also active with 47 bombing Berlin, ten hit Cologne, four attack each to Karlsruhe, three hit Malheim, and one each bomb Bochum and Essen. 

*GREECE:* With the withdrawal of the Germans from Florina and Salonika, only rear-guard forces remain south of the Yugoslav border.

*ITALY:* The U.S. North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA) is redesignated the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTOUSA). 
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division reaches the Rabbi River at Collina and Grisignano, but the 4th Division is halted short of Forli airfield by sharply increased resistance.
*12th AF:* USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations are again curtailed by bad weather; however, fighters and fighter-bombers successfully attack bridges, rail lines, roads, vehicles, and trains in the central Po Valley and hit scattered targets elsewhere in northern Italy. 
*RAF:* During the night of 1/ 2 November, six RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group aircraft hit a railroad bridge at Latisana.

*HUNGARY:* The Germans are driven from Kecskemet, a communications center southeast of Budapest.
*15th AF:* Ten USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit four targets including the Kotoriba railroad bridge by five aircraft and the Kormeno marshalling yard by three aircraft. 

*MEDITERRANEAN SEA:* Off Zara, Croatia, Yugoslavia, in the northern Adriatic, British escort destroyers HMS Avon Vale (L 06) and Wheatland (L 122) sink German torpedo boat TA-20 (and two corvettes, all ex-Italian vessels. 

*NETHERLANDS:* In the Canadian First Army area, Operation INFATUATE commences with the II Corps beginning an all-out assault on Waicheren Island. Continuing to attack on the causeway from southern Beveland, the Canadian 2d Division gains a few hundred yards but is forced back. From Breskens, the Canadian 4th Regiment of the 4th Special Service Brigade, under 52d Division command, followed by the 155th Brigade of the 52d Division, crosses the estuary to the south coast near Flushing and begins clearing that town.
From Ostend, the 4th Royal Marine Special Service Brigade consisting of Nos 41, 47 and 48 Commandos is carried in 180 landing craft to the west side of the island and land at a gap in the Westkapelle dyke, and seize Westkapelle; some elements turn northeast along the coast while others drive southeast toward Flushing, A reconnaissance force is sent to northern Beveland.
The planned air support is cancelled due to bad weather but the British battleship HMS Warspite (03) and the monitors HMS Erebus (I 02) and Roberts (F 40) bombard the island. The island is heavily defended by the German 70th Division and largely flooded when the battle takes place. Many landing craft are lost in the assault. The British I Corps prepares for a co-ordinated attack across the Mark River.
In the British Second Army area, XII Corps finishes clearing its sector south of the Maas River except for a small region between the Afwaterins Canal and the river. In the VIII Corps area, the 53d Division goes into the line on the right flank of the corps along the Wessem Canal southeast of Nederweert and the Belgian 1st Brigade and British 4th Separate Armourd Brigade are attached to it. The U.S., 7th Armored Division prepares for a limited offensive to secure the northwest bank of the Canal du Nord. 
During the night of 1/2 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 697: three B-17s and five B-24s drop leaflets over the country. 

*9th AF: WESTERN EUROPE:* Weather prevents USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations; fighters fly patrols, sweeps, armed reconnaissance over Belgium, eastern France, and large areas of western Germany and attack bridges, railroads, and various other targets. 
*
YUGOSLAVIA:* Marshal Josep Broz Tito, Commander in Chief Yugoslav Liberation Army, and Ivan Subasic, the Prime Minister of the exiled Yugoslav government, sign agreements on the future constitution of their country.
*15th AF:* Twenty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit the marshalling yard at Cakovec while eight aircraft bomb targets of opportunity.
*RAF:* Seventy one RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group aircraft fly in supplies for the partisans.


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## syscom3 (Dec 22, 2009)

*15th AF: AUSTRIA:* Bad weather curtails operations of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force but six aircraft bomb the Moosbierbaum synthetic oil refinery in Vienna and one bombs Klagenfurt. 

*BELGIUM:* British Field Marshal Montgomery, commander of the 21st Army Group, orders extensive regrouping after Schelde Estuary and southwestern Holland are cleared in preparation for offensive by British Second Army to destroy the German bridgehead west of the Maas River as prerequisite for the Rhineland battle. 

*CANADA:* Defence Minister J.L. Ralston resigns as Minister of National Defence over the issue of conscription (drafting) for overseas service. Lieutenant General Andrew McNaughton replaces him with a specific mandate to solve the conscription issue but he will prove unable to find a solution. 

*FRANCE:* In the U.S. Third Army area, Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Commanding General 12th Army Group, while visiting Army headquarters, asks if Third Army can begin an offensive alone, since the First Army cannot attack until British release two U.S. divisions; he is told that Third Army can attack on 24-hour notice. The Third Army offensive will begin when weather conditions permit softening of enemy; in the event of poor weather conditions, XII Corps will attack on 8 November. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, elements of VI Corps begin relieving the French 2d Armored Division in the southeastern part of the XV Corps sector, but French retain positions along the Blette River for some days to come. Pushing northward northwest of St Die, the 15th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 3d Infantry Division takes Nompatelize without opposition, but the Germans still holds La Salle, to the south. 
In the French First Army area, General Jean de Lattre commander of the First Army, is charged with conduct of Operation INDEPENDENCE, the French offensive toward Belfort. 

*GERMANY:* In U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the 28th Infantry Division, after an hour-long artillery preparation, begins a drive on Schmidt: the 112th Infantry Regiment, with tank support, seizes Vossenack Ridge, but the main effort by rest of regiment to drive southeast from Richelskaul toward Kommerscheidt and Schmidt is stopped at once; the 109th Infantry Regiment gets elements to the woods line overlooking Huertgen on the north flank, but 110th Infantry Regiment is unable to advance on the south flank. 
*8th AF:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 698: 1,174 bombers and 968 fighters in five forces are dispatched to hit synthetic oil installations in central Germany and rail targets at Bielefeld; an estimated 500 Luftwaffe fighters meet the bombers at Merseburg and the USAAF claims 163-40-52 Luftwaffe aircraft; 40 bombers and 16 fighters are lost: 571 bombers hit the I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Merseberg; 131 bomb the Rauxel synthetic oil refinery at Castrop; 120 attack the Schildesche railroad viaduct at Bielefeld while 31 hit the Brake railroad viaduct; 119 hit synthetic oil refinery at Sterkrade; 35 hit the industrial area at Bernburg; 23 bomb the industrial area at Halle; 20 each attack the marshalling yards at Bielefeld and Rheine; and 24 bomb targets of opportunity. 
2nd Lt. Robert E. Femoyer, the severely wounded navigator aboard a badly damaged 447th BG (H) B-17, refuses relief or even a sedative so that he can remain at his post for more than two hours in order to guide the crippled airplane home. Although the bomber lands safely at its home base, Femoyer soon dies of his wounds. He is awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
VIII Fighter Command fighter pilots down a record 136 Luftwaffe fighters over Germany between 1210 and 1415 hours.
- Captain Donald S. Bryan, a 6.333 victory P-51 Mustang ace with the 328th Fighter Squadron, 352d Fighter Group, downs five and damages two Bf 109s near Merseburg between 1230 and 1250 hours.
- 1st Lt. James J. Pascoe, a P-51 pilot with the 385th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, achieves ace status when he downs two Bf 109s near Hale at 1235 hours.
- The 487th Fighter Squadron, 352d Fighter Group, becomes the only Eighth Air Force squadron to be awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. The squadron downed 38 Luftwaffe aircraft in one day, the second highest squadron tally in the theater. 
RAF: During the day, 183 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters carry out a G- H attack on the Meerbeck oil plant at Homberg. Large fires and a thick column of smoke are seen. Four Lancasters are lost. 
During the night of 2/3 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 699: Three B-17s and five B-24s drop leaflets over Germany. 
*RAF:* During the night of 2/3 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 992 aircraft, 561 Lancasters, 400 Halifaxes and 31 Mosquitos, to attack Düsseldorf; 946 bomb the target with the loss of 11 Halifaxes and eight Lancasters. This heavy attack falls mainly on the northern half of Düsseldorf. More than 5,000 houses are destroyed or badly damaged, seven industrial premises are destroyed and 18 are seriously damaged, including some important steel firms. This was the last major Bomber Command raid of the war on Düsseldorf. In other attacks by Mosquitos, 41 aircraft hit Osnabrück, six bomb Hallendorf, two each attack Brunswick and Duisburg, and one hits Hannover. 

*HUNGARY:* The Soviet Army enters the southeastern suburbs of Budapest. 

*ITALY:* The U.S. Fifth Army issues instructions, confirming verbal orders of 30 October, for future operations during the current winter lull, calling for the consolidation of the Bologna salient and limited action on its flanks.
In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps remains in place because of tenuous communication lines. 
*12 AF:* Clouds over the Po Valley prevent USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations; XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft are also grounded due to unserviceable fields and bad weather over Italian battle areas. 

*NETHERLANDS:* In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the 157th Brigade of the British 52d Division relieves Canadian 2d Division forces at the Walcheren causeway, where the Germans continues to resist tenaciously; to ease pressure, elements of 156th Brigade cross the Slooe Channel about 2 miles south of the causeway after nightfall; Flushing is cleared of the Germans. The British I Corps attacks across the Mark River late in day after a heavy artillery preparation. The 49th and U.S. 104th Infantry Divisions establish bridgeheads, the 104th in the Standdaarbuiten area and the 49th to the west. The 104th Infantry Divsion clears the village of Standdaarbuiten. 
In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, Combat Command A of the U.S. 7th Armored Division begins limited attacks to clear the Germans from Canal du Nord. 

*POLAND:* The order issued by Heinrich Himmler, Reichsfuhrer- SS and Head of the German Police, on 26 October arrives at Auschwitz concentration camp: "I forbid any further annihilation of Jews." Upon his further orders, all but one of the crematoriums are dismantled, the burning pits covered up and planted over with grass, and the gas pipes and other equipment shipped to concentration camps in Germany. The single remaining crematorium is for the disposal of those who die of natural causes and the gassing of about 200 surviving members of the Sonderkommando. The final solution is formally over. Yet tens of thousands of Jews will continue to die of brutality and neglect. 

*8th AF: UNITED KINGDOM:* Headquarters USAAF Eighth Air Force is ordered to increase the size of the 406th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Fighter Command, the night leaflet squadron, as the liberation of Europe and the conquest of Germany accelerate. 

*U.S.S.R.: *Zadar is liberated by Soviet Partisians.

*9th AF: WESTERN EUROPE:* In Germany, 147 USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division, with fighter escort, attack rail bridges at Mayen, Euskirchen, Bullay, Konz-Karthaus, and Trier. Fighters attack bridges, fly armed reconnaissance and night patrol, and provide support for ground forces in frontline areas.

*YUGOSLAVIA: *Partisans seize Dalmatian port of Zara.


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## syscom3 (Dec 22, 2009)

*15th AF: AUSTRIA:* Forty six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, in an operation adapted to bad weather and flying without escort, bomb a number of targets: 17 bomb an aircraft factory at Klagenfurt; in Vienna, 15 hit the Schonbrunn ordnance depot while two bomb the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery; two attack the Main marshalling yard at Graz; and one each bombs the railroad at Feldbach and the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck. 

*FINLAND:* The Civil Guard (Suojeluskunta) volunteer defence organization is disbanded asdemanded by the Soviets. In the Soviet opinion the Suojeluskunta is one of the 'Hitlerite' organizations that Finland has to disband as per the Peace Treaty.
The German 20.Gebirgsarmee evacuates the mineral-rich Petsamoregion in northern Finland. 

*FRANCE:* In the U.S. Third Army area, XX and XII Corps issue orders for an offensive. XX Corps is to eliminate the Metz garrison, secure crossing of the Sarre River in the Saarburg area, and, upon order, continue an offensive toward the northeast. The XII Corps, attacking between 5 and 8 November, is to seize Faulquemont, secure a Rhine River bridgehead between Oppenheim and Mannheim, and, tentatively, push to the Darmstadtarea. In the XX Corps zone, 3d Cavalry Group moves forward at night to eliminate a small German pocket west of the Moselle River at Berg-sur-Moselle. 
In the French First Army's II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division, in a limited attack toward Gerardmer, arouses strong opposition.

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division crosses the Kall River and takes Kommerscheidt and Schmidt, but the 110th and 109th Infantry Regiments make little or no progress on the flanks. Schmidt is on the main supply route of the Germans in the Lammersdorf Corridor. 
*9th AF:* Over 140 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s hit a rail overpass at Kaiserslautern, and rail bridges at Neuwied-Irlich, Bad Munster am Stein, Morscheid and Konz-Karthaus while fighters fly armed reconnaissance, ground forces cover, attack railroads, bridge, and observation posts and escort 9th Bombardment Division aircraft. 
*15th AF:* Eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers hit a marshalling yard at Munich. 
*RAF:* During the night of 3/4 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 64 Mosquitos to hit two targets: 53 bomb Berlin and eight bomb Herford.

*ITALY:* Lieutenant General Sir Richard McCreery is appointed to command the British Eighth Army. In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, a local attack by 4th Division brings such sharp German reaction that it is decided to attack in strength when weather conditions improve.
Positions across the Ronco River are gradually strengthened during the next few days in preparation for renewing the offensive. Heavy clouds over most of northern Italy begin to disperse. 
*12th AF:* USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers are still grounded but fighter-bombers manage to fly eight sorties against gun positions in the mountains south of Bologna.

*NETHERLANDS:* In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the Canadian 3d Division finishes clearing the Breskens Pocket. Some 12,500 prisoners have been taken during the operation. Substantial progress is made by the British 52d Division, reinforced by the 4th Special Service Brigade, on Walcheren Island. The assault forces from Westkapelle join with those from Flushing. Positions in eastern Walcheren are extended.
In the British I Corps area, German delaying line along the Mark River collapses as the 49th Division and the U.S. 104th Infantry Division expand bridgeheads, but many strong points remain.
The Polish 1st Armored Division establishes a bridgehead near Zevenbergen on the right flank of corps; the Canadian 4th Armoured Division, on the left flank, improves positions in Steenbergen area. 
In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, Combat Command A of the U.S. 7th Armored Division continues to clear the northwest bank of Canal du Nord, overrunning the villages of Honk and Ospel.


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## syscom3 (Dec 22, 2009)

*BELGIUM:* British minesweepers reach Antwerp as they clear the approaches to the port. When the Allies finish clearing this port they will cut many miles off their logistics chain. Most of their supplies are coming through Normandy.
The British I Corps continues its advance to the estuary of the Maas River.

*HUNGARY:* Szolnok, south-east of Budapest, falls to the Soviets in their advance to Cegled which is 40 miles from the capitol of Hungary. Here they halt, held up by stiff resistance, rain and exhaustion.

*YUGOSLAVIA:* In Dalmatia, Sebenico is captured by the Partisans.

*U.S.A.:* Field Marshal Sir John Dill, the head of the British Inter-Service Mission to Washington, dies. Dill was a Corps commander (1 Corps) in the BEF and rose to be (Chief of the Imperial General Staff). He was renowned as a brilliant staff officer, but struck down by illness from the end of 1941, hence the sideline to Washington where he died.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN:* Submarine HMS Venturer, under command of the highly-decorated Lt Jimmy Launders, left Dundee on Operation Hangman to resupply clandestine observers reporting shipping movements along the Norwegian Coast. Chalmers was at the periscope when he saw the conning tower of a U-boat surface a few hundred yards away, and called Launders to the control room. In a snap attack lasting six minutes, Chalmers handled the boat while Launders fired four torpedoes to sink U-771. Next day Venturer resumed its mission, entering Andfjord by night in clear windless weather to land its stores by rubber dinghy. Chalmers was awarded the DSC.

EASTERN FRONT: In Hungary, Soviet forces capture Szolnok and later Cegled, 40 miles southeast of Budapest. Long-range Soviet artillery bombards Budapest. In Yugoslavia, Partisan forces take Sebenico.

Western Front... Elements of British 1st Corps (part of Canadian 1st Army) continues to advance toward the Maas estuary with the capture of Geertruidenberg. The fighting on Walcheren continues. British minesweepers reach Antwerp in the ongoing effort to clear the port and approaches. Most Allied supplies continue to be landed in Normandy at this time. Meanwhile, a German counterattack recovers Schmidt from the US 1st Army.

176 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group were dispatched to Solingen but the raid was not successful and the bombing was badly scattered. 4 Lancasters lost.

Bochum: 749 RAF aircraft - 384 Halifaxes, 336 Lancasters, 29 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 23 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters were lost; German night fighters caused most of the casualties. No 346 (Free French) Squadron, based at Elvington, lost 5 out of its 16 Halifaxes on the raid. This was a particularly successful attack based upon standard Pathfinder marking techniques. Severe damage was caused to the centre of Bochum. More than 4,000 buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. Bochum's industrial areas were also severely damaged, particularly the important steelworks. This was the last major raid by Bomber Command on this target.

Dortmund-Ems Canal: 174 RAF Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 3 Lancasters lost. The Germans had partly repaired the section of the canal north of Münster after the No 5 Group raid in September, so this further attack was required. The banks of both branches of the canal were again breached and water drained off, leaving barges stranded and the canal unusable. A report from Speer to Hitler, dated 11 November 1944, was captured at the end of the war and described how the bombing of the canal was preventing smelting coke from the Ruhr mines reaching 3 important steelworks - 2 near Brunswick and 1 at Osnabrück. In his post-war interrogation, Speer stated that these raids on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, together with attacks on the German railway system, produced more serious setbacks to the German war industry at this time than any other type of bombing.

43 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover and 6 to Herford, 39 RCM sorties, 68 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost. The No 100 Group Mosquitos claimed 4 Ju88s and 2 Me110s destroyed and 2 other night fighters damaged, possibly their most successful night of the war.

*(US Eighth Air Force):* 2 missions are flown. Mission 700: 1,160 bombers and 890 fighters are dispatched in 6 forces to make PFF attacks on the oil industry in W Germany; 5 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 228 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil plant at Neunkirchen (151); secondary targets hit are the marshalling yards at Saarbrucken (35) and Neunkirchen (13); 5 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 76 of 77 P-47s and 50 Ninth AF P-51s without loss. 2. 210 of 222 B-24s hit the Misburg oil plant at Hannover; 3 B-24s are lost and 93 damaged; 28 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 371 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 257 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Harburg oil plant at Hamburg (23; targets of opportunity are the aviation industry at Nordholz (9) and other (2); 9 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 124 of 139 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 4. 186 of 193 B-17s hit the Rhenania oil plant at Hamburg; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 61 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 110 P-51s without loss. 5. 91 of 119 B-17s hit the Welhun oil plant at Bottrop; 26 others hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Hamm; 24 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 37 of 40 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost. 6. 133 of 141 B-24s hit Gelsenkirchen/Nordstern without loss. Escort is provided by 50 of 54 P-47s. Mission 701: 3 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.

*US Ninth Air Force: *In Germany, 218 B-26s and A-20s hit the Trier ordnance depot, Baumholder, and Eschweiler gun positions; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, attack railroads, bridges, and other targets, and support the US XIX Corps in the Aachen area. In France, the 556th, 557th, 558th and 559th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 387th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Chateaudun to Clastres with B-26s.

US Fifteenth Air Force):715 B-17s and B-24s with fighter escorts pound oil storage at Regensburg and marshalling yards at Munich and Augsburg, Germany, the main marshalling yard and a benzol plant at Linz, Austria, a troop concentration at Podgorica, Yugoslavia, as well as attacking several alternate targets and scattered targets of opportunity including marshalling yards at Wels and Kufstein, Austria, Erding Airfield, Germany, railroad targets in and near Rosenheim, Germany, and the towns of Strass and Muhldorf, Austria.

MEDITERRANEAN: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, 200o+ B-25s and B-26s of the 42d Bombardment Wing (Medium) hit railway and road bridges in the Brenner Pass; 130+ B-25s of the 57th Bombardment Wing strike communications in the W Po Valley, cutting at least 4 bridges; fighters and fighter-bombers of XXII Tactical Air Command concentrate on communications targets and trains in the Po Valley and defenses in the battle area S of Bologna; some XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft hit guns on the N Italian coast, some hit a rocket launching site and communications N of battle area, and 4 P-47s bomb a Milan hotel where Adolf Hitler is rumored to be staying.

GERMANY: Finally relenting to Generalmajor Galland’s requests, Hitler decrees that all Me 262 planes shall be produced as fighters and nothing else. But it is too late to affect the course of the war. It is planned for III./EJG 2 to have an establishment of 122 Me 262s to train the future jet pilots.


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## syscom3 (Dec 22, 2009)

*15th AF: AUSTRIA:* Five hundred three USAAF USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s bomb the Floridsdorf oil refinery at Vienna in the largest operation against a single target during World War II; three other heavy bombers bomb about three other targets. 

*FRANCE:* In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 3d Cavalry Group, after heavy fire on German positions, clears Berg and a hill to the north. The XII Corps is ready to open an offensive, but awaits order from Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Commanding General Third Army. Rain falls intermittently. 
A U.S. Seventh Army directive calls for the reduction of the Germans west of the Rhine River and capture of Strasbourg. The XV Corps is to attack on D Day, taking Sarrebourg and forcing the Saverne Gap. The VI Corps, not later than D plus 2, is to attack through Vosges Mountain passes to take Strasbourg. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division, into whose Line additional elements of 100th Infantry Division are gradually being introduced, pushes in slowly toward Raon-lâe-Etape. The 3d Infantry Division continues to clear the region west of the Meurthe River from the St Die area northward. The 36th Infantry Division is still engaged in Foret Domaniale de Champ. 
In the French First Army’s II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division, continuing a limited offensive toward Gerardmer, gains Rochesson, Menaurupt, and the heights near these villages. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 703: three B-17s and seven B-24s drop leaflets in France. .

*GERMANY:* In the U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the 28th Infantry Division withstands infantry counterattacks against Kommerscheidt, but the Germans infiltrate the main supply route and gain control of the Kall bridge. Steady German fire on Vossenack is weakening U.S. defenders there. To help 112th Infantry Regiment in their drive on Schmidt on tomorrow, Task Force R (Colonel Ripple, commander of the 707th Tank Battalion) is formed, containing a battalion of the 110th Infantry Regiment, tanks, and tank destroyers. In the VII Corps area, poor weather conditions prevent the opening of an offensive. 
*8th AF:* The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 702: 1,272 bombers and 666 fighters in three forces attack marshalling yards (M/Ys) in western Germany; H2X radar is used by all forces; 12 bombers and six fighters are lost; 397 bombers hit Frankfurt-am-Main M/Y; 332 attack the Karlsruhe M/Y; at Ludwigshafen, 218 bomb the M/Y and 176 hit the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery; 36 bomb the Hanau M/Y; 33 attack the Kaiserslautern M/Y; and 19 aircraft hit targets of opportunity. 
*9th AF:* One hundred sixty USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s strike ammunition, ordnance, and supply depots at Hamburg; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance, attack railroads and bridges, and cover ground forces of the V and XIX Corps while the IX Tactical Air Command aids the US 28th Infantry Division in withstanding a counterattack near Kommerscheidt, Germany. 
*RAF:* During the day, 170 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters carry out a G-H raid on Solingen; one Lancaster is lost. Results of the raid are not observed, because of the complete cloud cover, but German reports show that this is an outstanding success. Most of the bombing fell accurately into the medium-sized town of Solingen. 1,300 houses and 18 industrial buildings are destroyed and 1,600 more buildings are severely damaged.
*RAF:* During the night of 5/6 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb three targets: 64 hit Stuttgart in two waves and at Aschaffenburg, five attack the marshalling yard and one bombs the city. 

*ITALY:* In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, the 1st Division of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF) takes command of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, in place. The Corps zone, from west to east, is now manned by the U.S. 107th Antiaircraft Artillery Group, the Brazilian 1st Division, and the South African 6th Armoured Division. 
In the British Eighth Army area, improving weather conditions permit Allied aircraft to begin softening up strikes in preparation for attack by the V Corps on Forli. 
*12th AF:* USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers, flying 300+ sorties, bomb bridges in the Brenner Pass and in the northeast Po Valley to interdict the Germans' two main supply routes from the north; fighters and fighter-bombers hit defenses and forces in the battle areas in the northern Apennines mountains south of Bologna and attack communications targets to the north as well as in battle zone. 

*NETHERLANDS:* In the Canadian First Army area, II Corps continues to make rapid
progress on Walcheren Island. The British I Corps gets forward elements to the Maas River. The U.S. 104th Infantry Division, less elements of the 414th Infantry Regiment that are to help the Polish 1st Armored Division take Moerdijk, prepares to move to Aachen, Germany. 
In the British Second Army's XII Corps area, the 51st Division finishes clearing the Germans from the south bank of the Maas River. In the VIII Corps area, the U.S. 7th Armored Division approaches the Meijel area from the south, and the British 15th Division begins a drive on Meijel from the north. 

*YUGOSLAVIA:* 
*15th AF:* USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers attack six targets: 28 bomb tactical targets at Podgorica, 14 hit tactical targets at Mitrovica, and four hit targets of opportunity. 
*RAF:* During the day, 14 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the West marshalling yard at Sarajevo while 85 fly supplies to the partisans. During the night of 5/6 November, 81 other aircraft deliver supplies to the partisans.


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## Njaco (Dec 23, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* In France, the 92d and 94th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 439th Troop Carrier Group, move from Lonray to Chateaudun with C-47s; the 306th Troop Carrier Squadron, 442d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Peray to St-Andre-de-L'Eure with C-47s. 

Attacks by forces of the Canadian 2nd Corps (part of Canadian 1st Army), on Walcheren, result in the capture of Middleburg.

*GERMANY:* US Eighth Air Force: Mission 704: 1,131 bombers and 802 fighters in 6 forces make PFF attacks on the oil industry in W Germany; 5 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 291 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Harburg (142) and Rhenania (138) oil refineries at Hamburg; 3 others hit the Lubeck oil refinery at Hamburg; 4 B-17s are lost and 103 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 36 MIA. Escort is 238 of 258 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 262 B-17s are dispatched to hit the aviation industry at Neumunster (23); 231 hit the secondary, the Neumunster marshalling yard; 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 10 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA. Escort is 93 of 102 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 215 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Mittelland Canal at Minden; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 31 damaged; 10 airmen are MIA. 43 of 44 P-47s escort without loss. 4. 101 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Bottrop oil refinery; 12 others hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Hamm; 39 B-17s are damaged. 257 of 271 P-51s escort without loss. 5. 143 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Sterkrade oil refinery (134); 1 other hit Vreden; 27 B-24s are damaged. 40 of 43 P-51s escort claiming 0-0-1 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 6. 119 B-17s are dispatched to hit the benzol oil plant at Duisburg (65); 43 hit a target of opportunity, the marshalling yard at Rheydt; 18 B-17s are damaged. 51 of 54 P-47s escort without loss. 30 P-51s of the Scouting Forces patrol the area without loss. 

US Ninth Air Force: Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division; fighters, during armed reconnaissance, attack railroads and bridges; the IX Tactical Air Command also supports ground forces in the Schmidt, Germany area. 

Gelsenkirchen: 738 RAF aircraft - 383 Halifaxes, 324 Lancasters, 31 Mosquitos. 3 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes lost. This large daylight raid had, as its aiming point, the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant. The attack was not well concentrated but 514 aircraft were able to bomb the approximate position of the oil plant before smoke obscured the ground; 187 aircraft then bombed the general town area of Gelsenkirchen.

235 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attempted to cut the Mittelland Canal at its junction with the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Gravenhorst. The marking force experienced great difficulty in finding the target. The crew of a low-flying Mosquito - pilot: Flight Lieutenant LCE De Vigne; navigator: Australian Squadron Leader FW Boyle, No 627 Squadron - found the canal and dropped their marker with such accuracy that it fell into the water and was extinguished. Only 31 aircraft bombed, before the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be abandoned. 10 Lancasters were lost.

128 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group to the new target of Koblenz, making a night G-H attack. 2 Lancasters lost. This was a successful raid with most of the damage being caused by a large area of fire in the centre of the town. The British Bombing Survey Unit later estimated that 303 acres, 58 per cent of the town's built-up area, were destroyed. 

48 RAF Mosquitos to Gelsenkirchen, 18 to Hannover, 11 to Rheine and 8 to Herford, 32 RCM sorties, 82 Mosquito patrols, 12 Lancasters minelaying off Heligoland. 4 aircraft lost - 1 Mosquito from the Gelsenkirchen raid, 2 Mosquito Intruders and 1 RCM Fortress.

The first two special-built ‘Mosquito destroyers’, Ju 88G-7 high performance night-fighters are delivered to the Luftwaffe.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* US Fifteenth Air Force: In Austria, 580+ fighter- escorted B-17s and B-24s bomb the Moosbierbaum oil refinery and Vienna S ordnance depot, alternate targets of Maribor, Yugoslavia marshalling yard, the Kapfenberg steel works and the Deutsch Wagram and Graz marshalling yards, and the railroad power sub station at Bolzano, Italy. 

US Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, medium bombers strike electric transformers and converters, railway bridges and railway fills on the rail line through the Brenner Pass; fighter-bombers and fighters again hit troops and gun positions in the battlelines S of Bologna and communications targets N of the battle area. 

In Cairo, Lord Moyne, British Resident Minister in the Middle East, dies after being shot by Zionits terrorists. The assassins, Eliahou Bet-Zouri and Eliahou Al Hakim, both in their early twenties, are members of the Stern Gang then under the control of Yitzhak Shamir.

Destroyer _'Plunkett' _(DD-431) shells German troop concentrations and pillboxes. She carries out shore bombardment against gun emplacement south of Ventimiglia. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Yugoslavia, Partisan forces enter Monastir. The partisans, under the leadership of Tito, now control most the Greek-Yugoslavian border area.

Joseph Stalin renounces the neutrality pact between the Soviet Union and Japan.


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## Njaco (Dec 23, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the Hürtgen Forest, a casual truce in German-American fighting allows extraction of wounded.

USA: Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented fourth term as president, winning over Republican candidate Dewey with 36 states and 53 percent of the vote. The elections for the House of Representative result in 243 Democrats, 190 Republicans and 2 others. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* 8th Army attacks towards Forli.

(US Fifteenth Air Force):550+ B-17s and B-24s attack Maribor and Alipasin Most, Yugoslavia and Brunico, Italy marshalling yards; the Floridsdorf oil refinery at Vienna, Austria; the Brenner Pass railroad route; railroad bridges at Pinzano al Tagliamento, Casarsa della Delizia, Mezzocorona, Ora, and Albes, Italy; and troop concentrations at Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Prijepolje, and Mitrovica, Yugoslavia; fighters escort all operations except the attacks on troop concentrations; in Yugoslavia, 124 P-38s strafe troop concentrations at Podgorica and roads and railroads near Raska, between Visegrad-Prijepolje-Sjenica and from Sjenica to Novi Pazar. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): The Adjutant General officially orders the de facto action of 19 Oct redesignating HQ XII Fighter Command to HQ XXII Tactical Air Command. In Italy, medium bombers of the 42d Bombardment Wing (Medium) aid the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) Desert Air Force (DAF) in supporting the British Eighth Army's attack on Forli; the 57th Bombardment Wing continues an interdiction campaign against railway supply lines in NE Italy; fighter-bombers closely support US Fifth Army forces astride the Idice River in the mountains S of Bologna and bomb communications N of the Apennines, scoring many hits on bridges between Piacenza and Bologna. 

*GERMANY:* (US Ninth Air Force): No bomber operations because of unfavorable weather; fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, attacking railroads, gun positions and other targets; the IX Tactical Air Command supports the US V Corps as fierce counterattacks force the US 28th Infantry Division to retreat from the village of Kommerscheidt, Germany; the V Corps decides to withdraw the Kall River bridgehead. 

Generalmajor Galland and Generaloberst Alfred Keller visit Kommando Nowotny at Achmer.


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## Njaco (Dec 23, 2009)

*GERMANY:* At Achmer, Major Walter Nowotny, Kommandoführer of his own experimental Me 262 Gruppe – Kommando Nowotny – tries to take off on his first sortie in the new jet against Allied bombers and their escorts. His engines fail before he can lift off and he taxies back to the hanger, unable to participate in the morning operation. Due to mechanical problems among the available Me 262s, only two jet fighters are able to become airborne. Oblt. Günther Wegmenn and Lt. Schall, flying the two airborne jets, engage the Allied bombers and shoot down a P-47 and a P-51. But Lt. Schall is attacked by more escorting P-51s and is himself shot down, successfully baling out of the jet. By the time the Oblt. Wegmenn returns, the engines of the Kommandoführer’s jet are fixed and Major Nowotny takes off in the afternoon with his wingman to attack the Allied bomber stream at 30,000 feet, disappearing into low cloud. The last that anyone sees of Major Nowotny is when his Me 262 is seen to break through the lower clouds and smash into the ground at Epe, east of Hesepe. He is killed. His final tally is 258 victories including a B-17 and a P-51 he is credited with downing just before he crashed. Generalmajor Galland, who witnesses Nowotny’s death along with Oblt. Georg-Peter Eder, immediately appoints Oblt Eder as Kommodore but Nowotny’s experimental Gruppe does not last long after his death.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 705: 690 bombers and 890 fighters are dispatched to make a PFF attack on Merseburg oil plants and Rheine marshalling yard; bad weather causes the recall of 350+ bombers; 3 bombers and 11 fighters are lost: 1. 267 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg (193); 2 others hit a target of opportunity; 9 of 12 B-17s fly as a screening force; 3 B-17s are lost and 85 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 27 MIA. Escorting are 752 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 9 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 P-51s are damaged beyond repair. 2. 145 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Rheine marshalling yard (77); targets of opportunity are Enschede (8), Nordhorn Canal (8) and other (1); 15 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 36 of 37 P-47s without loss. 3. 266 B-17s dispatched to hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg are recalled due to weather. 11 of 14 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss. Mission 706: 5 B-17s and 12 B-24s (2 abort) drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels operations against military depots and troop concentrations in Germany, and fortified positions in France; a mission against rail bridges in Germany is recalled due to weather; fighters fly escort, attack railroads, bridges, factories, supply dumps, and command posts; the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands support the US 28th Infantry Division in the Schmidt, Germany area (V Corps begins withdrawing the Kall River bridgehead) and Third Army elements start an assault on enemy fortifications in the Metz, France area.

*WESTERN FRONT:* German resistance on Walcharen ceases and the garrison survivors surrender to the forces of the Canadian 1st Army. The US 3rd Army begins a new offensive around Metz and to the south. US 3rd Army launches an offensive towards the Sarre river. During the day, the Seille River is crossed, and Nomony captured.

136 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Meerbeck oil plant at Homberg. 1 Lancaster lost. The raid opened well and 2 large fires were seen but smoke then concealed the target and later bombing was scattered.

59 RAF Mosquitos to Herford and 50 to Hannover, 4 RCM sorties, 24 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Stirlings on Resistance work were lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): The transfer of training functions from VIII Air Force Composite Command to combat groups is completed; the VIII AF Composite Command ceases to function as personnel are attached to the Air Disarmament Command (Provisional) by the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF). The airfield at Denain/Prouvy, France is assigned to HQ Eighth AF; this is the first step in establishing an VIII Air Force Services Command Service Center on the European continent so that Eighth AF can service and administer its own aircraft and personnel in the area.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* British 8th Corps (part of British 8th Army) launches new attacks south of Forli.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers strike the rail line in the Brenner Pass and other lines running into Italy from the NE and bomb bridges in the C and W Po Valley, damaging several and destroying the bridge at Mantua; fighters and fighter-bombers hit communications in the Bologna area, but concentrate most of their operations against bridges and rail lines in the Parma area in an effort to disrupt battle area supply lines. 

*ENGLAND: *After the German propagandist Joseph Goebbels publicly announces the V2 rocket campaign on Britain, Prime Minister Churchill admits that the mysterious explosions in southeast England, in recent weeks, are in fact the result of the missile strikes.

*EASTERN FRONT:* (US Fifteenth Air Force):In Yugoslavia, 34 B-24s bomb troop concentrations at Mitrovica, Prijepolje, and Sjenica. Heavy cloud over the targets forces 70+ others to abort.


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## Njaco (Dec 25, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* Elements of US 3rd Army cross the Moselle River around Metz. Further south, US 12th Corps continues advancing beyond the Seille River, capturing Chateau Salins.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 707: 1,309 bombers and 738 fighters are dispatched to hit front line strongpoints and tactical targets in the Metz and Thionville, France areas; 4 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 460 B-17s are dispatched to hit transportation targets at Thionville (47); 276 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Saarbrucken; targets of opportunity are Saarlautern (34) and other (3); 4 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 96 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 27 MIA. Escort is provided by 187 of 192 P-51s without loss. 2. 437 B-17s are dispatched to hit transportation targets at Metz (345); 41 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Saarbrucken; 28 hit Koblenz; 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 13 damaged; 19 airment are KIA. Escort is provided by 176 of 184 P-51s without loss. 3. 402 B-24s are dispatched to hit transportation targets at Metz (385); 15 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Saarbrucken; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 5 damaged. Escort is provided by 113 of 119 P-51s; 3 P-51s are damaged beyond repair. 4. 10 of 10 B-17s fly a screening force mission. 5. 139 P-47s and P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions in the Frankfurt- Lannheim area of Germany; 1 P-47 and 4 P-51s are lost; 4 pilots are MIA. 6. 30 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting forces mission. Mission 708: 5 B-17s and 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. The 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) (attached to VIII Air Force Service Command), moves from Mount Farm, England to Denain/Prouvy, France with F-5s. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 74 planes of the 9th Bombardment Division attack road junctions, barracks, ordnance arsenals, artillery camps, military storage depot, and other targets in the Dieuze and Faulquemont, France and Landau and Sankt Wendel, Germany areas; the IX Tactical Air Command flies sweeps over W Germany and attacks marshalling yard at Duren, Germany, while the XXIX Tactical Air Command escort attacks Rahling, Germany and an airfield and supports US Third Army elements (2 infantry and 2 armored divisions) as an allout assault on Metz, France is pushed. In France, HQ 358th Fighter Group moves from Mourmelon to Toul; the 379th Fighter Squadron, 362d Fighter Group, moves from Prosnes to Rouvres with P-47s; the 425th Night Fighter Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command, moves from Prosnes to Etain with P-61s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* British 4th Division (an element of British 8th Army) captures Forli.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather hampers medium bombers operations in the Po Valley as 7 of 9 missions abort; in the 2 others, bridges in the Valley are hit; fighters and fighter-bombers fly less than 100 sorties, but successfully strike road and railroad bridges in the Bologna-Modena areas. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* 3nd Ukrainian Front captures a bridgehead over the Danube.

*GERMANY:* 256 RAF Lancasters and 21 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to attack the Wanne-Eickel oil refinery. Cloud over the target was found to reach 21,000 ft and the skymarkers dropped by the Oboe Mosquitos disappeared as soon as they ignited so the Master Bomber ordered the force to bomb any built-up area. The town of Wanne-Eickel reports only 2 buildings destroyed, with 4 civilians and 6 foreigners killed. It must be assumed that other towns in the Ruhr were hit but no details are available. 2 Lancasters lost.

6 RAF Mosquitos each to Gotha and Pforzheim, 4 to Schwelm (which was not reached) and 3 to Kassel, 22 aircraft of 100 Group on a Window feint to draw up German fighters, 8 Mosquito patrols, 3 Stirlings on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Dec 25, 2009)

*GERMANY:* US Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown. Mission 709: 752 bombers and 808 fighters in 3 forces are dispatched to make PFF attack on airfields in W Germany; 4 bombers are lost. 1. 302 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Langendiebach Airfield at Hanau (229); 61 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Hanau; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 46 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 261 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft without loss. 2. 235 B-17s are dispatched to hit Wiesbaden Airfield (105); 73 hit the secondary, Wiesbaden/Halle; 4 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 90 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided by 142 of 154 P-51s without loss. 3. 203 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Butzweilerhof (96) and Ostheim (97) Airfields at Cologne; 1 B-17s is lost and 95 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 182 of 191 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft without loss. 4. 12 of 12 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 79 of 87 P-47s hit communications targets in N and C Germany; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft on the ground. 6. 35 P-51s fly a scouting force mission. 7. 58 of 60 P-51s make strafing runs in Germany. Mission 711: 6 B_17s and 9 B-24s (1 abort) drop leaflets on the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 

59 TAF Mosquitos to Hannover and 4 each to Gotha and Erfurt (Erfurt was not reached), 30 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito from the Hannover raid was lost.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Forces of US 3rd Army continue to advance beyond the Moselle River to the south of Thionville and farther south beyond Metz. US 3rd Army holds off a German counterattack.

(US Ninth Air Force): 150+ bombers dispatched against an ordnance arsenal and camp area are recalled due to weather; 7 others drop leaflets; the XXIX Tactical Air Command attacks railroads while the XIX Tactical Air Command escorts bombers and supports the 80th and 5th Infantry Divisions in the US Third Army assault in the Metz, France area. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): HQ and HQ Squadron, XII Tactical Air Command; HQ and HQ Squadron, 64th Fighter Wing; 324th Fighter Group; 415th Night Fighter Squadron; 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron; and several signal, fighter control, and service units are relieved from duty with the Twelfth AF and assigned to the European Theater of Operations, US Army (ETOUSA) and the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional). In Italy, medium bombers continue the interdiction campaign against railways in NE Italy, principally the Brenner Pass, Brenta River and Po River bridges, rail ferry at Ostiglia, and several dumps; fighter-bombers hit rail targets and guns at several points in Po Valley. 

*ENGLAND*: British Prime Minster Winston Churchill first publicly admits to the V-2 rocket threat in England.

*ATLANTIC:* The _'Shirvan' _(Master Edward F. Pattenden) from the storm scattered convoy UR-142 was hit by a LUT torpedo from _'U-300' _off Skagi, Iceland and caught fire. The U-boat had fired five minutes earlier a first LUT torpedo that was a tube runner and detonated near the ship after being ejected. At 14.17 hours, a coup de grâce was fired that was first also a tube runner but then hit the tanker after a coup de grâce at 13.36 hours malfunctioned after launching. The _'Godafoss' _from the same convoy stopped against orders to pick up survivors from the tanker, but was also torpedoed by the U-boat at 14.59 hours. The _'Godafoss' _was hit by one LUT torpedo from U-300 off Reykjanes and sank within seven minutes. 14 crew members and ten passengers, among them a family of five (two young doctors returning from Harvard and their 3 children) were lost. The _'Shirvan' _master, 15 crew members and two gunners were lost. 20 crew members and seven gunners were picked up by HMS _'Reward' _(W 164) and the Norwegian armed trawler HMNoS _'Honningsvaag' _(4.277) and landed at Reykjavik. The abandoned wreck of _'Shirvan' _was still afloat in the evening and the British tug _'Empire Wold' _left Reykjavik to assist the ship, but was reported missing presumed lost by enemy action. No U-boat attack correspond with the loss of the vessel and she probably fell victim to the stormy sea. The tanker foundered the next day.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet forces cross the Danube in force.


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## Njaco (Dec 25, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* In Paris Churchill and Eden attend Armistice Day (Remembrance Day) ceremonies.

122 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the synthetic-oil refinery at Castrop-Rauxel. The bombing was believed to be accurate and no aircraft were lost.

U.S. freighter _'Lee S. Overman' _is mined off Le Havre, France; outside of one merchant sailor injured, there are no casualties among the 39-man civilian complement and the 27-man Armed Guard. The ship is later written off as a total loss. 

The 305th Troop Carrier Squadron, 442d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Peray to St-Andre-de-L'Eure with C-47s. 

US First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): HQ 320th Bombardment Group and the 441st, 442d, 443d and 444th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Corsica to Longvic Airfield at Dijon, France with B-26s. The XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance and supports the US XII and XX Corps in the Thionville-Metz, France area. In France, the 405th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, based at Tavaux Airfield at Dole begins operating from Dijon with P-47s.

*ATLANTIC:* German submarine _'U-771' _sunk in the Arctic in the Andfjord near Harstad, Norway, in position 69.17N, 16.28E, by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS _'Venturer'_. 51 dead (all hands lost).

German submarine _'U-1200' _sunk south of Ireland, in position 50.24N, 09.10W, by depth charges from the British corvettes British corvettes HMS _'Pevensey Castle'_, HMS _'Launceston Castle'_, HMS _'Portchester Castle_' and HMS _'Kenilworth Castle'_. 53 dead (all hands lost).

Once again a hunter-killer group found and attacked _'U-1227' _with depth charges. Yet again she escaped but was further damaged and when the snort broke down (was repaired at sea though) had to abort to Norway.

*GERMANY:* Harburg: 237 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 7 Lancasters lost. The aiming point for this raid was the Rhenania-Ossag oil refinery, which had been attacked several times by American day bombers. 

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 712: 482 bombers and 367 fighters make PFF attacks on oil refineries and marshalling yards in W Germany; 1 bomber and 1 fighter are lost: 1. 197 B-17s are sent to hit the Oberlahnstein marshalling yard (146); 24 hit the secondary, the Koblenz marshalling yard; 2 hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is damaged beyond repair and 31 damaged; 1 airman is KIA. Escorting are 170 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 2. 129 B-17s are sent to hit the Buer oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen (100); 23 hit the secondary, the Rheine marshalling yard; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 7 airmen are KIA. Escorting are 52 P-51s; 1 is lost. 3. 143 B-24s are sent to hit the Bottrop oil refinery (124); 1 hit Recklinghausen, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 39 damaged; 10 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 98 P-47s and P-51s. 12 of 13 B-17s fly a screening mission. 31 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 

Dortmund: 209 RAF Lancasters and 19 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. The aiming point was the Hoesch Benzin synthetic-oil plant in the Wambel district. A local report confirms that the plant was severely damaged. Other bombs hit nearby housing and the local airfield.

41 RAF Mosquitos to the Kamen oil refinery, 12 to Osnabrück, 9 to Wiesbaden, 6 to Gotha and 3 to Erfurt, 36 RCM sorties, 59 Mosquito patrols, 26 Lancasters and 24 Halifaxes minelaying off Oslo, in the Kattegat and in the River Elbe. No aircraft lost.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 220+ heavy bombers attack marshalling yards in Rosenheim, Germany; Salzburg, Villach, Linz, and Lienz, the railroad at Zell am See and highway bridge at Sillian, and Wurzen Pass, Austria; railroad bridges at Pinzano al Tagliamento, Latisana, and Casarsa della Delizia, and Aviano Airfield, Italy. Fighters escort all missions except the bridge attacks. Bad weather grounds 100+ other heavy bombers, and another 320+ are recalled before reaching their target areas. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 190 B-26s and A-20s hit strongpoints at Putzlohn and rail bridges at Sinzig, Euskirchen, Ahrweiler, and Mayen; the IX Tactical Air Command hits railroads and other targets, escorts the bombers, and supports the US 28th Infantry Division in the Schmidt area. The XXIX Tactical Air Command hits targets in W Germany. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers strike at railroad bridges in NC and NE Italy, damaging a bridge at Piazzola sul Brenta and knocking out 2 spans of a bridge at Latisana; fighter-bombers continue support of ground forces S of Bologna, attack vehicles, trains, and communications in the Genoa-Alessandria area, bomb Villafranca di Verona Airfield and set most of the area aflame; during the night of 10/11 Nov A-20s bomb Ghedi Airfield and targets of opportunity in the Po Valley. The 17th and 18th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 64th Troop Carrier Group, cease operating from Istres, France and return to base at Ciampino, Italy with C-47s.


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## Njaco (Dec 25, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* (US Eighth Air Force): The operational tour of duty for fighter pilots is set at 270 hours. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents operations by the 9th Bombardment Division; fighter operations are limited but IX and XIX Tactical Air Command's fly patrols and armed reconnaissance in W Germany and along the French-German border. In France, the 404th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, based at Tavaux Airfield, Dole begins operating from Dijon with P-47s.

Royal Navy sinks ten ships in a German convoy. Operation *COUNTERBLAST's *object was the destruction of shipping off the south west coast of Norway. Forces taking part were: _'Kent' _(Rear Admiral Commanding, 1st Cruiser Squadron), _'Bellona'_, _'Myngs' _(Captain (D) 26th Destroyer Flotilla), _'Zambesi'_, _'Verulam'_, and _'Algonquin'_. Fighter cover was provided by Operation *STEAK*. 

30 RAF Lancasters of Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons and a No 463 Squadron Lancaster with cameramen on board flew from Lossiemouth to attack the _'Tirpitz'_, which was still moored near Tromso. The weather was clear. _'Tirpitz' _was hit by at least 2 Tallboys and then suffered a violent internal explosion. She capsized to remain bottom upwards - a total loss. Approximately 1,000 of the 1,900 men on board were killed or injured. German fighters which were stationed near by to protect the _'Tirpitz' _failed to take off in time and only 1 Lancaster, of No 9 Squadron, was severely damaged, by flak; it landed safely in Sweden with its crew unhurt. During the British attack, III./JG 5 led by _Gruppenkommandeur _Major Heinrich Ehrler and based at nearby Bardufoss, failed to respond to radio distress calls from the ship. This led to Major Ehrler being court-martialed and sentenced to death for dereliction of duty and failing to provide aerial defense of the battleship although Major Ehrler was in Oslo at the time. But Major Ehrler was spared because of his combat record (201 kills and an Eichenlaub) and the need for experienced men to fly the Me 262. He was instead soon posted to the Me 262 unit, JG 7.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Fifteenth Air Force):In Italy, 107 fighter-escorted B-24s strike at bridges at Ora, Albes, and Mezzocorona, a viaduct at Avisio, plus the alternate target of Casarsa della Delizia railroad bridges and targets of opportunity in NE Italy including the Latisana railroad bridge and an airfield to the N. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather grounds medium bombers; fighter-bombers support ground forces in the N Apennines and hit railway targets in the Po Valley, cut rail lines in 18 places and destroy or seriously damage 8 bridges; during the night of 11/12 Nov A-20s hit motor transport, Bergamo Airfield, and the Po River crossing at San Benedetto Po. 

*GERMANY:* Himmler reads out Hitler's speech at the "Beer-hall putsch" celebrations in Munich.

Obst. Günther Radusch is appointed Geschwaderkommodore of NJG 3 in place of Helmut Lent who was killed in October.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

FRANCE: The US 3rd Army has crossed the Moselle River north of Thionville. To the south they advance toward Falquemont and Morhange.
German units withdraw from St. Dies in the face of pressure from the US 7th Army. US forces penetrate the heavy defences of Metz, but they meet strong resistance as they press on to the Saar.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 713: 4 B-17s and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

FINLAND: Last Finnish naval units leave the Kemi-Tornio area. The German-Finnish sea war has ended. (Dave Shirlaw)

YUGOSLAVIA: The Germans evacuate Skopie, hitherto their headquarters in Macedonia.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: MS "T-899" (ex-RT-412 "Kolguevets") - due to collision, in Murmansk port inner harbour (later raised and went into service) (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-1052 collided with the vessel "Saude" (352 tons) south of Bergen, Norway. The ship sank when the U-boat suddenly reversed and removed the bow from the vessel and left a huge hole in its hull causing the vessel to take on water and sink.

GERMANY: US Fifteenth Air Force: During the night of 12/13 Nov 14 B-17s and B-24s hit the oil refinery at Blechhammer, Germany; 5 others hit alternate targets and targets of opportunity at scattered locations including Gleiwitz, Germany, Karvina, Poland and Ruzomberok and Vac, Czechoslovakia. Day operations are limited to reconnaissance missions. 

Hptm. Eder, the new Kommodore of Kommando Nowotny, downs an Allied P-38 Lightning near Schleissheim by accident. Attempting to close in on the high-flying reconnaissance Lightning, he misjudges the distance and the two planes collide. Hptm. Eder survives with a few dents to his plane but the American Lightning is destroyed.

MEDITERRANEAN: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 12/13 Nov A-20s bomb ammunition dumps, pontoon bridge, and targets of opportunity in the Po Valley; a thick overcast covering N Italy the following morning vastly curtails medium bombers which attack only a railway bridge at Padua; fighter-bombers continue to hit communications N of the battle area and also the oil pipeline across the Po River at Ostiglia.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: In Prague, General Andrei Vlasov, a Russian officer captured by the Germans in 1942, defects. Vlasov argues that Germany should set up a Russian provisional government and recruit a Russian army of liberation under his command. Vlasov writes an anti-Bolshevik leaflet which aircraft drop by the millions on Soviet forces, and as a direct consequence thousands of Soviets desert. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler authorizes him to set up the Russian Liberation Committee and the Russian Liberation Army, known as ROA (from Russkaya Osvoboditel' naya Armiya), to fight the Soviets. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, Oudrenne falls to the 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division; the 358th cuts the Inglange-Distroff road and clears Distroff. The 90th Reconnaissance Troop links the bridgeheads of the 90oth and 95th Infantry Divisions, providing the 10th Armored Division a protected route of advance. A Bailey bridge is completed at Thionville during morning, and Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division starts across it in afternoon. Combat Command A of the 10th Armored Division and the 3d Cavalry Group (Mechanized) cross at Mailing, latter to screen in the Sarre-Moselle triangle. The 95th Infantry Division, which has been engaged largely in containing the German bridgehead west of Metz, begins attacks west of the river with the 379th Infantry Regiment after artillery preparation: while the 2d Battalion works around to the rear of Fort Jeanne d’Arc and holds off counterattacks, the 1st Battalion begins the reduction of fortifications known as the Seven Dwarfs, taking the three northern works and attempting in vain to gain the next, Fort Bois Ia Dame. The regiment is isolated in these advanced positions, though, and must be supplied by air. East of the Moselle River, the 2d Battalion of the 378th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, takes Haute Yutz and opens an assault on Fort d’IlLange; the 1st Battalion, 377th Infantry Regiment, is heavily engaged at Bertrange and Imeldange. The 10th and 11th Infantry Regiments, 5th Infantry Division, drive northward abreast toward Metz while the 3d Battalion, 2d Infantry Regiment, moves to the Sorbey area; the 11th clears the woods southwest of Fort Verdun and takes Prayelle Farm; the 10th cleans out the southern half of Bois de l’Hôpital. In the XII Corps area, Lieutenant General Manton Eddy, Commanding General XII Corps, limits the 80th Infantry Division’s mission to clearing the high ground south of Faulquemont. Combat Command A of the 6th Armored Division attacks toward Côte de Suisse, a ridge extending from Landroff to Thicourt, taking Brulange, Suisse, and Landroff. The Germans begin a series of determined attempts to recover Landroff at dusk, pushing into the village. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, and the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, close in on Morhange, seizing Destry and Baronville in bitter fighting. The 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, moves forward to the right. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, sweeps through Bois de Kerperche, extending northeast from Koecking ridge, and gets elements to Guebling. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, continues to clear Koecking forest, from which the Germans begin withdrawing, during the night of 14/15 November. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division continues to battle the Germans near Leintrey. The 79th Infantry Division overcomes opposition at Ste Pole and Ancerviller. 
In the French First Army area, I Corps opens an offensive toward the Belfort Gap, attacking astride the Doubs River at noon with the 2d Moroccan Division assisted by the 5th Armored Division on the left and the 9th Colonial Division on the right. Tactical surprise is achieved and gains are made all along front. 
Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory and his wife Doris die today when the Avro York transport carrying them to Ceylon crashes in atrocious weather on the Cheminee du Diable in the French Alps. Sir Trafford is on his way to take up his new appointment as Air Commander-in- Chief South East Asia Command (SEAC). It would have been the culmination of a brilliant, if sometimes controversial, career. He opposed Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding, Air Officer Commander-In- Chief Fighter Command, over his tactics in the Battle of Britain. Dowding won the battle, but lost the quarrel, and was bypassed while Leigh-Mallory was named Commander-in- Chief, Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF), the unit that had operational control over all RAF and USAAF tactical units, for the invasion of Europe. Buried in snow, the wreck is not found until June, 1945. Air Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, Deputy Allied Air Commander in Chief, Air Command - South East Asia Command, is later appointed to 
this position. 

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 4th Division reaches the Montone River in the region north of Highway 9. Advancing along the highway, the 167th Brigade of the 56th Division crosses the Montone River. South of Highway 9, the 6th Division continues toward the Samoggia River. 
Bad weather restricts USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations to fighter-bomber attacks by 17 P-47 Thunderbolts on rail lines and a road north of the battleline. 

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, XII Corps opens an offensive to reduce the German bridgehead west of the Maas River in the Roermond-Venlo area, attacking across Nord and Wesscm Canals with the 53d and 51st Divisions while the 7th Armoured Division takes the locks at Panheel.

NORWAY: The Norwegian government-in- exile announces that Norwegian troops under Colonel Arne Dahi have landed in Norway to operate with the Soviet Karelian forces against the Germans on the Arctic front.

YUGOSLAVIA: The Yugoslavs announce the fall of Skoplje, which has been a main staging point for the Germans withdrawing from Greece.

EASTERN FRONT: JG 52’s Hptm. Gerhard Barkhorn gains his 275th victory.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber attack nine targets: 50 bomb the Hermann Goering benzol plant at Linz while 17 hit the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck. Individual aircraft bomb Two aircraft bomb Heiflau and individual aircraft bomb Heiflau Klagenfurt, Schwaz, Traunstein and Wolfberg. 

BALTIC SEA: In the Gulf of Finland, German submarine U-479 is listed as missing with the loss of all 51 crewmen; no explanation exists for its loss. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army’s XX Corps area, the 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division is hit hard by counterattack that reaches Distroff, but forces the Germans to retire and the 357th attacks toward a ridge between Budling and Buding until stopped by fire from Hackenberg works. Combat Command A, 10th Armored Division takes Lemestroff. 95th Infantry Division troops east of the Moselle River are formed into Task Bacon to drive south on Metz. A battalion of the 378th Infantry Regiment captures the Illange forts, ending organized resistance in the northern part of the division zone. The 378th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, takes Fort de Fêves, at the northern end of Canrobert works, and the heights southwest of Bois de Woippy; the 377th Infantry, making their main effort, drives south of Maiziêres-lês- Metz to La Maxe and Woippy, seizing La Maxe and beginning an assault on Woippy. The 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, takes Augny and reaches the edge of Frescaty Airport; the 10th Infantry finishes clearing Bois de l'Hopital and enters Marly, where bitter fighting ensues; the 2d Infantry repels German drives toward Sanry bridge from the Sorbey area and clears Mécleuves. In the XII Corps area, the 6th Armored Division, assisted by elements of the 8oth Infantry Division, drives the Germans from Landroff; an armored task force takes Cote de Suisse. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, reaches the Metz-Sarrebourg railroad but is ordered to halt since its flank is exposed and since its movement is confined to roads. The 35th Infantry Division advances through Morhange, which the Germans have abandoned, to the Metz-Sarrebourg railroad. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division continues toward Avricourt. The 79th Infantry presses northward toward the Vezouse River, clearing Halloville, northeast of Ancerviller. In the VI Corps area, the 100th Infantry Division penetrates German positions north of Raonl'Etape. 
In the French First Army area, the II Corps, with the 3d Algerian Division on the north and the 1st Division on the south, moves forward to keep pace with friendly forces on their flanks. The 3d Algerian Division reaches Le Tholy. I Corps makes excellent progress except on the extreme right along the Swiss frontier. The 2d Moroccan Division, assisted by 5th Armored Division, drives beyond Arcey, on the road to Hericourt. The 9th Colonial Division, with the capture of Colombier-Fontame, Ecot, and Ecurcey, opensthe route to Herimoncourt. 
The USAAF Ninth Air Force transfers HQ XII Tactical Air Command, along with the 71st Fighter Wing, 50th, 358th, and 371st Fighter Groups, 86th Air Depot Group, and 83d and 312th Service Groups, to the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) . The First Tactical Air Force is tasked with providing tactical air support to the Sixth Army Group. At the end of the war, the First Tactical Air Force will be disbanded and all of its units will revert to the Ninth Air Force. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, breaks through to the encircled companies on a plateau southwest of Huertgen and withdraws them, but by now the Regiment holds only the southern edge of the plateau. 
One each USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber hits Passau and the Main marshalling yard at Salzburg. 
During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 177 Lancasters to carry out a G-H attack on the Hoesch synthetic oil plant at Dortmund; 174 hit the target. The raid, through thick cloud, is believed to have been accurate. Two Lancasters are lost. 
During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit six targets: 34 bomb Berlin, six bomb the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil refinery at Wanne-Eikel, five bobm Gotha, four each hit the Karlsruhe and the Buer synthetic oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen and one attacks Osnabruck. One aircraft is lost. 

The prototype of the night-fighter version of the Dornier Do 335 ‘Pfeil’ is made available to the Luftwaffe.

HUNGARY: Jasberény, 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Budapest falls to the Soviets.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, 8th Indian Division troops push into Modigliana, where contact is made with the Polish II Corps. 
Bad weather cancels all USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations except for reconnaissance by four P-47 Thunderbolts and attack by two on a railroad bridge and rolling stock in the Po Valley. 

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 714: six B-17s and six B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night. 
Weather prevents USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations and limits fighters; the XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance in the Merzig-Trier- Saarbrucken, Germany area and supports the XX Corps in same area. 

YUGOSLAVIA: Four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb troop concentrations in the Novi Pazar area.

MEDITERRANEAN: Destroyer escort _'Frament' _(DE-677) collides with Italian submarine _'Luigi Settembrini' _685 miles west of Gibraltar; _'Frament' _is damaged, but _'Luigi Settembrini'_ sinks.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

AUSTRIA: The primary target for the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force today is the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck: 62 B-17s bomb the yard with the loss of three aircraft. One each B-17 bomb the marshalling yard at Villach and the railroad at Zillertaller.

BELGIUM: Three Belgian government ministers without portfolio resign because of differences between the government in exile and the resistance. 

FRANCE: In U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, silencing guns of the Hackenberg, takes a ridge beyond; the 358th Infantry seizes Inglange and Metzervisse. Combat Command B, 10th Armored Division, reaches Kirschnaumen; Combat Command A’s Task Force Chamberlain gets beyond Laumesfeld while Task Force Standish takes Ste Marguerite.
Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, starts south toward Metz along the east bank of the Moselle River, advancing steadily 4.5 miles miles to Traemery. In the region west of the Moselle River, the 377th and 378th Infantry Regiments take up pursuit as the Germans begin withdrawing their bridgehead, abandoning Woippy; the 379th Infantry, strengthening its attack, takes St Hubert Farm and Moscou Farm.
The 5th Infantry Division attacks north toward Metz: the 11th Infantry Regiment contains the Verdun Forts and is heavily engaged at Frescaty Airfield; the 10th Infantry finishes clearing Marly and pushes on toward Magny; the 2d Infantry is largely engaged at the Nied Francaise River line, but a battalion pushes toward Frontigny.
In the XII Corps area, Combat Command A, 6th Armored Division, and 318th and 319th Infantry Regiments, 80th Infantry Division, attack toward Faulquemont, supported by massed fire from Cote de Suisse, and seize the high ground south of town; during the advance, the Germans are driven from five towns and about 1,200 prisoners are taken.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division gains ground toward the Vezouse River, overrunning Barbas.
The French 2d Armored Division, which is to exploit the expected breakthrough of infantrymen, clears the Nonhigny with reconnaissance elements of Combat Command R.
In the VI Corps area, 103d Infantry Division clears part of the triangular hill mass southwest of St Die. 
In the French First Army area, I Corps overruns Ste Marie and pushes on toward Montbaeliard on the left and thrusts to Roches-les-Blamont on the right. 

GERMANY: The U.S. Ninth and First Armies open a co-ordinated offensive to clear the Roer Plain between the Wurm and the Roer Rivers. The combined air-ground effort is called Operation QUEEN. The air phase of QUEEN marks the greatest close support effort yet made by Allied air forces, British and U.S. strategic and tactical air forces joining in the assault on relatively small zone of attack and dropping more than 9,400 tons of high-explosive bombs.
In the U.S. Ninth Army area, XIX Corps attacks for a crossing of the Roer at Juelich at 1245 hours. Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, pushes toward Gereonsweiler on the left flank of corps from Waurichen and Beggendorf, seizing Immendorf, Floverich, and Puffendorf. Puffendorf is in the outer ring of the Juelich defenses.
Efforts of one column to take Apweiler are costly and unsuccessful, but another column seizes a hill 700 yards northeast of Puffendorf on the highway to Gereonsweiler. In the center, the 29th Infantry Division, committing a battalion each from 115th and 175th Regiments, attacks from the Baesweiler-Oidtweiler area toward Aldenhoven en route to Juelich but is stopped close to the line of departure near the villages of Siersdorf and Bettendorf.
The 30th Infantry Division, reinforced by a regiment of the 84th, attacks south in the Wuerselen area with three regiments abreast, the 117th taking Mariadorf and 120th overrunning Euchen; bit little progress is made in Wuerselen. 
In the U.S. First Army area, VII Corps opens an attack at 1245 hours, pushing toward Dueren and Cologne to secure Roer River crossings, with the 104th Infantry Regiment, 3d Armored, 1st Infantry, and 4th Infantry Divisions from left to right.
The 104th Infantry Division makes their main effort on the right with 414th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by a battalion of the 415th Infantry, driving toward the Donnerberg (Hill 287) and Eschweiler Woods; German opposition from commanding ground of the Donnerberg limits progress, but elements secure a weak hold on the Birkengang, suburb of Stolberg northwest of the Donnerberg; the rest of the 104th Infantry Division conducts limited actions to the north without making appreciable headway. Combat Command B, 3d Armored Division, attacks in the Stolberg corridor toward four villages at the western base of Hamich Ridge.
Task Force Mills loses 15 tanks in a vain effort to take Hastenrath and Scherpenseel. Task Force Lovelady seizes Kottench and Werth. The 1st Infantry Division, reinforced by the 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, makes the main effort of the corps from Schevenhuette, pressing through Huertgen Forest toward Langerwehe and Juengersdorf; the 47th Infantry Regiment gets a battalion into Gressenich; the 16th and 26th Infantry Regiments attack in the Huertgen Forest astride the Schevenhuette-Langerwehe highway, the 26th Infantry Regiment on the right, but lacks tank support and advance slowly; the 16th Infantry reaches the edge of the woods overlooking Hamich.
The 4th Infantry Division, reinforced by Combat Command R of the 5th Armored Division, attacks on a broad front in the Huertgen Forest at the scene of earlier battles in an effort to break through between Schevenhuette and Huertgen, making their main effort on the left in order to support the 1st Infantry Division: elements of the 8th Infantry Regiment on the north and the 22d Infantry Regiment in the center make extremely slow progress against well-organized positions within the forest; the 12th Infantry Regiment can scarcely move on plateau southwest of Huertgen.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 715 in support of Operation QUEEN: 1,243 bombers and 282 fighters, along with Ninth Air Force and RAF aircraft, are dispatched to attack tactical targets east of Aachen, Germany in support of the US First and Ninth Armies' offensive; 1 fighter is lost: 713 B-17s and B-24s hit Eschweiler and 478 B-17s hit Duren. 
Eighty USAAF Ninth Air Force 9th Bombardment Division bombers hit defended areas and strongpoints at Echtz, Luchem, and Eschweiler; IX Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers dive-bomb gun positions and other targets in the Stolberg and Hurtgen areas and XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US XX Corps in the Merzig, Trier, and Saarbrucken area; the XXIX Tactical Air Command attacks targets in 12 west German towns.
During the day, RAF Bomber Command is asked to bomb three towns near the German lines in the area between Aachen and the Rhine in support of Operation QUEEN. The RAF dispatches 1,188 aircraft to attack Duren, Jaelich and Heinsburg in order to cut communications behind the German lines. Duren is attacked by 485 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos, Jaelich by 413 Halifaxes, 78 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos and Heinsberg by 182 Lancasters. Three Lancasters are lost on the Duren raid and a Lancaster on the Heinsberg raid. 
Four hundred forty eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack the Munich marshalling yard with the loss of three aircraft. Over 250 P-51s and P-38s support the attack on Munich. 

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the British XIII Corps pauses to regroup so that troops may be rotated. In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps halts along the line of the Montone and Cosina Rivers and regroups. 
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers fly 250+ sorties against rail lines in the Brenner Pass and other parts of northeastern Italy destroying the railroad bridge at Sacile; fighter-bombers in support of the British Eighth Army advance to the northwest of Forli, hit guns, ammunition supplies, and other military targets, attack pipeline crossings of the Po River at Ostiglia and Ferrara, and pontoon stores near Ficarola, as well as hitting communications targets north of the battle area.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs hit three targets: three bomb a railroad bridge at Casarsa, two attack the railroad in the Brenner Pass and one hits a railroad bridge at Pinzano. During the night of 16/17 November, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly two missions: 77 drop supplies to partisans in Northern Italy and ten bomb a pontoon bridge at Ficorolo. 

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army’s VIII Corps area, the 15th Division finds Meijel clear of the Germans. In the XII Corps area, patrols reach the Zig Canal, southeast of Meijel. 

YUGOSLAVIA: Twenty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Visegrad Airfield and five others hit a highway; 26 P-38s strafe transport targets on roads between Sarajevo and Novi Pazar.

ENGLAND: U.S. freighter _'Theodore Parker' _is mined about 12 miles east of the mouth of the Humber River, 53°33'N, 00°39'E, but returns, under her own power, to the port of Hull for repairs. There are no casualties to the 42-man merchant complement or the 27-man Armed Guard.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

ALBANIA: German resistance ends in Tirana. 

AUSTRIA: Two hundred two USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the Floridsdorf oil refinery in Vienna. Other targets hit in Austria are: 14 bomb the industrial area at Leoben, 11 each hit the railroad at St. Johann and the marshalling yard at Villach, four attack Vocklmarkt, and nine aircraft bomb other targets. A second raid by 117 B-17s hit the Main marshalling yard at Salzburg with the loss of one aircraft. 

BELGIUM: Allied representatives meet with Belgian ministers over their differences with the resistance.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 10th Armored Division fans out to pursue the Germans toward the Sarre River, closely supported by aircraft. The 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, cleans out the Hackenberg fortifications, which are found leveled by direct fire, and takes Klang; the 358th Infantry seizes Metzeresche. The Germans begin withdrawing in front of the division after nightfall. Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, gets almost to Metz, stopping for the night within sight of Fort St Julien. West of the Moselle River, the 95th Infantry Division continues toward Metz, the 377th Infantry Regiment reaching the suburb of Sansonnet. Against weakened resistance, the 5th Infantry Division continues northward toward Metz: the 11th Infantry Regiment clears most of Frescaty Airfield, but is stopped on the right by fire from Fort St Privat; the 10th Infantry is halted at Fort Queuleu but gets patrols to the city limits; the 2d Infantry withdraws elements east of the Nied Franaise River in order to strengthen the drive on the right flank of the division and pushes northward beyond Frontigny. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, Avricourt falls to the 44th Infantry Division. The 79th Infantry Division reaches the Vezouse River line in the Blmont-Cirey area and begins crossing. Combat Command B, French 2d Armored Division, seizes Badonviller, near the junction of XV and VI Corps front, and pushes on to Bremenil. In the VI Corps area, the 100th Infantry Division prepares for a full-scale attack on Raon from the north, the 398th Infantry Regiment crossing the Meurthe River at Baccarat. The 103d Infantry Division finishes clearing the heights southwest of St Die; during the night of 17/18 November, patrols into St Die, from which the Germans are withdrawing. 36th Infantry Division patrols enter Corcieux, where the Germans have already applied the torch. 
In the French First Army's Western French Forces area, General Renea-Marie de Larminat, commander of Detachment Altantique, organizes Forces Francaises de l'Ouest (FFO) to safeguard the coast of Bay of Biscay from Isle de Re and La Rochelle on the north to Royan and Pointe de Grave on the south. The command post has recently moved from Paris to Cognac. The I Corps breaks through the outer defenses of Belfort along the line of the Lisaine and Gland Rivers. Among towns taken are Haericourt, Montbliard, and HÃ©rimoncourt. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division, renewing their effort to advance its right wing with a heavy volume of fire support, is still firmly opposed from the Donnerberg and makes slow progress, although Birkengang is largely cleared. Task Force Mills of Combat Command B, 3d Armored Division, gains a weak hold on the southern part of Hastenrath and Scherpenseel, but since its flank is exposed by the failure of 104th Infantry Division to advance, is precariously situated; German fire from the Eschweilcr Woods and the Donnerberg takes heavy toll of Combat Command B's armor, which by nightfall is at half its original strength. In the1st Infantry Division sector, the 47th Infantry Regiment eliminates German rear-guard opposition from Gressenich; the 16th Infantry Regiment, with tank support, advances almost to Hamich while the 26th Infantry gains a few hundred yards to the right. The Germans continue to contain the efforts of the 4th Infantry Division to advance through the Huertgen Forest. 
In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, withstands determined counterattacks against Immendorf and Puffendorf but loses a hill northeast of the latter; another attempt to take Apweiler fails; Combat Command A commits Task Force A to drive through Puffendorf toward Ederen but cannot get beyond Puffendorf. The 29th Infantry Division employs a battalion of the 116th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 115th Infantry Regiment, against Setterich, on the main highway and needed to support tanks of 2d Armored Division, but is unable to take it; nor do assault forces to the south succeed in clearing either Siersdorf or Bettendorf. The 30th Infantry Division makes progress in the heavily built up area on the southern flank of the corps, taking the village of Heengen on north and on the south clearing the rest of Wuerselen and overrunning Broichweiden. 
One hundred seventeen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer with the loss of one aircraft. 

Hptm. Eder flies the last mission of Kommando Nowotny.

HUNGARY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb two targets: 66 hit the marshalling yard at Gyor with the loss of two B-24s and one bombs Varoslod. 

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army's Polish II Corps area, hard fighting develops on Mt. Fortino, north of Converselle, which the Germans lose and then regain in a counterattack. 
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers hit rail bridges and viaducts in the northeast, concentrating on the Brenner Pass where ground haze and smoke screen at the Avisio viaduct hamper the attacks; fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command cut rail lines, hit larger concentrations of railroad cars, and blast several ammunition and fuel dumps north of the battleline below Bologna; fighter-bombers closely supporting ground forces also hit guns and other military targets in battle area. 
During the night of 17/18 November, RAF aircraft of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb two airfields: 35 bomb Vicenza Airfield and 34 bomb the Main airfield at Udine. 

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, XII Corps gets forward elements to the Maas River across from Roermond and takes Wessem. 

UNITED STATES: The Combined Chiefs of Staff approve the proposal of Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command (SEAC), made in late October to clear the Arakan, Burma area along the northeast coast of the Bay of Bengal; reject the Kra Isthmus operation in the north central section of southwestern Thailand; and ask for a plan to develop the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean as a staging base. 

WESTERN EUROPE: Thirty USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division hit Haguenau, France; weather prevents over 100 bombers from attacking targets; fighters escort bombers, fly patrol and armed reconnaissance over a wide area of western Germany, and support the US 104th and 4th Infantry Divisions and 2d Armored Division, east of Aachen and near Hurtgen, Germany. 

YUGOSLAVIA: For the first time in several months, USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack targets in Yugoslavia, hitting bridges along the Brod-Zagreb- Maribor railroad. 
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s attack two targets: 30 bomb the marshalling yard at Maribor with the loss of one aircraft and one bombs the railroad at Dravograde. 
During the night of 17/18 November, 13 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb a highway choke point at Novi Pasar.

MEDITERRANEAN: Destroyer _'Woolsey' _(DD-437) shells German artillery at Ventimiglia; shrapnel again showers the ship but she suffers no casualties; destroyer _'Benson' _(DD-421) bombards barracks in same area.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack two oil refineries in Vienna: 131 hit the Floridsdorf refinery with the loss of three aircraft while 71 bomb the Korneuburg refinery. 

ESTONIA: Soviet 8th Army (part of Leningrad Front) renew their efforts to win control of Gulf of Riga, stepping up action against the German garrison, which is clinging tenaciously to southern tip of Saaremaa Island. 

FINLAND: Germans leave the northernmost tip of Finland. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 10th Armored Division continues to pursue the Germans, Combat Command B columns reaching Launstroff and Schwerdorff and Combat Command A detachment reaching the Nied River opposite Bouzonville; finding a damaged bridge north of Bouzonville near Filstroff, the Combat Command A force begins crossing. The 90th Infantry Division races southward to cut off the retreating Germans; the 359th Infantry Regiment is committed and gets elements across the Nied River at Conde Northen; the 90th Reconnaissance Troop seizes Avancy. The 357th Infantry Regiment, on the division's left, is slowed by antitank ditches, mines, and craters. Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, pushes into the northeast part of Metz, overrunning Fort St Julien and Fort Bellacroix; the 95th Infantry Division forces west of Metz reach the Moselle River and find all bridges except one blown; the 377th Infantry Regiment clears the island formed by the Hafen Canal and the river; a 378th Infantry patrol starts across the Moselle bridge into Metz but the Germans blow the bridge, and other elements of the regiment begin an assault on Fort Plappeville; the 379th Infantry Regiment drives to the Moselle River at Moulins-ls-Metz, where a bridge is down. The 5th Infantry Division advances into Metz from the south: the 11th Infantry Regiment, leaving elements behind to contain Fort St Privat, pushes into the city and begins clearing the southern part; some elements of the 10th Infantry drive into Metz while others remain behind at Fort Queuleu; the 2d Infantry Regiment advances northward as quickly as possible in an effort to make contact with the 90th Infantry Division and complete the encirclement of Metz, overrunning Courcelles-sur- Nied and Ars-Laquenexy. XII Corps renews a drive toward the Sarre River with two divisions abreast after preparatory fire. The 35th Infantry Division takes Bistroff and positions east of Vallerange. the 26th Infantry Division attacks to the right of the 35th Infantry Division against the German Dieuze-Benestroff line and pushes through Bois de Benestroff and recapturing Guebling with the assistance of tanks and tank destroyers and drives to edge of Bourgaltroff. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division begins assault on Fremonville; elements find Blamont clear of Germans. In VI Corps area, the 100th Infantry Division attacks Raon-l'Etape, the 397th Infantry Regiment pushing into town and 398th Infantry starting across the Plaine River. The 36th Infantry Division is closing along the Meurthe River on the southern flank of corps and gains positions overlooking Gerardmer. 
In the French First Army's I Corps area, the 5th Armored and 2d Moroccan Divisions are closing in on Belfort on the northern flank of the corps. The 1st Armored Division, assisted by the 9th Colonial Division, drives 7 miles through Belfort Gap between the Rhine-Rhone Canal and the Swiss border to Delle; from the Allaine River, where the Germans are holding out at Morvillars, the 1st Armored Division reconnoiters east toward the Rhine River, taking Faverois, Courtelevant, Suarce, and Joncherey. 

Tank landing ship LST-6 is sunk by mine in Seine River, France. 

GERMANY: In the British Second Army area, XXX Corps begins an offensive to reduce the Geilenkirchen salient (Operation CLIPPER), driving northeast with the 43d Division on the left and the U.S. 84th Infantry Division, reinforced by the British Drewforce (flail tanks and searchlight battery), on the right. The 43d Division secures Tripsrath and most of Bauchem. The 334th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division, takes Prummern; continuing their assault after nightfall with the aid of searchlights, gains a position dominating Sueggerath but is unable to take the high ground, called Mahogany Hill, northeast of Prummern. Geilenkirchen is now surrounded on three sides. 
In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, Combat Command B of 2d Armored Division, after repelling a minor counterattack against Immendorf, takes Apweiler in a limited attack, then pauses while the 29th Infantry Division is clearing Setterich. The 29th Infantry Division, with close tank and artillery support, makes substantial progress, the 116th Infantry Regiment gaining a firm foothold in Setterich and other elements penetrating the outer defenses of Juelich to take Siersdorf and Bettendorf. The 30th Infantry Division continues to mop up Broichweiden and seizes Warden, southeast of Mariadorf, after being twice driven off. 
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division seizes most of the Donnerberg and breaks into Eschweiler Woods as the German opposition slackens. Task Force Mills of Combat Command B, 3d Armored Division, assisted by reserves, takes .Hastenrath and Scherpenseel; Combat Command B then goes on the defensive. The 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, committing its full strength, takes Hill 232, key to Hamich Ridge, and clears most of town of Hamich as the 26th Infantry Regiment continues slowly toward its first objective, Laufenburg Castle. The Germans make several strong efforts to regain Hamich and Hill 232. The 4th Infantry Division advances in the Huertgen Forest, where the 8th Infantry Regiment, in 1,000-yard (914 meter) drive, penetrates the outer defenses of the approach to Dueren and the 22d Infantry Regiment reaches positions astride the road leading east to Grosshau, but a gap exists between the regiments. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 716: 402 fighters (47 P-47 Thunderbolts and 355 P-51s) are dispatched to strafe oil storage depots in the Hanau and Ulm areas, airfields at Leipheim and Lechfeld, and miscellaneous ground targets; 374 actually attack. About 70 Luftwaffe fighters are encountered and the USAAF pilots claim 26-2-6 in the air and 69-0-41 on the ground. Two P-47s and five P-51s are lost. 
During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 479 aircraft, 367 Halifaxes, 94 Lancasters and 18 Mosquitos, to attack Munster; 444 bomb the city. The raid was not concentrated and bombs fell in all parts of Munster. 
During the night of 18/19 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 285 Lancasters and 24 Mosquitos to bomb the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil refinery at Wanne-Eikel; 295 bomb the target. The intention of the raid is to hit the local oil plant. Large explosions seem to erupt in the plant and post-raid reconnaissance shows that some further damage is caused to it. The local report does not mention the oil plant but states that the Hannibal coal mine is destroyed.
Meanwhile, Mosquitos hit five targets: 31 fly a "spoof" raid to Wiesbaden; 18 hit Hannover; three bomb Erfurt; and one each attack Kassel and Rheinburg. 

ITALY: The British Eighth Army orders a co-ordinated attack toward Faenza by V Corps and the Polish II Corps, beginning on 20 November. In the Polish II Corps area, the 3d Carpathian Division takes over from the 5th Kresowa Division in Mt. Fortino area and prepares to attack. 
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb bridges at Pizzighettone, Romano di Lombardia, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Migazzone, Casarsa della Delizia, and Casale Monferrato while fighter-bombers continue successful attacks on rail lines, dumps, guns, and pipelines in the northern Apennines and the Po Valley, XXII Tactical Air Command claiming 100+ train cars, eight locomotives, and nearly 75 vehicles destroyed. 
During the night of 18/19 November USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s on armed reconnaissance bomb Ghedi Airfield and targets in the Bologna, Ferrara, Mantua, Cremona, and Parma areas. 
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit four airfields with the loss of four aircraft: 147 bomb Vincenza Airfield; 115 hit Aviano Airfield; 109 attack Udine Airfield and 96 bomb Villa Franca Airfield. 

WESTERN EUROPE: Over 340 USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division strike barracks areas, rail bridges, rail facilities, strongpoints, and defended positions at 13 locations in Germany; fighters escort the bombers, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over western Germany, and support ground forces east of Aachen, Germany and in the Sarreguemines, France area. 
During the night of 18/19 November, USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 717: four B-24s and six B-17s drop leaflets in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. 

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb a bridge at Zidani Most and also hit the Brod-Ljubljana railway, the principal German escape route in the Balkans. 
Sixteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the city and troop concentrations at Visegard. 
During the night of 18/19 November, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack four targets: 42 hit the West marshalling yard at Sarajevo; 19 bomb tactical targets at Sjenica; 16 attack tactical targets at Novi Pasar; and one bombs tactical targets at Pribaj.

ATLANTIC: Destroyer escort _'Camp' _(DE-251) is damaged in collision with tanker _'Santa Cecilia_' off coast of southern Ireland.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s bomb four targets in Vienna and targets in five cities. In Vienna, 143 bomb the Winerhafen oil storage facility, 98 hit the Lobau oil refinery, 52 attack the Schwechat benzine synthetic oil refinery and 56 bomb the Vosendorf oil refinery; three aircraft are lost. Other targets are: 54 bomb the Hermann Goering benzine synthetic oil refinery at Linz, 45 hit Horsching Airfield, 13 attack the aircraft engine plant at Wiener Neudorf and one each bomb the marshalling yard at Leoben and a railroad bridge. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber bombs a railroad, a target of opportunity. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army area, XX Corps closes circle around Metz as the 90th, 95th, and 5th Infantry Divisions join hands. The 90th Infantry Division concludes its operations against Metz and halts upon order along the Nied River: the 357th Infantry Regiment drives to the Nied west of Boulay-Moselle; the 359th plugs a German escape route at Les Etangs; the Reconnaissance Troop establishes contact with 5th Infantry Division. Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, is clearing the streets in the northeast part of Metz; the 377th and 378th Infantry Regiments drive into Metz from the northwest, crossing the Moselle River. The 5th Infantry Division continues to clear the southern part of Metz The 10th Armored Division, in order to speed their drive to the Sarre River, withdraws Combat Command A's Nied bridgehead, during the nigh of 19/20 November, and blows the bridges. In the XII Corps area, Combat Command B of 6th Armored Division begins attack through the 137th Infantry Regiment of 35th Infantry Division and, assisted by the 137th, takes Bertring and Gros Tenquin; Virming falls to 320th Infantry Regiment. The 26th Infantry Division commits its full strength to attack against the Dieuze-Bonestroff line, meeting stiff opposition from German forces covering a general withdrawal, which is accomplished during the night of 19/20 November: the 104th and 101st Infantry Regiments fight in vain for Marimont and Marimont Hill (Hill 334) during the day but move forward as the Germans withdraw after nightfall; the 328th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by elements of the 4th Armored Division, is committed against Dieuze arid, upon the German withdrawal, enters together with the 2d Cavalry Group and takes the bridge intact. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, enters the battle in the zone of the 26th Infantry Division, recapturing Rodalbe and helping the 320th Infantry Regiment of 35th Infantry Division to take Virming. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division, pushing toward Sarrebourg, takes Ibigny and St Georges. The German line along the Vezouse River in the Blmont-Cirey area collapses as the 79th Infantry Division completes the capture of Fremonville and Combat Command R, French 2d Armored Division, takes Cirey. To exploit the breakthrough, Combat Command L begins a drive to secure Saverne Gap, through which the advance can be continued to Strasbourg. The 79th Infantry Division, instead of helping the 44th Infantry Division take Sarrebourg, is to exploit the success of French armor and protect the southern flank of the corps. The VI Corps closes along the Meurthe River and prepares to attack across it. The 100th Infantry Division, already east of the Meurthe River, continues to advance in the Raon area, the 398th Infantry Regiment pushing south across the Plaine River to gain control of the road southeast from the town and the 397th Infantry working on a quarry strongpoint at the edge of town. The Division Reconnaissance Troop and the 117th Reconnaissance Squadron advance to Badonviller without opposition. 
In the French First Army's I Corps area, the 2d Moroccan Division, supported by the 5th Armored Division, reaches Chalonvillars, a suburb of Belfort. The 1st Armored Division tries unsuccessfully to open a route to Dannemarie so that 5th Armored Division may drive on Cernay via Fontaine; continuing reconnaissance eastward along three routes on the right flank, gets elements to the Rhine River at Rosenau at 1830 hours. The French are thus the first of the Allied forces to reach the Rhine, but on a narrow front in a sector where the road net is too poor to support an advance in strength. Among the villages taken, Seppois is the first in Aisace to be recovered by the French.

GERMANY: In the British Second Army's XXX Corps area, 334th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 84th Infantry Division continues to clear the Prummern area and tries in vain to take Mahogany Hill; the 333d Infantry attacks up the Wurm River valley toward Wurm, taking Geilenkirchen and Sueggerath. In the XII Corps area, the 51st Division takes Helden and Panningen and makes contact with the 15th Infantry Division of VIII Corps. 
In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, Combat Command B of the 2d Armored Division repels determined counterattack against Apweiler. Combat Command A, reinforced by a battalion of the bn of the 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, attacks in two columns from Setterich and Puffendorf toward a spur of high ground between Ederen and Frelaldenhoven, one column reaching positions near Freialdenhoven. The 29th Infantry Division clears the rest of Setterich and an antitank ditch east of the village and then advances to take the villages of Duerboslar and Schleiden. The 30th Infantry Division’s 117th Infantry Regiment, with powerful support of heavy weapons, easily takes St Joeris and Kinzweiler. 
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division mops up and shifts its main weight of attack to the Eschweiler-Weisweil er industrial complex north of the Inde River. On the north flank of the 1st Infantry Division, the 47th Infantry Regiment column drives northwest along Hamich Ridge from Hill 232 to the base of Hill 187; the 16th Infantry Regiment finishes clearing Hamich and pushes to the southern part of Bovenberger Wald; the reserve regt, the 18th Infantry, begins an attack in the center of the division line toward Langerwehe. previously the objective of the 26th Infantry Regiment, reaching the vicinity of Wenau; the 26th Infantry, whose objectives are now Juengersdorf and Merode, commits reinforcements and advances to positions less than 500 yards from Laufenburg Castle. The 4th Infantry Division suspends eastward attacks in order to consolidate and try to close gap between the 8th and 22d Infantry Regiments. In the V Corps area, Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges orders the corps to begin offensive on 21 November instead of waiting as planned until VII Corps has broken through the German defenses west of the Roer River in order to assist VII Corps. 
In the U.S. Third Army area, XX Corps area, Combat Command B, 10th Armored Division, is meeting stiffer opposition as it approaches Merzig and the Saar River. 

Kommando Nowotny, the experimental Me 262 group based at Achmer is disbanded and used to form III./JG 7, the Luftwaffe’s only true fighter jet Geschwader which is based at Lager-Lechfeld. The Gruppe is led by Major Erich Hohagen, another veteran piston-engined fighter ace.

GREECE: Land Forces Greece and Military Liaison Greece are integrated as Headquarters Land Forces and Military Liaison Greece, under Lieutenant General Sir Ronald Scobie, General Officer Commanding British Troops in Greece. 

HUNGARY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber attack two targets: 24 aircraft bomb the marshalling yard at Gyor and six bomb the marshalling yard at Kesztheley. 

ITALY: Fog and low clouds force cancellation of USAAF Twelfth Air Force missions against western Po Valley targets and limit fighter-bombers to a midday attack on rail lines, guns, troop concentrations, motor transport, and other military targets in and near the battle area south of Bologna. 
During the night of 19/20 November, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s attack Po River crossings, airfields and lights in the Po Valley. 

NETHERLANDS: The British XII and VII Corps advance near Venlo.

UNITED KINGDOM: Douglas (Model DC-3A-456) C-47A-80-DL, msn 19512, USAAF serial number 43-15046, crashes at Lewes, Sussex, England, at 1510 hours local. The aircraft strikes a hill while flying in low overcast, explodes and burns; 25 of the 30 people aboard are killed. 

UNITED STATES: Looking for ways to fund World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive today. The Loan Drive floods the market with war bonds intended to meet Roosevelt's goals of "immediately" raising US$14 billion (US$155.35 billion in year 2005 dollars) for the war. 

WESTERN EUROPE: Over 450 USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb storage depots, bridge, junction, ordnance depots, and defended positions in or near ten German towns and cities; fighters escort the bombers, carry out patrols, and fly armed reconnaissance hitting rail facilities and other targets over western German areas including Euskirchen, Trier, Saarbrucken, Julich, and Cologne; the IX, XIX, and XXIX Tactical Air Commands support the US VII, XII, XIX, and XX Corps areas east of Aachen and near Hurtgen, Germany, between Metz, France and Saarlautern, Germany and near Sarreguemines, France. 

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit two targets: 23 bomb the marshalling yard at Maribor and one hits the marshalling yard at Sisak. 
RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit four targets during the day: 65 bomb troop concentrations at Podgorica, 42 attack a pontoon bridge at Visegard, 15 hit troop concentrations at Sjenica with the loss of two aircraft, and 15 bomb troop concentrations at Novi Pasar.


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## syscom3 (Dec 25, 2009)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s encounter bad weather and attack several alternate targets and targets of opportunity: 166 bomb the marshalling yard at Brno, 50 hit the marshalling yard at Hodonin with the loss of one aircraft, 27 attack the Bata synthetic rubber plant at Zlin, 26 bomb the marshalling yard at Lundenburg, 21 hit Kromeriz and one each attack the marshalling yard at Ostrana Moravaska, the city of Trnava and a third unknown target. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 95th and 5th Infantry Divisions continue methodically to clear rear-guard opposition within Metz and contain the forts about the city. Preparations are made for the final drive to the Saar River. In the XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division conducts a reconnaissance in force on the northern flank of corps, seizing a bridge at Faulquemont and establishing a bridgehead north of the Nied Allemande River. The 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, upon emerging from Bois de Freybouse, is disorganized by a German counterattack. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, followed by the 320th Infantry Regiment, secures Francaltroff. The 26th Infantry Division advances quickly behind the retreating Germans, elements of 101st Infantry Regiment reaching Torcheville, west of Munster. Corps orders Combat Command A, 6th Armored Division, to attack to gain Saar River crossings in the 35th Infantry Division zone and Combat Com
mand B of 4th Armored Division to advance through Mittersheim in 26th Infantry Division zone; Combat Command A of 4th Armored Division is recalled from Francaltroff area to assembly area near Conthil. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the French 2d Armored Division commits Combat Command D on the northern flank of corps in effort to outflank the Saverne Gap from the north while Combat Command L continues enveloping maneuver from the south; Combat Command D crosses the Saar River north of Sarrebourg and drives eastward in two columns, one toward Phalsbourg, at the western entrance to the gap, and the other toward La Petite Pierre, to the north; Combat Command L encounters stiffening resistance in the vicinity of the Wolfsberg Pass, southwest of Saverne, and Combat Command V is committed to assist in that area. In the VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division crosses the Meurthe River in the Clairefontaine-St Michel area before dawn to spearhead the drive, beginning at 0645 hours, on Strasbourg via Saales. The attack is preceded by intense artillery preparation and closely supported by the USAAF XII Tactical Air Command of the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional).
The Germans, stunned by bombardment and threatened by successes of the Allied forces on both flanks of VI Corps, is incapable of resisting effectively. The 3d Infantry Division gains a substantial bridgehead including the towns of Le Paire, Hurbache, and La Voivre. The 103d Infantry Division, cross the Meurthe River in the 3d Infantry Division zone, during the night of 20/21 November, to drive toward St Die. On the southern flank of the corps, the 36th Infantry Divisionâ€™s 143d Infantry Regiment seizes ridge commanding Anould and Clefcy. 


GERMANY: In the British Second Army's XXX Corps area, the 334th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 84th Infantry Division eliminates resistance in environs of Prummern with help of British flame-throwing tanks, but enemy retains heights to NE. Strong opposition is slowing other elements of corps. 
In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 2d Armored Division, assisted by attached British tanks, renews an all-out drive in heavy rainfall; Combat Command B employs three Task Force’s against Gereonsweiler and takes the town; one Combat Command A Task Force overruns Ederen and another clears Freialdenhoven. The 29th Infantry Division, after seizing the village of Niedermerz, makes a two-pronged attack on Aldenhoven, in the second defensive arc of Juelich defenses, and takes the town. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, Combat Command B, 10th Armored Division, continuing toward Merzig, reaches Hill 378 but pulls back to Hill 383 because of fire from the Merzig area. 
The weather is bad with low cloud cover and no aircraft fly in support of offensive operations of the US First Army. In the north, the 104th Infantry Division clears the towns of Rohe and Burgrath and up to Hehlrath and the outskirts southwest of Eschweiler. The 3d Armored Division is pinched out by the 104th and 1st Infantry Divisions which also clears Wenau, bypasses Hersten and has elements well across the open ground towards Schnthal. Its attached 47th Regimental Combat Team reaches to within a half mile of the Aachen-Stolberg-Dueren railway. The 4th Infantry Division's 8th Infantry Regiment is counter-attacked and loses some ground, while the 22d Infantry Regiment makes slow progress towards Grosshau. 
The weather is bad with low cloud cover and no aircraft fly in support of offensive operations of the US First Army. In the north, the 104th Divisions clears the towns of Rohe and Burgrath and up to Hehlrath and the outskirts southwest of Eschweiler. The 3d Armored Division is pinched out by the 104th and 1st Divisions which also clears Wenau, bypasses Hersten and has elements well across the open ground towards Schnthal. Its attached 47th Regimental Combat Team reaches to within ½ mile of the Aachen-Stolberg-DÂ¸railway. The 4th Division's 8 Infantry is counter-attacked and loses some ground, while the 22d Infantry makes slow progress towards Grosshau. 
With the Red Army fast approaching Rastenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler leaves his old headquarters and returns to Berlin. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 718: 60 B-17s are sent to hit the Schowen oil plant at Gelsenkirchen and 92 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Munster. 
Bad weather prevents USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations but fighters fly sweeps and night patrols over broad areas of western Germany and strafe and bomb numerous railroads, trains, buildings and various military targets. 
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s bomb three targets: 172 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer, six bomb Oppell and one hits the marshalling yard at Glewitz. 
During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 183 Lancasters to make a G-H attack on the Meerbeck synthetic oil plant at Homberg but the weather is stormy and many aircraft are not able to maintain formation with the G-H aircraft on the bombing run. The bombing by 168 aircraft, through cloud, is believed to have been scattered. Five Lancasters are lost. 
During the night of 20/21 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 43 Lancasters on an unusual Pathfinder solo raid on Koblenz; 42 bombers attack without loss. The purpose of the raid is not recorded. It is possible that either the large road and rail bridges over the Rhine and Mosel Rivers or the local railway yards are the targets. Only high-explosive bombs are carried. Koblenz is completely covered by cloud and all bombing is by H2S from 15,000 feet (4 572 meters). The local report states that some bombs fall in the town, blocking several roads and railways and scoring hits on a road and a rail bridge, although these remained usable. Other raids are made by Mosquitos to six other targets: 58 hit Hannover, 14 bomb the Rauxel/Klocknerwerke synthetic oil refinery at Castrop, 11 attack the Meerbeck synthetic oil refinery at Homberg, seven bomb an aircraft engine factory at Eisenach and one each hit Duisburg and Minden. 

HUNGARY: Three targets of opportunity are bombed by USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers: two attack the marshalling yard at Nagykanizsa and one each bomb tactical targets at Gyor and the marshalling yard at Szombathely. 

ITALY: As the autumn rains turn to driving snow, General Alexander, the Allied commander-in-chief in Italy, has called a halt to the grueling campaign and stood down his armies. British tanks have found the going almost impossible, particularly across hundreds of rivers in the marshy Po valley. The German defence in Italy has been outstanding - but costly. With the Germans equally exhausted, winter activity at the front lines seems likely to be confined to patrolling and occasional artillery duels. The Allies will devote much time to training, particularly in the skills of river crossing and the Alpine warfare yet to come. 
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, German positions are heavily hit by air. The 46th Division, as a preliminary to their main assault, which is postponed until 21 November, begins to clear the Cosina loop north of Castiglione and takes Castiglione. 
Bad weather prevents USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers from successfully attacking targets but fighter-bombers are able to operate during the late morning and destroy two factories east of Modena, and supply dumps near Parma, and cause large explosions in a dump near San Felice del Benaeo. 

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, XII Corps continues toward the Maas River with the 49th Division, supported by elements of 4th Separate Armoured Brigade, and the 51st Division. The 51st finds villages on the river southwest of Venlo clear of Germans. 

UNITED KINGDOM: In London, England, five years of darkness end as street lights are switched on in Piccadilly, the Strand and Fleet Street. 

WESTERN EUROPE: USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers fly Mission 719: six B-17s and seven B-24s drop leaflets on the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night. 

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack five targets: 33 bomb a railroad bridge at Doboj, 25 hit the West marshalling yard at Sarajevo, 20 attack a railroad bridge at Zenicca, 14 bomb a railroad bridge at Fojnica and one bombs the marshalling yard at Zagreb. 
RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack Visegrad: 38 bomb vehicles and 27 hit a pontoon bridge.


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## Njaco (Dec 29, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* British 2nd Army continues attacks near Venlo. US 1st and 9th Armies meet firm resistance from German forces west of the Roer River. The US 3rd Army continues the siege of Metz while other elements gain ground near Saarebourg.

This was a night of mainly good visibility in which Bomber Command operations were directed strictly according to priorities given in recent directives.

Aschaffenburg: 274 RAF Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost. The object of this raid was to destroy the local railway yards and lines. The local report says that 50 bombs fell in the railway area, causing much damage to the marshalling yards and railway workshops but the: main through lines were not cut. Many other bombs fell in the centre and north of the town. About 500 houses were destroyed and 1,500 seriously damaged. Many old buildings were hit, including the local castle, the Johannisburg, which was hit by 5 high-explosive bombs and had a 4,000lb 'blockbuster' burst near by; the roof and upper storeys of the castle were burnt out.

Castrop-Rauxel: 273 RAF aircraft - 176 Halifaxes, 79 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 4 Halifaxes lost. The target was the oil refinery. The local report says that 216 high-explosive bombs, 78 duds and many incendiaries hit the oil plant and caused such a large fire that the fire-fighters could do little more than allow it to burn itself out. It is believe that the refinery produced no more oil after this raid. Bombs fell in many other places, including some important industrial and coal-mining premises.

Sterkrade: 270 RAF aircraft - 232 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos, 18 Lancasters - of 4 and 8 Groups. 2 Halifaxes lost. The target was again the synthetic-oil refinery. Bomber Command's report says that the plant was not damaged, though some labour barracks near by were hit.

Mittelland Canal: 138 RAF Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 2 Lancasters lost. The canal banks were successfully breached near Gravenhorst. Later photographs showed that water drained off over a 30 mile stretch and that 59 barges were stranded on one short section alone.

Dortmund-Ems Canal: 123 RAF Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. No aircraft lost. The canal near Ladbergen was attacked, some of the Lancasters coming down to 4,000ft to get beneath the cloud. A breach was made in the only branch of the aqueduct here which had been repaired since the last raid and the water once again drained out of the canal.

Total effort for the night: 1,345 sorties, 14 aircraft (1.0 per cent) lost.

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 95th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 17th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Poretta, Corsica to Dijon, France with B-26s.

The 378th Fighter Squadron, 362d Fighter Group, moves from Prosnes to Rouvres, France with P-47s. 

*GERMANY:* 160 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group to attack the Homberg oil refinery. 3 Lancasters lost. The bombing was scattered at first but then became very concentrated, culminating, according to the Bomber Command report, in 'a vast sheet of yellow flame followed by black smoke rising to a great height'. This was a very satisfactory raid after several previous attempts by Bomber Command to destroy this oil refinery.

29 RAF Mosquitos to Stuttgart, 26 to Hannover, 19 to Worms and 4 to Wesel, 38 RCM sorties, 80 Mosquito patrols, 24 Halifaxes and 18 Lancasters minelaying off Oslo, 9 aircraft on Resistance operations. 4 aircraft were lost - 2 Mosquitos and 1 Halifax of No 100 Group and 1 Lancaster from the minelaying force.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 720: 1,291 bombers and 954 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks using H2X on oil targets in Germany; they claim 73-7-25 Luftwaffe aircraft; 25 bombers and 15 fighters are lost: 1. 421 B-17s are sent to hit the Leuna synthetic oil plant at Merseburg (200); targets of opportunity are Meppen (24), Friedburg (21), Hersfeld (12) and Hunfeld (12) marshalling yards, flak gun batteries at Merseburg (12), Leeuwarden Airfield (11), Apolda (10) the Autobahn at Hersfeld (10), Quakenbruck (10), and other (69); the AAF claims 1-0-1 aircraft; 14 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 205 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 16 WIA and 129 MIA. Escort is 268 of 310 P-51s; they claim 63-7-20 aircraft in the air and 3-0-2 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 402 B-17s are sent to Sterkrade, Lendorf and Hamburg but hit the secondary, the Osnarbruck marshalling yard (166) and last resort targets, i.e., Giessen marshalling yard (77), Wetzlar (62), Lingen (24), Koblenz marshalling yard (23), Bielefeld marshalling yard (9), and targets of opportunity (35); 7 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 142 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 65 MIA. Escort is 382 of 420 P-51s; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 366 B-24s are sent to hit the Dpag (178) and Rhenania (171) oil plants at Hamburg; 4 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 220 damaged; 19 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 89 MIA. Escort is 177 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-2 aircraft in the air and 2-0-1 on the ground; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 12 of 12 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 31 of 33 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 721: 7 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

US Ninth Air Force: In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits rail bridges and defended areas at several points including Bergstein, Echtz, Sinzig, Neuwied, and Derichsweiler; fighters escort the B-26s and also Eighth AF B-17s (to Merseburg), fly area cover, sweeps, and dive-bombing missions in W Germany, and support the US 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions in the Hurtgen area and the XII and XX Corps between Merzig and Sarreguemines, France. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Fifteenth Air Force):25 B-24s bomb troop concentrations, railroad, and highways at Novi Pazar and Cacak, Yugoslavia. 155 P-38s dive-bomb communications lines in S Yugoslavia, destroying several vehicles, blasting roads at Vucitrn, Rogatica, Tvrdosevo, and Duga Poljana, hitting bridges at Vrbasici, and Kukavica and causing a landslide at Pavlica; 87 P-51s strafe communications over wide areas of S Yugoslavia; other fighters fly reconnaissance missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s blast defenses and troop concentrations in the Faenza area as the British Eighth Army's 5 Corps opens a general offensive N towards that town; fighter-bombers hit targets in the US Fifth Army battle area S of Bolonga, in the Po Valley, and in NE Italy; particularly good results are achieved against supply dumps and a rail line in the Brenner Pass is cut in 3 places.


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## Njaco (Dec 29, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT:* (US Eighth Air Force): The 2d and 4th Combat Bombardment Wings (Heavy) of the 3d Bombardment Division are combined to form the Administrative Bombardment Wing (Provisional); this type of unit is expected to be highly suitable for conditions in the Pacific theater where bomb division HQ might be located far from its wing HQ; under this new plan, the administrative wing can absorb many functions of the division HQ; this experiment will be judged acceptable during Feb 45.

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): HQ 63d Fighter Wing moves from San Pietro Italy to Vittel, France; the 432d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 17th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Poretta, Corsica to Dijon, France with B-26s. Ninth Air Force: Bomber operations are cancelled due to bad weather; fighter operations are limited. 16 aircraft from the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands patrol over the V and VII Corps area (SE of Aachen), the Bonn- Cologne area, and fly reconnaissance around Saarbrucken, Homburg/Saar, Neukirchen and Kaiserslautern, Germany, and Sarrebourg, France. In France, the 377th Fighter Squadron, 362d Fighter Group, moves from Prosnes to Rouvres, France with P-47s. 

Operations of the US 9th Army and the US 1st Army secure Eschweiler. Forces of the US 3rd Army capture Metz. US 7th Army forces take St. Die as others approach Saverne. The French 1st Army occupies Mulhouse, after defeating a counterattack by German forces.

171 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group were dispatched to attack the U-boat pens at Trondheim but the target was covered by a smoke-screen and the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be abandoned after the illuminating and marking force had been unable to find the target. 2 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito lost.

*GERMANY:* (US Fifteenth Air Force): 205 B-17s and B-24s hit E and W marshalling yards at Munich, Germany; 214 others fail to reach primaries because of impenetrable weather and attack alternates and targets of opportunity including marshalling yards at Regensburg, Germany, Salzburg, Lienz, and Villach, Austria and several targets of opportunity at scattered points; fighters provide escort to Munich, Germany. In Italy, 88 B-24s attack a bridge at Ferrara and rail line at Carbola, while 39 P-38s bomb the Osoppo motor transport depot. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s again pound defenses in the Faenza area as British Eighth Army forces push into that area from the SE; fighter-bombers and fighters fly nearly 350 sorties against rail lines in the Po Valley and very successfully hit guns, vehicles, troops and other targets in the US Fifth Army battle area S of Bologna, and supply dumps and pipelines N of the battle area. 

*NORTH AMERICA:* In Canada, at a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister King announces that the request for volunteers for overseas duty had failed. The Army High Command threatens to resign if the government does not impose conscription to send soldiers into overseas battle. With a risk of District Officers Commanding threatening to resign, the only option left was mandatory conscription. Defence Minister Andrew McNaughton recommends to Cabinet that 16,000 conscripted soldiers be sent to fight in Europe.


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## Njaco (Dec 29, 2009)

*WESTERN FRONT*: At 08:07 hours in the morning two BF 110G-4 of 1./NJG 3 took off from Fliegerhorst Tirstrup for aireal combat training. Bf 110G-4 coded D5+ICH was piloted by the Staffel commander Oblt. Herbert Koch with the crew of Radar operator Fw. Werner Gärtner and Wop Uffz. Karl Edelmann. Bf 110G-4 coded D5+QK was piloted by Fw. Georg Helbig with the crew of Wop and Radar operators Uffz. Willy Beyersdörfer and Uffz. Otto Henselmann. Helbig and his crew had only been with the staffel for a short time and were not yet considered to be fully operative. On this morning they were to train attack manouvers. After take off they headed north. Just south of Aalborg Oblt. Koch ordered Fw. Helbig to follow him through a layer of clouds and try to locate him with the FuG 220 radar that the Bf 110G-4 was equiped with. When Koch came out on top of the layer he waited for Helbig, and when he did not show up, Koch dived down through the clouds and spotted black smoke coming from the ground at Store Vildmosen moor. He also saw the wreckage of Helbig's aircraft and circled the area looking for parachutes. He then set course for Fliegerhorst Aalborg West where he landed at 09:08 hrs. A rescue team was sent to the crash site only to find that the crew of three were killed in the crash.

On the right flank of the German line, the 15th Army falls back in Holland. Meanwhile, the German 7th Army launches attacks on forces of US 9th Army. To the south, French troops of US 7th Army reach Strasbourg.

U.S. freighter _'William D. Burnham' _is torpedoed by German submarine _'U-978' _about five miles off Barfleur, France; 10 of the 26-man Armed Guard perish, as do eight of the 41-man merchant complement. British escort drifter HMS _'Fidget' _rescues survivors, transferring most to motor torpedo boat PT-461, and the wounded to British destroyer HMS _'Vesper'_. Salvage tug ATR-3 later tows _'William D. Burnham' _to Cherbourg where the freighter is beached and ultimately assessed as a total loss. 

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): HQ 42d Bombardment Wing (Medium) moves from Borgo, Corsica to Dijon, France. Ninth Air Force: Unfavorable weather cancels all flights. 

*ENGLAND*: To date, about 200 V-2 rockets have landed in England, about 100 in the London Region, killing about 500.

The British Eastern Fleet is disbanded. Older ships and the escort carriers a formed into the British East Indies Fleet, while the modern ships are detached for service as the British Pacific Fleet.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops take Cop. In Hungary, Soviet forces capture Tokay in the north of the country. 

The Germans evacuate Finnish Lapland and Macedonia, at opposite ends of the front. The Soviet government announces that, with the assistance of Finnish forces in accord with the terms of the recent armistice, Finnish Lapland has been cleared of German troops.

*GERMANY*: 168 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid through cloud on the Nordstern oil plant at Gelsenkirchen. The bombing appeared to be accurate. 1 Lancaster lost.

61 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 9 to Eisenach and 6 each to Gottingen and Hagen, 43 aircraft of No 100 Group on RCM and Mosquito operations (separate figures not available). 1 Mosquito lost from the Hannover raid.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 722: In Germany, 134 of 155 B-17s and 73 of 78 P-51s make a GH attack on the Norstern benzol manufacturing plant near Gelsenkirchen and the marshalling yard at Duisburg with the loss of 1 P-51 (pilot MIA) and 1 P-51 damaged beyond repair; 13 of 13 B-17s fly a screening mission and 10 of 12 P-51s fly a scouting mission.

*MEDITERRANEAN;* Motor torpedo boat patrol attacks southbound convoy off Portofino, damaging two coasters, while engaged by German shore battery that inflicts no damage on the PTs. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather restricts operations; medium bombers over the Faenza area abort due to overcast, P-47s hampered by low clouds over the Apennines Mountains, fly only 16 sorties, against rail lines S of Bologna, but succeed in cutting the lines in 6 places. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Yugoslavia, 81 B-24s attack road and railroad bridges at or near Zenica, Brod, and Doboj; 30 P-38s bomb the Doboj marshalling yard, 13 hit Doboj road and rail bridge, and 4 attack, but miss, a bridge at Maglaj; 13 B-24s and B-17s drop supplies at points in Yugoslavia.


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## Njaco (Dec 29, 2009)

*NORTH AMERICA:* In the Cabot Strait, Canada, German submarine _'U-1228' _torpedoes and sinks Canadian corvette HMCS _'Shawnigan'_. All 90 on board die.

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 3rd Army captures crossings over the Saar River, about 25 miles north of Saarbrucken. Troops of the French First Army (de Tassigny) capture Mühlhausen in Alsace, while the French 2nd Division completes the capture of Strasboug. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In the Baltic, Soviet forces complete the occupation of Saaremo Island in the Gulf of Riga. About 5000 German troops have been evacuated. Most of the remaining German surface fleet _'Lutzow'_, _'Admiral Scheer' _and _'Prinz Eugen' _provide support for the evacuation, in addition to shelling mainland targets in support of German Army Group North. German Army Group North is now isolated in the Baltic province of Kurland. 

*GERMANY:* 58 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 to Gottingen, 13 Halifaxes minelaying off Denmark. No aircraft lost.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels all operations except for 3 XIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) fighters which fly a night intruder mission in Saarbrucken, Zweibrucken, and Homburg/Saar areas of Germany.

The rest of the Gruppen of JG 7 are formed. I./JG 7 is renamed II./JG 7 and is based at Lager-Lechfeld flying Me 262s led by Major Staiger. I./JG 7 is formed from II./JG 3 with Major Theo Weissenberger as Gruppenkommandeur. The old III Gruppe is reformed as IV./JG 301 and is based at Ziegenhain. The new III Gruppe uses components of Kommando Nowotny led by Major Erich Hohagen. The Jagdgeschwader is named JG 7 ‘Nowotny’. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s, in support of the British Eighth Army, bomb defenses in the Faenza area; bad weather restricts fighter-bombers to 2 missions which damage a road bridge and cut rail line S of Modena.


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## Njaco (Dec 29, 2009)

*GERMANY:* (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 723: 1,043 bombers and 965 fighters are dispatched to hit the synthetic oil plant at Merseburg, Germany using H2X and a marshalling yard; 8 bombers and 6 fighters are lost: 1. 671 of 766 hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg and 9 hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 197 damaged; 7 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 64 MIA. Escort is 716 of 800 P-51s; they claim 9-0-8 aircraft on the ground; 6 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 254 of 271 B-24s hit the Bingen marshalling yard; 43 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escort is 129 of 130 P-47s.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits an ordnance arsenal at Landau, road junctions, and an ammunition dump at Neustadt and Kaiserslautern; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth AF, fly armed reconnaissance and support ground forces E of Aachen and between Merzig and Sarreguemines, France. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): During the night of 24/25 Nov, 40+ B-17s and B-24s bomb the Linz benzol plant, Klagenfurt, and Innsbruck, Austria, and Munich W W marshalling yards in Germany, and 2 unidentified targets of opportunity; during the day P-38s fly photo and weather reconnaissance missions. 

US troops break out of the Hurtgen Forest. Forces of US 1st Army, to the southeast of Aachen, advance beyond Hurtgen.

68 RAF Mosquitos to Nuremberg, 10 to Hagen and 9 each to Erfurt and Stuttgart, 36 RCM sorties, 38 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito lost from the Nuremberg raid.

*WESTERN FRONT:* (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 724: 7 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Fighter Command starts daily operations as a screening force for the bombardment divisions; it is assigned the task of protecting the Eighth's primary VHF and fighter-to-bomber communications from interception during assembly; the increase of flak batteries around German military and industrial installations soon compels the 36th to increase radar countermeasures on each mission; the 36th remains on this assignment until the end of war in Europe.

The 356th Fighter Squadron 354th Fighter Group, moves from Orconte to Rosieres-en-Haye, France with P-47s. 

_'U-482' _was sunk in the North Atlantic west of the Shetlands, in position 60.18N, 04.52W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Ascension'_. 48 dead (all hands lost).

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather again hampers operations; 3 fighter groups fly only 53 sorties against railway targets and targets of opportunity N of the US Fifth Army battle area, cutting lines at 14 places and destroying several vehicles. The 414th Night Fighter Squadron, 62d Fighter Wing, moves from Pisa to Pontedera, Italy with Beaufighters.

The British 8th Army crosses the Cosina River.

General Alexander is promoted to Field-Marshal.

*ENGLAND:* A German V-2 rocket strikes the crowded Woolworths store on New Cross Road, in Deptford, central London, England, killing 160, seriously injuring 77, and injuring 122 others.

*EASTERN FRONT:* Uffz. Otto Kittel of 2./JG 54 is awarded the Swords to his Knights Cross with Oak Leaves (Schwerten) and promoted to Oberleutnant. He has 230 victories.


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## Njaco (Jan 3, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 1st Army captures Weisweiler to the west of Cologne. The Port of Antwerp is opened for shipping, despite still being under fire from V-1 and V-2 weapons

RAF Spitfire fighter bombers attack two suspected V2 rocket sites.

75 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group were sent on a trial raid to attack the railway centre at Fulda to establish whether G-H signals could reach to this distance, 160 miles from the German frontier. The distance was too great, however, and the bombs were scattered over a wide area. No aircraft lost.

The 390th and 391st Fighter Squadrons, 366th Fighter Group, move from Couvron Airfield at Laon, France to Asch, Belgium with P-47s. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In eastern Slovakia, Soviet forces capture Michaloyce. In Hungary, elements of the 6th Guards Tank Army capture Hatvan.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 39 P-38s fly an offensive sweep over Seregelyes Airfield, Hungary and strafe nearby road and rail traffic; other fighters fly reconnaissance and escort. 

*GERMANY:* Munich: 270 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 1 Lancaster crashed in France. Bomber Command claimed this as an accurate raid in good visibility with much fresh damage, particularly to railway targets. It has not been possible to obtain a local report.

7 Mosquitos to Erfurt and 6 to Karlsruhe (a 'spoof' raid), 20 RCM sorties, 20 Mosquito patrols, 31 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Intruder Mosquito was lost and 1 Hudson on a Resistance flight crashed behind Allied lines in Belgium.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 725: 1,137 bombers and 732 fighters are dispatched to make attacks on rail viaducts, marshalling yards and oil installations in W Germany; all but 1 attack is with radar; about 550 Luftwaffe fighters intercept and 34 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; the AAF claims 133-14-42 aircraft: 1. 406 B-17s are sent to hit an oil refinery at Misburg (243) and a rail viaduct at Altenbekin (118); 19 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Osnabruck; 3 others hit a target of opportunity; they claim 4-6-7 aircraft; 10 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 160 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 93 MIA. Escorting are 292 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 67-2-11 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair. 2. 350 B-24s are sent to hit the Schidesche rail viaduct at Bielefeld (240) and the Misburg oil refinery (57); targets of opportunity are Hannover marshalling yard (26) and other (1); they claim 12-5-4 aircraft; 21 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 53 damaged; 15 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 196 MIA. Escorting are 208 P-47s and P-1s; they claim 42-0-18 aircraft; 2 P-47s and 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 381 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Hamm (266); other marshalling yards hit are at Gutersloh (37), Bielefeld (36), Herford (24) plus 3 hit other targets; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 86 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 27 MIA. Escorting are 132 of 138 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 36 of 36 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 5-1-2 aircraft without loss. Mission 726: 8 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets on France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 173 B-26s and A-20s bomb supply, storage, stores, and ordnance depots at Gaulsheim, Bergzabern, Giessen, Reichenbach, and Homburg/Saar; fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over W Germany, search for a lost A-20, escort 9th Bombardment Division, and support the US 29th Infantry Division at Bourheim and the XX and XII Corps in the area of the Maginot Line and German-French border. 

In the afternoon, I./JG 3 were ordered to scramble on a defensive mission in very hazy weather. Radio contact with the ground was lost. In these poor conditions the Gruppenkommandeur, Hauptmann Horst Haase (62 victories, RK) collided with his wingman, Leutnant Hans Fritz (12 victories), both aircraft crashing from low altitude near Erkelenz with their pilots still aboard. Leutnant Walter Brandt, the Staffelkapitän of 2./JG 3, assumed command of the formation and led it back to Paderborn. However, Brandt was then placed under arrest for cowardice in the face of the enemy because there had been no contact with the enemy and the formation could not be reached by radio at low level to be guided on to the enemy. The charges were later dismissed.

Despite plans to have over a hundred Me 262 jet fighters available for training purposes, Hptm. Geyer’s III./EJG 2 by this time only has a dozen instructors, sixty-nine pupils and only two available Me 262s.

JG 7 loses several pilots on this day in action. Lt. Schreiber again collides with an Allied Spitfire but does not survive the crash. He has seven victories at the time of his death. Rudolf Alf is killed in a flying accident.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, a slight improvement in the weather permits fighter-bombers to increase operations; P-47s closely support ground forces in the US Fifth Army battle area in the Apennines S of Bologna and cut rail lines in over 30 places N of the immediate battle zone. 

The war in Italy is at a stalemate, partly because of heavy rains.


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## Njaco (Jan 3, 2010)

*GERMANY:* The first Me 262 night-fighter kill is scored by Lt. Welter of Kommando Welter over an RAF Mosquito.

169 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the Kalk Nord railway yards at Cologne. Good results were observed. 1 Lancaster lost.

341 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups despatched to Freiburg. 1 Lancaster lost. Freiburg was not an industrial town and had not been bombed before by the RAF It was attacked on this night because it was a minor railway centre and because many German troops were believed to be present in the town; American and French units were advancing in the Vosges, only 35 miles to the west. The marking of the medium-sized town was based on Oboe directed from caravans situated in France. Flak defences were light and 1,900 tons of bombs were dropped on Freiburg in 25 minutes. Photographs showed that the railway targets were not hit but that the main town area was severely damaged.

290 RAF aircraft - 173 Halifaxes, 102 Lancasters, 15 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups to Neuss. 1 Mosquito lost. The central and eastern districts of Neuss were heavily bombed and many fires were started. 

67 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 7 each to Hallendorf and Ludwigshafen and 5 to Nuremberg, 35 RCM sorties, 61 Mosquito patrols, 18 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters minelaying off Danish and Norwegian coasts. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 727: 530 bombers and 770 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on marshalling yards in Germany and fighter-bomber strikes on 4 oil centers in N and C Germany; they claim 102-4-12 aircraft; 15 fighters are lost: 1. 148 of 190 B-17s hit the Bingen marshalling yard; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 46 bombers are damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escorting are 91 of 95 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 181 of 186 B-17s hit the Offenburg marshalling yard; 1 hits Freiburg; 14 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escorting are 105 of 107 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 144 of 154 B-24s hit the Offenburg marshalling yard; 7 others hit targets of opportunity; 9 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 45 of 48 P-51s without loss. 4. 460 P-47s and P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against oil targets in N and C Germany; about 750 Luftwaffe fighters, the largest sighting to date, attack in the Magdeburg-Munster-Hannover areas when the Germans mistake the fighters for a heavy bomber formation; the AAF claims 98-4-11 aircraft in the air and 4-0-1 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 10 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The German prison ship _'Rigel' _is sunk by British carrier planes off the coast of Norway. Of the 2248 Soviet prisoners of war on board, 415 survive.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather forbids bomber missions; fighters patrol over W Germany, dive-bomb a bridge at Rurdorf, and support the US 104th, 8th, and 1st Infantry Divisions near Hurtgen and in the Weisweiler-Franz area, and the XIX Corps (mainly the 2d Armored Division) at Merzenhausen. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Hungary, the Red Army breaks through the German-Hungarian defensive lines and captures Mohacs.


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## syscom3 (Jan 14, 2010)

BALTIC SEA: German submarine U-80 is sunk about 14 nautical miles south of Pillau, East Prussia, Germany, in position 54.25N, 19.50E, in a diving accident; all 50 crewmen are lost. 

BELGIUM: The first Allied convoy reaches the newly opened port of Antwerp after the channel is cleared of mines, and after capture of the island of Walcheren at the mouth; Canadians first attacked the causeway on 31 October. Despite German rocket (V weapons) attacks, the opening of this port will alter the supply problems that have plagued the western Allies.

FRANCE: In U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, mops up west of Canal des Houilleres de Ia Sarre; the 101st Infantry Regiment is sent to Burbach to support the 4th Armored Division east of the Saar River in a drive on Sarre-Union scheduled for 1 December. 26th Infantry Division is to extend northward to take over most of zone held by 35th Div. The 4th Armored Division, in preparation for the Sarre-Union attack, is laboriously clearing the villages east of the Drulingen-Sarre-Union highway, Combat Command B taking Berg. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the French 2d Armored Division starts south from Strasbourg in two columns, reaching the Erstein area, where the Germans are resisting strongly. Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, also meets firm resistance in the vicinity of Erstein as well as at Barr.
Elements of the 36th Infantry Division find Liepvre, on the Ste Marie-Sélestat road, and Koenigsbourg Chateau, southeast of Liepvre, undefended. 
In the French First Army area, the II and I Corps converge at Burnhaupt at 1430 hours and pocket the German forces in Alsace. The junction is made by Combat Command 4 of the 5th Armored Division, I Corps, and Combat Command 6, under command of the 2d Moroccan Division of II Corps. The Germans soon attempt to break out of the encirclement. In the Alps Sector, the U.S. 100th Battalion of Regimental Combat Team 442 relieves the Canadian-U.S. 1st Special Service Force on the Franco-Italian frontier. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army area, XIX Corps virtually finishes clearing its zone to the Roer River. Combat Command A, 2d Armored Division, takes Barmen and reaches the river near there. In the 29th Infantry Division zone,
Koslar is found free of Germans but the two strongpoints in the Juelich area must still be cleared. The 30th Infantry Division commits a battalion of the 120th Infantry Regiment in the battle for Altkirch, which is cleared, but the Germans retain a small triangle between the Inde and Roer Rivers. The offensive halts temporarily. 
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division's 413th Infantry Regiment attacks at 0430 hours and advances 2000 yards against heavy resistance. It enters the towns of Imden and Lamersdorf and captures an intact bridge over the Inde River. Frenzerburg Castle has been abandoned by the Germans.
In the 1st Infantry Division area there is little forward movement. German tank supported counterattacks launched between 0200 and 0300 hours are repulsed at Langerwehe and Jungersdorf. The 4th Infantry Division inserts the 12th Infantry Regiment between the 8th and 22d Infantry Regiments in the Huertgen Forest and the 12th Infantry takes Hill 90.
Combat Command A, 5th Armored Division and the 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Division seize the village of Hurtgen in heavy fighting. A battalion of the 13th Infantry Regiments cuts the Kleinhau-Brandenburg Road on the far edge of the Grosshau-Kleinhau clearing, and stops a German counter-attack from Kleinhau.
In U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 95th Infantry Division gains positions roughly abreast the 90th Infantry Division to the north; the 377th Infantry Regiment pushes into Germany; the 378th is slowed by opposition from woods east of Falck but makes some progress. In XII Corps area, 317th Infantry Regiment of 80th Infantry Division fights hard for Farebersviller, elements entering and clearing part of the town. About 2000 hours, the Germans with tanks attempt unsuccessfully to drive the Americans from Farebersviller.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division hits the defended villages of Birgel and Merken, a rail bridge at Sinzig, and a Billiger Forest ammunition dump. Fighters fly escort, night intruder missions, and armed reconnaissance in the Kall-Trier area, and support the U.S. 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions as they take Langerwehe, Jungersdorf, Hurtgen, and the bridge at Inden. 
During the night of 28/29 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 316 aircraft, 270 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos, to bomb Essen; 308 aircraft bomb the city without loss. Bomber Command documents claim further damage to industrial areas, including the Krupps works.
An interesting little item in the local fire brigade report congratulates the team working in the burning headquarters of the local Gestapo for saving valuable documents. In a second raid, 153 Lancasters are sent to bomb Neuss; 148 attack the city without loss. Mosquitos are dispatched to attack several targets: 72 bomb Nurnburg with the loss of one, seven bomb the Hermann Goering steel plant at Hallendorf and one each bomb Duisburg, Hannover and Osnabruck. 

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the British XIII Corps takes Casola Valscnio and Mt. Taverna without opposition.
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division suspends operations against Casa Bettini bridge because of weather conditions.
The Canadian I Corps is concentrating in forward positions in order to attack along the Adriatic coast. 

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s hit railroad bridges at Magenta, Torre Beretti, and Casale Monferrato, and an abandoned ship in La Spezia harbor.
Fighters and fighter-bombers support ground forces in the battle area in the Apennines Mountains south of Bologna, hit communications targets north of the battle zone, and cut railroad lines in 40+ places in the Brenner Pass and north central Po River areas. 
During the night of 28/29 November, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s fly armed reconnaissance over the Po Valley, dropping incendiaries at several points including bridges at Piacenza and Castel Maggiore and the airfields at Ghedi and Villafranca di Verona. 

POLAND: The last gassings take place at Auschwitz concentration camp in the suburbs of the city of Oswiecim. More than 8,000 have been gassed since 1 November.


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## syscom3 (Jan 14, 2010)

ALBANIA: The Germans evacuate Scutari ahead of the advancing Russian and partisan forces. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area around Metz, Fort St Privat falls to the 5th Infantry Division. In the XII Corps area, the Germans recovers all of Farebersviller from 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division, although tanks and tank destroyers have moved forward to assist infantrymen. A task force of Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, takes Durstel. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 114th Infantry Regiment of the 44th Infantry Division takes Tidfenbach. The 45th Infantry Division improves its positions along the north bank of the Moder River in the Rothbach-Mertzwille r region. In a limited objective attack, the 79th Infantry Division's 314th Infantry Regiment clears Niederschaeffolshei m, near Haguenau. In the VI Corps area, Erstein falls to the French 2d Armored Division. The 411th Infantry Regiment, 103d Infantry Division, seizes Barr and Andlau. Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, pushes south through Barr along the eastern edge of the Vosges Mountains. The 36th Infantry Division mops up near Liepvre and to the finds Le Bonhomme free of the Germans.

GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army area, XIII Corps begins a drive toward the Roer River before dawn, omitting artillery preparation. The 84th Infantry Division, on the left flank of the corps, makes the main effort toward Lindern and the high ground northeast of Beeck with the 335th Infantry Regiment: about 100 men of the 3d Battalion reach Lindern at daybreak and hold there until reinforcements, including tanks, arrive much later in the day; German efforts to regain the village are repulsed; the 2d Battalion begins an assault on the heights northeast of Beeck against strong opposition. The 333d Infantry Regiment provides fire support for the 335th; in conjunction with the 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) conducts demonstration against Beeck. The 102d Infantry Division makes a secondary effort on the southern flank of the corps, the 405th Infantry Regiment advancing along the Lindern-Linnich highway to the right of the 84th Infantry Division and elements to the right gaining limited their objective in preparation for the next assault. 
In U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Division repulses German counterattacks during the night in the towns of Lamersdorf and Imden, but the Germans recaptured the bridge site over the Inde. In the 1st Infantry Division area, a battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment cuts the highway east of Langerwehe, while two companies of the 26th Infantry advances into Merode., where they are isolated and almost destroyed during counterattack. A squadron of the 4th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) screens the gap developing between the 26th and 8th Infantry Regiments. The 4th Infantry Division's 8th Infantry Regiment advances 1000 yards (914 meters) along the Schevenhuette- Dueren road and the 22d seizes Grosshau and cuts the Grosshau-Gey road. In the V Corps area, Combat Command R of the 5th Armored Division and elements of the 121st Infantry seize Kleinhau, clears the village and reports Hill 401 captured. East of Hurtgen, the Germans are driven back almost 1000 yards.
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 90th and 95th Infantry Divisions launch a co-ordinated attack to reach the Sarre River. The 90th Infantry Division, with little difficulty, gets a patrol to the river. The 95th is strongly opposed on the Saar heights in front of Saarlautern and undergoes ten counterattacks, but gains the general line Kerprich-Hemmersdor f-St Barbara-Merten. 

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 729: 1,077 bombers and 946 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on railroad viaducts and marshalling yards (M/Ys) and oil refineries; one bomber is lost: 404 hit the oil refinery at Misburg; 281 bomb the M/Y at Hamm; 151 attack the Schildesche railroad viaduct at Bielefeld; 144 bomb the railroad viaduct at Altenbeken; 32 bomb the M/Y at Osnabruck; and seven bomb targets of opportunity. 

Three hundred one USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s hit defended areas, barracks, and military depots at Wittlich, Mariaweiler, Pier, Eisdorf, Limburg, Rastatt, and Landau; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth Air Force, fly armed reconnaissance over western Germany, and support the 104th Infantry Division in a holding action against counterattacks at Inden and Lammersdorf, the 8th Infantry Division at Hurtgen, and the 7th Armored Division in the XIII Corps drive toward the Roer River. 

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 294 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos to bomb Dortmund; 291 bomb the target with the loss of six Lancasters. Bad weather causes the marking and resultant bombing to be scattered but fresh damage is caused in Dortmund. Thirty Mosquitos attempt to bomb a tar and benzol plant in the Meiderich district of Duisburg, using the Oboe-leader method for the first time on a German target, but two of the three formations of Mosquitos failed to link up with their Oboe leaders and 29 bomb on timed runs from the docks south of Duisburg. Most of the bombs are believed to have fallen beyond the target. 
During the night of 29/30 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 71 Mosquitos to hit two targets; 66 bomb Hannover and one each bomb Dusseldorf, Hagen and Munster.

HUNGARY: Forces of the Third Ukrainian Front have joined in an offensive to the left of the Second Ukrainian troops and, in conjunction with Yugoslav partisans, have crossed the Danube River near the Yugoslav-Hungarian frontier south of Budapest and driven toward Lake Balaton in the region north of the Drava River. Mohacs and Pecs are free of the Germans. 

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the British XIII Corps takes Fontanelice without a fight. The Germans recapture Mt. Castellaro from the 1st Division. 
During the day weather grounds the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's medium bombers however, fighters and fighter-bombers can operate, and attack enemy communications on the Brenner line and in the north central Po Valley, cutting rail lines in numerous places and destroying a large number of vehicles and railroad cars. 

SWEDEN: Focke-Wulf Fw 200A-0 Condor, msn 2994, registered D-ARHW and named "Friesland" by the German airline Lufthansa, is shot down by a German patrol boat near Malmö. All six passengers and four crew are killed. 

UNITED STATES: The German submarine U-1230 lands two German Abwehr agents, William C. Colepaugh and Erich Gimpel, at Hancock Point, Frenchman's Bay, Maine. [Hancock Point is about 5 miles north of Bar Harbor.] The men walk cross-country through snow to a nearby road where they are seen by a high school student who alerts his father, the local deputy sheriff. The FBI, who had been alerted by Enigma decrypts that U-1230 was on a "special mission," is notified and they begin a manhunt. The two spies evade the authorities and make it to New York City with US$60,000 in cash (US$665,800 in year 2005 dollars) and small diamonds. Colepaugh, who was born and raised in New England, begins to have second thoughts and reveals his mission to a childhood friend. Finally, he turns himself into the FBI on 26 December and aids the authorities in tracking down Gimpel who is also in New York City; Gimpel is finally apprehended on 30 December. Both men are tired and sentenced to death but their sentences are commuted by President Harry S. Truman after the war. 
The Office of War Information (OWI) reveals that the Germans had sunk over 22 million tons of Allied and neutral merchant shipping between September 1939 and 1 January 1944. Despite this staggering loss, the U.S. has replaced this tonnage, launching 4,308 ships with a deadweight tonnage of over 44 million during the same period. By 1944, the Allies had achieved naval superiority in the Battle of the Atlantic, destroying over 500 U-boats.


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## syscom3 (Jan 14, 2010)

AUSTRIA: During the night of 30 November/1 December, USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb five targets:18 hit the Linz/Hermann Goering benzine refinery at Linz with the loss of one aircraft, five bomb the main marshalling yard (M/Y) at Innsbruck and one each bomb the city of Gmunden and the M/Ys at Klagenfurt and Villach. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, positions are generally static except on the right, where the 4th Armored Division gets into position for an assault on Sarre-Union with the capture of heights overlooking Mackwiller. (Jack McKillop)
In U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the French 2d Armored Division and Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, continue south on the east flank of the corps; Combat Command A clears St Pierre. The 103d Infantry Division, now concentrated about Epfig, south of St Pierre, follows Combat Command A southward toward Sélestat. Elements of the 36th Infantry Division get into position for an attack on Chatenois, west of Sélestat. 

GERMANY: Lilo Gloeden, her husband and mother are beheaded at two minute intervals by guillotine in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin. Gloeden was a 41-year-old housewife who helped shelter those persecuted by the Nazis for weeks at a time in their flat (apartment). Among those sheltered was Dr. Carl Goerdeler, resistance leader and Lord Mayor of Leipzig. The three were arrested by the Gestapo and tortured during interrogation before being executed.
In U.S. Ninth Army's XIII Corps area, the 102d Infantry Division takes over the burden of attack: while the 405th Infantry Regiment continues to fight along the Lindern- Linnich highway, the 406th drives to the edge of Linnich and the 407th clears the Germans from Welz, within a mile of the Roer River. The 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division, overcomes resistance within Beeck, but the Germans retains the heights to the northeast. 
In U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division finishes clearing Lammersdorf but very heavy fighting occurs in the town of Inden and several German tanks are destroyed. 1st Infantry Division units experience heavy fighting in their attempt to relieve two companies of the 26th Infantry Regiemnt cut off in Merode. Langerwehe and Jungersdorf are held against heavy counterattacks. 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, advances along the Schevenhuette- Dueren continues costly efforts to get through the Huertgen Forest; the 12th Infantry Regiment, advancing more than 1,000 yards, reaches the edge of woods west of Gey but is too weak to attack the village; the 22d reinforced by 46th Armored Infantry Battalion, 5th Armored Division, attempts to secure Grosshau clearing and the forest between Grosshau and Gey in order to swing northeast toward Dueren; some elements reach the edge of the woods overlooking Gey, but the rest of force suffers heavily while trying to come abreast. The 8th Infantry Division's 121st Infantry Regiment along with Combat Command A, 5th Armored Division advanced east through the woods south of Hurtgen. 
In U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 10th Armored Division attacks toward the Sarre River on the northern flank of the corps, Combat Command B on the right reaching the river opposite Merzig, where bridges are down. The 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, occupies Fremersdorf, on the west bank of the Sarre, without opposition; the 1st Battalion, 357th Infantry Regiment, crosses the Nied River in assault boats near Niedakdorf and pushes on to Bueren, which the Germans are defending. After consolidating positions, the 95th Infantry Division continues their attack toward the Sarre, gaining the heights commanding Saarlautern: the 377th Infantry Regiment mops up Ste Barbara on the left and advances the right wing to Felsberg; the 378th takes a hill south of Felsberg. Task Force Bell, consisting of the 5th Infantry Division’s 10th Infantry Regiment (-), 5th Reconnaissance Troop, and supporting units, is formed to cover the exposed right flank of the 95th Infantry Division and attached to that division.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 731: 1,281 bombers and 972 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants in southeastern Germany and marshalling yards (M/Ys); intense accurate flak downs 29 bombers and three fighters are lost: 181 bomb the M/Y at Neuenkirchen with the loss of one aircraft and 103 bomb the M/Y at Homburg. Synthetic oil refineries hit are Zeitz by 287 aircraft with the loss of nine; I.G. Farben refinery at Merseberg by 250 aircraft with the loss of 14; Lutzkendorf by 148 with the loss of two; Lutzkendorf by 148 with the loss of two; and the Braunkoble refinery at Bohlen by 67 with the loss of one. One hundred eighty nine other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

Two hundred eighty eight USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20s attack the defended villages of Vettweiss, Stockheim, Erp, and Pirmasens, an armored vehicle repair center at Gemund, a rail tunnel, a military camp at Malsbenden, and a marshalling yard at Zweibrucken; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, give area support to Eighth Air Force heavy bombers at Leipzig, fly sweeps, dive bombing missions, and reconnaissance over western Germany, and support elements of the U.S. VII Corps in the Hurtgen area (especially the 104th Infantry Division at Lammersdorf and Inden). 

During the night of 30 November/1 December, four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the West marshalling yard at Munich. 

During the day, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack three targets: 60 Lancasters bomb the Wilheim steel plant at Bottrop; 60 Lancasters attack the Osterfeld benzol plant at Bottrop with the loss of two Lancasters; 36 Mosquitos hit the Meiderich benzol plant at Duisburg; and one Mosquito bombs Munster. 
During the night of 30 November/1 December, RAF Bomber Command sends 576 aircraft, 425 Halifaxes, 126 Lancasters and 25 Mosquitos, to bomb Duisburg; 553 bomb the city with the loss of three Halifaxes. The target area is completely cloud-covered and the attack is not concentrated but much fresh damage is still caused. Mosquitos bomb three targets: 53 hit Hamburg with the loss of three aircraft, six hit the Hermann Goering steel factory at Hallendorf and one bomb the city of Hallendorf. 

HUNGARY: Troops of the Soviet Second Ukrainian Front take Eger, northeast of Budapest, and are closing in on Miskoic.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the Germans take Casa Nuovo from the 1st Division. 
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division renews their attack toward Casa Bettini bridge and takes Albereto, breaching the switch-line positions.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s bomb bridges at Romano di Lombardia and Crema; fighters and fighter-bombers attack communications in the Po Valley, cutting rail lines and destroying a large number of railroad cars and motor transport; targets also include bridges, guns, and buildings. 

NETHERLANDS: In British Second Army area, 8 and 12 Corps have reduced German bridgehead west of the Maas River to a small pocket at Blerick, across from Venlo.

UNITED KINGDOM: The British battleship Vanguard is launched. The ship will not be commissioned until 1946. 
Civilian air raid casualties this month are 716 dead and 1,511 wounded.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 732: seven B-17s and six B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night.


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## Njaco (Jan 17, 2010)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Canadian forces join the 8th British Army in a battle for the Lombardy Plain in Italy.

The German garrison on the island of Crete abandons all areas except large towns.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s attack 4 railroad bridges in the W Po Valley, damaging the bridges at Voghera and Torre Beretti; the XXII Tactical Air Command hits motor transport and train cars at several points in N Italy and hits rail lines over a widespread area N of the Apennines Mountains, including the Brenner Pass where lines are cut at 3 points; the 524th Fighter Squadron, 27th Fighter Group, moves from Tarquinia to Pontedera with P-47s. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Hungary, south of Budapest, Soviet forces are successfully held by German forces. The Soviet 57th Army, however, achieves some gains around Pecs. To the northeast of Budapest, the 4th Ukrainian Front launches attacks on positions held by 1st Panzer Army, along the Ondava River. 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Elements of the US 9th Army advance northeast of Aachen. Linnich is captured by the US 102nd Division. To the right, attacks by US 3rd and 7th Armies report slow progress.

U.S. freighter _'Arizpa' _is damaged by mine in the Schelde River, 51°23'N, 03°18'W, but proceeds to Antwerp, her destination, under her own power. There are no casualties among her 41-man merchant complement or the 28-man Armed Guard. 

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 733: 7 B-17s and 7 B-24s drop leaflet in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

In France, HQ 354th Fighter Group and the 355th Fighter Squadron move from Orconte to Meurthe-et-Moselle and Rosieres-en-Haye respectively with P-47s (the 355th is operating from St Dizier); the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from St Dizier to Giraumont with F-6s; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF, moves from Epinal to Buhl with L-5s. 

*GERMANY: *71 RAF Mosquitos to Karlsruhe, 6 to Hallendorf and 4 to Duisburg, 24 RCM sorties, 22 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 134 B-26s and A-20s strike defended areas at Fraulautern, Ensdorf, and Saarlautern; fighters fly sweeps, armed reconnaissance, and bombing missions over W Germany and support US VII Corps elements at Inden and the Hurtgen Forest and the 8th Infantry Division of the V Corps at Tiefenbach Creek and Brandenberger Forest.

Organizational changes take place within III./EJG 2. The 9 Staffel of EJG 2 with its mix of Fw 58, Siebel Si 204 and Bf 110 piston-engined aircraft is moved to Landsberg. The other two Staffeln, fully equipped with Me 262 jets, also repositions with 11 Staffel of EJG 2 moving to Unterschlauersbach near Nuremberg and 10 Staffel of EJG 2 along with the Gruppenstab, remain at Lechfeld along with the new two seat training version of the fighter.


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## Njaco (Jan 18, 2010)

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Italy, Canadian forces begin an attack to capture Ravenna on the Adriatic sea.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers hit several bridges in N and NE Italy, scoring effective hits on 2 bridges across the Piave and Brenta Rivers and 4 on the Brenner line; fighters and fighter- bombers attack communications in the Po Valley and support US Fifth Army forces in the battle area S of Bologna; on the night of 1/2 Dec, A-20s hit Ghedi Airfield and targets of opportunity in the NC Po Valley and trains on the Brenner line; HQ 350th Fighter Group and the 347th Fighter Squadron move from Tarquinia to Pisa with P-47s. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Charles de Gaulle meets with Josef Stalin in Moscow, over nine days. A military alliance is signed, against Germany now, and after the war.

In Hungary, with Budapest and the Hungarian oil fields at Nagykanitza under threat, the 2nd Panzer Army is deployed to the south of Lake Balaton, while the 6th Army is deployed to the north between the lake and Hatvan and the German 8th Army farther north near Miskolc. To the northeast of Budapest, the 2nd Ukrainian Front attacks German defensive positions around Miskolc.

*WESTERN FRONT:* Elements of the US 3rd Army reach Saarlautern. To the south, the US 7th Army advances to the Rhine river after the Germans have withdrawn across it at Kehl. The three available bridges are all demolished in the retreat.

*UNITED STATES:* The Bell XP-77 project is officially cancelled. Only two prototypes were built, one of which was destroyed in a crash on 2 October 1944. 

*GERMANY:* (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 734: 455 bombers and 604 fighters make GH attacks on marshalling yards and fighter bomber attacks; they claim 34-3-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 135 of 143 B-24s hit the Bingen marshalling yard; 1 others hit a target of opportunity; they claim 2-1-1 aircraft; 11 B-24s are lost and 4 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 102 MIA. Escorting are 97 of 104 P-51s; they claim 4-1-2 aircraft without loss. 2. 152 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Lutzel marshalling yard at Koblenz (9) and the Oberlahnstein marshalling yard (125); 6 others hit targets of opportunity; no losses. Escorting are 158 of 169 P-51s; they claim 6-0-0 aircraft without loss. 3. 160 B-17s are dispatched to Koblenz but abort the mission due to heavy clouds. Escorting are 153 of 156 P-51s; they claim 7-0-0 aircraft without loss. 4. 133 P-47s and P-51s fly fighter sweeps over the Cologne, Kassel, Meiningen, Mannheim and Frankfurt area; they claim 15-1-4 aircraft; 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 P-51s are damaged beyond repair. 5. 28 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 735: 7 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 210 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb areas of Saarlautern, Ensdorf, and Fraulautern; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly armed reconnaissance over W Germany (targets hit include a marshalling yard and bridges), and support the US 1st Infantry Division at Luchem, 104th Infantry Division at Inden, and 8th Infantry Division in the Brandenberger Forest-Tiefenbach Creek area. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force):Around 500 B-17s and B-24s attack Blechhammer N and S and Odertal, Germany oil refineries; the Floridsdorf oil refinery at Vienna and the marshalling yard at Strasshof, Austria; Celldomolk, Hungary marshalling yard; and Medvedov, Czechoslovakia highway bridge, plus scattered targets of opportunity in C and E Europe; fighters fly escort and carry out reconnaissance missions.

93 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Hansa benzol plant at Dortmund through thick cloud; the bombing was believed to be accurate. No aircraft lost.

Hagen: 504 RAF aircraft - 394 Halifaxes, 87 Lancasters, 23 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster crashed in France. The town of Hagen was not too heavily bombed before this raid. The effect upon industrial production was serious. Many firms are recorded as having lost up to 3 months' production. In addition, it was found by the Allies after the war that a factory making U-boat accumulator batteries - of which large numbers were needed by the new types of U-boats - was completely destroyed in this raid.

66 RAF Mosquitos to Giessen, 44 RCM sorties, 62 Mosquito patrols, 10 Stirlings on Resistance operations. 1 Stirling on Resistance work and 1 Intruder Mosquito lost.

Lt. Joachim Weber of III./JG 7 claimed three RAF Mosquitoes in his Me 262, causing Reichsmarschall Göring to comment, “_A fantastic feat with a ship whose engines stop above 6000 meters and fall apart over 750 kph!”_


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## Njaco (Jan 18, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* Elements of US 13th Corps (part of US 9th Army) reach the Roer River. Elements of the US 20th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) cross the Saar River near Patchen, in assault boats. They secure the main bridge of the Saar.

The 353d Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, moves from Orconte to Rosieres-en-Haye, France with P-47s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN:* British, Canadian and Polish forces of British 8th Army begin new attacks on a broad, 3 corps frontage.

In Athens, police open fire on demonstrators supporting the communist EAM party and its military wing the ELAS. The incident results in street fighting between communist supporters and anti-communist factions.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather hampers operations; many missions are aborted; medium bombers score effective hits only on a bridge E of Mantua; the 57th and 350th fighter Groups fly 60 sorties against targets in the US Fifth Army battle area S of Bologna and against communications in N Italy; during the night of 2/3 Dec, A-20s bomb lights throughout the Po Valley; the 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group moves from Tarquinia to Pisa with P-47s; the 522d and 523d Fighter Squadrons, 27th Fighter Group, moves from Tarquinia to Pontedera, Italy with P-47s. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* Soviet troops of 2nd Ukrainian Front capture Miskolc. 3rd Ukrainian Front launches attack north of Budapest 

*ENGLAND:* The Home Guard, a volunteer defense force created during the German invasion panic of 1940, is officially "stood down" from service. 

*GERMANY:* (US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels bomber operations. In Germany, fighters fly defensive patrols and armed reconnaissance, hitting rails and bridges and dive-bomb targets in W Germany including the marshalling yard at Grevenbroich; the 104th Infantry Division is supported as it extends the Inde River, Germany bridgehead beyond Lucherberg, Germany, the US 1st Infantry Division as it seizes Luchem, the US 8th Infantry Division in the Brandenberger Forest-Tiefenbach Creek area, and units of the US XII Corps at Sarre-Union, France as it checks a counterattack.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 85 B-24s and B-17s bomb the Vienna SE freight depot, Linz industrial area, marshalling yards at Innsbruck, Villach, and Klagenfurt, and various targets of opportunity; P-38s and P-51s escort the bombers and fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort. 14 B-17s and B-24s drop supplies in Yugoslavia. 

183 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to bomb the small town of Heimbach in the Eifel region. probably in support of an American ground attack in this area. The Master Bomber and the Pathfinders could not identify the target and the Lancasters were ordered to abandon the raid. No aircraft lost.

11 RAF Oboe Mosquitos bombed a steelworks at Hallendorf without loss.

Oblt. Ernst Schüfele of 14./JG 4, flying a Bf 109G-14, is shot down by anti-aircraft fire near Grosshau after strafing an Allied army column.


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## Njaco (Jan 19, 2010)

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Greece, the National People's Liberation Army of the National Liberation Front begins armed fighting against British troops and Greek government forces.

In Italy, Canadian forces capture Ravenna.

(US Fifteenth Air Force):26 P-38s bomb a railroad bridge at Zenica, Yugoslavia. 14 B-17s and B-24s drop supplies in N Italy; P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and escort missions. Bad weather prevents heavy bomber operations. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s hit defenses in the Bagnaeavallo and Faenza areas and an ammunition dump at Tortona; XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft hit targets in the US Fifth Army battle area S of Bologna in the Apennines Mountains and communications to the N of the battle zone. During the night of 3/4 Dec, A-20s again bomb targets of opportunity in the Po River Valley; the 7th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Tarquinia to Brindisi with C-47s. 

*WESTERN FRONT:* Elements of British 2nd Army clear the last pockets of German resistance west of the Maas River. To the right, the US 9th Army ceases the offensive toward the Roer River. The US 3rd Army forces of US 20th Corps concentrates forces for the capture of Saarlautern, where reconnaissance indicates there is an intact bridge over the Saar River.

27 RAF Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of No 8 Group carried out the first of several raids on the large reservoir dam at Urft in the Eifel. The destruction of which was required so that the Germans could not release water to flood areas through which American troops wished to advance. The series of raids did blast 13ft off the top of the dam but no large breach was ever made and the Germans were able to release large quantities of water whenever they wished to interfere with American advances being attempted further downstream. No aircraft were lost from this raid.

*GERMANY:* (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 736: 1,191 bombers and 977 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on rail targets in Germany; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 1. 419 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Kassel (212) and Soest (188); 2 others hit targets of opportunities; 4 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged. Escorting are 375 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 315 B-24s are sent to hit the Bebra marshalling yard (199); targets of opportunity are marshalling yards at Koblenz (78) and Giessen (21) and other (1); 1 B-24 is lost and 15 damaged; 10 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 290 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 6-0-11 aircraft on the ground. 3. 457 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Mainz (221) and Giessen (62); targets of opportunity are the Friedburg marshalling yard (119), Fulda (24), barges on the Rhine River (11) and other (6); 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 106 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 18 MIA. Escorting are 238 of 244 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 36 of 37 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 737: 10 of 11 B-17s and B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber operations. In Germany, fighters fly armed reconnaissance and support the US 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions at Luchem, Bergstein, and E of Inde River; and the XII and XX Corps in drive toward the Saar River and around Saarlautern. 

160 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on Oberhausen but no results could be seen because of cloud. 1 Lancaster lost.

Karlsruhe: 535 RAF aircraft - 369 Lancasters, 154 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito lost. The marking and bombing were accurate and severe damage was caused, particularly in the southern and western districts of the city. Among individual buildings destroyed were the important Durlacher machine-tool factory, the main Protestant church and the concert hall.

Heilbronn: 282 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 12 Lancasters lost. This was a crushing blow on Heilbronn which stood on a main north-south railway line but was otherwise of little importance. It was the first and only major raid by Bomber Command on this target. 1,254 tons of bombs fell in a few minutes and the post-war British Bombing Survey Unit estimated that 351 acres, 82 per cent of the town's built-up area, were destroyed, mainly by fire. Much investigation by various people resulted in the reliable estimate that just over 7,000 people died. Most of these victims would have died in fires so intense that there was probably a genuine firestorm.

54 RAF Mosquitos to Hagen and 12 to Bielefe1d and Hamm (the figure was not subdivided), 47 RCM sorties, 60 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Jan 20, 2010)

*GERMANY:* US troops advance on a thirty mile front inside Germany.

94 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on Hamm through cloud. No aircraft lost. The British Bombing Survey Unit estimated that 140 acres, 39 per cent of Hamm's built-up area, were destroyed by this attack.

56 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attempted to bomb the Schwammenauel Dam on the River Roer (sometimes called the River Rur) to help the American Army, but the target was covered by cloud and only 2 aircraft bombed. No aircraft lost. 1 Hudson flew a Resistance operation.

497 RAF aircraft - 385 Halifaxes, 100 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to Soest. 2 Halifaxes lost. This was a successful raid, with the local report confirming that most of the bombing was in the northern part of the town where the railway installations were situated.

53 RAF Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen, 32 to Nuremberg and 4 to Duisburg, 36 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols, 1 Stirling on a Resistance operation. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 738: 589 bombers and 884 fighters are dispatched to make attacks on Germany; an estimated 275-300 Luftwaffe fighters attack and AAF fighters claim 90-7-30 aircraft; 12 bombers and 17 fighters are lost: 1. 451 B-17s are dispatched to make PFF attacks on munitions and tank plants at Berlin (404); targets of opportunity are Nienburg (2) and other (23); 12 B-17s are lost and 169 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 8 WIA and 115 MIA. Escorting are 630 of 711 P-51s; they claim 90-7-23 aircraft in the air and 0-0-2 on the ground; 15 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 114 of 129 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Munster; 10 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 141 P-47s and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 P-47 damaged beyond repair. 3. 6 of 6 B-24s fly a screening mission. 4. 23 of 25 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 739 is an APHRODITE mission with 2 B-17 Castor drones, 3 B-17 control and observation aircraft, a P-38 observation aircraft and 17 of 17 P-51s as escort; the P-51s claim 1-0-0 aircraft. Mission 740: 11 of the 4 B-17s and 8 B-24s dispatched drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 172 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s attack a marshalling yard, road junction, fuel storage dump, defended positions, and rail bridge at 8 locations; fighters escort 9th Bombardment Division aircraft, fly numerous armed reconnaissance missions, and provide cover for the US 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions in the Luchem, Bergstein, and Lucherberg areas. 

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Special Service Force, an elite unit made of Canadian and American troops, is disbanded.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* Assault battalions of the Royal Canadian regiment and the Hastings and Prince Edward regiment attempt to establish a bridgehead on the Lamone river in Italy. Troops of Canadian 1st Corps capture Ravenna in the ongoing British 8th Army offensive.

In Liberated Greece British tanks are involved in the fighting between communist and anti-communist forces. British warships shell ELAS positions near Piraeus. The fighting continues for most of the month. Soviet forces do not provide aid to the communist forces which is in keeping with an understanding reached in Moscow (October 20th). 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather severely restricts operations; medium bomber missions are cancelled except for a weather reconnaissance flight; fighters and fighter-bombers hit a few rail lines and other communications targets in the E Po River Valley but devote a major effort to closely support the US Fifth Army in the battle area S of Bologna; HQ 79th Fighter Group and the 85th and 86th Fighter Squadrons move from Iesi to Fano with P-47s. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Hungary, Soviet forces capture Vukovar on the Danube and to the northwest Szigetvar is taken. The 2nd Ukrainian Front's 6th Guards Tank, 7th Guards Armies and Group Pliev, launch an attack to the northeast of Budapest. To the south of the city, the 46th Army forces a crossing of the River Danube.


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## Njaco (Jan 20, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* US 3rd Army crosses the Saar River. Elements of the US 3rd Army enter Saareguemines which is defended by German forces. In Holland, the British 2nd Army is held up southwest of Arnhem by the German demolition of dikes and the consequent flooding. 

HMS _'Bullen' _(K 469) (LtCdr A.H. Parish, RN) of the 19th Escort Group was sunk by a Gnat from _'U-775' _off Strathy Point in the Pentland Firth. HMS _'Loch Insh' _(K 433) (T/A/LtCdr E.W.C. Dempster, DSC, RNVR) and HMS _'Goodall' _(K 479) (LtCdr J.V. Fulton, RNVR) of the same Escort Group hunted the U-boat for the next 14 hours but she escaped undamaged.

_'U-297' _was sunk in the North Atlantic, 16 miles west of Yesnaby in the Orkney Islands, by 6 depth charges from a British Sunderland aircraft (Sqdn. 201). 50 dead (all hands lost). The wreck was discovered and identified in May 2000 by Ian Trumpness and Kevin Heath of Stromness. It had been listed on fishing charts but believed to be an unknown fishing vessel. It lies in 285 feet of water.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Liberated Greece fighting between government forces, support by British troops, and Communist rebels continues. General Scobie claims there is evidence of a number of former German soldiers being employed by the ELAS forces. 

Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott is appointed commander of the US 5th Army fighting in Italy. He replaces Lt. Gen. Mark Clark.

British 8th Army crosses the Lamone river.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, heavy cloud cover, increasing in density throughout the day, severely restricts operations; medium bombers are grounded except for 1 reconnaissance sortie; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers fly less than 100 sorties, attacking communications in the Brescia, Verona, and Mantua areas; the 87th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group, moves from Iesi to Fano with P-47s; the 97th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 47th Bombardment Group (Light), moves from Rosignano Airfield to Grossetto with A-20s. 

*GERMANY:* (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 741: 818 bombers and 830 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and rail targets in Germany; all except 9 aircraft bomb using H2X; 4 bombers and 1 fighter are lost: 1. 533 B-17s, in 2 forces, are sent to hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg (446); targets of opportunity are Hannover (16), Merseburg (14) and other (24); 4 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 172 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 37 MIA. 12 of 12 B-17s fly a screening mission. Escorting are 534 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA), 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. 2. 112 of 119 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Bielefeld; 1 hits a target of opportunity; 52 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 94 of 104 P-51s without loss. 3. 140 of 154 B-24s hit Minden Aqueduct; 9 hit the Lockum rail junction; 26 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 91 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 4. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting force mission. Mission 742: 11 of the 4 B-17s and 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 154 A-20s and B-26s bomb the defended areas of Munstereifel, Erkelenz, Nideggen, and Daun; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and night patrol, attack bridges, gun positions, and other targets, and provide air cover for the US V, VII, and XII Corps in the areas of Sarreguemines, France and Bergstein, and Lucherberg, and along the Saar River, Germany.

Leuna: 475 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups. 5 Lancasters lost. This was the first major attack on an oil target in Eastern Germany; Leuna, near the town of Merseburg, just west of Leipzig, was 250 miles from the German frontier and 500 miles from the bombers' bases in England. There was considerable cloud in the target area but post-raid photographs showed that considerable damage had been caused to the synthetic-oil plant.

Osnabrück: 453 RAF aircraft - 363 Halifaxes, 72 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 7 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost. This was the first major raid on Osnabrück since August 1942. The raid was only a partial success. The railway yards were only slightly damaged but 4 factories were hit, including the Teuto-Metallwerke munitions factory, and 203 houses were destroyed.

Giessen: 255 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 8 Lancasters lost. There were two aiming points for this raid. 168 aircraft were allocated to the town centre and 87 to the railway yards. Severe damage was caused at both places.

42 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 10 to Schwerte and 2 to Hanau, 37 RCM sorties, 47 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos lost - 1 from the Berlin raid and an Intruder aircraft which crashed in France.

Flugkapitän Peter flies the first He 162 ‘Salamander’ from Schwechat airfield. The aircraft lands after 20 minutes in the air and it is soon found that the wood adhesive problems discovered on earlier wood-component aircraft is now affecting the Volksjäger. 

Hans-Heinz Augenstein, a forty-six victory night-fighter with NJG 1, is killed in action near Munster.

*EASTERN FRONT:* (US Fifteenth Air Force):270+ B-17s and B-24s attack marshalling yards at Graz, Austria; Szombathely, Sopron, Nagycenk, Hegyeshalom, and the town of Zalaegerszey, Hungary; Maribor, Yugoslavia; and Bratislava, and Devinska Nova Ves, Czechoslovakia, plus scattered targets of opportunity; P-51s and P-38s escort the bombers, cover Royal Air Force (RAF) supply missions to Yugoslavia, and strafe Vienna, Austria.


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## Njaco (Jan 20, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Allies hold a conference at Maastricht. General Dwight Eisenhower announces the decision for the main land effort into Germany to be led by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery with ten US divisions serving directly under him.

The US 3rd Army penetrates the Siegfried Line northwest of Saarlautern.

In Belgium, the 107th and 109th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, based at Gosselies begin operating from Chievres with F-6s. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* In Hungary, Soviet forces reach Lake Balaton, southwest of Budapest. To the south, Baros on the Drava River is captured.

In Liberated Romania a new government takes office. It is led by General Nicolae Radescu and pledges to fully implement the terms of the armistice, to provide assistance to the Allies and to purge all pro-Nazis.

At 10.10 hours BO-229 (SrLt Rovanov) was hit by a Gnat from _'U-997'_, broke in two and sank in a few minutes. The vessel had Captain 3rd class I.N. Gritsjuk aboard, who was leading a submarine hunt together with the Soviet patrol craft BO-150, BO-227 and BO-228. One hour earlier they had dropped some depth charges on a contact off Kola Bay, but continued the hunt after about 20 minutes. The survivors were picked up by BO-227, among them both badly wounded commanders.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Italy, weather grounds medium bombers; fighters and fighter-bombers, despite the weather, attack railroads, roads, bridges, rolling stock, and other targets over widespread areas of N Italy, from La Spezia to N of the Po River Valley; bad weather obscures most primary targets but alternate targets are fairly successfully hit.

*GERMANY:* (US Fifteenth Air Force):In Austria, 31 B-17s and B-24s make a predawn raids on Salzburg, Klagenfurt, Villach, and the Lienz marshalling yards, communications targets in Wolfsberg, Spittal an der Drau, Mittersill, and Sankt Veit in Defereggen, and Trieste, Italy. P-38s, and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions.

53 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne and 7 to Hanau, 3 RCM sorties. No losses.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

AUSTRIA: Again hitting communications targets in a predawn attack, 27 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb eight targets: seven aircraft hit the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Klagenfurt, six attack the Main M/Y at Graz; five each bomb the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery at Vienna and the M/Y at Villach; and one each targets of opportunity at Gleisdorf and Volkermarkt and the cities of Ybbs and St. Polten. Later in the day P-38s fly photo and weather reconnaissance missions. P-51s escort the photo reconnaissance flights over the Vienna area. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, after receiving the surrender of Fort Driant, the 2d Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, turns over the Metz sector, where Fort Jeanne d’Arc is still holding out, to the 87th Infantry Division of the III Corps. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division attacks across the Sarre River, the 134th Infantry Regiment crossing by a bridge south of Sarreguemines and the 320th Infantry Regiment by boats in the region to the east; the 134th clears Sarreinsming and pushes northeast under heavy fire from Sarreguemines; the 320th, whose 3d Battalion is unable to cross until the night of 8/9 December, establishes a bridgehead and with the aid of artillery and fighter-bombers halts a counterattack as it is forming.
The 26th Infantry Division attacks the Maginot Line within its sector after artillery and air preparation: the 328th Infantry Regiment begins an assault on Fort Wittring and Grand Bois, fighting through the night of 8/9 December; the 104th Infantry Regiment, to the right, easily takes
four mutually supporting forts in the Achen area. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division pushes into Encherberg and the 100th Infantry Division into Lemberg, but the Germans are defending both towns. The VI Corps is conducting a deception program to lead the Germans to expect a Rhine River crossing
in the Strasbourg area or an attack in the vicinity of Bischwiller.
The 45th Infantry Division begins an attack on Niederbronn.
In the 79th Infantry Division zone, the 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron clears Gambsheim.
In the French First Army area, the French II Corps is still undergoing lively counterattacks. The U.S. 36th Infantry Division troops are driving on Kayserberg. I Corps gains a foothold in Thann. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 29th Infantry Division’s 115th Infantry Regiment reduces Hasenfeld Gut and sportplatz strongpoints in the Juelich area with help of assault guns and smoke.
In the U.S. First Army area, the VII Corps is ordered to attack on 10 December to clear the region between the Inde and Roer Rivers and the approaches to Dueren, the corps' objective. In the V Corps area, a battalion of the 13th Infantry Regiment relieves the 2d Ranger Battalion on Castle Hill. In their 2-day stay there, the Rangers have lost more than 25-percent of their original strength. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 357th Infantry Regiment is again subjected to major counterattacks in the 90th Infantry Division's Dillingen bridgehead, but forces the Germans back in hand-to-hand fighting; local German counterattacks keep the 358th Infantry Regiment largely on the defensive, although elements push across the railroad tracks to take Dillingen station; the reserve regiment, the 359th Infantry Regiment, crosses into the bridgehead, during the night of 8/9
December.
The 95th Infantry Division is very slowly expanding its Saarlautern bridgehead, fighting from house to house and from pillbox to pillbox; the 2d Battalion, 378th Infantry Regiment, joins the parent regiment in Ensdorf after crossing the river in assault boats. The 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) takes over the sector on the southern flank of the corps from elements of the 5th Infantry Division. 
Twenty nine USAAF Ninth Air Force A-26 Invaders hit the Sinzig rail bridge. Fighters escort the RAF, bomb gun positions, bridges, and city areas, fly armed reconnaissance, and support the U.S. V and VII Corps W of Schmidt and Duren, and XX Corps and XII Corps in the Dillingen
and Sarreguemines, France areas. 
During the day, RAF Bomber Command attacks three targets:
- 205 Lancasters are dispatched to attack the Urft Dam at Heimbach; 129 bomb the target with the loss of one aircraft. Bombing is affected by 9/10ths cloud and no results are seen.
- 163 Lancasters are dispatched to bomb the marshalling yards at Duisburg; 159 bomb the target.
- 30 Mosquitos are sent to attack the Meiderich benzene refinery near Duisburg; 28 bomb the target. 

HUNGARY: Soviet forces, Berlin admits, "widen their breach" north of Budapest. Troops of the Third Ukrainian Front clearing the region between Lake Balaton and the Danube River are roughly 10 miles from Szekesfehervar. The Germans are warding off breakthrough attempts between Lake Balaton and the Drava River. 

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the Germans abandon the rest of Mt. Penzola. 
In the British Eighth Army's area, British troops cross the Lamone River.
Weather again greatly curtails operations.
Four USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-47s on weather reconnaissance of the western Po River Valley attack trains, claiming the destruction of four locomotives and damage of almost 100 train cars.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

ARCTIC OCEAN: In the Barents Sea, German submarine U-387 is sunk about 43 nautical miles (80 kilometers) north of Murmansk, U.S.S.R., in position 69.41N, 33.12E, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS Bamborough Castle (K 412); all 51 crewmen are lost. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-650 is listed as missing with 47 crewmen. The boat probably sunk in the North Atlantic or the Arctic Ocean but the cause and exact position is unknown. 

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s attack four targets: 56 bomb the industrial area at Linz, 15 hit the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Villach and one each attack the M/Y at Klagenfurt and the city of Spittal. P-51s and P-38s escort the heavy bombers and fly reconnaissance missions. 

BELGIUM: At 1137 hours, a German A4 (V-2) rocket is fired and impacts the Antwerp area; 43 are killed, 94 injured and 43 houses are destroyed. At 1504 hours, a second A4 lands in Antwerp on Meir-Kathelynevest (Building of Agence Maritime); 25 are killed, 45 injured and 14 houses are destroyed. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Sixteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24s attack the Skoda armament works at Plzen. Fighters escort the heavy bombers and fly reconnaissance missions. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area; the 1st Battalion of the 137th Infantry Regiment is sent to Sarreguemines to mop up in the western part of city, since the 134th Infantry Regiment can make little headway until this is done; the 320th Infantry Regiment moves forward more rapidly because of the 26th Infantry Division’s action to the right. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, completes the capture of Fort Witiring by dawn and after daylight finds that the Germans have abandoned Fort Grand Bois; the 104th Infantry Regiment is pushing steadily toward Gros Réderching. 
In the Sixth Army Group's U.S. XV Corps area, Combat Command A of the 12th Armored Division, driving northeast on the left flank of corps, takes Singling. Enchenberg falls to the 44th Infantry Division and Lemberg to the 100th Infantry Division. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division clears Niederbronn. The 79th Infantry Division overruns Bischwiller and pushes to the edge of Haguenau. 
In the French First Army area, II Corps is still strongly opposed but clears Mittelwihr. In the I Corps area, the 2d Moroccan Division continues clearing Thann. The 4th Mountain Division is meeting vigorous opposition at Lutterbach. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division is ordered to secure region between Inde and Roer Rivers within its zone. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 90th Infantry Division commits its full strength to the Dillingen bridgehead battle: The 359th Infantry Regiment begins clearing mutually supporting fortifications between the 357th and 358th Infantry Regiments, easing pressure on the right flank of the 357th; the 357th holds its weak perimeter on the northern flank of the bridgehead against repeated counterattacks that are debilitating to both sides; the supply situation of the 358th, fighting indecisively along the railroad tracks in Dillingen, improves as rafting operations are begun in the afternoon and the first tank crosses by treadway ferry in the evening, but the 359th and 357th Regiments must still rely on assault boats, carrying parties, and aircraft for reinforcement and supply. The 95th Infantry Division continues their almost futile efforts to expand the Saarlautern bridgehead; the supply problem is intensified by the rapidly rising Sarre River. With the relief of 
the 10th Infantry Regiment on the southern flank of the corps by the 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) , the 5th Infantry Division is able to assemble in preparation for the attack on the West Wall. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division’s bridgeheads across the Sarre River continue to receive heavy German fire, but two Class 40 bridges are completed by midnight. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 743: 413 B-17s are dispatched to hit four targets in Stuttgart: 257 bomb the Unterturkheim Marshalling Yard with the loss of one B-17, 62 hit Echterdingen Airfield and 57 attack Bobblingen Airfield; 17 other aircraft hit targets of opportunity at Balingen, Schorndorf, Tubingen and other points in Germany. Escorting are 247 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft without loss. 
Two hundred fifty four USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb defended villages, storage depots, barracks area, and marshalling yard in western Germany. Fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division aircraft, sweep the Landau and Saarbrucken areas, attack Zulpich and a bridge at Euskirchen, and support the U.S. XII and XX Corps in the Sarreguemines, France, and Saar River area and around Dillingen. 
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s attack three targets: 79 bomb the Winterhafen oil refinery and oil storage facilities at Regensburg with the loss of three aircraft; two hit the locomotive works at Rosenheim and one attack the city of Regen. Fighters escort the heavy bombers and fly reconnaissance missions. 
During the night of 9/10 December, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit three cities: 56 bomb Berlin with the loss of one, seven bomb Koblenz and 4 attack a benzine oil plant at Meiderich. 

HUNGARY: Moscow confirms German reports of the Soviet breakthrough northeast of Budapest, announcing that forces of the Second Ukrainian Front have reached the Danube River bend at Vac. Other troops of this front, having crossed to the western bank of the Danube from Csepel Island., south of Budapest, gain contact with troops of the Third Ukrainian Front at Lake Velencei, between the Danube and Lake Balaton. Budapest is thus about two-thirds encircled.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division extends eastward to Mt. dell'Acqua Saluta-M. del Verro area as the 6th Armoured Division prepares to continue the offensive. 
In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps contains determined counterattacks but in so doing is too weakened to exploit this success and suspends the offensive. 
Bad weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers. Fighters and fighter-bombers attack communications in the central and northeast Po River Valley. 

UNITED KINGDOM: The blackout regulations are relaxed.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 744: Four B-17s and seven B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night without loss. 

YUGOSLAVIA: Sofia, Bulgaria, announces that Bulgar and Yugoslav Armies, assisted by Soviet aircraft, have completed the expulsion of Germans from Serbia and Macedonia during the last few days.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

AUSTRIA: Six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s dispatched to bomb targets in Germany, manage to bomb the marshalling yard at Klagenfurt as a target of opportunity. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the main body of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, crosses the Sarre River to clear the eastern part of Sarreguemines and begins a house-to-house battle. The 134th and 320th Infantry Regiments push toward the Blies River. Gros Réderching falls to the 104th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army area, the newly arrived 63d and 42d Infantry Divisions, whose regiments are organized as Task Force Harris and Task Force Linden, respectively, are assigned to the army. In the XV Corps area, Combat Command A of the 12th Armored Division takes Rohrbach-lès- Bitche. The 44th Infantry Division secures the crossroads below Petit Réderching in brisk fighting. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division seizes Reichshoffen and Gundershoffen. The 79th Infantry Division takes MarienthaI and Kaltenhouse but is still held up at Haguenau. Crossing the the Zintzel River, 103d Infantry Division troops clear the northern part of Mertzwiller. 
In the French First Army's I Corps area, the 2d Moroccan Division completes the capture of Thann. The 9th Colonial Division reduces the last German bridgeheads west of the Rhine River between Kembs and the Swiss border. 

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler appoints Reichsführer- SS (British Field Marshal and U.S. 5-star General) Heinrich Himmler, commander of the Schutzstaffel or SS, to be Commander-in- Chief Army Group Oberrhein (Upper Rhine), and moves to his western front headquarters at Bad Neuheim. 
In the U.S. First Army area, VII Corps begins coordinated attack to clear the west bank of the Roer River and the city of Dueren, employing the 104th Infantryt, 3d Armored, 9th Infantry and 83d Infantry Divisions. Elements of the 414th Infantry Regiment, 104th Infantry Division, attack toward the village of Schophoven and Pier; penetrate into Pier but are forced out. In the 9th Infantry Division zone in the center, elements of the 3d Armored Division, assisted by the 60th Infantry Regiment, thrust to Obergeich and gain positions in Echtz; elements of the 39th Infantry Regiment driving southeast from Obergeich get into position for an assault on Merode and Schlicht. The 83d Infantry Division pushes into the villages of Gey and Strass, northeast of Grosshau, with the 331st and 330th Infantry Regiments; 3 the 29th Infantry Regiment advances on the left flank. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans make an all-out effort to destroy the Dillingen bridgehead, counterattacking all along the line. The 90th Infantry Division contains the onslaughts but cannot move forward. In the 95th Infantry Division's Saarlautern bridgehead, the 377th Infantry Regiment deepens their penetration into Fraulautern but the 378th and 379th Regiments are prevented by counterattacks from advancing. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 745: 534 bombers and 690 fighters are dispatched to make Pathfinder Force attacks and a fighter sweep in Germany; two fighters are lost. Two marshalling yards (M/Ys) are hit: 274 B-17s bomb the Lutzel M/Y at Koblenz and 173 B-24s attack the M/Y at Bingen; four other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. 
About 130 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s bomb defended positions at Birkesdorf, and Huchem-Stammeln while fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, strafe and dive-bomb numerous targets in western Germany, and support the U.S. 8th, 9th, 83d, and 104th Infantry Divisions and the 3d and 5th Armored Divisions in the areas around Bergstein, Duren, and along the west bank of the Roer River. 
Over 550 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s dispatched to bomb oil targets in Germany are recalled because of overcast weather. 
During a demonstration flight before Luftwaffe, RLM and Nazi party officials, the prototype He 162 ‘Salamander’, flown by Flugkapitän Peter, disintegrates and crashes at Schwechat airfield.

GREECE: Local political and military disturbances result in cancellation of liberty for USN sailors at Piraeus; Greek snipers wound two crewmen in tank landing ship USS LST-74. 

HUNGARY: The Soviet Second Ukrainian Front pushes in toward Pest, the portion of Budapest east of the Danube River. The Germans are withstanding Soviet attacks southwest of Budapest and near Miskoic. 

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, the Canadian I Corps begins an attack across the Lamone River late in day. 
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb bridges, fills, and a tunnel in the Brenner Pass area, hit the Fidenza bridge and barracks at Bologna, and support the British Eighth Army in the Faenza area, bombing defensive positions. The XXII Tactical Air Command targets are again predominantly communications north of the US Fifth Army battle zone. 
During the night of 10/11 December USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s attack vehicles, lights, railway lines, roads, river ferries, and pontoon bridges in the Po River Valley. 

U.S.S.R.: The French and Soviet governments signed a 20-year Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Brigadier General Charles-André De Gaulle, Prime Minister of the Provisional Government, negotiated the agreement with the Soviets in Moscow. 

YUGOSLAVIA: In the northern part of the country, the Soviet and Yugoslav forces driving toward Vinkovci penetrate into Vukovar.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the Caribbean Sea, the steady decline in U-boat activity in the Caribbean during the year permits a reduction of non-rigid airship (blimp) operations over the southern approaches, and Fleet Airship Wing Five at Trinidad is disestablished. 

AUSTRIA: Four hundred thirty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escorts, are dispatched to attack numerous targets: In Vienna, 205 bomb the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery with the loss of eight aircraft, 98 hit the Matzleinsdorf railroad station with the loss of five aircraft and 59 attack the South ordnance depot with the loss of three aircraft; 48 bomb the Main marshalling yard at Graz with the loss of one aircraft; and 31 bombers attack targets of opportunity. 

FRANCE: French women dance for joy as they are freed from a German prison in the Alsatian town of Hagenau during its liberation today. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division finishes clearing Sarreguemines, except for a few snipers, and blocks at Frauenberg; the main body of the division continues toward the Blies River; at night, the division prepares to attack across the Blies on 12 December. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26 Infantry Division, continues toward the German frontier. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the elements of the 44th Infantry Division take Petit Réderching; others reach Siersthal. In the VI Corps area, Haguenau falls to the 79th Infantry Division. 

GERMANY: At his Adlerhorst headquarters near Bad Nauheim about 16 miles (26 kilometers) north-northeast of Frankfurt, German western front commanders note Chancellor Adolf Hitler's uncontrollable trembling and pale, puffy appearance as he orders Operation AUTUMN MIST, a major offensive through the Ardennes towards Antwerp. 
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the Germans continue a successful defense of Pier and Schophoven, but elements of the 415th Infantry Regiment, 104th Infantry Division, take Merken and Vilvenich. The 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, and armor of the 3d Armored Division overrun Geich. Combat Command R of the 3d Armored Division, reinforced by a battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment, makes a futile and costly effort to take Hoven. The 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, seizes Merode and Schlicht. In the VIII Corps area, the 106th Infantry Division, with the 14th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) attached, takes over positions in the Schnee Eifel formerly held by the 2d Infantry Division. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, 3 the 57th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division withdraws a little on the north flank of the Diilingen bridgehead in order to shorten the front and secure supply lines; the 359th and 358th Infantry Regiments attempt in vain to find a passage through the fortified belt between them; the 359th loses three pillboxes during a counterattack; the 90th Reconnaissance Troop takes responsibility for the west bank of the Sarre River so that the covering force previously deployed there can be used to strengthen the bridgehead. 95th Infantry Division expands Saariautern bridgehead in costly fighting: the 377th Infantry Regiment pushes to the center of Fraulautern; the 378th clears about five city blocks in Ensdorf; the progress of 379th in Saarlautern- Roden is negligible. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 746: The largest number of bombers so far dispatched, 1,586, and 841 fighters are sent to hit rail targets and bridges in western Germany using Pathfinder Force means; five bombers and two fighters are lost: 365 B-17s bomb the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Giessen, 320 hit the M/Y at Frankfurt-am- Main and 135 attack the Mosel M/Y at Koblenz while 304 B-24s attack the M/Y at Hanau with the loss of four B-24s. B-17 crews also bomb a railroad bridge at Mannehim by 182 aircraft with the loss of one aircraft while 158 B-24s bomb a railroad bridge at Maximiliansau. Fourteen other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. 
Over 200 USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers dispatched to bomb defended villages and storage areas are recalled because of weather; one bomber manages to bomb a stores depot at Reichenbach. Fighters escort the RAF, divebomb targets in cities, and support the U.S. 3d Armored Division in the Echtz-Geich area, the 104th Infantry Division at Merken, the 9th Infantry Division at Merode and Derichsweiler, and the 83d Infantry Division at Strass. 
During the day, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack three cities: (1) 233 Lancasters and five Mosquitos are dispatched to the Urft Dam at Heimbach; 180 aircraft bomb the target. Hits are scored but no breach is made; one Lancaster is lost. (2) Two targets in Bottrop are bombed by 148 Lancasters through cloud on the marshalling yards (96 aircraft) and on the benzol plant (52 aircraft). The bombing appears to be accurate; one Lancaster is lost. (3) Duisburg is attacked by 80 Mosquitos on Oboe-leader raids to the Bruckhausen coking plant (49 aircraft) and to the Meiderich benzol plant (31 aircraft). Most of the bombing on the benzol plant and approximately half on the coking plant appeared to be accurate. No aircraft lost. 
During the night of 11/12 December, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attack six cities: 38 bomb Hannover, 25 hit Hamburg, eight each attack Bielefeld and Schwerte and one each bomb Dortmund and Oberhausen. One Mosquito is lost. 

HUNGARY: One each USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb the railroad at Kenyeri, the city of Szombathely and an airfield. 

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 6th Armoured Division is ordered to attack for Tossignano during the night of 12/13 December. 
In the British Eighth Army's Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division and 5th Armoured Division gain bridgeheads across the Lamone River and push to the Fosso Vecchio Canal. Tanks are unable to cross into the bridgehead. The Porter Force is dissolved, but elements continue to assist the 5th Armored Division. 
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers hit the Motta di Livenza bridge; fighters and fighter-bombers hit occupied areas, houses, guns, and defensive positions south of Bologna and attack railroad targets in the central Po River Valley. 

WESTERN EUROPE: During the night of 11/12 December, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 747: three B-17s and eight B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany; one B-24 is lost. 

YUGOSLAVIA: Thirty eight RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly a supply mission to partisans.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

ARCTIC OCEAN: In the Barents Sea off the northern coast of Norway, the Norwegian corvette HNoMS Tunsberg Castle (K 374) is mined and sunk off Batsfjord, Norway; five crewmen are lost. 

AUSTRIA: Two USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the Main marshalling yard at Graz while a third aircraft bombs the city of Gattersford. 

BELGIUM: A German A4 (V-2) rockets lands in Antwerp at Hoboken in Lage Weg at 0748 hours; 44 people are injured. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack four cities: 11 hit a synthetic oil facility at Ostrava Moravaska and two each bomb marshalling yard at Libeau and the cities of Puchov and Troppau. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army area, XV Corps is virtually halted by Maginot fortifications in the Hottviller-Bitche area, but Combat Command A, 12th Armored Division, reaches Bettviller, its objective. VI Corps commits the 14th Armored Division between the 103d and 79th Infantry Divisions. The 79th Infantry Division enters Soufflenheim as the Germans pull back toward the West Wall and it begins clearing Seltz. 
In the French First Army area, General Jean-Joseph Lattre de Tassignym commander of the First Army, alters the plan of action, calling for the capture of Colmar and Cernay but deferring the drive to the Rhine River at Brisach unless circumstances are favorable. II Corps is to make the main effort through Colmar to Rouffach, where it will link up with I Corps coming from Cernay. I Corps is so spent that it suspends offensive until 15 December. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division takes Pier in a two-pronged assault and forces the Germans to withdraw across the Roer River. Elements of the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, drive into Mariaweiler. Hoven is cleared of the Germans. Combat Command R, 3d Armored Division, and the 60th Infantry Regiment finish clearing most of the region west of the Roer River northwest and west of Dueren during the day. The 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, begins clearing Derichsweiler 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the situation in the Dillingen bridgehead improves. The 357th Infantry Division, 90th Infantry Division, mops up bypassed resistance within its sector and the 359th and 358th Infantry Regiments establish contact, opening the corridor through a fortified belt through which tanks are moved to the 357th. A vehicular ferry is put into operation. An effective smoke screen permits delivery of tanks and tank destroyers to the bridgehead. Limited progress is made in the Saarlautern bridgehead by the 95th Infantry Division. The combat efficiency of both the 90th and 95th Infantry Divisions has been lowered sharply because of insufficient reinforcements and exhaustion.
In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division begins an attack across the lilies early in morning: the 1st Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, crosses and begins to clear Habkirchen, gaining a weak hold there; the 320th Infantry Regiment, assisted by tanks, clears Bliesbruck, France, on the near side of the river, in preparation for a crossing. 
The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, gets forward elements across the German border and its relief is begun by the 87th Infantry Division, 
during the night of 12/13 December. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force Flies Mission 748: 895 bombers and 928 fighters are dispatched to make an H2X attack on Merseburg and visual attacks on rail targets; four bombers and seven P-51s are lost: 458 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb a marshalling yard (M/Y) at Darmstadt; 347 B-17s hit the I.G. Farben synthetic oil plant at Merseberg with the loss of two aircraft; 275 B-24 Liberators bomb a M/Y at Hanau with the loss of three and 87 others bomb a M/Y at Aschaffenburg; and 47 other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. 
Ninety USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs strike the defended villages of Gemund, Harperscheid, Hellenthal, Schleiden, Schoneseiffen, and Wollseifen, and the towns of Dorsel, Mayen, and Wiesbaden. Fighters fly armed reconnaissance and strafing and bombing missions in western Germany and support the U.S. 83d Infantry Division in the Strass-Gey area, cover the U.S. VII Corps in the Duren area and support the U.S. XII and XX Corps in the Habkirchen and Bliesbruck areas (the 35th Infantry Division assault across the Blies River) and Saarlautern-Dillengen. USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attack four cities: 51 bomb the I.G. Farben South synthetic oil plant at Blechhammer and five others hit targets of opportunity. 
During the day, 140 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters are dispatched on a G-H raid to the Ruhrstahl steelworks at Witten; 136 bomb the target. German fighters intercept the force in the target area and eight Lancasters are lost. It was the town's first major raid of the war. The steelworks are not hit and bombs fell all over the town, destroying 126 houses and five industrial premises. 

During the night of 12/13 December, 540 RAF Bomber Command aircraft, 349 Lancasters, 163 Halifaxes and 28 Mosquitos, are dispatched to bomb Essen; 529 bomb the city with the loss of six Lancasters. This is the last heavy night raid by Bomber Command on Essen. During the post-war interrogations of Albert Speer, the German Armaments Minister, he is asked which forms of attack are most effective in weakening the German war effort. After referring to the effectiveness of daylight raids and to some of the Oboe Mosquito attacks, Speer paid a compliment to the accuracy of this raid on Essen: "The last night attack upon the Krupp works, which was carried out by a large number of four-engined bombers, caused surprise on account of the accuracy of the bomb pattern. We assumed that this attack was the first large-scale operation based on Oboe or some other new navigational system." In another raid, 49 Mosquitos bomb Osnabruck.

Kommando Welter’s leader, Oblt. Kurt Welter downs a RAF Lancaster bomber during the night flying his Me 262 jet. 

GREECE: The Greek Communists ask for a cease fire.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the Germans, counterattacking at dawn, temporarily force back the outpost of the Indian 19th Brigade on MT Cerere. The 6th Armoured Division begins the second phase of its offensive, during the night of 12/13 December, employing the 61st Brigade, which gets elements into Tossignano, where they come under heavy pressure. 
In the British Eighth Army's Canadian I Corps area, the 5th Armoured and 1st Divisions advance from the Fosso Vecchio River to the Naviglio Canal, which runs from Faenza to the sea, and attack across it during the night of 12/13 December. The 1st Division gains a bridgehead north of Bagnacavallo, but the 5th Armoured Division is forced back to the Fosso Vecchio River.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

ARCTIC OCEAN: In the Norwegian Sea, German submarine U-365 is sunk about 247 nautical miles (457 kilometers) north-northwest of Bodø, Norway, in position 70.43N, 08.07E, by depth charges from two British Swordfish Mk. IIIs, aircraft "L" and "Q" of No. 813 Squadron in the British escort aircraft carrier HMS Campania (D 48); all 50 crewmen on the submarine are lost. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark, ten RAF Bomber Command lay mines during the night of 13/14 December. 

FRANCE: Nine French Gestapo members are sentenced to death in Paris today. They include Henri Lafont, aged 42, a former car salesman, who was in charge of the infamous Gestapo headquarters in the Rue Lauriston, and his associate, the former police inspector Pierre Bony, who won a reputation as a brilliant detective during the 1934 Stavisky affair. Their trial lasted for 12 days, and the court heard horrifying tales of torture, murder and extortion. There were originally 12 accused, but one died of diabetes during the trial and two are sentenced to life imprisonment. 
The U.S. Third Army III Corps accepts the surrender of last of the Metz forts--Jeanne d'Arc. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division strengthens its hold across the Blies River; the 1st Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, undergoes German counterattacks in Habkirchen, beginning early in morning, and is forced back toward the river; the 3d Battalion joins in the battle for Habkirchen; a battalion of the 320th Infantry Regiment crosses the Blies River at Bliesbruck and takes Hill 321; a small force from the 137th Infantry Regiment crosses north of Habkirchen but is pinned down. 
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division begins a struggle for Fort Simershof, near Hottviller, which is barring the forward movement. In the VI Corps area, the 14th Armored Division attacks between the 103d and 79th Infantry Divisions, Combat Command A taking Soultz-sous- Forets. The 79th Infantry Division completes the capture of Seltz and overruns Niederroedern. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps, area, the 30th Infantry Division, in limited attacks, clears most of region between Inde and Roer Rivers. 
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division reaches the Roer River on a 4-mile (6,4 kilometer) front. The 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, finishes clearing Derichsweiler. This virtually ends the current mission of the corps. The V Corps opens an offensive for the Roer and Urft dams, employing the 78th Infantry Division (untried as yet in combat), 2d Infantry Division, and 99th Infantry Division. The 78th Infantry Division is held up near Kesternich. the 2d Infantry Division is slowed by obstacles and German fire in the center of corps. The 99th Infantry Division attacks in Monschau Forest and gains preliminary objectives. 
The U.S. Third Army draws up plans for an air-ground assault on the West Wall. In the XX Corps area, the 90th Infantry Division prepares for an all-out effort to take the rest of Dillingen on 15 December, regrouping and building up supplies. The 95th Infantry Division makes very slight progress in the Saarlautern bridgehead, although elements of the 2d Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, are committed with the 377th Infantry Regiment to guard the bridge. 
Two hundred fifty USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs, A-26 Invaders, and B-26s hit a supply dump at Schleiden, plus defended positions in several villages and marshalling yard at Euskirchen. Fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly night bombing missions, attack targets in the Cologne area, and support the XX Corps in the Dillengen-Saarlaute rn bridgehead area, and the XII Corps in the Habkirchen-Bliesbru ck area along the Blies River on France. 

HUNGARY: Forward elements of the Red Army's Second Ukrainian Front thrust to within 6 miles (9,7 kilometers) northeast and 8 miles (13 kilometers) east of Budapest. 

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 61st Brigade of the 6th Armoured Division gets additional elements into Tossignano. The 36th Brigade of the 78th Division begins an attack for Parocchia di Mt. Maggiore, during the night of 13/14 December, but is unable to reach the top and withdraws at dawn. 
In the British Eighth Army's Canadian I Corps area, the 1st Division maintains a bridgehead across the Naviglio Canal against severe German counterattacks. 
Weather again hampers operations. USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers attack mainly occupied areas and buildings in the battle area south of Bologna, communications throughout the central Po River Valley, and coastal defense and antiaircraft guns south of La Spezia. 

NETHERLANDS: The British Second Army starts regrouping for an offensive to clear the region between the Maas and the Rhine Rivers. XXX Corps, which will at first be employed, turns over its sector and troops to XII Corps. 
During the day, 13 RAF aircraft attack the German E-boat pens at Ijmuiden. 

NORWAY: During the night of 13/14 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 52 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos to attack the German cruiser Koln berthed in Oslo Fjord but, when the bombers reach the fjord, the Koln has been moved to another location. Other ships are bombed by 47 aircraft instead but the results are not observed.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: During the night of 14/15 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 30 Lancasters and nine Halifaxes on minelaying missions. Nineteen aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark, and 18 lay mines in the Laeso Rende Strait between the Danish mainline 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, elements of the 100th Infantry Division attacking Fort Schiesseck, near Bitche, are pinned down by German fire. In the VI Corps area, Lembach falls to the 45th Infantry Division. The 103d Infantry Division encounters strong rear-guard opposition at Climbach while the 79th Infantry Division column drives to the outskirts of Lauterbourg. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division troops finish clearing the region between the Inde and Roer Rivers. 
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, a factory between Mariaweiler and Dueren is cleared of German troops. The V Corps continues their offensive but makes little headway. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 90th Infantry Division continues attack preparations. Vehicular ferry is put out of action by German fire. The 95th Infantry Division makes little progress in expanding the Saarlautern bridgehead. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division continues the battle for Habkirchen, crossing the 2d Bn and Company K of the 134th Infantry Regiment over the river to join in the attack. A Bailey bridge is put across the river to the the village, during the night of 14/15 December. The 87th Infantry Division, which has been moving toward Rimling, takes that village, but resistance is stiffening. 
Bad weather grounds the USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers but fighters fly armed reconnaissance, hit rail targets and bridges, and support the U.S. 2d and 99th Infantry Divisions in the Monschau Forest, the 8th Infantry Division in the Bergstein area, the 78th Infantry Division in the Simmerath-Resternic h area, and the XII and XX Corps around Habkirchen and Saarlautern. 

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 6th Armoured Division loses contact with elements within Tossignano and fighting for this objective ceases after futile efforts to take it. 
In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps renews their offensive, during the night of 14/15 December, pushing forward to the left of the Corps and in conjunction with it. The Corps, after regrouping, jumps off, during the night of 14/15 December, with the Indian 10th Division on the left and the New Zealand 2d Division on the right, the Indian 10th Division attacking toward Pergola ridge and the New Zealand 2d Division in the Colic area, west of Faenza. In the Canadian I Corps area, the 5th Armoured Division forces the Naviglio Canal to the right of the 1st Division and establishes a bridgehead. 
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers score effective hits on railroad bridges at Parma and Chivasso. Fighters and fighter-bombers attack rail lines north of the immediate battle area and in the Po River Valley and hit guns and occupied areas on the U.S. Fifth Army front south of Bologna. 

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: In the Adriatic Sea, the British destroyer HMS Aldenham (L 22) is returning from bombarding a German-held island off Fiume, Yugoslavia, when she strikes a mine and sinks about 80 nautical miles (148 kilometers) south-southeast of Trieste, Italy, in position 44.30N, 14.45E; 121 crewmen are lost.


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## syscom3 (Jan 20, 2010)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the Kattegat (the arm of the North Sea between Denmark and Sweden) during the night of 15/16 December, six RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes lay mines in the Laeso Rende Strait between the Dannish mainland and the island of Laeso. 

AUSTRIA: Over 330 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit numerous targets: 211 bomb two marshalling yards (M/Ys) at Linz, 131 hitting the Main M/Y and 80 attacking the Freight M/Y with the loss of one aircraft; 47 bomb the Main M/Y at Innsbruck with the loss of one bomber; and 31 aircraft bomb targets of opportunity. Two bombers are lost. Over 250 P-38s and P-51s 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The Red Army troops cross the Ipely (Ipel) River north of Budapest, Hungary, and establishes a bridgehead on Czech soil at Sahy. 
attacked at several points throughout the Netherlands East Indies. 

FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, Combat Command A of the 14th Armored Division, seizes Riedseltz; Combat Command B takes Salmbach and Schlerthal. One 79th Infantry Division column clears Lauterbourg and another reaches the Lauter River at the village of Schiebenhardt. 
The French First Army begins an offensive against the Germans west of the Rhine River in the Colmar area. The II Corps, making the main effort, penetrates to Orbey. 

GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army area, V Corps continues to gain ground slowly. The 78th Infantry Division secures Kesternich but the Germans infiltrate in some strength and isolates elements. 
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 90th Infantry Division opens an assault for the rest of Dillingen and the Prims River bridge on the Dillingen-Saarlaute rn road under a smoke screen with the 359th Infantry Regiment on the left and the 358th Infantry Regiment on the right; the attack penetrates the German main line of resistance in the Dillingen sector and gets well into the town. A lull develops after this and the 90th Infantry Division suspends the attack. The 95th Infantry Division continues a slow advance in the Saarlautern bridgehead. In the XII Corps area, the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, assisted by tanks and tank destroyers, takes Habkirchen; to the left, the 137th Infantry Regiment is driven out of Breiterwald with very heavy losses in a German counterattack. The 87th Infantry Division is also bitterly opposed but the 347th Infantry Regiment takes Obergailbach and the heights overlooking the Blies River. 
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 750: 674 B-17s and 434 fighters are dispatched to attack rail targets and a locomotive factory using H2X; one bomber and two fighters are lost: 328 bomb the Hainholz marshalling yard at Hannover with the loss of one B-17; 304 bomb the Henschel locomotive works at Kassel; and 23 bombers hit targets of opportunity. 
Over 300 USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs, A-26 Invaders, and B-26s hit defended positions, camp area, and oil storage at Heimbach, Wollseifen, Harperscheid, Schonau, Ruthen, and Dorsel; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, hit supply and ammunition dumps and other targets during bombing attacks and armed reconnaissance, and support the U.S. 2d and 99th Infantry Divisions in the area of Westwall fortifications, the 78th Infantry Division at Kesternich, and the 8th Infantry and 5th Armored Divisions north of Kesternich. Fighters also support the XX and XII Corps in the Dillingen-Saarlaute rn area and at Habkirchen and heights along the Blies River. 
The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force hits three marshalling yards (M/Ys): 56 bomb the Amstetten M/Y, 47 attack the Main M/Y at Rosenheim and 21 hit the Main M/Y at Salzburg. 
During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 138 Lancasters to bomb Siegen but the are recalled because bad weather prevents their fighter escorts from taking off. 
During the night 15/16 December, RAF Bomber Command sends 327 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos to attack Ludwigshafen; 319 bomb the target with the loss of one Lancaster. The target area for this raid is the northern part of Ludwigshafen and the small town of Oppau in which two important I.G. Farben chemical factories were situated. Severe damage is caused and fierce fires are started. The Oppau factory ceases production completely. Five other industrial firms are also badly hit. Some damage is also caused to housing areas around the various factories but this is not serious. Damage is also caused to installations and ships at the nearby Rhine quays. Mosquitoes also hit three other targets: 57 bomb Hannover, 11 hit Osnabruck and three attack the Bruckhausen benzine oil refinery at Duisburg. 

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps pushes forward on l the eft flank of the army across the Sintria River toward the Senio River. In the British V Corps area, the Germans struggle to prevent the encirclement of Faenza, exerting strong pressure on New Zealand forces in the Colic area and bringing the Indian 10th Division to a halt short of Pergola during the day but withdrawing, during the night of 15/16 December. The Canadian I Corps joins and consolidates bridgeheads across the Naviglio Canal north of Faenza and spends the next few days improving the bridgehead. 
USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s, attack ammunition dumps at Cremona, Bologna, and Pavia, a fuel dump at Castellar Guidobono, and severely damage railway bridges south of Asti and at Voghera. Fighters and fighter-bombers again hit targets in the U.S. Fifth Army battle area south of Bologna and communications in the central Po River Valley and make numerous rail cuts throughout the area (especially on the vital Brenner Line) destroying many vehicles and train cars. Several bridges are hit, three being left impassable. 

NETHERLANDS: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 Lancasters to attack the E-boat pens at Ijmuiden with 12,000 pound (5 443 kilogram) "Tallboy" bombs but a smoke-screen hinders the bombing and no results are seen. 

POLAND: During the night of 15/16 December, 13 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters lay mines in the Baltic Sea off Gdynia; one aircraft is lost. 

UNITED KINGDOM: Major Alton Glenn Miller, s/n 0505273, Director of the USAAF band, aboard a Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman aircraft, disappears. Miller, age 40, Is en route from RAF Twinwood Farm, Bedfordshire, England, to Paris, France, to arrange a Christmas show for the troops in France. It Is raining and the temperature is 34 degrees F (1.1 degrees C) when the aircraft takes off with three people aboard, the pilot, Flight Officer Johnny Morgan, Miller and Lieutenant Colonel Norman F. Baesell who is flying to Paris in General Goodrich's private plane so that Baesell can pick up some champagne for the holidays. The UC-64A, a single engine, high-wing monoplane that could carry nine people, does not have deicing equipment. Although overage, and therefore draft exempt, Glenn Miller joined the Army in late 1942, was transferred to the USAAF, and went on to lead one of the greatest bands of the swing era. 

UNITED STATES: USN Admiral William D. Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), is promoted to the (five star) rank of Fleet Admiral. 
The USAAF activates Headquarters, Continental Air Force (CAF) at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., to coordinate the work of the four domestic air forces (First, Second, Third and Fourth) and the I Troop Carrier Command but will not assume jurisdiction until 8 May 1945. On 21 March 1946, CAF is redesignated Strategic Air Command (SAC). 

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 751: Two B-17s drop leaflets in France and Germany during the night. 

YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, 33 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack tactical targets near Klopat.


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## Njaco (Jan 25, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* The US 7th Army enters Germany, along the Palatinate frontier, from Alsace between Wissembourg and Lauterbourg. The French 1st Army is regrouping after its recent advance was countered by German forces.

Command designated Naval Forces Germany (Admiral Robert L. Ghormley) is established with headquarters at Rosneath, Scotland.

Major Alton Glenn Miller, s/n 0505273, Director of the USAAF band, boards a UC-64A for a flight to Paris. Miller's big band was one of the most popular prior to WWII; he enlisted in the AAF in 1942 and formed a band to entertain the troops in the ETO. Miller is on his way to Paris to make arrangements for a Christmas Show; he and the Flight Officer pilot takeoff, disappear in low cloud and are never seen again. 

138 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group set out on a raid to Siegen but were recalled because bad weather prevented their fighter escorts from taking off.

17 RAF Lancasters of No 617 Squadron attacked the E-boat pens at Ijmuiden with Tallboys but a smoke-screen hindered the bombing and no results were seen. No aircraft lost.

*GERMANY:* (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 750: 674 B-17s and 434 fighters are dispatched to attack rail targets and an armored car factory in Germany using H2X; 1 bomber and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 318 of 334 B-17s hit the marshalling yard and tank factories at Kassel; 5 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 11 damaged; 25 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. Escorting are 268 of 296 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 327 of 340 B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Hannover and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 7 damaged. Escorting are 241 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 3. 19 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 751: 2 of 3 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 300+ A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s hit defended positions, camp area, and oil storage at Heimbach, Wollseifen, Harperscheid, Schonau, Ruthen, and Dorsel; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, hit supply and ammunition dumps and other targets during bombing attacks and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 2d and 99th Infantry Divisions in the area of Westwall fortifications, the 78th Infantry Division at Kesternich, and the 8th Infantry and 5th Armored Divisions N of Kesternich; fighters support the XX and XII Corps in the Dillingen-Saarlautern area and at Habkirchen and heights along the Blies River. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 330+ B-17s and B-24s attack main marshalling yards, main station, and freight yard at Linz, marshalling yards at Amstetten, Salzburg, and Innsbruck, Austria, and Rosenheim, Germany (all primary targets) and targets of opportunity including the Klagenfurt and Waldhausen marshalling yard and the town of Sankt Johann in Tirol, Austria; the Schwaz, Austria marshalling yard is also hit (due to malfunction of instruments). 250+ P-38s and P-51s provide escort 

327 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups despatached to Ludwigshafen. 1 Lancaster lost. The target area for this raid was the northern part of Ludwigshafen and the small town of Oppau in which two important IG Farben chemical factories were situated. Severe damage was caused and fierce fires were started. The Oppau factory ceased production completely.. 5 other industrial firms were also badly hit. Some damage was also caused to housing areas around the various factories but this was not serious. Damage was also caused to installations and ships at the nearby Rhine quays.

62 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 11 to Osnabrück and 3 to Duisburg, 31 RCM sorties, 38 Mosquito patrols, 15 Lancasters and 8 Halifaxes minelaying off north-eastern Denmark. 1 Lancaster minelayer lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s, attack ammunition dumps at Cremona, Bologna, and Pavia, a fuel dump at Castellar Guidobono, and severely damage railway bridges S of Asti and at Voghera; fighters and fighter-bombers again hit targets in the US Fifth Army battle area S of Bologna and communications in the C Po River Valley and make numerous rail cuts throughout the area (especially on the vital Brenner Line) destroying many vehicles and train cars; several bridges are hit, 3 being left impassable.


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## Njaco (Jan 26, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* The Battle of the Bulge begins. German forces of Heeresgruppe B (Model), under the overall command of Field Marshal Rundstedt, launch an offensive in the Ardennes Forest, between Monschau and Trier, aimed at recapturing Antwerp and splitting the British and American armies. The attacking force consists of the 6.SS Panzerarmee (Dietrich) on the right and 5.Panzerarmee (Manteuffel) on the left. On the right and left flanks are the German 15. and 7. Armees. Allied forces are taken by surprise. The initial assault targets the line held by US 5th and 7th Corps, parts of US 1st Army (Hodges), in the US 21st Army Group (Bradley) as part of the Allied Expeditionary Force (Eisenhower). A brief artillery barrage precedes that attack. On the first day, German forces successfully breach the American lines. English speaking German troops, wearing captured uniforms and using Allied equipment, infiltrate behind the American lines causing some confusion and uncertainty in the rear areas. Poor weather prevents Allied ground attack aircraft from operating against the German armored columns. Meanwhile, US 3rd Army continues operations along the Saar River until news of the German offensive is received.

(US Ninth Air Force): Bad weather cancels 9th Bombardment Division combat operations. In Germany, fighters escort RAF aircraft, fly night patrol and intercept missions, and support US First Army elements in the Ardennes in Belgium as Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt begins an allout counteroffensive, and the XII and XX Corps at Saarlautern the bridgehead and in Saint-Avold-Saarbrucken area where news of the Ardennes counteroffensive cancels the XII Corps plans for an assault on the Westwall. HQ IX Air Defense Command moves from Versailles to Paris, France.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Italy elements of British 5th Corps (part of British 8th Army) capture Faenza. General Clark take command of the 15th Army Group, General Truscott replaces him with the US 5th Army.

In Liberated Greece British General Scobie publishes the text of the Caserta agreement in which the communist guerrillas promised to work with the established government (in exile, at that time). 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather grounds medium bombers; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers hit occupied buildings and guns in the battle zone S of Bologna, continue attacks on the Brenner rail line effecting 16 rail cuts, hit and set aflame 3 vessels in La Spezia drydock, and blast several railroad bridges N of the battle area. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 752: 236 B-17s are dispatched to attack rail targets at Stuttgart, Germany but extremely poor weather conditions result in many aborts; primary targets are the marshalling yard at Stuttgart (81) and Bietingheim (33); 1 other B-17 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA and 9 MIA. Escorting are 106 of 114 P-51s without loss. 10 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 

108 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group in a G-H raid on the railway yards at Siegen. 1 Lancaster lost. The bombing was accurate enough to hit Siegen and the neighbouring town of Weidenau but not to destroy the railway yards which were hit by only a few bombs. Many public buildings and houses were destroyed in Siegen, which had not been bombed seriously before.

1 RAF Mosquito attempted to bomb Wiesbaden but did not reach the target and 2 Wellingtons flew RCM sorties. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT:* (US Fifteenth Air Force): Almost 600 B-24s and B-17s bomb a synthetic oil plant at Brux and armament works at Plzen, Czechoslovakia; a benzol plant at Linz and marshalling yards at Innsbruck and Villach, Austria; plus several scattered targets of opportunity; P-38s and P-51s escort operations to Czechoslovakia; other P-38s fly reconnaissance missions while P-51s fly reconnaissance escort.


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## Njaco (Jan 26, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* The German offensive in the West, after some deep penetrations into the lines of the unprepared US forces in the area, makes only slow progress due to limited roads as well as difficult terrain and weather conditions, not reaching any assigned first-day objectives. Eisenhower releases the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions from AEF reserve to reinforce American troops in the Ardennes. Other infantry and armored forces from US 12th Army Group are also being redeployed to meet the German offensive. Meanwhile, German forces capture 9000 Americans at Echternach, on the extreme right flank of the attack. Soldiers kill some 71 American POWs near Malmedy. The massacre was committed by troops of 1.SS Panzerdivision 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler', 'Kampfgruppe Peiper'.

French 1st Army captures Keintzheim.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 753: 3 B-17s and 7 B-24s are dispatched to drop leaflets on France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. The 859th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 492d Bombardment Group (Heavy) is detached to Italy and begins a movement to Brindisi today. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, weather prevents bomber operations; 1,000+ fighters fly armed reconnaissance, defensive patrols, and attacks on bridges and gun positions; the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands also support ground forces (8th, 28th, 78th, 99th, and 106th Infantry Divisions, 5th Armored Division, and V, VII, VIII, XII, and XX Corps) against the counteroffensive in the Ardennes and in a battle to hold the Saarlautern, Germany bridgehead. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force):550+ B-17s and B-24s bomb oil refineries at Blechhammer N and S and Odertal, Germany, and Moravska-Ostrava, Czechoslovakia; marshalling yards at Gross Strehlitz, Germany, and Villach, Saak, Salzburg, and Wels, Austria. P-38s and P-51s escort the bombers, fly reconnaissance, strafe the railroad running from Rosenheim, Germany into Austria, and escort photo reconnaissance operations; enemy fighters appear in force for the first time since Aug 44; the AAF claims 55 air victories.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Italy The British 10th Indian Division (an element of British 8th Army), captures crossings over the Senio River, near Faenza.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather again cancels medium bomber operations; the XXII Tactical Air Command hits communications in the Po River Valley and attacks the Trento marshalling yard on the rail line running N to the Brenner Pass. 

*ENGLAND:* German submarine _'U-400' _sunk with all hands off Cork. _'U-772' _was sunk in the North Atlantic south of Cork, in position 51.16N, 08.05W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Nyasaland'_. 48 dead (all hands lost).

*GERMANY*: Duisburg: 523 RAF aircraft - 418 Halifaxes, 8, Lancasters, 24 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 8 Halifaxes lost. Duisburg was badly hit again.

Ulm: 317 RAF Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost. This was Bomber Command's first and only raid on Ulm, an old city but also the home of 2 large lorry factories - Magirius-Deutz and Kässbohrer - several other important industries and some military barracks and depots. 1,449 tons of bombs were dropped during the 25-minute raid, starting in the centre and then creeping back to the west, across the industrial and railway areas and out into the country. The Gallwitz Barracks and several military hospitals were among 14 Wehrmacht establishments destroyed.

Munich: 280 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 4 Lancasters lost. Bomber Command claimed 'severe and widespread damage' in the old centre of Munich and at railway targets.

44 RAF Mosquitos to Hanau (a 'spoof' raid), 26 to Münster and 5 to Hallendorf, 44 RCM sorties, 50 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Jan 26, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the West, Operation *Wacht am Rhein* begins to bog down in the face of stiffened US resistance and lack of adequate logistical support, notably fuel for the armored Kampfgruppen of Dietrich's and Manteuffel's armies.

German submarine _'U-1209' _scuttled after running aground on the Scilly Isles after hitting Wolf Rock. 9 dead and 44 survivors.

In Belgium, the detachments of the 30th Photographic Reconnaissance and 107th and 109th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, operating from Florennes Juzaine and Chievres with F-5s and F-6s respectively, return to base at Gosselies; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), based at Spa with L-5s, begins operating from Liege. 

*EASTERN FRONT:* 236 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked the distant port of Gdynia on the Baltic coast and caused damage to shipping, installations and housing in the port area. 4 Lancasters lost. The nighttime attack sinks the Schleswig-Holstein and 8 other ships at Gotenhafen (Gdynia).

Soviet troops cross the Miscolc river.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* In Liberated Greece British troops begin an offensive against the rebellious Communist forces and capture on of the ELAS strong points on the Piraeus road.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather again curtails operations; the XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers hit communications in the E Po River Valley, scoring particular success against lines in the N part of the Valley in the Padua region, and support US Fifth Army operations in the battle area S of Bologna. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 754: 985 bombers and 773 fighters are dispatched to hit communication and tactical targets in Germany using PFF; 4 fighters are lost: 1. Extensive cloud formations force the recall of 358 B-24s without loss. Escorting are 103 of 110 P-51s. 2. 385 B-17s are sent to hit the Kalk marshalling yard at Cologne (32); secondary targets hit are the Lutzel marshalling yard at Koblenz (102) and Kaiserslautern (74) marshalling yard; 11 hit Bonn, a last resort target; 1 B-17 is damaged. The escort is 110 of 116 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 157 of 220 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Mainz; 13 others hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 2 damaged beyond repair; 1 airman is MIA. Escort is provided by 150 of 162 P-51s without loss. 4. 22 of 22 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 255 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep in W Germany; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA). 6. 29 of 31 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 755: 4 B-17s and 9 B-24s are sent to drop leaflets in France, Germany and the Netherlands during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 160+ A-26s, A-20s, and B-26s hit defended positions at Harperscheid, Hellenthal, Blumenthal, Dreiborn, and Herhahn; fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over W Germany (claiming 40+ enemy airplanes downed plus hitting numerous ground targets) and support the US 2d, 4th, 28th, and 106th Infantry Divisions W of Butgenbach and W of Trier; SE of Clervaux, Luxembourg; and SE of Saint-Vith, Belgium; and the XII Corps at Niedergailbach; the IX Tactical Air Command hits Panzer units spearheading the Bulge. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 560+ B-17s and B-24s hit oil refineries at Blechhammer N and S and Odertal, Germany; Floridsdorf refinery at Vienna, Austria; Moravska-Ostrava, Czechoslovakia; and Auschwitz, Poland; marshalling yards at Graz and Studenzen, Austria, and Sopron, Hungary; the Bruck an der Mur, Austria industrial area, and various scattered targets of opportunity; fighters fly escort and reconnaissance missions. 

40 RAF Mosquitos to Nuremberg and 16 to Münster, 34 RCM sorties, 11 Mosquito patrols, 14 Lancasters of No 5 Group minelaying in Danzig Bay. 1 Mosquito Intruder lost.


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## Njaco (Jan 26, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: German columns reach Bastogne. Meanwhile, forces of the German 6.SS Panzerarmee reach Stavelot in the north while elements of 5.Panzerarmee approach Houffalize. Some US forces between these advance continue to defend positions around Gouvy and St. Vith.

At a meeting of senior Allied commanders, Eisenhower decides to appoint Field Marshal Montgomery, commanding British 21st Army Group, to lead all Allied forces to the north of " the Bulge" in the line created by the German attack. General Bradley, commanding US 12th Army Group, is responsible for all Allied forces to the south. The arrangement is not made public at this time.

German submarine _'U-737' _sunk after colliding with a German minesweeper in Westfjord.

(US Ninth Air Force): All administrative sections and extra operational equipment of the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) are moved from Maastricht, the Netherlands to Saint-Trond, Belgium to avert transportation problems should the XXIX Tactical Air Command be subsequently forced into a hasty withdrawal. Weather grounds the bombers. Fighters fly armed reconnaissance in W Germany, escort RAF Lancasters, fly patrols from Belgium to the Rhine River, support the US 1st, 2d, 99th, and 106th Infantry Divisions, and 7th Armored Division (N and E of Malmedy and SE and SW of Saint-Vith, Belgium), and fly cover for US Twelfth Army troops and the XII Corps near Verdun and Saint- Avold, France. In Belgium, the 153d Liaison Squadron moves from Spa to Olne (the squadron is operating from Liege with L-5s). 

12 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group minelaying in the Kadet Channel off Denmark without loss.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 756: 328 bombers and 45 fighters are dispatched to hit tactical targets (rail and road junctions, rail and road chokepoints and railheads) in the Luxembourg and Ehrang and Koblenz, Germany area to impede the German counteroffensive launched in the Ardennes on 16 Dec using PFF: 1. 144 of 172 B-17s hit 6 tactical targets and 24 hit the secondary target, the Koblenz marshalling yard without loss. 2. 62 of 156 B-24s hit 2 tactical targets and 82 hit the secondary target, the Ehrang marshalling yard; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; 11 airmen are KIA. 3. The missions above are escorted by 37 of 41 P-47s; they claim 7-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-47s are damaged beyond repair; 1 pilot is WIA. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force):400+ B-24s and B-17s attack Blechhammer N and S, Germany and Moravska-Ostrava, Czechoslovakia oil refineries; Rosenheim, Germany rail sidings and marshalling yard; marshalling yards at Strasshof, Villach, Klagenfurt, Graz, and Innsbruck, Austria, and Sopron, Hungary; the town of Sternberk, Czechoslovakia; and several scattered targets of opportunity; P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance missions and escort the bombers. 

32 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the railway yards in Trier behind the front on which the Germans were attacking in the Ardennes. No Lancasters lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops are closing in on the Slovakian railroad junction of Kosice.

A Soviet state commission investigating German atrocities in Lithuania reports that more than 300,000 civilians and about 165,000 prisoners of war were killed in the area.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather grounds the medium bombers; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers, unable to reach the primary targets further N, hit communications N of the battle area but concentrate mainly on gun positions in the La Spezia area.


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## Njaco (Jan 26, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In their torturous advance toward the Meuse river, armored units of 6.SS Panzerarmee capture Stavelot, searching for Allied fuel dumps to replenish their near- exhausted supplies of gasoline. Forces of 6.SS Panzerarmee strike northward from around Stavelot but encounter heavy resistance from Allied defenders of British 21st Army Group. The 5.Panzerarmee continues to advance to the south against forces of US 12th Army Group, but American defenders of the road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne continue to hold their positions. Allied sources allege that in the area of Monschau the Germans have been shooting American prisoners with machineguns. Meanwhile, the US 3rd Army reports attacking from the Saarlautern bridgehead and having cleared 40 pillboxes and fortified houses. First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): In France, HQ 371st Fighter Group and the 404th and 406th Fighter Squadrons move from Tavaux Airfield, Dole to Tantonville with P-47s. Ninth Air Force: Bad weather prevents all combat operations, except a night intruder mission by 2 fighters. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, the 6th Guards Army reaches the River Hron. Soviet forces report capturing about 1000 prisoners in the offensive in Hungary. Miskolcz is reported captured as is the railway junction of Rima-Szecs.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Liberated Greece British General Scobie issues a warning to civilians to stay out of areas occupied by ELAS forces because they may be subjected to bombing raids. British tanks and armored cars have lifted the siege of Kifissia RAF base by ELAS troops.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, continued bad weather limits operations; medium bombers are grounded and overcast prevents fighters and fighter-bombers to reach many targets in the C and E Po Valley however, the Brenner rail line is cut S of Trento and trains are successfully attacked near Padua and Treviso; armed reconnaissance in the W Po Valley accounts for several locomotives, vehicles, and other targets of opportunity, and railroads, bridges, and targets of opportunity are hit in the La Spezia and Genoa areas; during the night of 19/20 Dec, A-20s attack lights at 5 locations in the E Po Valley. 

The 859th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 492d Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrives at Brindisi, Italy from Harrington, England with B-24s and C-47s; the squadron is detached to the 15th Special Group (Provisional) and will fly CARPETBAGGER missions in the MTO beginning 31 Dec. 

*GERMANY*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): For the fifth consecutive day, bombers hit Axis oil production; 454 B-17s and B-24s hit the Regensburg, Germany oil refinery, marshalling yards at Linz, Salzburg, and Villach, Austria, and armament works at Plzen, Czechoslovakia; 300+ P-38s and P-51s provide escort; 40+ others fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance-escort missions.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT:* In the north, US forces recapture Stavelot and bring the advance of the German 67. Korps (part of 6.SS Panzerarmee), on the right flank of the German attack, to a halt from here to Monschau. To the south, the German 5. Panzerarmee has nearly surrounded Bastogne while Houffalize has been secured. 

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): In France, the 405th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, moves from Tavaux Airfield in Dole to Tantonville with P-47s (the air echelon is operating from Dijon). Ninth Air Force: Operational control of the IX and XXIX Tactical Air Commands is transferred from the Ninth AF to the RAF Second Tactical AF to operate against the N line of the Bulge. The XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed weather and intruder reconnaissance in the Saarbrucken-Trier, Germany area. Weather grounds all operations. 

113 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group again attempted to bomb the railway yards at Trier in 2 waves. No Lancasters lost. The bomber crews were unable to observe results because of the cloud, although a large column of smoke eventually appeared.

207 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group attacked the synthetic-oil refinery at Politz, near Stettin. 3 Lancasters were lost and 5 more crashed in England. Post-raid reconnaissance showed that the power-station chimneys had collapsed and that other parts of the plant were damaged.

136 RAF aircraft - 67 Lancasters, 54 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the important Cologne/Nippes marshalling yards which were being used to serve the German offensive in the Ardennes. No aircraft lost. The target was cloud-covered and only a few bombs hit the railway yards but these caused the destruction of 40 wagons, a repair workshop and several railway lines.

97 RAF Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attempted to attack railway areas in Bonn but thick cloud cover prevented an accurate raid and later reconnaissance showed that the railway target was not hit. No other details are available. No aircraft lost.

4 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group to Schneidmühl as a diversion for the Politz raid, 15 RCM sorties, 12 Mosquito patrols, 30 Lancasters and 23 Halifaxes minelaying in the Kattegat. No aircraft lost.

*NORWAY:* A German convoy runs into a minefield laid by Free French submarine _'Rubis'_. This submarine has now sunk a total of 23 ships. 

*GERMANY: *(US Fifteenth Air Force):84 B-24s bomb the main marshalling yard and railroad sidings at Rosenheim, Germany; 40 P-51s provide escort; 40+ P-38s fly photo reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions.

*MEDITERRANEAN:* (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 20/21 Dec, A-20s attack highways, secondary roads, and targets of opportunity in the N and C Po Valley. During the day, bad weather grounds the medium bombers and reduces fighter and fighter-bomber operations of the XXII Tactical Air Command however, aircraft are effective against railroad targets in the Treviso area and damage Ghedi Airfield; trains, vehicles, guns, and buildings are attacked in or near Mantua, Milan, Turin, La Spezia, Padua, and Mestre.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the advance of German 5.Panzerarmee, Bastogne is surrounded. St. Vith is captured late in the day. However, the lack of substantial progress leads Model, commanding Heeresegruppe B, and Rundstedt, Commander in Chief West, to recommend an end to the offensive. American forces in Bastogne, Belgium, are told by a German commanding officer to surrender or be annihilated. CO of the 102nd, Brigadier General McAuliffe, answers with the single word;


> "Nuts!"


This succinct specimen of American slang has to be interpreted to General von Lüttwitz, CO of 47.Panzerkorps, as a negative reply.

In France, the 404th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, ceases operating from Dijon with P-47s and returns to base at Tantonville. Ninth Air Force: 3 fighter groups of the IX Tactical Air Command are transferred to the XIX Tactical Air Command to concentrate air power for cooperation with the US Third Army to which the main effort against the Bulge has been assigned; the groups return to control of the IX Tactical Air Command on 25 Dec. Fighters fly a few strafing, weather reconnaissance, intruder patrol, and alert missions; bad weather cancels all other missions. In Belgium, the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), moves from Olne to Tongres (air echelon operating from Liege with L-5s). 

*GERMANY*: Guderian, Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, recommends that the Ardennes offensive be called off.

Koblenz; 166 RAF Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos, mostly from No 1 Group but with some Pathfinders. No aircraft lost. The aiming point was the Mosel railway yards. There was some cloud in the target area and the local report says that the main weight of the attack fell in farming areas between 2 and 4 kilometres to the west where the villages of Güls and Rübenach were badly hit. But the fringes of the bombing fell on the railway yards, several main lines and 2 important road bridges. 

Bingen; 106 RAF aircraft - 90 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 14 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 8 Group. 2 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost. The railway yards were again the objective of the raid. The attack was extremely accurate and all the bombs fell into the yards or into the nearby Rhine, where 2 barges were sunk. All movement of supplies by rail through Bingen to the Ardennes battle front ceased.

44 RAF aircraft of No 100 Group flew RCM sorties and Mosquito patrols (the figure cannot be broken down). No aircraft lost.

During test flights of the He 162 ‘Salamander’ by Dipl. Ing Franke, it is found that the _Volksjäger _has very poor flight characteristics. The aircraft is redesigned to solve these instabilities. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: A Soviet sponsored provisional government of Hungary is established at Drebrecan.

Hptm. Heinrich Sturm, a 157-victory ace of 5./JG 52, is killed in Hungary.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 21/22 Dec, A-20s hit scattered targets in the Po Valley; clearing weather during the day enables medium bombers to hit bridges at Torre Beretti, Pontetidone, and at Chiari; fighter-bombers concentrate on railway targets, destroying 5 bridges in N Italy and making numerous cuts in rail lines, several on the important Brenner Pass line; motor transport and guns N of the battle area are also successfully attacked.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Although the American defenders of Bastogne continue to hold out against German attacks, elements of the German 5.Panzerarmee have by-passed the town and are advancing to the west and northwest. These attacks have reached beyond Rochefort and Laroche. However, improved weather conditions allows Allied ground attack aircraft to harass the German columns. A sudden improvement in the weather permits Allied fighter-bombers to conduct about 900 sorties against German forces in "the Bulge". With clear skies returning, Allied fighters and bombers begin attacks on German ground forces. American C47 transport planes begin dropping supplies in Bastogne. 

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 757: 423 bombers and 636 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards, communication centers and a rail junction in the rear of the battle area; 75-150 Luftwaffe aircraft are encountered and the AAF claims 75-5-23; 7 fighter are lost: 1. 148 of 153 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Ehrang; 45 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 1 WIA. Escorting are 54 of 62 P-51s; they claim 20-0-3 aircraft without loss. 2. 113 B-24s are sent to bomb communication centers at Ahrweiler (48 ), Junkerath (31) and Dahlem (27); 74 B-24s are damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 243 of 254 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 152 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Homburg (58 ) and Kaiserslautern (40) and the rail junction at Homburg; 6 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 6-4-5 aircraft; 77 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 7 MIA. Escorting are 112 of 117 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft without loss. 4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 163 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep of the Bonn, Germany area; they claim 46-1-15 aircraft; 3 P-47s and 3 P-51s are lost (all pilots MIA). 6. 20 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. Mission 758: 5 B-17s and 7 B-24s are dispatched to drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night; only 10 aircraft drop leaflets.

The 374th, 375th and 376th Fighter Squadrons, 361st Fighter Group, based at Little Walden, England with P-51s, begin operating from St Dizier, France; the 486th and 487th Fighter Squadrons, 352d Fighter Group, based at Bodney, England, begin operating from Asch, Belgium with P-51s.

The 405th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, ceases operating from Dijon, France with P-47s and returns to base at Tantonville. In Belgium, the L-5s of the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), cease operating from Liege and return to base at Tongres; the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, based at Le Culot begins operating from Conflans, France with F-6s and P-51s.

Some 26 German V2 missiles explode in Antwerp. 

153 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attempted to attack the Trier railway yards through cloud. The bombing appeared to be accurate and concentrated but Trier could only report that it was the town's worst raid of the war. 1 Lancaster lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 22/23 Dec, A-20s on intruder patrols hit Po River crossings and targets of opportunity; bad weather during the day grounds the medium bombers; fighter- bombers operate in the W Po Valley, mainly against railway communications; an airfield near Milan is attacked, and several enemy airplanes destroyed. 

*GERMANY*: 27 RAF Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of No 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards, Cologne. The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of No 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a No 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader RAM Palmer, DFC (on loan from No 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war. The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by flak and fighters and a further Lancaster had to be abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.

52 RAF Mosquitos to Limburg railway yards, 40 to Siegburg and 7 on 'training flights' to Bremen, Hannover, Münster and Osnabrück, 62 aircraft of No 100 Group on RCM and Mosquito operations, 6 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft were lost. Each of the Mosquitos shown as being on 'training flights' visited all 4 targets and dropped 1 bomb on each; these operations later became known as 'siren-sounding tours'.

Jet fighters of III./JG 7 are scrambled from Lager-Lechfeld to intercept a reconnaissance P-38 Lightning from 7th PRG and its escorting P-51D Mustangs from USAAF 353rd FG. Obfw. Erich Buttner and Fw. Böckel each claim a P-51 over Magdeburg but it is more likely that the P-38 lost on this mission by the Allies is misidentified as a Mustang by the Experten.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, around 500 B-26s and A-20s attack rail bridges, communications targets, villages, a rail junction and targets of opportunity losing 31 bombers; fighters fly bomber escort, armed reconnaissance, and patrols (claiming 100+ aircraft downed and 3 airfields bombed), and support ground forces between Werbomont, Belgium and Butgenbach, Germany along the N battleline of Bulge and the US III, VIII, and XII Corps forces along the S battleline of the Bulge.

*EASTERN FRONT:* The Soviet 4th Guards and 46th Armies are approaching the western outskirts of Budapest, after halting a counter attack by the 8.Panzerdivision.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The German Ardennes offensive is exhausted by the end of the day. The furthest advance has been achieved by elements of the German 5.Panzerarmee The 2.Panzerdivision has reached the outskirts of Dinant with the 116.Panzerdivision on the right flank near Hotten and the Panzer Lehr Division on the left flank to the west of St. Hubert. American forces in Bastogne continue to resist; some 260 Allied transports drop supplies to the defenders. Allied fighter-bombers fly over 600 sorties in the Ardennes. German General Manteuffel's force gets to within four miles of the Meuse River in France, the furthest reach of the German assault. German General Joachim Peiper's battle group in France begins a retreat on foot.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 759: 10 of 12 B-24s hit the La Pallice coastal battery in France without loss. Mission 760: A high pressure front across W Europe brings clear weather and the Eighth AF launches a maximum effort against airfields and communications in W Germany; this was the largest air strike of WWII; 2,034 bombers and 853 fighters are dispatched; they claim 92-6-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 bombers and 10 fighters are lost: 1. 858 B-17s are dispatched to hit airfields at Darmstadt (189), Frankfurt- Rheine (143), Bilbis (100), Babenhausen (96), Zellhausen (85) and Gross Ostheim (60); secondary targets hit are marshalling yards at Pforzheim (37) and Kaiserslautern (24) and Haildraum (60); 26 targets of opportunity are hit by 37 B-17s; they claim 18-5-1 aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost, 11 damaged beyond repair and 337 damaged; 15 airmen are KIA, 21 WIA and 76 MIA. Escorting are 343 of 358 P-51s; they claim 53-0-6 aircraft; 7 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 542 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Merzhausen air depot (198 ) and airfields at Giessen (74), Kirchgons (54), Nidda (53) and Ettinghausen (43); secondary targets hit are Koblenz (42), Darmstadt (7), Kaiserslautern (5) and Babenhausen (4); 20 B-17s hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 9 damaged beyond repair and 109 damaged; 21 airmen are KIA, 23 WIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 350 of 368 P-51s; they claim 13-1-13 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 634 B-24s are dispatched to hit Euskirchen (62), Wittlich (62), Gerolstein (59), Mayen (59), Ahrweiller (54), Bitburg (35), Eller (32), Pfazel (28 ), Ruwer (27), Schonecken (26), Rheinbach (25), Daun (24), Wetteldorf (18 ), and Cochem (11); 75 others hit 18 targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 150 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 5 WIA and 20 MIA. Escorting are 87 of 92 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft without loss. 4. 24 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft without loss. 5. 9 of 11 P-51s escort 9 Spitfires and 8 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 276 B-26s and A-20s hit rail bridges and communications centers in W Germany; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly armed reconnaissance, and support the US III, VIII, and XII Corps along the S battleline of the Bulge, stretching from Echternach, Luxembourg to the area NW of Neufchateau, Belgium as the 4th Armored Division reaches the enemy's ring around Bastogne. The 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, based at Le Culot, Belgium with F-6s and P-51s, begins operating from Conflans, France. 

Another Sturmbock pilot is lost when Hptm. Wolfgang Kosse, Staffelkapitän of 13./JG 3 is reported missing after combat with Allied four-engined bombers near Liege. 

Lt. Georg Keil of 9./JG 11 is awarded the Deutsche Kreuz im Gold for his thirty-six aerial victories, illustrating how difficult it was now to achieve the _Ritterkruez _– awarded only a few years earlier for twenty kills – at this time.

*NORTH AMERICA*: Off Halifax harbor, Canada, German submarine _'U-806' _torpedoes and sinks Canadian minesweeper _'Clayoquot'_.

*ENGLAND*: On the only attack against a target other than London by the air launched V-1 flying bomb – codenamed *Operation ‘MARTHA’ *- fifty Heinkels of the renamed III./KG 3 (KG 53) mount a raid on Manchester, England. The Heinkels fire the bombs from launching sights over the North Sea and thirty flying bombs make it to the English coast. Only eleven bombs make it anywhere near Manchester with only one actually landing on the city, killing thirty-seven people and injuring sixty-seven others. One Heinkel is shot down by an RAF night fighter. The result of this mission is that the British redeploy anti-aircraft guns from the south of England creating a continuous cover of fire as far north as Yorkshire. Only 1 bomb hits the target area, 17 fall nearby. A total of 37 people are killed and 67 are injured. 

In the English Channel German _'U-486' _sinks the transport SS _'Leopoldville'_. The _'Leopoldville' _(Master Charles Limbor) in convoy WEP-3 was hit by one of two torpedoes from'_ U-486' _about five miles off Cherbourg and sank over the stern at 20.40 hours. The ship carried 2235 officers and ratings of the US 66th Infantry Division and a crew of 139 men. The master, 55 crew members and 763 soldiers were lost. All news and information on this incident is suppressed by orders of SHAEF headquarters.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, Soviet forces are engaged on the outskirts of Budapest while other forces advancing past the city have almost cut it off. Soviet tanks penetrate the outskirts of the Budapest. There is a 25 mile wide corridor to the west.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Canadian troops capture Rosetta, on the Senio River. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather again holds operations to a minimum however, P-47s carry out very successful raid on Thiene Airfield, causing considerable damage and destroying several enemy airplanes; other missions find little activity and result in the destruction of only a few trucks and trains. 

*GERMANY*: 338 RAF aircraft - 248 Halifaxes, 79 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the airfields at Lohausen and Mülheim (now Düsseldorf and Essen civil airports). The purpose of the raids was not recorded; it is possible that they were to hinder the movement of supplies by transport aircraft from the Ruhr to the Ardennes battle area. Both attacks took place in conditions of good visibility and the bombing was accurate. 6 aircraft lost - 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax from the Lohausen raid and 3 Halifaxes from the Mülheim raid.

104 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out an accurate attack on Hangelar airfield near Bonn. 1 Lancaster lost. No results are known.

Cologne/Nippes: 97 RAF Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 5 Lancasters were lost and 2 more crashed in England. The Oboe marking and the resultant bombing were extremely accurate. The railway tracks were severely damaged and an ammunition train blown up. The nearby Butzweilerhof airfield was also damaged.

2 RAF Mosquitos to Münster, 42 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 12 Halifaxes of No 6 Group minelaying off Oslo, 8 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

Oblt. Klaus Bretschneider, Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 300, a former “Wilde Sau” night-fighting Gruppe flying the FW 190 Sturmbock, is shot down and killed in combat with P-51s over Kassel. Oblt. Bretschneider had thirty-one victories including seventeen by day with three victories against four-engined bombers and fourteen victories as a “Wilde Sau” pilot in twenty sorties.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied forces surrounding the German-held bulge begin counterattacking. The US 4th Armored Division, an element of US 3rd Army, aims at relieving the Americans surrounded in Bastogne. Meanwhile, German attacks are halted by American armor at Celles, about 6 km east of the Meuse River, after having advanced about 80 km since the beginning of the offensive in mid-December. US General George Patton shifts his main attack in France to the Neufchâteau-Bastogne road. US 7th Corps recaptures Celles, France.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 761: 422 bombers and 460 fighters are dispatched to hit communications centers and rail bridges W of the Rhine River; they claim 49-7-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 9 fighters are lost: 1. 248 B-24s are sent to hit communications centers at Hallschlag (41), Prum (40), Pelm (37), Murlenbach (33), Pronsfeld (16) and Wahlen (12); targets of opportunity are communications centers at Budesheim (21), Hillesheim (12), Marmegen (11), Nettersheim (10) and Mechernich (9); they claim 3-1-3 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 92 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 40 MIA. Escorting are 144 of 156 P-51s; they claim 6-0-1 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair. 2. 174 B-17s are sent to hit railroad bridges at Ahrweiler (44) and Bad Munster (9), the Kaiserslautern railroad (38) and the Hermeskeil Simmern communications center and Marscheid railroad bridge (36); targets of opportunity are railroad bridges at Bad Kreuznach (17) and Eller (11) and other (1); they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 278 of 294 P-51s; they claim 40-6-7 aircraft; 6 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 10 of 10 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Nearly 650 B-26, A-20s and A-26s hit rail and road bridges, communications centers and targets of opportunity in W Germany and the breakthrough area; fighters, including an Eighth AF group loaned to the Ninth AF, escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US III, VIII, and XII Corps along the S battleline of the enemy salient from Echternach, Luxembourg to NW of Neufchateau, Belgium. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German radio announces a withdrawal of some 2000 yards to the northwest of Faenza after heavy battles.

In Liberated Greece Fighting between the Greek government forces and the communist forces begins to die down. British forces have actively assisted the government. British Prime Minister Churchill and Foreign Secretary Eden arrive for talks with Greek leaders, including ELAS representatives.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, clearing weather in the Po Valley permits fighter-bombers to successfully cut numerous rail lines running N to the Brenner Pass, and lines in the E Po Valley, destroying or damaging several locomotives; HQ 87th Fighter Wing moves from Caserta to Florence. 

Major Johannes Wiese, Kommodore of JG 77 is shot down and wounded. Major Siegfried Freytag is appointed acting Kommodore in his place.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, Soviet forces continue to advance west and southwest of Budapest. To the northwest of Budapest, intensive fighting is reported with Soviet forces now less than 100 miles from Vienna.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 253 B-17s and B-24s hit the Brux, Czechoslovakia synthetic oil plant and main marshalling yard at Wels, Austria; 145 others bomb marshalling yards at Plattling and Rosswein, Germany; and in Austria, Villach, Hall, Graz, and 2 at Innsbruck and Innsbruck AA position and rail siding; 30+ fighters escort the Brux-Wels- Rosswein-Plattling raids; other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance escort and cover Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) B-25s on a Yugoslav supply run.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: US 4th Armored Division of the US 3rd Army makes contact with the 101st Division defending Bastogne. About 25 American CG-4A gliders land near Bastogne, delivering vital ammunition and medical supplies to American troops pinned there. The US 4th Armored Division (an element of US 3rd Army) relieves the American forces in Bastogne. Meanwhile, British Bomber Command makes a daylight raid on the German held transportation hub of St. Vith. The Allies claim to have captured 13,273 German prisoners while the Germans claim over 30,000 Allied POWs and the destruction of 700 American tanks.

German submarine _'U-2342' _sunk in the Baltic Sea north of Swinemünde, in position 54.01.8N, 14.15.20E, by a mine. 7 dead, unknown number of survivors..

At 14.14 hours,_'U-486' _fired three Gnats at the 1st Escort Group on patrol off Cherbourg and observed hits after 1 minute 39 seconds and 1 minute 41 seconds and heard a third detonation after 7 minutes. Meyer claimed two destroyers sunk and a corvette damaged. In fact, the frigates HMS _'Affleck' _(K 462) (Cdr C. Gwinner, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN (retired)) and HMS _'Capel' _(K 470) (Lt B.G. Heslop, DSC, RN) were hit. The latter sank and the other was towed to port, but declared a total loss. The commander, eight officers and 67 ratings from HMS _'Capel' _(K 470) were lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 762: Poor weather inhibits operations but 151 bombers and 336 fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets behind the Bulge; they claim 11-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 fighters are lost: 1. 74 B-17s are sent to hit the railroad bridge at Neuwied (23) and the Andernach marshalling yard (9); secondary targets hit are the marshalling yard at Neuwied (12) and communications center at Sinzig (12); 1 B-17 hits a target of opportunity, the communication center at Mayen; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 30 B-17s are damaged. 2. 77 B-24s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Niederlahnstein (36) and the rail bridge at Sinzig (35) without loss. 3. The bombers are escorted by 249 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 11-0-0 aircraft without loss. 4. 70 of 73 P-51s make a sweep in the Bonn area to support the bombers; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 5. 2 of 2 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. Mission 763: 3 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): The 9th Bombardment Division attacks road junctions, rail bridges, rail head, communications and casual targets in the breakthrough area as the enemy's westward drive ends short of the Maas River; fighters fly escort, armed reconnaissance, sweeps, and support the US III and VIII Corps S of Bastogne, Belgium, as the US 4th Armored Division breaks the ring around the city. 

The weather at last improved and allowed Bomber Command to intervene in the Ardennes battle. 294 RAF aircraft - 146 Lancasters, 136 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - of all the bomber groups (not No 100 Group) attacked German troop positions near St Vith. This was the first time since mid-October that aircraft from all the bomber groups had joined together in one raid. The bombing appeared to be concentrated and accurate. 2 Halifaxes lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*]: In Italy The British 8th Army now hold a 17 mile frontage on the east bank of the Senio River from Alfonsine to south of Castel Bolognese.

In Athens British Prime Minister Churchill opens the mediation conference with a brief speech. All Greek political parties, including the Communists, attend in an effort to end the Greek civil war.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, good weather permits operations in force for the first time in several days; during the night of 25/26 Dec, A-20s bomb the area between the battleline and Bologna, attack lights, motor transport, and railroads in the Po Valley, and hit Vicenza Airfield; during the day medium bombers concentrate on the Brenner Pass and hit Padua, San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Ponte di Piave, Dolce, the Pordenone railroad bridge, and 2 dumps in the Bologna area; fighter-bombers bomb railways, especially the Brenner line, bridges in the Po Valley, and NE Italy, support US Fifth Army forces S of Bologna and in the Serchio River Valley where the Germans begin a series of counterattacks, and hit shipping at La Spezia and Genoa. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force):Around 380 B-24s and B-17s bomb Odertal, and Blechhammer S, Germany, and Auschwitz, Poland oil refineries, a railroad bridge at Ora and viaduct at Avisio, Italy, plus scattered targets of opportunity; 26 P-38s bomb railroad bridge at Latisana, Italy; P-38s and P-51s escort the bomber missions. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, the advancing Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front has nearly encircled Budapest. Several of the western suburbs are claimed to have been captured by the Soviets.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russian forces capture Gran, completing the encirclement of German and Hungarian units in Budapest. The garrison comprises the Hungarian 1st Corps and the German 11.SS Cavalry Korps, as well as elements of the 13. and the Feldherrnhalle Panzerdivisions.

*NORTH ATLANTIC*: In the North Atlantic, Canadian corvette _'St. Thomas' _sinks German submarine _'U-877'_ by Squid foreward-throwing weapon. 56 survivors (no casualties).

*WESTERN FRONT*: Attacks by the British 30th Corps (part of US 1st Army) force the German 2.Panzerdivision (an element of 5.Panzerarmee) out of Celles. The US 3rd Army expands the corridor to Bastogne.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 764: Freezing fog at bases in the UK restrict operations but 641 bombers and 390 fighters are dispatched against rail targets in W Germany in support of the battlefront in the Bulge; they claim 29.5-1-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 227 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Fulda (118 ) and Andernach (63) and the rail bridge at Neuwied (7); 13 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 45 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA. The escort is 44 of 46 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 182 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Neunkirchen (57), Homburg (46) and Kaiserslautern (33) and the rail bridge at Kaiserslautern (19); targets of opportunity are the marshalling yard at St Wendel (9) and the rail junction at Enkenbach (8 ); 1 B-24 is lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 60 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA, 11 WIA and 6 MIA. Escorting are 88 of 96 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 232 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Euskirchen (72), the Gerolstein rail junction (58 ) and rail bridges at Bullay (34) and Altenahr (25); targets of opportunity are Hillesheim (12) and Eckfeld (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 83 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 46 of 48 P-51s without loss. 4. 163 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep and engage about 200 Luftwaffe fighters; they claim 29.5-1-9 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 5. 15 of 15 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss. Mission 765: A night leaflet mission is flown over Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): The 9th Bombardment Division attacks rail bridges, communications centers, and targets of opportunity in Germany and Belgium; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored and 82d Airborne Divisions in the Manhay and Trois-Ponts area of Belgium, and the III, VIII, and XII Corps in Saint-Hubert-Bastogne-Martelange area of Belgium. Units moving from Chievres, Belgium: HQ 365th Fighter Group and the 388th Fighter Squadron to Metz, France with P-47s; HQ 368th Fighter Group and 395th, 396th and 397th Fighter Squadrons to Juvincourt, France with P-47s. 

200 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Rheydt. 1 Lancaster was lost and 1 Mosquito crashed behind the Allied lines in Holland.

*GERMANY*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 520+ B-17s and B-24s bomb the Vosendorf oil refinery, Linz ordnance depot, marshalling yards at Wiener- Neustadt, Villach, Klagenfurt, Bruck an der Mur, and Graz, Austria; and Maribor, Yugoslavia and Feldbach, Austria railroad junction; Brenner rail line; Venzone viaduct, and Vipiteno and Bressanone railroad bridges in Italy. 44 P-38s bomb bridges at Latisana and Casarsa della Delizia, Italy. 29 P-51s strafe railroad targets between Vienna and Linz, Austria. Other fighters fly 250+ escort sorties.

Opladen: 328 RAF aircraft - 227 Halifaxes, 66 Lancasters, 35 Mosquitos. 2 Lancasters lost. 9 of the Mosquitos bombed 3½ hours before the main raid. The aiming point for the attack was the marshalling yards but results are not known.

7 RAF Mosquitos on Oboe trials to Bonn, Eisenach, Frankfurt and Kassel (probably calibrating new Oboe stations in France and Belgium), 7 Mosquitos on 'siren tours' of Hamburg, Hannover, Münster and Osnabrück, 32 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, on the night of 26/27 Dec, A-20s bomb pontoon bridges at Ficarolo, road bridges at Ostiglia and Castel Maggiore, San Benedetto Po crossing, Turin Airfield, and several Po Valley roads; medium bombers blast 3 Brenner area routes leading into Austria and Yugoslavia, and bomb 2 supply dumps in the Bologna area; fighter-bombers devote their main effort to support the US Fifth Army in the Serchio Valley area where counterattacks are being successfully halted; other fighter- bombers hit communications in the Po Valley and escort medium bombers and C-47s dropping supplies to Italian partisans.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The US 5th Army, fighting in the Serchio valley, has pulled back from the town of Barga in response to German counterattacks. 

In Athens British Prime Minister Churchill agrees to recommend the establishment of a regency to the King of Greece. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers attack troop concentration at Aulla, a dump at Mirabello Monferrato, 3 rail lines from Austria and Yugoslavia into NE Italy by hitting bridges at Chiusaforte and Bodrez, Yugoslavia, and the viaduct at Borovnica; XXII Tactical Air Command planes support the US Fifth Army in the Serchio Valley, where counterattacks are repulsed, hit roads and bridges, and destroy a number of vehicles, many at a motor transport depot near Aulla which the fighters bomb and strafe; during the night of 27/28 Dec, A-20s bomb lights and motor transport at almost 50 places throughout the Po Valley and Brenner area. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: AEF Commander in Chief General Eisenhower meets with British 21st Army Group command Field Marshal Montgomery to coordinate the counteroffensive in the Ardennes.

German submarine _'U-735' _sunk by bombs in Oslo Fjord near Horten, Norway in position 59.24N, 10.28E, during a British air raid (RAF A/C). 39 dead and 1 survivor.

(US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 766: 1,275 bombers and 606 fighter are dispatched to hit rail and road bridges and several cities in the W German tactical area; 2 bombers are lost: 1. 361 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Kaiserslautern (123), Homburg (28 ) and Neunkirchen (18 ), the Kaiserslautern rail bridge (31) and the bridge at Bullay (20); secondary targets hit are Bierbach (32) and Zweibrucken (20); 12 other hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 22 MIA. Escorting are 147 of 161 P-51s without loss. 2. 535 B-17s are dispatched to hit the rail bridge at Irlich (109); 399 hit the secondary, the Mosel marshalling yard at Koblenz; 2 other hit a target of opportunity; 4 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA. Escort is provided by 236 of 247 P-51s without loss. 3. 379 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Koblenz/Lutzel (131), Bruhl (75), Sieburg (36), and Troisdorf (11), and the Remagen Bridge (71); 1 B-17s hit the secondary, Sinzig; and 5 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 2 WIA. Escorts are 158 of 168 P-51s without loss. 4. 27 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 767: During the night, 7 of 16 B-24s hit de la Colibre, France without loss. Mission 768: During the night, 2 B-24s drop leaflets in Belgium without loss. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, Soviet forces report the capture of additional outlying areas near Budapest. 

*GERMANY*: (US Fifteenth Air Force):480+ B-17s and B-24s attack Regensburg oil storage and freight yard in Germany; marshalling yards at Zwettl, Amstetten, Kallwang, Hieflau, and Salzburg, Austria; oil refineries at Kralupy nad Vltava, Kolin, and Pardubice and oil storage and sidings at Roudnice nad Labem and the Nymburk railroad bridge at Kammern, Czechoslovakia; the Brenner rail line; and Bressanone and Venzone railroad bridges in Italy; P-38s and P-51s fly 350+ sorties in support of the bombers. 

167 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the marshalling yards at Cologne/Gremberg with accurate bombing. No aircraft lost.

Mönchengladbach: 186 RAF aircraft - 129 Lancasters, 46 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. The railway yards were the aiming point but little damage was caused there.

Bonn: 162 RAF Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster lost. The intention again was to bomb the railway installations. Bomber Command's report states that the main weight of the attack fell on the railway yards, causing 'considerable damage'. 

67 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group attacked a 'large naval unit' and some merchant ships in Oslo Fjord but no direct hits were claimed. No aircraft lost.

87 RAF Mosquitos to Frankfurt - 79 to the city generally and 8 to the railway yards - 35 RCM sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 16 Halifaxes of No 6 Group minelaying in the Skagerrak and 11 Lancasters of No 5 Group off Oslo, 12 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 minelaying Halifax was lost and 1 Mosquito from the Frankfurt raid crashed in France.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, Soviet forces are fighting within Budapest and have effectively cut off the city from re-supply. An attempt to begin negotiations with the garrison inside Budapest results in some of the Soviet emissaries being killed because of a misunderstanding.

*WESTERN FRONT:* There is a lull in the fighting in the Ardennes as Allied forces buildup their forces for further counterattacks.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 769: 827 bombers and 724 fighters hit communications targets in W Germany; 4 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 1. 219 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Frankfurt (124), and Aschaffenburg (67); 10 hit the secondary, the Frankfurt S marshalling yard; and 9 hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 101 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA and 12 MIA. Escorting are 267 of 282 P-51s; 2 are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 304 B-17s are sent to hit the Bingen marshalling yard (144), Bullay rail bridge (74) and communication center at Wittlich (50); targets of opportunity are Grosslittgen (12) and one near Diekirch (13); 2 B-17s are lost and 132 damaged; 11 airmen are WIA and 15 MIA. Escorting are 61 of 64 P-51s; 1 is lost. 3. 262 B-24s are sent to hit communications centers at Schleiden (9), Zulpich (31), Stadtkyll (32) and Drum (10), the Irlich rail bridge (51), the Gerolstein marshalling yard (26) and the Remagen Bridge (30); targets of opportunity are Fensbach (19), Duppach (8 ) and 10 others; 1 B-24 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 95 damaged; 17 airmen are KIA and 5 WIA. Escort is provided by 106 of 119 P-51s without loss. 4. 38 B-17s are sent to hit the Lunebach communications center (35); 1 hits the Telm marshalling yard; 23 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 101 of 104 P-51s without loss. 5. 4 of 4 B-17s fly a screening mission. 6. 81 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep against rail transportation without loss. 7. 26 of 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather causes the recall of 100+ bombers except for 7 which bomb Saint-Vith, Belgium communications center and Keuchingen, Germany road bridge; the XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance over Belgium and Germany and supports the US III, VIII, and XII Corps in the Neufchateau-Bastogne-Arlon areas of Belgium. In France, HQ 100th Fighter Wing moves from St-Dizier to Metz; the 386th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, moves from Chievres, Belgium to Metz with P-47s. 

16 RAF Lancasters of No 617 Squadron attacked the E-boat pens at Rotterdam, scoring several hits; 1 Hudson flew a Resistance operation. No aircraft lost.

*JG 54: The Blackest Day* - The fighters of JG 54 ‘Green Hearts’ suffer its blackest day of the war. Due to a ground control error, a flight of Fw 190D ‘Doras’ of Stab III./ JG 54 and 11./ JG 54 led by Hptm. Robert “Bazi” Weiss, are directed into a large formation of Spitfires from RAF Nos 331 and 501 Squadrons. As the battle rages over Lingren, Typhoons from RAF Nos. 168 and 438 Squadrons join in. The final result is fifteen ‘Green Hearts’ pilots are killed including the Gruppenkommandeur of II Gruppe, Hptm. Robert “Bazi” Weiss.

*GERMANY*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Almost 450 B-17s and B-24s attack marshalling yards at Innsbruck and Salzburg, Austria; Passau, Rosenheim, and Landshut, Germany; and 2 at Verona, Italy; the Brenner rail line, and in Italy, the Castelfranco Veneto and Udine locomotive repair depots, and Bressanone railroad bridge. 14 P-38s bomb road a bridge S of Rosenheim, Germany. Around 300 other P-38s and P-51s fly escort and reconnaissance missions. 

Two separate forces bombed railway yards in Koblenz, one of the main centres serving the Ardennes battlefront. 192 RAF aircraft - 162 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attacked the Mosel yards, near the main city, and 85 Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Lützel yards north of the city. No aircraft were lost from either operation. At least part of the bombing of each raid hit the railway areas. The Koblenz-Lützel railway bridge was out of action for the rest of the war and the cranes of the Mosel Harbour were also put out of action.

Scholven/Buer: 324 RAF Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 4 Lancasters lost. The raid took place in difficult conditions. There was thick cloud over the target but Oboe skymarkers were accurately placed and the oil refinery was badly hit. The local report says that 300 high-explosive bombs fell within the oil-plant area. There were two large and 10 small fires and much damage to piping and storage tanks. 

197 RAF aircraft - 159 Halifaxes, 24 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups attempted to bomb the railway yards at Troisdorf but most of the attack missed the target. No other details are available. No aircraft lost.

28 RCM sorties, 28 Mosquito patrols, 16 aircraft of No 6 Group minelaying in the River Elbe, 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group minelaying off Oslo. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Liberated Greece The government announces that a regency is to be established and that Prime Minister Papendreou will resign when the regent has been chosen.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 28/29 Dec, A-20s pound motor transports, ferry crossings, road bridges, rail line, and targets of opportunity throughout NW and NC Po Valley; medium bombers during the day blast the Rovereto bridge and Lavis viaduct, attack several bridges in NE Italy destroying the center span of the bridge at Pordenone, and severely damage the bridge at Motta di Livenza; fighter-bombers concentrate on communications targets in the extreme W end of the battle area, with excellent results on bridges in the Massa Lombarda area and destroy numerous vehicles and several locomotives.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: German forces begin attacks on the Neufchâteau-Bastogne corridor. The US 8th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) launches attacks northward, against the German 5.Panzerarmee, from a line between Bastogne and St. Hubert with Houffalize as the objective. Meanwhile, elements of German 5.Panzerarmee launch another unsuccessful attempt at cutting the American corridor into Bastogne and capture the town. 

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 770: 1,315 bombers and 572 fighters are sent to attack rail and communications targets in W Germany; 4 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 526 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Kassel (314) and Mannheim (181); 9 other hit a targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost and 37 damaged; 24 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 301 of 325 P-51s; 2 are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 414 B-17s are sent to hit rail bridges at Bullay (72) and Kaiserslautern (72) and the marshalling yard at Bischoffsheim (35); secondary targets are the marshalling yards at Kaiserslautern (144) and Mainz (45); and 25 hit the city of Kassel; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 24 damaged; 12 airmen are KIA and 6 MIA. Escort is provided by 144 of 154 P-51s without loss. 3. 369 B-24s are sent to hit rail bridges at Altenahr (61), Auskirchen (91), and Irlich (58 ), the Irlich rail bridge (58 ), the Remagen Bridge (57) and the marshalling yard at Mechernich (87); 1 B-24 is damaged. The escort is 63 of 72 P-47s without loss. 4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 20 of 21 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 771: 8 B-24s and 3 B-17s drop leaflet in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather forces the recall and cancellation of the 9th Bombardment Division and IX Tactical Air Command missions; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) flies armed reconnaissance over the battle area and around Wallersheim, Germany and the XIX Tactical Air Command covers large areas of France, Belgium, and Germany hitting numerous ground targets and supports the US III, VIII, and XII Corps in the Saint-Hubert and Bastogne, Belgium and the Diekirch, Luxembourg areas. 

13 RAF Lancasters of No 617 Squadron set out to bomb the U-boat pens at Ijmuiden but the raid was abandoned because of bad weather.

German submarine _'U-772' _sunk in the North Atlantic south of Cork, in position 51.16N, 08.05W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Nyasaland'_. 48 dead (all hands lost)..

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, Soviet forces of 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts are engaged in fighting in and around Budapest.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers concentrate a major effort on rail line running N to the Brenner Pass, hitting a fill at Dolce and bridges at Calliano, Ala, and Santa Margherita d'Adige, and ammunition dump at Bologna; fighter-bombers blast road bridges, support the US Fifth Army SE of La Spezia, and hit bridges in the Mantua and Modena areas; during the night of 29/30 Dec, A-20s hit targets of opportunity at numerous N Italian locations, including Ghedi Airfield, and a train S of Mantua. 

*GERMANY*: Cologne: 470 RAF aircraft - 356 Halifaxes, 93 Lancasters, 21 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to attack the area in which the Kalk-Nord railway yards were situated. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost. The presence of cloud caused difficulties for the Pathfinders and the outcome of the raid could not be observed. But the local report shows that the Kalk-Nord yards, as well as the 2 passenger stations near by, were severely damaged. At least 2 ammunition trains blew up. Nearby Autobahns were also badly damaged, all adding to the effect upon the German transportation system.

154 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked a German supply bottleneck in a narrow valley at Houffalize. The results of the raid are not known. 1 Lancaster crashed in France.

68 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 9 to Bochum and 8 to Duisburg, 32 RCM sorties, 36 Mosquito patrols, 11 Lancasters minelaying off Heligoland, 21 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Jan 30, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: British Mosquito bombers attack the Gestapo headquarters at Oslo, Norway. 12 Mosquitos of No 627 Squadron, No 5 Group, set out to bomb the Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo. 8 aircraft actually bombed, in 2 waves, and hits were believed to have been scored. No aircraft lost. 28 Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked cruisers in Oslo Fjord but no hits were scored. 1 Lancaster lost.

149 RAF Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to attack the railway yards at Osterfeld. The only details available are Bomber Command's estimates that the railway sidings were 35 per cent damaged and the 'facilities' 20 per cent damaged. 2 Lancasters lost.

Adolf Hitler launches Operation *Nordwind*, a surprise offensive at the southern flank of the Allied line in Germany and the second and final phase of the Nazi winter offensive. The British 30th Corps (part of US 1st Army) captures Rochefort on the western tip of the German-held Ardennes salient.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather grounds the bombers; fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance, attacking numerous ground targets; the XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US III, VIII, and XX Corps around Bastogne, Belgium and between the Mosel and Saar Rivers, in Germany in the Merzig area. The 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group) moves from Nancy, France to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg with L-5s. The 387th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, moves from Chievres, Belgium to Metz, France with P-47s. 

155 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the railway yards at Vohwinkel, near Solingen. A strong wind carried much of the bombing south of the target.2 Lancasters lost.

*ENGLAND*: a German V-2 rocket lands in Crouch Hill, Islington, England, killing 15, seriously injuring 34. This is the last rocket of the year, the 382nd to hit England. 367 civilians were killed and 847 injured during December. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet backed Polish communists of the Committee of National Liberation, based in Lublin, assumes the title of Provisional Government. The Polish government in exile protests the claim of the Lublin Committe Poles to the status of Provisional Government.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens is sworn in as regent and the Prime Minister Papandreou resigns.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 30/31 Dec, A-20s again fly intruder missions, bombing a variety of targets, including motor transport, bridges, and railroads in the Po Valley; during the day medium bombers hit the bridge at Bodrez, railroads at Piazzola Sul Brenta and near Padua, and a dump; the XXII Tactical Air Command fighter- bombers destroy 5 and damage 2 railway bridges in the Po Valley, cut rail lines at numerous places, destroy several locomotives, and destroy or damage 200+ railway cars. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 772: 1,327 bombers and 785 fighters hit both strategic and tactical targets in Germany; they encounter about 150 Luftwaffe fighters, mostly in the Hamburg area, and claim 88.5-11-21 aircraft; 27 bombers and 10 fighters are lost: 1. 526 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil industry targets at Hamburg (68 ), the Wilhemsburg refinery at Hamburg (92), the Grassbruk refinery at Hamburg (71) and the Misburg refinery (96), and the industrial area at Wenzendorf (62) and Hamburg (72); targets of opportunity are Stade (13) and Nordholz (9) Airfields, Heligoland Island (1) and other (17); they claim 26-8-16 aircraft; 27 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 288 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA, 29 WIA and 248 MIA. 316 P-47s and P-51s escort and claim 59.5-2-5 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 7 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA). 2. 418 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Neuss (109) and Krefeld- Urdingen (83), the Kordel railroad at Ehrang (69), communications targets at Buzburg (34), Prum (37), and Blumenthal (34), the Lutzweiler Bridge at Koblenz (48 ) and the Remagen Bridge (54); 22 hit the secondary target at Monchen-Gladbach; and 2 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 29 damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escorting are 162 of 171 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft without loss. 3. 371 B-24s are sent to hit bridges at Engers (60) and Irlich (56) and the Gus Rail Bridge at Koblenz (62) and the rail junction and rail bridge at Euskirchen (30); 10 hit the secondary, the Bingen marshalling yard and 36 hit a target of opportunity; they claim 0-1-0 aircraft; 3 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 49 damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escort is provided by 198 of 211 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 4. 13 of 16 P-51s escort 7 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance of the Berlin area without loss. 5. 32 of 33 P-51s fly a scouting mission claiming 1-0-0 aircraft. Mission 773: 8 B-24s and 2 B-17s drop leaflets in France, Germany and Belgium. 

German submarine _'U-2530' _sunk at Hamburg but later raised.

77 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 12 to Ludwigshafen, 33 RCM sorties, 33 Mosquito patrols, 16 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat. 1 minelaying Lancaster lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The German Luftwaffe launches Unternehmen *'Bodenplatte'*, an attack of 700-800 aircraft against Ninth AF and Allied airfields, mainly in the Brussels, Belgium and Eindhoven, the Netherlands areas, and to a lesser degree in the Metz, France area; 127 operational Allied aircraft are destroyed; Allied fighters claim 160 air victories while AA claims 300. German anti-aircraft batteries, which were not informed of the raids, shoot down many of their own returning planes. (This is the German air force's largest single-day loss of the war.) The German Luftwaffe have assembled around 800 planes of all types for this effort by deploying every available machine and pilot. Many of the pilots have had so little training that they must fly special formations with an experienced pilot in the lead providing the navigation for the whole force. The Allies are surprised and lose many aircraft on the ground. At 0815 hours Obstlt. Josef Priller, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26, leads a flight consisting of Stab and I./JG 26, III./JG 54 and three instructor pilots from JG 104 totaling sixty-seven aircraft on an attack of the airfield of Grimbergen, north of Brussels. The warplanes follow a Ju 88 guide-plane, which leads them over German anti-aircraft positions that are not notified of the attack. The AA guns shoot down three of the fighters. Flying near the mouth of the Schelde Estuary, the formation loses two more to the Allied naval flak. By the time the flight reaches its target, Obstlt. Priller is down to about fifty planes. At the airfield Priller finds not the rows of numerous Allied aircraft but four B-17s, one P-51 and a twin engined liaison aircraft. Deciding to continue with the attack, the formation destroys the Allied aircraft along with some petrol trucks and other vehicles. Shortly after the attack, Lt. Theo Nibel of 10./JG 54 is hit by rifle fire and crash-lands at Wemmel bringing to the Allies the first intact example of the new Fw 190D ‘Dora’.

JG 11 loses Horst-Günther von Fassong with 136 victories (including four four-engined bombers) when he is shot down and killed near Maastricht.

I./JG 2 loses Ofw. Werner Hohenberg when he belly-lands his Fw 190D ‘Dora’ after being hit by American anti-aircraft fire. He ends the war in an American POW camp.

The jet Geschwader, JG 7, also suffers. The crews of I./JG 7 lose a Me 262 when Hellmut Detjens’ jet fighter suffers engine failure and he has to crash land at an army artillery testing ground near Brandenburg. Another Me 262 of 1 Staffel suffers an engine failure during a maintenance flight and crashes near Alveslohe, killing the pilot, Uffz Hans Werner.

The jets of III./JG 7 flies cover for piston-engined fighters of JG 300 and JG 301. The formation is bounced by P-51Ds of USAAF 336 FS 4th FG and Lt Heinrich Lonnecker of 9./JG 7 is shot down in his Me 262.

Major Siegfried Freytag of II./JG 77 records his 102nd and last victory of the war.

Meanwhile, the land battle in the Ardennes continues with the Allied counterattacks gathering force. The most notable gains are by the US 8th Corps. Farther south in Alsace the forces of German Army Group G begins an offensive in the Sarreguemines area (Operation Nordwind) towards Strasbourg. The US 7th Army retires before this attack on orders from Eisenhower. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 190 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s hit rail bridges, communications centers, a road junction, a command post, and HQ, all in Belgium and Germany; fighters escort 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth AF bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance (claiming 39 air victories and numerous ground targets destroyed) and support the US III, VII, and XII Corps between Saint-Hubert, Belgium and the Mosel River, Germany. In France, the detachment of the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), ceases operating from Steinbourg with L-5s and returns to base at Buhl. During Jan 45, HQ XIX Tactical Air Command moves from France to Luxembourg. 

152 RAF Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 5 Group carried out an accurate attack on the Gravenhorst section of the Mittelland Canal. Half a mile of banks were pitted with bomb craters and some parts were breached. No aircraft lost.

146 RAF aircraft of No 3 Group successfully attacked the railway yards at Vohwinkel. 1 Lancaster lost.

105 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 18 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of No 8 Group attempted to bomb a benzol plant at Dortmund but the attack was scattered and the plant was not hit. No aircraft lost.

28 RAF Mosquitos to Hanau and 27 to Hannover (both 'spoof' raids), 42 RCM sorties, 59 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost. The No 100 Group Mosquitos claimed 6 German night fighters destroyed.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Budapest, Soviet forces capture a railway station in the eastern part of the city in what is described as bitter hand-to-hand fighting.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 774: 845 bombers and 725 fighters are dispatched to hit oil installations and rail bridges and junctions in W Germany visually and by PFF; they claim 23-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft including a jet fighter; 8 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 451 B-17s are sent to hit an oil refinery at Magdeburg (11); secondary targets are the Henschel marshalling yard at Kassel (292) and the Gottingen marshalling yard (26); targets of opportunity are Hadamar (12), Wetzlar (12), Dillenburg (15), Koblenz (11), Wetter (12), Limburg (8 ), Kirchbunden (7) and other (22); 2 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 71 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 18 MIA. Escorting are 327 of 374 P-51s; they claim 17-1-1 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 109 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil industry targets at Dollbergen (54) and Ehmen (24); targets of opportunity are the Koblenz marshalling yard (12), Limburg (4) and other (5); 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 43 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA. Escort is provided by 199 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 3. 273 B-24s hit the Lutzel (56) and Guls (30) rail bridges at Koblens, the Irlich rail bridge (57) and the Remagen rail bridge (6); targets of opportunity are Andernach (26), Engers rail bridge (9), Trier (1) and others (6); 1 B-24 is lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 63 damaged; 20 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 10 MIA. The escort is 66 of 70 P-51s without loss. 4. 12 of 12 B-17s fly a screening force mission; they are 8 minutes late for their escort and are attacked by Fw 190s when 50 miles (80 km) ahead of the bombers; they claim 6-0-2 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; 45 airmen are MIA. Escort is supposed to be 23 of 26 P-51s. 5. 2 of 5 B-17s fly an APHRODITE mission against Oldenburg without loss. 6. 11 of 11 P-51s escort 9 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany without loss. 7. 25 P-47s and P-51s escort 3 of 4 Mosquitoes on a special operations mission without loss. Mission 775: 5 B-24s and 3 B-17s drop leaflet on Belgium and Germany during the night without loss. The 1st, 2d and 3d Bombardment Divisions are redesignated 1st, 2d and 3d Air Divisions.

Obstlt. Heinz Bär is transferred from his post as Kommodore of JG 3 and takes over command of the Me 262 Training unit, III./EJG 2 from Hptm. Geyer and is posted as a Gruppenkommandeur. Major Werner Schroer takes his place as Geshwaderkommodore.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers attack bridges at Palazzuolo sull'Oglio, Parma, and Calcinato (the latter 2 targets are missed) and an ammunition dump at Parma; fighter-bombers support ground forces S of Bologna, hit communications and numerous targets of opportunity to the N and completely destroy a fuel dump at Parma; A-20s on intruder missions during the night of 31 Dec/1 Jan, achieve excellent results on a motor park near Molinella and hit a marshalling yard near Milan. 

HQ 319th Bombardment Group (Medium) departs Corsica for the US where it converts to A-26 aircraft in preparation for assignment to the Pacific.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: German forces launch counterattacks northwest of Budapest which aim to break the Soviet siege of the city. The main forces involved in this offensive are those of the 4.SS Panzerkorps (Gille), 3.SS Panzerdivision 'Totenkopf' and 5.SS Panzerdivision 'Wiking,' [_which have been withdrawn from the OKH reserve behind Warsaw without the consent or knowledge of Guderian, the German Army Chief of the General Staff_] and 96th Infantry Division. The Soviet 31st Guards Rifle Corps, of 4th Guards Army (part of 2nd Ukrainian Front), is driven by about 20 miles. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Ardennes, US 3rd Army troops take Bonnerue, Hubertmont and Remagne. In Alsace, the German pressure and the US 7th Army withdrawals continue.

Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Naval Commander in Chief Allied Expeditionary Force, and organizer of the Dunkirk evacuation, is killed in an airplane accident while traveling from Paris to Belgium. 

In the North Atlantic an American Sikorsky helicopter is used in convoy escort duties for the first time.

A V-2 components factory in Copenhagen is wrecked by the Danes.

The 314th, 315th and 316th Fighter Squadrons, 324th Fighter Group, move from Tavaux to Luneville, France with P-47s.

(US Ninth Air Force): 135 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s hit rail bridges and communications centers in Belgium and Germany; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance and support the US III and VIII Corps in the Bastogne, Belgium area and the XII Corps S of the Clerf River, Luxembourg, and W of the Sauer River in Germany. 

The 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Buhl to Epinal, France with L-5s. 

HQ VIII Air Force Services Command (Advanced) is established in Brussels, Belgium, along with a "Far Shore" staff division; through this HQ, the Commanding General Air Force Services Command can administer his command and closely communicate with other commands operating on the Continent; this arrangement functions until 29 Apr 45 when it is relieved by the 5th Strategic Air Depot at Merville, France.

*GERMANY*: Hitler turns down requests from Model and Manteuffel for withdrawals from the area west of Houffalize. 

(US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 776: 1,011 bombers and 503 fighters are dispatched to attack communications and tactical targets in W Germany visually and using Gee-H; 4 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 1. 299 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Gerolstein marshalling yard (74) and communications centers are Mayen (68 ), Prum (34), Daun (34), Kyllburg (37) and Bitburg (36); 3 others hit a target of opportunity; 70 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 128 of 130 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 296 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Lutzel (65) and Guls (59) rail bridges at Koblenz plus rail bridges at Irlich (59), Remagen (56) and Engers (43); 3 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 26 damaged. The escort is 215 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 3. 410 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Bad Kreuznach (73) and Ehrang (66), a rail junction at Bad Kreuznach (67), a rail bridge at Kaiserslautern (34) and tank concentrations at Lebach (128 ); targets of opportunity are marshalling yards at St Wendel (11) and Trier (3) and other (3); 4 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 37 MIA. Escort is provided by 125 of 127 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening force mission. 5. 23 P-51s escort 6 F-5s and a Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 777: 2 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in France and Germany during the night.

Nuremberg: 514 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups. 4 Lancasters were lost and 2 crashed in France. Nuremberg, scene of so many disappointments for Bomber Command, finally succumbed to this attack. The Pathfinders produced good ground-marking in conditions of clear visibility and with the help of a rising full moon. The centre of the city, particularly the eastern half, was destroyed. The castle, the Rathaus, almost all the churches and about 2,000 preserved medieval houses went up in flames. The area of destruction also extended into the more modern north-eastern and southern city areas.The industrial area in the south, containing the important MAN and Siemens factories, and the railway areas were also severely damaged. 415 separate industrial buildings were destroyed. It was a near-perfect example of area bombing.

Ludwigshafen: 389 RAF aircraft - 351 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax which crashed in France was the only loss. The aiming point for this raid was the area of the two IG Farben chemical factories. The bombing was accurate, with severe damage to the main IG Farben factory and to the same firm's factory at nearby Oppau. Estimated totals of 500 high-explosive bombs and 10,000 incendiaries fell inside the limits of the 2 factories, causing much damage. 10 large, 30 medium and 200 small fires were recorded at the main factory. Production failure at both plants was complete because of 'loss of power'. 13 other industrial firms and several railway installations were also hit; the train of a railway repair unit was destroyed.

53 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 9 to Castrop-Rauxel and 7 to Hanau, 49 RCM sorties, 41 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos were lost, 1 each from the Berlin and Castrop-Rauxel raids.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, fighter-bombers concentrate their effort in the W Po Valley and Brenner area, claiming large number of rail lines cut and many vehicles and trains destroyed and damaged; the Milan marshalling yard is hit hard and good coverage is achieved on support targets in the US Fifth Army battle area; A-20s during the night of 1/2 Jan, continue intruder missions over the Po Valley.

The 84th and 86th Bombardment Squadrons (Light), 47th Bombardment Group (Light) move from Rosignano Airfield to Grosseto with A-20s.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Ardennes there are German attacks on the narrow corridor leading to Bastogne which succeed in disrupting the timetable of the planned American attacks but fail to achieve any advance. Forces of the US 3rd Army and US 1st Army are attacking toward Houffalize from the south and the north, respectively. In Alsace, the German attacks and the American retreat continue. The US 6th Corps (part of US 7th Army) is being pressed particularly hard in the area around Bitche. Farther south, there is also fighting near Strasbourg.

In France, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery launches his force's attack from the north on German forces.

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Canada, the first of the conscripted soldiers leave Halifax, Nova Scotia, for overseas duty.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces are engaged by German counterattacks southeast of Komarno aimed at the relief of the encircled garrison in Budapest. Several places on the southern bank of the Danube River have been occupied by the German forces.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 778: 1,168 bombers and 589 fighters are dispatched to attack rail and communications targets in W Germany; all are PFF attacks using H2X, Gee-H and Micro H; they claim 4-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 fighters are lost: 1. 417 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Fulda (141) and Aschaffenburg (124) and communications centers at Gemund (38 ) and Schleiden (36); the Mosel marshalling yard at Koblenz, a secondary target, is hit by 36 bombers; targets of opportunity are the Pforzheim marshalling yard (25) and other (3); 1 B-17 is damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 219 of 227 P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 4 damaged beyond repair. 2. 325 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Altstadt (31), Homburg (41), Zweibrucken (55), Neunkirchen (84), Landau (59) and the Pirmasens railhead (41); 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. Escorting are 143 of 148 P-51s. 3. 421 B-17s are sent to hit the Hermulheim W (72) and E (36) marshalling yards, a communications center at St Vith, Belgium (98 ), and rail junctions at Mondrath (36) and Horrem (1); 100 B-24s hit the secondary target, Cologne; targets of opportunity are Rheydt (10) and other (3); 11 B-17s are damaged. The escort is 145 of 150 P-51s; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 32 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 5. 32 of 32 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance over Germany. 

99 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group made G-H attacks through cloud on the Benzol plants at Dortmund and Castrop-Rauxel. Bombing appeared to be accurate at both targets. 1 Lancaster lost from the Dortmund raid.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers score direct hits on 2 railroad bridges at Lavis and fly good coverage of the Chiusaforte, Canale d'Isonzo, and Padua railroad bridges; fighter-bombers hit a large number of communications targets (mainly railroad targets) in the Po Valley which is also subjected to intruder missions during the night of 2/3 Jan, when pontoon bridges, vehicles, and Ghedi Airfield are hit.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The fighting in the Ardennes continues; a German counterattack near Bastogne is repulsed by troops of US 3rd Army. There are attacks by US 8th and 3rd Corps and by the British 30th Corps. Some of the units of the 6.SS Panzerarmee (Dietrich) are withdrawn and sent to the Eastern Front. US troops capture Malempre in the Ardennes. In Alsace, the German attacks in the Bitche area continue.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 779: 1 B-17 and 2 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany during the night; 1 B-24 is lost. Mission 780: 10 of 12 B-24s dispatched to hit the Coubre Point Coastal battery near Bordeaux, France hit the target using H2X radar. The transfer of HQ VIII Fighter Command from Bushey Hall, England to Charleroi, Belgium begins; the HQ is to provide administrative and operational support for fighter groups operating with the Ninth AF on tactical support missions.

HQ 324th Fighter Group moves from Tavaux to Luneville, France.

(US Ninth Air Force): All combat operations, except a defensive patrol by 4 fighters, are cancelled because of bad weather. The 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, ceases operating from Conflans, France and returns to base at Le Culot, Belgium with F-6s.

*The Royan Raid*: 347 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 4 Lancasters were lost and 2 more collided behind Allied lines in France and crashed. This was a tragic raid with a strange - and disputed - background. Royan was a town situated at the mouth of the River Gironde in which a stubborn German garrison was still holding out, preventing the Allies from using the port of Bordeaux. The task of besieging the town had been given to 12,000 men of the French Resistance commanded by Free French officers appointed by General de Gaulle. The commander of the German garrison recognized the Resistance units as regular forces and the normal rules of warfare were observed. The French, lacking artillery, made little progress with their siege. The German commander gave the inhabitants of the town the opportunity to leave but many preferred to stay in order to look after their homes. It is believed that there were 2,000 civilians at the time of the raid.

On 10 December 1944, a meeting took place at the town of Cognac between French officers and an American officer from one of the tactical air force units in France. After a meal, at which much alcohol is supposed to have been consumed, the American officer suggested that the German garrison at Royan should be 'softened up' by bombing. He was assured by the French that the only civilians remaining in the town were collaborators - which was not correct. The suggestion that the town be bombed was passed to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force), which decided that the task should be given to Bomber Command: 'To destroy town strongly defended by enemy and occupied by German troops only.' It is said that SHAEF ordered a last-minute cancellation because of doubts about the presence of French civilians but the order, if issued, was not received by Bomber Command in time.

The attack was carried out by 2 waves of bombers, in good visibility conditions, in the early hours of 5 January. 1,576 tons of high-explosive bombs - including 285 'blockbuster' (4,OOOlb bombs) - were dropped. Local reports show that between 85 and 90 per cent of the small town was destroyed. The number of French civilians killed is given as '500 to 700' and as '800' by different sources. Many of the casualties were suffered in the second part of the raid, which took place an hour after the first and caught many people out in the open trying to rescue the victims of the first wave of the bombing trapped in their houses. The number of Germans killed is given as 35 to 50. A local truce was arranged and, for the next 10 days, there was no fighting while the search for survivors in wrecked houses continued.

There were many recriminations. Bomber Command was immediately exonerated. The American air-force officer who passed on the original suggestion to SHAEFwas removed from his command. The bitterest disputes took place among the Free French officers and accusations and counter-accusations continued for many years after the war. A French general committed suicide. De Gaulle, in his Memoires, blamed the Americans:


> 'American bombers, on their own initiative, came during the night and dropped a mass of bombs.'


The German garrison did not surrender until 18 April.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: Canadian troops capture a bridgehead west of the Granarolo River.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Italy, 370+ B-24s and B-17s bomb marshalling yards at Verona, Bronzolo, Vicenza, Padua, Trento, and Bolzano, and station sidings at Trento; 200+ fighters accompany the bombers; 54 P-38s attempt high-level bombing of Cismon del Grappa but fail to hit the target. 9 B-24s drop supplies in Yugoslavia. P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and escort operations.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers hit bridges at Lavis and Calliano; fighters and fighter-bombers interdict Po Valley communications and hit an ammunition dump at San Felice del Benaco; during the night of 3/4 Jan, A-20s successfully hit a stores dump and bridge near Mestre, and destroy or damage 50+ vehicles. The 416th Night Fighter Squadron, 62d Fighter Wing, based at Pisa, Italy with Mosquitoes, sends a detachment to operate from Etain, France attached to the 425th Night Fighter Squadron. 

*GERMANY*: 66 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 7 to Neuss, 2 Halifax RCM sorties. No aircraft lost. Some of the Light Night Striking Force (No 8 Group) Mosquitos which attacked Berlin on this night flew 2 sorties each. These Mosquitos took off in the early evening, bombed Berlin returned and changed crews, and then flew to Berlin again. This method of augmenting the Mosquito campaign against Berlin was used several times during the long nights of midwinter.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet government gives formal recognition to the Polish Lublin Committee as the Provisional Government of Poland. The USA and Britain declare their continued recognition of the Polish government in exile, based in London.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Yugoslavia, 1 B-24 bombs Zagreb railroad sidings; 69 others abort due to total cloud cover over the target; 38 P-51s fly cover over the target area; 33 P-38s bomb the N railroad bridge at Doboj; other operations are limited to reconnaissance, supply drops, and escort. 

JG 52’s Hptm. Gerhard Barkhorn scores his 300th and 301st kills, becoming the second fighter pilot to achieve this rare victory.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Liberated Greece the fighting between the British and the Greek Communist forces comes to an end in the Athens area. Field Marshal Alexander and British political representatives arrive in Athens for talks with the Communist leaders and the Greek government.

(US Twelfth Air Force): During the night of 4/5 Jan, A-20s on a S Po Valley intruder mission bomb the Modena, Italy area. Bad weather cancels all other operations. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Ardennes, the US 3rd Army reports reduced activity on its line while US 1st Army continues its attacks. There are German attacks just north of Strasbourg. Eisenhower's decision to divide command responsibility for the Allied defenses around the bulge between Montgomery in the north and Bradley in the south is made public.

(US Ninth Air Force): The 9th Bombardment Division attacks rail bridges at Ahrweiler, Simmern, and Bullay, Germany and communications centers at Gouvy, Houffalize, and near Durler, Belgium, and Massen, Luxembourg. Fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division and VIII Bomber Command, fly armed reconnaissance, attack airfields, communications centers, traffic concentrations, and other targets, and support the US III and VIII Corps W and E of Bastogne and the 2d and 3d Armored Divisions near Manhay, Belgium. 

HQ 368th Fighter Group and the 395th, 396th and 397th Fighter Squadrons move from Juvincourt to Metz, France with P-47s. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 781: 1,032 bombers and 584 fighters are dispathed to hit rail targets and airfields in C Germany; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 4-0-0 on the ground; 1 B-17 and 1 P-51 are lost. 1. 259 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Neustadt (32), Sobernheim (42), Kirm (18 ) and St Ingbert (3), the marshalling yard and rail bridge at Cochem (31) and the Pirmasens railroad (39); 51 hit the Neunkirchen marshalling yard, a secondary target; targets of opportunities hit are communications centers at Rheinkirchen (8 ), Neubrucke (7), Prum (1) and Burg (1); bombing is visual and with Gee-H; 3 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 51 damaged; 6 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. Escorting are 164 of 177 P-51s. 2. 370 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Hanau (57) and Frankfurt (81) and communications centers at Waxweiler (32), Wetteldorf (27) and Pronsfeld (33); 29 hit the secondary target at Kaiserslautern; targets of opportunity are Heilbronn (29) and other (11); bombing is visual and PFF; 1 B-17 is lost, 6 damaged beyond repair and 89 damaged; 13 airmen are KIA, 9 WIA and 1 MIA. Escort is provided by 194 of 213 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 4-0-0 on the ground. 3. 379 B-17s are sent to hit airfields at Niederbreisig (70) and Niedermendig (54), communications centers at Dumpelfeld (37), Kall (35) and Mechernich (1), and the the railroad at Heimbach (37); 96 hit the secondary target, the Koblenz marshalling yard; targets of opportunity are communications centers at Pronsfeld (2) and Waxweiler (1) and other (4); bombing is by Gee-H and H2X; 1 B-17s is damaged beyond repair and 20 damaged. Escort is 109 of 117 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 4. 24 of 24 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 26 of 33 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 782: 4 B-24s and 1 B-17 drop leaflets during the night over SE Belgium. 

160 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway-yards at Ludwigshafen. 2 Lancasters lost.
Hannover: 664 aircraft - 340 Halifaxes, 310 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 23 Halifaxes and 8 Lancasters lost, 4.7 per cent of the force. This was the first large raid on Hannover since October 1943. 

131 RAF Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked Houffalize, a bottleneck in the German supply system in the Ardennes. The target was bombed with great accuracy. 2 Lancasters lost.

69 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Neuss and 6 to Castrop-Rauxel, 58 RCM sorties, 55 Mosquito patrols. 4 Mosquitos lost, 2 from the Berlin raid and 2 from No 100 Group.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Some 65 German tanks were destroyed or disabled, by Soviet forces, in the attempt to relieve the garrison surrounded in Budapest. Soviet troops gain a bridgehead across the Hron river.

Churchill sends a personal note to Stalin asking whether a renewal of the Soviet offensive along the Vistula River can be expected during January because of the Allied situation on the Western Front is "very heavy" -- in Churchill's words. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: There are various local actions all along the Ardennes front. US 1st Army, part of British 21st Army Group, makes gains of 1000-3000 yards in an attack south of Stavelot, threatening the main German east-west supply road from Laroche to St. Vith. Hitler again orders no retreat after Rundstedt, the Commander in Chief West, again requests that German forces be allowed to withdraw from the Ardennes salient because of the Allied pressure.

Destroyer "_WALPOLE_" was the last of the 18 old 'V' and ' W' class vessels lost or not repaired in the war. Mined off the Scheldt Estuary on North Sea patrol, she was saved but went to the breakers. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 783: 816 bombers and 622 fighters are dispatched to hit rail and communications targets in W Germany; all but a few attacks are made using Gee-H and H2X; they claim 14-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 B-17 and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 258 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Worms (62) and Kaiserslautern (34); 64 hit a secondary target, the marshalling yard at Ludwigshafen; targets of opportunity are Annweiler (31), the marshalling yard at Kusel (22) and other (29); some targets are bombed visually; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 55 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 109 of 121 P-51s; they claim 14-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair (1 pilot KIA). 2. 422 B-17s are sent to hit the Cologne South rail bridge (71) and Cologne North highway bridge (35) and the communications center at Kempernich (72); secondary targets are the Kalk marshalling yard at Cologne (183) and the highway bridge across the Rhine River at Bonn (38 ); 3 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 219 of 229 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair (1 pilot KIA). 3. 31 of 130 B-24s hit the highway bridge across the Rhine River at Bonn; 95 hit the secondary target, the Mosel marshalling yard at Koblenz; 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged. The escort is 172 of 181 P-51s. 4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 36 of 60 P-47s attack the marshalling yard at Siegen. 6. 23 of 23 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 7. 8 of 8 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over W Germany. Mission 784: 6 B-17s drop leaflets over Belgium and the Netherlands during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 26 bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division strike Prum, Germany. Bad weather prevents all fighter operations.

Hanau: 482 RAF aircraft - 314 Halifaxes, 154 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 4 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. The attack was aimed at that part of Hanau in which an important junction in the German railway system was situated. The local report says that many bombs did fall in this area but also states that a large proportion of the bombing was scattered in the south - into the centre of Hanau - and to the north - into an area of countryside and villages.

Neuss: 147 RAF Lancasters of Nos 1 and No 3 Groups. 1 Lancaster crashed in Belgium. As in Hanau, some of the bombing fell into the railway area but most was scattered over surrounding districts. 1,749 houses, 19 industrial premises and 20 public buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged.

20 RAF Mosquitos to Kassel (a 'spoof' raid) and 6 to Castrop-Rauxel, 52 RCM sorties, 32 Mosquito patrols, 49 Lancasters minelaying off Baltic ports. 2 RCM Halifaxes and 2 Lancaster minelayers lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): Bad weather over N Italy grounds the medium bombers. In Italy, XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter- bombers hit rail lines and bridges in the Genoa-La Spezia coastline area, and bomb vessels in the harbors at Genoa and Imperia. 

The air echelon of the 417th Night Fighter Squadron, Twelfth AF (attached to Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force and air echelon attached to the 422d Night Fighter Squadron), based at La Vallon, France, begins operating from Florennes, Belgium with Beaufighters.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy there are some limited operations by British 8th Army to complete the Allied hold on the south bank of the Senio River. San Alberto is captured by British and Canadian troops. The wet weather and a lack of reinforcements and extra supplies prevents the Allied armies from launching any large scale offensives at this time.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather grounds the medium bombers and A-20s; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter- bombers make 6 cuts on the Brenner rail line, damage the W end of the rail bridge at Cittadella, and hit the marshalling yard S of Trento; most of the XXII Tactical Air Command's effort is concentrated against land and water communications in the La Spezia-Genoa area, including attacks on shipping at Savona and San Remo harbors. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The attacks of the US 8th Corps of US 1st Army, along the line of the Ourthe west of Houffalize, record progress around Laroche. German attacks in Alsace also continue with some success south of Strasbourg in the area around Erstein.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, German forces capture Esztergom, some 25 miles northwest of Budapest in their attempt to relieve the German led garrison in the capital.

The planes and crew of 10(Pz)./SG 3 is incorporated into I./SG 9 and becomes the 2 Staffel.

Stalin, in response to Churchill, indicates that the Soviet timetable for a new offensive will be no later than the second half of January.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 785: 1,073 bombers and 700 fighters attack communications centers, rail targets, bridges and an oil storage depot in W Germany using PFF methods; 3 bombers and 1 fighter are lost. 1. 265 B-17s are dispatched but hit secondary targets, the marshalling yard at Hamm (109), Paderborn (74) and Bielefeld (74); 2 hit a target of opportunity; all attacks made using H2X radar; 5 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 197 of 204 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 351 B-17s are dispatched to hit communications centers at Blankenheim (39), Kall (39), Bitburg (110) and Euskirchen (75); 35 hit the Lutzel Bridge at Cologne; all attacks made using Gee-H and H2X; 3 B-17s are damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 159 of 160 P-51s. 3. 147 B-17s are dispatched to hit the bridge at Hohenzollern (14) and the highway bridge at Rodenkirchen (22); 80 hit the secondary target, the Kalk marshalling yard at Cologne; targets of opportunity are Limburg (11), Koblenz (11) and other (1); all attacks are made using Micro H and H2X; 2 B-17s are lost and 10 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 19 MIA. The escort is 91 of 95 P-51s. 4. 304 B-24s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yards at Landau (54), Zweibrucken (64) and Rastatt (99), the rail and communications center at Achern (31) and the railway at Kaiserslautern (26); all attacks made using Gee-H; targets of opportunity hit visually are Durrmenz (8 ) and Karlsuhe (1); 1 B-24 is lost and 10 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting are 94 of 102 P-51s. 5. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 6. 88 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep without loss. 7. 12 of 12 P-51s escort 2 F-5s and 2 Mosquitoes on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 8. 33 of 33 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 786: 2 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets during the night in SE Belgium and France. 

(US Ninth Air Force): XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) fighters escort VIII Bomber Command bombers. All other commands and the 9th Bombardment Division cancel operations as the weather is bad. 
645 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 Groups to Munich. 11 Lancasters lost and 4 more crashed in France. Bomber Command claimed a successful area raid, with the central and some industrial areas being severely damaged. This was the last major raid on Munich.

54 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 18 to Nuremberg and 12 to Hanau, 39 RCM sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos lost - 1 from the Hannover raid and a No 100 Group aircraft.

The last Bomber Command Wellington operation was flown on this night by Flying Officer BH Stevens and his crew of No 192 Squadron. The Wellington was on an RCM flight over the North Sea 'to investigate enemy beam signals connected with the launching of flying bombs and believed to emanate from marker buoys'. Bad weather over the North Sea caused the flight to be curtailed but the Wellington landed safely, the last of more than 47,000 sorties carried out by this type of aircraft in Bomber Command.


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied forces eliminate German positions on the west bank of the Maas River. In the Ardennes, American forces now control 9 miles of the Laroche-St. Vith road. US 3rd Army captures Flamierge, 9 km northwest of Bastogne, on the southern flank of the German held salient. Meanwhile, in Alsace, the battles north and south of Strasbourg continue. The US 7th Army is under considerable pressure near Rimling and Gambsheim. Adolf Hitler orders panzers to withdraw from the farthest reach of the bulge in France.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Northwest of Budapest, Soviets forces engage German armor and infantry forces. Street fighting in Budapest continues. Soviet forces are approaching the town of Komarno on the Danube River.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 787: 736 bombers and 269 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on communications centers, rail targets and bridges in Germany; 2 bombers are lost. 1. 151 B-17s are sent to hit the Wissembourg communications center (36) and highway and rail bridge at Alzey (36); 65 hit a secondary target, the marshalling yard at Speyer; 4 hit a target of opportunity; all attacks are made using Gee-H and H2X; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair. 2. 117 B-17s are dispatched to hit communications centers at Kyllburg (37), Schweich (24) and Speicher (37); 12 hit a secondary target, the marshalling yard at Koblenz; all attacks use Gee-H and H2X; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 24 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 7 WIA and 9 MIA. 3. 24 of 30 B-24s hit the Stadtkyll communications center and 2 hit a target of opportunity using Gee-H without loss. 4. 204 B-24s are sent to hit communications centers at Wittlich (14), Oudler (29), Clerf (18), Burghreuland (31) and Dasburg (30); 2 others hit a target of opportunity; all use Gee-H; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; 1 airman is WIA. 5. 225 B-17s are sent to hit communications centers at Waxweiller (33) and Lunebach (29); 131 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Frankfurt; 1 hits a target of opportunity; attackers use Micro H and H2X; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 47 damaged. 6. 219 of 229 P-51s fly a freelance escort mission of all the bombers above without loss. 7. 9 of 9 B-17s fly a screening mission. 8. 29 of 32 P-51 fly a scouting mission. 9. 8 of 8 P-51s escort 2 Mosquitoes on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 788: 1 B-17s and 2 of 4 B-24s drop leaflets over St Hubert, Belgium. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 300+ B-17s and B-24s bomb the main station yard and N main marshalling yard at Linz plus marshalling yards at Graz, Villach, Klagenfurt, and Salzburg, escorted by 200+ P-38s and P-51s; 30+ other P-38s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort.

Reichsmarschall Göring, incensed at Generalmajor Galland and his fighter pilots, specifically Major Steinhoff, Kommodore of JG 7 and Major Erich Hohagen, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 7, who had discussed new tactics of the jet fighter with Göring, relieves Major Steinhoff and Major Hohagen of their commands. In their places are posted Major Theodor Weissenberger as Kommodore of JG 7 and Major Rudolf Sinner as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 7. Major Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 54 is named as Gruppenkommandeur of Major Weissenberger’s I./JG 7 based at Kaltenkirchen. Although an operational Gruppe on paper, the reality is that I./JG 7 is grossly under equipped and has a serious lack of machines for missions. The leaders of the Staffeln are Oblt. Hans-Peter Waldmann of 1 Staffel, Oblt Hans ‘Specker’ Grünberg of 2 Staffel and Oblt. Fritz Stehle of 3 Staffel. Major Rudorffer is replaced as Gruppenkommandeur at II./JG 54 with Hptm. Herbert Findeisen.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: HQ 1st Fighter Group moves from Salsola Airfield to Vincenzo Airfield, Italy.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, XXII Tactical Air Command A-20s fly 33 effective sorties in the Po Valley during the night of 7/8 Jan; bad weather sharply reduces daytime operations; of 3 medium bomber missions dispatched, only 1 reaches the target (the Chivasso railway bridge) where only 6 medium bombers bomb through the overcast; less than 20 XXII Tactical Air Command fighters hit scattered targets in the Po Valley;

HQ 51st Troop Carrier Wing moves from Lido di Roma to Siena; and HQ 62d Troop Carrier Group moves from Malignano Airfield to Tarquinia. The 437th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 319th Bombardment Group (Medium), begins a movement from Serragia, Corsica to the US (the squadron will convert to A-26s and transfer to the Pacific in Jul 45).


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 3rd Army renews its attacks northeast and southeast of Bastogne.

At 18.15 hours the _'Jonas Lie' _(Master Carl Lionel Von Schoen) in station #35 of convoy ON-277 was torpedoed by _'U-1055' _at the entrance to the Bristol Channel. One torpedo struck on the starboard side in the #3 deep tank and ripped open the bulkhead between the engine room and the #4 hold, killing two men on watch below. The explosion created a hole 20 feet long at the waterline and broke steam and electrical connections. As the ship lost way she listed 10° to port and 25 minutes after the attack the majority off the 41 crew members, 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger (US Army security officer) abandoned ship in three lifeboats. The current swept the boats away from the freighter and these men were picked up by HMS _'Huddersfield Town' _(FY 197). The skeleton crew (master, chief officer, bosun and one seaman) left the ship three hours after the attack by order from the British Admiralty officials and were landed at Milford Haven the same evening. One survivor, which had been blown overboard by the explosion, was picked up by the Norwegian motor merchant _'Fosna' _and landed in New York on 23 January.

*EASTERN FRONT*: German submarine _'U-679' _sunk with all hands in the Baltic by depth charges from the USSR anti-submarine vessel MO 124. 51 dead (all hands lost).

*GERMANY*: (US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 15 B-26s bomb the Rinnthal rail bridge with the aim of isolating 3 enemy armored divisions in the Landau area; XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) fighters escort the B-26s. Weather prevents other operations.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Italy, the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, based at Salsola Airfield, sends a detachment to operate from Vincenzo Airfield with P-38s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers attack bridges at Palazzuolo sull'Oglio, Pontetidone, Romano di Lombardia, and an assembly area at Crespellano; fighters and fighter-bombers in an excellent day against communications in the W and C Po Valley and other points in N Italy make numerous rail cuts, destroy or damage many vehicles and trains and effectively hit ammunition and fuel dumps, guns, and strongpoints along the US Fifth Army front in the N Apennines; 

The 4th and 8th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 62d Troop Carrier Group, move from Malignano Airfield to Tarquinia with C-47s; the 18th and 35th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 64th Troop Carrier Group, move from Ciampino to Rosignano Airfield with C-47s. The 438th, 439th and 440th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 319th Bombardment Group (Medium), begin a movement from Serragio, Corsica to the US (they will convert to A-26s and move to Okinawa in Jul 45).


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## Njaco (Feb 5, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Ardennes, American forces are engaged near Laroche. The British 30th Corps is advancing on the town from the west, capturing Bure and Samree. German forces are withdrawing, in good order, from the western tip of the salient. St. Hubert, 15 miles west of Bastogne, has been evacuated by the Germans under pressure from Allied forces.

(US Ninth Air Force): 30+ B-26s sent against communications center and road bridge abort due to weather; the XIX Tactical Air Command escorts the B-26s, flies patrols, attacks bridges and other targets and supports the US III, VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Saint-Hubert, Belgium-Bastogne, Belgium-Wiltz, Luxembourg area, in the Diekirch and Echternach area of Luxembourg and points to the SE. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces continue to be engaged in street fighting in Budapest. The island of Obuda is captured. The Soviet advance along the north bank of the Danube River, in southern Slovakia, reaches the Nitra River -- 80 miles from Vienna and less than 50 miles form Bratislava.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 789: 1,119 bombers and 362 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields, rail targets and bridges in Germany; most attacks are made using PFF methods; they claim 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 429 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Rodenkirchen (31) and Deutz (10) highway bridges at Cologne, the South (34) and Hohenzollern (52) rail bridges at Cologne and the marshalling yard at Karlsruhe (105); 20 hit the secondary target, the Gereon marshalling yard at Cologne; targets of opportunity are bridges at Duisburg (11) and Oberkassel (21), Dusseldorf (28 ) and other (33); some targets hit visually but most by PFF methods; 5 B-17s are lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 199 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 48 MIA. 2. 233 B-24s are dispatched to hit highway bridges at Steinbruck (23), Schonberg (70), Weweler (60) and Dasburg (20); 1 hits Prum, a target of opportunity; targets are hit using Gee-H; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. 3. 458 B-17s are sent to hit the Hangelar Airfield at Bonn (63); Odendorf Airfield at Euskirchen (98 ), Osteheim Airfield at Cologne (83) and Gymnich Airfield (52); 43 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Cologne; targets of opportunity are the marshalling yards at Euskirchen (8 ), Belecke (8 ) and Duren (12) and other (26); Gee-H is used in bombing with some visual sightings; 5 B-17s are lost, 11 damaged beyond repair and 140 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 52 MIA. 4. The bombers are escorted by 137 of 152 P-51s; 6 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged beyond repair. 5. 123 P-47s and P-51s make a freelance sweep to cover the bombers; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 is lost (1 pilot MIA); 4 P-51s are damaged beyond repair. 6. 13 of 15 P-51s dive bomb the marshalling yard at Neustadt without loss. 7. 6 of 8 P-51s escort 2 Mosquitoes on a photo reconnaissance of the Brux, Czechoslovakia area. 8. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
50 Mosquitos to Hannover and 3 each to Cologne, Koblenz, Mannheim and Wiesbaden. No aircraft lost.

The special V-1 launching Gruppen of KG 53 reports that it has seventy-nine available He 111s on strength for bomb launching duties. The total strength of the night-fighting Gruppe I./NJG 1 equipped with the new He 219 ‘Uhu’ is sixty-four aircraft available for operations.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The 27th and 71st Fighter Squadrons, 1st Fighter Group, based at Salsola Airfield with P-38s, send a detachment to operate from Vincenzo Airfield, Italy. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather restricts operations but fighter-bombers effectively attack communications and supply dumps in the C and N Po Valley; the strikes are concentrated in the N and around Piacenza, and score nearly 50 rail cuts, along with destruction of 80 motor transports and several trains; fuel and ammunition dumps in the Milan area are bombed and a 400-foot (122 m) naval vessel at Venice is destroyed; HQ 64th Troop Carrier Group and the 16th and 17th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Ciampino to Rosignano Airfield with C-47s.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Units of the US 3rd Army and the British 30th Corps join up near St. Hubert as the German salient in the Ardennes is further reduced. To the south, the fighting in the US 7th Army around Bitche is also continuing but German attacks are being held.

In the Norwegian Sea a British squadron inflicts heavy damage on a German coastal convoy of southern Norway. Half of the estimated 7 or 8 vessels are sunk.

(US Eighth Air Force):: Mission 790: 2 B-17s and 4 of 6 B-24s drop leaflets in Belgium during the night. 

*GERMANY*: (US Ninth Air Force): About 120 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s attack communications centers and rail bridges in Belgium and Germany; fighters escort the bombers, hit an ammunition dump at Mayen, Germany, and patrol areas around Malmedy, Belgium and NE of Trier, Germany. 

152 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the railway yard in the Uerdingen suburb of Krefeld. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 10/11 Jan, A-20s attack targets of opportunity in the W Po Valley; clearing weather during the day enables an increase of fighter and fighter-bomber attacks in the Po Valley and in the US Fifth Army battle area in the N Apennines; many ammunition and fuel dumps, rail lines, trains, and vehicles are pounded, and an alcohol refinery at Piacenza is severely damaged.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces begin an assault toward Berlin, 300 miles away. The final Soviet winter offensive begins with attacks by 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) from the Sandomierz bridgehead on the west bank of the Vistula River with 7 armies in the front line. The 3rd Guards and 4th Tank Armies advance up to 20km. The defending German forces are mostly from Heeresgruppe Mitte and Heeresgruppe A with 4.Panzerarmee defending the breakthrough area. The German troops are outnumbered by at least four or five to one in all classes of equipment and prove incapable of resisting the Soviet advance.

*WESTERN FRONT*: There are new attacks on the north flank of the Ardennes salient by US 7th and 18th Corps of the US 1st Army.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): For the fourth consecutive day, all bombing operations are cancelled by bad weather. P-38s fly photo and weather reconnaissance and escort missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather severely curtails operations, but fighters and fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command score successfully against communications targets in W and C Po Valley, claiming 50+ rail cuts and destruction or damage of 100+ vehicles. 

*GERMANY*: 32 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked U-boat pens and shipping in Bergen harbour. 3 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron and 1 from No 9 Squadron were lost; the Germans told the local people that 11 bombers had been shot down. A local report says that 3 Tallboys penetrated the 3½-metre-thick roof of the pens and caused severe damage to workshops, offices and stores inside.

2 RAF Mosquito fighters of No 100 Group flew long-range escort for an air-sea rescue operation and 2 Stirlings flew RCM sorties, all without loss.

11 RAF Mosquitos to Bochum and 9 to Recklinghausen, both forces to bomb synthetic-benzol plants, and 32 Halifaxes minelaying off Flensburg and Kiel. 4 Halifaxes lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: British Royal Marine Commando unit launches a third assault on Kapelsche Veer, Holland, at night. Germans, safely underground, fire mortar shells on their own positions, inflicting heavy casualties on the British attackers. 

In the Ardennes units of US 1st Army from the north and the British 30th Corps from the west, reach Ourthe between Laroche and Houffalize. British 2nd Army reaches the Ourthe River. US 3rd Army forces are also moving toward Houffalize from the south.

The IX Tactical Air Command supports the US VII Corps near Houffalize, Belgium, the XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US III, VIII, XII, and XX Corps elements in the Saint- Hubert, Belgium-Bastogne, Belgium-Wiltz, Luxembourg areas and points E and S near the Clerf River, Luxembourg and the Mosel River, Germany. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In East Prussia, the Soviet 3rd Belorussian Front (Chernyakhovsky) strikes the German 3.Panzerarmee, part of Heeresgruppe Nord (Reinhardt). The attack begins in the early morning hours but progresses very slowly in spite of intensive supporting fire. Schlossberg and Kattenau change hands several times during the fighting. Meanwhile, in southern Poland, the 1st Ukrainian Front achieves an advance of 40 km along a 64 km frontage. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: Mission 791: 958 bombers and 469 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards and Rhine rail bridges mostly by PFF methods; they claim 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 367 B-17s are sent to hit the Mainz rail bridge (31), the Gustavsburg rail bridge at Mainz (95) and the Bischofsheim marshalling yard (119); 74 hit the secondary target, the Mainz marshalling yard; targets of opportunity are Euskirchen (13) and other (7); most attacks are made using Micro H but some formations bomb visually; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 126 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 4 WIA and 19 MIA. Escorting are 79 of 80 P-51s; 3 are damaged beyond repair. 2. 276 B-24s are dispatched to hit rail bridges at Worms (86) and Rudesheim (89) and the Kaiserslautern marshalling yard (87); 1 hits a target of opportunity; most attacks are made using Gee-H but some formations bomb visually; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 39 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA. The escort is 114 of 118 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 315 B-17s are sent to hit rail bridges at Germersheim (71, using Gee-H) and Maximiliansau (159) and rail and highway bridges at Mannheim (76) visually; 1 hits a target of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 42 MIA. Escorting are 77 of 82 P-51s; 2 are damaged beyond repair. 4. 102 P-47s and P-51s fly a freelance fighter sweep supporting the bombers; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft in the air and 3-0-1 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair. 5. 45 of 45 P-51s fly a fighter-bomber mission against Mannheim, Trier, etc without loss. 6. 20 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 7. 4 of 4 P-51s escort an F-5 on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 95 9th Bombardment Division bombers strike road and rail bridges at Dasburg, Steinebruck, and Simmern to disrupt enemy movements; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, Eighth AF, and RAF bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols, and bomb and strafe numerous ground targets.

158 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Saarbrücken during the day. The bombing appeared to be accurate, though with some overshooting. 1 Lancaster crashed in France.

Saarbrücken: 274 RAF aircraft - 242 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax crashed in France. Bomber Command assessed this raid, on the railway yards, as being extremely accurate and effective.

Politz: 218 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked this oil plant, near Stettin. 2 Lancasters lost. This raid had been planned as a blind-bombing attack but, because the weather conditions were better than forecast, low-level marking was carried out and very accurate bombing followed. Bomber Command, on the basis of photographic reconnaissance, states that the oil plant was 'reduced to a shambles'.

19 RCM sorties, 22 Mosquito patrols, 10 Lancasters minelaying off Swinemünde. 1 Mosquito of l00 Group lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front begins attacks on German Heeresgruppe Nord in heavy snow conditions. The immediate success achieved in the fighting results in the cancellation of planned supporting artillery fire. To the south, Soviet 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) opposite Warsaw and to the south launches an offensive from the Pulawy and Magnuszew bridgeheads. The latter bridgehead is only 15 miles wide and 7 miles deep but contains some 400,000 troops and 1700 AFVs. Poor weather results in limited air support. The attack begins with a short artillery bombardment that targets the German 56.Panzer and 8.Korps of 9.Armee, part of Heeresgruppe Mitte(Harpe). Success is immediate and both corps are scattered. Meanwhile, forces of 1st Ukrainian Front cut the rail line to Krakow south of Kielce. Farther south in Hungary the Soviets resist German attempts to relieve Budapest and in eastern Czechoslovakia, they take Lucenec. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 1st Army achieves an advance 2 miles toward St. Vith in continuing attacks. British forces attacking southward from Laroche link up with elements of US 3rd Army advancing northwest from Bastogne.

(US Ninth Air Force): 280+ A-20s and B-26s strike bridges and communications centers in the base area of the Ardennes salient and in other areas of W Germany. Fighters escort 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth AF bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols, attack numerous ground targets, and support the US First Army in the Vielsalm, Belgium area and the US Third Army around Diekirch, Luxembourg. 

Support and 126 RAF training aircraft on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 83 Mosquitos to Berlin and 9 to Mannheim, 58 RCM sorties, 54 Mosquito patrols, 21 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters minelaying off Oslo and in the Kattegat. 1 Lancaster from the diversionary sweep and 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group were lost; 3 Mosquitos from the Berlin raid crashed in Belgium and 1 RCM Liberator crashed in Holland. A further 7 aircraft from the sweep and 5 Mosquitos from the Berlin raid crashed in England because of bad weather.

*GERMANY*: The US 8th Air Force resumes strategic operations after a month-long pause caused by the Battle of the Bulge. (Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 792: 911 bombers and 860 fighters are dispatched to attack oil refineries and plants in C Germany and highway bridges at Cologne; clear skies allow all bombers to bomb visually; about 250 Luftwaffe fighters attack and the AAF claims 158-0-30 aircraft; 7 bombers and 11 fighters are lost: 1. 370 B-17s are sent to hit oil targets at Derben (186) and Magdeburg (90); 36 hit Hallendorf, the secondary target; targets of opportunity hit are the Osnabruck marshalling yard (8) and other (19); they claim 31-9-7 aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 149 MIA. Escorting are 295 of 331 P-51s; they claim 89.5-0-14 aircraft in the air and 3-0-5 on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 3 damaged beyond repair. 2. 348 B-24s are dispatched to hit oil targets at Hallendorf (145), Hemmingstedt (91) and Ehmen (89); 1 hits Wangerooge Island, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 80 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. The escort is 261 of 295 P-51s; they claim 14.5-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 187 B-17s are sent to hit highway bridges at Cologne, the Deutz Bridge (71), the Hohenzollern Bridge (67) and the Rodenkirchen Bridge (36); targets of opportunity are Berg (1) and Cologne (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 92 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 40 of 42 P-51s; they claim 9-0-5 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 pilot is WIA. 4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss. 5. 116 P-47s and P-51s fly a sweep over N Germany and claim 42-0-6 aircraft; 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA); 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair. 6. 30 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss. 7. 19 of 22 P-51s escort 12 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/details-january-14-1945-a-7158.html

 Mission 793: 2 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets over SE Belgium and Germany during the night.

134 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Saarbrücken in clear visibility and without loss.

573 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5. 6 and 8 Groups carried out two attacks, 3 hours apart, on the synthetic oil plant at Leuna. The attacks caused severe damage throughout the plant. Albert Speer, in his post-war interrogations, stated that this was one of a group of most damaging raids on the synthetic-oil industry carried out during this period. 10 Lancasters lost.

151 RAF aircraft - 136 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos, 3 Lancasters - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Grevenbroich. The raid was successful and no aircraft were lost.

115 RAF aircraft - 100 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos, 3 Lancasters - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attempted to bomb a Luftwaffe fuel-storage depot at Dülmen, near Münster, but most of the bombing fell in open country south and south-east of the target. Only slight damage was caused to the fuel dump. 1 Halifax lost.

ENGLAND: In the English Channel 6 German motor torpedo boat flotillas operate in the estuaries of the Scheldt, Thames and Humber rivers during the night (January 14-15).

The last German V1 launched from an He 111 bomber lands on Yorkshire. The He 111s of KG 53 abandoned missile-launching duties of the Fi 103 V-1 Flying bomb at Bremen-Oldenburg due to a shortage of fuel. The specialized bombing force has lost seventy-seven Heinkels since beginning operations back on 9 July, 1944. Only sixteen are recorded as being shot down by Allied night-fighters with the remainder lost to the hazards of low-level flying, night operations and weather.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Liberated Greece A cease-fire is agreed between the British and the Communist ELAS organization. ELAS agrees to release all hostages it has taken except those accused of collaboration.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Heeresgruppe North commits its reserves (7.Panzerdivision and Panzer Grenadier Division Grossdeutschland) to battle and these units inflict losses and delays on the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front. Kielce falls to the 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev). To the south, the 4th Ukrainian Front (Petrov) also goes over to the offensive.

*WESTERN FRONT*: American forces encounter heavy resistance in attacks toward St. Vith. US 1st Army troops have reached Houffalize, cutting off remaining German forces to the west in the Ardennes salient.

The unescorted HMS _'Thane' _(D 48) (A/Capt E.R.G. Baker, RN) was hit in the stern by a torpedo from _'U-1172' _six cables 132° from Clyde Light Vessel. The escort carrier was ferrying aircraft when she was probably hit by a Gnat. She was towed to Greenock by HMS _'Loring' _(K 565) and declared a total loss. Returned to the US Navy on 15 Dec, 1945, then stricken and sold for scrap. Broken up at Faslane in 1946.

HQ VIII Fighter Command moves from Bushey Hall, England to Charleroi, Belgium. HQ 64th Fighter Wing moves from Ludres to Nancy, France. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: An Italian naval squadron interned in Port Mahon (Minorca) since September 8, 1943, leaves for Malta.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 400+ B-24s and B-17s escorted by 270+ P-38s and P-51s, bomb marshalling yards and other railroad communications in NE and SE Vienna, Austria and marshalling yard at Treviso, Italy. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, operations resume as the weather clears; medium bombers concentrate on the Brenner rail line, flying nearly 150 sorties against bridges at San Michele all'Adige, Rovereto, Ala, Lavis, Santa Margherita d'Adige, and Motta di Livenza; the XXII Tactical Air Command attacks communications in the Po Valley and further N, destroying or damaging several bridges and a very large number of railway cars (most of them at the Como marshalling yard); during the night of 14/15 Jan, A-20s hit targets in the Po Valley, including Po River crossings at Borgoforte, Piacenza, and San Benedetto Po. 

*ENGLAND*: The first civilian ship since 1940 leaves London for France.

*GERMANY*: (Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 794: 640 bombers and 782 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany; they claim 14-0-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 fighters are lost. 1. 223 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Ingolstadt (111) and Freiburg (107); 1 hits the Reudenstadt marshalling yard as a target of opportunity; H2X radar is used to bomb; 5 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 183 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 75 of 120 B-24 hit the secondary target, the Reutlingen marshalling yard; targets of opportunity are Tubingen (19), Urich (10), the Tubingen marshalling yard (7), Mahlberg (1) and other (1); all attacks are made visually; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair. The escort consists of 109 of 117 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft without loss. 3. 253 of 297 B-17s hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Augsburg using H2X radar; targets of opportunity are Bobingen (29) and other (5) bombed visually; 16 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA. The escort is provided by 184 of 204 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 156 of 167 P-51s fly a fighter sweep over Germany; they claim 13-0-19 aircraft without loss. 5. 62 of 63 P-51s fly a fighter bomber mission against the marshalling yard at Gensingen without loss. 6. 6 of 7 P-51s escort a Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. 7 29 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. Mission 795: 2 B-17s and 7 B-24s drop leaflet on the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 16 B-26s hit the Simmern bridge to help thwart movement in the Trier area; the XIX Tactical Air Command escorts the B-26s, flies armed reconnaissance and patrols, and supports the US III and VIII Corps in the Houffalize, Belgium-Bastogne, Belgium-Wiltz, Luxembourg areas. 

82 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked a benzol plant at Recklinghausen. The bombing appeared to be excellent. No aircraft lost.

63 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid through thick cloud on the Robert Muser benzol plant at Bochum. No results known. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*GERMANY*: In Germany, Arthur Nebe is arrested. He had been director of Reich Criminal Police and member of Nazi resistance since 1938. He was in hiding since July 24. 

(US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 796: A planned major strike at oil and industrial targets in Germany is cancelled by weather; 627 bombers and 693 fighters are dispatched to hit oil targets; 2 B-24s and 1 P-51 are lost; due to heavy fog a large percentage of the bombers are diverted to various landing fields in the UK and on the Continent: 1. 364 B-24s are sent to hit the Rothensee synthetic oil plant at Magdeburg (61) and the oil plant at Ruhland (67); secondary targets hit are the marshalling yard at Dresden (138 ) and a tank factory at Magdeburg (61); 5 others hit a target of opportunity; targets are bombed visually and using H2X radar; 2 B-24s are lost and 8 damaged beyond repair; 3 airmen are KIA, 20 WIA and 22 MIA. Escorting are 368 of 392 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 7 damaged beyond repair. 2. 263 B-17s dispatched hit secondary targets, the marshalling yard at Dessau (146) and 2 aircraft engine plants at Bitterfeld (96); 4 others hit targets of opportunity; all attacks are made using H2X radar; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair; 1 airman is KIA and 3 WIA. The escort is 194 of 203 P-51s. 3. 68 P-47s and P-51s fly a sweep. 4. 19 of 20 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 5. 5 of 7 P-51s escort a Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission on Berlin and Misburg. Mission 797: 1 B-24 drop leaflets on Belgium during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 311 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s hit road and rail bridges, communications centers, motor transport repair center, and other targets in Germany; fighters escort 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth AF bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and defensive patrols, and support US First Army elements along the battleline NE of Houffalize, Belgium, and the III Corps along the battleline SE of Houffalize. 

371 RAF aircraft - 320 Halifaxes, 44 Lancasters, 7 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to Magdeburg. 17 Halifaxes lost, 4.6 per cent of the total force, 5.3 per cent of the Halifax force. This was an area raid. Bomber Command claimed that it was successful, with 44 per cent of the built-up area being destroyed. No local report is available.

Zeitz: 328 RAF Lancasters of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 10 Lancasters lost, 3.0 per cent of the force. The target was the Braunkohle-Benzin synthetic-oil plant near Leipzig. Much damage was caused to the northern half of the plant.

138 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the benzol plant at Wanne-Eickel. No results known. 1 Lancaster lost.

17 RAF Mosquitos to Mannheim and 9 to Hamburg, 55 RCM sortie Mosquito patrols, 23 Halifaxes and 8 Lancasters minelaying off Oslo and in the Kattegat. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.

JG 52’s Hptm. Gerd Barkhorn is appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 6 replacing Oblt. Johann Kogler.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: In Athens, Greece, the National People's Liberation Army is defeated by government and British forces.

War action in Italy halts at the Senio River for the winter.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 15/16 Jan, A-20s exploit a break in the bad weather and blast motor transport around Genoa and NE of Milan; during the day bad weather returns, grounding the medium bombers and limiting fighter-bombers to 16 completed sorties against communications in the Po Valley and NE Italy; the 23d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from Malignano to Peretola Airfield, Florence with F-5s.

*WESTERN FRONT*: A German naval mechanic accidentally fires a torpedo at a flotilla of 30 Biber midget submarines. They all explode in a chain reaction.

German submarine _'U-248' _sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS _'Hayter'_, USS _'Otter'_, USS _'Varian' _and USS _'Hubbard'_. 47 dead (all hands lost)..

There are attacks by the British 13th Corps near Roermond aimed at eliminating the small German salient west of the Maas. End of the Ardennes offensive. In the Ardennes the US 1st and 3rd Armies link up at Houffalize. Losses for the Ardennes offensive: 32.000 soldiers (24.000 Germans and 8.000 Allied), 2500 civilians; 1300 tanks, 1280 planes and 6.000 vehicles. An Allied offensive aimed at eliminating the German bridgehead across the Rhine River, 8 miles north of Strasbourg, begins about 0200 hrs.

The Norwegian resistance takes over North Norway.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Elements of 1st Belorussian Front capture Radom, an important industrial and communications center and an important position in the German defenses in Poland, while to the north other elements have encircled Warsaw and are fighting their way through the city. Most of the defending German troops have escaped to the west however. Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, to the south, are making even better progress and have reached Czestochowa, about 15 miles from Silesia, in Germany. In the last three days , Soviet forces have advance up to 37 miles and created a breach of the German defense about 74 miles long.

231 RAF Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and No 5 Groups attacked a synthetic-oil plant at Brüx in Western Czechoslovakia. The raid was a complete success. Speer also mentioned this raid as causing a particularly severe setback to oil production. 1 Lancaster lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The totally devastated city of Warsaw is cleared of German resistance by forces of the 1st Belorussian Front. The Russian 47th Army assaults across the Vistula, forcing the Germans to evacuate Warsaw, which is liberated the same day by the 1st Polish Army. To the north, troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front enter Modlin. 

Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is picked up by Russian NKVD secret police in Budapest, Hungary. He is not ever seen again in the West. During his time in Europe, he saved about 20,000 Jews from Nazi detainment.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Heavy fog along most of the front reduces Allied offensive action. The British 2nd Army, north of Sittard, successfully holds the village of Dieteren. The US 3rd Army reaches Diekirch.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 798: 700 bombers and 362 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on oil refineries at Hamburg and Harburg and Gee-H and H2X attacks on rail targets; 9 bombers and 7 fighters are lost: 1. 158 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Rhenania (40) and Albrecht (34) oil refineries at Hamburg and the U-boat base at Hamburg (73); 1 other hits a target of opportunity; German submarine _'U-2523' _and _'U-2525' _sunk at the Blohm Voss yard in Hamburg. German submarine _'U-2530' _sunk in dock at Hamburg. 4 B-17s are lost and 88 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 39 MIA. Escorting are 61 P-47s and P-51s; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 78 of 84 B-24s hit the Rhenania oil refinery at Harburg; 1 other hits Borkum Airfield as a target of opportunity; 4 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 57 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 44 MIA. Escort is provided by 46 of 55 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 458 B-17s are sent to hit the Paderborn marshalling yard (397) and the Schildesche rail viaduct at Bielefeld (37); 4 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 6 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. The escort is 108 of 118 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 80 of 87 P-51s fly a fighter sweep against a rail target without loss. 5. 25 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 

72 RAF Mosquitos to Magdeburg, 8 to Ruthen oil-storage depot and 3 each to Cologne, Frankfurt, Koblenz and Mannheim, 33 RCM sorties, 13 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers, taking advantage of improved weather conditions, attack 6 rail targets on the Brenner rail line, blocking the line at Calliano, cutting tracks at Ora, and destroying a section of the bridge at Sacile; in NE Italy fighters and fighter-bombers concentrate their large effort on rail lines and bridges, destroying 4 and damaging another, cutting tracks at numerous points, and blasting vehicles and trains; HQ 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and the 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron move from Rosia and Malignano respectively to Florence/Peretola with A-20s, B-25s and F-5s.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Forces of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front capture Modlin. The 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front are threatening the Polish cities of Lodz and Krakow with encirclement. German troops of the 17.Armee begin to evacuate Krakow. 2nd Ukrainian Front takes Pest. Meanwhile, in Hungary, south of Lake Balaton, the German 4.SS Panzerkorps (Gille), part of Heeresgruppe South, spearheads a relieving attack with the aim of lifting the Red Army's siege of Budapest and nearly destroys the Soviet 135th Rifle Corps, an element of 3rd Ukrainian Front (Tolbukhin). 

*WESTERN FRONT*: British commandos have landed on the Dutch island of Schouwen. Forces of the British 2nd Army are progressing north of Sittard and have captured the town and road junction of Echt. Fighting continues in the Ardennes. US 3rd Army troops have crossed the Sure River and are engaged in Diekirch.

(US Ninth Air Force): HQ IX Tactical Air Command returns to operational control of the Ninth AF (from the RAF Second Tactical AF) as the US First Army returns from the Twenty First Army Group to the Twelfth Army Group. In Belgium, HQ IX Tactical Air Command (Rear) returns to Verviers from Charleroi. Weather prevents all Ninth AF operations except for alert flights by 11 fighters of the IX and XXIX Tactical Air Commands. The 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), moves from Rutten to Spa, Belgium with L-5s. 

*ENGLAND*: Admiral Sir Harold Burrough is appointed Allied Naval Commander Expeditionary Force in succession to the late Sir Bertram Ramsay.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 799: Bad weather limits operations; 114 of 114 B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Kaiserslautern without loss; most are diverted to bases on the Continent after the raid because of heavy clouds; escort is provided by 105 of 113 P-51s with the loss of 3 aircraft and pilots. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission and 4 of 4 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 

56 RAF Mosquitos to Sterkrade oil refinery, 12 each, on H2S trials, to Düsseldorf, Kassel and Koblenz and 7 to Ruthen oil depot. 1 Mosquito from the Sterkrade raid crashed in Belgium.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 17/18 Jan, A-20s attack Po River crossings, lights and movement throughout the Po Valley; during the day medium bombers pound targets on the Brenner line, including a temporary bridge between San Michele all'Adige and Ora, and an overhanging cliff over the railroad at San Ambrogio di Valpolicella; fighters and fighter-bombers blast communications lines in NE Italy and fuel and supply dumps in the Piacenza area, destroying numerous railroad tracks, trains, and vehicles, and causing explosions or fires in most of the dumps.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces reach the German frontier in Silesia, and cross the 1939 Poland-Silesia frontier. Wloclawek on the Vistula falls to elements of 2nd Belorussian Front. Lodz is captured by 1st Belorussian Front forces. Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front take Tarnow and Krakow, a former capital of Poland. Further south, Nowy Sacz is taken by the 4th Ukrainian Front. To the south, in Hungary, the German 4.SS Panzerkorps, an element of Heeresgruppe South, reaches the Danube River at Dunapentele and effectively cuts off most of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front forces from its supplies. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Yugoslavia, 400+ B-17s and B-24s attack N and S marshalling yards, a railroad bridge, and a highway bridge at Brod; because of overcast, only 1 of 112 bombers sent against the Zagreb marshalling yard bombs the target while others abort; 46 P-38s bomb the S railroad bridge at Doboj and 59 P-51s sweep from Zagreb to Gyor, Hungary. Other P-38s fly reconnaissance missions and reconnaissance escort and cover Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) B-25s on a supply run. 


*WESTERN FRONT*: In the north, Sittard is cleared of German resistance. In Alsace, German forces north of Strasbourg link up with other forces to further north. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Bad weather cancels bomber operations; fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance; the XIX Tactical Air Command also supports elements of the US III and VIII Corps NE of Houffalize, Belgium and around Clervaux, Luxembourg, and the 5th Infantry Division around Bettendorf, Germany. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 18/19 Jan, A-20s bomb motor transport movements, lights, roads, and railroads throughout the Po Valley; weather cancels medium bomber operations and prevents fighter-bombers from completing the XXII Tactical Air Command's only mission airborne during the day. 

*GERMANY*: *THE FIGHTER PILOT MUTINY*: At the ‘Haus der Flieger’, the Luftwaffe’s officer’s club in Berlin, a delegation of high-ranking Kommodoren including Obst. Hermann Graf, Günther von Maltzahn, Gustav Rödel, Johannes Steinhoff and ‘Hannes’ Trautloft, confront Reichsmarschall Göring at a meeting in the club. Obst. Gunther Lützow, acting as the leader of the group, outlines the pilot’s grievances with what is called their “Points of Discussion” including those charges of cowardice brought against the pilots, mismanagement of available forces and the growing influence of outsiders in fighter affairs. During the talks that last almost five hours there is a call to halt Generalmajor Galland’s pending dismissal and reinstate him. By the end of the discussion Göring threatens to have Lützow shot and within hours has arrest warrants issued for Lützow and Galland for court martial. But after reflection, Göring rescinds the warrants and banishes Lützow to Italy as Jafu Oberitalien. Generalmajor Galland’s punishment, even though he was not present at the meeting, is to be posted to the Russian Front as a Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 54, the lowest position for a General, but is saved by Albert Speer who tells Adolf Hitler about the events of the past several hours. Hitler orders instead that Galland set up a small strength fighter force using the Me 262 jet fighter. Galland is granted complete independence from the Luftwaffe and Galland himself is given powers equal to a Division commander. Jagdverband (JV) 44 is born. The name is a cynical reference to the Luftwaffe’s failures in 1944 and partially as a numerical link to the first unit Galland commanded.


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## Njaco (Feb 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet offensive against German forces in East Prussia achieves an important breakthrough in the attacks from the northeast. Tilsit is taken. All the Soviet fronts in Poland are moving forward despite the German resistance. 4.SS Panzerkorps reaches Danube in attack launched on 18 January. In Hungary, the fighting in Budapest continues but the Soviets now control the Pest half of the town.

The Hungarian Provisional Government concludes an armistice with the USSR, the USA and Britain. The Hungarians agree to pay reparations and to join the war against Germany. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: French 1st Army (de Lattre) begins an offensive in the Vosges area near Colmar. Bad weather hinders the advance and the defense by the German 19.Armee is effective. Progress is gradually made however. To the north, in the Ardennes, the advance of US 3rd Army continues. Brandenburg is taken.

(US Ninth Air Force): Bomber operations are cancelled due to weather; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, alerts, and night patrol; the IX Tactical Air Command also supports the 7th Armored Division on the Dutch- German boundary.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: Mission 801: 772 bombers and 455 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants at Sterkrade and rail targets and bridges in W Germany using H2X radar; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 1. 36 of 309 B-17s hit the Holten oil plant at Sterkrade; 225 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Rheine; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 68 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 33 WIA and 61 MIA. Escorting are 189 of 199 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 187 of 223 B-17s hit the Heilbronn marshalling yard; 8 hit the secondary, the Pforzheim marshalling yard and 2 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 18 damaged. Escort is provided by 39 of 48 P-51s without loss. 3. 170 of 230 B-17s hit the Mannheim marshalling yard and rail bridge; targets of opportunity are Stuttgart (24), Mannheim (21) and other (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 29 damaged. The escort is 130 of 137 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 36 of 39 P-51s fly a fighter sweep in the Frankfurt area; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 5. 16 of 16 P-51s fly a sweep in the St Vith/Duren area without loss. 6. 16 of 16 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 345 B-17s and B-24s attack N and S main marshalling yards and station sidings at Linz, Austria, marshalling yards at Salzburg, Austria and Rosenheim, Germany, and oil storage at Regensburg, Germany; fighters escort the bombers and fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The tactical organization of the Fifteenth AF becomes fully developed when a supply-dropping group, the 15th Special Group (Provisional), organized on 18 Jan, is given control of the 859th (B-24) and 885th (B-17) Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) which drop supplies in France, Italy, and Yugoslavia. [In Mar, the 15th Group will be redesignated the the 2641st Special Group (Provisional) and with its units attached to the Twelfth AF for operational control, the Fifteenth retaining administrative control].

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers destroy 1 and damage another bridge near San Michele all'Adige, and score good coverage on the Trento marshalling yard; the XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers very successfully blast communications and fuel and ammunition dumps in the Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In East Prussia, Soviet attacks penetrate up to 15 miles. The 2nd Belorussian Front (Rokossovsky) forces capture Tannenberg (scene of a significant German victory over Russian forces in 1914). Tannenburg is captured, but only after the Germans removed Hindenburg's coffin and destroy the war memorial. Gumbinnen is also taken. Soviet 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) have reach Konin -- within 200 miles of Berlin -- along the road from Warsaw. The 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) has penetrated some 20 miles into Silesia and threatens the cities of Breslau and Oppeln. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Witlz falls to the US 3rd Corps in the Ardennes. German forces are making a general withdrawal to the Siegfried Line. 

German submarine _'U-1199' _sunk off the Scilly Isles in position 49.57N, 05.42W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS _'Icarus' _and the British corvette HMS _'Mignonette'_. 48 dead and 1 survivor. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 803: 912 bombers and 523 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial and rail targets in C Germany using PFF methods with some visual bombing; they claim 8-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 bombers are lost: 1. 379 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard (257) and oil plant (66) at Aschaffenburg; targets of opportunity are the Pforzheim marshalling yard (24) and military vehicle plant at Mannheim (3); Gee-H and H2X are used; 2 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA and 2 MIA. Escorting are 112 of 139 P-51s. 2. 382 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard (254), Lanz military vehicle factory (21) and highway and rail bridges (16) at Mannheim; targets of opportunity are the Pforzheim marshalling yard (16), Speyer (4) and other (3); bombing is by Micro H and H2X; 6 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 53 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 12 WIA and 55 MIA. The escort is 138 of 150 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft on the ground. 3. 152 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Heilbronn (68 ) using H2X; targets of opportunity bombed visually are the marshalling yard at Pforzheim (11), the communications centers at Arnbach (14) and Mannheim (1) and Reutlingen (1); 4 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 120 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 6-0-1 aircraft on the ground. 4. 26 of 26 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 5. 6 of 7 P-51s fly an armed photographic mission over Politz. 6. 22 of 23 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 804: 2 B-17s and 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 166 A-26s, A-20s, and B-26s hit a rail junction and bridge at Euskirchen and marshalling yard and defended positions at Mayen; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, escort bombers, bomb bridges, and support the US 7th Armored Division. 

76 RAF Mosquitos to Kassel and 4 to Mainz, 23 RCM sorties, 9 Mosquito patrols, 2 Hudsons on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito lost from the Kassel raid.

The Me 262 night-fighter unit, _Kommando Welter_, suffer its first fatality when Oblt. Heinz Bruckmann is killed attempting an emergency landing near Wittstock, north-west of Berlin.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 170 B-17s bomb the Lobau and Schweehat oil refineries at Vienna, Austria; 131 P-51s and P-38s provide support. 43 P-38s bomb an oil refinery at Fiume, Italy. Other fighters escort reconnaissance missions and accompany supply-dropping operations to Yugoslavia. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather restricts operations during the night of 21/22 Jan to armed reconnaissance by 5 A-20s; the A-20s bomb communications targets in the Po Valley. During the day B-25s hit bridges at Rovereto and Lavis, destroy a bridge at Pontetidone, and blast a railroad fill at San Michele all' Adige, and supply dump at Cremona; fighters and fighter-bombers concentrate on communications in the same area as the medium bombers, destroying 1 bridge, inflicting 36 rail cuts, hitting fuel and ammunition dumps, and destroying and damaging many vehicles and much railroad rolling stock, mostly in Milan area.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Four squadrons of British Spitfire planes knock out a German liquid oxygen factory at Alblasserdam. The Dutch factory which manufactured the liquid oxygen to fuel V-2 rockets was destroyed after its location had been traced by SOE agents.

The British 2nd Army is continuing its attacks in the Roermond area and takes St. Joost and other towns near Sittard. In the Ardennes, US 1st Army attacks all along the front between Houffalize and St. Vith.

In the English Channel German motor torpedo boats attack a convoy north of Dunkirk. Elements of the German 8th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla penetrate into the Thames Estuary.

In Belgium, HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Liege to Verviers. In France, the 514th Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, based at Mourmelon with P-47s, begins operating from Prosnes. The air echelon of the 417th Night Fighter Squadron, Twelfth AF (attached to 422d Night Fighter Squadron) operating from Florennes, Belgium with Beaufighters, returns to base at La Vallon, France. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: As well as the attacks of 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian Fronts from the northeast, the German position in East Prussia is being threatened by the northwest advance of 2nd Belorussian Front toward the Elbing and Danzig area. In the attacks from the northeast Insterburg falls while in the other advance, Allenstein and Deutsch Eylau are taken. To the south, Gneizo is taken in the drive of the 1st Belorussian Front toward Poznan. Elements of the 8th Guards Army encircle 60,000 Germans in the city of Poznan.

In Hungary, the German 4.SS Panzerkorps, part of Heeresgruppe South, reaches the Vali River, only 15 miles (24 km) from Budapest. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 805: 206 B-17s and 258 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on the Holten synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade (167); 1 hits the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Rheine; targets of opportunity are Dinslaken (12), Osnabruck (5), Heiden (8 ) and other (4); 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 144 damaged; 13 airmen are WIA and 45 MIA. Escort is provided by 85 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. Other fighter missions are: 1. 128 of 136 P-51s fly a sweep in the St Vith, Belgium-Karlsruhe- Darmstadt and Kobenz, Germany areas, some as escort for Ninth AF bombers; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 10 of 11 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 806: 1 B-17 and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 304 B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s bomb a marshalling yard, railhead, and road and rail bridges in Germany with the aim of obstructing troop movement; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly armed reconnaissance and sweeps and airfield cover, and support the US 7th Armored Division near Montfort, the Netherlands; the III, VIII, and XII Corps from S of Saint-Vith, Belgium along the battlefront to NW of Echternach, Luxembourg; and the 4th, 5th, 94th, and 95th Infantry Divisions from Echternach, Luxembourg S to just W of Saarlautern, Germany. 

Duisburg: 286 RAF Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost. This raid was intended for the benzol plant in the Bruckhausen district of Duisburg. This target was identified visually by moonlight and much damage was inflicted on it. Further bombing also hit the nearby Thyssen steelworks, either by misidentification or by a simple spread of the bombing. Duisburg's local report assumed that the steelworks were the primary target and stated that 500 high explosive bombs fell on the Thyssen premises.

Gelsenkirchen: 152 RAF aircraft - 107 Halifaxes, 29 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. This was a small area-bombing raid. The Bomber Command report states that 'moderate' damage was caused to residential and industrial areas.

48 Mosquitos to Hannover and 6 to Dortmund, 50 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s score damaging hits at Rovereto, San Michele all' Adige and on the Dogna bridge, and attack the Chiari and Crema bridges with fair results; fighter-bombers range over practically all of N Italy destroying and damaging a large number of vehicles and railway cars and several locomotives, also hitting fuel and ammunition dumps around Mantua.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: German Dr. Hans Gisevius crosses from Germany into Switzerland, after hiding since July 20, 1944. In Germany Count Helmuth von Moltke-Kreisau, leader of the pacifist "Kreisau Circle" organization, is executed.

St. Vith falls to the attack of tank units from US 18th Corps. The German forces are falling back over the River Our from throughout the Ardennes salient but are losing heavily to Allied air attacks.

*EASTERN FRONT*: As well as the continuing attacks in Poland and East Prussia, there is a new advance from around Miskolc by the 2nd Ukrainian Front (Malinovsky) with both Soviet and Rumanian troops involved. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 807: 209 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Neuss, Germany (169); 12 others hit the Neuss Bridge; the attacks are made using Gee-H and Micro H; 1 B-17 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 95 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 74 of 79 P-51s; 1 is damaged beyond repair. Other operations are: 1. 68 of 75 P-51s fly a sweep over the Neuss area; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft without loss. 2. 16 of 17 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. Mission 808: 5 B-24s drop leaflet in the Netherlands during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, a small B-26 force hits troop concentrations, a road bridge, and military transport targets at Blankenheim, Dasburg, and Arzfeld. Fighters fly armed reconnaissance, alert flights, and patrols, and support the US III, VIII, and XII Corps and 4th, 94th, and 95th Infantry Divisions from S of Saint-Vith, Belgium, S and E along the battleline to just W of Saarlautern, Germany. 

Reichsmarschall Göring issues an ‘ Order of the Day to the Fighter Arm’ wherein it states:


> “_After several years in office Generalleutnant Galland has been relieved of his post as the General der Jägdflieger in order that he may resume a position of leadership when his health has recovered_.”


Obst. Gordon Gollob is appointed as General der Jägdflieger.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 22/23 Jan, A-20s bomb lights, roads, and river crossings at over 50 locations in the Po Valley, hit several targets of opportunity, and attack Borgoforte and San Benedetto Po and airfields at Villafranca di Verona and Ghedi; weather cancels medium bomber operations during the day; fighter-bombers operate mainly against communications, principally railroad targets, in the Po Valley but also hit ammunition dumps, shipping, guns, vehicles, and other targets in N Italy scattered from Genoa to NE Italy.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet armored units reach the Oder River south of Breslau. Soviets forces reach the estuary of the Vistula, southwest of Elbing. Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front are attacking near Breslau (about 4 miles to the southeast) and Oppeln, the capital of German Upper Silesia, on the Oder River. They take Gleiwitz. New Soviet attacks are launched in Czechoslovakia.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Units from the French 1st Army take crossings over the River Ill in Alsace, on the northern flank of the Colmar pocket. In the Ardennes there are Allied advances north and south of St. Vith. US 3rd Army reaches the Clerf River. The British 2nd Army enters Heinsberg, about 3 miles west of the Roer River.

(US Eighth Air Force): 67 of 70 P-51s based in Belgium are dispatched in 4 flights to fly sweeps over Wahn Airfield-Dorweiler area and Karlsruhe-Koblenz area in Germany, claiming 3 fighters downed; 1 P-51 is lost.

The 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF, arrives at Valenciennes, France from the US with F-5s. 

*GERMANY*: SS leader Himmler is appointed by Hitler to lead the new Army Group Vistula, being formed to oppose the Soviet advance toward Berlin. Himmler has no experience, nor has he demonstrated any aptitude for operational command and his appointment is widely viewed as an insult to the German Army and General Staff.

(US Ninth Air Force): 25 9th Bombardment Division bombers hit communications centers at Schleiden, Stadtkyll, and Pronsfeld, Germany; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, sweeps, airfield cover, and bomb 1 bridge; the XIX Tactical Air Command supports US III, VIII, XII, and XX Corps elements along the battlefront at several points from SW of Saint-Vith, Belgium to the Saarlautern, Germany area. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, cloud conditions and ground fog at bases nearly halt operations; 1 medium bomber flies weather reconnaissance over the Venice area and P-47s fly weather reconnaissance over the Bologna-Parma area; 2 of the P-47s destroy a truck and damage a train near Parma.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: 2nd Belorussian Front reaches Baltic coast at Frisches Haff. Germany Heeresgruppe Mitte is isolated. The German forces in East Prussia are effectively cut off and the German evacuation of military personal and civilians from East Prussia begins. The operation continues until the end of the war and is considered the greatest evacuation in history (amounting to 1.5 to 2 million people). About 40 large passenger ships and many other transports as well as practically all the remaining surface ships of the German Navy including the cruisers, _'Emden' _and _'Admiral Hipper' _are involved. There are considerable losses to the many mines laid in the Baltic by RAF Bomber Command and to the submarines of the Soviet Baltic Fleet. In the fighting to the south, Ostrow is taken by left flank units of the 1st Ukrainian Front; other elements capture crossings over the Oder River near Breslau and Steinau. Meanwhile, in Hungary, the German 4.SS Panzerkorps, an element of Heeresgrupe Sud, is halted by forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. 

General Reinhardt, who has been in command of the German Heeresgruppe Mitte in East Prussia, is dismissed and General Rendulic is appointed to the renamed Heeresgruppe Nord. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Roermond triangle, an isolated German position near the Rhine, is eliminated.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 111 of 121 P-51s based in Belgium fly a sweep over wide areas of SW Germany, claiming 2 Luftwaffe fighters NE of Mannheim and E of Kirrlach; 1 P-51 is lost. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 170 A-20s and B-26s hit communications centers and railroad bridges, overpasses, and lines in W Germany with the aim of harassing and obstructing troop movement; fighters of the 3 Tactical Air Commands fly armed reconnaissance, alerts and night patrols, escort bombers, and attack numerous ground targets; the XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US 5th Infantry Division in the Echternach, Luxembourg area. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 24/25 Jan, A-20s make several intruder attacks on roads, motor transport, bridges, and trains; bad weather during the day greatly curtails flying; the only medium bomber mission dispatched achieves poor results on the Cremona ammunition dump; fighter-bombers and fighters of the XXII Tactical Air Command hit communications and dump areas, mainly in the Milan area, with good general success.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Holland, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division launches *Operation Elephant*, to take Kapelsche Veer on a small island in the Maas River from German occupation.

Units of US 3rd Army in the Ardennes have now crossed the Clerf River in several areas and are attacking all along the front of US 3rd and 12th Corps.

American Audie Murphy kills or wounds about fifty German soldiers. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor medal.

British Air Ministry head Charles Portal seeks and receives approval from SHAEF Chiefs of Staff and General Spatz for one big air attack on Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, or Chemnitz, where such an attack would hamper German troop movement and evacuation from the eastern front.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The advance of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front reaches the Baltic north of Elbing completely cutting off the German forces of Heeresgruppe Nord in East Prussia. 

Major Erich Rudorffer, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 54 is awarded the _Schwerten _for achieving 210 kills.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 31 of 32 P-51s based in Belgium, fly an uneventful fighter sweeps over the Heilbronn, Aschaffenburg, Giessen, and Trier, Germany areas. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 27 B-26s bomb the Euskirchen rail bridge to interdict rail traffic SW from Euskirchen, much of which comes from Cologne and Bonn. The 3 Tactical Air Commands fly armed reconnaissance, alert flights, and patrols; the XIX Tactical Air Command supports US Third Army elements from S of Saint-Vith, Belgium to W of Saarlautern, Germany. 

8 RAF Mosquitos bombed the Castrop-Rauxel synthetic-oil refinery without loss.

Major Walther Dahl is appointed Inspekteur der Tagjäger (Inspector of Day fighters) while Obstlt. Josef Priller of JG 26 is appointed Inspekteur der Jägdflieger Ost. Obstlt. Priller is removed from combat operations and spends the rest of the war in this post. Priller’s place as Kommodore is taken by Major Franz Götz.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 25/26 Jan, A-20s fly armed reconnaissance of the Po Valley, bombing Po River crossings, Ghedi Airfield, and general movement throughout the area; both the 57th Bombardment Wing and the XXII Tactical Air Command cancel all operations for the day because of bad weather.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet Red Army liberates Auschwitz. Forces of the 1st Baltic Front captured the port of Memel which now leaves the whole of Lithuania in Russian hands. German forces begin evacuating the vital coal mining and industrial region of Upper Silesia. In Poland, elements of the 1st Belorussian Front have swept around Poznan, where the garrison continues to holds out, and are maintaining their advance to the Oder River. The Soviets are about 100 miles from Berlin. Other elements are attacking near Torun and Bydgoscz. 4.SS Panzerkorps' attack in Hungary, launched on 18 January, is finally defeated. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Troops from US 3rd Army cross the Our River and take Oberhausen. The gains made by the German Ardennes offensive are now almost completely eliminated. American troops attack between Roer and Wurm. British troops capture Odilienburg as French troops capture Holtzwihr.

German submarine _'U-1172' _sunk with all hands in St. George's Channel by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Tyler'_, HMS _'Keats' _and HMS _'Bligh'_. 52 dead (all hands lost).

(US Eighth Air Force):: HQ 352d Fighter Group and the 486th and 487th Fighter Squadrons move from Bodney, England to Chievres, Belgium with P-51s. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division and the XIX Tactical Air Command; the IX and XXIX Tactical Air Commands fly armed reconnaissance over the battle area and parts of W Germany, along with alert flights and a leaflet mission. 

In Belgium, HQ 370th Fighter Group and the 401st, 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons move from Juzaine Airfield, Florennes to Zwartberg with P-38s. The 388th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, moves from Metz, France to Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): For the sixth consecutive day bad weather restricts operations to reconnaissance and escort missions.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather during the morning causes all medium bombers to abort except for an attack on a bridge at Bressana Bottarone; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers continue the interdiction of communications with good results against motor transport, trains, rail lines, bridges, and storage dumps; P-47s of the 57th Fighter Group destroy an oil plant near Fornovo di Taro. The 414th Night Fighter Squadron, 62d Fighter Wing, based at Pontedera, Italy sends a detachment to operate from Florennes, Belgium with Beaufighters attached to the 422d Night Fighter Squadron. 

*GERMANY*: 12 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin: 8 bombed this target and 3 bombed alternative targets. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The last part of the Ardennes salient is destroyed. American troops regain the front lines against the Germans held on December 16. Allied armies suffered about 83,000 casualties, and lost about 800 tanks. Germany lost over 100,000 men, 800 tanks, and 1000 aircraft. British forces report progress on the Roer River.

The 328th, 486th and 487th Fighter Squadrons, 352d Fighter Group, move from Bodney, England to Chievres, Belgium with P-51s (detachments have been operating from Asch, Belgium since 23 Dec 44). 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The advance of the 1st Belorussian Front reaches German Pomerania. Sepolno and Leszno are taken on the flanks of the advance. To the south, 1st Ukrainian Front troops complete the capture of Katowice, in the Dombrova coal basin.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 809: With the prospect of improved weather over Germany, 1,006 bombers and 249 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards, bridges and benzol plants at Dortmund; 10 bombers are lost: 1. 225 B-24s are sent to hit oil targets at Kaiserstuhl (115) and Gneisenau (58 ); targets of opportunity are Lippstadt (9), Neheim (5) and other (11); bombing is by Gee-H; 7 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 97 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 71 MIA. Escorting are 68 of 77 P-51s. 2. 421 B-17s are sent to hit the Gremberg marshalling yard at Cologne (273) and the Hohenzollern Bridge at Cologne (69); secondary targets are Gutersloh (31) and Bielefeld (7); 3 others hit a target of opportunity; Gee-H and H2X radar are used to bomb; 3 B-17s are lost and 172 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 35 MIA. The escort is 69 of 76 P-51s. 3. 360 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Hohenbudberg marshalling yard (169) and Rheinhausen Bridge at Duisburg (80); 10 hit the secondary, the highway bridge at Duisburg; targets of opportunity are Friemersheim (13) and other (2); some targets are hit visually while others are hit using Micro H; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 195 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA and 20 WIA. 35 of 38 P-51s escort the B-17s. 4. 40 P-51s fly a sweep of the tactical area escorting Ninth AF B-26s. 5. 13 of 18 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 810: 2 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 95 9th Bombardment Division B-26s hit a communications center at Mayen, rail bridges and an overpass at Eller, Sinzig, Remagen, and Kaiserslautern, targets of opportunity in W Germany, and fly cover for US First Army forces on the frontline in the Monschau-Butgenbach area. 

153 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Cologne/Gremberg in conditions of good visibility. Some of the bombing fell on the target but some overshot. 3 Lancasters were lost and 1 crashed in France.

602 RAF aircraft - 316 Halifaxes, 258 Lancasters, 28 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to 2 targets in the Stuttgart area. 11 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 4 Halifaxes, 1 Mosquito - lost. This raid was split into 2 parts, with a 3-hour interval. The first force - 226 aircraft - was directed against the important railway yards at Kornwestheim, a town to the north of Stuttgart, and the second was against the north-western Stuttgart suburb of Zuffenhausen, where the target is believed to have been the Hirth aero-engine factory. The target area was mostly cloud-covered for both raids and the bombing, on skymarkers, was scattered. Bombs fell in many parts of Stuttgart's northern and western suburbs. The important Bosch works, in the suburb of Feuerbach, was hit. A large number of bombs fell outside Stuttgart, particularly in the east around a decoy fire site which was also firing dummy target-indicator rockets into the air. The village of Weilimdorf, situated not far away, complained bitterly about its damage and casualties! This was the last large RAF raid on Stuttgart. Stuttgart's experience was not as severe as other German cities. Its location, spread out in a series of deep valleys, had consistently frustrated the Pathfinders and the shelters dug into the sides of the surrounding hills had saved many lives.

67 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 8 to Mainz (a 'spoof' raid for the Stuttgart attacks), 51 RCM sorties, 36 Mosquito patrols, 6 Lancasters of No 1 Group minelaying in the Kattegat. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group crashed in France.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather again hampers operations; B-25s have good results on railroad bridges at Lavis and San Michele all'Adige; XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft operate effectively against communications and transport targets throughout N Italy including at Milan, Pavia, Cremona, Nervesa della Battaglia, Treviso, Genoa, Padua, and the Lake Maggiore areas.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: German passenger ship _'Wilhelm Gustloff' _is struck by three Soviet torpedoes off Danzig from the Soviet submarine _'S-13'_. The ship quickly capsizes, with the loss of 5200-5400 of estimated 6100 on board. Worst sea loss ever.

There are German counterattacks from East Prussia against the forces of the 2nd Belorussian Front to the west. The German heavy cruiser _'Prinz Eugen' _and destroyers support the ground assault with a naval bombardment. Toward the south of the German pocket, Bischofsburg falls to the Soviet forces. Forces of the 1st Belorussian Front encircle the city of Poznan, and the large German garrison, in Pomerania. Dresden, some 95 miles southeast of Berlin, is captured. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 1st Army reports the capture of the town of Bullingen, east of St. Vith. Forces of the US 3rd Army cross the Oure River at two points, 8 miles south of St. Vith.

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): Brigadier General Glenn O Barcus becomes Commanding General XII Tactical Air Command. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 811: 1,158 bombers and 700 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial plants at Kassel and rail targets in C Germany; the attacks were made using H2X radar; they claim 6-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 415 B-17s are sent to hit rail centers at Niederlahnstein (110) and Siegen (144); 104 hit the secondary, the Mosel marshalling yard at Koblenz; 37 hit the marshalling yard at Bad Kreuznach, a target of opportunity; 4 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged. Escorting are 235 of 254 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; 1 pilot is KIA. 2. 386 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Henschel oil plant at Kassel (93); 154 hit the secondary, the Kassel marshalling yard; targets of opportunity are the Bielefeld marshalling yard (76), Koblenz (35) and other (2); 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 28 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. The escort is 207 of 224 P-51s; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 3. 357 B-24s dispatched hit secondary targets, the marshalling yards at Munster (206) and Hamm (124); 9 others hit the Soest marshalling yard, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 18 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. 173 P-47s and P-51s escort; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 23 of 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. Mission 812: 1 B-17 and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 364 A-20s, B-26s, and A-26s bomb rail bridges, supply and communications centers, and defended areas in W Germany; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols and support US Third Army units at points along the frontlines from S of Saint-Vith, Belgium to the bridgehead area around Saarlautern, Germany. 

148 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Uerdingen railway yards at Krefeld without loss. Bombing was claimed to be accurate but a short Krefeld report states that bombs fell over a wide area. 59 RAF Mosquitos; 50 aircraft reached and bombed Berlin without loss.

Gruppenkommandeur Obstlt. Heinz Bär of III./EJG 2, takes his first flight in an Me 262. He flies the jet fighter almost continuously from this point on until the end of the war with ‘_Buzzard 1’ _as his tactical call sign.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, due to high winds and generally bad weather, medium bombers successfully bomb only 2 targets, the railway bridges at Calliano and Rovereto, and attack with less success bridges at Motta di Livenza, Lavis, Mantua, and Chiusaforte, and railway station at Lavis; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers operate primarily against communications throughout the Po Valley; results are generally good and a bridge at Nervesa della Battaglia is cut; bridges or their approaches at Cittadella, Santa Margherita d'Adige and Cismon del Grappa are damaged along with a variety of targets. During the night of 28/29 Jan, A-20s hit rail facilities, pontoon bridge, lights, and motor transport at nearly 50 locations in the Po Valley. 

The 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), based at Peretola Airfield, Florence with F-5s, sends a flight to operate from Pisa.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Hitler broadcasts to the nation for the last time. He comments, "_German workers, work! German soldiers, fight! German women, be as fanatical as ever! No nation can do more_."

Newly posted to JG 7 from 1./ErgGr from Sagan, Lt. Rudolf Rademacher takes his first flight in an Me 262.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied forces capture Gambsheim, a German bridgehead over the Rhine, north of Strasbourg.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels bomber operations. Fighters fly nightfighter and intruder reconnaissance missions; fighter cover for the US 5th Armored Division W of Gemund, Germany is recalled during the day. 

HQ 365th Fighter Group and the 386th Fighter Squadron move from Metz, France to Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium with P-47s. 

German submarine _'U-3520' _sunk with all hands off Bulk.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): For the ninth successive day, weather prevents bombing operations; during the night of 29/30 Jan, 13 B-24s drop supplies in N Italy; during the day P-38s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort and carry out supply missions and strafing attacks in Austria. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, good weather in the Po Valley permits full-scale operations against communications lines; during the night of 29/30 Jan, A-20s intruders pound scattered movement (much of it near Milan), several Po River crossings including Borgoforte, Piacenza, and San Benedetto Po, the harbor at La Spezia, and fuel dumps and other targets at many locations; B-25s effectively strike the Brenner rail line during the day, especially the Lavis and Trento marshalling yards and bridges at Lavis and Calliano; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers strike railroads and bridges in NE Italy cutting many lines and damaging several bridges, and hit fuel dumps and factories around Parma.


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## Njaco (Feb 16, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Final German forces abandon Kapelsche Veer island in the Maas River, Holland. Units of US 18th Corps from US 1st Army enter Germany east of St. Vith as they continue their advance from the Ardennes. To the south, in Alsace, French 1st Army attacks near Colmar also make some ground.

(US Ninth Air Force): All operations are cancelled due to weather. The 387th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, moves from Metz, France to Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium with P-47s. In France, the 512th and 514th Fighter Squadrons, 406th Fighter Group, move from Mourmelon- le-Grand to Metz with P-47s (the 514th has been operating from Prosnes since 22 Jan). 

American Private Edward Donald Slovik of the 28th Infantry Division is executed by firing squad for desertion.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Forces of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front reach the Oder River at Zehden and along a wide front to the south of Frankfurt am Oder. These Soviet positions are less than 50 miles from Berlin. 

Hptm. Wilhelm “Willi” Batz, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 52 is transferred to take command of II./JG 52 in Hungary. He is replaced by Hptm. Adolf Borchers at III Gruppe.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 813: 291 B-24s, 112 B-17s and 186 P-51s are recalled from a mission against targets in Germany because of expected bad weather at UK bases and heavy clouds; 1 B-17 and 3 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; 6 airmen are KIA and 8 WIA. 

8 RAF Mosquitos to the Hansa benzol plant at Dortmund and 6 Mosquitos to Duisburg. 1 aircraft from the Dortmund raid crashed in Holland.

The weather started to improve at the beginning of February and Bomber Command commenced an almost unbroken period of operations of the most intense and concentrated nature which would continue until a halt was called to the strategic-bombing offensive in April. The first round of raids, however, was not very effective because of poor weather at the targets.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 670+ B-24s and B-17s bomb the Moosbierbaum, Austria oil refinery; marshalling yards at Graz, Austria and Maribor, Yugoslavia; and scattered targets of opportunity. P-38s and P-51s fly 300+ escorting sorties for the bombers; other P-38s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort and drop supplies into Austria; during the night of 30/31 Jan, B-24s drop supplies in N Italy. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers attack railroad bridges at Chiusaforte, Voghera, Lavis, Rovereto, and San Michele all' Adige, and the marshalling yard at Rovereto, with only fair results; fighters and fighter-bombers hit bridges, rail lines, trains, vehicles, and other targets over widespread areas of N Italy; during the night of 30/31 Jan, A-20s hit several railroad targets during intruder missions in the Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: US General Dwight Eisenhower issues a directive authorizing Operations Veritable and Grenade.

The US 6th Corps from 7th Army crosses the river Moder and advances to Oberhofen.

During Feb 45, HQ 438th Troop Carrier Group and the 87th, 88th, 89th and 90th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Greenham Common, England to Prosnes, France with C-47s. HQ 361st Fighter Group and the 374th, 375th and 376th Fighter Squadrons move from Little Walden, England to Chievres, Belgium with P-51s (the squadrons have been operating from St-Dizier, France since 23 Dec 44). HQ 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) moves from Athies Airfield, Laon to Havrincourt and HQ 367th Fighter Group moves from Juvincourt to St-Dizier. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Torun falls to attacks from forces for of the 2nd Belorussian Front, after a six day siege. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, which have reached the Oder opposite Berlin, halt there to regroup while the many pockets of German resistance in their rear are being eliminated and while the units on their flanks broaden the advance by attacking into Pomerania in the north and crossing the Oder and moving toward the Neisse in the south. Since the 20th January, the Kriegsmarine has evacuated 140,000 civilian refugees and 18,000 wounded soldiers by sea from East Prussia.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 814: 699 B-17s and 328 P-51s are dispatched to hit rail targets and bridges in W Germany using Micro-H and H2X radar; no losses: 1. 463 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yards at Mannheim (74) and Ludwigshafen (70); 270 hit the secondary target, the highway and rail bridge at Mannheim; targets of opportunity are Pforzheim (11) and other (3); 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 24 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escorting are 142 of 151 P-51s. 2. 236 B-17s are send to hit the rail bridge at Wesel (139); 36 hit the marshalling yard at Krefeld, the secondary target; and 13 hit Barth, a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged. 49 of 53 P-51s escort. 3. 20 of 22 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 4. 87 of 102 P-51s fly a freelance sweep in support of the bombers. Mission 815: 6 of 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 146 B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s bomb rail bridges and defended areas on the Rhine and Mosel Rivers and in W Germany near the battlefront. The IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance, and in Germany, attack the Euskirchen marshalling yard and the town of Arloff. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 300+ B-17s and B-24s attack the Moosbierbaum oil refinery and the marshalling yards at Graz, Furstenfeld, and Klagenfurt. 1 bomber bombs Pula, Yugoslavia. P-38s and P-51s fly 270+ sorties escorting the bombers; other P-38s carry out reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions. 

160 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the general town area of Mönchengladbach through 8-10/10ths cloud, using G-H. The results of the raid are not known. 1 Lancaster crashed in France.

Ludwigshafen: 382 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 6 Lancasters lost. Most of the force aimed their loads at skymarkers and the local report shows that bombs fell in many parts of Ludwigshafen, with much property damage of a mixed nature. The 900 houses destroyed or seriously damaged were the main item in the report but it also states that the railway yards were seriously damaged and one of the Rhine road bridges was hit by 2 bombs and temporarily closed to traffic.

Mainz: 340 RAF aircraft - 293 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. A few early crews were able to bomb target indicators seen through a gap in the clouds, but the gap soon closed and most of the raid was on skymarkers. The local report states that a few buildings were destroyed, including the Christuskirche, which burnt out, and the town hospital was damaged, but most of the bombing fell outside Mainz.

Siegen: 271 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 3 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito lost. This raid also experienced difficult marking and bombing conditions. Some damage was caused to the railway station but the local report says that the markers were either carried away from Siegen by a strong wind or that dummy markers and a decoy fire site attracted much of the bombing. Most of the raid fell in country areas outside Siegen.

122 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Bruckhausen benzol plant, 6 to Hannover, 4 to Nuremberg and 4 dropping dummy target indicators at both Mannheim and Stuttgart, 64 RCM sorties, 47 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

Major Walther Dahl is awarded the Eichenlaub for achieving ninety-two victories.

Lt Rudolf Rademacher flying with 11./JG 7, scores his first victory in the Me 262, an Allied reconnaissance Spitfire above Braunschweig.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather curtails operations; A-20s and medium bombers are grounded and fighters and fighter- bombers fly only 14 sorties, 12 against communications targets N of the battle area and 2 weather reconnaissance sorties.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*GERMANY*: German Dr. Carl Friedrich Goerdeler is executed, at age 61.

(US Eighth Air Force):: 22 of 24 P-51s fly an uneventful sweep in the Koblenz-Wetzlar-Siegen-Siegburg, Germany area. Mission 816: During the night of 2/3 Feb, 1 B-17 and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in W Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 350+ B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s bomb road and rail bridges to block the E-W movement E of the Rhine River and defended localities E of the battlefront in W Germany; fighters hit bridges and fly escort, armed reconnaissance and patrols, and support US Third Army elements along the Our River in Belgium and the Sauer River in Germany. 

495 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups to Wiesbaden. 3 Lancasters crashed in France. This was Bomber Command's one and only large raid on Wiesbaden. There was complete cloud cover but most of the bombing hit the town. 5 important war industries along the banks of the Rhine were untouched but the railway station was damaged.

Wanne-Eickel: 323 RAF aircraft - 277 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 19 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 4 Halifaxes lost. This target was also cloud-covered and the attack, intended for the oil refinery, was not accurate. Local people assumed that the target was a local coal mine - Shamrock 3/4; most of the bombing fell in the open ground around the mine.

Karlsruhe: 250 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 14 Lancasters lost. No 189 Squadron, from Fulbeck, lost 4 of its 19 aircraft on the raid. Cloud cover over the target caused this raid to be a complete failure. Karlsruhe reports no casualties and only a few bombs. The report mentions 'dive bombers', presumably the Mosquito marker aircraft trying to establish their position. This was a lucky escape for Karlsruhe in its last major RAF raid of the war.

43 RAF Mosquitos to Magdeburg and 20 to Mannheim, 54 RCM sorties, 44 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 26th Army (Gagen), part of 3rd Ukrainian Front, attacking northwards, restores contact with 4th Guards Army to the west of Budapest, near Adony, trapping the 3rd Panzer Army in the area of Konigsberg and the Samland Peninsula. The German 4th SS Panzer Corps is forced to pull back as a result. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: US 1st Army units are attacking near Remscheid. British forces mount attacks over the Maas, north of Breda and near Nijmegen to put pressure on the Germans.

In France, HQ 406th Fighter Group and the 513th Fighter Squadron move from Mourmelon-le-Grand to Metz with P-47s; the 393d Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from Juvincourt to St Dizier with P-38s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather cancels bombing operations; 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 drop supplies in N Italy. 33 P-51s, with 14 others flying top cover, strafe Kurilovec Airfield in Yugoslavia; 11 other P-51s escort a Royal Air Force (RAF) supply dropping mission over Yugoslavia. 11 P-38s fly photo and weather reconnaissance; photo reconnaissance is covered by 24 other P-38s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers, taking advantage of improving weather conditions in NE Italy, hit bridges at Lavis, Chiusaforte, Calliano, Mantua, Rovereto, Calcinato, and Dogna; bad weather at bases restricts XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft to 5 weather reconnaissance sorties.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: French and American units complete the capture of Colmar. All formations of French 1st Army are now making good progress in this sector. The other Allied armies keep up the pressure on the Germans all along the front. 

In France, the 394th Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from Juvincourt to St Dizier with P-38s. 

36 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked U-boat pens at Ijmuiden (No 9 Squadron) and Poortershaven (No 617 Squadron) with Tallboy bombs. It was believed that these pens, in that part of Holland still occupied by the Germans, were sheltering midget submarines. The weather was clear and hits were claimed at both targets without loss.

Frigates "_Bayntun_", "_Braithwaite_", "_Loch Dunvegan_" and "_Loch Eck_" of the 10th Escort Group patrolling north of the Shetland Islands shared in the sinking of three U-boats in the next two weeks. The first was "_U-1279_" sunk with all hands off Bergen in approximate position 61.21N, 02.00E, by depth charges from the British frigates. 48 dead (all hands lost).

*EASTERN FRONT*: In East Prussia, the Soviet attacks continue to confine and divide the German forces. Landsberg and Bertenstein are taken, 80 miles northeast of Berlin.
. End of Vistula-Oder offensive.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 817: 1,437 bombers and 948 fighters are dispatched in a major strike on Berlin by B-17s while B-24s hit the synthetic oil industry at Magdeburg; they claim 38-1-18 Luftwaffe aircraft; 25 bombers and 8 fighters are lost: : JG 7’s Lt. Rademacher downs a B-17 from the formation attacking Magdeburg. 1. 1,003 B-17s are sent to hit the Tempelhof marshalling yard in Berlin (937); targets of opportunity are Bad Zwischenahn (1), Bromsche (1), Gatow (13), Luneburg (2), Sogel (1) and other (1); 23 B-17s are lost, 6 damaged beyond repair and 339 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA, 11 WIA and 189 MIA. Escort is provided by 575 of 613 P-51s; they claim 12-1-0 aircraft in the air and 17-0-11 on the ground; 7 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair. 2. 434 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Rothensee oil plant at Magdeburg (116); 246 hit a target of last resort, the marshalling yard at Magdeburg; targets of opportunity are Wesermunde (17), Mockern (12), Cuxhaven (9), Yechta Airfield (2) and other (3); 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 58 damaged; 19 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 210 of 232 P-51s without loss. 3. 41 of 44 P-47s fly a sweep over Friedersdorf Airfield; they claim 9-0-6 aircraft in the air; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 35 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 5. 24 P-51s escort 9 F-5s and 7 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 818: 1 B-17 and 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and W Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division attacks the Berg-Gladbach storage and repair depot, Dahlem communications center, rail bridges at Ahrweiler and Sinzig, and marshalling yard at Junkerath; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly patrols, and carry out armed reconnaissance over W Germany.

192 RAF Lancasters and 18 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked the Prosper benzol plant at Bottrop successfully. 8 Lancasters lost.

149 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Hansa benzol plant at Dortmund but the bombing fell north and north-west of the target. 4 Lancasters lost.

42 RAF Mosquitos to Wiesbaden and 20 to Osnabrück, 42 RCM sorties, 28 Mosquito patrols, 19 Halifaxes of No 4 Group minelaying off German ports. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Weather again cancels bombing operations. P-38s fly photo and weather reconnaissance. P-51s escort the photo reconnaissance aircraft while other P-38s escort Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) B-25s on a transport run to Yugoslavia. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather restricts combat operations to an attack by 4 P-47s on the Sonico marshalling yard.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Yalta Conference takes place, over eight days, to discuss post-war policies. Russia asks for an Allied air bombing of Berlin and Leipzig. Yalta is a recently liberated Crimean resort.

While on temporary assignment as acting Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 53, Erich Hartmann, attacks a large flight of Soviet Yak 9s escorting a flight of twenty Soviet Douglas Boston bombers. Hartmann destroys one Yak 9 scoring his 337th and only non-JG 52 victory.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Allies announce that all German forces have been expelled from Belgium. US 1st and 3rd Army units are attacking toward the Roer River around Duren. US General Omar Bradley relays an order to General Courtney Hodges of the US 1st Army to seize the Schwammenauel Dam near Schmidt on the Roer River, and other dams.

German submarine _'U-1014' _sunk with all hands in the North Channel east of Malin Head, in position 55.17N, 06.44W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Loch Scavaig'_, HMS _'Nyasaland'_, HMS 'Papua' and HMS _'Loch Shin'_. 48 dead (all hands lost).

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 819: 7 of 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

The 158th Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Twelfth Army Group) arrives at Somme-Suippe, France from England with L-5s.

*GERMANY*: (US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division attacks a repair depot at Mechernich, the Arloff road and rail junction, and flies a leaflet mission. The IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands patrol the battle area.

238 RAF aircraft - 202 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to Bonn. 3 Lancasters lost. This was a poor attack, with most of the bombing falling to the south of the target or over the Rhine in the Beuel area. 

123 RAF aircraft - 100 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos, 11 Lancasters - of 6 and 8 Groups attacked a benzol plant at Osterfeld but caused no fresh damage. No aircraft lost.

120 RAF aircraft - 96 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant, Gelsenkirchen. Some minor damage was caused but most of the bombs fell south of the target. No aircraft lost.

50 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover, 12 to Dortmund, 4 to Magdeburg and 3 to Würzburg, 59 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 15 Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland and in the River Elbe. 2 Mosquitos lost, 1 each from the Hannover and Würzburg raids.

The night-fighter unit flying Me 262 jet fighters, Kommando Welter, loses two pilots killed – one during a transfer flight and another during training on the jet.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather cancels bombing operations for the third successive day. 24 B-24s and 1 B-17 drop supplies and leaflets in N Yugoslavia. 8 P-38s carry out photo and weather reconnaissance missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers bomb railroad bridges at Ala, San Michele all' Adige, Lavis, Dogna, and Bodrez, and attack the Ala marshalling yard; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers escort the medium bombers and, in widespread areas of N Italy, destroy 2 bridges, damage 8 others, and blast rolling stock.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The German pocket near Colmar is cut in two by a link between French units and part of the US 21st Corps. Farther north, US 1st Army extends its attacks, led by US 5th Corps, toward the Roer aiming to take the Schwammenauel Dam. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels all operations except IX Tactical Air Command fighter patrols over the US First Army area around Butgenbach, Belgium. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet attacks on the surrounded city of Poznan make some progress. Soviet pressure continues in many other areas as well.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s score excellently against the San Ambrogio di Valpolicella landslide (the overhanging cliff collapses on the railroad by bombing) and bridges at San Michele all' Adige and Calliano; during the night of 4/5 Feb, XXII Tactical Air Command A-20 intruder missions hit lights, motor transport, and roads in the Po Valley and areas S of Bologna; fighters and fighter-bombers fly 270+ sorties against communications targets in N Italy; incendiary bombing of a truck park damages numerous vehicles. 

*GERMANY*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 730+ B-17s and B-24s bomb oil storage at Regensburg, Germany, the main station and 2 marshalling yards at Salzburg, Austria, the marshalling yards at Rosenheim, Germany and Villach, Austria, and Straubing, Germany railroad installations; 6 bombers bomb the Comeglians, Italy road bridge. P-38s and P-51s escort the bombers, fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance support missions, and accompany 25 B-24s on a supply mission to Yugoslavia. 

The Me 262 training unit, III./EJG 2, scores its first victory when Lt. Rudolf Harbort shoots down a P-38 Lightning from the US Fifteenth Air Force.

63 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 7 to Magdeburg and 6 to Würzburg, 1 RCM sortie. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Southeast of Breslau, the Soviet forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front begin to push out of their bridgehead over the Oder River. Hundreds of thousands of panicked German civilians flee westwards from Breslau towards Dresden.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Units of US 4th Corps from US 5th Army take Gallicano in a brief offensive designed to improve the Allied positions on either side of the Serchio Valley.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather permits only supply and reconnaissance missions; 5 P-38s complete weather and photo reconnaissance while 12 B-24s and 1 B-17 drop supplies in Yugoslavia. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s attack railroad targets on the line running N to the Brenner Pass, damaging bridges at Rovereto and Ala; marshalling yards at Rovereto and San Ambrogio di Valpolicella and a bridge at Crema are less successfully hit; fighter-bombers cut railroad bridges at Nervesa delta Battaglia and San Michele all'Adige; the P-47s claim 3 fighters destroyed in combat N of Verona and attack numerous targets of opportunity throughout the target areas; during the night of 5/6 Feb, A-20s attack lights, roads, and motor transport in the C Po Valley.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Organised German resistance in the Vosges ends.

35 RAF aircraft of No 5 Group (Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons) to attack viaducts at Bielefeld and Altenbeken were recalled because of bad weather.

The 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, ceases operating from Conflans, France with F-6s and returns to base at Le Culot, Belgium. In France, the 392d Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from Juvincourt to St Dizier with P-38s. Units moving from France to Belgium with P-47s: the 509th and 510th Fighter Squadrons, 405th Fighter Group, from St Dizier to Ophoven; the 513th and 514th Fighter Squadrons, 406th Fighter Group, from Metz to Asch.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 821: 1,383 bombers and 904 fighters are dispatched to attack oil targets in Germany; the expected clear weather does not materialize and the bombers attack secondary targets and targets of opportunity using H2X radar; they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 474 of 949 B-17s hit the secondary target in 2 forces, the marshalling yard at Chemnitz; targets of opportunity are the Gotha marshalling yard (88), Giessen (68), Saalfeld (39), Ohrdruf (35), Eisfeld (34), Schmalkalden (32), Greiz (22), Zwickau (22), Eisenach (13), Waltershausen (12), Dirlos (12), Ostheim (12), Friedrichroda (11), Steinbach (2), Meppen (1), Reichenbach (1), Schmalkalden (1), and other (1); 3 B-17s are lost, 13 damaged beyond repair and 115 damaged; 41 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 24 MIA. Escorting are 545 of 588 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft in the air and 3-0-0 on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 7 damaged beyond repair. 2. 418 of 434 B-24s hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Magdeburg; targets of opportunity are the Meppen Bridge (1) and Quackenbruck (1); 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 61 damaged; 18 airmen are MIA. The escort is 235 of 262 P-51s without loss. 3. 33 of 38 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 4. 8 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 5. 8 P-51s escort air-sea-rescue aircraft. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 261 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s attack the Rheinbach ammunition dump, Sotenich communications center, Vlatten defended village, Berg-Gladbach motor transport center, and several casual targets; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, alert flights and patrols, dive-bomb the Horrem bridge, cut rails, and escort the 9th Bombardment Division bombers. 

Pilots of I./JG 1 give up their Fw 190s to the II Gruppe and begin converting to the He 162 jet fighter at Parchim.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov), on the Oder River, seize some small bridgeheads over the river in the Kustrin area and near Furstenberg. There are also attacks in Pomerania where Answalde and Deutsche Krone are among the main centers of German resistance. Russian attacks north of Königsberg are blocked with the help of naval gunfire by the cruisers _'Scheer' _and _'Lützow'_.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the US 5th Corps advance toward the Roer, Schmidt is taken. To the south, US 3rd Army units move into Germany east of the Our. The Germans destroy the floodgates on the Schwammaneul Dam.

The Belgian government resigns.

The 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF, moves from Valenciennes to Amand, France with F-5s (first mission is 16 Mar). 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 822: 295 B-17s and 80 P-51s are recalled when they encounter a weather front rising to 30,000 feet (9,144 m) over the North Sea; 1 B-17 attacks Essen; no bombers are lost. Escort is provided by 41 of 80 P-51s without loss. 36 of 36 P-51s patrol the Siegen, Germany area without loss. Mission 823: 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 16 B-26s strike the rail siding at Lipp, Germany; weather cancels other operations.

100 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group to attack the oil plant at Wanne-Eickel. Only 75 aircraft were able to bomb in wintry conditions which scattered the force. The results of the raid are not known. 1 Lancaster lost.

Goch: 464 RAF aircraft - 292 Halifaxes, 156 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 2 Halifaxes lost. This raid was preparing the way for the attack of the British XXX Corps across the German frontier near the Reichswald. The Germans had included the towns of Goch and Kleve in their strong defences here. The Master Bomber ordered the Main Force to come below the cloud, the estimated base of which was only 5,000ft, and the attack opened very accurately. The raid was stopped after 155 aircraft had bombed, because smoke was causing control of the raid to become impossible. Considerable damage was caused in Goch but most of the inhabitants had probably left the town.

Kleve: 295 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster lost. 285 aircraft bombed at Kleve, which was battered even more than Goch. After the war, Kleve claimed to be the most completely destroyed town in Germany of its size. The British attack, led by the 15th (Scottish) Division, made a successful start a few hours later but quickly ground to a halt because of a thaw, which caused flooding on the few roads available for the advance, and also because of the ruins which blocked the way through Kleve. Lieutenant-General BG Horrocks, the Corps Commander in charge of the attack, later claimed that he had requested that Kleve should only be subjected to an incendiary raid but Bomber Command dropped 1,384 tons of high explosive on the town and no incendiaries.

177 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Dortmund-Ems Canal section near Ladbergen with delayed-action bombs. Later photographs showed that the banks had not been damaged; the bombs had fallen into nearby fields. 3 Lancasters were lost.

38 RAF Mosquitos to Magdeburg, 16 to Mainz and 41 in small numbers to 5 other targets, 63 RCM sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 30 Lancasters and 15 Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay. 4 Mosquitos lost - 3 from No 100 Group and 1 from the raid on Mainz.

At Brandenburg-Briest IV./JG 54 is disbanded and used to reform the fighters of II./JG 7 flying Me 262 jets but the Gruppe never fully completes its formation.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 680 B-17s and B-24s bomb oil refineries at Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, and the Lobau, Floridsdorf, Korneuburg and Kagran refineries in the Vienna, Austria area; oil storage at Pula, Yugoslavia; shipyard and harbor of Trieste, Italy; the town of Bratislava, Czechoslovakia; Zwolfaxing Airfield, Austria; and several scattered targets of opportunity; 274 P-38s and P-51s provide escort. 8 B-24s drop supplies in Yugoslavia. 18 P-51s strafe the Zeltweg Airfield in Austria and the surrounding area while in Yugoslavia, 10 P-38s sweep the Zagreb-Karlovac- Sisak area. Other P-38s fly reconnaissance and escort operations. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 6/7 Feb, A-20s bomb lights and movement over extensive areas of N Italy; during the day B-25 blasts cut bridges at Bodrez and Lavis, a viaduct at Lavis, and block rail lines at San Michele all'Adige and Mantua; XXII Tactical Air Command P-47s destroy 4 railroad bridges and damage another severely in the NE and C Po Valley and Brenner Pass, and blast dumps and sugar refineries in the Mantua, Brescia, and Reggio Emilia areas.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The 1st Canadian Army, and the British 2nd Army, launches Operation Veritable, to clear the Reichswald Forest, break the Siegfried Line, clear the Hochwald Forest defences, and close up the Rhine river from between the Maas and the Waal southeast of Nijmegen. 1334 guns of the British and Canadian armies facing German defenders open fire in advance of Operation Veritable. Over 24 hours, over 500,000 rounds are fired. There is considerable air support and the advance penetrates the Reichswald area on the first day. In the US 3rd Army sector, the US 8th Corps manages to advance beyond the Our.

HQ 406th Fighter Group and the 512th Fighter Squadron move from Metz, France to Assche, Belgium with P-47s. The 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF, based at St Amand, France with F-5s, sends a flight to operate from Le Culot, Belgium. 

15 RAF Lancasters of No 617 Squadron dropped Tallboys on the U-boat pens at Ijmuiden without loss.

Paul Semrau, a forty-six victory night-fighter with NJG 2 including nine kills over England in 1940 / 41, is killed in action over Holland.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In East Prussia, the German forces have now been virtually split into three groups; the defenders of Konigsberg, some forces trapped on the peninsula to the west of the town, and those to the south, the largest group, holding out around Keiligenbeil and inland.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 150 B-17s and 264 B-24s dispatched to attack targets in W Germany are recalled before leaving the UK coast due to clouds over bases, routes, and targets. 98 of 99 P-51s fly a sweep strafing rail traffic and parked aircraft; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 11 of 13 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 320+ B-26s, A-20s, and A-26s strike a road junction, marshalling yard, 3 defended areas, and 10 casual targets in Germany. Fighters fly armed reconnaissance, bomb numerous ground targets, and support the US XII Corps which has, on 7 Feb, crossed the Our and Sauer Rivers between Vianden and Echternach, Luxembourg and established bridgeheads.

Politz: 475 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 12 Lancasters lost, l of them coming down in Sweden. The attack took place in 2 waves, the first being marked and carried out entirely by the No 5 Group method and the second being marked by the Pathfinders of No 8 Group. The weather conditions were clear and the bombing of both waves was extremely accurate. Severe damage was caused to this important synthetic-oil plant. It produced no further oil during the war. Speer mentioned this raid, in his post-war interrogations, as being another big setback to Germany's war effort.

Wanne-Eickel: 228 RAF aircraft - 200 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos, 8 Lancasters - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 2 Halifaxes crashed in France. This raid was not a success. The local report says that the bombing was scattered, with only light damage to the oil refinery. 

Krefeld: 151 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Hohenbudberg railway yards but photographic reconnaissance was unable to detect any new damage. 2 Lancasters lost.

47 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 9 to Neubrandenburg (a 'spoof' for the Politz raid) and 4 to Nuremberg, 47 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 10 Lancasters of No 5 Group minelaying off Swinemünde. 1 RCM Halifax lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 500+ B-24s and B-17s bomb SE Vienna communications targets and the marshalling yard at Graz, plus several targets of opportunity; 270+ P-38s and P-51s escort. In Yugoslavia, 12 B-24s drop supplies and 11 P-51s sweep the Zagreb area. Other P-51s and P-38s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 7/8 Feb, A-20s on intruder missions bomb various targets at 58 points in the Po Valley and Brenner Pass area; medium bombers during the day attack bridges at Calliano, Chiusaforte, Dogna and Piacenza; fighters and fighter-bombers closely support US Fifth Army forces in the Serchio Valley where counterattacks oppose the Allied offensive-and destroy the Nervesa della Battaglia railroad bridge and oil dump N of Mestre.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the British and Canadian offensive near Nijmegen (by Canadian 1st Army), the Rhine is reached at Millingen, which is captured. The US 3rd Army is attacking near Prum on its northern flank (US 8th Corps) while US 12th Corps to the south also makes gains. Farther south still, the resistance of the German forces around Colmar comes to an end.

German submarine _'U-923' _sunk with all hands in Kiel Bay. When the boat was raised in 1953 a dud rocket was found. This proves that the boat was sunk by a rocket-equipped fighter plane on or near this date, possibly a Typhoon.

German submarine _'U-864' _sunk off Bergen in position 60.46N, 04.35E, by torpedo from the British submarine HMS _'Venturer'_. 73 dead (all hands lost).

In France, HQ 323d Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 453d, 454th, 455th and 456th Bombardment Squadrons move from Athies Airfield, Laon to Prouvy Airfield, Denain and Valenciennes (454th) with B-26s; HQ 410th Bombardment Group (Light) and the 644th, 645th, 646th and 647th Bombardment Squadrons (Light) move from Coulommiers to Juvincourt with A-20s; and the 669th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 416th Bombardment Group (Light) moves from Melun to Athies Airfield, Laon with A-26s. HQ 405th Fighter Group and the 511th Fighter Squadron move from St Dizier, France to Ophoven, Belgium with P-47s. 

7 RAF Stirlings of No 3 Group flew on Resistance operations but none were able to carry out their tasks (the reasons were not recorded) and 1 Stirling was lost. 1 Mosquito flew an RCM sortie.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops capture Elbing.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 824: 1,296 bombers and 871 fighters in 6 forces hit oil targets in Germany; except where noted, attacks were made with PFF; they claim 61-4-22 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 313 B-24s are sent to hit the Rothensee oil plant at Magdeburg (10); 268 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Magdeburg; targets of opportunity are Tarchen (9) and Quackenbruck Airfield (1); the Magdeburg attacks are made using H2X; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 51 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 20 MIA. Escorting are 151 of 173 P-51s; they claim 9-0-5 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 198 of 311 B-17s hit the secondary target, the munitions industry at Weimar; targets of opportunity are the marshalling yards at Giessen (25) and Gottingen (15), the munitions industry at Eisenach (11), Jena (11) and Fulda (24) and other (4); attacks are made using H2X and visually; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 28 MIA. The escort is 271 of 274 P-51s; they claim 8-1-3 aircraft in the air and 2-0-9 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 304 B-17s are dispatched to the oil plants at Lutzkendorf (233); 12 hit the secondary target, Erfurt; targets of opportunity are Eisenach (13, using H2X radar), Eisleben (13), Montesada (11) and other (3); all attacks except 1 were visual; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 64 damaged; 6 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 26 MIA. 193 of 215 P-51s escort and claim 2-1-0 aircraft in the air and 34-0-3 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 4. 64 of 65 B-24s hit the Schildesche rail viaduct at Bielefeld using Gee-H without loss. 39 of 40 P-47s escort without loss. 5. 151 B-17s are sent to hit the Altenbeken rail viaduct at Paderborn (72) and the Arnsberg rail viaduct (75) using Gee-H; 1 B-17 is lost and 1 damaged. 47 of 53 P-51s escort without loss. 6. 107 of 152 B-17s hit the secondary target, oil plants at Dulmen using Micro H; 21 hit a target of opportunity, the marshalling yard at Munster with H2X radar; 10 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 55 of 60 P-51s without loss. 7. 33 of 35 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 5-1-0 aircraft in the air without loss. 8 20 of 21 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 347 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb communications centers at Viersen and Kempen, marshalling yards at Rheydt, Grevenbroich, and Viersen, and rail bridges at Neuwied-Irlich and Sinzig. Fighters fly armed reconnaissance over the E and W of the Rhine River, attack rail bridges, and support US XII Corps bridgeheads across the Our and Sauer Rivers.

The jet pilots of III./JG 7 are starting to score successes with their Me 262s over the Allies. Oblt. Wegmenn, Hptm. Georg-Peter Eder and Lt Karl Schnorrer all score kills and Lt Rademacher brings down two B-17s over Berlin.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): During the night of 8/9 Feb, 1 B-17 and 10 B-24s drop supplies in N Italy. During the day in Austria, 49 bombers hit the Moosbierbaum oil refinery; 5 others bomb marshalling yards at Graz and Bruck an der Mur. 11 B-24s drop supplies in C Yugoslavia, while P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance missions and reconnaissance and supply escort. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 8/9 Feb, A-20s and A-26s on intruder missions attack communications targets throughout the C and NE Po Valley; weather restricts daytime operations to weather reconnaissance and supply dropping missions.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the north, there are unsuccessful attacks by German forces on the British and Canadian forces of the Canadian 1st Army which are approaching Cleve and Materborn. German forces open the Schwammenauel Dam, opposite the US 1st Army, in a partially successful attempt to delay the advance of the American forces nearby. 

(US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 825: 9 of 164 B-17s carry out the first DISNEY mission (Royal Navy rocket-boosted concrete piercing bombs) against the U-boat pens at Ijmuiden, the Netherlands visually; 140 hit the secondary target, the oil storage depot at Dulmen, Germany using Micro H; and 1 hits Lingen, a target of opportunity; 5 B-17s fly a screening mission; 5 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 102 of 106 P-51s without loss. 3 of 6 P-51s fly a scouting mission and 20 of 21 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 102 of 104 P-51s fly a strafing mission in the Steinhuder Lake area but abort because of bad weather; 2 P-51s are lost. Mission 826: 1 B-17 and 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night; 1 airman is KIA. 

In France, HQ 416th Bombardment Group (Light) and the 668th and 670th Bombardment Squadrons (Light) move from Melun to Athies Airfield, Laon with A-26s; the 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF, based at St Amand with F-5s, sends a flight to operate from Jarny (another flight is at Le Culot, Belgium). 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The last German resistance in Elbing comes to an end and the town is taken by the 2nd Belorussian Front. Soviet troops capture a large supply depot at Landau.

*GERMANY*: (US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 320+ bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division attack communications centers at Kempen, Horrem, and Euskirchen, vehicle center and depot at Munstereifeland at Berg-Gladbach, and several casual targets including rail bridge at Bullay; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, bomb bridges, attack railroad cars and other targets, and support the US VIII and XII Corps in the Prum area on the Prum River and in the bridgehead area E of the Sauer River NW of Echternach, Luxembourg.

82 RAF Mosquitos to Hannover and 11 to Essen, 24 RCM sorties, 22 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather prevents bombing; 12 B-24s drop supplies in Yugoslavia while P-38s fly reconnaissance and escort missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 9/10 Feb, A-20s and A-26s hit railroads, lights, and movement in the Po Valley and Brenner area and bomb docks at La Spezia; weather cancels all but 2 medium bomber missions; however, the B-25s cut bridges at Palazzuolo sull' Oglio and Romano di Lombardia; fighter-bombers concentrate on railroads in NE Italy, and destroy numerous vehicles in a truck park in the Mantua area.


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## Njaco (Feb 21, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: At Yalta, representatives of Great Britain, the USA, and the Soviet Union sign a secret agreement on certain post-war issues. After victory over Japan, the Soviet Union is to receive the Kurile Islands, and southern Sakhalin and adjacent islands.

Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front begin to break out of their bridgehead over the Oder River, near Steinau, and attack west and north threatening Glogau. Other units will turn south to help surround Breslau. Leignitz is also attacked. Soviet troops approach Breslau and Dresden. German garrison of Budapest is destroyed.

The passenger liner _'General von Steuben' _is sunk by the Soviet submarine _'S 13'_, with onboard more than 6.000 passengers and which has sailed from Pilau the previous day. 300 passengers were saved, and Soviet claims that among those lost were elite officers, SS men and Nazi Party officials cannot alter the fact that many refugees go down with the ship.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Elements of the Canadian 1st Army capture Cleve in the advance toward the Rhine. Farther south, elements of the US 8th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) capture the important road junction at Prum.

The flight of the 112th Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to HQ Command, SHAFE), operating from Namur, Belgium with UC-78s and L-5s, returns to base at Buc, France. 

*GERMANY*: The entire German gold reserve (about 100 tons) is transported from Berlin to a salt mine near Eisenach.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 827: In Germany, 124 of 127 B-24s attack the Dulmen oil depot using Micro H; 1 B-24 hits the Lochern road junction using H2X; no losses. Escorting are 50 of 51 P-51s without loss. Other fighter missions are: 1. 48 of 51 P-51s hit the Celle/Uelzen railroad without loss. 2. 183 of 192 P-51s make a sweep over NW Germany; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 7 of 11 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany without loss. 4. 8 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 97 B-26s and A-20s bomb the Bingen and Modrath marshalling yards; fighters fly armed reconnaissance and patrols, attack special targets and targets of opportunity, and attack in cooperation with the US XII Corps across the Sauer River NW of Echternach, Luxembourg.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather limits operations to B-24 supply mission to Yugoslavia during the night of 10/11 Feb and to P-38 reconnaissance missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s on night intruder missions attack enemy movement and lights at various points in N Italy, hit bridges in the Po Valley, and attack frontline positions in the N Apennines; weather grounds the medium bombers but fighters and fighter-bombers blast railroad bridges and lines in the NE and C Po Valley and stores and supply dumps in the C and W Po River areas.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: British and Canadian troops capture Kellen, Warbeyen and Cleve.

HQ 434th Troop Carrier Group and the 71st, 72d, 73d and 74th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Aldermaston, England to Mourmelon-le-Grand, France with C-47s.

(US Eighth Air Force):: Mission 828: During the night, 6 of 7 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): All combat operations cancelled because of bad weather. In France, HQ 409th Bombardment Group (Light) and the 640th, 641st, 642d and 643d Bombardment Squadrons move from Bretigny to Couvron Airfield, Laon with A-26s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s, during the night of 11/12 Feb, bomb communications targets in the Po Valley and NE Italy, including the Brenner Pass area; bad weather during the day restricts medium bomber operations to bombing the bridge at Ala and a a sugar refinery at Legnago; only 1 fighter gp, the 57th, can operate, hitting bridges, rail lines, and guns in the Po Valley.

*GERMANY*: 72 RAF Mosquitos to Stuttgart, 11 to Misburg, 4 to Würzburg and 3 each 'on H2S trials' to Cologne, Frankfurt, Koblenz and Wiesbaden, 1 Mosquito on an RCM sortie. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Thus far, the Kriegsmarine has evacuated 374,000 German refugees by sea from East and West Prussia.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*GERMANY*: The US 8th Air Force in England cancels a scheduled assault on Dresden, Germany.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 320+ B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s, attack rail bridges at Sinzig, Neuwied-Irlich, and Euskirchen, military transport depots at Schwelm and Iserlohn, defended points at Wittlich, and targets of opportunity; fighters escort the A-20s, A-26 and B-26s, bomb the Neuss and Zieverich bridges and other targets, fly armed reconnaissance, and support Third Army elements from Prum to Saarlautern along the Our and Sauer Rivers, and Saar River bridgehead areas.

*Operation Thunderclap*: The Air Ministry had, for several months, been considering a series of particularly heavy area raids on German cities with a view to causing such confusion and consternation that the hard-stretched German war machine and civil administration would break down and the war would end. The general name given to this plan was Operation Thunderclap, but it had been decided not to implement it until the military situation in Germany was critical. That moment appeared to be at hand. Russian forces had made a rapid advance across Poland in the second half of January and crossed the eastern frontier of Germany. The Germans were thus fighting hard inside their own territory on two fronts, with the situation in the East being particularly critical. It was considered that Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz - all just behind the German lines on the Eastern Front now - would be suitable targets. They were all vital communications and supply centres for the Eastern Front and were already packed with German refugees and wounded from the areas recently captured by the Russians. As well as the morale aspect of the attacks, there was the intention of preventing the Germans from moving reinforcements from the West to face the successful Russian advance. The Air Ministry issued a directive to Bomber Command , at the end of January. The Official History. describes how Winston Churchill took a direct hand in the final planning of Operation Thunderclap - although Churchill tried to distance himself from the Dresden raid afterwards. On 4 February, at the Yalta Conference, the Russians asked for attacks of this kind to take place, but their involvement in the process only came after the plans had been issued. So, Bomber Command was specifically requested by the Air Ministry, with Churchill's encouragement to carry out heavy raids on Dresden, Chemnitz and Leipzig. The Americans were also asked to help and agreed to do so. The campaign should have begun with an American raid on Dresden on 13 February but bad weather over Europe prevented any American operations. It thus fell to Bomber Command to carry out the first raid.

Dresden: 796 RAF Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos were dispatched in two separate raids and dropped 1,478 tons of high explosive and 1,182 tons of incendiary bombs. The first attack was carried out entirely by No 5 Group, using their own low-level marking methods. A band of cloud still remained in the area and this raid, in which 244 Lancasters dropped more than 800 tons of bombs, was only moderately successful. The second raid, 3 hours later, was an all-Lancaster attack by aircraft of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups, with No 8 Group providing standard Pathfinder marking. The weather was now clear and 529 Lancasters dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs with great accuracy. Much has been written about the fearful effects of this raid. Suffice it to say here that a firestorm, similar to the one experienced in Hamburg in July 1943, was created and large areas of the city were burnt out. No one has ever been able to discover how many people died but it is accepted that the number was greater than the 40,000 who died in the Hamburg firestorm and the Dresden figure may have exceeded 50,000.Bomber Command casualties were 6 Lancasters lost, with 2 more crashed in France and 1 in England. The first wave of British bombers attack Dresden, Germany, dropping target markers (white flares and green target indicators) and incendiaries. Nine British Mosquito bombers mark the stadium near the centre of Dresden with red target indicators. Among the witnesses to events in Dresden at the time is Kurt Vonnegut, an American POW, who will vividly describe the scene in 'Slaughterhouse Five'. 

Böhlen: 368 RAF aircraft - 326 Halifaxes, 34 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attempted to attack the Braunkohle-Benzin synthetic-oil plant at Bohlen, near Leipzig. Bad weather - 10/10ths cloud to 15,000ft with icing - was encountered and the marking and bombing were scattered. No post-raid photographic reconnaissance was carried out. 1 Halifax was lost.

71 RAF Mosquitos to Magdeburg, 16 to Bonn, 8 each to Misburg and Nuremberg and 6 to Dortmund, 65 RCM sorties, 59 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

The OKL issues orders including reducing the supplies of aviation fuel to aircraft training units in order to save fuel for frontline fighters.

*EASTERN FRONT*: After a battle lasting for almost two months, the garrison of Budapest surrenders to 2nd Ukrainian Front (Malinovsky). Over 100,000 German prisoners have been taken in the city. The Soviet advance from the Oder River to the Neisse River begins to gain momentum despite desperate German efforts. Bunzlau on the Bober River is captured by Soviet forces. The Red Army also captures Schneidemül in Pomerania.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Forces of the British 2nd Army clear the last of the German units from the Reichswald Forest region on the right flank of British 21st Army Group.

HQ 435th Troop Carrier Group moves from Welford Park, England to Bretigny, France. 

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 829: 9 B-24s drop leaflet in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 

In France, HQ 97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Light) moves from Voisenon to Marchais; the 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF, based at Amand with F-5s, sends a flight to operate from Gosselies, Belgium (another flight is operating from Jarny); and the 405th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, moves from Tantonville to Metz with P-47s. The 155th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from St Dizier, France to Le Culot, Belgium with A-20s and F-3s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): In the Vienna area of Austria, 640+ B-17s and B-24s with fighter support hit the S ordnance depot, S and SE goods yards and depot, C repair shops, and Matzleinsdorf marshalling yard, and the marshalling yards at Graz, Austria; Sarvar, Hungary; and in Yugoslavia, 2 at Zagreb and 2 at Maribor, the Pula harbor, the Maribor locomotive depot and rolling stock repair shops, and several targets of opportunity. P-38s and P-51s carry out reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 12/13 Feb, A-20s attack enemy movement in the C and NC Po Valley; medium bombers hit bridges at Calcinato, Dogna, and Chiusaforte and the bridge approach at Lavis; fighter-bombers fly nearly 350 sorties against enemy communications in N Italy including marshalling yards at Verona, Parma, and Vicenza.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*GERMANY*: *Operation Thunderclap*: Chemnitz: 499 RAF Lancasters and 218 Halifaxes of Nos 1, 3,4,6 and 8 Groups to continue Operation Thunderclap. 8 Lancasters and 5 Halifaxes lost. This raid took place in two phases, 3 hours apart. A very elaborate diversion plan succeeded in keeping bomber casualties down but Chemnitz - now called Karl-Marx-Stadt - was also spared from the worst effects of its first major RAF raid. Both parts of the bomber force found the target area covered by cloud and only skymarking could be employed. Post-raid reconnaissance showed that many parts of the city were hit but that most of the bombing was in open country.

224 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the oil refinery in Rositz near Leipzig. 4 Lancasters were lost. Damage was caused to the southern part of the oil plant.

Diversionary and 95 aircraft of No 3 Group and of Heavy Conversion Units on a sweep into the Heligoland Bight, 46 Mosquitos to Berlin, 19 to Mainz, 14 to Dessau, 12 to Duisburg, 11 to Nuremberg and 8 to Frankfurt, 21 RCM sorties, 87 Mosquito patrols, 30 Lancasters and 24 Halifaxes minelaying in the Kadet Channel. 5 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost from the minelaying force.

36 RAF Lancasters and 1 photographic Mosquito of Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons dispatched to attack Bielefeld and Altenbeken viaducts abandoned the raids because of cloud. 1 Lancaster of No 9 Squadron lost.

(US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 830: 1,377 bombers and 962 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and rail targets in Germany; bombing of most targets is by H2X radar; they claim 11-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers and 7 fighters are lost: 1. 461 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Dresden (311); targets of opportunity are Prague (62), Brux (25) and Pilsen (12) in Czechoslovakia and other (25); they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 54 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 49 MIA. Escorting are 281 of 316 P-51s; 3 are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 457 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Chemnitz (294); targets of opportunity are Eger Airfield (38), Bamberg (33), Sonneberg (23), Tachau (24), Hof marshalling yard (12) and other (17); 1 B-17 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 103 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 14 MIA. The escort is 224 of 238 P-51s; 2 are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 375 B-24s are sent to hit an oil refinery at Magdeburg but are unable to attack due to weather; 340 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Magdeburg; targets of opportunity are Emlicheim (1), Meppen (1), Bodenteich (1) and other (1); 1 B-24 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 16 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. 253 of 273 P-51s escort; they claim 10-0-3 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 84 B-17s are sent to hit the Wesel road bridge (37); 35 hit the secondary, the Dulmen oil depot and 1 hits Ahaus, a target of opportunity; 15 B-17s are damaged. 26 of 30 P-51s escort the bombers. 5. 44 of 49 P-47s fly a sweep of the Magdeburg area without loss. 6. 24 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 7. 29 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 831: 10 B-24s drop leaflet in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 600+ A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s attack rail bridges, a marshalling yard, communications centers, an ammunition dump, a prime mover depot, and several targets of opportunity in morning and afternoon missions aimed primarily at obstructing enemy movement and supply; fighters fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas, escort the bombers bombers, attack river traffic, bridges, and other targets, and support US Third Army elements E of the Our and Sauer Rivers. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the harbor of Ostend, Belgium, a gasoline spill ignites among British and Canadian patrol boats. Torpedoes and other ammunition explode, destroying boats and harbor structures. 26 Canadian and 35 British sailors are killed and most boats of 29th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla are destroyed.

The British and Canadian forces reach the south bank of the Rhine opposite Emmerich in the advance of British 21st Army Group. American forces farther south are mostly regrouping to prepare for the next series of attacks.

German submarine _'U-989' _sunk in the Northern Sea at the Faeroe Islands, in position 61.36N, 01.35W by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Bayntun'_, HMS _'Bratwaite'_, HMS _'Loch Eck' _and HMS _'Loch Dunvegan'_. 47 dead (all hands lost).

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The 1st Canadian Corps ends its campaign in Italy, moving to north-west Europe to be re-united with the Canadian 1st Army. 92757 Canadians served in Italy, suffering 26254 casualties.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 500+ B-24s and B-17s bomb the Moosbierbaum, Vienna/Lobau, Vienna/Floridsdorf, and Schwechat oil refineries in the Vienna, Austria area; marshalling yards at Graz, Gleisdorf, Klagenfurt, and Villach, Austria; Celje, Maribor, and Zagreb, Yugoslavia; and several scattered targets of opportunity; P-38s also bomb the Moosbierbaum refinery and Maribor marshalling yard; other P-38s and P-51s escort the bombers, fly photo and weather reconnaissance, and escort reconnaissance missions.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 13/14 Feb, A-20s bomb the bridge approach at Castelnuovo di Garfagnana and hit targets of opportunity in the Po Valley; during the day medium bombers bomb bridges or bridge approaches at San Michele all'Adige, Tarvisio, Bressanone, and hit guns near Ponte Gardena; fighters and fighter-bombers, operating in poor weather, attack mainly communications targets in the Po Valley. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: In Canada, a voluntary repatriation plan is announced by the federal government. People in Canada of Japanese descent are offered the choice of moving to Japan after the war, or moving east of the Rocky Mountains.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the Soviet attacks in Pomerania, Schneidmuhl falls. Deutsche Krone is also taken after being surrounded but Arnswalde hold out against a similar attack. The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Sorau and Grunberg in the advance toward the Neisse River. 

The Luftwaffe suffers another loss. At 1206 hours four Fw 190 A-8s led by Oblt. Otto Kittel, _Staffelkapitän _of 2./JG 54 take off from an airbase in the Courland pocket for a _Freie jagd_ over the frontline at Dzukste. The fighters spot fourteen Russian IL-2s flying in a row, bombing ground troops. While attacking one Sturmovik, two other Russian ground bombers pull behind Oblt. Kittel and fire on him. An explosion is seen in the cockpit of the Fw 190 and it crashes into the ground and catches fire. Oblt. Kittel is dead. With 267 victories, all with JG 54, he is the highest scoring ace to be killed in action during the war.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Force of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) surround Breslau, to the west of the Oder River, trapping 40,000 Germans. The German 11th SS Army begins a counterattack *'Unternehmen **Sonnenwende' *with three Corps, the 39th Panzer, 3rd SS Panzer and the 10th SS. However, only the 3rd SS Panzer Corps is ready and begins its attack against the 47th and 61st Armies near Stargard. During the evening, the German 3rd Panzer Army, part of Army Group Vistula, begins the counterattack, near Stettin, against the right flank of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front. General Wenck, is supervising the German attack at the headquarters of Reichsfuhrer SS Himmler -- nominally commanding the German army group.

*WESTERN FRONT*: German submarine _'U-1053' _destroyed by diving too deeply off Bergen.

In France, HQ 371st Fighter Group and the 404th and 406th Fighter Squadrons move from Tantonville to Metz with P-47s; and the 671st Bombardment Squadron (Light), 416th Bombardment Group (Light), moves from Melun to Athies Airfield, Laon with A-26s. 

37 RAF Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes minelaying in Oslo Fjord and the Kattegat, 2 RCM sorties, 6 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito fighter crashed in France.

*GERMANY*: Martial Law is declared. 

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 832: 1,131 bombers and 510 fighters are dispatched to hit oil targets in Germany; with some exceptions, all attacks are made using H2X radar; they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 bombers and 1 P-51 are lost 1. 459 B-17s are sent to hit oil targets at Bohlen; 435 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Cottbus; targets of opportunity are Dresden (1), Quackenbruck (1) and other (2); 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 34 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. 153 of 173 P-51s escort; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft; 3 P-51s are damaged beyond repair. 2. 224 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil targets at Ruhland; 210 hit the secondary, Dresden; targets of opportunity are Lingen (1) and the Ems-Weser Canal (1); 4 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 8 damaged; 7 airmen are KIA and 8 WIA. Escorting are 141 of 158 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 353 of 372 B-24s hit the Magdeburg synthetic oil plant; 1 B-24 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 32 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 3 MIA. The escort is 110 of 120 P-51s. 4. 58 of 76 B-17s hit a target of last resort, the Rheine marshalling yard; 13 others hit Munster, a target of opportunity. Escorting are 27 P-47s. 5. 4 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 6. 25 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, around 90 B-26s bomb Sinzig and Mayen rail bridges and 4 targets of opportunity in the area; fighters patrol points along the battlefront, attack railroads and other special targets, fly armed reconnaissance and support the US VII, VIII, XII, and XX Corps along the Roer and Prum Rivers and in the Saar River bridgehead area.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 650+ B-24s and B-17s bomb 5 station freight yards, SE goods depot, Korneuburg oil refinery, and Vienna/Floridsdorf, Matzleinsdorf, and Penzing marshalling yards all in the Vienna area, plus marshalling yards at Klagenfurt, Wiener-Neustadt and Graz, the Graz ordnance depot, shipyards in Fiume, Italy and scattered targets of opportunity are also hit; fighters escort the bombers and fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers bomb the Spilimbergo ammunition dumps through an overcast, but are forced by the bad weather to cancel all other operations; fighter-bombers, limited by weather, concentrate on railway targets in NE and W Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces surround Breslau, Germany. The German counterattack from Stargard, spearheaded by 3rd Panzer Army, succeeds in breaking the Soviet encirclement of Arnswalde and relieving the garrison. The remaining Corps of the 11th SS Army launch their attacks in support of 'Operation Sonnenwende'.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Attacking Scottish coastal convoy WN74 off the Moray Firth, "_U-309_" was lost to Canadian frigate "_St John_" of 9th EG.

The 77th Troop Carrier Squadron, 435th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Welford Park, England to Bretigny, France with C-47s. The 158th Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Twelfth Army Group), moves from Somme-Suippe, France to Celles, Belgium with L-1s, L-4s and L-5s. 

The British broadcast a birthday greeting to “The Night Ghost of St. Trond”, Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer from a military radio station in Calais. He is only 23 years old.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: Mission 833: 1,042 bombers and 197 fighters attack benzol plants, oil refineries and marshalling yards in C Germany; 8 bombers are lost: 1. 223 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Hamm (208); targets of opportunity are Osnabruck (1), Meppen (1) and Rheine (1); bombing is by H2X, Micro H and some visual; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 95 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 11 MIA. Escorting are 44 of 45 P-51s. 2. 375 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Harpenerweg oil refinery at Dortmund (78) and oil refineries at Nordstern (104) and Minsterstein (112); 30 hit the marshalling yard at Munster, a secondary target; targets of opportunity are Langendreer (23) and other (2); bombing is by Gee-H with some visual; 5 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 170 damaged; 8 airmen are WIA and 46 MIA. 38 of 39 P-51s escort. 3. 362 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Osnabruck (174) and Rheine (94) and the Salzbergen oil refinery (46); 31 hit Burgsteinfurt, a target of opportunity; H2X and Gee-H are used; 1 B-24 is lost and 26 damaged; 10 airmen are MIA. 50 P-51s escort the B-24s. 4. 63 of 76 B-17s hit the rail bridge at Wesel visually; 13 hit the marshalling yard at Rheine, a target of opportunity, with H2X. Escorting are 45 of 51 P-51s. 5. 6 B-24s fly a screening mission without loss. 6. 4 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 7. 4 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 8. 4 P-51s escort a B-17 on a "special sortie." 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 300+ B-26s and A-20s bomb the Mayen, rail bridge, Rees communications center, Solingen turbo-jet component works, Unna ordnance depot, and a target of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, attack bridge, railroads, and other special targets; the XIX Tactical Air Command also supports the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps W of the Prum River, E of the Sauer River, and in the Saarlautern area. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 630+ B-24s and B-17s bomb airfields at Regensburg, Landsberg, and Neubiberg, Germany; marshalling yards at Rosenheim, Germany, Hall, and Innsbruck, Austria, and Bolzano, and Vipiteno, Italy, plus scattered targets of opportunity in Austria and N Italy; P-38s and P-51s escort the bombers, fly reconnaissance missions, and escort reconnaissance and supply operations. 

100 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group and 1 Mosquito of No 8 Group attacked the town of Wesel on the Rhine, near the fighting area. No aircraft lost. The raid took place in clear conditions and 'the town and the railway were seen to be smothered in bomb bursts'. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, bad weather grounds medium bombers; fighter-bombers cut rail lines at the S end of Garda Lake, and bomb an ammunition and fuel dump E of Nervesa della Battaglia and an ammunition dump E of Villafranca in Lunigiana.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the north, Canadian troops Canadian 1st Army have reached the Rhine along a 10-mile front. Farther south, there are new attacks by US 12th and 20th Corps, of US 3rd Army, from Luxembourg and around Saarlouis. US 7th Army units are attacking near Saarbrucken.

German submarine _'U-425' _sunk in the Barents Sea near Murmansk, Russia, in position 69.39N, 35.50E, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS _'Lark' _and the corvette HMS _'Alnwick Castle'_. 52 dead and 1 survivor. 

German submarine _'U-1273' _sunk in the Skagerak in Oslofjord near Horten, in position 59.24N, 10.28E, by a mine. 43 dead and 8 survivors.

German submarine _'U-1278' _sunk in the North Sea north-west of Bergen, Norway in position 61.32N, 01.36E, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Bayntun' _and HMS _'Loch Eck'_. 48 dead (all hands lost). 

German submarines _'U-869' _sunk off New Jersey, USA in position 39.33N, 73.02W by Hedgehogs and depth charges from the American destroyer escorts USS _'Howard D. Crow' _and USS _'Koiner'_. 56 dead (all hands lost). U.S. Coast Guard History

The 862d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 493d Bombardment Group (Heavy) (attached to 3d Air Division), moves from Debach to Wormingford, England and begins flying weather reconnaissance missions with B-17s and P-51s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The damaged Italian battleship, _'Conte di Cavour' _and the unfinished _'Impero' _are sunk in Trieste harbor by British RAF attacks.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): About 500 B-17s and B-24s attack the marshalling yard, station, and benzol plant at Linz, steel works at Judenburg, tank works at Steyr and Sankt Valentin, marshalling yards at Graz, Wels, Bruck an der Mur, and Villach, Austria; plus shipyards and harbors at Fiume and Trieste, Italy, and Pula, Yugoslavia. P-38s and P-51s escort the bombers, fly reconnaissance missions, and supply drops, strafe rail lines in the Vienna-Linz, Austria area and aircraft at Ardning and Grafenstein Austria, and fly weather and photo reconnaissance. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers bomb bridges at Chiusaforte, Bressanone, Crema, and Dogna; fighters and fighter- bombers hit communications targets in the Po Valley and damage bridges at Nervesa della Battaglia, Cittadella, Calliano, Ala, and Pordenone; also bombed are guns and dumps from the S of La Spezia E to the battle area below Bologna. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 834: 895 bombers and 183 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants in Germany and the Frankfurt marshalling yard; deteriorating weather forces the recall of 261 B-17s and 288 B-24s; the weather was so bad that some aircraft controls froze and several had to jettison their bombs during assembly; 3 B-17s and 2 of the recalled B-24 force are lost in addition to 1 P-51. 346 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Frankfurt (260); targets of opportunity are the Giessen marshalling yard (45), Aschaffenburg (12), Hanau (10) and other (4); 3 B-17s and 2 B-24s are lost, 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair and 106 B-17s damaged; 17 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 38 MIA. The escort is 151 of 167 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 12 P-51s fly a scouting mission and 4 escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 31 B-26s strike the Mayen rail bridge and a target of opportunity at Reinfeld; fighters of the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) cancels operations due to bad weather.

Wesel: 298 RAF aircraft - 247 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 24 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. The target area was covered in cloud and the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be stopped after only 8 Halifaxes had bombed. No aircraft were lost but 3 Halifaxes crashed in England.

6 RAF Oboe Mosquitos attacked the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen but no results were seen because of ground fog. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the continuing British and Canadian offensive, the British 30th Corps (part of British 2nd Army) attacks Goch. All US 3rd Army units are attacking. The German Siegfried Line is broken north of Echternach by US 8th Corps while both US 12th and 20th Corps, to the south, are advancing. 

German submarine _'U-2344' _sunk after colliding with _'U-2336' _off Heiligendamm.

*EASTERN FRONT*: General Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, dies from wounds received outside Konigsberg at age 40. He was the youngest Front commander in the Red Army.

The Red Army encircles Graudenz on the Vistula. Troops of the 11th SS Army are brought to a standstill by stiffening Russian resistance to 'Unternehmen Sonnenwende'.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: There are new attacks by US 4th Corps (part of US 5th Army) in the area of the front just west of the Bologna-Pistoia road.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): During the night of 17/18 Feb, 24 B-24s drop supplies in N Italy; during the day 160 B-17s bomb a benzol plant, main marshalling yard and station at Linz, Austria; 20 P-38s provide escort; almost 290 B-24s, with fighter escorts, are recalled because of weather from missions dispatched against targets in Austria; weather also causes the recall of 52 P-51s on a strafing mission. A few P-38s complete reconnaissance missions but most are recalled as weather worsens. In Italy, the detachments of the 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons, 1st Fighter Group, operating from Vincenzo Airfield with P-38s, return to base at Salsola Airfield. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 17/18 Feb, A-20s bomb targets in the Po Valley, including the towns of Nogara, Castelfranco Veneto, Modena, Cremona, Bovolone, and Isola della Scala, bridges at Cittadella and Villafranca in Lunigiana, and airfields at Ghedi and Villafranca in Lunigiana; all B-25 missions abort due to weather except an attack on the Ala rail bridge; fighters and fighter-bombers fly less than 100 sorties, hitting ammunition dumps and railroad bridges and lines, mainly in the Po Valley. 

*GERMANY*: (US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 60+ B-26s bomb the Dottesfeld rail bridge, a target of opportunity at Daun, and 5 other targets of opportunity as the 9th Bombardment Division starts a campaign to isolate the Ruhr; the XIX Tactical Air Command escorts the B-26s and flies weather reconnaissance and armed reconnaissance; the IX and XXIX Tactical Air Commands are grounded because of weather. 

160 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group returned to Wesel to carry out a G-H attack through cloud. No Lancasters lost.

32 RAF Mosquitos to Mannheim, 6 each to Berlin and Bremen and 3 on 'siren tours' of various towns in Central Germany, 34 RCM sorties, 18 Mosquito patrols, 21 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes minelaying in the German Bight. 2 Lancasters were lost from the minelaying force.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: 2nd Belorussian Front attack in East Prussia stopped by the Germans. German forces re-establish communications between Königsberg and the port of Pillau, thus again enabling tens of thousands of German refugees to be evacuated to the west by ships of the Kriegsmarine. 'Unternehmen Sonnenwende' is finally suspended in the face of ever strengthening Red Army resistance.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Himmler begins secret efforts to make peace.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): Mission 835: 1,135 bombers and 560 fighters are dispatched to hit oil, industrial and rail targets in Germany; they claim 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 7 P-51s are lost: 1. 196 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Osnabruck (155); 24 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Munster; 10 hit Haselunne, a target of opportunity; Micro-H and H2X are used; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 21 damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escorting are 38 of 42 P-51s. 2. 291 B-24s are dispatched to hit military vehicle plants at Meschede (97) and Jungenthal (86) and the marshalling yard at Siegen (94) using Gee-H; 1 B-24 is lost and 8 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. 122 P-47s and P-51s escort. 3. 422 B-17s are sent to hit benzol plants at Bochum (99) and Gelsenkirchen (36), oil refineries at Dortmund (74) and Alm (37) using Micro H and H2X; 162 hit the secondary target, the Munster marshalling yard (162) visually; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 59 damaged; 1 airman is KIA. 91 of 96 P-51s escort; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 131 of 144 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Rheine with Micro H without loss. 48 P-51s escort. 5. 68 of 82 B-17s hit the rail bridge at Wesel using Micro H; 25 B-17s are damaged. 32 of 37 P-51s escort. 6. 163 of 179 P-51s fly a fighter sweep against rail and road targets in the Hannover-Magdeburg-Brunswick area claiming 2-0-0 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 7. 27 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting misson; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s, strike the Mechernich prime mover depot, rail bridges at Pracht, Niederscheld, and Neuwied-Irlich, the Wiesbaden ordnance depot, and 4 targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, attack railroads and bridges, fly armed reconnaissance and alerts, and cooperate with the VIII, XII, and XX Corps E of the Our River, between the Westwall and the Prum River, and in the Saar-Mosel triangle. 

Wesel: 168 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a good attack with the best concentration of bombs being in the railway area. 1 Lancaster lost.

254 RAF Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No 5 Group dispatched to Böhlen. 1 Mosquito lost. This raid was not successful, probably because the aircraft of the Master Bomber, Wing Commander EA Benjamin, was shot down by flak over the target. Post-raid reconnaissance showed that damage to the target was 'superficial'; there was no evidence to show where the main bombing fell.

82 RAF Mosquitos to Erfurt and 24 in small numbers to 6 other targets, 9 RCM sorties, 29 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): During the night of 18/19 Feb, 11 B-24s drop supplies in N Italy. In Austria during the day almost 500 B-24s and B-17s, escorted by about 220 P-51s and P-38s, bomb 2 marshalling yards and the S station area in Vienna, marshalling yards at Klagenfurt, Graz, and Bruck an der Mur; marshalling yards at Maribor, Yugoslavia; shipyards in Fiume, Italy; and the Pula, Yugoslavia harbor and military installations. In Austria, 51 P-51s strafe rail and river traffic and airfields between Linz and Vienna and in the Graz area; other P-51s and P-38s fly escort and reconnaissance missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): Brigadier General Edward M Morris takes command of the XII Air Force Services Command (until 1 Jan 44 designated the III Air Service Area Command). In Italy, bad weather grounds the medium bombers; fighter-bombers, some bombing by radar-control because of heavy clouds, attack-communications and dumps in the W Po Valley and NE Italy, and claim several rail line cuts in the Brenner area.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 6th Army launches an all-out attack on the southern sector of German town of Breslau. Berlin is now threatened by the advances of 1st Ukrainian Front and 1st Belorussian Front; on the lower Vistula River, Soviet troops around Elbing and Marienburg are trying to break through to Danzig and Gdynia. Among the German forces opposing the advance toward Berlin are those of Army Group Vistula, nominally under the command of Heinrich Himmler. Soviet troops capture Czersk. Red Army attacks against the lines of Army Group Courland fail in the face of stubborn German resistance.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 20th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) continues its attacks.

"_U-208_" attacked convoy HX337 in St George's Channel between SE Ireland and Wales, and sank escorting corvette "_VERVAIN_". The U-boat was then hunted down and destroyed by sloop "_Amethyst_" of 22nd EG. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 836: 1,264 bombers and 726 fighters are dispatched to hit the main station and marshalling yard at Nurnberg, Germany; the target is bombed visually and using H2X radar; they claim 49-1-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s and 7 fighters are lost: 1. 360 B-24s dispatched abandon the mission over Belgium due to weather conditions; one B-24 hits Steig, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair; 3 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 123 of 141 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 831 of 904 B-17s hit the primary target; targets of opportunity are Schiltach (16) and other (12); 5 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 241 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 10 WIA and 47 MIA. The escort is 315 of 337 P-51s; they claim 8-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 194 P-47s and P-51s strafe rail and road targets in the Nurnberg and Straubing areas; they claim 12-0-1 aircraft in the air and 35-1-20 on the ground; 7 fighters are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 28 of 29 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 5. 10 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. Mission 837: 10 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. Mission 838: During the night of 20/21 Feb, 30 B-24s attack the Neustadt marshalling yard without loss and 6 of 7 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. 

(US Ninth Air Force): The IX Engineer Command is relieved of its assignment to the Ninth AF and assigned to US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF). (After V-E the command will revert to control of the Ninth.) Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division; in Germany, fighters fly armed reconnaissance E and W of the Rhine River, attack a bridge and defended area, and support the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Lichtenborn area, W of the Prum River, and in the Saar-Mosel triangle. 

514 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked Dortmund in Bomber Command's last large-scale raid on this target. 14 Lancasters lost. The intention of this raid was to destroy the southern half of Dortmund and Bomber Command claimed that this was achieved.

173 RAF aircraft - 156 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos, 6 Lancasters - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attacked the Rhenania Ossag refinery in the Reisholz district of Düsseldorf. The raid was accurate and it was later established that all oil production was halted. 4 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost.

128 RAF aircraft - 112 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos, 6 Lancasters - of 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Rhenania Ossag refinery at Monheim with similar results to the Reisholz raid. 2 Halifaxes lost.

154 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group were ordered to attack the Mittelland Canal near Gravenhorst but the raid was ordered to be abandoned by the Master Bomber because the area was covered by cloud. No aircraft lost.

Diversionary and 91 RAF aircraft from Heavy Conversion Units in a sweep over the North Sea, 66 Mosquitos to Berlin and 16 to Mannheim, 65 RCM sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 6 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 aircraft of No 100 Group (type not recorded) lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 520+ B-17s, with fighter escort, and B-24s bomb the Lobau, Vienna and Schwechat, Austria oil refineries and Floridsdorf marshalling yard at Vienna, steel works at Kapfenberg, Austria, harbor at Pula, Yugoslavia, and shipyards at Trieste and Fiume, Italy. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): The 27th and 86th Fighter Groups and an air service group are transferred from the Twelfth AF to the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) in France; HQ 86th Fighter Group moves from Pisa, Italy to Tantonville, France. In Italy, A-20s on night intruder missions during the night of 19/20 Feb, bomb targets of opportunity at over 30 points in the C Po Valley, several rail diversions, and marshalling yards at Villafranca in Lunigiana, Roncanova, Bovolone, Cerea, Legnago, Cittadella, Casa di David, Isola della Scala, Castelfranco Veneto, and Nogara; fighter- bombers devote their main effort to support the US Fifth Army offensive in the Monte Torraccia area; medium bombers bomb bridges at Montebello, Chiusaforte, Salzano, and Calcinato; the detachment of the 416th Night Fighter Squadron, 62d Fighter Wing, operating from Etain, France with Mosquitos, returns to base at Pisa.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied forces break through the Siegfried Line in Europe. Goch falls to the attacks of the 51st Division of the British 30th Corps (part of British 2nd Army).

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): Units moving from Italy to France with P-47s: 522d, 523d and 524th Fighter Squadrons, 27th Fighter Group, from Pontedera to St Dizier; 526th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group, from Pisa to Tantonville.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown. Mission 839: 1,262 bombers and 792 fighters are dispatched to again attack the tank plant, main railroad station, marshalling yards and locomotive shops at Nurnberg, Germany using H2X radar; they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 7 fighters are lost: 1. 830 of 867 B-17s hit the marshalling yard; 11 others hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 298 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 6 WIA. Escorting are 373 of 391 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 375 of 395 B-24s hit the station and marshalling yard; targets of opportunity are Speyer (1) and other (2); 63 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 3 WIA. The escort is 175 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 45 of 46 P-51s make a sweep of the Meiningen-Coburg-Nurnberg area; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 98 of 101 P-51s escort Ninth AF B-26s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft. 5. 23 of 31 P-51s fly a scouting mission; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 6. 29 of 30 P-51s escort 10 F-5s and 7 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 840: During the night of 21/22 Feb, 25 of 29 B-24s attack the Duisburg power and gas stations using PFF; 2 B-24s are lost. 

In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits rail a overpass and bridges, an oil storage depot, marshalling yards, communications centers, and 13 targets of opportunity; 1,100+ fighter sorties are completed as the IX, XIX, and XXIX Tactical Air Commands escort the bomber, attack railroads, airfield, and other selected targets, fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas including the US First Army area between Duren and Losheim, and support the VIII, XII, and XX Corps along the Prum River, the West wall, and in the Saar-Mosel triangle. 

362 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to Duisburg. 7 Lancasters were lost and 3 crashed behind Allied lines in Europe. This was a successful area-bombing raid and much damage was caused. No other details are available. This was the last major Bomber Command raid on Duisburg.

Worms: 349 RAF aircraft - 288 Halifaxes, 36 Lancasters, 25 Mosquitos. 10 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost. This was the first and only large Bomber Command raid on Worms. The raid was an area attack in which 1,116 tons of bombs were accurately dropped. A post-war survey estimated that 39 per cent of the town's built-up area was destroyed. 

165 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of No 5 Group again attempted to breach the Mittelland Canal near Gravenhorst. Visibility was clear and the attack was successful. Bomber Command claimed that the canal was rendered '100 per cent unserviceable'. 9 Lancasters were lost and 4 crashed in France and Holland, 7.9 per cent of the Lancaster force. One of the Lancasters which crashed in Holland was piloted by Group Captain AC Evans-Evans, DFC, the station commander at Coningsby, flying a No 83 Squadron aircraft. The Lancaster was shot down by a German fighter and crashed near Eindhoven. One of the gunners was the only survivor.

77 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 5 to Bremen, 66 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 28 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

In the predawn hours, Major Schnaufer, Kommodore of NJG 4, takes off and shoots down two RAF Lancasters from a bomber formation. Later that evening, he shoots down seven more Lancasters, destroying a total of nine bombers in two sorties for the day. Also active is Kommodore Hans-Joachim Jabs of NJG 1, who shoots down two RAF Lancasters, his last kills of the war. By war’s end Jabs has survived five and a half years of combat flying the Bf 110 Zerstörer, considered by most to be a death trap against Allied fighters, with a respectable score of fifty kills.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): During the night of 20/21 Feb, 1 B-17 and 13 B-24s drop supplies in N Italy. During the day 500+ B-17s and B-24s with fighter escorts bomb Vienna, Austria railroad targets (C yards, S station, and Matzleinsdorf marshalling yard), marshalling yards at Bruck an der Mur, Wiener-Neustadt, and Zeltweg, Austria, and Sopron, Hungary, and shipyards at Trieste and Fiume, Italy. HQ 1st Fighter Group moves from Vincenzo Airfield to Salsola Airfield, Italy and the detachment of the 27th Fighter Squadron ceases operating from Vincenzo and returns to base at Salsola with P-38s.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, night fighters and A-20s on intruder missions during the night of 20/21 Feb, continue to attack communications and supplies in the Po Valley; medium bombers, during the day, bomb bridges at Dogna, Crema, and Romano di Lombardia; fighter-bombers devote their main effort to close support of ground forces along the W and C US Fifth Army front, and also hit communications to the N of the battleline and in the Po Valley. 

EASTERN FRONT: The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Guben.


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## Njaco (Mar 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the English Channel, off Falmouth, German submarine _'U-1004' _torpedoes and sinks Canadian corvette HMCS _'Trentonian'_, with the loss of six lives.

German submarine _'U-300' _sunk in the North Atlantic west of Cadiz, in position 36.29N, 08.20W, by depth charges from British minesweepers HMS _'Recuit' _and HMS _'Pincher' _and the yacht _'Evadne'_. 9 dead and 41 survivors..

The US 20th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) achieves most of its objectives in the area between the Saar and Moselle rivers.

HQ 27th Fighter Group moves from Tarquinia, Italy to St Dizier, France. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US 5th Army makes some gains in mountain fighting high up in the Reno Valley.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 21/22 Feb, A-20s attack an ammunition dump, railroad bridges and lines, and road lights in the Po Valley; B-25s bomb railroad bridges and marshalling yards at Lavis, Bressanone, and Ala, cutting the bridge at Lavis and the through tracks at the Ala marshalling yard; fighters and fighter-bombers continue to support US Fifth Army forces S and SW of Bologna and hit communications targets, dumps, vehicles, and guns in and N of the battle area in the Apennines Mountains and in the Po Valley, and bomb airfields at Ghedi and Bergamo. 

*GERMANY*: Start of *Operation Clarion* - an attack by 9,000 Allied aircraft on the German road and rail systems. (US Eighth Air Force):: Mission 841: 1,428 bombers and 862 fighters commence Operation CLARION, a joint RAF, Eighth, Ninth and Fifteenth AF operation with the objective of paralyzing the already decimated German rail and road system; most attacks were made visually; bombing was conducted from an optimum 10,000 feet (3,048 m) to achieve accuracy at target without flak defenses; they claim 28-2-43 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers and 13 fighters are lost: 1. 522 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Bamberg (64), Zwickau (2) and Kitzingen (1); targets of opportunity are Ansbach (143), Donaueschingen (24), Reutlingen (25), Ulm (77), Freiburg (21), Hafingen (10), the marshalling yards at Aalen (24), Neustadt (26), Singen (8), Schwenningen (22), and Villgen (11) and other (42); some attacks are made with H2X radar; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 2 B-17s are lost and 29 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 19 MIA. Escorting are 163 of 168 P-51s; 3 are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 452 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Halberstadt (51), Sangerhausen (11), Nordhausen (30), Vienenburg (23), Peine (52), Hildesheim (55), Kreiensen (48), and Northeim (48); targets of opportunity are Nordhausen (11), Ottbergen (10), the rail and highway bridge at Lindern (1) and marshalling yards at Wallhausen (19), Oker (8), Eschwege (30), Gottingen (29) and Celle (8) and other (1); 4 B-24s are lost and 68 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 38 MIA. 246 P-47s and P-51s escort; they claim 19-0-16 aircraft on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 454 B-17s are sent to hit Wittenburg (72), Stendal (73), Salzwedel (59), Uelzen (73), Wittstock (11), Luneburg (39), and Ludwigslust (48); targets of opportunity are Grabow (13), Kobbelitz (24), Dannenberg (12) and Klotze (13). The escort is 268 of 280 P-51s; they claim 4-2-18 aircraft in the air and 3-0-5 on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 99 of 103 P-51s fly a freelance mission in support of the bombers; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 5. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft on the ground. 6. 13 P-51s escort 10 F-5s and 5 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 

In Operation CLARION, 450+ A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s of the 9th Bombardment Division bomb SW German targets including 46 rail bridges, 12 marshalling yards, 11 stations, plus junctions, roundhouses, a viaduct, a crossing, a workshop; this marks the first low-level operations by B-26s since May 43; 1,000+ fighters of the IX, XIX, and XXIX Tactical Air Commands escort the bombers, attack several assigned ground targets, fly armed reconnaissance, and cooperate with the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps along the Prum River and in the Saar-Mosel Triangle. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): The Fifteenth's participation in Operation CLARION includes 350+ B-17s and B-24s bombing 50+ separate communications targets in Germany, Austria, and Italy, including some 25 marshalling yards and numerous railroad lines and bridges; fighters fly 300+ escort and strafing sorties.

167 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group in forces of 85 and 82 aircraft to oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen and Osterfeld. A Film Unit Lancaster of No 463 Squadron, No 5 Group, accompanied the Gelsenkirchen force. Both targets were accurately bombed in clear weather conditions. 1 Lancaster lost from the Gelsenkirchen raid.

73 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 6 to Bremen, 4 to Erfurt and 3 on 'siren tours' of various German towns, 35 Lancasters to railway viaducts at Altenbeken and Bielefeld, 48 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 19 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito from the Erfurt raid crashed in Belgium.

The Me 262 jets of III./JG 7 are scrambled to intercept an Allied force of over 3000 aircraft flying as a covering force for the Allied operation ‘CLARION’. During this action, Oblt Hans-Peter Waldmann, _Staffelkapitän _of 9./JG 7, claims two P-51s shot down. But the pilots of JG 7 suffer the loss of one of their jet aces. 10./JG 7’s Obfw. Baudach, an ex-EKdo 262 _Experte_, bales out of his damaged jet over Schönwalde-Neiderbarin. As he leaves the cockpit, his head hits the tailplane and although landing safely in his parachute, he dies a few days later from his injuries.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: A major new offensive by US First and Ninth Armies begins with heavy attacks along the Roer, especially in the Julich and Duren areas. The river is crossed in several places. The attacks are opposed by the German 5th Panzer and 15th Armies (both part of German Army Group B). Farther south, there are also attacks by units of US 3rd and 7th Armies. 

The 9th Bombardment Division hits communications centers E of the Roer River as the US Ninth Army crosses the river and begins an assault (Operation *GRENADE*) toward the Rhine River; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, patrols, and alerts and support the US 104th and 8th Infantry Divisions near Duren, Germany, the XIII and XIX Corps' attack across the Roer at Linnich and Rurdorf, Germany, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps at the Prum River, E of the Our River, and E of the Saar River. 

The 527th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group moves from Pisa, Italy to Tantonville, France with P-47s.

Germans abandon the V-2 rocket research site of Peenemünde.

German Ju 88 bombers sink the SS _'Henry Bacon' _from the convoy RA-64. This is the last Allied merchant ship to be sunk by German aircraft during the war. The _'Henry Bacon' _was one of the thirty-eight merchant ships in convoy RA-64, which departed Kola Inlet, Murmansk, North Russia bound for Loch Ewe, Gourock, Scotland. Around 1500 GCT, the _'Henry Bacon' _was some 50 to 60 nautical miles astern of the main convoy when she was attacked by twenty-three Junkers Ju 88 and Ju 188's torpedo bombers of KG 26, out of Bardufoss, Norway, some 250 miles (400 km) away. The survivors were rescued by crew members from three British destroyers, HMS Zambesi, HMS Oppotune and HMS Zelast. By this time the men in the water were so cold they were unable to help themselves, so the British sailors had to jump into the freezing sea with ropes tied around their waists to help them. When it was over, all of the Norwegian civilians had survived, nine Naval Armed Guard gunners, and two Navy signalmen were lost at sea. Captain Carini and fifteen fellow Merchant Marine crewmen were also lost. In 1946, Captain Carini was posthumously awarded the Krigskorset med Sverd or Norwegian War Cross with Sword. This is Norway's highest military award for gallantry and he is one of only two Americans, and 126 foreigners to have received this award.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Poznan falls to the Red Army after a 28-day siege. In Silesia, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front have largely completed their advance from the Oder River north of Breslau to the Neisse River. Meanwhile, in Breslau, the fighting continues. The German garrison of the city will not surrender until the end of the war despite repeated Soviet attacks.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 843: As a follow-up to the yesterday's attacks on transportation facilities as part of Operation *CLARION*, 1,274 bombers and 705 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany; they claim 15-0-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 6 P-51s are lost: 1. 446 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Treuchtlingen (61), Crailsheim (52), Neumarkt (74), Ansbach (109) and Kitzingen (95); targets of opportunity are Nordlingen (2), Schwabisch Hall (24), Winterhausen (7) and other (2); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 34 damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escorting are 194 of 203 P-51s; they claim 5-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 460 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Plauen (110); targets of opportunity are Meiningen (49), Adelsberg (12), Hildburghausen (12), Kitzingen (88), Lichtenfels (13), Schweinfurt (12), Ellingen (25), Ottingen (48), Wurzburg (37), Crailsheim (38), and Zwolle (1); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 16 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. 193 of 208 P-51s escort and claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air; 3 P-51s are lost; 1 pilot is KIA and 3 MIA. 3. 368 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Weimar (57), Fulda (10) and Gera (46); targets of opportunity are Paderborn (104), Osnabruck (50), Jena (25), Schluchtern (20), Fritzlar (9), Reichenbach (9), Steinau (9), and other (1); 1 B-24 is lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 21 airmen are KIA and 4 WIA. The escort is 105 of 110 P-51s. 4. 141 P-47s and P-51s make a sweep of Neuburg, Landsberg and Leipheim Airfields claiming 9-0-14 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 5. 4 P-51s escort 10 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. 6. 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 844: 24 of 27 B-24s make a PFF attack on the Neuss marshalling yard during the night without loss. 

342 RAF aircraft - 297 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to Essen. 1 Halifax crashed in Holland. The target area was cloud-covered and all of the bombs were dropped on skymarkers. The marking must have been extremely accurate; a German report states that 300 high-explosive and 11,000 incendiary bombs fell on the Krupps works. 

133 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the Alma Pluto benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen but no results were seen. No aircraft lost.

367 RAF Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups and a Film Unit Lancaster carried out the first, and only, area-bombing raid of the war on Pforzheim. 10 Lancasters were lost and 2 more crashed in France. The marking and bombing, from only 8,000 ft, were particularly accurate and damage of a most severe nature was inflicted on Pforzheim. 1,825 tons of bombs were it dropped in 22 minutes. The post-war British Bombing Survey Unit estimated that 83 per cent of the town's built-up area was destroyed, probably the greatest proportion in one raid during the war. 

Bomber Command's last Victoria Cross of the war was won on this night. The Master Bomber was Captain Edwin Swales, DFC, a South African serving with No 582 Squadron. His Lancaster was twice attacked over the target by a German fighter. Captain Swales could not hear the evasion directions given by his gunners because he was broadcasting his own instructions to the Main Force. 2 engines and the rear turret of the Lancaster were put out of action. Captain Swales continued to control the bombing until the end of the raid and must take some credit for the accuracy of the attack. He set out on the return flight but encountered turbulent cloud and ordered his crew to bale out. This they all did successfully but Captain Swales had no opportunity to leave the aircraft and was killed when it crashed. He is buried at the Leopold War Cemetery at Limburg in Belgium.

73 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos carried out an accurate attack on a possible U-boat base at Horten on the Oslo Fjord. 1 Lancaster was lost.

70 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 6 to Worms and 4 each to Darmstadt, Essen and Frankfurt, 54 RCM sorties, 25 Mosquito patrols, 22 Lancasters minelaying in Norwegian waters, 13 aircraft on Resistance operations. 4 aircraft lost - 2 RCM Halifaxes, 1 Resistance operation Stirling and 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): About 380 B-17s and B-24s hit the marshalling yards at Villach, Worgl, Knittelfeld, and Klagenfurt, Austria and Udine, Italy, plus Kitzbuhel, Austria railroad junction; 140+ P-38s and P-51s provide escort; some of the fighters strafe areas NW of Linz, Austria and N of Munich, Germany; 35 other P-38s dive-bomb the Worgl marshalling yard and afterwards 30 of them strafe the rail line from Rosenheim, Germany- Innsbruck, Austria-Landeck, Austria; other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and escort missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s on intruder missions during the night of 22/23 Feb, hit marshalling yards and airfields throughout N Italy; medium bombers concentrate on the N end of the Brenner Pass, damaging bridges at Campo San Pietro and a railroad fill at San Felice del Benaco and hitting bridges at Dogna; fighter-bombers pound airfields, and enemy movement in the C and N Po Valley, and damage 5 bridges and cut rail lines at numerous points.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front (Rokossovsky) begins a new offensive in the morning with a 30-minute artillery barrage. 1st Ukrainian Front's campaign in Lower Silesia comes to an end after crossing Neisse river. A German counter attack wipes out the Russian Hron bridgehead over the Danube to the northwest of Budapest. VI SS Panzer Army forces Soviets back across the Hron river in Hungary.

Colonel Ivan Kojedub, the top scoring Soviet (and Allied) fighter ace (with 62 victories), shoots down a German Me262 over Berlin.

*WESTERN FRONT*: To the north, attacks by British and Canadian continue to drive southeast toward Udem and Weeze. Julich is captured by units of the US 19th Corps as the US 9th Army begins to extend its advance over the Roer River. To the south, the US 1st and 3rd Armies also push forward. 

German submarine _'U-1208' _sunk in the English Channel south-east of Isles of Scilly, in position 49.51.783N, 06.06.750W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Duckworth' _and HMS _'Rowley'_. On the same day "_U-327_" was detected by a USN liberator and sunk by HMS "_Loch __Fada_",working with HMS "_Labuan_" and HMS "_Wild Goose_". 

German submarine _'U-927' _sunk in the Channel, south-east of Falmouth, in position 49.45N, 04.45W, by depth charges from a British Warwick aircraft (Sqdn. 179/V). 47 dead (all hands lost).

German submarine _'U-3007' _sunk near Bremen, by bombs. Wreck broken up. 1 dead, unknown number of survivors.

Off the northern coast of Norway, German U-boats sink 8 ships and 2 destroyers of a convoy bound for the Soviet port of Murmansk. 

74 RAF training aircraft on a diversionary sweep over Northern France to draw German fighters into the air, 63 Mosquitos to Berlin, 18 to Neuss and 3 on 'siren tours' of Dessau, Erfurt and Halle, 37 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 35 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Norwegian ports. 5 RCM aircraft - 4 Halifaxes and 1 Fortress - lost; these aircraft were operating in association with the diversionary sweep of training aircraft and were probably victims of German fighters drawn up by that sweep. The 4 lost Halifaxes were all from No 462 (Australian) Squadron, based at Foulsham; they had been sent ahead of the diversionary force to drop Window, bombs and incendiaries in a 'spoof' raid on the Ruhr.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Egypt declares war on Germany and Japan. Maher Pasha, the Prime Minister of Egypt, is assassinated.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 500+ B-17s and B-24s (with fighter escorts) attack the Udine, Padua, Verona, and Ferrara marshalling yards and Ferrara railroad bridge in Italy; marshalling yards at Graz and Klagenfurt, Austria; and several targets of opportunity. During the previous night 20 B-24s continue supply drops in N Italy. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 23/24 Feb, A-20s bomb marshalling yards, including those at Castelfranco Veneto, Rovereto, Villafranca di Verona, and Legnago, and airfields at Villafranca di Verona, Ghedi, and Bergamo; medium bombers bomb rail lines, bridges, bridge approaches, and fills at Bozzolo, Santa Margherita d'Adige, San Michele all'Adige, Pizzighetone, and Lavis, and severely damage the Sesto Calende industrial complex; fighter-bombers hit communications, mainly airfields, railroad bridges, lines, and marshalling yards at several points including Villafranca, Calliano, N of Nervesa della Battaglia, N of Santa Margherita d'Adige, Bergamo, Pavullo nel Frigano, Isola della Scala, and Motta di Livenza; fighters and fighter-bombers support US Fifth Army forces, hitting gun positions in advance of the battlefront, at Montese and E of Modena, and blast targets in the battle area as the 10th Mountain Division reaches the summit of Monte Torraccia. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 845: 1,114 bombers and 592 fighters are dispatched to hit oil refineries and rail targets using H2X radar; they claim 1-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 2 bombers and 11 fighters are lost: 1. 362 B-17s are sent to hit the Albrecht (278) and Harburg (70) oil refineries at Hamburg; 6 others hit a target of opportunity; 26 B-17s are damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. 181 of 195 P-51s escort; 4 are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 280 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Misburg oil refinery (104) and the marshalling yard at Lehrte (61); 76 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Bielefeld; targets of opportunity are Hannover (11), Lingen (2) and other (5); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 16 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 12 MIA. Escorting are 166 of 179 P-51s; 5 are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 383 B-17s are sent to hit the Deschimag U-boat yards at Bremen (200) and the Bremen W rail bridge (134); targets of opportunity are Minden (12), Osnabruck (8), Quackenbruck (5) and Brinkum (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 162 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. The escort is 93 of 98 P-51s; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 70 of 76 B-17s hit the Wesel rail bridge using Micro H; 22 B-17s are damaged. 29 P-51s escort without loss. 5. 12 of 13 B-17s fly a screening mission. 6. 43 of 46 P-51s fly a freelance mission for the bombers without loss. 7. 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 8. 17 P-51s escort 19 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 846: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

Lt Rademacher of JG 7 destroys a B-17 and a B-24 during attacks on Halle and Leipzig.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, nearly 500 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s hit 5 communications centers, 2 marshalling yards, 3 rail bridges, 6 town areas, and a target of opportunity as part of interdiction operations against troops during the Rhineland campaign; fighters support the 8th and 104th Infantry Divisions in the Duren area, the XIII and XIX Corps at the Roer River bridgehead area, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps E of and along the Prum River and in the Saarlautern area. 

Kamen: 340 RAF aircraft - 290 Halifaxes, 26 Lancasters, 24 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax lost. The target was a synthetic-oil plant which was actually in Bergkamen, just north of Kamen. The target area was covered by cloud and the raid was based on Oboe and H2S markers.

166 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group were ordered to abandon a raid on the Dortmund-Ems Canal without bombing because of cloud which covered the target area. All aircraft landed safely.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Duren is taken by the US 7th Corps (part of US 1st Army). Other bridgeheads over the Roer River have been captured to north and south of Duren and they are rapidly being extended. To the south, on the right flank of US 3rd Army, crossings over the Saar have also been made near Saarburg. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: German 1st Battalion of the 26th Parachute Regiment lands in Breslau, to help defend the city.

_MEDITTERANEAN_: North of Florence, Italy, Canadian participation in fighting in Italy ends. Over 90,000 soldiers participated, with nearly 6,000 killed.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 24/25 Feb, A-20s attack marshalling yards at Villafranca di Verona, Cittadella, Castelfranco Veneto, Trento, and Turin, and airfields at Villafranca di Verona and Bergamo; medium bombers cut or damage bridges at Vipiteno, Dogna, Ala, and Campo San Pietro, and a railroad fill at San Felice del Benaco; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers are restricted by ground haze in the Po Valley but attack rail lines, marshalling yards, rolling stock, motor transport, and dumps. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 847: 1,197 bombers and 755 fighters are dispatched to hit tank factories, airfields associated with jet aircraft, oil depots and rail targets visually; they claim 34-0-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 8 fighters are lost: 1. 377 B-17s are sent to hit the Maybach tank factory at Friedrichshaffen (63) using Gee-H, and the station and marshalling yard (73) and oil storage tanks and marshalling yard (174) at Munich; 51 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Ulm; 1 other hit Kenzingen, a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 135 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 18 MIA. Escorting are 136 of 149 P-51s; they claim 1-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 452 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Munich (315) and Neuburg (88); targets of opportunity are Kaufbeuren (13), Ludwigsfeldt marshalling yard (12), Kempten (1), Durladingen (2), Rortwell (1) and other (5); 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 197 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 3 WIA and 27 MIA. 140 of 145 P-51s escort and claim 2-0-3 aircraft on the ground. 3. 368 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yard (115) and tank factory (54) at Aschaffenburg and the airfields at Giebelstadt (96) and Schwabishch Hall (93); 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 31 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA and 6 WIA. The escort is 126 of 135 P-51s. 4. 262 P-47s and P-51s fly close escort and area patrols claiming 21-0-4 aircraft in the air and 10-0-12 on the ground; 6 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair. 5. 8 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. 6. 32 of 34 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 848: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division strikes 4 rail bridges, 4 communications centers, a marshalling yard and 9 targets of opportunity as part of the interdiction campaign against Germany; fighters escort the bombers, attack assigned ground targets, fly armed reconnaissance, and support the 8th and 104th Infantry Divisions in the Duren area, the XIII and XlX Corps E of the Roer River, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps along the Prum and Saar Rivers. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 600+ B-17s and B-24s bomb marshalling yards in Amstetten, 2 in Linz, 2 in Villach, and Salzburg, plus the Linz benzol plant and ordnance depot and several targets of opportunity. Fighters escort and some afterwards strafe targets of opportunity in Austria, SE Germany, and W Czechoslovakia. In Germany, 37 P-51s strafe railroad targets in the Rosenheim-Muhldorf-Landshut-Augsburg areas. Routine reconnaissance and supply missions continue. 

153 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the synthetic-oil refinery at Kamen. 1 Lancaster lost.

63 RAF Mosquitos to Erfurt, 10 each to Berlin and Mainz and 6 to Bremen, 8 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 10 Halifaxes of No 6 Group minelaying in Oslo Fjord, 20 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Halifax minelayer lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Holland, *Operation Blockbuster* begins with an artillery barrage by the Canadian 1st Army on northern frontline in Germany. 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions and 4th Armoured Division begin attacking German defences in the Hochwald Forest and Balberger heights. There are renewed attacks, by British and Canadian elements of British 21st Army Group, near Udem and Calcar. The US 1st and 9th Army units are moving rapidly from their bridgeheads over the Our River. The attacks by the US Ninth Army into the Hürtgen Forest make little progress.

German submarine _'U-1051' _sunk in the Irish Sea south of the Isle of Man, in position 53.39N, 05.23W, by ramming and depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Aylmer'_, HMS _'Calder'_, HMS _'Bentinck' _and HMS _'Manners'_. 47 dead (all hands lost). After _'U-1051' _torpedoed HMS _'Manners'_, she was located by HMS _'Bentinck' _and attacked with depth charges, soon thereafter joined by HMS _'Aylmer' _and HMS _'Calder'_. The boat was forced to surface, came under fire by the frigates and sank after being rammed by HMS _'Aylmer'_.

General Anders is appointed commander-in-chief of Polish troops.

HQ 436th Troop Carrier Group and the 80th, 81st and 82d Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Membury, England to Melun, France with C-47s.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Germans begin evacuations of wounded and refugees from Kolberg and other ports along the Baltic coast. These operations continue until the ports are captured during March. Soviet forces launch attacks into East Pomerania. Near Stettin, Soviet forces continue hold the positions despite German counterattacks. Heeresgruppe Kurland repulses heavy Soviet attacks in the area of Prekuln.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 849: 1,207 bombers and 726 fighters are dispatched to make H2X radar attacks on three Berlin rail stations; they claim 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s and 3 P-51s are lost: 1. 377 B-17s are sent to hit the Schlesischer rail station (363); 1 hits Osnabruck, a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 21 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 18 MIA. 214 of 244 P-51s escort claiming 4-0-0 aircraft in the air. 2. 446 B-17s set out to hit the Alexanderplatz rail station (418); 4 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 43 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting are 232 of 240 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (2 pilots MIA). 3. 361 B-24s are dispatched to hit the North rail station (285); 37 hit Eberswalde, the secondary target; 4 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 26 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 3 MIA. The escort is 20 P-47s and 190 P-51s. 4. 17 B-17s and 6 B-24s fly screening missions. 5. 31 of 32 P-51 fly a scouting mission. Mission 850: During the night, 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany; and 5 B-24s fly a CARPETBAGGER mission. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 235 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s attack the communications center at Wickrath, rail and road junctions at Zieverich and Gladbach, a supply and ammunition depot (casual target), the towns of Kapellen, Viersen, and Munstereifel, and targets of opportunity; weather limits fighter operations to armed reconnaissance flights in the Aschaffenburg-Wurzburg area by the XIX Tactical Air Command. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): During the night of 25/26 Feb, supply drops to N Italy continue. In Austria during the day 32 P-38s dive- bomb and strafe the Graz-Bruck an der Mur-Wiener Neustadt rail lines and 12 others fly top cover. Other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and escort missions. 102 B-24s, with fighter escort, dispatched against tactical targets in Yugoslavia, are recalled when clouds completely cover the objectives. 

149 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the Hoesch benzol-oil plant at Dortmund through cloud. No results were seen but the bombing appeared to be concentrated. No aircraft lost.

38 RAF Mosquitos each to Berlin and Nuremberg, 3 Mosquitos on 'siren tours' of Northern Germany, 1 RCM sortie, 6 Mosquito patrols, 18 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Stirling lost on a Resistance flight

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 25/26 Feb, A-20s considerably damage marshalling yards at Castelfranco Veneto and Bazzano; medium bombers bomb railroad bridges at Legnago, Ala, Pontetidone, and San Michele all'Adige; fighters and fighter-bombers hit bridges, marshalling yards, rail lines, and transport targets at numerous points including Nervesa della Battaglia, Ora, Bologna, Trento, Vicenza, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, and Avisio, and bomb airfields at Ghedi and Bergamo; XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft also support US Fifth Army forces in the battle area S of Bologna.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Udem and Calcar both fall to attacks by British and Canadian elements of the British 21st Army Group. The Rhine River is reached to the northeast of Calcar. Units of US 7th Corps (part of US 1st Army) cross the Erth River at Modrath, about 10 km from Cologne. Farther south, two corps of US 3rd Army are converging on Trier. 

German submarine _'U-1018' _sunk in the Channel south of Penzance, in position 49.56N, 05.20W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Loch Fada'_. 51 dead and 2 survivors.

82 RAF training aircraft on a sweep over the North Sea to draw up German fighters, 96 Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 to Bremen, 62 RCM sorties, 32 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Elements of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front enter Pomerania, in Germany.

Under Soviet pressure, Rumanian King Michael I is forced to appoint a Communist government.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Lebanon declares war on Germany and Japan.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt hosts a gathering aboard his cruiser. Those on hand include Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, King Faruk of Egypt, and King Ibn Saud of Arabia. General de Gaulle refuses to attend.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 26/27 Feb, A-20s bomb enemy movement at 14 different places in the Po Valley, marshalling yards at Villafranca di Verona and Isola della Scala, the town of Bazzano, and airfields at Villafranca di Verona and Ghedi; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers concentrate on railroad cutting in the Brenner area and NE Italy, claiming 36 cuts, and attack rolling stock in the Villach, Austria area; medium bombers destroy a railroad diversion bridge at San Michele all'Adige and cut approaches on the Ala and Lavis bridges and effectively blast the Spilimbergo and Pagnocco dumps. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 851: 1,107 bombers and 745 fighters are dispatched to hit road and rail communications at Halle and Leipzig using H2X radar; they claim 83-0-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-24s and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 314 of 351 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Halle; targets of opportunity are Bitterfeld (21) and other (3); 2 B-24s are lost and 4 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 18 MIA. Escorting are 196 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 45-0-3 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 717 of 756 B-17s hit the rail center at Leipzig; 7 others hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA. The escort is 453 of 489 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 36-0-16 on the ground without loss. 3. 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 4. 13 P-51s escort 2 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over C and E Germany. Mission 852: During the night of 27/28 Feb, 23 of 26 B-24s bomb Wilhelmshafen oil storage by PFF without loss and 1 B-17 and 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 118 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s attack the Ahrweiler rail bridge, communications centers at Glessen, Munstereifel, and Monheim, and a target of opportunity; fighters fly leaflet missions, attack Frankfurt/Main oil storage tanks, fly alerts, and strafe from W of Duisburg to Worringen; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) also flies support for the XIII and XIX Corps SW and S of Monchen-Gladbach. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 540+ B-24s and B-17s, with fighter escort, bomb marshalling yards at Augsburg, Germany and Salzburg, Lienz, and Jenbach, Austria plus several targets of opportunity; escorting fighters strafe targets of opportunity during the return flight. Routine reconnaissance and supply missions continue. 

458 RAF aircraft - 311 Halifaxes, 131 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to Mainz. 1 Halifax and 1 Mosquito lost. The target area Mainz was covered by cloud and the bombing was aimed at skymarkers dropped on Oboe. No results were seen by the bomber crews but the bombing caused severe destruction in the central and eastern districts of Mainz; this was the city's worst raid of the war. 1,545 tons of bombs were dropped. 5,670 buildings were destroyed, including most of the historic buildings in the Altstadt, but the industrial district was also badly hit. This was the last heavy raid on Mainz.

149 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack through thick cloud on the Alma Pluto benzol plant, Gelsenkirchen but no results were seen. 1 Lancaster lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: British troops land on Piscopi Island, close to Rhodes.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): About 680 B-17s and B-24s bomb marshalling yards at Lienz, Austria; Ora, Bolzano, Vipiteno, Vicenza, Fortezza, Bressanone, Brunico, Brescia, and Conegliano, Italy, and bridges at Albes and Verona-Parona di Valpolicella, Italy; 109 P-51s provide escort; 75 P-38s divebomb the Sankt Veit an der Glan marshalling yard in Austria and strafe rail lines in the Sankt Veit, Austria-Klagenfurt, Austria-Villach, Austria-Ljubljana, Yugoslavia areas; other P-38s and P-51s (about 25) strafe rail traffic around Bruck an der Mur, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, and Worgl, Austria and Passau, Germany, and attack Bjelovar Airfield in Yugoslavia, destroying an enemy-held B-24 and P-38; reconnaissance and supply flights are maintained. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 27/28 Feb, A-20s attack a few marshalling yards, bridges, rail lines, and general movement but because of bad weather are recalled by midnight; XII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers continue to pound communications and other targets, including Ghedi and Vicenza Airfields, ammunition dumps near Codroipo and W of Villafranca di Verona, and shell loading plant SW of Piacenza; medium bombers bomb bridges at Ala, Santa Margherita d'Adige, San Michele all'Adige, Ponte di Piave, and Pordenone, and a railway embankment at Salorno. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops capture Neustettin and Prechlau. The Red Army suspends all offensive operations against the lines of Heeresgruppe Kurland.

Major Walther Dahl, recently transferred to the Russian Front, scores his 100th victory.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US Ninth Army achieves a breakthrough near Erkelenz 30 miles W of Cologne, but losing 100 tanks in the process.

Units moving from England to France: HQ 313th Troop Carrier Group from Folkingham to Achiet; HQ 314th Troop Carrier Group and the 32d and 61st Troop Carrier Squadrons from Saltby to Poix with C-47s. 

The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 1st Air Division [attached to 482d Bombardment Group (Heavy)], moves from Cheddington to Alconbury, England with B-24s (the 36th is engaged in radio countermeasures operations). 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force):: 3 missions are flown. Mission 854: 1,104 bombers and 737 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on rail targets in Germany; they calim 18-0-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 5 P-51s are lost: 1. 378 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Soest (143), Hagen (151) and Schwerte (74) using Gee-H; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost; 3 airmen are MIA. 106 of 112 P-51s escort without loss. 2. 346 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Arnsberg (95) and Bielefeld (81) viaducts, the Siegen marshalling yard (77) and the Henschel tank plant at Meschede (79); 1 other hits the Neustadt road junction, a target of opportunity; all attacks are made using Gee-H; no casualties. Escorting are 117 of 123 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 364 of 380 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Kassel, the secondary target; 6 others hit 6 targets of opportunity; the attacks are made using H2X radar; no casualties. The escort is 113 of 118 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air and 10-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 308 of 318 P-51s fly a strafing run in the Wurzburg-Munich area; they calim 8-0-6 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 5. 18 of 20 P-47s fly a figher-bomber mission against Ablar, Offenbach and Werdorf marshalling yards and factory buildings without loss. 6. 16 P-51s escort 4 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 855: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 1 Mosquito flies a SKYWAVE mission over Germany. (SKYWAVE is a special navigational mission to calibrate LORAN equipment.) Mission 856: 22 of 24 B-24s bomb the Freiburg rail depot during the night using PFF methods; no losses. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 340+ A-20s, B-26s and A-26s bomb rail bridges at Mayen, Niederscheld, and Colbe, the Unna ordnance depot, Kamp road junction, Siegen and Sankt Wendel marshalling yards, the town of Rheinburg, and targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly sweeps, patrols and armed reconnaissance, attack special targets, and support the US 3d Armored Division at the Paffendorf bridgehead, US Ninth Army elements near Monchen-Gladbach and Neuss [the 2d Armored Division reaches a point within 6 miles (9.7 km) of the Rhine River], and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps between the Prum and Kyll Rivers and near Trier. 

156 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group in a G-H raid on the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant at Gelsenkirchen. No aircraft lost.

98 RAF training aircraft on a sweep over the North Sea, 74 Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Nuremberg and 4 to Munich, 44 RCM sorties, 31 Mosquito patrols, 5 Mosquitos of No 5 Group minelaying in the Kiel Canal, 20 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.

On this date one of Germany’s more unusual aircraft becomes operational and takes to the skies. A Bachem Ba 349 “Natter”(Viper), a manned rocket, flown by Oblt. Lothar Siebert is launched. At about five seconds after lift-off, the canopy comes off, the rocket spins over and crashes. 

Kurt Welter’s Me 262 night-fighting unit, _'Kommando Welter'_, is redesignated 10./NJG 11 and is supplied with two radar-equipped two-seat Me 262B ‘Bertas’ for night fighting, the jets being converted at the Messerschmitt assembly lines from half-completed trainers.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Canadian forces lead an assault on the northern end of the Schlieffen line, in Hochwald Forest. Munchen-Gladbach and Neuss fall to the US 9th Army, which is now advancing rapidly toward the Rhine. The attacks of US 1st Army toward Cologne are continuing as are the efforts of US 3rd Army near the River Kyll and south of Trier.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Pomerania, the northward attacks of 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) forces achieve a breakthrough north of Arnswalde and move on in the Kolberg direction. Units of Heeresgruppe Mitte (Schörner) recapture Lauban in Lower Silesia.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Persia declares war on Japan and Saudi Arabia declares war on Japan and Germany.

US Army Forces in the Middle East (USAFIME) takes over NW Africa from MTO US Army and is redesignated the Africa-Middle East Theater (AMET). 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 28 Feb/1 Mar, A-20s fly intruder missions against targets at Lecco and in the Parma area, starting large fires and causing several explosions during a strike on the Casarsa delta Delizia temporary railroad bridge, and hit bridges at Nervesa delta Battaglia and Sacile; weather cancels all daytime operations except for reconnaissance and supply runs. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 857: 1,228 bombers and 488 fighters are dispatched to attack marshalling yards in C and S Germany; 3 plants suspected of manufacturing Me 262 jet engine parts could not be attack due to clouds; most attacks are made using H2X radar; the fighters claim 12-0-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 P-51s are lost: 1. 452 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Bruchsal (115), Reutlingen (69), Neckarsulm (85), Heilbronn (107) and Gottingen (36); 25 hit Heidelberg, the secondary target; some visual attacks are made; 27 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 92 of 100 P-51s; 2 are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair. 2. 253 of 321 B-24s bomb the Ingolstadt marshalling yard; 62 others hit the secondary target, Augsburg; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair. 181 of 194 P-51s escort claiming 1-0-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 420 of 449 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Ulm; 2 others hit a target of opportunity; some attacks are visual; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 16 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. The escort is 147 of 152 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 9-0-7 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 6 B-24s fly a screening mission without loss. 5. 31 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 6. 9 of 10 P-51s escort 8 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 858: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 340+ B-26s, A-20s and A-26s attack the ordnance depot at Giessen, communications centers at Pulheim, Rheinbach, Rommergkirchen, and Stommeln, the rail bridge at Pracht, a road bridge, and 8 targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly alerts, scheduled patrols, and armed reconnaissance, hit assigned ground targets and support the US 3d Armored Division at the Erft River bridgehead near Paffendorf, the 9th Armored Division between Neffelbach and Rotbach Creeks, the XIX Corps in the Monchen-Gladbach area, the VIII Corps astride the Prum River, the XII Corps between the Prum and Nims Rivers and along the Kyll River, and the XX Corps in the Trier area; and in the Netherlands, the XVI and XIII Corps in the Venlo area and along the Niers River. During Mar 45, HQ IX Fighter Command moves from Verviers, Belgium to Bruhl, Germany. 

(Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 630+ B-24s and B-17s bomb the Moosbierbaum oil refinery and alternate targets and targets of opportunity including marshalling yards at Sankt Polten, Amstetten, Villach, Klagenfurt, Knittelfeld, Feldbach, and the marshalling yards at Jesenice and Maribor, Yugoslavia, plus several scattered targets of opportunity; 220+ fighters provide escort; 22 P-38s bomb the Moosbierbaum refinery and Tulln marshalling yard (afterward 12 of them strafe the Wiener-Neustadt-Gloggnitz) rail lines); 47 other P-38s strafe rail traffic around Graz and W of Vienna.

478 RAF aircraft - 372 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups to Mannheim in Bomber Command's last large-scale raid on the city. 3 Lancasters lost. This was a general attack on the city area. Skymarking was used because of the complete cloud cover. No details of the raid are available. 

151 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked an oil plant at Kamen through cloud.

55 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 40 to Erfurt and 3 on nuisance raids over Northern Germany, 32 RCM sorties, 13 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

Kommodore Wolfgang Falck is given an assignment, commanding fighters in the Rhineland. Falck sets out to find his Headquarters or his staff. From this date to the time he is captured he drives around southern Germany but he never does find his HQ or personnel.

Oberst Werner Baumbach is appointed to the post of plenipotentiary for preventing Allied crossings of the Oder and surrounding rivers. At his disposal are _Mistels _and Hs 293 guided bombs.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Trier is captured by units of US 20th Corps, part of US 3rd Army. The US 1st Army, to the north, is extending its advance beyond the Erft River toward Cologne and to the south. US 9th Army captures Roermond and Venlo on the Maas on the left flank of its advance while on the right, the Rhine River is reached opposite Dusseldorg. 

German submarine _'U-3519' _sunk off Warnemunde after hitting a mine.

69 RAF training aircraft on a sweep, 67 Mosquitos to Kassel and 3 to Berlin, 48 RCM sorties, 31 Mosquito patrols, 10 Halifaxes and Lancasters minelaying off Norway and 6 Mosquitos in the Kiel Canal, 21 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

As an Arado 234 jet bomber is lining up an attack on the Nijmegen Bridge, the bomber is jumped by a patrolling Spitfire of RAF No. 41 Squadron. Pushing the Spitfire to its structural limits, the British pilot keeps his finger on the firing button, finally breaking off the pursuit at about 100 yards from the ground. The Arado crashes in flames near Enschede on the Dutch border as the German pilot bales out.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 859: 1,232 bombers and 774 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants and a tank factory in Germany; most attacks are made using H2X radar; they claim 110.5-9-60 Luftwaffe aircraft; 14 bombers and 13 P-51s are lost: 1. 450 B-17s are sent to hit an oil plant at Bohlen (60), oil refinery at Rositz (36) and gun batteries at Bohlen (36); 255 hit the secondary target, Chemnitz; targets of opportunity are Penig (12), Saalfeld (13), Jocketa (12), Cologne (1) and other (12); some attacks are made visually; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 52 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 4 WIA and 29 MIA. Escorting are 254 of 272 P-51s; they claim 7.5-1-4 aircraft in the air and 0-0-6 on the ground without loss. 2. 321 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Rothensee oil plant (38) and Buckau tank factory (257) at Magdeburg; 4 others hit a target of opportunity; some attacks are made visually; 3 B-24s are lost and 61 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 28 MIA. The escort is 187 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-2-0 aircraft in the air; 2 P-51s are damaged beyond repair. 3. 455 B-17s are sent to hit the oil plant at Ruhland (24); 406 hit the secondary, Dresden; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; they claim 6-3-10 aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost and 53 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 72 MIA. 225 of 249 P-51s escort; they claim 54-3-16 aircraft in the air and 36-0-23 on the ground; 13 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 6 B-24s fly a screening mission. 5. 25 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 6. 22 of 23 P-51s escort 14 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany without loss. Mission 860: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany without loss and 4 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits 5 bridges, 2 communications centers, 3 ordnance and motor transport depots, several city areas, and 6 targets of opportunity; the objectives are to hinder movement of enemy troops trying to help the German army caught in front of the US Third Army, to obstruct movement in general, and to damage enemy repair and refitting capabilities; 1,700+ fighters escort the bombers, hit special targets, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols, and support the US 3d Armored Division at expanding the bridgehead on the Erft River, the XVI and XIX Corps in the Sevelen, Monchen-Gladbach, and the Neuss area, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps E of the Prum River, astride the Kyll River, and in the Trier-Saarburg area. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 470 B-24s and B-17s, with fighters flying escort, bomb marshalling yards at Linz, Sankt Polten, Amstetten, Graz, and Knittelfeld, and Brescia, Italy; 31 P-51s on a strafing mission attack rail and river communications from Linz to Regensburg, Germany, while 18 others fly top cover; F-5s fly reconnaissance missions. During the night of 1/2 Mar, B-24s drop supplies in N Italy and C Yugoslavia. 

858 RAF aircraft - 531 Lancasters, 303 Halifaxes, 24 Mosquitos - raided Cologne in 2 waves. 6 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost and 1 Halifax crashed in Belgium. The first raid was carried out by 703 aircraft and the second by 155 Lancasters of No 3 Group. In the second raid, however, only 15 aircraft bombed, because the G-H station in England was not working correctly. The main raid was highly destructive, with the Pathfinders marking in clear weather conditions. This was the last RAF raid on Cologne, which was captured by American troops 4 days later.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather again grounds the medium bombers; fighter-bombers and fighters hit communications, ammunition and stores dumps, 2 sugar refineries, guns, vehicles, and buildings S of Bologna and in the Po Valley, and the airfield at Aviano and Lonate Pozzolo.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Breslau's district leader, Karl Hanke, makes a speech that is transmitted throughout Germany. He vows that the city would never surrender to the Russians under any conditions. The city does finally surrender two months later, following the surrender of Berlin. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: 57 British Mitchell and Boston bomber planes of the Second Tactical Air Force make a heavy attack on the Haagsche Bosch area near The Hague, Netherlands, attempting to destroy German V-2 rocket storage sites. The attack is a disaster, with 69 tons of bombs falling on nearby Bezuidenhout, creating major fires which the Germans refuse to put out. 800 Dutch civilians are killed, with up to 100,000 homes destroyed.

Units of the Canadian First Army (Crerar) capture Xanten on the lower Rhine in the battle of the Reichswald. Troops of Canadian 1st and US 9th Armies link up near Geldern. Farther south, units of the US 12th Corps from US 3rd Army capture a crossing over the KyllRiver. Meanwhile, elements of the US 7th Army take Forbach.

Allied troops liberate the POW camp at Forbach.

*ENGLAND*: The Luftwaffe raid Britain for the first time in seven months. The Luftwaffe mounted *Unternehmen Gisella* on this night, sending approximately 200 night fighters to follow the various bomber forces to England. This move took the British defences partly by surprise and the Germans shot down 20 bombers - 8 Halifaxes of No 4 Group, 2 Lancasters of No 5 Group, 3 Halifaxes, 1 Fortress and 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group and 3 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes from the Heavy Conversion Units which had been taking part in the diversionary sweep. 3 of the German fighters crashed, through flying too low; the German fighter which crashed near Elvington airfield was the last Luftwaffe aircraft to crash on English soil during the war.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 861: 1,102 bombers and 743 fighters are dispatched to bomb oil refineries, oil plant equipment works, motor transport factory, tank plant, and rail bridge in NC and E Germany; they claim 25-2-37 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 bombers and 8 P-51s are lost: 1. 114 B-17s are sent to hit the oil refinery at Misburg (23); 82 hit the secondary target, the Hanomag tank factory at Hannover; and 2 hit Lemford, a target of opportunity; bombing is by H2X radar; 11 B-17s are damaged; 9 airmen are KIA and 5 WIA. Escorting are 44 of 46 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 222 B-17s are sent to bomb the oil plant at Ruhland (24) and bomb visually; 166 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Chemnitz using H2X; targets of opportunity are Plauen (11) and other (16); 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 63 damaged. 193 of 214 P-51s escort claiming 3-0-0 aircraft in the air and 10-0-23 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 94 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Nienburg Bridge (41); 48 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Bielefeld and 1 hits a target of opportunity; attacks are visual; 3 B-24s are damaged. The escort is 19 of 21 P-51s without loss. 4. All 219 B-24s dispatched hit the Rothensee oil refinery at Magdeburg visually; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost and 77 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 39 MIA. The escort is 129 of 144 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft in the air; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 5. The primary targets for 453 B-17s are the Wilke (53) and Brussing (77) oil plants and the MIAG munitions plant (61) at Brunswick and oil refineries at Dollbergen (37), Dedenhausen (53) and Nienhagen (56); 38 hit the secondary, Hildesheim (38); targets of opportunity are the marshalling yard at Bielefeld (36), Herford (23) and other (2); most attacks are visual; they claim 1-2-4 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost and 53 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 41 MIA. Escorting are 169 of 180 P-51s; they claim 0-0-4 aircraft in the air and 9-0-2 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 6. 100 of 107 P-51s fly a fighter sweep in the Leipzig-Magdeburg area; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 7. 30 of 31 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 862: 18 of 24 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Emden using PFF. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits Wiesbaden, Giessen, Bergisch Born, and Nahbollenbach ordnance and storage depots, rail bridges at Remagen and Simmern, a communications center at Heimersheim, motor transport concentration at Schwelm, the Rheinbach ammunition dump, Kirn marshalling yard and town, and several targets of opportunity; fighters fly bomber escort, hit special targets, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 9th Infantry Division, 3d Armored Division, and VII Corps astride the Erft River W of Euskirchen and the area near Roggendorf W of the Rhine River, the XIII, XVI, and XIX Corps E of Sevelen, NE of Krefeld, and W of the Rhine in the Dusseldorf area, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the area between the Prum and Kyll Rivers and along the Mosel River in the Trier area. 

234 RAF aircraft - 201 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 21 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of No 8 Group repeated the attack on Kamen. No aircraft lost over Germany. The synthetic-oil refinery at Bergkamen was severely damaged in this accurate raid and no further production of oil took place.

212 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Ladbergen aqueduct on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, breached it in 2 places and put it completely out of action. 7 Lancasters lost. The gunners in the No 619 Squadron Lancaster of Wing Commander SG Birch claimed to have shot down a V-1 flying bomb near the target area; the V-1 was probably aimed at the port of Antwerp.

95 RAF training aircraft on a diversionary sweep, 64 Mosquitos to Berlin and 32 to Würzburg, 61 RCM sorties, 29 Mosquito patrols, 31 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and in Oslo Fjord, 17 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Lancaster lost - from the minelaying operation. Total RAF effort for the night: 785 sorties, 8 aircraft lost over Germany and the sea, 20 aircraft shot down by Intruders over England, a total casualty rate of 3.6 per cent.

The strategy of the jet fighters of the Luftwaffe is changed. Instead of sending up small forces to attack the Allies, today all available Me 262s are ordered aloft. A total of twenty-nine jet fighters from Geschwaderstab and III./JG 7 take off from Oranienburg, Brandenburg and Parchim to engage large formations of bombers sent to bomb Magdeburg. Most of the jet Experten claim victories including Lt. Buchner, Hptm. Gutmann, Lt. Schnorrer and Oblt. Wegmenn. Major Sinner and Helmut Lennartz each also claim a victory. But the defensive fire from the bombers is heavy and Hptm Gutmann is killed when his cockpit is hit and he crashes to the ground. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Rapidly deteriorating weather cancels bombing operations. In Austria, P-51s strafe rail traffic between Leibnitz and SW of Spittal an der Drau and attack the airfield S of Graz; P-38s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort. 1 B-24, of 6 dispatched, drops supplies in N Yugoslavia. HQ 31st Fighter Group and the 307th and 308th Fighter Squadrons move from San Severo to Mondolfo, Italy with P-51s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, overcast skies and turbulent winds hamper medium bomber missions against communications in the Brenner area, allowing only limited success against targets; the Crema and Fidenza Bridges in the Po Valley are damaged; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers, destroy a sugar refinery at Verona and achieve good results against communications and dumps in the C Po Valley and Brenner area; other fighters and fighter-bombers support the US Fifth Army S of Bologna; A-20s during the night of 2/3 Mar, hit roads, ammunition supplies, and vehicles at several points in the Po Valley, particularly in the Bologna-Modena regions, and bomb the Legnano marshalling yard.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet offensive in Pomerania continues to make gains especially toward the west near Stettin. Units of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) establish a new bridgehead across the Oder south of Frankfurt. German Pomeranian armies are split. There is renewed fighting in East Prussia.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Geldern is captured by the British 30th Corps, part of Canadian 1st Army. British and Canadian troops liberate Vynen and Apeldoorn. US 1st and 9th Armies continue their advance to the Rhine River. US 1st Army advances on the Erft. The US 7th Corps from US 1st Army reaches the Rhine just north of Cologne. US 3rd Army establishes bridgeheads across the River Kyll.

Finland declares that a state of war with Germany has been in existence since 15 September 1944.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 863: 1,028 bombers and 522 fighters are dispatched to bomb targets in SW Germany; bad weather causes 300+ aborts; 1 B-24 and 1 P-51 are lost: 1. 373 B-17s are sent to hit the jet aircraft plant at Schwabmunchen (69) and military vehicle plant and ordnance depot at Ulm (223); 59 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Ulm; targets of opportunity are Reutlingen (12) and other (1); bombing is by Gee-H; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escorting are 150 of 156 P-51s; 1 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 274 B-24s are dispatched but weather prevents them hitting the primaries; targets of opportunity are Aschaffenburg (18), Tuttlingen (11), Astadtaach (10), Pforzheim (8), the marshalling yard at Stuttgart (11), the railroad at Sonaueschingen (10), Stuttgart (50) and other (36); bombing is by H2X radar with some visual bombing; 1 B-24 is lost and 19 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA. 139 P-47s and P-51s escort without loss. 3. 376 B-17s are dispatched but weather prevents them attacking the primaries; secondary targets hit are the marshalling yards at Ingolstadt (69) and Ulm (75); targets of opportunity are Ausbuch (1) and other (3); H2X radar is used for bombing; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged; 17 airmen are KIA. The escort is 172 of 186 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 4. 5 B-17s fly a scouting mission. 5. 21 of 22 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 864: 1 B-17 and 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, about 180 B-26s, A-20s, and A-26s strike marshalling yards and a rail junction at Recklinghausen, Lenkerbeck, and Herne, communications centers at Bruhl, Sechtem, and Rheinbach, and several other targets including a rail bridge and towns; weather limits fighter operations; a few fighters fly armed reconnaissance E of the Rhine River and others fly cover for the XX Corps. 

128 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack through cloud on Wanne-Eickel. No results were seen. 31 Mosquitos to Berlin, 24 to Essen and 28 in small numbers to 5 ports in Northern Germany, 6 Mosquito patrols, 12 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland, 16 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Stirlings on Resistance operations were lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 630+ B-24s and B-17s, with fighter escort, bomb marshalling yards at Sopron (2 yards) and Szombathely, Hungary; Knittelfeld, Zeltweg, Graz, Sankt Veit an der Glan and Wiener- Neustadt, Austria; Zagreb (2 yards) and Lbubljana, Yugoslavia; and several scattered targets of opportunity; other B-24s, with P-51 escort, drop supplies in Yugoslavia; F-5s, P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort operations. The 309th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, moves from San Severo to Mondolfo, Italy with P-51s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, good flying weather permits a full-scale effort; medium bombers hit 7 railroad bridges on the Brenner line and in NE Italy; the Salorno railroad fill receives a particularly good concentration of bombs; XXII Tactical Air Command P-47s concentrate on communications targets in the Po Valley, knocking out a span of the Cittadella railway bridge; Brazilian P-47s blast an ammunition dump at Villafranca di Verona; during the night of 3/4 Mar, A-20s bomb the bridge and bridge approaches at Casarsa della Delizia, Ostiglia, and Nervesa della Battaglia, the radar station at Vignola, and lights, motor transport, roads, and other targets of opportunity at over 30 places in the C Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Mar 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The fortress city of Graudenz on the Vistula surrenders to troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front (Rokossovsky), while Königsberg, Breslau, Küstrin, Frankfurt/Oder and Kolberg are still holding out. A German battalion lands in Breslau to help defend the city. Soviet troops approach Stettin.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Units of the US 8th Corps (part of US 1st Army) enter Cologne from the south and the east. The Allied advance continues along the entire line. German troops blow the Rhine bridges as the US 1st and 9th Armies close on the river 

*GERMANY*: Fifteen- and sixteen-year-old boys from the class of 1949 are called up to serve in the German army. 

(US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 865: 429 bombers and 689 fighters are dispatched to hit oil targets in Germany; the primary target for the B-17s is the synthetic oil plant at Ruhland but weather forces them to hit the secondary target; all bombing is with H2X radar; 1 B-17 is lost: 1. 233 of 303 B-17s hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Chemnitz; targets of opportunity are Plauen (34) and Fulda (9); 1 B-17 is lost and 15 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 369 of 420 P-51s; 3 P-51s are damaged beyond repair and 1 pilot is KIA. 2. 120 of 126 B-24s hit the Harburg oil refinery at Hamburg without loss. The escort is 186 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 3. 27 P-51s attack the marshalling yard at Kreuztal; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 4. 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 5. 14 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 866: 21 of 24 B-24s bomb the Wiesbaden rail station by PFF markers during the night. Mission 867: 9 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 565 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s attack 6 marshalling yards, a communications center, an ordnance depot, a city area and targets of opportunity with the aim of obstructing reinforcements and supplies to German forces being pushed back across the Rhine River; fighters escort the bombers, drop leaflets in the Cologne-Bonn area, and fly armed reconnaissance over the Ruhr and Hamm-Duisburg area. 

170 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the Consolidation benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen. No results were seen. 1 Lancaster lost.

Chemnitz; 760 RAF aircraft - 498 Lancasters, 256 Halifaxes, 6 Mosquitos - to continue Operation Thunderclap. The operation started badly when 9 aircraft of No 6 Group crashed near their bases soon after taking off in icy conditions. No 426 Squadron, at Linton-on-Ouse, lost 3 out of their 14 Halifaxes taking part in the raid in this way, with only 1 man surviving. 1 of the Halifaxes crashed in York, killing some civilians. 22 further aircraft were lost in the main operation - 14 Lancasters and 8 Halifaxes.

248 RAF Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the synthetic-oil refinery at Böhlen. The target area was covered by cloud but some damage was caused to the refinery. 4 Lancasters lost.

75 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 15 to Gelsenkirchen and 36 in small numbers to 6 other targets, 52 RCM sorties, 27 Mosquito patrols. 5 aircraft lost - 2 Mosquito bombers from the Berlin raid, 1 Mosquito lost from a small raid to Hallendorf, 2 RCM aircraft (1 Halifax and 1 Stirling, of which the latter was believed to have been shot down over France by an American artillery unit). Total effort for the night: 1,223 sorties, 31 aircraft (2.5 per cent) lost and 10 more crashed in England.

Walter Borchers, a forty-eight victory night-fighter with NJG 1 whose victories include three four-engined Allied bombers on the Western Front, is killed in action over Leipzig.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather limits operations to supply, escort, and reconnaissance missions. HQ 306th Fighter Wing moves from Lesina to Fano, Italy; HQ 325th Fighter Group and the 317th and 319th Fighter Squadrons move from Lesina to Rimini, Italy with P-51s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s hit lines of communications in the N Po Valley during the night of 4/5 Mar; results are generally good; bad daytime weather grounds the medium bombers; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers and fighters operate on a greatly reduced scale, mostly in the C Po Valley, hitting bridges at Casarsa della Delizia, Nervesa della Battaglia, Ostiglia, and Ostellato, and attacking the town of Vignola.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: About 1200 Soviet aircraft bomb Breslau throughout the day. Soviet troops advance towards Danzig. An Hs 293 guided bomb is launched against the Oder bridge at Göritz. 

The German forces in Hungary launch a major counteroffensive in the area just north of Lake Balaton. The 6th SS Panzer Army, which was withdrawn from the Ardennes battle early in January, has been moved here to spearhead the attack. Other units from Army Group South (Wohler) also take part in the offensive. The operation is code named *Fruhlingserwachen *or _'Spring Awakening'_. The German aim is to retake all the territory between Lake Balaton and the Danube. The Soviet 27th Army, defending along the targeted line of advance, is forced to give ground initially. However, 3rd Ukrainian Front (Tolbukhin) responds with the allotment of reserves to slow the advance down. Meanwhile, in the fighting in Poland, forces of 2nd Belorussian Front complete the capture of the fortress town of Grudiaz after a lengthy siege. 

King Michael appoints a new government dominated by the Romanian Communist Party. In the west, this move is viewed as a sign the Stalin and the Soviet Union will not hold to the assurances given at Yalta about doing nothing to hinder the process of democracy in eastern Europe.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Units of the Canadian 1st Army are preparing to clear the final German pocket west of the Rhine around Xanten. The US 9th Army has reached the Rhine all along its front. To the south, US 1st Army is fighting in Cologne and driving toward Remagen farther south -- the US 9th Armored Division leads the advance. Farther south, units of US 3rd Army are making a rapid advance toward the Rhine at Koblenz.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 868: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 5 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. 

*GERMANY*: (US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 260+ A-26s, and B-26s hit Recklinghausen, Siegburg, and Opladen marshalling yards, Siegburg storage depot, and the town of Bochum as a target of opportunity; weather grounds the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) flies alerts and covers the US XVI Corps as it completes a drive to the Rhine River in the Rheinburg area. 

119 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack through cloud on the Wintershall oil refinery at Salzbergen. 1 lost.

48 RAF Mosquitos of No 8 Group attacked Wesel, which was believed to contain many German troops and vehicles. The target had been cloud-covered for several days. Oboe Mosquitos provided the marking. 1 aircraft lost.

191 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the port of Sassnitz on the island of Rügen, in the Baltic. Considerable damage was caused to the northern part of the town and 3 ships were sunk in the harbour. 1 Lancaster lost.

87 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group and 51 Mosquitos of No 8 Group continued the attack on Wesel with two separate raids. No aircraft lost.

42 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 2 RCM sorties, 5 Mosquito patrols, 15 Lancasters minelaying off Sassnitz.

Major Adolf von Hernier is appointed Kommodore of KG 200 in place of Obst. Baumbach.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather restricts all operations except reconnaissance and a supply mission, with escort, to Yugoslavia. The 302d Fighter Squadron, 332d Fighter Group, is inactivated at Ramitelli Airfield, Italy. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers pound communications in the Brenner Pass and hit bridges at Pordenone, Ossenigo, Enego, Ora, Pizzighetone, and San Ambrogio di Valpolicella; fighters and fighter-bombers concentrate on close support of the US Fifth Army S and SW of Bologna; during the night of 5/6 Mar, a few A-20s bomb targets of opportunity in the Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Irish Sea, Canadian frigates _'La Hulloise'_, _'Strathadam'_, and _'Thetford Mines' _sink German submarine _'U-1302'_. _'U-1302' _had successfully attacked Halifax/UK convoy SC167 in St George's Channel. 

US 1st Army seizes the intact Ludendorff railroad bridge at Remagen, near Bonn, and establishes a bridgehead on the east bank of the Rhine. The leading tanks of US 3rd Corps (part of US 1st Army) reach the Rhine River opposite Remagen and find the Ludendorff Bridge there damaged but still standing. Troops are immediately rushed across and a bridgehead is firmly established during the day. Eisenhower's reaction to the bridge's capture: _'That bridge is worth its weight in gold_.' Other elements of the US 1st Army complete the capture of Cologne. Units US 12th Corps from US 3rd Army continue to advance rapidly. The US 3rd Army breaks through the Schnee Eifel Mountains.

Hitler relieves Field Marshal Rundstedt from his post as Commander in Chief of the German armies in the west because of the American capture of the bridge at Remagen. Field Marshal Kesselring is appointed to replace him.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels combat operations except for the XXIX Tactical Air Commands support of the US XVI Corps along the Rhine River in the Wesel area. The 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from St Amand to Jarny, France with F-5s (flights are operating from Gosselies and Le Culot, Belgium).

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Hungary, the German offensive by Army Group South continues and achieves more gains. To the north of Lake Balaton, attacks are by 6th SS Panzer Army while to the south of the lake, there are attacks by units of the German 2nd Panzer Army toward Kaposvar. Farther south, in occupied Yugoslavia, elements of German Army Group E (Lohr) attack northeast of the Drava River against allied forces of 3rd Ukrainian Front. Meanwhile, on the Baltic, German evacuations begin from around the city of Danzig which continue until mid-April. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 869: 946 bombers and 322 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and communication targets using PFF; 1 P-51 is lost: 1. 246 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Soest (144) and the Schildesche water viaduct at Bielefeld (80); Gee-H and H2X radar are used for bombing; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA. Escorting are 77 P-47s and P-51s. 2. 344 B-17s are dispatched to bomb the Horderverein (24) and Harpenerweg (62) oil refineries at Dortmund; secondary targets hit are the marshalling yards at Paderborn (11), Siegen (113) and Giessen (87); Gee-H and H2X radar are used; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 20 damaged; 1 airman is KIA. The escort is 74 of 85 P-51s. 3. 340 B-17s are sent to hit the Emscherlippe benzol plant at Datteln (173) and the Rauxel benzol plant at Castrop (77); secondary targets hit are the marshalling yards at Siegen (43) and Giessen (28); 1 other hits a target of opportunity; Micro H and H2X radar are used; 56 B-17s are damaged. 75 of 76 P-51s escort the bombers. 4. 6 B-17s and 6 B-24s fly a screening mission. 5. 4 B-17s fly a scouting mission. 6. 37 of 38 P-51s fly a sweep of the Dummer Lake-Kassel-Koblenz area. 7. 23 P-51s escort 5 F-5s and a Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 8. 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 870: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands. Mission 871: 19 of 20 B-24s bomb Dortmund during the night using PFF; 1 B-24 is lost. 

526 RAF Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups raided Dessau. 18 Lancasters lost, 3.4 per cent of the force. This was another devastating raid on a new target in Eastern Germany with the usual town centre, residential, industrial and railway areas all being hit. The night bombing raid on Dressau destroyed the first two special ‘Mosquito destroyers’, Ju 88 G-7 high performance night-fighters, before they have a chance to become operational.

256 RAF Halifaxes and 25 Lancasters of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attempted to attack the Deutsche Erdoel refinery at Hemmingstedt, near Heide, with little success. 4 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost.

234 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group carried out an accurate attack on the oil refinery at Harburg. 14 Lancasters lost. No 189 Squadron, from Fulbeck, lost 4 of its 16 Lancasters on the raid. One local report states that a rubber factory was seriously damaged as well as the oil targets.

80 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 10 to Frankfurt, 9 to Münster and 5 to Hannover, 56 RCM sorties, 43 Mosquito patrols, 15 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters minelaying off Eckemforde and Flensburg. 4 aircraft were lost - 2 Halifaxes and 1 Fortress of No 100 Group and 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Continued bad weather limits operations to a supply drop in Yugoslavia and routine reconnaissance and escort missions; all bombing operations are cancelled and 42 P-51s sent on a strafing mission against railroad communications in Austria are recalled. The 318th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Group, moves from Lesina to Rimini, Italy with P-51s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s continue interdiction of enemy communications, damaging a railroad bridge at Longarone and railroad fills at Peri and Ossenigo; the XXII Tactical Air Command concentrates on communications in the NE, Po Valley and fuel and ammunition dumps in the C part of the Valley with generally good results; during the night of 6/7 Mar, A-20s hit the Ostiglia crossing and bridges at Nervesa della Battaglia and Casarsa della Delizia, and bomb targets of opportunity in the Brenner area.

Major Erich Leie, Kommodore of JG 77 is killed in action. Major Siegfried Freytag is again named acting Kommodore of the Geschwader.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: American efforts to reinforce the Remagen bridgehead continue. To the north, units of the Canadian 2nd Corps (part of Canadian 1st Army) capture Xanten. 

300 German Luftwaffe planes fail to destroy the Ludendorff railroad bridge across the Rhine River.

During the night, German forces from the garrisons in the occupied Channel Islands mount a raid on Granville on the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula. One small US warship and 4 merchant ships are sunk. The raiders also free 67 German prisoners of war.

(US Ninth Air Force): 328 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s hit 7 communications centers, 2 marshalling yards, a road overpass, and a military transport depot in the furtherance of the interdiction program; weather prevents fighter operations except for a small alert mission by the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional). Operational HQ of the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional), HQ 84th Fighter Wing and HQ 303d Fighter Wing move from Maastricht, the Netherlands to Monchen-Gladbach, Germany; the detachments of the 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) operating from Gosselies and Le Culot, Belgium with F-5s, return to base at Jarny, France. 

*ENGLAND*: A German V-2 rocket hits Smithfield Market on Farringdon Road in the borough of Finsbury, near London, England, killing 110, seriously injuring 123, with 243 suffering lesser injuries.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops capture Laubau (Silesia). The Red Army penetrates into the southern suburbs of Breslau. Five _Mistels _escorted by Ju 188 bombers attack the Oder Bridge at Göritz. As the Ju 188s scatter the Allied air defenses, the _Mistels _launch and two of the flying bomb contraptions hit the bridge.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Beginning of secret negotiations at Bern, Switzerland, between representatives of the American OSS (Allan Dulles) and the German High Command in Italy (General von Vietinghoff and SS General Wolff) for an early surrender of German forces in Italy.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 550+ B-17s and B-24s hit marshalling yards at Hegyeshalom and Komarom, Hungary, and Verona, Italy, the locomotive depot at Maribor, Yugoslavia, and the steel works at Kapfenberg, Austria; P-51s and P-38s fly escort and reconnaissance missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers are hampered by heavy clouds but hit the Novara marshalling yard, Longarone and Mori rail fills, and Rovereto bridge; fighters and fighter-bombers pound communications and supplies, destroy a road bridge SW of Bologna, severely damage an ammunition plant and surrounding complex NW of Milan, and hit several other targets, including a bridge near Montebello which Brazilian P-47s operating with the XXII Tactical Air Command cut in half; A-20s, operating during the night of 7/8 Mar, attack river crossings at Borgoforte, Cremona, Ostiglia, San Benetto Po, Viadana, and Ora, and numerous vehicles, lights, and general movement in the C Po Valley and along the Brenner line. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 872: 1,353 bombers and 326 fighters are dispatched to hit benzol plants, an oil plant and rail targets in Germany using PFF; NO AIRCRAFT ARE LOST AND THERE ARE NO CASUALTIES! 1. 360 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Betzdorf (70), Siegen (114) and Dillenburg (73); targets of opportunity are Limburg (10) and Frankfurt (10); bombing is by H2X radar; 3 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 99 of 102 P-51s. 2. 526 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Robert Muser (99) and Bruchstrasse (63) benzol plants at Langendreer, the Gneisenau benzol plant at Dortmund (110) and Heddernheim chemical factory at Frankfurt (122); secondary targets are the marshalling yards at Giessen (69) and Frankfurt (18); 13 others hit Wetzlar, a target of opportunity; bombing is with H2X radar; 26 B-17s are damaged. The escort is 95 of 99 P-51s. 3. 458 B-17s are sent to hit the Emil benzol plant at Essen (114), the Mathies Stinnes benzol plant at Bottrop (37), the August Viktoria benzol plant at Huls (111) and the synthetic oil plant at Buer Scholren (75); 109 hit the marshalling yard at Essen, a target of opportunity; bombing is by Micro-H; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair. 93 of 98 P-51s escort. 4. 9 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 873: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. Mission 874: 15 B-24s attack the marshalling yard at Dortmund during the night without loss and 4 of 7 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. 

312 RAF aircraft - 241 Halifaxes, 62 Lancasters, 9 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked Hamburg. 1 Halifax lost. The purpose of this raid was to hit the shipyards which were now assembling the new Type XXI U-boats, whose parts were prefabricated in many parts of inland Germany. Thanks to the Schnorkel breathing tube and a new type of battery-driven electric engine, the Type XXI could cruise under water for long periods and was capable of bursts of high speed. Its development in numbers would have posed great problems for Allied convoy defence if the war had lasted longer. The Hamburg area was found to be cloud-covered and the bombing was not expected to be accurate enough to cause much damage to the shipyards.

262 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups carried out the first large raid on Kassel since October 1943; it was also the last large RAF raid on this target. 1 Mosquito lost. This target was also covered by cloud.

39 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 33 to Hannover, 7 to Hagen and 5 each to Bremen and Osnabrück, 50 RCM sorties, 36 Mosquito patrols, 23 Halifaxes and 14 Lancasters minelaying in the Rivers Elbe and Weser, 5 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 RCM Halifax lost. The 5 Stirlings of No 161 Squadron, which were carrying supplies to Resistance units at unrecorded destinations, but probably in Denmark and Norway, were the last Resistance operations flights of the war.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: General der Infantrie Herman Niehoff officially replaces von Ahlfen as fortress commander of Breslau, Germany. On the Oder front in the East, troops of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front are fighting inside the fortress of Küstrin.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Bonn and Godesberg are captured by units of US 1st Army while others continue to expand the bridgehead over the Rhine River, at Remagen, where Erpel is captured. Farther south, toward Koblenz, US 3rd Army units reach the Rhine at Andernach.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 875: 1,045 bombers and 443 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards and industrial plants in Germany; they claim 0-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers are lost: 1. 423 B-17s are sent to hit the Ost (150) and Main (222) marshalling yards and a casting plant (38) at Frankfurt visually and using Micro H, H2X radar and smoke markers; 6 B-17s also fly a screening mission; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 182 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 28 MIA. Escorting are 94 of 101 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air. 2. 318 of 336 B-17s attack the marshalling yard and a large tank factory at Kassel visually; 6 other B-17s fly a screening mission; 3 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 188 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 28 MIA. The escort is 97 of 99 P-51s; 1 is damaged beyond repair. 3. 282 B-24s are sent to bomb marshalling yards at Munster (97), Rheine (93) and Osnabruck (87) using Gee-H and H2X; 1 B-24 is lost and 52 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 12 MIA. 47 of 51 P-51s escort. 4. 4 B-17s fly a scouting mission. 5. 141 P-47s and P-51s fly a freelance sweep in support of the bombers; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 6. 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 7. 15 P-51s escort 12 F-5s and 3 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air. Mission 876: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night; and 2 of 9 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 600+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit 6 marshalling yards, storage and vehicle depots, ammunition-filling plants, and 12 targets of opportunity as part of the interdiction campaign; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, hit special targets, cover the Remagen bridgehead and support the US 9th Infantry and 9th Armored Divisions committed there, support the 4th Armored Division at the Mosel River bridge at Treis, the XX Corps along the Mosel and Saar Rivers, and the XVI Corps along the Rhine River near Wesel. The 125th Liaison Squadron, IX Fighter Command [attached to the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional)], moves from Maastricht, the Netherlands to Monchen-Gladbach, Germany with L-5s; and the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), moves from Spa, Belgium to Duren, Germany with L-5s. 

159 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group bombed the North and South plants of the Emscher Lippe benzol plant near Datteln. The target area was cloud-covered and G-H was used. The bombing appeared to be accurate but no results were seen. 1 Lancaster lost.

21 RAF Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 5 Group set out to bomb the Bielefeld Viaduct but the raid was abandoned because of low cloud.

92 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 16 Mosquitos on nuisance flights over Bremen, Hannover, Osnabrück and Wilhelmshaven, 29 RCM sorties, 12 Mosquito patrols, 21 Halifaxes minelaying in the Kattegat and off Oslo. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 372 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escorts, bomb marshalling yards at Graz (2 yards), Klagenfurt, Sankt Stefan, and Sankt Paul, Austria, and Ljubljana, Yugoslavia; river bridges at Sankt Paul are also bombed; 27 P-38s bomb the Knittelfeld, Austria marshalling yard and 13 others strafe the Graz, Austria-Maribor, Yugoslavia railroad lines. Routine supply, reconnaissance, and escort missions continue. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s hit bridges at San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, San Michele all'Adige, Bozzolo, Santa Margherita d'Adige, Ora, and Montebello, the marshalling yard at Ora, and the bridge approach at Ala; fighters and fighter-bombers attack bridges, railroads, vehicles, trains, supply dumps, parked airplanes, buildings, and other targets over wide areas, including Milan, Cittadella, Ala, Santa Margherita d'Adige, La Spezia, Ghedi, Lecco, and the battle area in the N Apennines. A-20s, on intruder missions during the night of 8/9 Mar, bomb river crossings in the Po Valley at several locations, among them Ostiglia, San Benedetto Po, and Borgoforte.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2010)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Field Marshal Albert Kesselring ceases to be Commander-in-Chief Armed Forces South (Mediterranean).

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Italy, 191 heavy bombers hit the Verona-Parona di Valpolicella railroad bridge; 1 other bombs the Voghera marshalling yard. Supply missions to Yugoslavia and reconnaissance operations continue. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s bomb bridges and other communications targets in the E Po Valley during the night of 9/10 Mar; B-25s bomb bridges at Ora, Bozzolo, and San Michele all'Adige, and a railroad fill at the Ceraino railroad station; fighters and fighter-bombers hit communications and targets of opportunity at various locations in the E Po Valley, including several bridges, and numerous ammunition dumps and vehicles. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The last German forces are withdrawn from the pocket west of the Rhine between Wesel and Xanten. They have lost heavily to the British and Canadian attacks. The US 1st and 3rd Armies link up near Andernach completing the Allied hold on the west bank of the Rhine everywhere north of Koblenz. Field Marshal Kesselring arrives from Italy to take command of the German armies in the west. The US Third Army captures Bonn.

German submarine _'U-275' _sunk with all hands after hitting a mine off Newhaven.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German forces of Army Group South advancing around Lake Balaton encounter heavy resistance from Soviet air and ground forces of 3rd Ukrainian Front and make limited progress. German progress is also hindered by muddy conditions and a lack of fuel for the tanks and other vehicles. General of Panzer Troops Hasso von Manteuffel takes command of Third Panzer Army. The Kriegsmarine evacuates 25,000 civilian refugees from the besieged Baltic fortress of Kolberg in Pommerania. In the battle for Danzig, the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front captures Zoppot.

Stalin returns Transylvania to Romania.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 877: 1,374 bombers and 670 fighters attack rail targets in Germany by PFF methods; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 376 B-24s are dispatched to hit the rail viaducts at Arnsberg (115) and Bielefeld (114) and the marshalling yard at Paderborn; 10 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Bielefeld; 1 B-24 is damaged. The escort is 146 of 155 P-51s. 2. 526 B-17s are sent to hit the Sud (109), Erfeld (111) and Eving (153) marshalling yards at Dortmund and the Soest marshalling yard (138); 3 other B-17s fly a scouting mission; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 44 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escorting are 152 of 158 P-51s; 1 is damaged beyond repair. 3. 457 B-17s are sent to hit the Sinsen (89) and Coesfeld (38) rail crossings and the marshalling yards at Schwerte (116) and Hagen (41); 136 hit the secondary, a marshalling yard at Dortmund; 33 others hit Hamm, a target of opportunity; 26 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA. 98 of 100 P-51s escort; 2 P-51s are lost. 4. 12 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 144 P-47s and P-51s fly a freelance support mission for the bombers; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft in the air. 6. 72 of 74 P-51s escort Ninth AF bombers on their strikes. 7. 27 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 8. 5 P-51s escort 7 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over the Ruhr. Mission 879: 13 B-24s attack the marshalling yard at Munster during the night without loss. Mission 880: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. The 857th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 492d Bombardment Group (Heavy) (attached to 1st Air Division) moves from Harrington to Bassingbourne, England with B-24s (the 857th begins flying weather reconnaissance missions today). 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 383 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s strike 5 marshalling yards, a communications center, 2 city areas, miscellaneous targets in the Koblenz-Braubach area, and a target of opportunity; Eighth and Ninth AF fighters escort the bombers, attack ground targets, fly patrols, armed reconnaissance, and provide cover and ground support over the Remagen bridge area where the US 9th Infantry Division expands it's bridgehead against fierce opposition, support the 4th Armored Division in the Koblenz area and the XX Corps in the Saarburg area, and cooperate with the XVI Corps near Wesel. The 33d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Le Culot, Belgium to Venlo, the Netherlands with F-5s. 

155 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the oil refinery at Scholven/Buer. Photographs taken later showed this to have been a very accurate and effective raid. No aircraft lost.

60 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 4 each to Gotha, Jena and Weimar, 35 RCM sorties, 10 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.


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## Njaco (Mar 10, 2010)

*ENGLAND*: The first unexploded V-2 rocket to hit England lands in a field at Paglesham in Essex. The warhead is later extracted from a depth of 37 feet below ground. 

Some 70 German prisoners of war stage a mass escape from the POW camp at Bridgend, Glamorgan (South Wales). All are recaptured by March 17.

*WESTERN FRONT*: German submarine _'U-682' _sunk at Hamburg.

The US third Army captures Kochem on the lower Moselle river.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army approaches Gotenhafen, closing a vital port of embarkation for tens of thousands of refugees from East Prussia who are now heading for the Hela peninsula.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 881: 1,256 bombers and 814 fighters are dispatched to make H2X radar attacks on U-boat yards at Kiel and Bremen and the shipyard and refinery area at Hamburg, Germany; 1 B-17 and 4 P-51s are lost: 1. 344 of 352 B-24s attack the Krupp Germania U-boat yard at Kiel; 2 B-24s are damaged. 232 P-47s and P-51s escort; 1 P-51 is lost. 2. 469 of 485 B-17s hit the Wilhelmsburg oil refinery at Hamburg; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 41 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 252 of 265 P-51s; 2 are lost. 3. 406 of 413 B-17s hit the Deschimag U-boat yard at Bremen; 9 B-17s are damaged. 237 of 255 P-51s escort; 1 is lost. 4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 18 P-51s escort 6 F-5s and a Spitfire on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 6. 27 of 29 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 882: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 696 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s, hit 4 airfields, 3 communications centers, 2 ammunition filling plants, and several city areas and other casual targets; these attacks are to obstruct air operations and supply and troop movements in general; fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, escort the bombers, support the US 9th Infantry Division push at the Remagen bridgehead and fly cover over the area, and support the XX Corps E of Trier and Saarburg. HQ 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group and the 160th and 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons (with F-6s) and HQ 373d Fighter Group move from Le Culot, Belgium to Venlo, the Netherlands; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Epinal to Buhl, France with L-5s. 

1,079 RAF aircraft - 750 Lancasters, 293 Halifaxes, 36 Mosquitos - of all bomber groups attacked Essen. This was the largest number of aircraft sent to a target so far in the war. 3 Lancasters lost. 4,661 tons of bombs were dropped on Oboe-directed skymarkers through complete cloud cover. The attack was accurate and this great blow virtually paralysed Essen until the American troops entered the city some time later. This was the last RAF raid on Essen, which had been attacked so many times, though often in the early years of the war with such disappointing and costly results. Most of the city was now in ruins. 7,000 people had died in air raids. The pre-war population of 648,000 had fallen to 310,000 by the end of April 1945; the rest had left for quieter places in Germany.

90 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 each to Brunswick, Hannover and Magdeburg, 4 Mosquito patrols, 22 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Oslo. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s of the 57th Bombardment Wing score damaging hits on a bridge and fills at San Michele all'Adige, Volargne, and Ossenigo, and, attacking a target in Austria for first time, bomb a bridge at Drauburg; fighters and fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command hit rail lines and dumps in the C Po Valley and in the Brenner area; during the night of 10/11 Mar A-20s hit several Po River crossings, Ghedi and Pavia Airfields, road junctions, and other targets in the Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Mar 12, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: There is heavy fighting in the Remagen bridgehead where elements of the German 7th Army are counterattacking.

German submarine _'U-260' _scuttled off Ireland after hitting a mine.

Hans Adams, a twelve victory experte of EJG 1, is killed in action as is Oblt. Hans Schneider the _Staffelkapitän _of 13./JG 5 with eleven victories. In a strange twist of fate Oblt. Schneider’s place as _Staffelkapitän _is taken by Lt. August Schneider, who is no relation to Hans.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Kustrin falls to forces of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, after a bitter struggle. Apart from a small area in the north near Stettin, the Soviets now hold the whole of the Oder-Neisse river line as far south as Gorlitz. To the north, forces of 2nd Belorussian Front continue to push forward toward the Gulf of Danzig. In the Polish Corridor, they capture Tczew. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 883: 1,355 bombers and 797 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany by PFF; they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 220 of 227 B-24s and 441 of 450 B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Swinemunde; 1 other hit the marshalling yard at Husum, a target of opportunity; all attacks are made with H2X radar; 1 B-17 is lost, 6 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 412 of 452 P-51s; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft in the air; 4 P-51s are lost (3 pilots MIA). 2. 154 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yards at Friedberg (75) and Wetzlar (74) using Gee-H; 2 airmen are WIA. 3. 298 B-17s are dispatched to attack the marshalling yards at Siegen (141) and Marburg (113); 24 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Frankfurt using Micro H; 4 B-17s are damaged. 4. 226 B-17s are sent to bomb the marshalling yards at Betzdorf (116) and Dillenburg (110) using Gee-H without loss. 5. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th forces above are escorted by 192 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 6. 97 of 108 P-51s fly a sweep to support the bombers without loss. 7. 10 P-51s escort 5 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 8. 23 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 884: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night and 4 of 10 B-24s fly a CARPETBAGGER mission. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 9th Bombardment Division A-20s, A-26s and B-26s attack 8 marshalling yards, an ammunition-filling plant, city areas and targets of opportunity; the attacks on the marshalling yards are aimed at blocking troop movements by rail into the Ruhr and Remagen areas; fighters escort the bombers, bomb special targets, fly armed reconnaissance, cover the Remagen area, and support the US 9th Infantry Division in the Kalenborn and Hargarten areas and the XX Corps in the Saarburg bridgehead area. The 387th and 388th Fighter Squadrons, 365th Fighter Group, move from Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium to Aachen, Germany with P-47s; and the 412th Fighter Squadron, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Le Culot, Belgium to Venlo, the Netherlands with P-47s.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 790 B-24s and B-17s bomb the Floridsdorf oil refinery at Vienna and alternate targets, the marshalling yards at Graz, Zeltweg, and Wiener-Neustadt; 98 P-38s bomb the Knittelfeld railroad bridge (2 others hit nearby targets of opportunity) and strafe communications in the Wiener-Neustadt-Graz-Klagenfurt areas. 12 P-38s sweep the Zagreb, Yugoslavia area. Bad weather forces 60 P-51s sent against Austrian communications to abort; a supply mission to Yugoslavia and reconnaissance operations are successful. 

1,108 RAF aircraft - 748 Lancasters, 292 Halifaxes, 68 Mosquitos attacked Dortmund. This was another new record to a single target, a record which would stand to the end of the war. 2 Lancasters lost. Another record tonnage of bombs - 4,851 - was dropped through cloud on to this unfortunate city. The only details available from Dortmund state that the attack fell mainly in the centre and south of the city. A British team which investigated the effects of bombing in Dortmund after the war says that, 'The final raid … stopped production so effectively that it would have been many months before any substantial recovery could have occurred'.

81 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 3 each to Halle, Magdeburg and Stendal, 2 RCM sorties, 16 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes minelaying in the Kattegat. 3 Lancaster minelayers lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s hit 7 railroad bridges, cutting two, and fills--severely damaging one and a train--in the Brenner area and in NE Italy as far E as the Yugoslav border area; fighter- bombers blast communications in N Italy, making 36 rail cuts, 19 of them on the Brenner line; P-47s also bomb and severely damage a munitions factory NW of Zagreb, Yugoslavia; during the night of 11/12 Mar, A-20s on intruder missions hit Po River crossings, a sugar refinery, vehicles, and trains.


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## Njaco (Mar 14, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Eisenhower orders Bradley to limit the expansion of the Remagen bridgehead to a maximum width of twenty-five miles and a depth of ten miles, lest it detract from the main effort by the 21 Army Group. 

SS _'Taber Park' _(2,878t) on a voyage from the Tyne to London was lost near Great Yarmouth and was probably one of the very last ships to be sunk on that route during the war.

HQ 61st Troop Carrier Group and the 14th and 15th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Barkston, England to Abbeville, France with C-47s. 

16 P-51s based at Chievres, Belgium fly an uneventful aircraft sweep in the Remagen-Koblenz, Germany area; 17 F-5s fly photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German offensive to the north and south of Lake Balaton, in Hungary, begins to lose momentum. The Soviet 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) captures the Oder fortress of Küstrin, 70 miles east of Berlin, while the 2nd Belorussian Front (Rokossovsky) launches an offensive against the Braunsberg pocket south of Königsberg.

*GERMANY*: (US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 450+ A-26s, A-20s, and B-26s, bomb 3 marshalling yards, 2 airfields, rail sidings, and several targets of opportunity in the continuing interdiction campaign; fighters fly escort, patrols, and armed reconnaissance, attack assigned targets, cover the US First Army area in general along the Rhine River from Dusseldorf to Linz/Rhine, support the US 9th Infantry Division around Hargarten, cover the Remagen bridgehead, and support the XX Corps as it opens an offensive SE from the Saarburg bridgehead. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Germany, 569 B-24s and B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Regensburg; 3 other bombers bomb the Landshut marshalling yard and targets of opportunity; 280+ P-38s and P-51s provide escort and several strafe rail traffic in Germany and Austria during the return flight; 41 P-51s on a strafing mission attack rail traffic in the Munich-Landshut-Regensburg and Ingolstadt, Germany areas and between Vienna and Wiener-Neustadt, Austria. Photo reconnaissance is particularly extensive, with 18 F-5s covering areas of Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and N Italy; 41 fighters escort the photo missions. 

354 RAF aircraft - 319 Halifaxes, 24 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to Wuppertal and Barmen. No aircraft lost. This attack also took place over a cloud-covered target and the bombs fell slightly east of the area intended, covering the eastern half of the Barmen district and extending into Schwelm. Bomber Command had now dispatched 2,541 sorties by daylight to Ruhr targets in a 3-day period. Approximately 10,650 tons of bombs had been dropped through cloud with sufficient accuracy to cripple 2 cities and 1 town. The bomber losses were only 5 aircraft, a casualty rate of 0.2 per cent. These results show the great power now wielded by Bomber Command, its technical efficiency and the weakness of the German defences.

38 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group to bomb the Arnsberg and Bielefeld viaducts encountered bad weather. 1 aircraft bombed at Arnsberg and 2 further aircraft bombed alternative targets. No aircraft lost.

195 RAF Lancasters and 32 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked benzol plants at Herne and Gelsenkirchen. The Gelsenkirchen attack was successful but not the Herne raid, 1 Lancaster lost from the Gelsenkirchen raid.

50 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 26 to Bremen and 6 to Erfurt, 58 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid crashed in Belgium and 1 Halifax RCM aircraft in France.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s bomb railroad bridges and fills at Perca, Vo Sinistro, Pizzighetone, Salorno, and Sacile; fighters and fighter-bombers attack bridges, flak positions, ammunition and a supply dump, rail lines, various other targets, and fly close support to the US Fifth Army force as the XXII Tactical Air Command operates over wide areas of N Italy from the N Apennines through the Po Valley, and into NE Italy; on the night of 12/13 Mar, A-20s hit railroads, Po River crossings, dumps, and movement, mainly in the Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Mar 14, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: SS _'Magne' _(1,226t), a Danish merchantman, was sunk by _'U 714' _off St Abbs Head. After the attack on the _'Magne'_, _'U 714'_ was on patrol off St Abbs Head, when she was depth charged and sunk at 55°57'00"N - 01°57'00"W, by the _'Natal'_, a frigate of the South African Navy, on her maiden voyage from the Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson yard on the Tyne to Scapa Flow and hence to Tobermory, Isle of Mull. The _'Natal' _was offering assistance to the destroyer HMS _'Wivern'_, which was standing by the survivors of the _'Magne'_, when her ASDIC (Sonar) detected the submarine. _'Natal' _made two depth-charge runs on this contact after which wreckage and light oil came to the surface and the ASDIC contact vanished. It was assumed and later confirmed that the U-boat had gone straight to the bottom.

The US 12th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) launches attacks southeast over the Moselle River, near Koblenz, and US 20th Corps expands its attacks from between Trier and Saarburg. To the north, US 1st Army continues to expand the Remagen bridgehead despite German counterattacks. 

HQ 367th Fighter Group moves from St Dizier to Conflans, France. The 410th Fighter Squadron, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Le Culot, Belgium to Venlo, the Netherlands with P-47s. 

*GERMANY*: 169 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out G-H attacks through cloud on oil plants at Datteln and Hattingen (near Bochum). Both attacks appeared to be accurate but no results were seen. 1 Lancaster lost from the Hattingen raid.

32 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group, with 4 Oboe Mosquitos of No 8 Group, to attack the Bielefeld and Arnsberg viaducts. 28 Lancasters dropped Tallboy bombs and the No 617 Squadron Lancaster of Squadron Leader CC Calder dropped the first 22,000lb 'Grand Slam' bomb at Bielefeld. The Arnsberg viaduct, No 9 Squadron's target, was later found to be undamaged but more than 100 yards of the Bielefeld viaduct collapsed through the 'earthquake effect' of the Grand Slam and 'Tallboys' of No 617 Squadron. No aircraft lost.

244 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Wintershall synthetic-oil refinery at Lützkendorf. Photographic reconnaissance showed that 'moderate damage' was caused. 18 Lancasters were lost, 7.4 per cent of the Lancaster force.

230 RAF aircraft - 121 Lancasters, 98 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups to Zweibrücken. No aircraft lost. This attack was directed on to the town area to block the passage through it of German troops and stores to the nearby front line, The raid took place in good visibility and was very effective. The local report shows that every public building and inn and 80 per cent of the houses in the town were destroyed or damaged. Most of the civilian population had been evacuated; those remaining took shelter in 2 large caves in the north and south of the town or in the normal basement shelters of their houses. 

161 RAF aircraft - 127 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups on the same task as the Zweibrücken raid proceeded to Homburg. No local report is available but it is believed that this attack was equally successful. 2 Halifaxes lost.

75 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 each to Bremen and Brunswick, 52 RCM sorties, 27 Mosquito patrols. No 100 Group lost 2 Mosquitos and 1 Fortress.

The last Stirling operation of Bomber Command was flown on this night when Stirling LJ516, from No 199 Squadron at North Creake, flew a Mandrel screen operation; Squadron Leader JJM Button, the Australian pilot, and his crew landed safely.

(US Eighth Air Force):: 3 missions are flown. Mission 886: 1,262 bombers and 804 fighters are dispatched to hit oil, rail and industrial targets in Germany; they claim 17-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; 3 B-17s and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 526 B-17s are sent to hit oil refineries at Nienhagen (58) and Misburg (56), the Gebruder munitions plant (75) and Maschnbau (61) and Eisenwerke (74) factories at Hannover and the Seelze marshalling yard (80); secondary targets hit are Osnabruck (29) and the marshalling yard at Hannover; attacks were made visually and with H2X radar; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 188 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 19 MIA. 192 of 204 P-51s escort; 2 are damaged. 2. 449 B-17s are dispatched to hit the bridges at Vlotho (72) and Bad Ostenhausen (114), the marshalling yard and road junction at Lohne (144) and industrial plants at Hildesheim (60); 39 hit Osnabruck, a secondary target; targets of opportunity are the marshalling yards at Hameln (12) and Wetzlar (1) and Diemonde (1); all but one target is bombed visually; 1 B-17 is lost and 56 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting are 182 of 194 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft. 3. 272 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yards at Holzwickede (31) and Gutersloh (126); 110 others hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Giessen; attacks are made visually and with H2X radar; 4 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 5 WIA. The escort is 185 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss. 5. 29 of 33 P-41s escort Ninth AF bombers. 6. 50 P-51s fly a sweep of the Stein-Huder-Kassel area claiming 11-0-0 aircraft without loss. 7. 82 P-51s fly a sweep over the Remagen bridgehead; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 8. 20 P-51s escort 33 F-5s and 3 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany and Czechoslovakia. 9. 26 of 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission claiming 1-0-0 aircraft. Mission 887: 9 B-17s use DISNEY rockets weapons on the Ijmuiden submarine pens without loss. Mission 888: 7 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Wiesbaden by PFF during the night without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 350+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit 3 airfields, 4 rail bridges, a junction, 5 towns, and 3 targets of opportunity as the interdiction operations continue; fighters escort the bombers, attack railroads and other special targets, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, cover the Remagen area, and support the US XII Corps as it begins a drive from the Mosel River to the Rhine River, and the XX Corps operations W of Trier and Saarburg. 

Lt Alfred Ambs, Lt Weber and Uffz Giefing of JG 7 take off in their Me 262s from Brandenburg to intercept an Allied reconnaissance aircraft. Finding a pair of P-51s the three jets open fire too soon, allowing the Mustangs to evade the attack. Breaking away in a deliberate attempt to trick the Allied fighters that the attack is over, the jet fighters make a second pass from head-on. One Mustang falls under the guns of Lt Ambs while the other goes down from Lt Weber’s gunfire.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviets forces capture Zvolen in western Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, in Hungary, German Army Group South (Wohler) commits its remaining reserves to battle. The force is based on the 6th Panzer Division and consists of a mixed grouping of 200 tanks and assault guns which engage the Soviet 27th Army (Trofimenko). In East Prussia, the Red Army cuts all communications between Königsberg and the German forces fighting in the Braunsberg pocket. German counterattacks to recapture the oilfields near Lake Balaton come to an end.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 634 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escorts, hit the Szony and Almasfuzito oil refineries and marshalling yards at Komarom, Hungary; Nove Zamky, Czechoslovakia; Zagreb, Yugoslavia; and Wiener-Neustadt, Graz, and Knittelfeld, Austria. 90 P-38s dive-bomb bridges at Ptuj, Yugoslavia, 42 of them afterwards strafing rail traffic in Yugoslavia and Austria. 21 P-51s also strafe rail traffic in Austria. B-17s and B-24s drop supplies in N Italy and in Yugoslavia. F-5s continue reconnaissance missions, including a larger than usual number of photo reconnaissance flights (most of them heavily escorted) over Italy, Germany, Austria, and Yugoslavia.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The 71st Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, moves from Sallsola Airfield to Lesina, Italy with P-38s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s damage bridges at Casarsa della Delizia, Cittadella, Vipiteno, and Campo; fighters and fighter- bombers attack communications, ammunition and supply dumps, motor transport, trains, buildings, and other targets, escort medium bombers, and support ground forces, operating over much of N Italy from the Apennine battle area N and NE. A-20s hit river crossings and targets of opportunity in the Po Valley during the night of 13/14 Mar.


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## Njaco (Mar 15, 2010)

*UNITED STATES*: Submarine _'Lancetfish' _(SS-296) is sunk by accidental improper operation of torpedo tube doors, Boston (Massachusetts) Navy Yard. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front begins an offensive in the Ratibor area of Upper Silesia. Soviets begin a bombardment of besieged Breslau, and troops attack from all sides.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 7th Army launches attacks in the area around Saarbrucken and Bitche in a joint effort with US 3rd Army to eliminate German forces from the area between the Saar, Moselle and Rhine rivers. 

HQ 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron move from Doncourt Airfield, Conflans and Giraumont, France respectively to Evren Airfield, Trier, Germany with F-6s; the 393d and 394th Fighter Squadrons, 367th Fighter Group, move from St Dizier to Conflans, France with P-47s; and the 411th Fighter Squadron, 373d Fighter Group, moves from Le Culot, Belgium to Venlo, the Netherlands with P-47s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Destroyer _'Parker' _(DD-604) and three British destroyers carry out anti-shipping sweep in the Gulf of Genoa, but encounter no enemy vessels. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s attack railroad bridges and fills at Salzano, Canale d'Isonzo, Rovereto, Palazzolo sull'Oglio, Romano di Lombardia, and Mori; fighters and fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command concentrate on communications lines in NE Italy, particularly the Brenner rail line, and also blast several supply and ammunition dumps; A-20s continue intruder missions during the night of 14/15 Mar, hitting Po River crossings and fills in the San Ambrogio di Valpolicella area. 

*GERMANY*: 188 RAF aircraft - 150 Halifaxes, 24 Mosquitos, 14 Lancasters - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked oil plants at Bottrop and Castrop-Rauxel. Both raids were believed to have been successful. 1 Halifax of No 4 Group lost from the Bottrop raid.

16 RAF Lancasters of Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked the viaduct at Arnsberg. Two aircraft of No 617 Squadron each carried a Grand Slam; the 14 aircraft of No 9 Squadron carried Tallboys. The viaduct was not cut. No aircraft lost.

267 RAF aircraft - 134 Lancasters, 122 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked Hagen. 6 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lost. This area attack took place in clear visibility and caused severe damage; the local report estimated that the bomber force was 800 aircraft strong! The main attack fell in the centre and eastern districts. There were 1,439 fires, of which 124 were classified as large.

257 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked the Deurag refinery at Misburg, on the outskirts of Hannover. Visibility was good and some fires were started but the main weight of the raid fell south of the target. 4 Lancasters lost.

54 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 27 to Erfurt, 16 to Mannheim and 5 each to Jena and Weimar, 53 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols. 1 RCM Fortress lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 889: 1,353 bombers and 833 fighters are dispatched to hit German Army HQ and a marshalling yard at Oranienburg; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 308 of 372 B-24s and 276 of 300 B-17s hit the Germany Army HQ at Zossen, near Berlin visually; targets of opportunity for the B-24s are the Gardlingen rail center (31), the rail bridge at Parey (11) and other (3) and for B-17s, the marshalling yard at Stendal (13) and other (3); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 32 B-24s and 20 B-17s are damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 21 MIA. Escorting are 397 P-51s and P-47s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 2. 612 of 675 B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Oranienburg visually; targets of opportunity are Wittenberg (31), Havelberg (12), the marshalling yards at Durstadt (1) and Mellendorf (1), Schmarsau (1) and Dedelstorf Airfield (1) some of which are hit with H2X radar; 8 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 288 damaged; 8 airmen are WIA and 66 MIA. 320 of 352 P-51s escort; 1 is lost. 3. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss. 4. 29 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 5. 9 P-51s fly a sweep of the Bonn-Koblenz area. 6. 9 of 12 P-51s escort 24 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 890: 14 of 16 B-24s bomb the rail station at Munster during the night using PFF methods. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 9th Bombardment Division A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s attack communications centers at Neunkirchen and Pirmasens, marshalling yards at Turkismuhle and Erbach, 3 flak positions, and several other targets, as well as dropping leaflets on Koblenz; fighters hit the Overberge marshalling yard and other targets, escort the bombers, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance, and support the US XII Corps crossing the Mosel River in an offensive toward the Rhine River, and the XX Corps E of Trier and Saarbrucken. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Germany, 109 B-17s bomb the oil refinery at Ruhland (marking the Fifteenth's deepest penetration into Germany). 103 others bomb the alternate target, the refinery at Kolin, Czechoslovakia. 470+ other bombers attack targets in Austria, including Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, and Vienna/Floridsdorf oil refineries, marshalling yards at Wiener-Neustadt, Sankt Polten, Graz, Bruck an der Mur, Klagenfurt, and Murzzuschlag, and a bridge at Klagenfurt. Supply missions to N Italy and Yugoslavia continue, along with extensive photo and weather reconnaissance. Fighters fly 300+ sorties in escort of the bombers and supply and reconnaissance flights. 

The defences of Festung-Frankfürt come under the control of the 9th Armee [Gen. Busse], as part of Heeresgruppe Weichsel, [Gen.Obst.Heinrici]. The 'Stadt-Kommandant' of 'Festung-Frankfurt' was Generalmajor Biehler, who reported to higher HQ of 5.SS-Gebirgs Armeekorps, which included elements of 32.SS-Frw.Gren.Div. '30 Januar' [SS-Staf.Hans Kempin], and elements of both 337.and 286.Infanterie Divisions.


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## Njaco (Mar 16, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Allied forces make an attack along the Saar Basin. US 7th Army takes Bitche as the Siegfried Line begins to break. 

Destroyer HMS _'Fandale' _collided with HMS _'Wallace' _off the Humber.

At 0920, the _'Inger Toft' _in Convoy RU-156 was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-722' _3 miles 270° from Neirst Point, Isle of Skye. The master and 29 crewmembers were picked up by armed trawler HMS _'Grenadier' _and landed at Loch Ewe. 

The Coast Guard-manned destroyer escorts USS _'Lowe'_, _'Menges'_,' _Pride'_, and _'Mosely'_, which comprised Task Group 22.14, located the submerged German submarine _'U-866' _off the coast of Sable Island and sank it with a loss of all hands.

HQ 365th Fighter Group moves from Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium to Aachen; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), moves from Duren to Euskirchen with L-5s; and the 392d Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from St Dizier to Conflans, France with P-47s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: General der Infanterie von Krosigk 16th Army is killed at Kanden in Courland.

The Soviet forces in Hungary, of 3rd Ukrainian Front, have regrouped following the German attacks, of Army Group South, around Lake Balaton and begin an offensive against the northern flank of the recently won German salient. The Hungarian 3rd Army takes the brunt of the first assaults and is soon in great difficulty. 

The German heavy vessels _'Schlesien' _and _'Prinz Eugen' _support the forces of Heeresgruppe Kurland in their defense against heavy Soviet attacks to break up the Kessel. 

_'U-367' _sank in the Baltic Sea near Hela, in position 54.25N, 18.50E, after hitting a mine laid by the Soviet submarine L-21 three days earlier. 43 dead (all hands lost).

*GERMANY*: Rudolf Hoess, the former commandant of Auschwitz, declares that he gassed two million Jews on Himmler's orders between June 1941 and the end of 1943.

In Germany, Lieutenant Fabian von Schlabrendorff is tried in court for his role in anti-Nazi activities. He tells of his torture by the Gestapo. The court considers torture illegal, and releases him. The Gestapo immediately arrests him again, and sends him to a concentration camp.

Raid on Nuremburg by 231 RAF Lancasters of No 1 Group and 46 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of No 8 Group. 24 Lancasters, all from No 1 Group, lost, 8.7 per cent of the Lancaster force and 10.4 per cent of the No 1 Group aircraft involved. Most of these losses were due to German night fighters, which found the bomber stream on its way to the target. A local report states that the southern and south-western districts were hit as well as the ruins of the Altstadt which was destroyed in a previous raid. A serious fire was established in the Steinbuhl district. The main railway station was also on fire and the city's gasworks were so badly damaged that they did not resume production before the end of the war. This was the last heavy Bomber Command raid on Nuremberg.

225 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked Würzburg. 6 Lancasters lost. This was another dramatic and devastating blow by No 5 Group. 1,127 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy in 17 minutes. According to a post-war survey, the old cathedral city with its famous historic buildings suffered 89 per cent of its built-up area destroyed. Würzburg contained little industry and this was an area attack.

56 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 24 to Hanau and 6 each to Brunswick and Osnabrück, 32 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols, 12 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Heligoland. No aircraft lost.

Gerhard Friedrich, a night-fighter with thirty victories and a former transport pilot, is killed in action. Near Nurnberg Hptm. Martin “Tino” Becker, _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./NJG 6 flying a Ju 88 G-6 “2Z+MF” destroys a RAF Lancaster for his fifty-eighth night victory. It will be his last victory of the war.

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 280+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit the Landau barracks area and communications center, the Niederscheld town area and rail bridge, 6 other town areas, a marshalling yard, rail junction, crossroads, and also drop leaflets; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, armed reconnaissance, and cover the VIII, XII, and XX Corps in an assault across the Mosel River from W of Koblenz and N of Boppard, at one point, as far E as Bad Kreuznach, and as far S as Merzig.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 720+ B-24s and B-17s bomb the Korneuburg, Vienna/Floridsdorf, Schwechat, and Moosbierbaum, Austria oil refineries and marshalling yards at Sankt Veit an der Glan, Amstetten, and Graz, Austria and Varazdin and Pragersko, Yugoslavia; 52 P-51s strafe rail lines in the Vienna and Linz, Austria and Passau and Regensburg, Germany areas and the airfield at Mettenheim, Germany. B-17s and B-24s continue supply drops to N Italy and Yugoslavia while F-5s and P-38s fly extensive weather and photo reconnaissance missions; fighters fly 300+ sorties in escort of the bombers, supply runs, and reconnaissance operations.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: PBY-5As (VP 63) employ MAD gear to detect German submarine 'U-392' as the enemy boat attempts to transit the Straits of Gibraltar; the PBYs bomb the U-boat, and British frigate HMS Affleck and destroyer HMS Vanoc depth charge her. Affleck delivers the coup de grace to sink U-392 at 35°55'N, 05°41'W. 

HQ 1st Fighter Group and the 27th and 94th Fighter Squadrons move from Salsola Airfield to Lesina, Italy with P-38s.

(US Twelfth Air Force): B-25s of the 57th Bombardment Wing, flying their farthest N penetration to date, bomb the Brixlegg, Austria railroad bridge. In Italy, B-25s also hit the Spilimbergo power plant, with excellent results, and lightly damage 3 bridges on the Brenner line, 1 in the C Po Valley, and 1 in NE Italy; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers continue to attack communications in the Po Valley and NE Italy, while A-20s bomb bridges and targets of opportunity on night intruder missions along the Po R and in the N Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Mar 17, 2010)

*ENGLAND*: In spite of the efforts of the Allied forces to eradicate the V2 rocket launch sites, the Germans are still managing to strike targets in England and Belgium with them. When the V2 offensive opened last September the launch sites were in the Netherlands, but were moved temporarily to Denmark during the Arnhem operation. At the beginning of October the rocket units returned to the Netherlands, and by the end of the year they were operating from a large wooded park, the Haagsche Bosch, outside The Hague. During January and February this was attacked repeatedly by RAF bombers and fighter-bombers. Eventually, at the beginning of this month, the Germans were forced to move, and this was the reason for the recent lull. Their new launch area is still near The Hague, this time on the Duindicht racecourse. There is, however, little cover here, and because of lack of time and the high water table, the Germans have been unable to follow their normal practice of constructing underground storage sites. Consequently RAF reconnaissance planes have identified the launch sites and attacks on it are being mounted. This should drive the rockets further east into Germany, putting England beyond V2 range. A further encouraging factor is that the Allied air offensive against German communications is making it increasingly difficult to maintain supplies of rockets and fuel.

Hull.. The last civilian casualties caused by bombs from a piloted enemy aircraft are believed to have been at Hull on this last air raid on the city. Crossing the coast near Scarborough, the raiders deepest penetration was to the Thirsk area, but the most serious damage was done at Hull where thirty-seven SD.10 bombs and thirty-seven SD.19 bombs were dropped in the Holderness Road, Morrill Street and Holland Street area. Damage was not serious, the area of the incidents being given as industrial, but twelve people were killed and twenty-two seriously injured. This is a direct quote from David Holding's book 'History of British Bus Services - The North East': "_It is perhaps not widely appreciated how badly Hull suffered during the war_." G.M. O'Connell - an invaluable source - writes 'The heavy raids of May 1941 were numbered at about 200 in the series of alerts (ie when sirens required to be sounded) which commenced with No 1 on 3 September 1939;...Hull's alerts eventually totalled 815! The Germans quite evidently realised that, amongst other things, the bulk of the Russian convoys originated at Hull. 'Raids were heaviest in May and July 1941. Buses were diverted to side streets to avoid craters and unexploded bombs, short journeys were operated on both buses and trams because of damage and destruction of overhead equipment. Shuttle bus services were instituted, notices of changed services had to be chalked up on notice boards, buildings, and on the pavements'. At the same time much of the overhead line was destroyed together with 38 traction poles. Both the Cottingham Road garage and the headquarters adjoining Ferensway were severely damaged, with the loss of 44 buses; however, the Corporation was able as a result to secure 50 of the elusive utility buses, which then constituted half the diesel fleet. To minimise the risk of losses ... all rolling stock not under repair was parked overnight along the main roads on the city outskirts (motor buses in the parks). Instructions were received from higher authority that it was allegedly possible on moonlight nights to see from the air the lines of vehicles by reason of their predominantly white fronts, they should be repainted: this was expeditiously achieved by overpainting the white fronts with blue undercoating ... As late as 17 March 1945 12 people were killed and injured outside an East Hull cinema. The remarkable thing about this particular incident was that two fully laden trolley buses would have passed each other as the bombs fell but for the fact that both drivers had premonitions and did not leave their previous stopping places although signalled to do so by their respective conductors. By contrast East Yorkshire (Motor Services) suffered relatively little. The traffic offices, close to Paragon Station, were bombed and moved permanently to Anlaby Road.....".


*WESTERN FRONT*: The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen collapses, killing 28 US soldiers. It is caused the combined strain of bomb damage and heavy use. The advance continues over other bridges now in place.

Coblenz: Patton's Third Army has jumped the east/west line of the Moselle and swept southwards to threaten from the rear the German forces holding the Siegfried Line in the Saar where Patch's US 7th Army is attacking. Patton's columns, supported by American fighter-bombers, are roaming virtually at will, spreading havoc among the enemy. Roads are jammed with German troops and civilians fleeing eastwards to the Rhine, where the last three bridges remain open. Patton is now driving along the west bank from Coblenz to Mainz and beyond. The bag of prisoners taken by Patton and Patch is approaching 100,000.

Eisenhower orders Patton not to advance toward Czechoslovakia, although there is nothing to stop him reaching Prague before the Russians.

Minesweeper HMS _'Guysborough' _is attacked at 1835 and sunk by _'U-878' _(Kapitanleutnant Hans Rodig) at 2000 hrs off Ushant in the Bay of Biscay at 46 43N 09 20W, hit by Gnat. There are 54 casualties.

The 386th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, moves from Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium to Aachen, Germany with P-47s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Motor torpedo boats PT-303 and PT-305 engage two German F-lighters off Point Mesco, Italy; PT-303 is damaged when she is accidentally rammed by PT-305. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather grounds the bombers. In Yugoslavia, 98 P-38s dive-bomb the Ptuj and Zagreb railroad bridges, the Klinca Sela marshalling yard, and the Sisak marshalling yard and bridge; B-24s, with fighter escort, drop supplies and F-5s, P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort. During the night of 17/18 Mar, B-24s drop supplies in N Italy. 

*GERMANY*: 167 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out G-H attacks through cloud on benzol plants at Dortmund and Hüls. Both raids appeared to be accurate. No aircraft lost. 66 Lancasters and 29 Halifaxes from training units on a sweep over Northern France to draw up German fighters, 39 Mosquitos to Nuremberg, 38 to Berlin and 2 each to Mannheim and Stuttgart, 6 RCM sorties, 15 Mosquito patrols. 1 Intruder Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 892: 1,328 bombers and 820 P-51s are dispatched to hit oil, industrial and rail targets in Germany; clouds extend from 1,000 to 15,000 feet (305 to 4,572 m) and over the targets there is 9/10 to 10/10 cloud cover necessitating PFF methods for bombing; 5 B-17s and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 527 B-17s are sent to hit the oil refinery at Ruhland (214); 138 hit the secondary target, the Bittefeld oil refinery; targets of opportunity are the Vomag munitions factory at Plauen (125), Fulda (19), Cottbus (11) and other (3); H2X radar is used; 4 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 46 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 35 MIA. Escorting are 252 of 280 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 449 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil refinery at Bohlen (152) and the oil refinery and power station at Molbis (127); secondary targets are the Zeiss works at Jena (71) and the marshalling yard at Erfurt (51); targets of opportunity are Altenburg (36) and other (3); bombing is by H2X radar; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 15 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. 266 of 283 P-51s escort; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 346 B-24s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Munster (170) and the Hanomag tank factory at Hannover (146); 9 other hit Herford, a target of opportunity; Gee-H and H2X are used to bomb; 3 B-24s are damaged. The escort is 122 of 128 P-51s. 4. 6 B-24s fly a screening mission. 5. 79 of 86 P-51s fly a freelance sweep without loss. 6. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 7. 9 of 11 P-51s escort 2 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 893: 9 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany, the Netherlands and France during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 650+ A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb 5 marshalling yards, 2 communications centers, an ordnance depot, 3 city areas, and several targets of opportunity; the attacks are to impede the enemy movement of troops, equipment, and supplies in the face of the advancing Allied forces; fighters fly escort, patrols, and armed reconnaissance, cover the Remagen bridgehead, support the US III Corps NE of Remagen, cooperate with the XII Corps which has penetrated several miles E of Bad Kreuznach at one point, and operate with the XX Corps which at one point reaches as far E as Birkenfeld.

*EASTERN FRONT*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather grounds the bombers. In Yugoslavia, 98 P-38s dive-bomb the Ptuj and Zagreb railroad bridges, the Klinca Sela marshalling yard, and the Sisak marshalling yard and bridge; B-24s, with fighter escort, drop supplies and F-5s, P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort. During the night of 17/18 Mar, B-24s drop supplies in N Italy.


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## Njaco (Mar 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Forces of US 3rd Army capture Bingen and Bad Kreuznach as the advance to the southwest continues. To the south, the progress of US 7th Army is beginning to accelerate, with most of its forward units having now crossed the German border. 

US Private First Class Frederick C. Murphy, an aid man, is wounded in the shoulder soon after his comrades have jumped off in a dawn attack against the Siegfried Line at Saarlautern. He refused to withdraw for treatment and continued forward, administering first aid under heavy machinegun, mortar, and artillery fire. When the company ran into a thickly sown antipersonnel minefield and began to suffer more and more casualties, he continued to disregard his own wound and unhesitatingly braved the danger of exploding mines, moving about through heavy fire and helping the injured until he stepped on a mine which severed one of his feet. In spite of his grievous wounds, he struggled on with his work, refusing to be evacuated and crawling from man to man administering to them while in great pain and bleeding profusely. He was killed by the blast of another mine which he had dragged himself across in an effort to reach still another casualty. (MOH) 

The 415th Night Fighter Squadron, 64th Fighter Wing, moves from Ochey to St Dizier, France with Beaufighters. 

*GERMANY*: Albert Speer, the armaments minister, tells Hitler that the war is lost and economic collapse is nigh; Hitler insists that he retracts these comments. 

In the Brandenburg Prison in Germany, General Erich Fromm is shot. He was convicted of cowardice for his part in the bomb plot against Adolf Hitler in July 1944.

100 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out G-H attacks on oil plants at Hattingen and Langendreer. Both raids appeared to be accurate. No aircraft lost.

324 RAF aircraft - 259 Halifaxes, 45 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to Witten. 8 aircraft - 6 Halifaxes, 1 Lancaster, 1 Mosquito - lost. This was an area raid carried out in good visibility. 1,081 tons of bombs were dropped, destroying 129 acres, 62 per cent of the built-up area (according to the post-war British Bombing Survey Unit). 

277 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups bombed Hanau. 1 Lancaster lost. This was another accurate area raid. 0 industrial buildings and 2,240 houses were destroyed. The Altstadt was completely devastated and, says the report, all of the town's churches, hospitals, schools and historic buildings were badly hit. 

Support and 70 aircraft on a sweep over France, 30 Mosquitos to Berlin, 24 to Kassel and 18 to Nuremberg, 40 RCM sorties, 53 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 894: 1,329 bombers and 733 fighters are dispatched to hit railway stations and tanks plants in the Berlin area; the attacks are made both visually and with H2X radar; the Luftwaffe makes it's most concentrated and successful attacks with Me 262s to date; the AAF claims 21-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 bombers (8 to flak) and 6 fighters are lost: 1. 421 of 450 B-17s hit the Schlesischer rail station in Berlin; 13 hit the secondary target, Zehdnuk; and 1 hits Vechta, a target of opportunity; they claim 6-0-0 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 8 damaged beyond repair and 268 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 18 WIA and 49 MIA. 179 of 199 P-51s escort; they claim 4-0-2 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 2. 495 of 530 B-17s hit the Nord rail station in Berlin; targets of opportunity are Ludwigslust (3) and other (3); they claim 1-1-1 aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost, 6 damaged beyond repair and 319 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 12 WIA and 79 MIA. Escorting are 219 of 238 P-51s; they claim 7-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 3. 347 B-24s are sent to hit the Tegel (225) and Henningsdorf (80) tank factories in Berlin; targets of opportunity are Oranienburg (9), Uelzen (9) and other (3); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 127 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 11 MIA. The escort is 254 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 4. 2 B-17s fly a scouting mission. 5. 27 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 6. 1 of 12 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 895: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 660+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit the marshalling yards at Wetzlar, Worms, Kreuztal, and Bad Durkheim, a communications center at Bad Durkheim, and 4 town areas with the aim of hampering enemy movement; fighters escort the bombers, attack assigned targets, fly patrols, and armed reconnaissance, and cooperate with the US III Corps at Remagen, with the XII Corps as it begins an assault towards the Mainz-Worms sector of the Rhine River, and with the XX Corps as it moves rapidly eastward through the Sankt Wendel area toward Kaiserslautern. HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Verviers, Belgium to Bruhl, Germany. 

The jets of JG 7 for the first time use the new R4M air-to-air rocket in place of the expensive wire-guided Ruhrstahl X-4. Fifty-four of the jets receive 4 kg rockets while six aircraft from 9 Staffel are fitted with twenty-four shot armament. On missions against USAAF bombers it is reported that the rockets literally blow the bombers to pieces. But it is difficult to judge who should be credited with a kill so, kills on this day are made as group kills instead of individual scores. As a result thirteen kills are credited to JG 7 for a loss of three pilots and five jets. One of the pilots lost is Oblt Wegmenn who is hit by return fire from a B-17 over Glowen. Trying to reach his airfield at Parchim his engines fail on approach and he bales out at a height of 4000 meters. Oblt Wegmenn survives the jump but loses his leg later at hospital. He is replaced as _Staffelkapitän _of 9./JG 7 by Lt. Karl Schnorrer. Another pilot lost from JG 7 is Oblt. Hans-Peter Waldmann, _Staffelkapitän _of 3./JG 7. Taking off with a flight of four jets, the _schwarm _becomes lost in some cloud and Oblt Waldmann collides with Lt Hans-Dieter Weihs’ aircraft. Both jets crash with Lt Weihs successfully baling out but Oblt. Waldmann is killed upon landing. While watching the rest of his Schwarm disintegrate, Obfw Schrey is attacked by P-51s and as he parachutes from his stricken jet is shot at again and killed. Lt. Weihs replaces Waldmann as _Staffelkapitän _of 3./JG 7.

*UNITED STATES*: _'U-866' _(type IXC/40) is sunk north-east of Boston, in position 43.18N, 61.08W, by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS _'Lowe'_, _'Menges'_, _'Pride' _and _'Mosley'_. 55 dead (all hands lost).

*EASTERN FRONT*: Troops of the Polish 1st Army, part of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, take Kolberg on the Pomeranian coast. Other Soviet forces are closing in around Gdynia and Danzig to the east and making further inroads into the German positions in East Prussia.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather limits operations to reconnaissance and supply missions, a fighter-bomber attack by P-38s on the Varazdin, Yugoslavia railroad bridge, after which many of the P-38s strafe railroad communications in the Zagreb, Varazdin and Maribor, Yugoslavia, and Villach, Austria areas, and a strafing mission against rail communications and airfields in the Graz and Wiener-Neustadt, Austria, Maribor, Yugoslavia, and Szombathely, Hungary areas. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 17/18 Mar, A-20s and A-26s continue intruder missions in the Po Valley, concentrating on Po River crossings; B-25s bomb the railroad bridges at Bozzolo, and Palazzuolo sull' Oglio, the railroad fill at Salorno, and the causeway at Mantua; fighters and fighter-bombers hit dumps and support ground forces S of Bologna, and attack communications targets over wide areas of the Po Valley; the most devastating raid of the day is flown against the Novara marshalling yard where 14 locomotives are destroyed.

Two ex-Italian torpedo boats and a destroyer minelaying off the Gulf of Genoa were engaged by destroyers "_Meteor_" and "_Lookout_". In the last Royal Navy destroyer action of the Mediterranean, torpedo boats "TA-24" and "TA-29" were sunk.


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## Njaco (Mar 21, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Hitler orders a total scorched earth policy on all fronts. This is the "Nero Command", ordering the destruction of all industry, transport links, food supplies and agriculture. "If the war is lost, the nation will also perish". Albert Speer and some army officers do what they can to see that the orders are not carried out.

79 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Consolidation benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen. Smoke and dust from the bombing prevented observation of the results. No aircraft lost.

37 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked the railway viaduct at Arnsberg and the bridge at Vlotho, near Minden. The attack at Arnsberg by No 617 Squadron using 6 Grand Slams, was successful and a 40-foot gap was blown in the viaduct. No 9 Squadron's attack at Vlotho was not successful.

34 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin. No losses.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 896: 1,273 bombers and 675 fighters are dispatched to hit airfields and industrial targets in Germany visually and with H2X radar; clouds force 2 of the 3 forces to hit secondaries; 100+ Luftwaffe fighters including 36 Me 262s in formation (largest number of jets seen as a unit) are encountered; the AAF claims 41-3-19 Luftwaffe aircraft (including 3 Me 262s); 6 bombers and 10 fighters are lost: 1. Cloud cover prevents 496 B-17s from hitting the primary targets; secondaries hit are the optical works at Jena (197) and the motor vehicle plant at Zwickau (177); targets of opportunity are Plauen (32), the marshalling yards at Fulda (44) and Saalfeld (10) and other (4); bombing is by H2X radar with some visual attacks; they claim 1-1-2 aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 49 MIA. Escorting are 183 of 198 P-51s; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost. 2. Cloud cover forces 404 of 436 B-17s to hit the industrial area at Plauen, the secondary target using H2X radar; targets of opportunity, bombed visually, are the Fulda marshalling yard (20) and Prissig (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 9 MIA. The escort is 141 of 153 P-51s. 3. 341 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Neuburg (125) and Leipheim (84) and jet aircraft plant at Baumenheim (126) visually; 1 B-24 is lost; 11 airmen are MIA. 175 of 194 P-51s escort; they claim 5-0-0 aircraft without loss. 4. 95 of 98 P-51s fly a freelance sweep for the bombers; they claim 33-2-14 aircraft; 6 P-51s are lost. 5. 2 of 4 P-51s escort 15 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 897: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division strikes 2 marshalling yards, 5 rail bridges, a communications center and several casual targets as part of the interdiction program to impede enemy movement; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US III Corps W of Remagen, cooperates with the XII Corps' 4th Armored Division E of Kaiserslautern as it drives toward the Rhine River; fighter- bombers of the XIX Tactical Air Command, on a special mission, bomb the HQ of Commander-in-Chief West (Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt) at Ziegenberg. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 800+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escorts, hit marshalling yards at Landshut, Passau, Muhldorf, Plattling, Garching an der Alz and Altenmarkt an der Alz, Germany, and Sankt Veit an der Glan, Lambach, Klagenfurt, Austria and 54 P-51s strafe railroads in the target areas; 36 P-38s bomb the marshalling yard at Varazdin, Yugoslavia; B-24s drop supplies in Yugoslavia while P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and escort. 

Obstlt. Heinz Bär, flying the Me 262 jet fighter with the training unit III./EJG 2, scores his first victory in the fighter, an American P-51 during an emergency scramble at Lechfeld airbase.

The entire Gruppe of fighters at III./JG 7, totaling twenty-eight Me 262s, are ordered into the air to intercept B-17s from the 3rd Air Division north of Chemnitz. Four bombers are destroyed by R4M rockets of III./JG 7.

The fighters of I./JG 300 are ordered to disband but some units remain active until late April.

*WESTERN FRONT*: US 7th Army forces complete the capture of Saarlouis. Fighting in Saarbrucken and the towns to the east continues. US 3rd Army continues to advance east and southeast toward the Rhine River. Worms is reached, while to the left and right other units are near Mainz and Kaiserslautern.

HQ 27th Fighter Group and the 522d, 523d and 524th Fighter Squadrons move from St Dizier to Ochey Airfield, Toul, France with P-47s.

SS _'Crichtoun' _(1,097t) on a voyage from Leith to London and SS _'Rogate' _(2,871t) on a voyage from Sunderland to London, were probably the last two ships to be sunk by E-Boats, on the east coast route. They were both sunk off Lowestoft.

*EASTERN FRONT*: There are renewed attacks by 3rd Belorussian Front against the German forces in East Prussia, especially in the area south of Konigsberg. The offensive lasts for a week until most of the German forces are eliminated or evacuated. About 38,000 people, including many wounded and refugees, are evacuated by the many ships involved.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, XXII Tactical Air Command A-20s strike heavily against general movement in the Po Valley during the night of 18/19 Mar, and are followed during the day by fighter and fighter-bomber attacks on communications in the C Po Valley and NE Italy where numerous rail cuts are made, 3 bridges damaged, and several supply dumps hit; medium bombers damage a bridge at Muhldorf, Germany, bridges and fills at Perca, and at 7 other locations on the N Italian approaches to the Brenner Pass.


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## Njaco (Mar 21, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The German bridgehead over the Oder River at Altdawn is eliminated by the Russians. German troops of Army Group Weichsel evacuate their bridgehead across the Oder at Stettin. Elements of the 2nd Belorussian Front capture Braunsberg, 40 miles South of Königsberg. 

General Heinrici is appointed to command the Army Group Vistula succeeding Himmler. Guderian had made the suggestion to Hitler. Heinrici is tasked with building up defenses along the Oder River in preparation for the expected Soviet offensive toward Berlin by 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov). The German army group has already lost a large part of its original force in the fighting in Pomerania. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Troops of US 7th Army capture Saarbrucken as well as Zweibrucken a little to the east. Forces of US 3rd Army capture Ludwigshafen and Kaiserslautern. Farther north, the US 1st Army continues fighting to expand the Remagen bridgehead which is now almost 30 miles wide and 19 miles deep.

*ATLANTIC OCEAN*: _'U-683' _listed as missing in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland or in the English Channel. 49 dead (all hands lost). Probably sunk 12 March, 1945 in the English Channel near Land's End, in position 49.52N, 05.52W, by depth charges from the British frigate MS _'Loch Ruthwen' _and the sloop _'Wild Goose'_. 

Frigates HMCS _'Beacon Hill'_, _'Sussexvale'_, _'New Glasgow' _and _'Ribble' _sailed from Londonderry for training at Loch Alsh. After the group passed the Foyle buoy it, formed up, a mile apart and zigzagging independently, making about fourteen knots with CAT gear streamed. A periscope and schnorkel were visible on _'New Glasgow's' _port bow, action stations were sounded and a shallow depth-charge pattern was ordered however, it was too late. The U-boat struck _'New Glasgow' _just below the bridge. Subsequent searches by EG 26, C-4 and EG 25 failed to reveal _'U-1003'_.

In the afternoon, _'U-968' _attacked Convoy JW-65 and reported a destroyer and a Liberty sunk and another Liberty ship torpedoed. In fact, sloop HMS _'Lapwing' _of the 7th Escort Group and Liberty ship _'Thomas Donaldson' _were sunk. Whilst escorting convoy JW.65 on its approach to Kola Inlet, HMS _'Lapwing' _was hit amidships at 1325 and sank 20 minutes later.

*GERMANY*: 153 RAF aircraft - 125 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and No 6 Groups attempted to hit the railway yards at Recklinghausen but cloud and a strong wind spoiled the Pathfinder marking and the bombing was well scattered. No aircraft lost.

99 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Hamm and 14 Lancasters of No 9 Squadron attacked the railway bridge at Arnsberg. Bombs were seen to explode in the target area at both targets. No aircraft lost.

224 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the synthetic-oil plant near Böhlen. This accurate attack put the plant out of action and it was still inactive when captured by American troops several weeks later. 9 Lancasters lost.

166 RAF Lancasters of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups carried out an equally effective attack upon the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt. 1 Lancaster lost.

Support and 70 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep over France, 12 Lancasters in a feint raid on Halle, 38 Mosquitos to Berlin, 27 to Bremen and 16 to Kassel, 47 RCM sorties, 55 Mosquito patrols, 9 Lancasters minelaying off Heligoland. 3 aircraft lost - 1 Lancaster from the Halle raid and 1 Fortress and 1 Liberator RCM aircraft.

(US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 898: 451 bombers and 355 fighters are dispatched to hit the shipyard and dock area at Hamburg and an oil refinery; they claim 14-3-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 bombers and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 13 of 152 B-17s hit the Blohm Voss U-boat yard at Hamburg; 133 others hit the secondary, the port area at Hamburg; bombing is visual; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft; 1 airman is KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 70 of 79 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft. 2. 149 of 162 B-17s hit the secondary target, the Hamburg port area, using H2X radar; 1 other hits the Nordholz Airfield, a target of opportunity; they claim 5-3-2 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 54 damaged; 27 airmen are MIA. The escort is 72 of 75 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft. 3. 114 of 129 B-24s attack the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt; 1 B-24 is lost and 9 damaged; 12 airmen are MIA. 75 P-51s escort; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft in the air and 1-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss. 5. 2 B-17s and 26 of 27 P-51s fly scouting missions. 6. 78 of 82 P-51s fly a strafing mission in the Bremen-Hannover area; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft in the air and 3-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 7. 17 P-51s escort 11 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 899: 1 B-17, escorted by 4 P-51s, bombs Oberursel at 1650 hours from 25,000 feet (7,620 m); this is the first operational test of Micro-H Mk II radar. Mission 900: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany and 2 A-26s fly CARPETBAGGER missions (1 A-26 is lost). 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 360+ A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb the Geisecke marshalling yard, Sythen ammunition-filling plant, the town of Gronau (including a rail bridge), and several casual targets in or near 9 other towns; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US III and VII Corps just E of the Rhine River between Bad Honningen and the Sieg River, and the XII and XX Corps as they push to the Rhine River at Worms and at a point N of Mannheim. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 760+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, hit the Korneuburg and Kagran oil refineries, the marshalling yards at Wels, Sankt Polten, Amstetten, Wiener-Neustadt, and Klagenfurt, and the tank works at Steyr. Routine supply, reconnaissance, and escort missions continue. 

Twenty-two Me 262s from JG 7 take off to intercept USAAF bombers and their escorting fighters in the Hamburg area and destroy nine B-17s for the loss of four jets including Fw Buttner, the first jet experte of JG 7.

Hptm. Martin “Tino” Becker, _Gruppenkommandeur _of IV./NJG 6 is awarded the Eichenlaub for achieving fifty-eight victories during night missions against the RAF.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: The 885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 2641st Special Group, moves from Brindisi to Rosignano, Italy with B-17s and B-24s (the squadron transports supplies to partisans and drops leaflets). 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, XXII Tactical Air Command A-20s during the night of 19/20 Mar continue intruder missions into the Po Valley while fighters and fighter-bombers pound communications targets in the Valley during the day and severely damage fuel dumps near Mantua; medium bombers hit 4 bridges on the Brenner line and 2 others in NE Italy and hit other bridge approaches nearby. HQ 79th Fighter Group moves from Fano to Cesenatico, Italy. 

*ENGLAND*: Last hostile operations by enemy manned aircraft over Britain. Ten enemy aircraft which operated over Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and Essex, but little damage was reported.


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## Njaco (Mar 21, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Most of US 3rd Army forces are engaged in clearing German resistance on the west bank of the Rhine River, to the north of Mannheim. Other elements of US 3rd and US 7th Army units are cooperating to take Annweiler, Neunkirchen, Neustadt and Homberg. Patton's US 3rd Army captures Mainz. US 7th Army and US 3rd units met. Their pincer movement had destroyed the German Seventh Army, and left the First Army, the only German force west of the Rhine, in desperate straits. Moreover, Patton reported that all three of his corps had reached the Rhine. On 21 March a massive Allied ground force thus lay poised along the Rhine from Arnhem to Switzerland. Eisenhower's awesome armies, containing some 4.5 million personnel, included ninety divisions that anxiously awaited the final drive into the heart of the Nazi Reich.

Copenhagen: Allied airmen broke open another Gestapo prison today, but at a terrible cost. In the basement of the Shell building, Danish resistance fighters were being tortured. On the top floor another 32 prisoners were being held. RAF bombs had to destroy the remaining floors. They did. Around 100 Nazis died for the loss of six prisoners. Others escaped and the Gestapo's planned arrests of the banned Danish Freedom Council were thwarted. But one of the six aircraft that crashed set fire to a school. Other pilots bombed this, believing it to be the target. A total of 112 Danish civilians were killed, including 86 children and 17 teachers. The aircraft were Mosquito VIs of No. 464 Squadron.

_'U-995' _torpedoed SS _'Horace Bushnel'l _in Convoy JW-65. Total loss.

_'U-326' _had to return to Bergen (Norway) due to severe technical difficulties. 

*GERMANY*: Guderian fails to get Heinrich Himmler to go with him to Berlin to persuade Hitler to seek an armistice.

178 RAF aircraft - 150 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups carried out an accurate attack upon the railway yards and the surrounding town area at Rheine. 1 Lancaster lost.

160 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Münster and a nearby railway viaduct. 3 Lancasters lost. The only information available from Münster is that 17 people were killed.

133 RAF Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked the Deutsche Vacuum oil refinery at Bremen .This appeared to be an accurate raid in clear weather conditions. No aircraft lost.

20 RAF Lancasters of No 617 Squadron attacked the Arbergen railway bridge just outside Bremen. 2 piers of the bridge were destroyed. 1 Lancaster lost.

151 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked Hamburg. 4 Lancasters lost. The target for this raid was the Deutsche Erdölwerke refinery .The attack was accurate; 20 storage tanks were destroyed and the plant was still out of action at the end of the war.

131 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups carried out an accurate attack on the benzol plant at Bochum. 1 Lancaster lost.

142 RAF Mosquitos in 2 attacks on Berlin (with some aircraft making 2 sorties), 3 Mosquitos to Bremen, 26 RCM sorties, 56 Mosquito patrols, 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group minelaying in Jade Bay and the River Weser. 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid and 1 RCM Fortress lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 5 missions are flown. Mission 901: Preparatory air operations for the forthcoming (23 Mar) crossing of the lower Rhine River by Allied ground forces begin. 1,408 bombers and 806 fighters, in conjunction with Ninth Air Force and RAF aircraft, attack jet fighter bases; with one exception, all attacks are visual; they claim 58-3-49 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s and 9 P-51s are lost: 1. 107 of 152 B-17s hit the secondary target, the tank factory at Plauen; targets of opportunity are Reichenbach (34) and other (1); they claim 3-3-3 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost and 48 damaged. The escort is 273 of 314 P-51s; they claim 9-0-0 aircraft in the air and 3-0-0 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 129 of 151 B-17s attack Hardorf Airfield; 14 others hit Vorden Airfield, a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 71 damaged. Escorting are 94 of 98 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft in the air. 3. 214 B-17s are sent to attack the airfields at Zwischenahn (57), Marx (77) and Wittmundhafen (74); casualties for 1., 2. and 3. above are 7 WIA and 56 MIA. 108 of 109 P-51s escort and claim 2-0-8 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 518 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Ahlhorn (61), Hesepe (165), Achmer (180) and Mulheim Airfield at Essen (90); 21 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 95 of 99 P-51s; they claim 35-0-30 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 5. 373 B-17s are sent to hit airfields at Hopsten (159 using Gee-H) and Rheine (180); targets of opportunity are the airfields at Hesepe (13) and Achmer (12); 1 B-17 is lost and 49 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 3 WIA and 9 MIA. 97 of 102 P-51s escort; they claim 6-0-0 aircraft on the ground. 6. 36 P-51s fly a sweep over Giebelstadt Airfield and claim 0-0-6 aircraft on the ground. 7. 13 P-51s escort 9 F-5s, 1 P-38 and 1 Spitfire on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 8. 35 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 902: In a DISNEY operation, 3 B-17s attack the E-boat pens at Ijmuiden, the Netherlands with rocket bombs; 6 P-51s escort. Mission 903: 1 B-17 bombs Oberursel in a Micro-H Mk II radar test; 4 P-51s escort. Mission 904: During the afternoon, 90 of 92 B-24s attack Mulheim Airfield at Essen; 60 are damaged and 1 airman is WIA. Mission 905: 8 of 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 580+ A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s strike 6 communications centers and a marshalling yard E of the Rhine River, along with several casual targets, in the interdiction campaign to obstruct enemy movement; fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, attack railroads and bridges, support the US VII Corps as its units reach the Sieg River near Siegburg, cooperate with the XII Corps as more of its elements reach the Rhine River at various points between Boppard and Worms, and support the XX Corps as additional units reach the Rhine between Worms and Mannheim. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 660+ B-24s and B-17s, with fighter escorts, bomb the Neuburg an der Donau Airfield, Germany, marshalling yards at Villach (2 yards), Klagenfurt, Graz and Bruck and der Mur, Austria, and Pragersko, Yugoslavia, 3 oil refineries and a goods depot at Vienna, Austria, and 4 scattered targets of opportunity; supply and reconnaissance missions with escort are flown. 

Obstlt. Bär downs his second kill in the Me 262, this time a B-24 Liberator four-engined bomber. Major Ehrler of JG 7 downs a B-17.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russians capture Stuhlweissenburg in Hungary, as the German 44th Infantry Division retreats from the town. The 8th Guards Army encircles the fortress city of Kustrin.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): A-20s continue to attack communications in the Po Valley especially the Po River crossings during the night of 20/21 Mar; during the day fighter-bombers concentrate on railroad targets (lines, trains, bridges, and viaducts) and dumps in the Po Valley and areas N of the battleline in the N Apennines; medium bombers bomb a railroad fill at Salorno, bridges at Casarsa della Delizia and Pizzighettone, marshalling yards at Vipiteno and Brennero, and bridge approaches at Campo. The 86th and 87th Fighter Squadrons, 79th Fighter Group, move from Fano to Cesenatico, Italy with P-47s.


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## Njaco (Mar 22, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 5th Division (an element of US 3rd Army) establishes a bridgehead over the Rhine River near Nierstein. Other US 3rd Army units are completing the mopping up west of the Rhine and preparing to make crossings of their own. In the north, British 21st Army Group (Montgomery) forces are also preparing to establish bridgeheads over the Rhine. Patton sends his troops across the Rhine at Nierstein, stealing the glory from Montgomery, who had long been planning a crossing on the next day.

HQ 69th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron arrive at Nancy, France from the US with F-6s; HQ 474th Fighter Group moves from Florennes, Belgium to Strassfeld, Germany; the 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF [attached to 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Group (Provisional)], arrives at Maastricht, the Netherlands from the US with F-6s; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Buhl to Sarreguemines, France with L-5s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Silesia, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front achieve a breakthrough in attacks over the Oder River to the south of Oppeln as well as extending an existing bridgehead to the north of the town. In the Polish Corridor, the Soviet forces continue fighting to reach the Baltic between Gdynia and Danzig. 

Soviet pilot L.I. Sivko flying a Yak-9 claims to shoot down an Me262 jet but is himself swiftly thereafter shot down himself by an Me-262 jet piloted by pilot Unteroffizier Franz Schall, the wingman of Sivko's victim, and one of the leading jet aces of the war.

*GERMANY*: 227 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to Hildesheim. 4 Lancasters lost. The target was the railway yards; these were bombed but the surrounding built-up areas also suffered severely in what was virtually an area attack. This was the only major Bomber Command raid of the war on Hildesheim and the post-war British survey found that 263 acres, 70 per cent of the town, had been destroyed.

Attack on Dülmen by 130 RAF aircraft - 106 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. This was an area attack and the town was soon burning after a concentrated raid in clear weather conditions. No other details are available.

124 RAF aircraft - 100 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups bombed Dorsten. Dorsten was a rail and canal centre and also the location of a Luftwaffe fuel dump. All these targets were believed to have been hit but the town probably suffered as well. No aircraft were lost.

100 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the town of Bocholt, probably with the intention of cutting communications. The town was seen to be on fire. No aircraft lost.

102 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked bridges at Bremen (82 aircraft) and Nienburg (20 aircraft of No 617 Squadron). The bridge at Nienburg was destroyed; the bombing at the Bremen bridge appeared to be accurate but no results were seen. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 906: Air attacks in preparation for the lower Rhine River crossing by Allied ground forces continue; 1,331 bombers and 662 fighters attack barracks and military encampments in the Ruhr and airfields in Germany visually; they claim 27-1-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 3 P-51s are lost: 1. 99 of 114 B-17s hit Ahlhorn Airfield; 13 others hit the marshalling yard at Oldenburg, a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost; 9 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 95 of 99 P-51s. 2. 457 B-17s are sent to hit military camps at Bottrop (36), Dorsten (74), Barningholten (111), Westerholt (116), Feldhausen N (74) and S (39); 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 111 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 8 WIA. The escort is 95 of 99 P-51s. 3. 297 B-17s are sent to hit military camps at Hinsbeck (67), Geresheim (73), Ratingen (75) and Mulheim (74); 114 B-17s are damaged and 3 airmen are WIA. 48 P-51s escort; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground. 4. 342 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Kitzingen (168), Giebelstadt (75) and Schwab Hall (82); 8 others hit Wurzburg, the secondary target; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA. The escort is 138 of 153 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft in the air and 13-0-7 on the ground. 5. 109 of 113 B-17s hit the Rhein Main Airfield at Frankfurt; 31 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 56 P-51s. 6. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 7. 19 of 22 P-51s escort 19 of 22 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany; they claim 11-1-3 aircraft in the air. 8. 2 B-17s and 31 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 9. 150 of 153 P-51s escort Fifteenth AF bombers from Italy. Mission 907: 9 of 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, nearly 800 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb 9 communications centers and a marshalling yard E of the Rhine River (plus 7 towns, flak positions, and a target of opportunity) as part of the interdiction program to impede the movement of supplies and troops; fighters escort the bombers, attack railroads and other assigned targets, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions SE of Honnef and along the Wied River, cooperate with the XII Corps as it begins crossing the Rhine River in the Mainz-Oppenheim areas and with the XX Corps which begins an attack on Ludwigshafen.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 680+ B-17s and B-24s (with Eighth and Fifteenth AF fighter escort) hit the Ruhland, Germany and Kralupy and Vltava, Czechoslovakia oil refineries (some bombers on the Ruhland raid bomb the Lauta aluminum works to the N), a railroad communications and ordnance depot, a marshalling yard, and 2 oil refineries at Vienna, Austria, marshalling yards at Graz, Wels, Zeltweg and Klagenfurt, Austria, and Neratovice, Czechoslovakia, and scattered targets of opportunity; reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions are also flown. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 21/22 Mar, A-20s and A-26s continue intruder raids concentrating on Po River crossings in the E Po Valley; during the day P-47s blast rail lines, trains and other communications targets, especially in the E Po Valley and areas to the N. In Austria, B-25s destroy a bridge at Brixlegg, severely damage the Steinach bridge, and hit bridge approaches at Muhlberg and the town of Matrei am Brenner. Weather prevents successful attacks on 2 targets in N Italy.


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## Njaco (Mar 23, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The British 2nd Army and Canadian 1st Army begin *Operation Plunder *to cross the Rhine. The objective of this operation is to attack north of Wesel, holding down and diminishing the 47th Panzer Corps, preventing it from attacking the main force crossing at Wesel. There is massive artillery and air support. Two parachute divisions are also to be dropped to aid the crossing. The operation begins at 2100 hours and continues in the moonlight. Meanwhile, US 1st Army and the elements of US 3rd Army are extending their bridgeheads over the Rhine.

Speyer: An infantry unit of the US 12th Armoured Division is tasked with taking the city. As they approach a bridge over the Rhine they were ambushed by anti-tank rockets and machine gun fire. The rocket fire appeared to be coming from a nearby warehouse. Private Edward A. Carter volunteered to lead a four man squad to take out the warehouse, which was 150 yards of open terrain away. Two of Carter's men were killed almost immediately; the third was severely injured. Carter alone got within striking distance, but took five bullets and three pieces of shrapnel before he was able to take cover. Carter waited there for two hours, until the Germans, thinking he was dead, sent out an eight-man patrol to make sure. Carter engaged them single-handedly with his Thompson .45, killing six and capturing two, whom he used as human shields to get back to his company. Carter refused immediate medical treatment, and instead took his commanding officer up to an observation spot where he pointed out several German machine gun nests.

Canadian forces make first use of variable-time radar-equipped shells, allowing consistent bursts above ground.

195 RAF Lancasters and 23 Mosquitos of Nos 5 and 8 Groups carried out the last raid on the unfortunate town of Wesel. No aircraft lost. Wesel claims to have been the most intensively bombed town, for its size, in Germany. 97 per cent of the buildings in the main town area were destroyed. The population, which had numbered nearly 25,000 on the outbreak of war, was only 1,900 in May 1945.

80 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked Wesel, which was an important troop centre behind the Rhine front in an area about to be attacked by British troops. The raid was accurate and no aircraft were lost.

Support and 78 training aircraft on a sweep across France and as far as Mannheim, 65 Mosquitos to Berlin and 23 to Aschaffenburg, 41 RCM sorties, 39 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos lost from the Berlin raid.

Mosquitos of RAF Coastal Command attack shipping at Dalsfjord, Norway.

The 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Gosselies, Belgium to Vogelsang, Germany with F-6s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Three German Gotha-242 and DFS-230 transport planes land on the Kaiserstrasse runway in Breslau, as three others are shot down by Russian flak. They provide howitzer guns and 150 mm ammunition. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: General Vietinghoff takes over command of German forces in Italy replacing Field Marshal Kesselring who has been withdrawn to the Western Front. Throughout March there have been small attacks by both US 2nd and 4th Corps of US 5th Army in the area around the Pistoia-Bologna road and to the west.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s attack loading points and crossings along the Po River during the night of 22/23 Mar; P-47s concentrate on communications and general movement in the lower Brenner area during the day; the fighter-bombers also blast several dumps in the C Po Valley; B-25s hit bridges, railroad fills, and bridge approaches in the Brenner area at Matrei am Brenner, Austria and Pordenone, Salorno, San Michele all' Adige, Vo Sinistro, Longarone, and Perca, Italy. 

*GERMANY*: 128 RAF Lancasters of Nos 1 and 5 Groups attacked bridges at Bremen (117 aircraft) and Bad Oeynhausen (11 aircraft). Both bridges were hit. 2 Lancasters were lost from the Bremen raid.

(US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 908: The Allied ground assault across the lower Rhine River begins; 1,276 bombers and 499 fighters visually attack rail targets in W and C Germany; they claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers are lost: 1. 319 B-24s are sent to hit the Rheine Bridge (79) and the Osnabruck (80) and Munster (142) marshalling yards; 2 others hit Hoya Airfield, a target of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 95 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 3 WIA and 35 MIA. Escorting are 79 of 80 P-51s. 2. 519 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards Hengstey (113), Giesecke (91), Holzwickede (184) and the Unna yard at Dormund (38); secondary targets hit are Meschede (19) and marshalling yards at Siegen (93) and Marburg (10); targets of opportunity are Herdecke (10), Haliger (1) and Schwerte (10); 3 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 178 damaged; 6 airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 27 MIA. 82 P-51s escort. 3. 438 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Coesfeld (145), Recklinghausen (120) and Gladbeck (141); targets of opportunity are Hechfeldt (12) and the marshalling yard at Westerholt (13); 1 B-17 is lost; 3 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA. The escort is 71 of 79 P-51s. 4. 125 of 131 P-51s fly a fighter sweep of the Bremen-Kassel area; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground. 5. 71 of 84 P-51s fly a sweep for the Ninth AF. 6. 16 P-51s escort 15 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 7. 25 of 27 P-51s fly weather reconnaissance missions. Mission 909: 1 B-17, escorted by 4 P-51s, bombs Ettinghausen Airfield in a Micro-H Mk II radar test. Mission 910: During the night, 9 of 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany; and 19 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Denmark. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, around 800 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s strike 7 communications centers, a factory, and targets of opportunity (including several flak positions); attacks on communications centers are aimed at obstructing the movement of reinforcements to the front; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, attack assigned ground targets, support the US III and VII Corps SE of Honnef and E of the Wied River and the XII and XX Corps astride and on the W bank of the Rhine River between Mainz and Worms.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 658 B-17s and B-24s, (with fighter escort) hit oil refineries at Ruhland, Germany, and at Vienna, Austria, marshalling yards at Budejovice, Czechoslovakia and Gmund, Sankt Polten and Sankt Valentin, Austria, and a tank works at Sankt Valentin, plus scattered targets of opportunity. 40+ F-5s, P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance.


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## Njaco (Mar 24, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: *Operation Varsity* begins, as 134 American and British gliders cross the Rhine Rive rin support for the 9th US and 2th British Armies' crossing of the Rhine. An enormous air armada crossed the River Rhein near Wesel in Western Germany. The column, two-and-a-half hours long, consisted of more than 1,500 IX Troop Carrier Command airplanes and gliders. To their left were about 1,200 RAF airplanes and gliders, supported by 880 US and RAF fighters. Over 21,000 airborne infantry were dropped north-east of Wesel. They quickly overcame enemy resistance and linked up with the main force. Only on the extreme left wing, near Emmerich, is resistance really tough. "The enemy", say the Canadians, "are fighting like madmen." There are now three bridgeheads between Wesel in the north and Mainz in the south: Montgomery's, Patton's and the US First Army's at Remagen. General Montgomery extends the bridgehead to a depth of 5 miles. With 1,250,000 Britons, Canadians and Americans under him, Montgomery has more than 5,500 artillery pieces, anti-tanks guns and rockets. The US 9th Army, now part of Montgomery's 21st Army Group, begins to cross the Rhine south of the British and Canadians. 

Montgomery's crossing of the Rhine was meticulously prepared and impatiently awaited. 100 miles to the south, Patton crossed the Rhine 24 hours ahead of Montgomery. He went across at Nierstein against light opposition and swept down on Darmstadt. The Canadian 51st Highland Div. of the British 2nd Army attacked German villages north of Reeserward. The Canadian 1st Black Watch brigade of the 51st Div. reaches the German town of Speldrop. Wesel had been reduced to rubble by Allied bombing and shelling, but the Germans clung on for the best part of 24 hours. 

Cpl Frederick George Topham, Canadian Army, brought in a wounded man from the open, despite being shot himself. He later rescued three men from a crippled carrier. (Victoria Cross)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army is preparing with great deliberation for its last campaign, the attack on Berlin, in its long march to the west from the very gates of its own capital. Marshal Zhukov, having taken the fortress of Kustrin, the last obstacle on the road to Berlin, is now enlarging his bridgehead across the Oder to set the scene for the drama which is about to unfold. With six infantry divisions and two tank brigades he has reached the road junction at Golzow, just 33 miles from greater Berlin. 

In the north, Marshal Rokossovsky is tightening his grip on Danzig and Konigsberg as the Germans continue their evacuation of East Prussia. It is General Schorner, rescued from command of the cut-off forces in Courland to take over Army Group A opposite Marshal Konev, who has felt the full weight of the Red Army. Konev has hit him hard near Oppeln in Silesia. Soviet forces capture Spolot on the Baltic coast between Gdynia and Danzig. 

In Hungary Marshal Tolbukhin finished off Hitler's ill-fated Operation Spring Awakening and is about to resume his march on Vienna. Szekesfehervar falls to the attacks of troops of 2nd Ukrainian Front. Meanwhile, the front line of the Soviet offensive has already pushed farther to the west, taking Veszprem and Mor. The German and Hungarian forces of German Army Group South are retreating in disorder after sustaining heavy losses. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: A re-equipped and revitalized Allied army is braced for a major new campaign aimed at trapping the German army in the Po valley. Fears that Hitler is planning a fight to the death in a mountain redoubt have put pressure on Allied commanders to moce quickly. Field Marshal Alexander, supreme Allied commander, Mediterranean, is planning for the Eighth Army to attack westwards through the Argenta Gap, with the US Fifth Army attacking northwards, west of Bologna. Alexander hopes to achieve the critical element of surprise by simulating preparations for seaborne landings north of the Po.

The Eighth Army's low morale of December has been improved by the arrival of new weapons including flame-throwing tanks and 400 Fantails, tracked amphibious troops carriers. The commanders have not been cheered by the loss of the Canadian Corps to north-west Europe; nor by the universal shortage of artillery ammunition which is restricting many batteries to five rounds daily for each gun.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s and A-26s pound marshalling yards, river crossings and other bridges, and a variety of other targets in the Po Valley and NE Italy where fighters and fighter-bombers during the day destroy or damage numerous rail lines and train cars; B-25s bomb bridges or bridge approaches at Piacenza, Chiari, Perea, Casarsa della Delizia and Palazzolo sull'Oglio, Italy and Muhlberg and Steinach, Austria. 

*GERMANY*: 177 RAF aircraft - 155 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Sterkrade so successfully that, according to Bomber Command, there was 'complete destruction of a well packed marshalling yard'. No aircraft lost.

153 RAF Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups attacked Gladbeck situated on the northern edge of the Ruhr and not far from the new battle area. The target was 'devastated'. 1 Halifax lost.

173 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Harpenerweg plant at Dortmund and the Mathias Stinnes plant at Bottrop. 3 Lancasters were lost on the Dortmund raid.

67 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Nordheim and 2 which bombed both Berlin and Magdeburg on nuisance flights, 38 RCM sorties, 33 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 911: In conjunction with the allied ground forces assault across the lower Rhine River (Operation VARSITY) the Eighth flies bombing, supply, and armed reconnaissance missions; during the day, 1,749 bomber sorties and 1,375 fighter sorties are flown to attack airfields visually in W and NW Germany in the morning and afternoon and drop supplies to US and British troops at midday; they claim 54-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; 1. 175 of 179 B-17s bomb Vechta Airfield in the morning; 1 hits Rheine Airfield, a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA. 2. 527 B-17s are sent to hit Steenwijk (114), Zwischenahn (74), Varel (88), Varrelbusch (113) and Plantlunne (13) Airfields in the morning; targets of opportunity are Wittmundhafen Airfield (13) and other (2); 1 B-17 is lost and 2 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 9 MIA. 3. 294 B-17s are dispatched to hit Rheine (36), Hopsten (62), Vechtel at Furstenau (72), Achmer (73) and Hesepe (36) Airfields in the morning; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 100 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 28 MIA. 4. All 58 B-24s hit Nordhorn Airfield without loss. 5. The 4 forces above have 1,158 P-47s and P-51s flying area support; they claim 53-0-2 aircraft in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost (8 pilots MIA). 6. At midday, 240 B-24s are sent to drop supplies in the US (122) and British (118) assault areas flying at 300 to 400-feet (91 to 122 m); 14 B-24s are lost (mostly to small arms fire), 4 damaged beyond repair and 103 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA, 30 WIA and 116 MIA. 7. 182 B-24s are sent to hit Stormede (96) and Kirtorf (65) Airfields in the afternoon; 9 hit Ziegenhain Airfield, the secondary, and 11 hit the Treysa marshalling yard, a target of opportunity; 16 B-24s are damaged. 8. 114 B-17s are sent to hit Ziegenhain Airfield (104) in the afternoon; 6 others hit Siegen marshalling yard, the secondary; 2 B-17s are damaged. 9. 152 of 153 B-17s hit Enschede Airfield at Twente; 20 B-17s are damaged. 10. The 3 forces above are escorted by 95 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 11. 2 B-17s and 19 of 20 P-51s fly scouting missions; 1 P-51 is lost 12. 8 P-51s escort 4 Mosquitos that monitor operations for the bombers. 13. 17 P-51s escort 19 aircraft on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 912: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands during the night and 24 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions over Scandinavia. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Almost 700 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s blast communications centers, rail bridges, flak positions, and numerous other targets in cooperation with the combined land-airborne assault across the Rhine River (Operation PLUNDER-VARSITY) by the British Second and US Ninth Armies and the US XVIII Corps of the First Allied Airborne Army; fighters attack with the bombers before the drop and carpet the landing zones with fragmentation bombs, immobilizing numerous flak batteries; fighters escort bombers and transports, cover the assaulting 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions, attack troop concentrations, flak positions, supply and ammunition dumps, airfields, defended villages, and road and rail traffic, and patrol the perimeter of the battle sector; fighters also support US First Army elements across the Rhine E of Remagen between Koblenz and the Sieg River as they prepare for the breakout assault, and the US Third Army's XII Corps as it strengthens its Rhine bridgehead E of Oppenheim and commits its armor to push through toward the Main River.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 660 B-24s and B-17s bomb a tank factory at Berlin and airfields at Munich and Neuburg an der Donau, Germany, plus the Budejovice, Czechoslovakia marshalling yard, and alternate targets and targets of opportunity including airfields at Plattling and Erding, Germany and Udine, Italy; P-38s and P-51s escort the missions against German targets and fly reconnaissance. 

Obstlt. Bär begins a series of double kills in the Me 262 when he shoots down a B-24 Liberator and a P-51 Mustang. At JG 7, Oblt Walter Schuck is appointed _Staffelkapitän _of 3./JG 7 and Major Ehrler downs his third B-17 flying the Me 262.


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## Njaco (Mar 25, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: During the day, the various crossings of British 21st Army Group are consolidated into a single bridgehead, 30 miles wide. Further south, US 1st Army units, principally from US 3rd Corps, begin to break out of the Remagen bridgehead. The US 8th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) begins to cross the Rhine River near Boppard. To the south, Darmstadt is taken by US 12th Corps units who crossed at Nierstein. Other units have advanced farther east to the Main near Hanau and Aschaffenburg. As British and US troops link up on the east bank of the Rhine, Montgomery forbids British troops to "fraternize" with the local population. As part of Operation *Varsity*, the US 17th Airborne Division is dropped over the east bank of the Rhine. Canadian troops of the British 2nd Army cross the Rhine river and begin an attack on Bienen, Germany, against the German 1st Parachute Army and 47th Panzer Corps.

Field Marshal Albert Kesselring is moved from being Commander-in-Chief Armed Forces West to be Commander-in-Chief Armed Forces South.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army has reached the Austrian border in the Köszeg-Szombathely area. The Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front starts its attack across the Hron River and along the north bank of the Danube. Hungarian troops begin deserting their German allies in droves, while German commanders report a loss of confidence among their own men. In East Prussia, Keiligenbeil falls to units of the 3rd Belorussian Front. In Hungary, the Soviet offensive continues with the capture of Esztergom on the Danube River. Just north of the Danube, there are attacks by other elements of 3rd Ukrainian Front. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Czechoslovakia, 650+ B-17s and B-24s strike 2 airfields and a tank works at Prague (the patterns of the bombs also hit 2 other nearby airfields) and an airfield at Cheb. Alternate targets that are bombed include Wels, Austria and Udine Airfield, Italy. P-38s and P-47s escort the bombers, and sweep and strafe the Nurnberg- Eibelstadt-Wurzburg-Regensburg, Germany areas, and fly reconnaissance operations. 

*GERMANY*: The Bomber Command operations on this day were directed to towns on the main reinforcement routes into the Rhine battle area. Heavy attacks were made on the railway routes through these towns and on the surrounding built-up areas.

Hannover attacked by 267 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. The bombing was observed to fall in the target area. 1 Lancaster lost.

175 RAF aircraft - 151 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups raided Münster. 3 Halifaxes lost. Few results were seen by the bombers because the target area rapidly became smoke-covered. Münster reports a large number of bombs but only 2 people dead.

156 RAF aircraft - 132 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups to Osnabrück. No aircraft lost. Osnabrück reports extensive property damage throughout the town.

8 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 1 Lancaster dropping leaflets over The Hague. No losses.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 913: 1,009 bombers and 341 fighters are dispatched to hit seven oil plants and a tank factory in Germany; they claim 6-4-13 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-24s and 1 P-51 are lost: 1. 272 B-24s are sent to hti the Ehmen (59), Hitzacker (127) and Bucken (57) oil depots; they claim 2-4-9 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 19 damaged; 16 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 39 MIA. Escorting are 223 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-3 aircraft in the air. 2. 737 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil plants but bad weather during the assembly and the increasing possibility of adverse conditions causes the mission to be cancelled; 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 9 airmen are KIA. 3. 47 of 48 P-51s escort Ninth AF B-26s. 4. 24 P-51s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the Schmalge ammunition dump; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 5. 11 P-51s fly a scouting mission claiming 0-0-1 aircraft in the air. 6. 16 P-15s escort 8 F-5s and 3 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 914: 10 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits 4 communications centers, 3 marshalling yards, and targets of opportunity, including flak positions; fighters fly escort, armed reconnaissance, and missions against several ground targets; fighters support the US 79th Infantry Division as it pushes 2 miles (3.2 km) to the E of the Rhine River (SE of Wesel), the III and VII Corps as they begin their breakout assault toward Altenkirchen and in the Epgert and Willroth areas, and the XII Corps as it establishes bridgeheads on the Main River in the Hanau and Aschaffenburg areas. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 24/25 Mar, A-20s and A-26s continue intruder missions, attacking Po River crossings and railroad and motor transport targets; P-47s, during the day, raid railroad bridges and lines, hitting targets at Lavis, Casarsa della Delizia, San Michele all'Adige, Pavia, Santa Margherita d'Adige, and other points in the Po Valley and NE Italy, and bomb fuel dumps N of the battle area; 6 medium bomber missions against bridges and fills in Italy and Austria are ineffective because of bad weather.


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 7th Army begins to send units of US 15th and US 6th Corps across the Rhine River between Worms and Mannheim. To the north all the Allied armies continue to advance. Allied forces on the Western Front are now completely east of the Rhine River. British PM Churchill looks over the Rhine near Ginsberg.

_'U-399' _(German type VIIC) sunk in the English Channel near Land's End, an unknown depth, in position 49.56N, 05.22W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Duckworth'_. 46 dead and 1 survivor self escaped with Drager gear, PoW.

Whilst patrolling off the Dutch coast in company with MTB’s 764 and 758, corvette HMS _'Puffin' _finds herself in very close proximity to what turned out to be a Biber miniature submarine which she rams aft of the conning tower. This causes the two G7E torpedoes to detonate and _'Puffin' _is lifted out of the water by the explosion. Although _'Puffin' _was able to make it to port under her own power, she is paid off and not repaired. The only casualty was the operator of the Biber.

HQ 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and the 22d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron move from Mount Farm to Chalgrove, England with F-5s. Units moving from Belgium to Germany: HQ IX Tactical Air Command from Verviers to Bruhl; HQ 48th Fighter Group and the 492d, 493d and 494th Fighter Squadrons from St Trond to Kelz with P-47s. The 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Sarreguemines, France to Kaiserlautern, Germany with L-5s. 

*GERMANY*: The war weary citizens of the Third Reich were today called upon by Martin Bormann, Hitler's deputy, to become "Werewolf" guerrillas in a last-ditch resistance against the Allies as they invade Germany. Bormann said: "The Werewolf has been born of National Socialism. It makes no allowances and knows no considerations as imposed on regular troops .... Hatred shall be our prayer and revenge our battle-cry ..."

86 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 2 each to Erfurt and Paderborn, and 2 which bombed both Berlin and Magdeburg on a 'siren tour'. No aircraft lost.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 915: 337 B-17s and 527 P-51s are dispatched to attack oil and tank plants in Germany; targets are bombed visually despite poor weather; no aircraft are lost: 1. 185 B-17s are sent to hit the synthetic oil plant at Zeitz (12); 130 others hit the Vomag tank factory at Plauen (130), the secondary; targets of opportunity are Meiningen (25) and Wurzburg (11); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 25 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 5 WIA. Escorting are 194 of 238 P-51s. 2. 152 B-17s are sent to hit the Vomag tank factory at Plauen (139); targets of opportunity are Oelsnitz (12) and Markt Erlbach (1); 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA. 98 of 121 P-51s escort. 3. 110 of 118 P-51s fly a freelance fighter mission for the bombers. 4. 26 of 27 P-51s escort 12 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 5. 22 of 23 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, around 300 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit marshalling yards at Wurzburg, Gemunden, and Flieden, the town of Ruckers, and 2 targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance, hit special targets and support various ground forces along the front; fighter support is accorded the US 2d, 3d, 7th, and 9th Armored Divisions in the Hachenburg, Montabaur, and Limburg areas, the XII Corps along the Main River from Frankfurt/Main to Aschaffenburg, and Ninth Army elements in the bridgehead area around Gahlen.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 500+ B-17s and B-24s, escorted by P-51s and P-38s attack marshalling yards at Wiener-Neustadt, Strasshof, Bruck an der Leitha, and Neunkirchen, Austria, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia and Szombathely, Hungary; 46 P-38s dive-bomb the bridge at Ybbs, Austria while 26 P-51s, covered by 13 others, strafe rail traffic in the Wiener-Neustadt, Austria-Vienna-Budejovice, Czechoslovakia areas; other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance operations. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: 3rd Belorrussian Front destroys German troops trapped at Frishes Haff. Russians forces capture Papa and Devecser, both German strong points covering the approaches to the Austrian border. The Reichsführer-SS is replaced by General Heinrici as Commander in Chief of Army Group Weichsel.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather grounds the medium bombers and hampers operations in general; during the night of 26/27 Mar, 3 A-20s hit bridges at Cittadella and Verona; fighter-bombers, operating on a reduced scale, hit communications targets in the W Po Valley, cutting a road bridge and several railroads, and attacking several targets of opportunity.


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2010)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: A German V-2 rocket lands in Deptford, England, killing 52, seriously injuring 32. A German V-2 rocket hits the Hughes Mansions area in Vallance Road, Stepney, England, killing 134, seriously injuring 49. This is the second-highest British death toll by a V-2 rocket, and the second-last to hit England. A V-2 bomb kills 131 people in a London block of flats; 2,745 civilians have been killed by the bombs, and 2,900 aircrewmen have died in the campaign against them. What will be the 1115th and last V-2 rocket to land in England, lands SE of London at Orpington, Kent, killing one and injuring about 70. As well as the 1115 launched at British targets, a further 2050 were aimed at Antwerp, Brussels and Liege.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the northeast sector British 21st Army Group units are advancing along the line of the River Lippe with US 9th Army beginning to penetrate south into the Ruhr industrial area. US 3rd Army has now crossed the Main both west of Frankfurt, where Wiesbaden is attacked, and to the east. After crossing the Rhine the US 1st and 3rd Armies join up near Coblenz and the 3rd and 7th Armies join up near Darmstadt.

_'U-905' _(type VIIC) is sunk in the Minch Canal in position 58.34N, 05.46W by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Conn'_. 45 dead (all hands lost). 

_'U-722' _(type VIIC) is sunk near the Hebrides, in position 57.09N, 06.55W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Fitzroy'_,' _Redmill' _and _'Byron'_. 44 dead (all hands lost).

HQ XII Tactical Air Command moves from France to Germany. The 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), moves from Luxembourg City, Luxembourg to Oberstein, Germany with L-5s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Poland, Soviet forces have penetrated to the final German defense lines at both Gdynia and Danzig. Bitter street fighting in Danzig as the Russians force their way into the city's defenses. A counterattack by elements of the German 9th Army, from the Frankfurt bridgehead toward Küstrin, advances to within a few miles of the city's outskirts. In Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the 2nd and 3rd Ukraine Fronts continue their attacks. The heaviest fighting is along the line of the Raba River where 6th SS Panzer Army suffers heavy casualties in counterattacks.

*GERMANY*: 268 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos to attack Paderborn where American troops were attempting to complete the encirclement of the Ruhr. No aircraft lost. The was covered by cloud but the raid was still carried out with almost perfect accuracy and this old town was virtually destroyed in less than a quarter of an hour. 

150 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out G-H raids on 2 benzol plants in the Hamm area. No results were seen, because of cloud, but dense black smoke rose through the cloud from both targets. No aircraft lost.

115 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked an oil-storage depot (95 aircraft) and a U-boat shelter (20 aircraft of No 617 Squadron) at Farge on the River Weser north of Bremen. Both attacks appeared to be successful. The results of the raid on the oil depot were not known because this target was attacked with delayed-action bombs so that clouds of smoke would not obscure the target. The U-boat shelter was a particularly interesting target. It was a huge structure with a concrete roof 23 ft thick. It was almost ready for use when No 617 Squadron attacked it on this day and penetrated the roof with 2 Grand Slams which brought down thousands of tons of concrete rubble and rendered the shelter unusable. No aircraft were lost in these attacks.

82 Mosquitos to Berlin, 7 to Bremen, 4 to Erfurt and 3 each to Hannover and Magdeburg, 46 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group minelaying in the River Elbe. 4 Mosquitos lost - 3 from the Berlin raid and 1 from the minelaying operation.

(US Eighth Air Force): Operations during the day include: 1. 110 of 115 P-47s and P-51s escort 262 RAF Lancasters attacking Paderborn, Germany. 2. 2 F-5s, escorted by 4 P-51s, fly a photo reconnaissance mission over Brunswick and Paderborn. Mission 916: 9 of 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

Weather cancels 9th Bombardment Division operations. In Germany, IX Tactical Air Command fighters patrol the US First Army front; the XIX Tactical Air Command hits marshalling yards, patrols the Third Army front, flies area cover from Koblenz to Aschaffenburg to Worms, and supports the VIII and XII Corps along the Rhine River in the Wiesbaden area and the Main River in the Frankfurt/Main-Aschaffenburg area.

Major Walter Dahl, flying a Me 262 with III./EJG 2, shoots down two USAAF P-47 Thunderbolts.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The 416th Night Fighter Squadron, 62d Fighter Wing, moves from Pisa to Pontedera, Italy with Mosquitos.


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Marburg is taken by US 3rd Corps (part of US 1st Army) which has made a rapid advance from the Remagen bridgehead. Canadian forces begin an advance on Emmerich, Germany. The Royal Canadian Engineers complete building a Bailey bridge 1814 feet long over the Rhine River, near Emmerich. This is the longest Bailey bridge built in the war.

General Eisenhower radios to Stalin in regard to future plans regarding a push south, leaving Berlin. He orders the Allied forces not to advance beyond the Elbe, thus leaving Berlin to the Soviets. As recently as last autumn Churchill and Roosevelt were contemplating a thrust to get to the city before the Russians. But western forces are still some 200 miles short, while the Russians are less than 50 miles away. Eisenhower says that he is not prepared to risk the lives of his men for the pursuit of political advantage over an ally. The critics of the supreme commander's decision argue that the British, Canadians and Americans are meeting almost no resistance and could easily be first to Berlin, while the Russians are up against the fanatical SS units ready to fight to the last. Churchill, who has just returned from a visit to the Allied forces in Germany, is filled with foreboding. He believes that Stalin will exploit the political advantage to be gained by raising the Red Flag over the Führer's capital. The British prime minister intends to appeal to Eisenhower to change his mind. "We should shake hands with the Russians as far to the east as possible," he says.

HQ 36th Fighter Group and the 22d and 23d Fighter Squadrons move from Le Culot, Belgium to Aachen, Germany with P-47s; and the 31st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from Jarny, France to Euren, Germany with F-5s.

*GERMANY*: Hitler forces Guderian, his chief of the army general staff, to take six weeks' sick leave after a series of disagreements.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 917: 965 B-17s and 390 P-51s are dispatched to hit industrial targets in Berlin and Hannover; 10/10 cloud cover forces the B-17s to bomb using H2X radar; 2 B-17s are lost: 1. 446 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Spandau tank factory (318) and Falkensee armament plant (65) in Berlin; 6 hit Stendal, the secondary; targets of opportunity are Hannover (1) and other (21); 2 B-17s are lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 133 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 8 WIA and 19 MIA. Escorting are 245 of 272 P-51s. 2. 519 B-17s are sent to hit the Hanomag tank factory at Hannover (34); 431 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Hannover; targets of opportunity are Minden (10) and other (5); 66 B-17s are damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. 86 of 99 P-51s escort. 3. 8 of 9 P-51s escort 3 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 4. 6 of 10 P-51s fly scouting missions. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 215 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit the Neuenheerse and Erbach oil storage depots and 11 targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and area cover over wide expanses of German territory, and support the US XII Corps in breakout attacks across the Main River in the Dornigheim area and the 2d and 8th Armored Divisions in the Dorsten area.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Gdynia falls to forces of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front. In Hungary, just south of the Danube River, Gyor is captured by troops from the 2nd Ukrainian Front.


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2010)

*UNITED KINGDOM*: Sittingbourne, Kent: AA gunners shoot down what is thought to be the last V1 launched against Britain.

Frigate HMS _'Teme' _takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by _'U-246' _(Kapitanleutnant Ernst Raabe) and loses her stern. She was towed to Falmouth but laid up and not repaired. Location: 6 miles N of Lands End at 50 07N 05 45W. There are 4 casualties. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: US forces marching almost unchecked into the centre of Germany, capture Frankfurt. Armor of the British 21st Army Group breaks out of the Wesel bridgehead. The US 7th Army captures Mannheim and Heidelberg. 

_'U-1106' _(type VIIC/41) is sunk north-east of the Faeroes, in position 61.46N, 02.16W, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 224/O). 46 dead (all hands lost). 

_'U-1169' _is sunk in the English Channel south of Lizard Point in position 49.58N 05.25W by depth charges dropped by frigate HMS _'Duckworth'_. All 49 of the U-Boat crew are lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army enters the former Czech province of Ruthenia.

*GERMANY*: 130 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the Hermann Goering benzol plant at Salzgitter. No results were seen through the cloud. No aircraft were lost. 48 Mosquitos to Berlin, 7 to Harburg and 3 each to Bremen and Hannover. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, clear weather during the night of 28/29 Mar, permits A-20s to hit rail loading points, trains, vehicles, roads, and bridges at many places in the Po Valley as well as river crossings at Borgoforte, Lodi, San Benedetto Po, Ostiglia, and Casalmaggiore, a factory at Brescia, and motor transport movement in the Milan-Piacenza area; bad morning weather cancels medium bomber operations except for a pamphlet mission over Bologna; when the weather clears about 1200 hours, XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers hit dumps at La Spezia and other points near the battle area, the Lavis viaduct, railroad bridges or approaches at Ora, Santa Margherita d' Adige, Nervesa della Battaglia, Rovereto, Ala, and other locations, and many vehicles and train cars and other targets of opportunity throughout the Po Valley and NE Italy; the 16th Troop Carrier Squadron, 64th Troop Carrier Group, based at Rosignano Airfield begins operating from Brindisi with C-47s.


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet army begins it's invasion of Eastern AUSTRIA. (Michael Ballard) Marshal Tolbukhin has crossed the Austrian border in strength about 50 miles south of Vienna. At the same time Marshal Rokossovsky, advancing on Tolbukhin's right on a 130-mile front, has broken though the German lines to threaten Bratislava. It was Tolbukhin's Third Ukrainian Front which absorbed Hitler's Spring Awakening assault in Hungary and then, when the Germans faltered, did not counter-attack but simply resumed its march on Austria. Tolbukhin's advance has been accompanied by a sudden loss of morale among the Germans, even among the Waffen-SS troops of the 6th SS Panzer Army. The Wehrmacht is crumbling away.

The final German positions in Danzig are overrun by the Soviet Army, 10,000 German prisoners are taken along with 45 submarines in the harbour.

During their occupation the Nazis have forced thousands of Hungarian Jews, many times by torture, to deposit valuables and family heirlooms in Hungarian banks and other institutions. Many of the goods have been deposited on a train dubbed the Gold Train. It contains 29 boxcars filled with personal heirlooms and valuables, including art, gold, jewellery, diamonds, silverware, fine china, porcelain and religious items. The train has left Hungary today bound for Austria.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 918: 1,402 bombers and 899 fighters are dispatched to attack targets connected with U-boat construction or operation; they claim 8-1-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 530 B-17s are sent to hit 2 U-boat yards (64) and an oil depot (169) at Hamburg; 263 bomb the port area at Hamburg, the secondary target; 1 hits Bremen, a target of opportunity; bombing is both visual and using H2X radar; they claim 0-1-3 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 252 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 10 WIA and 28 MIA. Escorting are 289 of 304 P-51s; they claim 4-0-7 aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. 2. 448 B-17s are sent to hit the U-boat yard (318) and rail bridge (109) at Bremen visually and with H2X; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 225 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 6 WIA and 11 MIA. The escort is 268 of 287 P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft. 3. 382 B-24s are dispatched to hit the U-boat yard (273) and Bauhaben port area (85) at Wilhelmshafen both visually and with H2X; 1 B-24 is lost and 56 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. 105 P-47s and P-51s escort. 4. 32 of 36 B-17s fly a DISNEY mission to the U-boat yard at Farge; 14 B-17s are damaged. 5. 6 B-17s fly screening missions. 6. 153 of 159 P-51s fly a freelance mission for the bombers; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft. 7. 11 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 8. 26 of 31 P-51s fly scouting missions. Mission 919: During the night, 13 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany; 19 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway; 1 B-24 is lost and 1 crashes in the Orkney Islands. The German cruiser _'Köln' _is sunk by aircraft from the US 8th Air Force. _'U-429' _(type VIIC) is sunk near Wilhelmshaven in 53.13N 08.40E by US bombs.' _U-430' _(type VIIC) is sunk near Bremen in position 53.08N 08.46E by US bombs. _'U-348' _(type VIIC) is sunk near Hamburg in position 53.33N 09.57E by US bombs. 

43 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 43 to Erfurt, 4 to Nordingen and 3 each to Hamburg and Kiel, 36 RCM sorties, 31 Mosquito patrols, 6 Mosquitos minelaying in Jade Bay and the River Weser. 1 Mosquito was lost from the Berlin raid. _'U-1167' _(type VIIC/41) is sunk near the Deutsche Werke yard in Hamburg due to damage from British bombs.

Adolf Hitler issues a decree drafted by Albert Speer, calling for war production to continue until the last possible moment, then for facilities to be crippled if possible, or destroyed otherwise. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 337 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s attack the Bad Oeynhausen tank factory, the Munden ordnance depot, the Ebenhausen oil depot, 2 town areas and 6 targets of opportunity, and drop leaflets; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support ground forces; fighter support is provided for the US 3d and 7th Armored Divisions near Paderborn and at the Edersee dam on the Eder River, the XII Corps N of Frankfurt/Main, the XX Corps in the Hersfeld and Hanau areas, and the XVI Corps in the Marl-Polsum area. 

Lt. Victor Petermann, an ex-JG 52 fighter pilot flying a Me 262 with JG 7, downs his second B-17. But another Me 262 pilot with JG 7 is not so lucky. Lt. Karl “Quax” Schnorrer, formerly a wingman to Walter Nowotny of JG 54, is shot down over Hamburg. He bales out but again injures his legs similar to those injuries he suffered on 12 November, 1943. This time, one leg has to be amputated and his flying career is over.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 60+ B-17s and B-24s bomb the Vienna N stations and goods depot, the Graz and Klagenfurt marshalling yards, the Kapfenberg tank works, and several minor targets of opportunity; 28 P-38s and P-51s sweep the Zagreb, Yugoslavia-Graz, Austria area and others fly reconnaissance. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 1st Army advance north from Marburg and crosses the River Eder. US 3rd Army is attempting to strike east and north toward Gotha and Kassel.
Canadian forces clear Emmerich, Germany, of its defenders.

A surrendering Luftwaffe pilot delivers a Me-262A-1 fighter to allied forces when it lands at an American airbase.

_'U-965' _(type VIIC) is sunk north of Scotland, in position 58.19N, 05.31W by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Rupert and HMS Conn. 51 dead (all hands lost). 

HQ 322d Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 449th and 452d Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) from Tille Airfield, Beauvais, France to Le Culot, Belgium with B-26s; HQ 404th Fighter Group and the 506th Fighter Squadron from St Trond, Belgium to Keltz, Germany with P-47s; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), from Euskirchen to Bad Godesberg, Germany; the 428th, 429th and 430th Fighter Squadrons, 474th Fighter Group, from Florennes, Belgium to Strassfeld, Germany with P-38s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 29/30 Mar, A-20s and A-26s continue to pound Po River crossings, loading points, and other communications in the Po Valley; during the day XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers fly some 400 sorties against fuel and ammunition dumps, stores, bridges, rail lines, marshalling yards, buildings, motor vehicles, trains, and a variety of targets over wide areas of N Italy; weather forces the medium bombers to attack mainly alternate targets; the B-25s bomb railroad bridges (or bridge approaches) at San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Rovereto, Chiari, Palazzolo sull'Oglio, Legnago, Ora, and Romano di Lombardia.


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## Njaco (Apr 2, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The Allies are poised for the final attack on Germany. Armies are moving round the Ruhr to link up between Munster and Paderborn; Montgomery's 21st Army Group is heading for Germany's Baltic ports; Patton is about to link up with US First Army at Kassel; the US Seventh Army is advancing on Heidelberg while the First French Army is swinging south to the Swiss border. Allied air supremacy is total; bombing raids have left roads, railways and canal in ruins, while sunken ships clog many harbours. De Tassigny's French First Army crosses the Rhine near Speyer. Eisenhower broadcasts to the German armed forces, demanding their surrender.

German LIII A.K., commanded by GL Fritz Bayerlein, with remnants of the 176 Inf. Div., Panzer Lehr Pz. Div., and 3 Pg. Div. attack the US 4 Arm. Div. near Paderborn. They are attempting to breakout of the "Ruhr pocket" and restore freedom of movement for Army Group B which is encircled there.

The 162d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group [attached to Reconnaissance Group (Provisional), XII Tactical Air Command], moves from Azelot to Haguenau, France with F-6s. 

*NORTH AMERICA*: Canada's Commonwealth air training program ends. 131,500 aircrew graduated.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Ratibor on the upper Danube is taken by forces of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front.

*GERMANY*: Hamburg: 469 RAF aircraft - 361 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups attempted to attack the Blohm Voss shipyards, where the new types of U-boats were being assembled, but the target area was completely cloud-covered. The local report describes 'considerable damage' to houses, factories, energy supplies and communications over a wide area of southern Hamburg and Harburg. 8 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes were lost, a number being victims of an unexpected intervention by the Luftwaffe day-fighter force. This was Bomber Command's last double-figure aircraft loss of the war from a raid on one city.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 920: 1,348 bombers and 889 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants, a refinery, munitions plant and tank factory; they claim 9-3-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 229 B-17s are sent to hit the synthetic oil refinery at Zeitz using H2X radar; secondary targets hit are the oil plant at Bad Berka (29) and Gotha (20) visually; targets of opportunity are Erfurt (25) and other (8), hit visually; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 108 damaged; 1 airman is KIA; 2 WIA and 30 MIA. Escorting are 117 of 120 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 294 B-17s are sent to hit Brandenburg (265); targets of opportunity are Stendal (9) and Salzwedel (9); they claim 0-1-0 aircraft; 1 B-17 is damaged. 207 of 221 P-51s escort claiming 5-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 371 of 385 B-24s hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Brunswick; they claim 3-2-1 aircraft; 2 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 29 MIA. The escort is 253 of 266 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-7 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 369 of 432 B-17s attack the secondary, the marshalling yard at Halle; targets of opportunity are Leipzig (8), Weimar (36), Aschersleben (7) and other (1); 37 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 225 of 233 P-51s. 5. 8 B-17s fly a screening mission. 6. 26 of 30 P-51s fly scouting missions; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft. 7. 19 P-51s escort 8 of 10 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 550+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit storage depots at Ebrach, Wurzburg, and Marienburg, the marshalling yard at Wurzburg, the town area of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and a target of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, hit special targets, fly armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d and 9th Armored Divisions near Paderborn, the XII Corps as it charges toward Eisenach, the XX Corps along the Fulda and Eder Rivers, and the XVI and XIX Corps S of Haltern and NW of Lippstadt.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 540 B-24s and B-17s bomb the Linz main railroad station and sidings, and the marshalling yards at Villach, Austria and Treviso, Italy and 3 minor targets of opportunity; P-51s and P-38s provide escort; 37 other fighters on sweeps and strafings attack railroad targets in the Munich, Germany-Linz, Austria-Regensburg, Germany area and 43 hit similar targets in the Prague, Czechoslovakia area; still other F-5s, P-38s and P-51s fly extensively reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort. 

The Me 262s of I and III Gruppen of JG 7, loaded with R4M rockets, intercept the bombers all day, claiming a total of twenty-one bombers destroyed. Double kills go to Oblt. Grunberg, Sturm, Todt, Lt. Schenk, Hptm. Schall and Ehrig. Lt. Weihs and Obfw. Gerhard Reiher also add to their scores. JG 7’s Major Ehrler claims a P-51 escorting a bomber formation in a classic ‘Herausschuss’ maneuver. The ‘_Herausschuss’ _tactic acknowledged a pilot’s skill in removing an enemy bomber from the collective protection of its formation and shooting it down.

During the night Fw. Karl-Heinz Becker of 10./NJG 11 flying a Me 262 downs a RAF Mosquito while his commander, Oblt. Welter downs no less than four of the RAF night intruders.

Willi Unger, _Staffelkapitän _of 14./JG 3, joins the pilots of the jet fighting unit JG 7.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, medium bombers bomb several targets (mostly alternates) in the Po Valley and Brenner area despite bad weather; B-25s hit bridges or bridge approaches at San Michele all'Adige, Crema, Canneto sull'Oglio, Legnago, and Manerbio and Steinach, Austria, and a rail embankment at Salorno; XXII Tactical Air Command A-20s and other aircraft hit Po River crossings during the night of 30/31 Mar at Casalmaggiore, Ostiglia, Borgoforte, and San Benedetto Po, rail facilities at Piacenza and Cittadella, plus nearby ammunition dumps and other targets; fighter-bombers continue to pound communications and dumps at Lavis, Casarsa della Delizia, San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Legnago, and several other points in the Po Valley and NE Italy; the 97th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 47th Bombardment Group (Light), moves from Grossetto to Pisa with A-20s and A-26s.


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## Njaco (Apr 3, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 1st and 9th Armies link up at Lippstadt, cutting off the German forces in the Ruhr which consist of 325,000 men mostly from German 15th Army and 5th Panzer Army of German Army Group B (Field Marshal Model). Other elements of US 1st Army capture Paderborn while US 9th Army units take Hamm. To the north, forces of British 2nd Army have crossed the Mitteland Canal near Munster and are advancing to Osnabruck.

The LIII A.K. attack to breakout of the "Ruhr pocket" recaptures Medebach but can go no further. Hitler orders Field Marshall Walter Model, commander of Army Group B, to cease breakout attempts and to tie down as many enemy troops as possible through a vigorous defense. 

Paris: Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe are floodlit for the first time since the war broke out.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 921: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss.

HQ 64th Fighter Wing from Nancy, France to Edenkoben, Germany; HQ 320th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Longvic Airfield, Dijon to Tavaux Airfield, Dole, France. 

The 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Kaiserlautern to Darmstadt, Germany with L-5s. During Apr 45, the following units move: HQ IX Fighter Command from Bruhl to Weimar, Germany; HQ 9th Bombardment Division (Medium) from Reims, France to Namur, Belgium; and HQ 99th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) from Beaumont, France to Tirlemont, Belgium. 

(US Ninth Air Force): No bomber operations due to weather. In Germany, fighters fly patrols, armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d and 9th Armored Divisions in the Paderborn-Lippstadt and Warburg areas, the XX Corps astride and E of the Fulda River, and the XII Corps which reaches the Werra River W of Meiningen.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the East, bitter fighting rages in the western suburbs of the fortress city of Breslau. Soviet forces of 3rd Ukrainian Front capture Sopron in western Hungary, to the south of Vienna, in a continuing advance. The 2nd Ukrainian Front, to the north, also continues to advance. On the Oder River, German resistance at Glogau is eliminated by elements of 1st Ukrainian Front. 

The highest Soviet military command, Stavka, formulates the political goals of the strategic strikes of the coming summer: "_to purge our country of fascist invaders and reach the Barents Sea - Black Sea line". _

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Almost 400 B-24s and B-17s bomb the Maribor, Yugoslavia railroad bridge, marshalling yards at Sankt Polten, Selzthal, Zeltweg, Graz, and Villach, Austria, the railroad bridge at Krieglach, Austria, and gun positions on the Adriatic coast near Venice, Italy; 82 P-38s bomb the Ybbs, Austria railroad bridge while 52 P-51s strafe rail traffic in the Prague-Plzen, Czechoslovakia area; other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort. 

*FINLAND*: Finnish Air Force changes its national insignia from blue swastika to a white-blue-white roundel.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: British Guards and Commando units attack over the River Reno between Lake Comachio and the sea.

Cesena: In a small cinema here four days ago, the commander of the Eighth Army, Lt-Gen Richard McCreery, summoned all officers over the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His intention, he told them, was to destroy the Germans south of the river Po in what could be the last great battle of the gruelling Italian campaign. Soon the Germans will face a massive assault from armies which include Americans (many of Japanese origin), Britons, Brazilians, Italians, New Zealanders, Poles, Indians, Gurkhas and a Jewish brigade. British commandos began their attack east of Lake Comacchio tonight.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 31 Mar/1 Apr, A-20s and A-26s on intruder missions over the Po Valley continue to attack road and railroad bridges, motor transport, loading points, and other targets; principal strikes are made at Po River bridges; fighters and fighter-bombers during the day strike rail bridges, dumps, rail lines, marshalling yards, trains, vehicles, gun positions, several buildings (including an ammunition plant and truck factory), and a variety of targets of opportunity in the Po Valley and NE Italy; medium bombers hit railroad bridges at Calcinato, Crema, Mantua, Monselice, Colle Isarco, San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and Perea. 

HQ 87th Fighter Wing is disbanded at Florence; HQ 321st Bombardment Group (Medium) moves from Solenzara, Corsica to Falconara. 

*GERMANY*: 4 RAF Mosquitos of No 100 Group, operating from a forward airfield in France, patrolled airfields in Southern Germany. 1 Mosquito was lost, hit by flak and seen to crash at Leipheim, a small airfield near Ulm.

Seven USAAF bombers fall to the guns of Me 262s from JG 7. But due to the advancing Allies the I Gruppe of JG 7 are ordered evacuate Kaltenkirchen and move further into Germany. 1st Staffel moves to Brandenburg, 2nd Staffel to Burg and 3rd Staffel to Oranienburg.

Major Siegfried Freytag is relieved of his command as Kommodore of JG 77. Major Fritz Losigkeit is named as Kommodore of the unit.


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## Njaco (Apr 3, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: British 2nd Army advances north of Ruhr. Münster is taken. The Canadian 1st Army advances N. and E. between Nijmegan and Emmerith.

Cpl Edward Thomas Chapman (b.1920), Monmouthshire Regt., forced back the Germans with a Bren gun, and later halted an attack. He was wounded trying to rescue his officer. (Victoria Cross)

Ruhr: General Kurt Student was forced to postpone his planned counter-attack against the US Ninth Army in the Ruhr today because he has no fuel for his tanks. The shortage of fuel caused by Allied air attacks on synthetic fuel plants and the Red Army's occupation of the Romanian and Hungarian oil fields has crippled Germany's forces. The occupation by the Russians of Nagykanisza, the heart of the Hungarian oilfields, today shuts off the last tap.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 922: 1. 447 B-17s, 261 B-24s and 572 P-47s and P-51s are dispatched against 6 airfields in Denmark but are recalled because of bad weather in the target area; 1 B-17 and 1 P-47 (pilot MIA) are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 26 of 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 3. 15 P-51s escort 7 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 923: During the night of 2/3 Apr, 9 of 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany without loss and 10 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Denmark without loss. 

HQ 358th Fighter Group from Toul, France to Sandhofen, Germany; HQ 69th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and 22d and 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons from Nancy and Azelot, France respectively to Haguenau, France with F-6s; 441st, 442d, 443d and 444th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 320th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Longvic Airfield, Dijon to Tavaux Airfield, Dole, France with B-26s.

12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) (attached to 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group) from Euren to Ober Olm, Germany with F-6s; 30th Photographic Reconnaissance and 109th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Vogelsang to Limburg, Germany with F-5s and F-6s respectively; 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF [attached to 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Group (Provisional)] from Jarny, France to Maastricht, the Netherlands with F-5s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Cpl Thomas Peck Hunter (b.1923), Royal Marines, charged 200 yards to draw fire away from his men. He forced three gun crews to surrender or flee, pressing on until he was killed. (Victoria Cross)

Major General Benjamin W Chidlaw takes command of the Twelfth Air Force and will shortly take over command of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) also.

(Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, A-20s and A-26s continue intruder missions during the night of 1/2 Apr concentrating on Po River crossings and other Po Valley communications targets; B-25s bomb railroad bridges at Fornovo di Taro, Drauburg, San Michele all' Adige, Matrei am Brenner, Steinach, and Colle Isarco, and a railroad fill at Vo Sinistro; fighters and fighter-bombers again hit communications in the Po Valley but divert sizeable effort to attacks on methane plants in the C Po area; the P-47s are attacked by about 40 fighters during the day, 13 are claimed destroyed; HQ 340th Bombardment Group (Medium) moves from Alesan, Corsica to Rimini. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In southeast Hungary, Magykanizsa falls to the Soviet advance while in Slovakia, Kremnica is captured. The 3rd Ukrainian Front and Bulgarian forces capture Nagykanizsa, thereby gaining control of the main Hungarian oil production region. The 2nd Ukrainian front under conquers the industrial area of Mosonmagyarovar and reaches the Austrian border between Dounau and the Neusiedler Lake.

*GERMANY*: In Germany, the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands fly patrols and armed reconnaissance over wide expanses of Germany claiming 17 airplanes downed and the IX Tactical Air Command supports the US 9th Armored Division at the Diemel River bridgehead near Warburg.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Almost 600 B-24s and B-17s, with fighter escorts, bomb communications targets in Austria including the marshalling yards at Graz, Sankt Polten, and Krems, and a railroad bridge on the Sulm River; 38 P-38s dive-bomb a railroad bridge at Wildon; 71 P-38s and 55 P-51s strafe Vienna-Munich, Germany and Wiener-Neustadt-Maribor, Yugoslavia rail traffic; others carry out photo and weather reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort flights. 

59 RAF training aircraft on a sweep over the North Sea, 54 Mosquitos to Berlin, 50 to Magdeburg, 8 to Lüneburg and 1 each to Hamburg and Lübeck, 55 RCM sorties, 26 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.


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## Njaco (Apr 3, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Austria, the Soviet forces take Wiener Neustadt. Almost all of Hungary is now clear of Axis troops while in Czechoslovakia Bratislava is besieged. The 2nd Ukrainian Front approaches close to Vienna.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Capt Ian Oswald Liddell (b.1919), Coldstream Guards, scaled a road block and, in full view and under fire, disconnected the bombs planted on a bridge. He was killed on 21 April. (Victoria Cross)

The US 76th Division reassembles at Homberg to mop up German rearguard resistance. 

10th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 69th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Nancy to Haguenau with F-6s (first mission is 17 Apr); 34th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, XII Tactical Air Command (attached to Provisional Reconnaissance Group), form Azelot to Haguenau with F-5s.

HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) to Haltern; HQ 84th and 303d Fighter Wings from Munchen-Gladbach to Haltern; 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), from Oberstein to Berkersheim with L-5s; 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), from Trier to Ober Olm with F-6s; 507th and 508th Fighter Squadrons, 404th Fighter Group, from St Trond, Belgium to Keltz with P-47s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 2/3 Apr A-20s bomb the marshalling yard at Mantua, several Po River crossings and other communications targets in the Po Valley; weather hampers operations during the day; medium bombers cancel most missions, but manage to bomb the Po Valley bridges at Camposanto, Usigliano, and Modena; the XXII Tactical Air Command [including Brazilian and South African Air Force (SAAF) units] blast communications, fuel dumps, methane plants, trains, motor transport at numerous points in N Italy (mainly in the Po Valley), including Parma, Modena, Fidenza, Lodi, Bergamo, Reggio Emilia, and Piacenza. The detachment of the 414th Night Fighter Squadron, XXII Tactical Air Command, operating from Florennes, Belgium with Beaufighters, moves to Strossfeld, Germany. 

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 924: 752 B-17s and 569 P-51s are dispatched to hit U-boat yards at Kiel; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 693 of 752 B-17s hit the Deutsche U-boat yard and 24 hit the Howardts U-boat yard; 2 B-17s hit Flensburg Airfield a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 121 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 20 MIA. Escorting are 517 of 569 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged beyond repair. 2. 98 of 100 P-51s fly a sweep of the Kiel area; 1 is damaged beyond repair. 3. 4 P-51s escort 1 F-5 on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. 4. 17 of 18 P-51s fly a scouting mission; 2 P-51s are lost. Mission 925: 1 B-17 and 10 B-24s are dispatched to drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night; 1 returns to base. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, about 230 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s attack Holzminden and Hameln marshalling yards, the town of Gottingen, 2 targets of opportunity, and fly a leaflet mission; fighters fly escort, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, support the US 9th Armored Division in the Warburg area, the XX Corps E of the Werra River toward Muhlhausen and in the Kassel area, the XII Corps in the Gotha and Suhl areas, and the 2d and 8th Armored Divisions in the Teutoburger Forest and Neuhaus

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 95 P-38s divebomb the Tainach- Stein railroad bridge in Austria; other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and escort missions; bad weather prevents bomber operations. HQ 325th Fighter Group and the 317th, 318th and 319th Fighter Squadrons move from Rimini to Mondolfo, Italy with P-51s. 

247 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to attack what were believed to be military barracks near Nordhausen. Unfortunately, the barracks housed a large number of concentration-camp prisoners and forced workers of many nationalities who worked in a complex of underground tunnels where various secret weapons were made. The camp and the tunnel workshops had been established immediately after Bomber Command attacked the rocket-research establishment at Peenemünde in August 1943. The bombing was accurate and many people in the camp were killed; the exact number is not known. The men working in the tunnels were unhurt. 2 Lancasters lost.

95 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Plauen and 5 to Magdeburg, 17 Mosquito patrols. 9 Lancasters sent to lay mines in the Kattegat were recalled because of weather conditions. 1 Mosquito lost from the Magdeburg raid.

General Gordon Gollob, in an effort to personally attack General Galland, issues a four page report on jet fighter operations stating: “ _So far JV 44 has achieved nothing, even though it contains a number of very good pilots. Furthermore, it is pursuing operational methods, which are not merely at variance with, but actually counter-productive to, commonly accepted principles. It is proposed that the unit be disbanded and its pilots be employed more usefully within the ranks of other existing units.”_


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## Njaco (Apr 4, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: British and Canadian units take Osnabruck. The US 9th Army reaches the River Weser at Hameln. The US 3rd Army captures Kassel. The army also frees the slave labour camp at Ohrduf near Gotha when elements of the 4th Armored and 89th Inf. Divisions enter the slave-labour camp which is an "aussenlager" or subsidiary camp of KZ Buchenwald, near Weimar. It is the first camp to be overrun on German territory by the Western Allies. The notorious KZ Natzweiler-Struthof in Alsace had been overrun by US forces in Nov.1944, but was previously evacuated by the SS. French Units take Karlsruhe. Gotha falls to US forces as US aircraft smash the naval bases at Kiel and Hamburg. The Nazi gold reserves are captured in the salt mine at Merkers.

The 405th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, moves from Metz, France to Eschborn Airfield, Frankfurt, Germany with P-47s. Ninth Air Force: HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) returns to the operational control of HQ Ninth AF (from the RAF Second Tactical AF) as the US Ninth Army reverts to control of the Twelfth Army Group (from the Twenty First Army Group); the British ground and air HQ have operationally controlled the XXIX Tactical Air Command and Ninth Army since shortly after the Ardennes breakthrough and the Battle of the Bulge.

107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Vogelsang to Limburg, Germany with F-6s; the 125th Liaison Squadron, IX Fighter Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), from Munchen-Gladen to Haltern, Germany with L-5s; the 155th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Le Culot, Belgium to Maastricht, the Netherlands with F-3s; the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, from Rosieres-en-Haye, France to Ober Olm, Germany with P-51s; and the 494th, 495th and 496th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 344th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Cormeilles-en-Vexin, France to Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium with B-26s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Russian 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts complete the liberation of Hungary. Troops of the 2nd Ukrainian front capture Bratislava. The Germans forces counterattack in Moravska-Ostrava and Nitra.

*GERMANY*: (US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 926: 1,431 bombers and 866 fighters are dispatched to hit airfields, a shipyard and a U-boat shipyard in Germany; they claim 30-4-30 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 bombers and 4 fighters are lost. 1. 438 B-24s are sent to hit Parchim (33) and Perleberg (29) Airfields; 97 hit Wesendorf Airfield, the secondary; attacks are visual; they claim 6-4-6 aircraft; 6 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 76 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 59 MIA. Escorting are 324 P-47s and P-51s; the P-47s claim 14-0-20 aircraft and the P-51s claim 9-0-3 aircraft; 1 P-47 and 3 P-51s are lost. 2. 443 B-17s are sent to hit Fassberg Airfield (149); secondary targets hit are Hoya (37) and Dedelsdorf (13) Airfields; targets of opportunity are Unterluss (39) and other (24); bombing is visual; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 58 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 6 WIA and 4 MIA. The escort is 220 of 232 P-51s; 1 is lost. 3. 505 of 526 B-17s hit the Deutsche shipyard at Kiel using H2X radar; 2 others hit Eggebeck Airfield, a target of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost and 50 damaged; 27 airmen are MIA. 208 of 223 P-51s without loss. 4. 22 of 24 B-17s fly a DISNEY mission attacking the Finkenwarder U-boat yard at Hamburg without loss. 5. 19 P-51s fly a scouting mission and claim 0-0-1 aircraft. 6. 25 P-51s escort 8 F-5s and 2 P-38s on photo and radar reconnaissance missions over Germany, claiming 1-0-0 aircraft. 7. 16 P-51s escort 1 OA-10 and 2 B-17s on air-sea-rescue patrols. 

(US Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 330+ B-26s, A-20s and A-26s hit the Ebrach oil depot, Crailsheim marshalling yard and barracks area, Grossaspach supply depot, the town of Ellswangen, Backnang rail and road junction, and 2 targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, attack special targets, and support the US 104th Infantry Division at Scherfede and Hardehausen, the 9th Armored Division in the Warburg area, the XX Corps in the Muhlhausen-Kassel areas, the 2d and 5th Armored Divisions in the Hameln and Minden areas on the Weser River, and the 8th Armored Division as it assaults the Ruhr pocket in the Lippstadt area. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Again bad weather prevents bomber operations and limits efforts to reconnaissance and escort missions and to strafing attacks by 94 P-51s on rail traffic in the Munich and Regensburg, Germany; Plzen, Czechoslovakia; and Linz, and Gmunden, Austria areas. 

243 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group, with 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos, attacked the barracks and the town of Nordhausen, which was severely damaged. 1 Lancaster lost.

327 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the synthetic-oil plant at Leuna. The target was cloud-covered, the bombing was scattered and only minor damage was caused. 2 Lancasters lost.

327 RAF aircraft - 277 Halifaxes, 36 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Rhenania oil plant, Harburg. The target was easily identified and severe damage was caused to it. 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax lost.

258 RAF Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked the oil refinery at Lützkendorf. Bomber Command claimed 'moderate damage'. 6 Lancasters lost.

35 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 31 to Magdeburg, 70 RCM sorties, 66 Mosquito patrols, 30 Lancasters minelaying in the Oslo Fjord and the Kattegat. 5 aircraft lost. 12 Mosquitos from the Magdeburg raid and 3 Lancasters of No 1 Group from the Kattegat minelaying operation. The 136 aircraft dispatched by No 100 Group on this night were that group's largest effort of the war.

The crews of JG 7 have one of its roughest days in a series of bad circumstances. At Parchim, fifteen Me 262s are destroyed when the airfield is attacked by P-51s from USAAF 504th FS 339th FG. The jet fighters are caught by the Mustangs at their most vulnerable point – trying to take-off from the airfield. One jet shot down is the Me 262 of Major Rudi Sinner who bales out over a field before his plane crashes. After he is strafed on the ground by more Mustangs, Major Sinner plays ‘dead’ by lying prone in the field until he can scramble to cover and survive. Later, the _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 7, Major Erich Rudorffer is transferred from the jet unit, leaving each _Staffel _to operate as individual units until the end of the war. And finally a serious loss. Major Heinrich Ehrler, flying a Me 262 jet fighter with JG 7 downs a pair of B-17s over Schaarlippe before being killed near the airbase at Stendal by deliberately ramming a USAAF B-17 bomber. Major Ehrler was a 209 victory _experte _with 199 kills on the Eastern Front and five victories in the Me 262 on the Western Front. But the other Me 262 Geschwader, JV 44, scores a victory in almost the exact same maneuver as Major Ehrler. Uffz. Eduard Schallmoser misjudges his closing speed and clips the tail of an American P-38 Lightning near Munich. Uffz. Schallmoser earns the nickname “Jet Rammer”.

Major Siegfried Freytag is transferred to the Geschwaderstab of JG 51.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s continue to blast communications along the Brenner rail line, ranging from the railroad bridge at Drauburg to the Camposanto railroad bridge; the B-25s also inflict considerable damage on the Merano methanol plant; P-47s concentrate on enemy movement, rail lines, and ammunition and fuel dumps throughout the Po Valley. The 489th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 340th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Alesan, Corsica to Rimini, Italy with B-25s. 

HQ 90th Photographic Wing (Reconnaissance) begins a movement from San Severo, Italy to the US.


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## Njaco (Apr 5, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: _'U-242' _(type VIIC) is sunk by a mine in St. George's Channel. All 44 of the crew are lost.

In the West, the French First Army (de Tassigny) captures Karlsruhe on the upper Rine. The US 304th Infantry Regiment reaches the Wehre River and takes the bridge at Niederhone. Allied forces cross the Weser River at several points. 4th Canadian Armoured Division captures Almelo in north-east Holland.

HQ 27th Fighter Group and 522d and 524th Fighter Squadrons from Ochey, France to Biblis, Germany with P-47s; 406th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group from Metz, France to Eschborn Airfield, Frankfurt, Germany with P-47s; 417th Night Fighter Squadron, 64th Fighter Wing [attached to First Tactical AF (Provisional)] from La Vallon to St Dizier, France with Beaufighters.

HQ 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and the 31st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron from Evren Airfield, Trier to Ober Olm, Germany with F-5s; HQ 344th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 497th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) from Cormeilles-en-Vexin, France to Juzaine Airfield, Florennes, Belgium with B-26s; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group) from Bad Godesberg to Marburg, Germany with L-5s; the 167th Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group) from Vittel, France to Kaiserslautern, Germany with L-5s; the 450th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 322d Bombardment Group (Medium), from Tille Airfield, Beauvais, France to Le Culot, Belgium with B-26s. 

SS _'Gasray' _(1,406t) on a voyage from Grangemouth to Blyth was sunk by German aircraft, off St Abbs Head.

*GERMANY*: The _Schwarze Korps_, Himmler's respected Nazi publication, has conceded that Germany is on the verge of "absolute collapse". In an unprecedented admission, the magazine today says that the German people are "being forced to acknowledge that it may be possible to defeat us militarily". The piece goes on to say, however, that they will never stop fighting and that "our belief in the rightness of our cause hasn't changed by a single letter."

Ferdinand Schörner is promoted to Field Marshal.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 928: 1,358 bombers and 662 fighters attack marshalling yards, ordnance depots, armament works and airfields in Germany; they claim 8-0-6 aircraft; 10 bombers and 1 P-51 are lost: 1. 436 B-17s are dispatched to hit munitions dumps at Ingolstadt (211) and Grafenwohr (94), and the marshalling yard at Bayreuth (73); targets of opportunity are Weiden (30) and Nurnberg (1); the attacks are made visually; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 11 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 182 of 201 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air and 7-0-3 on the ground. 2. 397 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Plauen (151) and the munitions dump at Bayreuth (39); targets of opportunity are the munitions dump at Grafenwohr (1) and munitions plant at Ingolstadt (1); bombing is with H2X radar; 5 B-24s are lost and 5 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 44 MIA. 280 P-47s and P-51s escort; they claim 1-0-2 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 521 B-17s are sent to hit the Unterschlauersbach Airfield (59), an aircraft parts factory (13) and munitions depot (54) at Furth, and the Nurnberg S marshalling yard (37); 271 bombers hit the Nurnberg Station marshalling yard, the secondary; bombing is visual; 4 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 112 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 39 MIA. The escort is 91 of 104 P-51s. 4. 4 B-17s fly scouting missions. 5. 18 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 6. 35 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 929: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents operations by the 9th Bombardment Division. In Germany, fighters fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 7th Armored Division's attack on the Ruhr pocket SW of Brilon, the XX Corps' drive E in the Muhlhausen area, the XII Corps' advance in the Meiningen area, the 2d Armored Division bridgehead astride the Weser River S of Hameln, the 8th Armored Division (preparing for an assault on Soest), and the 5th Armored Division near Minden. 

The jets of JV 44 score their first against the “heavies” when Oblt. ‘Macki’ Steinhoff and a flight of five Me 262s downs an American B-17.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The 3rd Ukrainian Front reaches the railway North West of Vienna, cutting the rail link with Linz.

The Soviet Union plans to end its five-year neutrality pact with Japan, Moscow, leading to speculation that Russia may enter the war against Japan. The pact still has a year to run. Moscow radio broadcast the contents of a diplomatic note delivered earlier by Mr. Molotov, the commissar for foreign affairs, to the Japanese ambassador. It accused Japan of helping Germany in its war against the Soviet Union. Allied leaders immediately welcomed the Soviet move. They believe that Russia must eventually enter the war against Japan, opening up a new front in Manchuria. Tokyo radio immediately warned the Japanese people that relations between the two nations could change swiftly. It said that the Japanese government is prepared to make the greatest possible efforts to maintain peace with Russia. Explaining the Soviet decision the diplomatic note pointed out that the neutrality pact had been concluded in 1941, before Germany's attack on the Soviet Union and before the outbreak of hostilities between Japan, Britain and the US. "Since then the situation has radically changed," the note said. "Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and Japan, the ally of Germany, is helping her in her war against the Soviet Union. In addition Japan is fighting against the United States and Great Britain who are allies of the Soviet Union. In such circumstances the pact of neutrality between Japan and the Soviet Union has lost its meaning and its extension is proving impossible." Under the pact, if neither party had given notice of any change by next week, it would be automatically extended for five years.

Partisan leader Josip Broz, Alias "Tito" signs a "friendship treaty" with the Soviet Union. The agreement permits "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory." As part of the agreement Tito secure a proviso that the Soviets would leave Yugoslavia once its "Operational task" was completed.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 457 B-24s and B-17s attack a railroad bridge at Dravograd, Yugoslavia, marshalling yards and locomotive depots at Brescia, Alessandria, and Turin, Italy, and the airfield at Udine, Italy; 96 P-38s dive-bomb the Radovljica, Yugoslavia railroad bridge, 27 P-51s with 13 flying top cover, strafe rail communications in the Munich, Regensburg, and Passau, Germany, and Linz, Austria areas; 20+ P-38s fly reconnaissance missions; around 300 fighter sorties are flown to escort transport, reconnaissance, and bomber missions (including an RAF raid on the Monfalconei, Italy shipyards). 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The US 5th Army begins an attack north of Massa to drive on La Spezia.

(US Twelfth Air Force): B-25s bomb 5 bridges in N Italy and Austria, at Steinach, Austria, and Matrei am Brenner, Modena, Salorno, and San Michele all'Adige, and blast gun positions at La Spezia, Italy; these attacks follow night raids by A-20s and A-26s on bridges at Lavis, Ala, San Michele all'Adige, San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Piazzola sul Brenta, Cittadella, and Montebello, Italy and other targets; fighters and fighter bombers devote their largest effort to close support of ground forces, blasting occupied areas and gun positions in the Massa Lombarda area, and also attack communications and dumps in the Po Valley.


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## Njaco (Apr 6, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the East, after eliminating the Heiligenbeil pocket, the Soviet 3rd Belorussian Front (Vassilevsky) reaches the Baltic coast in East Prussia, separating communications between 2.Armee (von Tippelkirch) defending besieged Königsberg and 4. Armee (Hossbach) holding the Vistula delta N of Marienbrg. In the Southeast, Tito partisans occupy Sarajevo in Bosnia. Soviet forces of 3rd Ukrainian Front capture Sopron in western Hungary, to the south of Vienna, in a continuing advance. The 2nd Ukrainian Front, to the north, also continues to advance. On the Oder River, German resistance at Glogau is eliminated by elements of 1st Ukrainian Front.

In a dramatic broadcast tonight, Vienna radio announced that the Russians had broken into the suburbs of the city. The broadcast was interrupted by the noise of heavy gunfire as Marshal Tolbukhin's men penetrated to within a mile of the city centre. "At this very moment," said the announcer, "shells are howling over our heads, over the ancient tower of St. Stephen, the heavily-damaged Burgtheater and the castle of Schonbrunn. Our men are firing with all guns. Vienna Volkstürm formations have been deployed on a square. They are going into battle at any minute now to support the soldiers of the Wehrmacht fighting only a few kilometres away. "We can see the bombs and shells crashing. The Russians are trying to enter the bulwark of the German south-east. The thunder of battle is enveloping the front-line city of Vienna." Then, after a short interlude of Viennese music, the announcer called for a "backs to the wall" defence of the city.

*GERMANY*: The Germans move 15,000 Jewish prisoners out of Buchenwald camp.

Deutsche Reichbahn operates the _'Taifun Express'_, a special train of seventy tarpauling covered cars (formerly used for V-2 parts) and twelve boxcars/passengers cars. The train is commanded by Luftwaffe 1st Lt. Dr. Klaus Schneufelen. The train transports all the machinery and raw materials needed to mass produce 700 Taifun unguided surface-air missiles from Camp Dora to Austria. The train departs Herzberg Station before noon today. It will skirt the western Harz Mountains via Osterode, Seesen and Goslar. 

British Bomber Command is directed to discontinue area-bombing unless specifically directed.

54 RAF Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group to attack a ship or ships which had broken the naval blockade around that large part of Western Holland where German forces were cut off. The raid was abandoned because of bad weather.

Returning to active combat since August 1944 Major Gerhard Schöpfel is appointed Kommodore of JG 6.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 1st and 9th Armies link up at Lippstadt, cutting off the German forces in the Ruhr which consist of 325,000 men mostly from German 15th Army and 5th Panzer Army of German Army Group B (Field Marshal Model). Other elements of US 1st Army capture Paderborn while US 9th Army units take Hamm. To the north, forces of British 2nd Army have crossed the Mitteland Canal near Munster and are advancing to Osnabruck. With the prisoner figure already touching 100,000, they reckon the final total will be well over 300,000 when the final pockets of resistance from Field Marshal Walter Model's Army Group B have been eliminated. Simpson's US Ninth Army came down from the north to join up with Hodge's First at Lippstadt, east of the Rühr valley. In this area, Warburg was captured after German civilians armed with bazookas, put up token resistance to the First Army. The Ninth is now clearing up Hamm, a railway centre and industrial town on the northern edge of the Rühr and a regular RAF target over the years. Some German units lodged in the many wooded areas in this region are apparently unaware of Allied movements. When fatigue parties came out to collect ammunition from a dump near Marburg they found Allied troops awaiting them. 3rd Canadian Division takes Zutphen in north-east Holland.

At Hamelin, First Lieutenant Raymond O. Beaudoin, United States Army, Company F, 119th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division, led the 2d Platoon of Company F over flat, open terrain when the Germans went into action with machineguns and automatic weapons, laying down a devastating curtain of fire which pinned the Americans to the ground. By rotating men in firing positions he made it possible for his entire platoon to dig in, defying all the while the murderous enemy fire to encourage his men and to distribute ammunition. He then dug in himself at the most advanced position, where he kept up a steady fire, killing 6 hostile soldiers, and directing his men in inflicting heavy casualties on the numerically superior opposing force. Despite these defensive measures, however, the position of the platoon became more precarious, for the enemy had brought up strong reinforcements and was preparing a counterattack. Three men, sent back at intervals to obtain ammunition and reinforcements, were killed by sniper fire. To relieve his command from the desperate situation, 1st Lt. Beaudoin decided to make a l-man attack on the most damaging enemy sniper nest 90 yards to the right flank, and thereby divert attention from the runner who would attempt to pierce the enemy's barrier of bullets and secure help. Crawling over completely exposed ground, he relentlessly advanced, undeterred by 8 rounds of bazooka fire which threw mud and stones over him or by rifle fire which ripped his uniform. Ten yards from the enemy position he stood up and charged. At point-blank range he shot and killed 2 occupants of the nest; a third, who tried to bayonet him, he overpowered and killed with the butt of his carbine; and the fourth adversary was cut down by the platoon's rifle fire as he attempted to flee. He continued his attack by running toward a dugout, but there he was struck and killed by a burst from a machinegun. By his intrepidity, great fighting skill, and supreme devotion to his responsibility for the well-being of his platoon, 1st Lt. Beaudoin single-handedly accomplished a mission that enabled a messenger to secure help which saved the stricken unit and made possible the decisive defeat of the German forces. (MOH)

*MEDITTERANEAN*: British Guards and Commando units attack over the River Reno between Lake Comachio and the sea. Second Lieutenant Vernon Baker of the US Army showed outstanding courage and leadership in destroying German installations. Personally killing five Germans. MOH.


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## Njaco (Apr 6, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the West, the US Ninth Army captures Hameln and Eisenach on the road to Leipzig. There is heavy fighting by US 1st and 9th Armies around the Ruhr pocket. The German army in the west is disintegrating under the impact of Allied columns racing for Bremen. Hamburg, Hanover, Magdeburg and the Elbe. The roads are filled with long columns of prisoners trudging westwards into Allied prison camps. The British are closing on Hanover on the Autobahn to Berlin, while another spearhead is driving for Bremen. In the south, the Americans have broken through to Wurzburg. The devastation of the Rhine battle zone has been left behind and the Allied forces are passing through towns apparently untouched by war, except for empty shelves in shops and white flags hanging outside houses. Among the gains in the Allied advance to the east is Gottingen. Free French paratroops are dropped north of Zuider Zee in Holland. 

The Reichs gold reserve is captured when the 282nd Combat Engineer Battalion of Patton's 3d Army, discovers the Reichsbank gold reserve cache in the Kaiseroda potassium mine at Merkers. The haul includes 8,198 bars of gold bullion; 55 boxes of crated gold bullion; hundreds of bags of gold items; over 1,300 bags of gold Reichsmarks, British gold pounds, and French gold francs; 711 bags of American twenty-dollar gold pieces; hundreds of bags of gold and silver coins; hundreds of bags of foreign currency; 9 bags of valuable coins; 2,380 bags and 1,300 boxes of Reichsmarks (2.76 billion Reichsmarks); 20 silver bars; 40 bags containing silver bars; 63 boxes and 55 bags of silver plate; 1 bag containing six platinum bars; and 110 bags from various countries. The enormity of this hoard is such that Eisenhower appoints Colonel Bernard D. Bernstein, deputy chief, Financial Branch, G-5 Division of SHAEF to be responsible for its disposition.

The destroyer escort USS _'Gustafson' _(DE-182) sinks German submarine _'U-857' _off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

_'U-1195' _(German) 96' Depth charged; 9 of 10 self escape from after hatch even with 40 degree list on bottom, one without Drager gear, PoWs.

*GERMANY*: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 931: 1,314 bombers and 898 fighters are dispatched to hit airfields, oil and munitions depots and explosive plants in central and northern Germany; all primary targets are bombed visually; they meet 100+ conventional fighters and 50+ jets; the German fighters attack fiercely and in the ensuing air battle down 15 heavy bombers; the AAF claims 104-13-32 aircraft including a few jets. These Luftwaffe attacks are by the hastily formed _Schulungslehrgang Elbe _unit - *Unternehmen Werewulf*. 120 Bf-109s engage by ramming, destroying at most 13 bombers at a cost of 53 German fighters. Many of the poorly trained pilots never even engaged the US formation. 143 B-17s bomb airfields at Kaltenkirchen and 134 hit Parchim; 36 attack an oil depot at Buchen while 104 bomb a munitions depot at Gustrow; secondary targets hit are the marshalling yards at Neumunster by 37 B-17s and Schwerin by 48 B-17s; 1 other hit Salzwedel Airfield, a target of opportunity; they claim 26-10-10 aircraft; 14 B-17s are lost. Escorting are 317 P-51s; they claim 31-1-8 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost. 128 B-24s bomb an explosive plants at Krummel while 168 bomb a plant at Duneburg; 26 others hit the marshalling yard at Neumunster; they claim 14-2-6 aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost. The escort is 252 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 30-0-7 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 107 B-17s attack the airfield at Wesendorf , 93 hit Kohlenbissen Airfield and 115 bomb an oil depot at Hitzacker; 92 hit Lundeburg, the secondary; 25 others bomb targets of opportunity; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft. 209 P-51s escort without loss.

The Ninth Air Force dispatches 268 A-20s, A-26 Invaders and B-26 Marauders to strike marshalling yards at Northeim and Gottingen, plus 2 town areas; fighters fly escort, patrols, and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 7th Armored Division at Schmallenberg, the 3d and 9th Armored Divisions along the Weser River east of Warburg, the VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Muhlhausen, Eisenach, and Meiningen areas (including strong air support against a counterattack on the XII and XX Corps at Struth), the 2d Armored Division along the Sarstedt-Hildesheim road, and the XVI Corps between the Lippe and Ruhr Rivers in the Essen area. 

A small number of Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack marshalling yards at Innsbruck, Sankt Veit an der Glan, and Klagenfurt. 82 P-38s bomb the Tainach-Stein railroad bridge while 74 others sent against a bridge in southern Austria abort due to weather. 

The _'Taifun Express' _is attacked by American fighter-bombers late this afternoon near Vienenburg. As all the women prisoners had been locked into the first three railways carriages behind the locomotive, their casualties are high. The train carries on to Magdeburg, Riesa, Dresden and Prague.

RAF Mosquito bombers raid Berlin from bases on the continent, for the first time. 

15 RAF Lancasters (No 617 Squadron) and 2 Mosquitos of No 5 Group carried out an accurate attack on ships at Ijmuiden. No aircraft lost.

175 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the benzol plant at Molbis, near Leipzig. The weather was clear and the bombing was so effective that all production at the plant ceased. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Okutsu, Yukio, Tech. Sgt., 442nd Regimental Combat Team, will be awarded the MOH for actions today at Mount Belvedere.

During the night of 6/7 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s bomb bridges at Lavis, Ala, Rovereto, and San Ambrogio di VaIpolicella, and several Po River crossings; during the day weather grounds the medium bombers; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter bombers, operating on a limited scale, hit the Montechino oil field, ammunition dumps and communications targets north of the battle area, and gun positions in the Monte Belvedere-Strettoia area in which US Fifth Army forces push north. 128 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack the Mezzocorona railroad bridge and nearby road bridge, and the Verona-Parona di VaIpolicella railroad bridge while 500+ bombers return to base without bombing because of multi-layer clouds.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Army Group Centre, under General Schörner, continues with its attacks against the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts.


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## Njaco (Apr 8, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 7th Army captures Schweinfürt. On the southern flank, troops of the French 1st Army take Pforzheim as they continue their drive to the southeast.

*GERMANY*: The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 932: 1,173 bombers and 794 fighters attack various targets in Germany; 9 bombers and 1 fighter are lost. 31 B-17s bomb the Derben oil depot and 73 attack Schafstadt Airfield; 213 bomb the Halberstadt marshalling yard while 73 attack the Stendal marshalling yard; Derben is hit visually and the others targets visually and with H2X radar; 4 B-17s are lost. Escorting are 239 P-51s. 86 B-17s hit the marshalling yards at Plauen, 101 hit the marshalling yards at Hof, 111 bomb the marshalling yard at Eger and 203 attack an ordnance depot at Grafenwohr; the attacks are made visually and with H2X radar; 5 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 235 P-51s. 51 B-24s attack the munitions depot at Bayreuth, 89 bomb the Blumenthal jet aircraft factory at Furth while 57 bomb Unterschlauersbach Airfield and 91 hit Roth Airfield. The escort is 245 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is lost. 

A new gunsight, the EZ 42 automatic gunsight, is used to good success as Uffz. Geisthovel of JG 7 in a Me 262 jet fighter shoots down two USAAF P-51Ds.

Around 620 Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders, and B-26 Marauders bomb the Munchenbernsdorf oil storage depot, the Sonderhausen communications center, Nienhagen oil refinery, Celle marshalling yard, and 8 city areas; fighters escort the bombers, attack an airfield, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and operate in conjunction with the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Thuringer Forest and Erfurt areas.

Fifteenth Air Force P-38s bomb the Garmisch railroad bridge and strafe rail traffic in the Munich, area. Fifteenth Air Force P-38s bomb the Rattenberg railroad bridge and strafe rail traffic in the Salzburg and Linz areas. 

440 RAF aircraft - 263 Halifaxes, 160 Lancasters, 17 Mosquitos - of Nos 4,6 and 8 Groups dispatched to Hamburg. 3 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters lost. This attack was intended for the shipyard areas but partial cloud caused the raid to become dispersed. Some damage was probably caused to the shipyards but, as an American raid on the yards had taken place a few hours earlier, damage seen in photographs could not be allocated between the two forces. This was the last major Bomber Command raid of the war on Hamburg.

231 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Lützkendorf oil refinery, which had escaped serious damage the previous night. The refinery was rendered 'inactive'. 6 Lancasters lost.

22 RAF Halifaxes of No 4 Group in a diversionary raid on Travemünde, 71 Mosquitos to Dessau, 28 to Berlin (where Oboe from forward ground stations was used for the first time) and 8 to Munich, 64 RCM sorties, 43 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

The fighters of JG 1 with their He 162 Volksjäger jets move from Parchim to Ludwigslust.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Maj. Anders Frederick Emil Victor Schau Lassen (b.1920), General List (SAS), a Dane, led a patrol which wiped out three German positions on a lake. Mortally wounded, he died next day. (Victoria Cross)

During the night of 7/8 April, US Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s hit command posts and dumps; medium bombers, despite bad weather bomb railroad bridges at Salorno, San Michele all' Adige, Vo Sinistro, and Bondeno, a railroad fill and canal at Salorno, and gun positions at La Spezia; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers concentrate their efforts on the Brenner area communications (cutting lines in 31 places and damaging 4 bridges), oil fields in the central Po Valley, and points further north. 

500+ Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s, with fighter escorts, attack communications in northern Italy, concentrating on the transportation system feeding into the Brenner Pass; bridges, viaducts, and marshalling yards are hit at or near Bressanone, Campodazzo, Vipiteno, Fortezza, Campo di Trens, Mezzocorona, Avisio, Brescia, Gorizia, Pordenone, and Ponte Gardena; a power dam at Ponte Gardena is also hit.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Austria, the Soviet forces push on west of Vienna despite German counterattacks. There is heavy fighting in the Austrian capital. In East Prussia, the Soviet attacks on Konigsberg begin to break through the defenses. The Red Air Force drops 1,500 tons of bombs on Königsberg.


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## Njaco (Apr 9, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Königsberg Fortress surrenders to the Soviets. The siege has lasted 59 days. The fighting cost the Germans 42,000 men dead and 27,000 captured. A quarter of the city's population, 25,000 civilians, also died in the fighting because Hitler refused to allow their evacuation. General Otto Lasch, his situation hopeless, finally surrendered to prevent more bloodshed. Hitler is furious and has ordered him to be shot, but he is already a prisoner. Some of the German troops in East Prussia continue to resist in the Samland Peninsula.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the attacks against the Ruhr pocket, US 9th Army units penetrate into Essen and reach the famous Krupp factories. Other British and American units, including some more from US 9th Army, are advancing near the Leine River to the east.

*GERMANY*: Hamburg: 57 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked oil-storage tanks (40 aircraft) and U-boat shelters (17 aircraft of No 617 Squadron with Grand Slams and Tallboys). Both attacks were successful. 2 Lancasters were lost from the raid on the oil tanks.

591 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups to Kiel. 3 Lancasters lost. This was an accurate raid, made in good visibility on two aiming points in the harbour area. Photographic reconnaissance showed that the Deutsche Werke U-boat yard was severely damaged, the _'Admiral Scheer' _capsizes, while the _'Admiral Hipper' _and _'Emden' _are damaged beyond repair. The local diary says that all 3 shipyards in the port were hit and that the nearby residential areas were severely damaged. 

22 RAF Halifaxes in a diversionary raid to Stade, 44 Mosquitos to Berlin, 37 to Plauen and 24 to Hamburg, 45 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols, 70 Lancasters and 28 Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay and the Little Belt. 1 Halifax from the diversion raid crashed in France.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 935: 1,252 bombers and 846 fighters are dispatched to visually attack underground oil storage, an ammunition plant and 10 jet airfields; they claim 85-1-60 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 76 B-17s bomb a munitions plant at Wolfratshausen while 107 hit Oberpfaffenhofen Airfield and 139 attack Furstenfeldbruck Airfield. Escorting are 137 P-51s; they claim 4-0-10 aircraft on the ground. 89 B-17s attack an oil depot and 66 attack an airfield at Neuburg while 128 bomb Schleissheim Airfield; 3 B-17s are lost. The escort is 193 P-51s; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft in the air and 70-0-37 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. 212 B-17s bomb Riem Airfield at Munich; 10 others hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Ingolstadt; 3 B-17s are lost. 149 P-51s escort; they claim 6-0-4 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost. 109 B-24s bomb Lechfeld Airfield, 96 attack Memmingen Airfield, 88 hit Leipheim Airfield, 62 bomb Landsberg Airfield and 33 hit Landsberg East landing ground; 1 B-24 is lost. 193 P-51s escort claiming 4-0-5 aircraft on the ground.

A large American B-17 bomber raid on Munich demolishes the runway at Riem and damages six Me 262s of JV 44. 

Obstlt. Bär of III./EJG 2 downs two B-26 Marauder twin engined bombers near Lechfeld.

During the night of 9/10 April, the Eighth Air Force flies Mission 937: 14 B-24s bomb Stade Airfield using PFF methods; 5 Mosquito's escort the bombers.

700+ Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders and B-26 Marauders strike marshalling yards at Jena and Saalfeld, oil targets at Bad Berka and Dedenhausen, ordnance depots at Naumburg and Amberg-Kummersbruck, and several targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, attack several airfields and a fuel storage facility, fly area patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the III Corps along the Lenne River, the 3d Armored Division east of the Weser River toward Nordhausen, the VIII Corps in the Arnstadt area and the XII and XX Corps in the Thuringer Forest and around Erfurt.

150+ Fifteenth Air Force P-38s bomb and strafe railroad bridges at Rattenberg, Seefeld, and Telfs, Austria and Rosenheim, and to the south near the Austro-German border, and also hit rail lines in the Munich-Rosenheim. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The British 8th Army under General McCreery begins a spring offensive. They advance towards Ferrana and Bologna. Initially, the Polish 2nd Corps advances along Route 9 toward Imola supported by British 5th and 10th Corps the right and left flanks. The objectives of the offensive include Ferrara and Bologna while the US 5th Army, which is scheduled to begin operations on April 14th, is to strike at Bologna and past Modena to the Po River. The US 5th Army begins minor ops towards Modena.

Sepoy Ali Haidar (b.1913), 13th Frontier Force Rifles, overcame two strongpoints to enable his company to establish a bridgehead. (Victoria Cross)

Sepoy Namdeo Jadhao (b.1921), 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, carried two men through a minefield, then silenced three machine-guns, allowing a bridgehead to be secured. (Victoria Cross)

Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s on intruder missions during the night of 8/9 April, bomb bridges, vehicles, and targets of opportunity in the Po River Valley and northeastern Italy; during the day B-25s and XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers [in conjunction with RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers and Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force heavy bombers] blast gun positions, troop concentrations, enemy HQ, and strongpoints in the Lugo-Imola area in support of a British Eighth Army offensive; other XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers hit communications in northern Italy (including the Brenner line) and methane plant and ammunition and fuel dumps in the west central Po Valley. 825 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s in close coordination with the British Eighth Army, pound gun positions and other forward military targets southeast of Bologna, in the area immediately west and southwest of Lugo; 88 P-51s provide target cover. 90+ P-51s escort supply (to northern Italy) and transport missions and support tactical aircraft attacking positions in the Imola area; other airplanes continue reconnaissance operations.

A Liberty ship loaded with aircraft bombs blows up in Bari harbor killing 360 and injuring 1730.


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## Njaco (Apr 11, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Forces of Canadian 1st Army pressure German positions in Holland and begin operations to cross the Ijssel River. British 2nd Army is advancing toward Bremen. Hanover falls to the US 13th Corps (part of US 9th Army). US 3rd Army advances toward Erfurt and US 7th Army advances toward Nuremberg.

Private John M. Galione, US 104th 'Timberwolf' Infantry Division, discovers the entrance to Mittelbau Dora, a huge Nazi concentration camp and manufacturing plant, after a 5 day scouting mission. 

*GERMANY*: The US 8th Air Force launches its heaviest raid to date (1,232 bombers) against Berlin. Mission 938: 1,315 bombers and 905 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields known or suspected to be used by jet aircraft; about 60 jets and a few conventional fighters attack the formations; 19 bombers and 8 fighters are lost; the AAF claims 328-4-249 Luftwaffe aircraft. They are attacked by surface to air missiles. 278 B-17s bomb the Army HQ munitions depot and another 139 bomb the airfield at Oranienburg; 11 hit Rechlin Airfield, the secondary; they claim 7-1-8 aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost. Escorting are 273 P-51s; they claim 11.5-0-8 aircraft in the air and 56-0-32 on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost. 132 B-17s hit Neuruppin Airfield; 9 others hit the marshalling yard at Stendal, the secondary; 1 B-17 is lost . The escort of 112 P-51s claims 128-0-94 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost. 138 B-17s bomb the Briest Airfield at Brandenburg, 75 hit Zerbst Airfield and 147 attack Burg-Bei-Magdeburg Airfield; they claim 10-3-4 aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost. 172 P-51s escort; they claim 6-0-2 aircraft in the air and 84-0-43 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost. 159 B-24s hit Rechlin Airfield, 103 bomb Larz Airfield at Rechlin (103) and 32 hit Parchim Airfield; 9 others hit the marshalling yard at Wittenberge, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. The escort is 207 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft in the air and 20-0-21 on the ground.

Another ace is lost. Hptm. Franz Schall, _Staffelkapitän _of 10./JG 7, tries to bring his Me 262 jet fighter down at Parchim airfield during an emergency landing after combat with USAAF fighters. His plane hits a new bomb crater and explodes, killing Hptm. Schall. Hptm. Schall had 177 enemy aircraft destroyed including fourteen kills with the Me 262. Oblt Walter Schuck of 3./JG 7 shoots down four B-17s before being shot down himself. He successfully bales out of his damaged Me 262.

At the JV 44 airfield at Riem, USAAF P-51s strafe the runway and damage three more Me 262s. Another raid at Burg destroys three more Me 262s of 10./NJG 11, formerly known as _Kommando Welter_.

423 Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders, and B-26s strike oil storage and ordnance depots, rail bridge and viaduct (all primary targets) and several other targets including a marshalling yard and an industrial area; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, rail cutting operations, and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 13th Armored Division crossing the Sieg River near Siegburg, the 3d Armored Division approaching Nordhausen, the 9th Armored Division in the Hain area, the XII Corps near Coburg, the XX Corps west of Weimar and the Saale River, the 2d and 5th Armored Divisions crossing the Oker River in the Ahnsen and Schladen areas, and the XVI Corps along the Ruhr River in the Essen area. 

152 Fifteenth Air Force P-38s dive-bomb bridges, a tunnel and marshalling yards at Seefeld and Worgl.

230 RAF aircraft - 134 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes, 6 Mosquitos - attacked the Engelsdorf and Mockau railway yards at Leipzig. The weather was clear and the bombing was accurate. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost.

Plauen: 307 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. The bombing fell around the railway yards in the northern half of the town. The railways were hit and 365 acres, 51 per cent, of the town's built-up area were also destroyed.

76 RAF Lancasters and 19 Mosquitos of 5 and 8 Groups attacked the Wahren railway yards, Leipzig. The eastern half of the yards was destroyed. 7 Lancasters lost.

77 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 21 to Chemnitz and 7 to Bayreuth, 53 RCM sorties, 26 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid and 1 RCM Halifax were lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: First came 234 US medium bombers, which dropped 24,000 20-pound incendiary bombs. Next, 740 fighter-bombers of the US Tactical Air Force swooped down on enemy gun and mortar sites. And then 825 heavies dropped 1,692 tons around Lugo. No sooner had the dazed German defenders pulled themselves together than the artillery - 1,500 guns - opened up for 42 minutes. The Germans braced themselves for the infantry assault. But it did not come. Four more "false-alarm" barrages were to follow before the infantry, advancing behind flame-throwing tanks, crossed the river Senio. Four months of intensive training are paying a rich dividend. By dawn this morning the Allies were crossing the river in strength over three Bailey bridges erected during the night by the Royal Engineers. As bombers and artillery began a new barrage, Punjabis of the 8th Indian Division were preparing to cross the Santerno river. On the right flank, Fantails - tracked amphibious vehicles - of the 9th Armoured Brigade and 56th Infantry Division have been struggling through the shallow waters of Lake Comacchio to land behind the German lines and threaten Argenta and the Reno river. The Allies are enjoying almost total domination of the air. Their navigators have a new card index of reconnaissance photographs to help identify individual targets, and observers on the ground can call up fighter-bombers from a "cab-rank" above.

During the night of 9/10 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s hit guns and other close support targets along the British Eighth Army front (which stretches from west of Imola to Comacchio Lagoon and the coast) and also hit several Po River crossings and attack the Brenner line bridges at Lavis, Rovereto, and San Michele all'Adige; during the day B-25s and XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers continue pounding support targets along the battlefront; fighter-bombers also attack bridges on the Brenner line and communications and other targets in the Po Valley. 

648 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s, in support of British Eighth Army forces, blast artillery positions, machine gun nests, and infantry defenses along the Santerno River; this effort represents the largest number of Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers attacking targets in a single day as of this date; 88 P-51s fly target cover.

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The last German sortie over British territory during the war is conducted by a Luftwaffe Ar234 reconnaissance jet.


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## Njaco (Apr 11, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 9th Army reaches the River Elbe. The US 3rd Army takes Weimar. Advancing close behind the US 6th Armoured Division, the 76th Division reaches the Butstaedt area. Forces of the British 2nd Army cross the Leine River near Celle. In the Netherlands, *Operation Cannonshot *begins, with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division crossing the Ijssel River, aiming for Apeldoorn. By 2100 hours, a secure bridgehead is established. German counterattacks over night are successfully repulsed. 

US troops find an intact V-weapon plant at Nordhausen, and remove as much material as possible to keep it from the Russians. The first troops arrive at 11.30am after being radioed in by Pvt. Galione who was calling them into neighbouring Mittelbau Dora camp. Instead they got lost and stumbled upon Nordhausen. 

Buchenwald concentration camp is liberated.

*GERMANY*: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 941: 1,303 bombers and 913 fighters are dispatched to hit a variety of targets in Germany; 1 B-17 is lost: 300 B-17s bomb the Freiham oil depot and 133 attack the Kraiburg munitions plant; secondary targets hit are the munitions depot at Landshut and the marshalling yard at Treuchtlingen; 1 B-17 is lost. Escorting are 273 P-51s. 28 B-17s bomb the munitions depot and 82 hit the marshalling yard at Landshut; 131 attack the airfield and 79 hit the marshalling yard (79) at Ingolstadt; 70 bomb the marshalling yards at Treuchtlingen and 108 bomb the marshalling yards at Donauworth without loss. The escort is 281 P-51s. 79 B-24s bomb the Obertraubling Airfield, 31 hit a munitions depot while 80 attack an oil depot at Regensburg; 71 bomb the marshalling yards at Neumarkt and 73 hit the marshalling yards at Amberg. 211 P-47s and P-51s escort.

The Ninth Air Force dispatches 689 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s to strike marshalling yards at Bernburg, Oschersleben, Zwickau, and Kothen, the Naumburg ordnance depot, Bamberg motor transport plant, and several other targets; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, a leaflet mission, and armed reconnaissance (claiming 43 aircraft shot down), and support the US 3d and 9th Armored Divisions in the Nordhausen and Ringleben-Sachsenburg-Rothenberga areas, the 2d Armored Division as it reaches the Elbe River south of Magdeburg in a record drive of 57 miles (92 km), the XVI Corps along the Ruhr River at Witten, the XX Corps as it crosses the Saale River at Weimar and overruns the Buchenwald concentration camp and Allied prisoner camp nearby, the XII Corps in the Coburg-Rottenbach area, and the VIII Corps as it approaches the Saale River south of Weimar.

40 Fifteenth Air Force P-38s dive-bomb the Rosenheim railroad bridge. 

40 other P-38s and 29 P-51s strafe rail traffic in the Munich and Regensburg; Plzen, Czechoslovakia; and Linz and Salzburg, Austria areas.

129 RAF Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 14 Pathfinder Lancasters attacked the railway yards at Nuremberg with great accuracy. No aircraft lost.

100 RAF Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 14 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 8 Group also carried out a very good attack on railway yards on Bayreuth without loss.

107 RAF Mosquitos attacked Berlin in 3 waves. Large fires were seen. 1 Mosquito lost. 8 Mosquitos attacked Munich without loss.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Vienna, Soviet troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front have reached the Danube Canal near the city center.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Carrara is captured by the US 92nd Infantry Division (an element of US 5th Army) in its advance from Massa. In the east, forces of British 8th Army have now pushed the leading units over the Senio River to the Santerno River, where bridging operations begin. 

During the night of 10/11 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s bomb bridges at Lavis, Ala, Rovereto, San Michele all'Adige, and San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and hit vehicles, Po River crossings and targets of opportunity in the Po Valley; medium bombers continue to support British Eighth Army forces between Imola and Comacchio Lagoon, bomb guns south of La Spezia in front of the US Fifth Army advance, and bomb 4 bridges on the Brenner line; XXII Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers also fly support on the Eighth Army front, and hit communications (including the Brenner line) and fuel and ammunition dumps in the north.

544 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s hit communications in northern Italy, concentrating on the transportation system feeding into the Brenner area, in an effort to hamper the enemy's supply and escape routes; the bombers bomb bridges at Padua, Vipiteno, Campodazzo, Ponte Gardena, and Campo di Trens, marshalling yards at Bronzolo and Ora, a vehicle repair shop at Osoppo, and a fuel depot at Goito. 250+ fighters escort the bomber missions.


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## Njaco (Apr 13, 2010)

*USA.: *Washington: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only American president ever elected four times, died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, this afternoon while he was sitting for a portrait, his last words being 'I have a terrific headache' before dying in his bedroom. He was 63. The whole country is mourning the Democratic president who offered the United States a "New Deal" of expansionist policies to end the economic crisis of the 1930s and then led it out of isolationism towards victory in a world war. Although a decline in the president's health had been widely noticed in recent months, his death came as a shock to Washington. Around the world, some American soldiers and sailors refused to believe that he was dead. His widow Eleanor said: "I am more sorry for the people of the country and of the world than I am for us." The words of his constant adversary, the Republican Senator Robert Taft, were typical of the response in Congress. Taft called the late president "the greatest figure of our time", removed "at the very climax of his career". "We were fortunate," said Harold Ickes, the secretary of the interior, "to have given to civilization the greatest leader in the history of our country." Harry S. Truman, the vice-president, was sworn in as the 33rd president of the United States at the White House this evening. "Boys," the new president told reporters, "if you ever pray, pray for me now." He said he felt as if "the moon, the stars and all the planets had fallen on me". Minutes after the swearing-in, the secretary of war, Henry Stimson, told Mr Truman that the United States has developed a new explosive "of incredible power". Many here express worries about the former senator from Missouri's lack of experience. But the speaker, Sam Rayburn, said: "Truman will not make a great, flashy president like Roosevelt, But, by God, he'll make a good president, a sound president. He's got the stuff in him."

*WESTERN FRONT*: US 9th Army forces cross the Elbe River near Magdeburg, while in the rear of their advance, Brunswick falls. Troops of the US 3rd Army take Erfurt. In the south, French units take Baden Baden. To the rear, the Ruhr pocket has been further reduced by the capture of Essen by American attacks. Patton's forces take Erfort. The men of the US 100th Infantry Division enter the city centre of Heilbronn after an amphibious assault crossing of the swift flowing Neckar river. This was achieved under constant observation and direct fire of dozens of guns emplaced on the hills surrounding the town to the east.

*GERMANY*: 167 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s of the Ninth Air Force, escorted by 95 Eighth Air Force P-51s, attack the Hof rail bridge, Kempten ordnance depot, and Goppingen marshalling yard, plus a town area and a casual target of opportunity; 275+ planes abort because of weather; fighters escort the bombers, attack the town of Kothen, fly armed reconnaissance and sweeps over wide areas and support ground forces; fighters also support the US III, XVI, and XVIII Corps as they continue to reduce the Ruhr pocket, the 9th Armored Division on the Saale River near Werben and Bad Lauchstadt, the XX Corps from the Saale River N and S of Jena E across the Weisse Elster River, the VIII Corps along the Saale further S of Jena, the XII Corp SE of Coburg on the Hasslach River, the 2d Armored Division across the Elbe River near Randau S of Magdeburg, the 5th Armored Division on the W bank of the Elbe at Wittenberge, and the XVI Corps as it continues fighting in the Duisburg and Dortmund areas. 

97 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 3 to Munich. 13 Mosquitos on Intruder patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: British 8th Army has three separate bridgeheads over the Santerno. On the right of the attack, British 5th Corps is advancing along the north bank of the Reno.

The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 400+ B-17s and B-24s to hit communications in N Italy and S Austria, attacking railroad bridges at Padua, Ponte di Piave and Nervesa della Bataglia, Italy, and Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria, an ammunition dump at Malcontenta, and supply dump at Peschiera del Garda, Italy; 124 P-51s provide escort. 123 P-38s bomb railroad bridges at Unzmarkt and Arnoldstein, Austria; 128 B-24s, with P-51 escort, sent against N Italian communications abort due to bad weather. 38 P-51s escort MATAF B-25s on raids in N Yugoslavia. 

During the night of 11/12 Apr, US Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s hit Po River crossings; medium bombers, restricted by low clouds, bomb approaches to the Maribor, Yugoslavia bridge, hit targets along the Brenner rail line, and support the British Eighth Army in the Argenta area; fighter-bombers attack NE Italian railroad lines, including fuel dumps and communications targets in the Po Valley.

*EASTERN FRONT*: _Versuchskommando_./KG 200 flies its last operational sortie when its Do 217E-5s launch Hs 293 glide bombs against bridges over the Oder.

With Soviet troops approaching Berlin, the last four remaining Me 262s of 10./NJG 11 (Kommando Welter) are moved to Lubeck.


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## Njaco (Apr 13, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 83rd Infantry Division with several associated units, arrive at the west bank of the Elbe. The US Army XIXth Corps commander, Major General Raymond S. McLain order it to cross the Elbe and into territory assigned to the Red Army, and to prepare to advance east/northeast (in the direction toward Berlin). Jena is captured by US 3rd Army units. To the south, US 7th Army forces take Bamberg. 

The liberation of German camps at Belsen and Buchenwald reveal the horrors of these camps to the world. As the Americans approached the camp, the Nazis hurriedly evacuated all the Jewish inmates, many of whom only arrived a few months ago from Auschwitz or other camps to the east. Most of them are now at Flossenburg. Himmler is keeping them alive as potential bargaining counters in what he still hopes will be peace negotiations with the allies.

Eisenhower turns down his third chance to capture Berlin, saying that it is just a political prize.

*GERMANY*: Officially Germany reacted to the news of President Roosevelt's death with a correct silence. The Nazi leaders, however, greeted it as a ray of light in what is now a desperate situation for them. "My Führer," Josef Göbbels told Hitler, "I congratulate you. Roosevelt is dead. It is written in the stars that the second half of April will be the turning point for us." The Nazis believe that Roosevelt's death will be the signal for the western allies and the Soviet Union to fall out. Some plan to hold out in redoubts in north and south Germany until this occurs. Other Germans fear that Roosevelt's death leaves them to the possibly less tender mercies of Churchill and Stalin.

Adolf Hitler proclaims from his underground bunker that deliverance was at hand from encroaching Russian troops--Berlin would remain German. A "mighty artillery is waiting to greet the enemy," proclaims Der Fuhrer. 

The Nazi have forced Allied PoWs to march up to 500 miles across Europe on starvation rations, according to reports published today in British newspapers The reports allege that of 6,000 Russians, Britons and Americans who set out in January, only 533 are still alive. The Russians came from camps in Poland and the British and Americans from Stalag VIIIA, near Breslau. In January both groups marched to Gorlitz, in Silesia. In February they set out again. Most of them died from starvation, exhaustion or dysentery, and a few from the random cruelty of the guards.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 945: The AAF claims 284-0-220 Luftwaffe aircraft. 212 B-17s, escorted by 256 P-51s, attack the marshalling yard at Neumunster visually; 2 B-17s are lost. The escort claims 137-0-83 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; 6 P-51s are lost. During this mission, 97 P-47s and P-51s fly a freelance mission in support of the bombers; they claim 147-0-137 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 and a P-51 are lost. During Mission 946 flown that night, 10 B-24s bomb the Beizenburg rail junction without loss.

Fighter-bombers of the Ninth Air Force's IX Tactical Air Command fly a special mission against the HQ of Field Marshall Walter Model's Army Group B at Haus Waldesruh in the Ruhr pocket; the air attack is followed by an artillery barrage; as a result the HQ is moved to Haan. IX Tactical Air Command pilots sight Soviet fighters in the air for the first time. Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division. Fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US XVIII Corps in the Huckeswagen and Hagen areas, the III Corps between the Ruhr and Honne Rivers, the 3d Armored Division on the Saale River in the Alsleben, Nelben and Friedeburg area, the XX Corps astride and between the Weisse Eister and Zwickauer Mulde Rivers north of Gera, the XVI Corps northwest of Hagen, the 2d Armored Division in the Elbenau-Grunwalde area, and the 5th Armored Division along the Elbe River in the Tangermunde area. (Jack McKillop)

1st Lt. Shannon E. Estill, USAAF, is flying a P-38-J Lightning, when it is struck by AA fire while attacking targets in eastern Germany. Another U.S. pilot reports seeing Estill's aircraft explode and crash. 

34 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group (Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons) set out to attack the warships Prinz Eugen and Lützow in Swinemünde harbour but the raid was abandoned because of cloud over the target. All aircraft returned safely.

377 RAF Lancasters and 105 Halifaxes of Nos 3, 6 and 8 Groups to Kiel. 2 Lancasters lost. This raid was directed against the port area, with the U-boat yards as the main objective. Bomber Command rated this as 'a poor attack' with scattered bombing.

20 RAF Halifaxes and 8 Mosquitos in a diversionary raid on Boizenburg, 87 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 20 to Stralsund and 12 to Reisa, 62 RCM sorties, 55 Mosquito patrols, 82 Lancasters and 27 Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay and the Kattegat. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Vienna falls to the Soviet Army. As agreed by the Allies in 1943, it appears that Austria will not be treated as a conquered nation. Moscow radio said tonight that because the people of Vienna and other parts of Austria had helped the Red Army fight the Germans they had "saved the honour of the Austrian nation."

*MEDITTERANEAN*: New Zealander troops capture Massa Lombarda, southwest of Lake Comacchio.

Twelfth Air Force B-25s are restricted by weather to 1 mission, an attack on a road bridge at Mollinella; fighter bombers continue to hit communications and dumps in the Po Valley and guns in the La Spezia area; during the night of 12/13 April, A-20s and A-26 Invaders attack Po River crossings at San Benedetto Po, Ostiglia, Piacenza, and Casalmaggiore, bridges at San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and motor transport and targets of opportunity in the Milan area.


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## Njaco (Apr 14, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: A series of French attacks on remaining German positions begins today and will last for 6 days. The area is in the south-west at Royan, in the Gironde estuary. The French battleship _'Lorraine' _provides bombardment support for these attacks.

A French Canadian Soldier attacks and liberates alone,the city of Zwolle in the Netherlands. The soldier is Private Léo Major, DCM Bar. He was a scout and a sniper.

With Patton's Third Army thrusting through the Thuringian Forest to Dresden and Leipzig, the gap between the Americans and the Russians is closing rapidly and Germany is being sliced in two. There are fears that Hitler may attempt a last-ditch defence in the southern redoubt based on Berchtesgaden. French and American troops are closing on the Danube before crossing into Bavaria. The US 3rd Army captures Bayreuth.

In the north, the British are moving on Bremen, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven to forestall any attempt to mount a defence of the ports. The Canadian First Army (Crerar) assumes military control of the Netherlands where German forces of Festung Holland (von Blaskowitz) are now trapped in the Atlantikwall fortifications along the coastline. 

Relentless Allied air attacks on Germany are wiping out the Luftwaffe on the tarmac and the Kriegsmarine in harbour. Figures show that 1,738 enemy aircraft were destroyed in a week's attacks on 59 airfields. A total of 332 were shot down in air combat. Many German planes are limited by a lack of fuel. 

Allied forces conduct *Operation Teardrop*. Two carrier task groups carry out an extensive search for Seewolf U-boats suspected of transporting V2 rockets to be launched against New York city.

*GERMANY*: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 948: 1,167 bombers are dispatched without escort to visually attack enemy pockets on the Gironde estuary; 2 B-24s are lost; other Allied Air Forces and French naval units attack similar targets; the air attacks precede a ground assault by a French detachment of the Sixth Army Group on the defence pockets which deny the Allies use of port facilities in the Bordeaux area: 480 B-17s hit 15 strongpoints and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/Royan, Pointe Coubre and Pointe Grave areas without loss. 315 B-24s hit 12 strongpoints and flak batteries in the same area as Force 1 above; 2 B-24s are lost. 338 B-17s attack 4 strongpoints and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/Royan area without loss.

Himmler orders that no prisoners at Dachau concentration camp "shall be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy alive." "A handover is out of the question. The camp must be evacuated immediately. No prisoner must be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy alive," says a handwritten note, apparently referring to Dachau concentration camp. It is signed by Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler and dated April 14, 1945. 

18 Ninth Air Force B-26s fly a leaflet mission in the Ruhr area; fighters fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored Division southwest of the Elbe/Mulde River junction near Dessau, the 9th Armored Division in the Borna and Lobstadt area, XX Corps elements which continue to arrive at the Zwickauer Mulde River, the VIII Corps along the Weisse Elster River south of Gera, XII Corps elements in the Bayreuth area, the 2d and 5th Armored Divisions along the Elbe River in the Barby-Magdeburg and Tangermunde areas.

29 Fifteenth Air Force P-38s bomb and strafe railroad targets in the Munich and Regensburg-Linz, Austria areas. Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the Klagenfurt marshalling yard as a target of opportunity.

The Taifun Express, rocket and missile train arrives at Linz.

20 RAF Lancasters of 6 17 Squadron again found their target at Swinemünde covered by cloud and returned without bombing. No aircraft lost.

500 RAF Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups attacked Potsdam. This was the first time that Bomber Command 4-engined aircraft had entered the Berlin defence zone since March 1944 but the approach, across parts of Germany recently captured by Allied troops, and the Cuxhaven diversion led to only 1 Lancaster being lost; it was shot down by a night fighter. This was the last raid of the war by a major Bomber Command force on a German city. The aiming point was the centre of Potsdam and the intention was to destroy the local barracks (depot of the old German Guards regiments) and the railway facilities. The attack was reasonably successful and severe damage was caused in Potsdam but bombs also fell in the nearby northern and eastern districts of Berlin.

24 RAF Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos in a diversion raid to Cuxhaven, 62 Mosquitos to Berlin and 10 to Wismar, 54 RCM sorties, 50 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

Heinz-Horst Hissbach, a thirty-four victory night-fighter with NJG 2, is killed over Gelnhausen.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US 5th Army joins British 8th Army in mounting the spring offensive operations. There are attacks on either side of the roads to Bologna from Florence and Pistoia. Vergato is captured. 

During the night of 13/14 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26 Invaders continue to hit communications in the Po Valley; bad weather over the northern part of the Brenner line prevents medium bomber attacks but the B-25s, escorted by 54 Thirteenth Air Force P-51s, hit alternates on the southern part of the line at Salorno, San Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and Chiusaforte, bomb gun emplacements southeast of La Spezia in support of the US Fifth Army, and hit 5 defensive positions along the British Eighth Army front in the Argenta area; fighter-bombers concentrate on supporting Fifth Army forces southwest of Bologna.

318 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit ammunition factories at Avigliana, Spilimbergo, Malcontenta, and Palmanova, and a motor transport depot at Osoppo; 158 fighters provide escort.

*EASTERN FRONT*: 1st and 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts launch attack on Berlin along the Oder and Neisse. The scene is now set for the Red Army's assault on Berlin. The victorious marshals, Zhukov, Konev and Rokossovky, are drawn up in overwhelming strength, ready to attack. Zhukov and Konev dislike one another, and there is keen rivalry between them for the honour of taking the German capital. Elsewhere, the Russians are slackening their advance. East Prussia is now harmless. Vienna has fallen. Graz is threatened. But it seems as if the Russians are holding their breath in readiness for the last 40-mile march on Berlin. It will be a desperate affair.


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## Njaco (Apr 15, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In Holland, troops of Canadian 1st Army complete the capture of Arnhem and attack toward Gronigen. Units of the US 9th Army, which have crossed the Elbe River near Magdeburg, are forced to retreat. The US 1st Army takes Leuna. Meanwhile, *Operation Venerable *is launched against the German garrison in the fortress of Royan, at the mouth of the Gironde River; heavy napalm bomb attacks by the US 8th Air Force and shelling by the Free French battleship _'Lorraine' _are followed by an attack by Free French and American forces. US bombers drop "napalm" bombs on German troops at Royan, in the Gironde estuary.

*GERMANY*: Liberation of BERGEN-BELSEN: The first British troops entered Bergen- Belsen on Sunday, April 15th 1945, at 3 p.m., led by Brigadier H.L. Glyn Hughes, the Chief Medical Officer of the British Second Army (with anti-tank battery of 63 A/Tk Regt, Royal Artillery.) Brigadier Hughes cried when he saw the horrible conditions of the camp. He later mentioned that "Belsen was unique in its vile treatment of human beings. Nothing like it had happened before in the history of mankind. The victims of this infamous behavior had been reduced to a condition of sub-human existence" The liberators' most urgent concerns included separating the sick from the living, burying the dead, and caring for the sick. While Bergen-Belsen contained no gas chambers, more than 35,000 people died of starvation, overwork, disease, brutality and sadistic medical experiments. Anne Frank and her sister, Margot, died of typhus in March 1945, along with other prisoners in a typhus epidemic.

A heavily guarded convoy of US Army trucks moves the Reichsbank gold reserve from the potassium mines here back to the vaults of the Reichsbank in the recently captured city of Frankfurt-am-Main. By mid-August the gold will have been quantified and appraised. The gold is valued at $262,213,000 US dollars. The silver at $270,469 US dollars.

106 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Oranienburg airfield and 4 to Lechfeld airfield, 27 RCM sorties, 19 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.

Adolf Hitler issues an order in the event that Germany is split into northern and southern areas, Admiral Karl Dönitz would be appointed Commander-in-Chief of the north, or General Field Marshal Albert Kesselring would be Commander-in-Chief of the south, with Hitler in charge of the other part. 

Major Gerd Barkhorn is transferred from JG 6 and is placed among General Galland’s elite jet fighter unit, JV 44, flying the Me 262.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The Polish II Corps attached to the British 8th Army reaches Sillaro after crossing the River Santerno. Both US 5th and British 8th Armies continue their attacks. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front (Tolbuhkin) begins an offensive against the industrial area of Mührisch-Ostrau in Moravia defended by Heeresgruppe Mitte (Schörner). Soviet forces begin a final offensive against the German held positions in the Samland Peninsula.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the West, the Canadian First Army occupies Leeuwarden and Groningen in northern Holland. The US First Army captures Solingen and Wuppertal. The US 7th Army reaches Nürnburg. Canadian troops reach the Zuider Zee.

RAF Meteor III jets make their first operational sortie on the Continent.

18 RAF Lancasters of No 617 Squadron flew to Swinemünde to attack the pocket battleship _'Lützow'_. 1 Lancaster was shot down (No 617 Squadron's last loss of the war) and all but 2 aircraft were damaged. 15 aircraft managed to bomb the target with Tallboys or with 1,000-pounders. The effects of one near miss with a Tallboy tore a large hole in the bottom of the _'Lützow' _and she sank in shallow water at her moorings.

The 8th Air Force flies Mission 951: 1,348 unescorted bombers are dispatched to attack strongpoints on the French Atlantic coast; the first two forces below make the sole operational employment of napalm bomb by the 8th Air Force against German ground installations; the results are negligible and HQ recommends its discontinuance against this type of target: 492 B-17s hit four strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area without loss. 341 B-24s hit six strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area without loss. 442 B-17s hit 9 strongpoints and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/Royan, Pointe Grave and Pointe Courbre area without loss. The 8th Air Force flies Mission 955: During the morning, 485 B-17s bomb the tank ditch defence line at Pointe de Grave on the south side of the Gironde estuary in the Bordeaux area in support of the ground assault in that area. 

I]'U-1235' [/I]is sunk in the North Atlantic by destroyer escorts USS _'Frost' _(DE-144) and USS I]'Stanton' [/I](DE-247). All 57 crewmen on the U-boat are lost. 

_'U-880' _is sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the destroyer escorts USS' _Frost' _(DE-144) and USS _'Stanton' _(DE-247). All 49 crewmen on the U-boat are lost. 

Minesweeper HMCS _'Esquimalt' _is attacked and sunk by _'U-190' _(Oblt.Hans-Edwin Reith) off Halifax, Nova Scotia. There are 44 casualties. 

Frigate HMS _'Ekins' _strikes a mine which causes her boiler room to flood, and she lies dead in the water. The ship’s company are able to get the ship moving again, and she returns to the Medway under her own power.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The final great offensive of the Red Army against Germany, begins with Gen. G.K. Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front attacking west of the Oder near Kuestrin, and Gen. Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front attacking south across the Neisse to envelop Busse's 9th Army and drive on to the southern flanks of the doomed German capital. The two Soviet Fronts comprise over 2,000,000 men with more than 6000 tanks and self-propelled guns, about 6000 aircraft and almost 16,000 artillery tubes. The German troops defending the line are organized into Army Group Vistula (General Heinrici), facing 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts, and Army Group Center (Field Marshal Schorner), facing 1st Ukrainian Front. There are about 1,000,000 German troops deployed in well-prepared positions overlooking the west bank of the Oder River and Neisse River, however, they lack significant stocks of armor, artillery and aircraft. The Russians meet initial stiff resistance at the Seelow Heights, a fortified defensive position which dominates the flood-plain of the Oder(Oderbruch), and controls access to the main land route to Berlin. At 4am, Marshal G. K. Zhukov looked towards Berlin from his bunker and ordered: "Now, comrades! Now!" Three red flares floated above the lines and, instantly, the German positions were lit up with the blinding light of 143 searchlights and thousands of tank and lorry headlights. Three green flares soared into the sky. This was the signal for thousands of big guns, wheel to wheel, to open the heaviest barrage of the whole of the war in the east. Villages were blown away. Forests burst into flames. Much of that ground was empty, however, for General Heinrici, had withdrawn his men to a second line of defence. They are fighting from well-entrenched positions on the Seelow Heights where Flak guns, moved from defending Berlin against Allied bombers have taken a terrible toll of Zhukov's tanks. He is held up, but Konev's First Ukrainian Front to the south has made rapid progress after crossing the Neisse. And Rokossovsky to the north has yet to join the battle. By a well-timed short withdrawal the forces of the German Army Group Vistula have avoided the worst effects of this Soviet bombardment, but they have insufficient strength to do more than hold the Soviet attack. The attack of 1st Ukrainian Front begins a little later over the Neisse, north and south of Triebel. 

USAAF, 78th Fighter Group is awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions today destroying 135 aircraft on five airfields near Prague and Pilzen, Czechoslovakia.

The _'Goya' _another German ship similar to the _'Wilhelm Gustloff' _, is sunk in the Baltic by the Soviet sub L-3 commanded by Captain Vladimir Konovalov, taking with it 6,220 refugees, making these two ships the worst naval disasters of all time. Captain Konovalov is later awarded the order of "Hero of the Soviet Union" for this. The _'GOYA' _put out from the Hela Peninsula (Danzig-Gotenhafen) on April 16, 1945 packed with evacuees of wounded soldiers and refugee civilians when it was suddenly torpedoed with two direct hits amidships which broke it in two,and it sank in an estimated 4 minutes. Only 183 passengers were rescued, many of which later died from exposure. The sinking of the _'GOYA' _is the second greatest maritime disaster in history. The first of course, is the _'Wilhelm Gustloff'_. On February 10, 1945, the _'GENERAL VON STEUBEN'_, another transport of wounded and refugees was also sunk (in seven minutes) by the same Soviet sub (S13) which sank the '_GUSTLOFF_' -- some 3000 souls were lost in that event.


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## Njaco (Apr 16, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister, has been horrified by the directive from the Führer that all military, transport and industrial installations must be destroyed in order to deny them to the enemy. He has protested vigorously, but Hitler remains adamant. If the war is lost, he told Speer, there will be no point in attempting to save the German people. Speer, however, is co-operating with army officers to frustrate the Führer's directive.

Hitler sacked the Reich public health commissioner, Karl Brandt, after learning that Brandt had sent his wife and child to Thuringia so that they could surrender to the Americans. And as the Red Army opens its final assault on Berlin, Hitler, in his bunker beneath the ruins of his Chancellery, issued an order of the day to his broken army: "He who gives the order to retreat is to be shot on the spot."

RAF Mustang IV fighters of No. 611 Squadron are the first RAF aircraft to greet Russian aircraft over Berlin.

222 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group carried out an accurate attack on the railway yards at Pilsen. 1 Lancaster crashed in France.

167 RAF Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of 6 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Schwandorf, causing severe damage. 1 Lancaster lost.

19 RAF Halifaxes of No 6 Group and 4 Pathfinder Mosquitos to Gablingen airfield, 64 Mosquitos to Berlin and 23 to Munich, 57 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols. 2 Halifaxes and 1 Fortress of No 100 Group were lost.

258 9th Air Force B-26s and A-26 Invaders bomb marshalling yards at Gunzburg and Ulm (primary targets) and several other targets including 3 marshalling yards; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored Division near Dessau and across the Mulde River near Torten, the 9th Armored Division along the Mulde northwest of Borna, the VIII Corps along Weisse Elster River between Gera and Plauen, the XX Corps astride the Mulde NE of Chemnitz (where the 6th Armored Division awaits Red Army forces), and the 2d Armored Division on the Elbe River near Magdeburg. 

The 8th Air Force flies Mission 954: In the afternoon, 1,252 bombers and 913 fighters are dispatched to attack rail targets; they claim 727-0-373 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 31 fighters are lost. 273 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Landshut; a B-24 is lost. Escorting are 299 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 228-0-109 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 and 16 P-51s are lost. 148 B-17s bomb the Regensburg marshalling yard, 72 bomb the Regensburg East rail bridge and 74 bomb the Regensburg West rail bridge; 77 hit the Platting marshalling yard; and 76 attack the rail bridge at Straubing. The escort is 240 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft in the air and 86-0-66 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. 286 P-51s fly a freelance mission in support of the bombers attacking 40+ landing grounds in Germany and Czechoslovakia; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft in the air and 410-0-198 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost. 

450 9th Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders and B-26s bomb the Zerbst communications center, Gunzenhausen marshalling yard, Kempten ordnance depot, and Wittenberg marshalling yard and gun positions; the IX Tactical Air Command's fighters claim 25 air victories during the day as they escort the bombers, fly patrols, area cover, and armed reconnaissance, attack airfields and other targets, and support the US 3rd Armored Division southwest of Dessau, the 9th Armored Division in the Bennewitz-Colditz area along the Mulde River, the XX Corps which remains at the Zwickauer Mulde River bridgehead northeast of Chemnitz, the VIII Corps crossing the Weisse Elster River between Gera and Plauen, the 2d Armored Division on the Elbe River near Magdeburg, the XIX Corps east of Barby, and the V Corps near Leipzig.

General Galland of JV 44 brings down two B-26 Marauder bombers.

36 15th Air Force P-51s sweep areas south of Munich; Pie, Czechoslovakia; and Linz, Austria, and 4 strafe an airfield east of Munich.

The 15th Air Force dispatches 36 P-38s and 36 P-51s strafe rail communications in the area bounded by Munich, Germany, Salzburg and Linz, Austria, Plzen, Czechoslovakia, and Regensburg, Germany; 12 of the P-38s skipbomb rail targets in the Salzburg-Linz, Austria area, including the Vocklabruck marshalling yard; 8 P-38s furnish top cover for the strafing missions.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: During the night, 12th Air Force A-20s and A-26s concentrate on communications targets in the Po Valley, particularly the Po River crossings, the towns of Vignola, Zoeca and Sass, and several targets of opportunity; during the day B-25s and B-26s and fighter-bombers concentrate on direct support of the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies drives, hitting troop concentrations south of Portomaggiore, guns, strongpoints, and a variety of targets in areas south of Bologna, around Medicina and Sasso Marconi and at other points in battle areas.

830 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s, in support of the US Fifth Army, blast gun positions, supply dumps, troop concentrations, maintenance installations, and German HQ along highways leading from Bologna; 145 P-38s furnish escort; 312 B-17s and B-24s bomb rail diversion bridges at Nervesa della Battaglia, Ponte di Piave, and Casarsa della Delizia, and an ammunition factory at Ghedi; 191 P-51s provide escort. Its the largest of World War II by the 15th Air Force during a 24-hour period; 1,142 heavy bombers bomb targets.

98 15th Air Force B-24s, escorted by 102 P-51s, bomb positions southwest of Bologna; almost 700 B-24s and B-17s abort due to bad weather.


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## Njaco (Apr 17, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Large scale German surrenders begin in the Ruhr area. Canadian troops reach Apeldoorn. There is also fighting near Bremen and Nuremberg.

Allied bombing has destroyed over a thousand Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground as US troops reach Magdeburg.

*GERMANY*: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 957: 1,054 bombers and 816 fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets in eastern Germany and western Czechoslovakia; 50 Luftwaffe fighters are encountered, mostly jets and the AAF claims a total of 300-0-119 aircraft destroyed on the ground and in the air (including 4 jets); 8 bombers and 17 fighters are lost. 152 B-17s bomb the rail center at Dresden and 276 bomb the marshalling yard at Dresden; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost. Escorting are 230 P-51s; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft in the air and 91-0-37 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost. 76 B-17s bomb the Dresden area and 86 attack the rail junction and station at Aussig; 86 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Dresden; 2 B-17s are lost. 265 P-51s escort claiming 11-0-2 aircraft in the air and 142-0-47 on the ground; 14 P-51s are lost. 55 B-24s hit the rail center and junction at Fischern while 37 bomb the rail junction and bridge at Falkenau. The escort is 228 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 53-0-29 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost.

Oblt. Georg-Peter Eder becomes the last Luftwaffe pilot to destroy a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber when he downs the B-17 ‘The Towering Titan’ of the 305th BG over Berlin.

At Saaz, P-47s and P-51s bounce a flight of four Me 262s from JG 7 trying to land at the airbase. All four jets are destroyed with only Oblt. Grünberg baling out of his aircraft and surviving.

The Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division attacks the defended city of Magdeburg (including numerous gun positions in the area), marshalling yard and ordnance depot at Aalen, marshalling yard and ordnance depot at Tubingen, and ordnance depot at Ravensburg; fighters fly escort to the bombers, fly patrols, area cover, and armed reconnaissance, hit airfields at Marianske Lazne and Michalovy Hory, and support the US 3d Armored Division mopping up south of the Elbe River and west of the Mulde River near Dessau, the 9th Armored Division along the Mulde east of Leipzig, the VIII Corps in the Greiz-Zwickau area, the XX Corps southwest of Chemnitz, the 5th Armored Division at the Knesebeck Forest, south of Wittingen, and the 2d Armored Division opening an assault on Magdeburg.

It is two days since the British Army agreed a truce with the local German commander which enabled them to enter Bergen-Belsen peacefully. The Hungarian army guards who stayed on duty "to prevent a mass breakout", have shot dead 83 prisoners for minor offences. Now the British are in full control, and a Jewish sergeant, Norman Turgel, has arrested Josef Kramer, the camp's commandant. Kramer's men have been disarmed and put to work burying the estimated ten thousand dead lying around the camp. They have to be locked up to protect them from the vengeance of prisoners. Yesterday seven Kapos [prisoner-guards] were savagely beaten to death.

U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash commandeers over half a ton of uranium at Strassfut, in an effort to prevent the Soviets from developing an A-bomb. Pash was head of the Alsos Group, organized to search for German scientists in the postwar environment in order to prevent the Soviets, previously Allies but now a potential threat, from capturing any scientists and putting them to work at their own atomic research plants. Uranium piles were also rich "catches," as they were necessary to the development of atomic weapons.

147 Fifteenth Air Force P-38s divebomb railroad bridges at Seefeld and Mariahof. Fifteenth Air Force P-51s, with 10 flying top cover, strafe targets of opportunity in the Munich, Germany, Plzen, Czechoslovakia, and Linz, Austria areas. 

90 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the railway yards in the small town of Cham deep in south-eastern Germany. The attack was completely successful, with tracks torn up and rolling stock destroyed. No aircraft lost.

61 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 43 to Ingoldstadt airfield, 28 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos lost from the Berlin raid.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Soviet attacks east of Berlin continue. In the very fierce battles, which have developed, the Germans are fighting with skill and desperation but are slowly being forced to give ground. Meanwhile, in Austria and Czechoslovakia, the Soviet attacks and German losses continue, Zisterdorf and Polten are taken in Austria. The situation for the German 6th SS Panzer Army in Austria is now critical at St.Polten. The Russians occupies Wilhelmsburg.

During the Eighth Air Force's Mission 957, 115 B-17s bomb an oil depot and marshalling yard at Roundnice and 36 B-24s bomb the rail junction and industry at Kladno and 61 bomb the railroad, rail industry and marshalling yard at Beroun.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Allied offensive operations continue. On the right flank of the British 8th Army attacks, Argenta falls to forces of the British 5th Corps after an amphibious move across Lake Coamchio. North and east of Argenta there are no more rivers before the Po River and the British units are soon passing through what becomes known as the "Argenta Gap." West of Argenta, the British 13th Corps enters the line between British 5th Corps and the Polish 1st Corps which is moving northwest toward Bologna. US 5th Army attacks continue as well, though with slower progress because of the more difficult terrain south and west of Bologna.

During the night of 16/17 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26 Invaders hit Po River crossings and several towns west and southwest of Bologna; during the day B-25s successfully attack 4 Reno River bridges near Bologna and close support targets on the British Eighth Army front to the southwest, and extensively damage 4 bridges in northern Italy and Austria on the Brenner rail line; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers concentrate on close support of the US Fifth Army south and west of Bologna.

The Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 751 B-24s and B-17s, in support of the US Fifth Army, to hit troop concentrations, supply dumps, gun positions, and HQ immediately south and southwest of Bologna; 143 P-51s provide escort.


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## Njaco (Apr 18, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The U.S. Army 8th Division is assigned Military occupation of a sector of the Ruhr - Rhine area. This sector includes the Wuppertal, Dusseldorf, Wissen and Mulheim areas. Some officers from all units attached to the division are temporarily assigned to the Military Government section to help administer such a large area. The primary problem is that of Displaced Persons (DPs). Russian, Polish, Italian, French and other nationalities were used as slave labour in the Ruhr region. Freed DPs begin looting and pillaging both as a means of survival and revenge. Some acts of violence take place within the 8th Division area. DP camps are set up, and DPs fed and clothed (from German stores) which brings the situation under control Other than several cases of typhus reported in the town of Siegburg, no serious epidemics are reported.

The Wehrmacht's Army Group H is cut off when the Canadian 2nd Army reaches the Zuider Zee. The British Second Army captures Ülzen and Lüneburg; resistance in the Ruhr ends as the US First Army rounds up 325,000 Germans; and the US Third Army captures Nürnberg and advances into Bohemia. Patton's US 3rd Army crosses the Czech frontier.

Heligoland: 969 RAF aircraft - 617 Lancasters, 332 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos - of all groups attacked the naval base at Heligoland, the airfield and the town on this small island. The bombing was accurate and the target areas were turned almost into crater-pitted moonscapes. 3 Halifaxes were lost. German marines who arrange a peaceful handover of the island to British forces are shot by the SS as mutineers.

SS _'Cyrus H. McCormack'_, while in convoy HX 348, is torpedoed and sunk by _'U-1107' _70 miles (113 km) southwest of Brest, France.

SS _'Swiftscout' _is torpedoed by _'U-548' _about 145 miles (223 km) northeast of Cape Henry, Virginia; Armed Guard gunfire drives the attacker down, but _'U-548' _returns to torpedo the ship a second time, sinking her.

*GERMANY*: Berlin: Goebbels burns his office files.

The citizens of Berlin, like their Führer, are taking refuge from impending disaster underground. As the Allied armies close in on their city they leave their cellars and dugouts only to fetch vital supplies of food and water. But the basic essentials are running short in Berlin and people often queue for hours - in the dead of night before the Russian bombardment begins at 5am - just in the hope of a loaf of bread. They are also taking refuge from their own people - from the SS which is reportedly shooting people on the spot on the accusation that they are "defeatists", or rounding them up to join the Volkssturm in the last desperate defence of the Reich. Many are now waiting only to surrender.

During Eighth Air Force Mission 959: 174 B-17s bomb the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Straubing without loss. 99 P-51s escort. 166 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard while 28 attack the rail bridge and rail industry at Passau without loss. Escorting are 240 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 12-0-8 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost. 9 B-17s bomb the electrical transformers and 56 attack the marshalling yard at Traunstein while 148 hit the marshalling yard and electrical transformers at Rosenheim; 61 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Freising. 139 P-51s escort.

About 590 Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders, A-26 Invaders and A-20s attack oil storage at Neuburg an der Donau, marshalling yards at Juterbog and Nordlingen, and rail junctions at Falkenburg and Juterbog; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, attack assigned targets, and support ground forces including the US V Corps assaulting Leipzig, the VII Corps in the Dessau-Halle areas, the 5th Armored Division near Steimke, and the 2d Armored Division at Magdeburg and other XIX Corps elements astride the Elbe River south of Barby; organized German resistance in the Ruhr pocket ceases.

Oberst Johannes ‘Macki’Steinhoff (176 victories) of JV 44 suffers severe burns when his Me 262 crashes near Munich. Steinhoff crashes on take-off from Munchen-Riem during a flight with General Galland and Major Gerd Barkhorn. Loaded with forty-eight rockets, his left landing gear hits a bomb crater, scraping his engines and setting them on fire. He recovers from his injuries and ultimately became Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe of the Federal Republic of Germany in the postwar era.

At III./EJG 2’s airfield at Lechfeld, Obstlt. Bär shoots down two P-47 Thunderbolts.

57 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin and 36 to Schleissheim airfield near Munich, 35 RCM sorties, 33 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito of No 141 Squadron was lost while carrying out a napalm attack on an airfield in Northern Germany; this was a new form of weapon being used by the Mosquito squadrons of No 100 Group.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Between Stettin and Schwedt, the 2nd Belorussian Front opens its offensive against the 3rd Panzer Army. Except in a small area along the axis of advance of 1st Ukrainian Front, the Soviet forces engaged in the battle for Berlin have advanced less than 10 miles toward the city. However, the German defense is being worn down. In the East, the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front captures Forst on the Neisse River; north of Frankfurt, the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front continues its attack to take the Seelow Heights, gradually wearing down the outnumbered German defenders.

114 RAF Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the railway yards in the Czechoslovak town of Komotau (now known as Chomutov). This was the last major raid in the long communications offensive to which No 5 Group had made a particularly effective contribution. The raid was completely successful and all the aircraft involved returned safely.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Allies capture Argenta.

During the night of 17/18 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s pound communications in the southern Po Valley and the towns of Vignola, Bazzano, and Sassuolo in the US Fifth Army battle area; B-25s and B-26s hit 2 railroad fills and a bridge on the southern Brenner line and troop concentrations on the US Fifth and British Eighth Army fronts, southwest of Bologna and in the Dugnano Paderno area; fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command also concentrate on support targets in the Fifth Army battle area.

473 Fifteenth Air Force B-24s and B-17s, with an escort of 89 P-51s, support the US Fifth Army offensive in the Bologna area, blasting defensive positions and communications in areas around the city; 78 P-38s dive-bomb a railroad bridge at Malborghetta Valbruna, while 87 others dive-bomb 2 railroad bridges at and southeast of Kolbnitz, Austria.


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## Njaco (Apr 19, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the west, the U.S. First Army nears its final stop line in central Germany as it captures Leipzig and Halle. Eisenhower has ordered the First and Ninth Armies to halt along the Elbe and Mulde rivers and let the Red Army overrun areas that will be part of the postwar Soviet occupation zone. Leipzig is taken. The British 2nd Army reaches the Elbe River south of Namburg. Patton's US forces cross the Czech border. Final German surrenders in the Ruhr pocket total 325,000. British begin the attack on Bremen.

German Field Marshall Model commits suicide.

German submarine _'U-251' _sunk off Goteborg. 

German submarine _'U-1017' _sunk with all hands north west of Ireland. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the east, Zhukov's army crashes through German defenses and swarms to within 20 miles (32 km) of Berlin's eastern suburbs. Konev's army threatens southern Berlin.

*GERMANY*: On the eve of Hitler's 56th birthday, Dr. Goebbels exhorts the nation and predicts that in spite of all misfortunes Germany will yet prevail, that the "perverse coalition between Bolshevism and Plutocracy" is about to break up, and that it is Adolf Hitler ("Our Hitler!") who will still turn back the tide and save Europe, as he has thus far, from falling into the clutches of the Kremlin. 

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 961: 605 B-17s and 584 P-51s are dispatched to make visual attacks on rail targets in southeastern Germany and northwestern Czechoslovakia; they claim 18-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s and 2 P-51s are lost: 135 B-17s bomb the Elsterwerda marshalling yards while 143 bomb the Falkenberg marshalling yards. Escorting are 191 P-51s that claim 5-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost. Of 321 B-17s dispatched, 115 hit the railroad industry and rail bridge at Pirna while 87 hit Karlsbad and 109 bomb the marshalling yard at Aussig; they claim 6-1-2 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost. The escort is 197 P-51s; they claim 7-0-3 aircraft.

The jet fighters of JV 44 claim one B-26 destroyed and one probable. Obstlt. Bär continues his score of doubles in the Me 262 jet when he shoots down two P-51D Mustangs.

Ninth Air Force bombers hit marshalling yards at Ulm, Neu Ulm, and Gunzburg (primary targets), the city of Donauworth and a target of opportunity at Schelklingen; weather prevents 70+ of the 450+ dispatched aircraft from bombing targets; fighters fly escort to the bombers, carry out patrols and armed reconnaissance, bomb a radio station, and cooperate with the US VII Corps in the Halle-Dessau area, the XII Corps attacking southeast from south of Bayreuth, the XX Corps in the Bamberg-Nurnberg area, preparing to drive toward Austria, and the XIX Corps along the Elbe River in the Magdeburg area.

Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers Bischofshofen and Rosenheim while 78 P-38s divebomb the marshalling yard at Weilheim. Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb the Rattenberg railroad bridge and marshalling yards at Lienz, Klagenfurt and Linz.

49 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the Pasing railway yards, Munich. The bombing appeared to be concentrated. No aircraft lost.

36 RAF Lancasters of 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked coastal battery positions at Heligoland with Tallboy bombs. All targets were hit and no aircraft were lost.

79 RAF Mosquitos to Berlin, 35 to Wittstock airfield and 8 to Schleswig airfield, 34 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The US Fifth Army breaks out of the Apennines onto the Po plateau.

During the night of 18/19 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26 Invaders bomb roads, vehicles, and lights in the Bologna, Turin, Milan, and Mantua areas, and continuing to attack Po River crossings, hit 8 bridges; B-25s and B-26s bomb bridges in the Brenner Pass and support ground forces at several points including Budrio, Vignola, and San Martino in the Soverzano areas; fighter-bombers hit dumps, communications, and close support targets in the US Fifth Army battle areas south and west of Bologna.

Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the Avisio viaduct, the Vipiteno railroad bridge, AA batteries near Grisolera and Santo Stino di Livenza, and several minor targets of opportunity.


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## Njaco (Apr 20, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Berlin: At his 56th birthday party, Hitler is stooped and trembling, his uniform stained with food. The cheerless luncheon is attended by Göring and Himmler, who then flee the city, after giving the Führer their birthday congratulations. After an air-raid interruption by marauding RAF Mosquitos, Hitler, accompanied by one-armed Reich Youth Leader Artur Axmann, decorates a group of Hitler-Jugend with the Iron Cross for bravery against the Russians. The occasion is filmed by the propaganda cameras for the weekly 'Wochenschau', and will be the last photographic sequence taken of Hitler, his hands shaking and palsied by Parkinson's disease. After the ceremony, the Hitler-Jugend boys aged 10-16, are sent back into defence of the city where most will perish.

At Flossenburg KZ, approx. 15,000 prisoners are assembled to make a forced march in the direction of Dachau concentration camp. Thousands are killed on the way, and the paths that they marched are littered with dead. As the already starved and weakened prisoners fell from exhaustion, SS guards bringing up the rear would kill them by a shot in the back of the head. Death was also caused by beatings. The prisoners marched from Friday to Monday with many perishing from exhaustion. On the 23rd of April they were liberated en route by American troops between the towns of Cham and Roding. 

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 962: 837 bombers and 890 fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets north-northwest to south-southwest of Berlin, Bavaria and Czechoslovakia; they claim 7-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost: 82 B-17s are sent to hit the rail industry at Nauen and 77 bomb the marshalling yards at Wustermark, 57 hit Neuruppin and 82 Oranienburg; 1 hits Neuruppin Airfield, a target of opportunity. Escorting are 258 P-51s; 1 is lost. Marshalling yards are the target of 289 B-17s as 137 bomb Brandenburg, 66 hit Seddin (66) and 82 attack Treuenbrietzen; 1 B-17 is lost. The escort is 227 P-51s. 56 B-24s hit a rail bridge and junction at Zwiesel, 53 hit a marshalling yard and rail junction at Muhldorf while 56 bomb the railroad and rail junction at Irrenlohe and 54 attack Klatovy; 1 hits the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Straubing. 228 P-47s and P-51s escort.

564 Ninth Air Force A-20s, A-26 Invaders and B-26s strike oil storage at Deggendorf and Annaburg, marshalling yards at Memmingen and Wittenberg, ordnance depots at Nordlingen and Straubing, and other targets including flak positions; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, attack special targets, and cooperate with US ground forces including the VII Corps west of Dessau, the VIII Corps between Plauen and Chemnitz, the XII Corps in the Grafenwohr area, the XX Corps attacking toward the Danube River and Regensburg, and the XIX Corps in the Magdeburg-Barby area.

The Me 262s of JV 44 have an eventful day. In action against USAAF B-26 Marauders, the jets shoot down three bombers and seven damaged. One Marauder is brought down by Eduard Schallmoser, the ‘Jet Rammer’, who has to bale out of his damaged jet. He lands, amazingly, in the garden of his parent’s home in Munich. Uffz. Johann-Karl Müller, a former Fw 190 pilot, downs two of the Marauders with R4M rockets.

100 RAF Lancasters of No 3 Group bombed the fuel-storage depot at Regensburg accurately. 1 Lancaster lost. This was the last raid in the current campaign against German oil targets which had been waged since June 1944. Much of Bomber Command's effort during this period, sometimes at considerable loss, had been devoted to these oil operations, which had helped not only the Allied ground forces on the Western Front but also those fighting in Italy and on the Eastern Front.

76 RAF Mosquitos made 6 separate attacks on Berlin. This was the last RAF raid of the war on Berlin; the Russians were about to enter the city. Mosquito XVI ML929, of No 109 Squadron, claimed the last bombs - 4 500-pounders - at 02.14 British Time. The crew were Flying Officer AC Austin, pilot, and Flying Officer P Moorhead, navigator. All aircraft returned safely.

36 RAF Mosquitos to Schleissheim airfield, 3 RCM sorties, 2 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In northern Germany, forces of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front join in the advance from the Oder River line, on a 30-mile frontage southwest of Stettin. To the south, German resistance on the Oder and Neisse river lines has been eliminated. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front capture Protzel and units of 1st Ukrainian Fronts cross over the Spree River. All German troops defending the approaches to Berlin are overwhelmed or routed by this date, clearing the way for the Soviet assault on the city. The Second Byelorussian Front under Marshal Rokossovsky has now reinforced the offensives launched by Zhukov and Konev four days ago. Today Rokossovsky battled over marshy ground to cross the western branch of the Oder towards Neubrandenburg, Stralsund and Rostock, effectively preventing the 3rd Panzer Army from reinforcing the defence of Berlin. Konev crosses the River Spree, and takes Calau on the approach to Berlin from the south. Although the direct eastern attack by Marshal Zhukov's First Byelorussian Front has encountered strong resistance near Seelow, Germany's Ninth Army is being squeezed between the advancing armies of Zhukov and Konev. However Hitler has resisted pleas that it should be allowed to withdraw. Some government departments are being moved to southern Germany and Schleswig-Holstein, but Hitler rejected suggestions that he should also leave. Zhukov takes Prötzel. In the battle for Berlin, Soviet tank losses between April 1 and 19 amount to 2,807. During the same period, the Allies in the West lose 1,079 tanks.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the Stuttgart area, the French 1st Army is advancing rapidly along the Neckar Valley, trapping German forces in the the Black Forest in Bavaria. Nuremberg, site of the ostentatious NSDAP 'Partei Tag' rallies, is captured by the US 7th Army. The American flag is raised over the rostrum of the Nuremberg Stadium -- scene of Nazi Party rallies.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The US Fifth Army fights its way out of the Apennines and onto the Po River plain. Without Hitler's authorization, General Heinrich Von Vietinghoff orders his army to retreat across the Po. 

Allied air forces commence *Operation CORNCOB* today. This is a three-day attack on the bridges over the rivers Adige and Brenta to cut off German lines of retreat on the peninsula. During the night of 19/29 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s on night intruder missions continue to pound Po River crossings and vehicle movement throughout the Valley; B-25s and B-26s considerably damage 4 of 6 railroad bridges and fills attached on the Brenner line, and also hit HQ in the battle area and 2 Reno River bridges north of Bologna.

Fifteenth Air Force bombers again pound railway systems and road bridges in an effort to hinder the supply or withdrawal of enemy forces in northern Italy; 700+ B-24s and B-17s hit railroad bridges at Campodazzo, Ponte Gardena, and Campo di Trens, a viaduct at Avisio, marshalling yards at Vipiteno, Fortezza, and Brennero, and road bridges at Lusia, la Carrare, and Boara Pisani, and in Austria, the Mariahof viaduct and Innsbruck marshalling yard. 115 P-38s divebomb the Innsbruck, Austria-Rattenberg, Austria-Rosenheim, Germany railroad line, hitting marshalling yards at Hall, Schwaz, Jenbach, Kundl, and Worgl, Austria and Kiefersfelden, Germany, 4 rail bridges, and several box cars, and cut rail lines at 42 places between Innsbruck and Rosenheim. 

*UNITED KINGDOM*: The first production de Havilland Vampire F. 1 jet fighter (TG 274) makes its maiden flight at Samlesbury, Lancashire.


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## Njaco (Apr 21, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Leading elements of the 1st Belorussian Front reach the eastern suburbs of Berlin. Meanwhile, the 1st Ukrainian Front attacks northward from Dresden and captures Bautzen and Cottbus 70 miles (113 km) southeast of Berlin while Soviet forces fighting south of Berlin, at Zossen, assault the headquarters of the German High Command. The only remaining opposing "force" to the Russian invasion of Berlin are the "battle groups" of Hitler Youth, teenagers with anti-tank guns, strategically placed in parks and suburban streets. In a battle at Eggersdorf, 70 of these Hitler teens strove to fight off a Russian assault with a mere three anti-tank guns. They were bulldozed by Russian tanks and infantry. Hitler announces he will remain in Berlin. Goering, Himmler and other top Nazis flee so they can surrender to the Americans or British. Fw 200B-2 DLH Condor “Hessen” crashes while trying to leave Berlin overloaded with Nazi party leaders trying to escape the encircled city.

The town of Treuenbrietzen is occupied by the Russians.

In East Prussia, remnants of AOK Ostpreussen (von Saucken) are still resisting in the port of Pillau, the Frische Nehrung and the Vistula delta between Danzig and Marienburg.

A Mutual Assistance Pact between the USSR and the Lublin Polish Government is signed.

Major Wilhelm “Willi” Batz of JG 52 is awarded the _Schwertern_.

*GERMANY*: Göring takes his last trip by his personal train _'ASIEN'_. From Karinhall he travels to Berchtesgaden to his lodge on the Obersalzberg.

Himmler meets Norbert Masur of the World Jewish Congress and refuses to free the Jews under his control.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 963: 532 bombers and 444 fighters are dispatched to attack jet fighter airfields and rail targets in south-eastern Germany; 2 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 111 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Munich, a target of last resort, with H2X radar. Escorting are 90 P-51s. 186 B-24s are sent to hit the Salzburg marshalling yard and rail bridge but abort the mission due to 10/10 cloud cover; 1 B-24 is lost. The escort is 99 P-51s. 6 B-17s hit the secondary target, the Amlech Airfield at Landsberg; 212 hit a target of last resort, the town of Ingolstadt; 1 B-17 is lost. 144 P-51s escort; 2 are lost.

The lost B-24 was the last American bomber shot down over Germany during World War II. The 'Black Cat' was hit at 22,000 feet and broke into pieces. One of the crewmembers was Howard Goodner. Twenty-one year old Goodner had no parachute. He came down in freefall alongside bombs and oxygen tanks, spinning toward the Bavarian village of Scharmassing. He landed in a field outside the town, his body striking the earth so hard that it left a crater nearly six inches deep. Maria Wittig, then 19, saw him there. He was athletic looking, fair-skinned, handsome. Long fingers. "I can see him before me," she told an interviewer, a half century later, so clear was her memory. Shown a picture of the entire crew, she picked out Goodner immediately. "That's him," she said, her voice breaking.

The Ninth Air Force dispatches 121 B-26 Marauders to hit the Attnang-Puchheim marshalling yard; fighters fly escort, patrols, armed reconnaissance and cooperate with the US VIII Corps as elements of the 6th Cavalry Group cross the Czechoslovakian border to reach Hranice and Trojmezi, the XII Corps in the Grafenwohr-Weiden area, and the XX Corps east of Nurnberg.

Major Gerhard Barkhorn of JV 44 is flying an Me 262 when his starboard engine fails. Trying to return to his base at Riem, he is chased by P-51 escort fighters that force him to crash land in some woods. During the crash his cockpit canopy, which was open for a quick escape, slams shut on his neck and he ends his combat flying in hospital as a POW.

Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb the marshalling yard at Rosenheim while 138 P-38s bomb railroad lines and facilities in the Munich and Rosenheim, Germany-Rattenberg, Austria areas

Weather curtails daytime operations but Twelfth Air Force B-25s score hits on the Matrei am Brenner bridge on the Brenner rail line.

About 200 Fifteenth Air Force bombers, with P-51 escort, bomb marshalling yards at Attnang-Puchheim, Spittal an der Drau, and Vocklabruck.

107 RAF Mosquitos to Kiel. 2 aircraft lost.

16 RAF Mosquitos to Eggebek airfield near Flensburg, 3 RCM sorties, 16 Mosquito patrols, 20 Lancasters of No 6 Group minelaying in the Kattegat. No aircraft lost.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Now the Battle of the Ruhr has ended, with 325,000 prisoners in Allied hands; these include 30 generals and an admiral. Eisenhower, in an order of the day, says that "21 enemy divisions, including three Panzer, one Panzergrenadier and three Parachute divisions" have been smashed. Stuttgart is overrun by De Lattre de Tassigny's 1st French Army while there is continued German resistance around Elbingerode in the Harz Mountains.

British Guardsman Edward Charlton is later posthumously awarded the last Victoria Cross of the war for saving the lives of several men trapped in their tank during a battle in the village of Wistedt. He is so badly wounded during his act of heroism that he dies shortly after being taken prisoner. A total of 182 Victoria Crosses--Britain's highest honour for valour--were finally awarded for World War II.

In the Arctic Sea, an Allied U-boat hunter group attacked _'U-997' _with depth charges. Due to some damage to the periscope, the boat had to return to base.

_'U-636' _sunk in the North Atlantic west of Ireland, in position 55.50N, 10.31W, by depth charges from frigates HMS _'Bazely'_, _'Drury' _and _'Bentinck'_. 42 dead (all hands lost).

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Bologna is captured by the Polish II Corps. It was 5.50am when the last of the German garrison motored out of this university city. Bologna slept. Fifteen minutes later, advance units of the Polish II Corps drove in from the east and hoisted their national flag on the town hall, just a few minutes before American tanks rumbled in from the north, soon to be joined by Italian troops of the Eighth Army, their British steel helmets adorned with flowers and feathers. Only then did Bologna awake to go noisily, crazily, mad with joy and relief. A stiff street-by-street battle had been expected. The German commander had received the now almost rubber-stamped order to fight to the last man. Instead, it seems that he made a deal with the city's archbishop and the Fascist mayor. If partisans did not molest his retreating troops, he would not demolish Bologna's public services. As the Poles advanced along the Via Emilia, a coded signal had to be sent to the partisans to rise up. Anticipating this, the Germans arrested and shot two of their leaders. Today, as Bologna went wild, the partisans shot two leading Fascists in revenge. Units of US 2nd Corps (part of US 5th Army) enter the town a few hours later. US 5th Army forces have now cleared the Appenines and advancing rapidly on the Lombard Plain. East of Bologna, British 8th Army is advancing rapidly.

US 2nd Lt. Daniel K. Inouye (442nd Infantry) while leading his platoon in an attack on German positions on Mount Musatello, performs acts of heroism which later result in him being awarded the MOH. Inouye is wounded in the right arm by a grenade and the right leg by another bullet.

During the night of 20/21 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26 Invaders bomb Po River crossings with good results and in the late afternoon hit Po River crossings; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter bombers, grounded most of the day, fly close support to the US Fifth Army which drives into Bologna (a longstanding objective) and begins to push rapidly across the plain toward the Po River.


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## Njaco (Apr 22, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The final American offensive in Europe begins with Patton's Third Army and Patch's Seventh Army driving toward southern Germany and Austria. The Allies believe that some German troops, notably SS Storm troopers, may plan to retreat to the Alps for a deadly last stand in a "National Redoubt." Eisenhower wants to overrun the region before the diehard Nazis organize.

The US 7th Army crosses the Danube at Dillingen and Baldingen.

The USAAF combines technical and post-hostilities intelligence objectives under the Exploitation Division with the code name Lusty. *Operation Lusty *begins with the aim of exploiting captured German scientific documents, research facilities and aircraft. The operation has two teams. One, under the leadership of Col. Harold E. Watson, a former Wright Field test pilot, collected enemy aircraft and weapons for further examination in the United States. The other team recruited scientists, collected documents and investigated facilities.

The German submarine _'U-518' _is sunk in the North Atlantic northwest of the Azores, in position by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS _'Carter' _(DE-112) and USS _'Neal A. Scott' _(DE-769). All 56 men on the sub are lost.

At 0450, _'U-997' _fired Gnats on two destroyers and claimed one destroyer sunk, but only end-of-run detonations were observed by the USSR _'Karl Libknecht' _and patrol craft USSR BO-225. At 0508, the U-boat torpedoed and damaged the _'Idefjord' _and eight minutes later sank the _'Onega'_. _'Idefjord' _was struck by one torpedo on the port side in the bow. One British gunner was lost and the crew abandoned ship in the lifeboats, but most of them returned after the Norwegian M/S-trawlers KNM _'Tromøy' _and _'Karmøy' _had investigated the damages. The ship was taken in tow stern-first, arriving in Murmansk at 0400 on 23 April for temporary repairs. Five crewmembers from the _'Onega' _were lost. Patrol craft USSR BO-220 and BO-228 picked up 37 survivors.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 965: During the night of 22/23 Apr, 10 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. 4 of 12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway. The 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from Prouvy Airfield, Denain, France to Chalgrove, England with F-5s.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents combat operations by the 9th Bombardment Division and IX Tactical Air Command. The XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance over E Germany and W Czechoslovakia, flies area cover over the Wurzburg-Bayreuth areas, patrols the Third Army front (the Bayreuth-Nurnberg areas), and the XII Corps in the German-Czech border area near Weiden. Unit moves in Germany: HQ XIX Tactical Air Command from Luxembourg; operational HQ of the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) to Brunswick; HQ 84th and HQ 303d Fighter Wings from Haltern to Gutersloh; HQ 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group from Gutersloh to Brunswick; HQ 474th Fighter Group and 428th, 429th and 430th Fighter Squadrons from Strassfeld to Langensalza with P-38s; 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group) from Hersfeld to Erlangen with L-5s; 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons, 370th Fighter Group, from Zwartberg, Belgium to Gutersloh with P-51s. 

*GERMANY*: Himmler meets with Count Bernadotte of the Swedish Red Cross, with a peace proposal. He offers a German surrender to the British and Americans, but not the Russians.

During a three hour military conference in the bunker where his generals inform him that no German defence was offered to the Russian assault at Eberswalde, Hitler let loose a hysterical, shrieking denunciation of the Army and the 'universal treason, corruption, lies and failures' of all those who had deserted him. The end had come, Hitler exclaimed, his Reich was a failure and now there was nothing left for him to do but stay in Berlin and fight to the very end. His staff attempted without success to convince him to escape to the mountains around Berchtesgaden and direct remaining troops and thus prolong the Reich. But Hitler told them his decision was final. He even insisted a public announcement be made. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels then brought his entire family, including six young children, to live with Hitler in the bunker. Hitler began sorting through his own papers and selected documents to be burned. Personnel in the bunker were given permission by Hitler to leave. Most did leave and headed south for the area around Berchtesgaden via a convoy of trucks and planes. Only a handful of Hitler's personal staff remained, including his top aide Martin Bormann, the Goebbels family, SS and military aides, two of Hitler's secretaries, and longtime mistress and companion Eva Braun.

Bremen: 767 RAF aircraft - 651 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost. This raid was part of the preparation for the attack by the British XXX Corps on Bremen. The bombing was on the south-eastern suburbs of the city, where the ground troops would attack 2 days later. The raid was hampered by cloud and by smoke and dust from bombing as the raid progressed. The Master Bomber ordered the raid to stop after 195 Lancasters had bombed. The whole of Nos 1 and 4 Groups returned home without attacking.

40 RAF Mosquitos to Bremen and 11 to Kiel, 56 RCM sorties, 39 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Zhukov and Konev, having overcome the fanatical resistance of the defence zone before Berlin, are moving rapidly to put a ring of tanks round the capital. Zhukov's 47th Army and Konev's Fourth Guards Tank Army, are both west of the city, and only 25 miles separate them. Rokossovsky, after being held up crossing the Oder marshes, is preventing the 3rd Panzer Army from coming to Berlin's aid from the north. Units of the Soviet 1st Byelorussian Front have penetrated into the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin. The attacking Soviet armies have now completely surrounded the city and are systematically decimating the motley ranks, consisting of various Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units (including numbers of Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Latvian and French volunteers) as well as Volkssturm and Hitler Youth, of the exhausted and badly outmanned and outgunned defenders who are now under the command of General Weidling, CO of LVI. Panzerkorps.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Units of 2nd and 4th US Corps (parts of US 5th Army) reach the Penaro River in their advance to the Po River. On the left flank Modena is taken. General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, German commander in Italy, decides to surrender. His armies have lost most of their tanks and guns during a chaotic retreat across the Po.

The entire night and day effort by the Twelfth Air Force is concentrated against German forces retreating north across the Po River in face of Allied forces which send advance elements racing to the south bank; B-25s fly 16 missions against ferries and pontoon bridge sites on the Po between Casalmaggiore and Polesella; XXII Tactical Air Command A-20s and A-26 Invaders, fighter-bombers, and fighters maintain night and day attacks on Po crossings and enemy movement; the command claims 900+ motor and horse-drawn vehicles destroyed.

258 Fifteenth Air Force P-51s and P-38s fly armed reconnaissance over northeastern Italy, bombing marshalling yards, bridges, railroads, highways, and several buildings and strafing an airfield, rail and road traffic, and numerous other targets of opportunity; other P-38s fly reconnaissance while P-51s escort reconnaissance and supply missions.


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## Njaco (Apr 24, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Hermann Göring sends a radio message to Hitler offering to take war leadership of the Reich if Hitler is unable to continue while the siege continues. Hitler is infuriated and orders Goring arrested. Hitler dismisses Reichsmarschall Göring as Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe and installs Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim in his place after first promoting the Generaloberst to Generalfeldmarschall. Flugkapitän Hanna Reitsch, flying a Fiesler Storch, then flies von Griem into beleaguered Berlin for a conference with Hitler. After the conference they are able to fly out again, becoming the last people to get out of the encircled city.

Albert Speer bids Hitler farewell, confessing that he sabotaged the "scorched-earth" directive, and has preserved German factories and industry for the post-war period.

Reichsjugendführer Artur Axmann gives a personal order that battalions of Hitler Youth be raised to defend the Pichelsdorf bridges across the River Havel in Berlin to keep the way open for Wenck's phantom army.

148 RAF Lancasters of No 5 Group set out to attack the railway yards and port area at Flensburg but the operation was abandoned because of cloud which covered the target on the bomb run. All aircraft returned safely.

60 RAF Mosquitos dispatached to Kiel; none lost. 

38 RAF Mosquitos to Rendsburg, 32 to Travemünde and 8 to Schleissheim airfield, 45 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost. 

General Galland’s JV 44 increases its pilots and machines when Obstlt. Heinz Bär and his III./EJG 2 arrive from Lechfeld after their airfield is overrun by ground troops of General Patch’s 7th Army. The Me 262s of I./KG 51 also arrive to bring JV 44’s strength to over forty aircraft, much more than a Staffel, along with about ninety pilots. The other Gruppen of EJG 2 are sent to Prague-Ruzyn to combine with the jet fighters of JG 7.

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army has broken into Berlin from the north, east and south. Massed Russian artillery is shelling the central and western areas of the city. Buildings are collapsing piece by piece. Sturmovik aircraft dive over the rubble to silence German strongpoints. Latest reports say that Russian assault troops are smashing their way through the inner ring of SS resistance near the Stettiner railway station, one mile from the Unter den Linden.

Frankfürt am der Oder: After 6 days of heavy defensive fighting, the defenders of the city, assisted by 11.SS-Armee Korps [Kleinheisterkamp], gave very little ground to Soviet 1st Byelorussian Front. Massive and continuous artillery bombardments on the town from 20 to 22 April, 1945, reduced vast parts of the city to a wasteland of burning rubble. Still, the defensive perimeter remained intact. Zhukov's 1st Byelorussian then sought to bypass and find a way around and behind the stubborn defenders. By 22 April the near breakup of 9th Armee into three isolated segments was dangerously close. Hitler, at the insistence of Gen.Heinrici, allowed 9th Army to remove itself from continued [suicidal] holding of the Oder line-position, which allowed the extrication of the beleaguered and nearly surrounded garrison of 'Festung-Frankfurt' aided by elements of 11.SS-Armee.Korps, at the very last moment. The Russians [actually a Polish Tank Brigade of the Red Army] took possession of the city on 23 April 1945. Detonations and fire in the city centre area went on for a number of days beyond this, and have been attributed to both unexploded Allied aerial ordnance [The RAF raided Frankfurt a.Oder in late March and early April 1945], as well as to last ditch Hitler-Jugend attacks by the so-called 'Werwolf' organisation.

About 1,000 German civilians are massacred by the Red Army in the occupied town of Treuenbrietzen. Men are gathered together, taken to nearby woods and shot. A number of women are also raped and killed. Nearly every family in the town loses relatives. Five kilometres up the road near the village of Nichel retreating German soldiers shoot 127 Italian forced labourers who had just escaped from a munitions factory in Treuenbritzen.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Elements of the 2nd US Cavalry Group, 90th and 97th US Infantry Divisions liberate the 1,526 prisoners who remain in the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp near Weiden in NE Bavaria.

At 1535, _'U-1023' _fired a spread of two LUT torpedoes at Convoy TBC-135 and heard one detonation and sinking noises. In fact, the _'Riverton' _was only damaged.

The unescorted _'Katy' _was torpedoed and damaged by _'U-857' _east of Kitty Hawk. She was towed to Lynnhaven, Hampton Roads on 26 April and repaired. It is also possible that _'U-879' _torpedoed this ship, but both U-boats were lost during April 1945 in that area and this success can not be definitely assigned to one of the boats.

_'U-396' _reported missing from weather-reporting duties. No explanation exists for its loss. 45 dead (all hands lost). 

_'U-1055' _reported missing in the North Atlantic or the English Channel. No explanation exists for its loss. 49 dead (all hands lost). 

Minesweeper HMCS _'Vegreville' _damaged by mines off French coast and headed for Devonport for repairs. The damage to her port engine was considered to be beyond economical repair and was declared a constructive total loss 6 Jun 45.

_'U-716' _depth charged in the Arctic by a hunter-killer group. Due to the damage incurred the boat had to return to base.

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): HQ 71st Fighter Wing moves from Vittel, France to Heidelberg, Germany. Ninth Air Force: Weather cancels combat operations by the 9th Bombardment Division. In Germany, fighters patrol the Magdeburg area and the US Third Army front (E of the Bayreuth-Nurnberg area), fly armed reconnaissance over E Germany and W Czechoslovakia, and operate in conjunction with the XII Corps as it presses forward N of Regensburg between the Danube River and Czech Border. P-47 unit moves in Germany: 411th and 412th Fighter Squadrons, 373d Fighter Group, from Venlo, the Netherlands to Lippstadt; 509th, 510th and 511th Fighter Squadrons, 405th Fighter Group, from Ophoven, Belgium to Kitzingen. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The US 5th and the British 8th Army reach the River Po. The 5th Army crosses south of Mantua.


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## Njaco (Apr 24, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the battle for Berlin, Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) penetrate into the suburbs of Berlin from the south while the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) continue attacking into the city from the east. Other Soviet units of the two fronts are moving around the city to the north and south to complete the encirclement of the city. Large parts of the German 9th Army and 4th Panzer Army, both part of German Army Group Vistula (Heinrici) are cut off to the east of Berlin as a result of the northwest advance of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front. The relief attack by III.Panzerkorps (Steiner) from the area of Eberswalde 50 miles NE of Berlin fails for lack of forces. The isolated fortress of Breslau is still holding out. 

The RAF joined in the final battle of Berlin with fighter-bombers of Bomber Command pouncing on General Wenck's Twelfth Army as it moves east after being switched from the western front to Berlin. The pilots report that the entire eastern half of the city is on fire. On the ground Konev's men are crossing the heavily-defended Tetlow canal on bridges built by assault sappers under fire.

Stab./JG 301’s Walter Loos, flying the new Focke-Wulf Ta 152, encounters a formation of Soviet fighters over Berlin and shoots down two of them.

*GERMANY*: Berlin: Hitler orders Göring to be arrested after receiving a telegram from him offering to take over command of the Reich.

The fighters of JV 44 lose another _experte_. Gunther Lützow downs a B-26 in the morning. In the afternoon he finds another formation of Marauders and attacks. But the formation is protected by P-47s, which bounce Lützow. Diving to escape two P-47s, he is unable to pull out of the dive and crashes straight into the ground and explodes. His place at Jafu Oberitalien is taken by Hptm. Hans “Gockel” von Hahn.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The British 2nd Army launches attacks near Bremen. Dessau on the Elbe River is taken by US 1st Army. To the south, on the Danube River, Ulm is captured and in the Black Forest area the French 1st Army continues its advance.

Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton (b.1920), Irish Guards, stopped a German attack single-handed. He died of wounds. (Victoria Cross)

_'U-363' _was attacked by a hunter-killer group. During the depth charge attack the periscope was damaged so badly that the boat had to return to base. 

USS _'Frederick C. Davis' _was participating in the *operation Teardrop*, a hunt for snorkel-equipped U-boats in the Western Atlantic and was part of the 4th Escort Division, which screened escort carrier USS _'Bogue' _in the Southern Surface Barrier. On 24 April 1945, _'U-546' _discovered the USS _'Bogue' _about 570 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland and tried to attack on periscope depth, but the USS _'Frederick C. Davis' _discovered the U-boat and prepared herself for an attack. At this moment a Gnat struck forward on the portside. The ship broke in two and sank. The crew abandoned ship and were picked up within three hours by the other escort destroyers of the Division, after they had sunk _'U-546'_.

German U-boats sink 5 Allied supply ships in the English Channel. At 1414, the unescorted _'Monmouth Coast' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-1305' _about 80 miles from Sligo. The master, 13 crewmembers and two gunners were lost. Irish fishermen rescued the sole survivor, messroom boy Derek Cragg.

417th Night Fighter Squadron, 64th Fighter Wing [attached to First Tactical AF (P)], moves from St Dizier, France to Giebelstadt, Germany with Beaufighters. 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), from Erfurt to Furth with F-6s; 125th Liaison Squadron, IX Fighter Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), from Gutersloh to Brunswick with L-5s; 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), from Bad Wildungen to Weimar with L-5s; 422d Night Fighter Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command, from Strassfeld to Langensalza with P-61s. 

30 RAF Mosquitos and 7 Lancasters dropped leaflets on 8 POW camps in which British prisoners-of-war were waiting to be liberated. Medical supplies were also dropped at the Neubrandenburg camp, north of Berlin. No aircraft were lost.

40 RAF Mosquitos to Schleissheim airfield, 38 to Pasing airfield and 17 to Kiel, 27 RCM sorties, 19 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito from the Schleissheim raid crashed in Belgium.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Units of both US 5th Army and British 8th Army begin to cross the Po River at several points near Ferrara and to the west. Ferrara is captured. On the west coast, La Spezia falls to the US 92nd Division. German forces are incapable of stopping the Allied advance.


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## Njaco (Apr 25, 2010)

*GERMANY*: The US 8th Air Force makes its last bombing mission from England when 554 B-17s and B-24s attack airfields and rail targets in Czechoslovakia and southeastern Germany. Mission 968: 589 bombers and 486 fighters fly the final heavy bomber mission against an industrial target, airfields and rail targets in SE Germany and Czechoslovakia; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft (including an Ar 234 jet); 6 bombers and 1 fighter are lost: 1. 307 B-17s are sent to hit the airfield (78) and Skokda armament works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia; 6 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 180 damaged; 8 airmen are WIA and 42 MIA. Escorting are 188 of 206 P-51s. 2. 282 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Salzburg (109), Bad Reichenhall (56) and Hallein (57) and electrical transformers at Traunstein (56); 20 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA. The escort is 203 of 216 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air. 3. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a sweep of the Prague-Linz area claiming 0-1-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost. 4. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a screening mission. 5. 4 P-51s escort 2 OA-10s on an air-sea-rescue mission. 6. 22 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany and Czechoslovakia. 7. 88 of 98 P-51s escort RAF bombers. Mission 969: During the night of 25/26 Apr, 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. 12 B-24s and 1 A-26 are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway; 7 aircraft complete the mission. 

(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 296 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s strike Erding Airfield and Freilassing ordnance depot; fighters fly airfield cover and escort missions, and operate in conjunction with the US XII Corps as it pushes along the N bank of the Danube River SE of Passau and support the XX Corps on the Danube at Regensburg and surrounding areas.

Uffz. Franz Köster of JV 44 downs an Allied P-51 Mustang and a P-38 Lightning to add to his score of three jet kills achieved while flying with the other jet Geschwader, JG 7.

375 RAF Lancaster and Mosquito bombers drop six-ton bombs on Hitler's home at Berchtesgaden. Escorted by 98 Mustangs of the US Eighth Army Air Force and 13 Mustang squadrons of RAF Fighter Command, the bombers flew low, taking cover from the anti-aircraft fire behind mountains, until they were almost over the target, and then dropped their bombs. The Times reported on the attack that twelve 1,000-lb bombs, fused for deep penetration, were used against the Berghof chalet, and large numbers of 4,000-lb and 1,000-lb bombs were dropped on the SS barracks. After the second run, and with two Lancasters missing, the anti-aircraft batteries had been silenced. When it was all over, most of the buildings on the Obersalzburg were smoking ruins. Most of the squadrons taking part in the raids on this day were flying their last operations of the war.

The headquarters staff of KG 200 is released from further duties. Most change into civilian clothes and try to make it to Allied lines while others proceed to Outstation Olga to continue fighting.

As several Arado 234s of KG 76 come in to land at their airbase, the formation is bounced by a trio of American P-47 Thunderbolts who brave the airfield flak defenses. Shot down and killed is Major Polletin of the Stab KG 76.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces complete the encirclement of Berlin near Ketzin. Zhukov's tanks, sweeping across the northern suburbs, have cut all the roads leading to the west and yesterday linked up with Konev's drive from the south at Ketzin. Inside the city, government buildings in the Wilhelmstraße are under point-blank fire from field guns. Tegel is captured by elements of the 47th Army and Reinickendorf by the 12th Guards Tank Corps. A relief attack by the 3rd Panzer Corps from the area of Eberswalde, 50 miles northeast of Berlin fails. Pillam in East Prussia falls to the Russians. Since early in the year, about 140,000 wounded and 40,000 refugees have been evacuated to the west from Pillau. A few German troops continue to hold out at the tip of the Samland Peninsula. 

The last German troops leave Finnish territory around Kilpisjärvi, in far north-western Finland, thus ending the Fenno-German Lappland War and WWII for Finland. In this last day, two Finnish soldiers die, one is wounded and one goes missing in skirmishes with German patrols. During the seven-month war against Germany, Finns lose 774 KIA, 262 MIA and 2904 WIA. The German losses are estimated roughly equal.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: German resistance begins to collapse as Mantua, Parma and Verona fall to the Allies. Just 40 miles away, Mussolini flees to Como. Uprisings in Milan and Genoa are aided by Partisans. 

(Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, all combat operations are aimed at plugging retreat routes and disrupting transport in the N Po Valley and points to the N; medium bombers hit the Adige River crossing at Cavarzere and marshalling yard at Gorizia, and attack 5 bridges and fills on the Brenner line in Austria and N Italy, damaging 2 of the targets; fighters and fighter-bombers harass the retreating forces in the N Po Valley; during the night of 24/25 Apr, A-20s and A-26s and night fighters attack the crossings of the Adige and Po Rivers and the Canale Bianco, and strike airfields at Villafranca di Verona, Udine, and Bergamo, and marshalling yards at Brescia and Verona. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Elements of US 1st Army link up with the Soviet forces at Torgau on the Elbe River. US 3rd Army crosses the Danube near Regensburg and assault the city.

The fighter groups including the 78th fly their last combat missions.

Tonight an oil target at Vallo is the subject of the last raid by RAF Lancasters of the war. 107 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the oil refinery in Tonsberg in Southern Norway in the last raid flown by heavy bombers. The attack was accurately carried out and the target was severely damaged. A Lancaster of No 463 Squadron came down in Sweden, the last of more than 3,300 Lancasters lost in the war; Flying Officer A Cox and his all-British crew all survived and were interned in Sweden until the end of the war - only a few days away.

Destroyers HMS _'Iroquois'_, _'Haida' _and _'Huron' _arrive Kola Inlet with Convoy JW-66. 

_'U-326' _sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of Brest in position 48.12N, 05.42W by a homing torpedo from a USN VPB-103 Sqn Liberator. 43 dead (all hands lost).

HQ 97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Light) from Marchais to Arrancy, France; HQ 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 597th, 598th and 599th Bombardment Squadrons from Peronne, France to Venlo, the Netherlands with B-26s; 33d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Gutersloh to Brunswick, Germany with F-5s; 492d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, from Kassel to Illesheim, Germany with P-47s.

(Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, 467 B-17s and B-24s bomb the main marshalling yard station, and sidings, N and S main marshalling yards and freight yard at Linz, the major Austrian traffic center along the railline running N to Prague, Czechoslovakia, plus the Wels marshalling yard (an alternate) and several targets of opportunity. 119 P-38s and P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over N Italy, a few strafing road traffic. The P-38s dive-bomb road and rail bridges and raillines. P-38s and P-51s fly almost 300 sorties in escort of the heavy bombers, P-38 reconnaissance flights, and MATAF B-26 raids. 

Wangerooge: 482 RAF aircraft - 308 Halifaxes, 158 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 5 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. The raid was intended to knock out the coastal batteries on this Frisian island which controlled the approaches to the ports of Bremen and Wilhelmshaven. No doubt the experience of Antwerp, when guns on the approaches had prevented the port being used for several weeks, prompted this raid. The weather was clear and bombing was accurate until smoke and dust obscured the target area. The areas around the batteries were pitted with craters but the concreted gun positions were 'hardly damaged'; they were all capable of firing within a few hours. Part of the bombing hit a camp for forced workers and the holiday resort and many buildings were destroyed, including several hotels and guest houses, the Catholic church and two children's holiday homes, although these do not appear to have been occupied at the time of the bombing. 6 of the 7 bombers lost were involved in collisions - 2 Halifaxes of 7No 6 Squadron, 2 Lancasters of No 431 Squadron and 2 Halifaxes of Nos 408 and 426 Squadrons (both from Leeming airfield). There was only 1 survivor, from one of the No 76 Squadron aircraft. 28 Canadian and 13 British airmen were killed in the collisions. The seventh aircraft lost was a Halifax of No 347 (Free French) Squadron, whose crew were all killed.

82 RAF Mosquitos to Pasing airfield and 18 to Kiel, 9 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 14 Lancasters minelaying in Oslo Fjord (the last minelaying operation of the war), 12 Mosquitos of No 8 Group dropping leaflets over prisoner-of-war camps.


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## Njaco (Apr 26, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: The British 2nd Army completes the capture of Bremen. US 3rd Army units take Regensburg while other elements enter Austria. In the south, the French 1st Army reaches Lake Constance.

HQ IX Tactical Air Command from Lahn Airfield, Marburg to Weimar; 160th and 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Gutersloh to Brunswick with F-6s; 162d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), from Wiesbaden to Furth with F-6s. 

*Operation Exodus*: Bomber Command Lancasters now started flying to Brussels, and later to other airfields, to collect British prisoners of war recently liberated from their camps. 469 flights were made by aircraft of Nos 1, 5, 6 and 8 Groups before the war ended and approximately 75,000 men were brought back to England by the fastest possible means (unlike the end of the First World War when some British ex-prisoners were still not home by Christmas, although the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 ). There were no accidents during that part of *Operation Exodus* which was carried out before the war ended.

31 RAF Mosquitos to Husum, 28 each to Eggebek and Grossenbrode and 12 to Neumünster (all airfields in Schleswig-Holstein), 12 Mosquitos to Kiel, 4 Mosquito Intruders on patrols. No aircraft lost.

*GERMANY*: Galland is wounded and Obstlt. Heinz Ba(e)r took over command of the combined Luftwaffe unit of Jagdverband-44 and Erprobungskommando 162 which flies the Heinkel 162 Salamander jet fighter.

Major Walther Dahl, flying a Me 262 with III./EJG 2 from JV 44's airfield, shoots down his 128th and last victory, a USAAF P-51 Mustang near Dillingen. 

(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 125 bombers hit Plattling Airfield; fighters escort the bombers, fly airfield cover, carry out armed reconnaissance in Germany and Czechoslovakia, drop leaflets, and cooperate with the US XII Corps as its forces cross into Austria SE of Passau, and the XX Corps as it begins a full-scale assault across the Danube River at Regensburg; fighters claim 19 combat victories. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russian tanks have crossed the Spree and reached the Jannowitz Bridge station within a few hundred yards of the Imperial Castle at the start of the Unter den Linden. General Wenck embarks on the last German offensive to relieve Berlin, but only manages to reach Ferch on the 27th April, before the offensive grinds to a halt. The remnants of 9.Armee (Busse) are cut off and surrounded in the Halbe pocket, 30 miles southwest of Frankfurt am der Oder. There is, however, a surge of optimism in Hitler's bunker as General Wenck has launched his relief attack from the west and has made good progress towards the capital. On the Russian side, there is dismay at Konev's HQ because Stalin has divided Berlin between his armies and drawn the boundary so that Konev's rival, Zhukov gets the plum prize, the Reichstag. Soviet artillery fire made the first direct hits on the Chancellery buildings and grounds directly above the Führerbunker. That evening, a small plane containing female test pilot Hanna Reitsch and Luftwaffe General Ritter von Greim landed in the street near the bunker following a daring flight in which Greim had been wounded in the foot by Soviet ground fire. Once inside the Führerbunker the wounded Greim was informed by Hitler he was to be Göring's successor, promoted to Field-Marshal in command of the Luftwaffe. Although a telegram could have accomplished this, Hitler had insisted Greim appear in person to receive his commission. But now, due to his wounded foot, Greim would be bedridden for three days in the bunker.

Other Soviet units take the port of Stettin on the Baltic coast and Brno in Czechoslovakia. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The US 5th Army moves towards the Brenner Pass and west towards Milan. The British 8th Army moves northeast towards Venice and Trieste.

The US 15th Air Force conducts it last bombing mission when B-24s diverted from the original targets in northern Italy attack marshalling yards at four locations in southern Austria. 107 B-24s bomb a motor transport depot at Tarvisio, Italy, and marshalling yards at Sachsenburg, Lienz, Spittal an der Drau, and Klagenfurt, Austria (all targets of opportunity); 117 B-17s and 196 B-24s, also dispatched against targets in N Italy, abort due to bad weather; 155 fighters provide escort; 75 P-38s and 102 P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over N Italy; of these, 12 P-38s and 48 P-51s strafe targets of opportunity; all of the P-38s dive-bomb rail lines and road bridges; 16 other P-38s dive-bomb the NW part of Alesso, Italy; reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort and supply escort missions by P-38s and P-51s continue as usual. 

(Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 25/26 Apr, XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft hit marshalling yards, airfields, motor transport, and other communications targets, mainly in the N Po Valley; medium bombers complete 1 of 4 missions dispatched (clouds obscures 3 targets), hitting the Chioggia bridge and knocking out a span; XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers attack enemy movement throughout the afternoon, destroying 150+ motor transport. 

*SWITZERLAND*: Vallorbe: With a soldier's bearing, Marshal Philippe Petain saluted the aide-de-camp of General Koenig, the Free French commander-in-chief. He then advanced towards Koenig with outstretched hand, Koenig refused to shake. It took the aged marshal a moment to realize that he was under arrest. He was transferred to a second-class train which will arrive in Paris early tomorrow. There the prosecutor in his case, Andre Mornet, said that Petain's conduct deserved the death sentence "but he has reached an age where considerations of humanity should prevail." He will later be tried and convicted as a war criminal.


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## Njaco (Apr 27, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: Himmler's peace feeler sent through the Swedish Red Cross is refused by the Allies.

By this date the flow of P-51, B-17, and B-24 replacement aircraft has stopped and the authorization of 68 planes per bomb group and 96 per fighter group is reduced to the original 48 and 75, respectively. 

Leaders of communities near concentration camps, including Belsen and Buchenwald, are being forced to see for themselves the horrors in their own backyard: the souvenirs of human skin; half-burnt and sometimes part-cannibalized corpses. At Belsen, where hundreds still die each week, town mayors protest that they knew nothing, in spite of continuous transport activities to this transit camp. At Buchenwald, 1,000 women marched in singing, but left in tears.

A momentous announcement, revealing that Allied troops advancing from the west have linked up with the Russians on the river Elbe, was released simultaneously in London, Moscow and Washington this evening. The official version of the meeting places it at Torgau yesterday afternoon, when news cameramen were present to show American and Russian troops shaking hands on a wrecked railway bridge, and the commander of the US 69th Infantry Division, General F. E. Reinhardt, clasping hands with an unidentified Russian general of the 58th Guards Division. In fact the first meeting had occurred on 25 April, when a US patrol, led by Lt. Albert Kotzebue of the US 69th, spotted a solitary Soviet cavalryman near the village of Stehla. A few hours later, Lt. William Robinson met other Soviet soldiers at Torgau. In a radio message to his command post Kotzebue reported: "Mission accomplished. Making arrangements for meeting between commanding officers." The message ended with two significant words: "No casualties." - a reflection of western fears that a meeting with the Russians might lead to clashes.

_'U-1231' _sails on her final patrol.

Frigate HMS _'Redmill' _is attacked by _'U-1105' _(Oberleutnant zur See Hans Joachim Schwarz) and loses her stern and propellers, but is able to be towed to Londonderry where she is paid off and not repaired. Location: Irish Sea 25 miles NW of Blacksod Bay at 54 23N 10 36W. There are 22 casualties.

The last German forces leave Finland around Kilpisjärvi, the northwestern most tip of Finland.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In Berlin, the Soviet forces have captured the Templehof airfield and are making progress in Spandau, Grunewald and other areas. To the north of the capital, troops of 2nd Belorussian Front begin to advance rapidly, taking Prenzlau and Angermunde. The Russian 13th Army reaches Wittenberge on the Elbe River. The German 9th Army tries to reach Berlin from the southeast and begins a counterattack at Zossen. The German 20th Army does the same southeast of Belzig.

*GERMANY*: Hitler's optimism evaporated today. Wenck has been stopped 15 miles short of Berlin and a breakout attempt by General Busse's trapped Ninth Army has been foiled while the Russians inexorably occupy Berlin, house by house, street by street, looting and raping as they go. Tonight the garrison is penned into a corridor three miles wide and ten miles long running east/west across the city. The SS rules there by way of instant execution. Hitler announces, "On the occasion of my death Ferdinand Schorner will take command of the German Army. In Hitler's last public appearance he decorated the Hitler Youth member Alfred Zeck from Goldenau with the Iron Cross. Zeck was only twelve years old becoming the youngest recipient of the prestigious medal.

(Ninth Air Force): Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division. In Germany, fighters fly sweeps, airfield cover, and armed reconnaissance, and attack airfields; other fighters fly air cover for the US XII Corps as the 11th Armored Division reaches the Czech border N of Bischofsreuth and other elements move further into Austria toward Linz, and support the XX Corps as it receives the surrender of Regensburg and expands its Danube River bridgehead; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Kitzingen to Gmund with L-5s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: US forces liberate Genoa, Italy which has been controlled by partisans.

Russell Folsom on the capture of Mussolini. The former dictator is travelling north from Como with a number of his "Salo Republic" Fascist toadies and their hanger-ons, only to meet up with a German column also heading north commanded by Luftwaffe Flakartillerie Lt. Hans Fallmeyer at Mennagio. Seeking the safety and anonymity of the larger group, Mussolini and his followers joined the Germans. As far as I know, there were no explicit orders by higher command for Lt. Fallmeyer or his unit to escort or protect the Duce from the partisans or the Allied forces during this general scramble north to the Tyrol. Unlike the rescue operation by Skorzeny from the Gran Sasso in 1943, Mussolini was this time very much on his own, and his meeting and joining of the German column was apparently, entirely coincidental. The column was stopped at a Partisan roadblock at Masso, where Lt. Fallmeyer negotiated passage with the leader of the 52nd Garibaldi Brigade, Count Pierluigi Bellini delle Stelle (aka: "Pedro"). It was there agreed that all Italians among the column would be left behind with the partisans before the Germans were allowed to move out. At this point Fallmeyer surreptitiously suggested to Mussolini that he should bury himself in a German privates greatcoat and pull a steel helmet over his head and continue on with the column. This ruse worked briefly until the next roadblock at Dongo, where Mussolini was discovered, apparently by the mis-match of the incongruous red-stripe on his grey riding trousers with the German private's coat. Partisans arrest Mussolini. Urbano Lazzaro, the Partisan leader halts a German truck in the village of Dongo and discovers Il Duce in disguise. "His face was like was and his stare glassy, somehow blind. I read there utter exhaustion, but not fear," Lazzaro says in his memoirs. "Mussolini seemed completely lacking in will - spiritually dead." Under such circumstances, Lt. Fallmeyer was in no way either able or obligated to fight for the Duce's continued freedom. He had done what he could, and left the rest to what was most assuredly (in his self-interested view concerning the safety of his men) an internal "Italian affair" between the partisans and the former dictator. Lazzaro, a member of the largely Communist 52nd Garibaldi Brigade, then found Mussolini's mistress, Clara Petacci, and high officials of his fascist republic hidden in the retreating column of Nazi troops heading for Switzerland.


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## Njaco (Apr 28, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces of 3rd Ukrainian Front capture Sopron in western Hungary, to the south of Vienna, in a continuing advance. The 2nd Ukrainian Front, to the north, also continues to advance. On the Oder River, German resistance at Glogau is eliminated by elements of 1st Ukrainian Front.

In the battle of Berlin, the Red Army reaches the Anhalt Station. They are within a mile of Hitler's Bunker in the east and south. The German garrison is running out of ammunition and food. General Weidling, the capital's commandant, estimates that the bullets will run out in another two days. The defence may not last that long as the Russians drive ever closer to the Reichstag. They are infiltrating through the subways and sewers, often storming the defences from below. Now not much more than the area round the Tiergarten remains in German hands.

*FINLAND*: The Commander of the Finnish III Corps, General Siilasvuo reports that the mission of Puolustusvoimat is complete. The Second World War is over for Finland. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 1st and 9th Armies link up at Lippstadt, cutting off the German forces in the Ruhr which consist of 325,000 men mostly from German 15th Army and 5th Panzer Army of German Army Group B (Field Marshal Model). Other elements of US 1st Army capture Paderborn while US 9th Army units take Hamm. To the north, forces of British 2nd Army have crossed the Mitteland Canal near Munster and are advancing to Osnabruck. The Canadian First Army (Crerar) captures Emden and Wilhelmshaven, while the US Seventh Army (Patch) occupies Augsburg, Regensburg and Ingolstadt. 

In the Netherlands, *Operation Duck* begins, with the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division beginning an assault on the town of Leer.

In the English Channel, German U-boats have sunk 8 Allied ships, 3 destroyers and 2 corvettes.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents all Ninth AF combat operations. Unit moves in Germany: HQ 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron from Ober Olm to Furth with F-6s; 493d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, from Kassel to Illesheim with P-47s. 

*GERMANY*: Hitler receives word via Göbbels' Propaganda Ministry that the BBC was reporting SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler's attempted peace negotiations, Hitler orders his immediate arrest and execution and has his liaison officer, Hermann Fegelein, shot dead.

_'U-56' _sunk at Kiel, in position 54.19N, 10.10E, by bombs from British aircraft. 6 dead and 19 survivors.

Obstlt. Bär, _GeschwaderKommodore_ of JV 44 scores his sixteenth and last jet victory of the war, making him the highest scoring jet ace of World War II.

JG 7 pilot Lt. Fritz Kelb, the only Jägdflieger to achieve kills with both the Me 163 rocket fighter (JG 400) and Me 262 jet fighter (JG 7), is killed in action, by flak near Cottbus.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: British Guards and Commando units attack over the River Reno between Lake Comachio and the sea.

The body of Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, dictator of Italy until his downfall in 1943, hangs upside-down over an ESSO garage forecourt in Milan. The body of his mistress, Clara Petacci, hangs next to it. Both bodies have been mutilated. Earlier today, a woman fired five revolver shots - "for my five dead sons" into the Duce's body. Others spat at their former leader. With his SS escort, Mussolini was heading towards the Alps where he believed that he could continue the war in the mountains with 3,000 fanatical Fascist followers. In fact, only 12 turned up at a rendezvous. They then drove through dangerous, partisan-held territory.The partisans caught up with Petacci and Mussolini, dressed in a German uniform, at Dongo, on Lake Como. After interrogation, a communist partisan, Walter Audisio, lined them up at the gate of the Villa Belmonte in Mezzegra. First, he shot Petacci, who clung to her lover. Then Mussolini opened his coat wide and asked to be shot in the chest. The machine-gun rang out and the Duce slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. Audisio moved closer, and fired the final shot into his heart.

(US Twelfth Air Force): Weather severely curtails operations. In Italy, XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers, flying 100+ sorties, hit enemy movement in the battle area at several points from S of Piacenza to NW of Milan; medium bombers are grounded.


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## Njaco (Apr 30, 2010)

*GERMANY*: In the last hours before his suicide, Hitler proclaimed his faith that the Nazi creed will arise again from the ashes of Germany's defeat. "I die with a happy heart," he says in his last testament, in the certainty that through the sacrifices of his soldiers and himself there "will spring up ... the seed of a radiant rebirth of the National Socialist movement and thus of a truly united nation." The Führer dictated his message to posterity during the night, soon after his wedding to Eva Braun. Neither he nor "anybody else in Germany" wanted war, but "I left no one in doubt that this time not only would millions ... meet their death ... but this time the real culprits would have to pay for their guilt even though by more humane means than war." He sees betrayal on all sides: in the army, the air force, even in the SS. He concludes by asking that his personal possessions be passed to his sister, Paula, "for maintaining a petty bourgeois standard of living." Hitler says goodbye to his medical staff.

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the battle of Berlin, the Red Army has now captured most of the city except for the area around the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichskanzlei and the Reichstag which is still fiercely defended by isolated units of the Waffen-SS. There is little left now for the defenders of Berlin to die for. They are being split up into small groups which fall back to fight from the Flak towers and large air-raid shelters. Guns are set up in railway yards, squares and parks to hold off the advancing tanks. It appears that a last stand will be made in the Tiergarten, but more and more men are risking the SS execution squads and surrendering. North of the capital, Red Army units capture Anklam and other towns. In the south, Soviet pressure in Austria and Czechoslovakia continues.

The Red Army sets up a provisional government in Vienna.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The British Second Army crosses the Elbe at Lauenburg, 20 miles E of Hamburg, and advances toward Schwerin and Wismar in Mecklenburg. The French First Army (de Tassigny) captures Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. South of the Danube River, US 3rd Army units reach the River Isar. 

A tentative agreement is made with the Swedish Government for German forces in Norway to be disarmed and interred in Sweden. 

The last parts of French soil, on the Alpine front, still held by Germans are liberated by French forces.

30,000 surviving inmates of Dachau are liberated by troops of the US 3rd Army. The advance continues toward Munich.

Dachau: Enraged GIs who liberated Dachau death camp today killed many SS guards crossing their paths. At Webling, about five miles away, 43 SS men were killed. The GIs, men of the 157th and 222nd Infantry Regiments, found mounds of bodies outside a crematorium, and lying inside and alongside rail cattle trucks. Local civilians were busy looting, accompanied by their children. An arrogant commander attempted a formal military hand-over. The GIs screamed "Kill 'em!" and opened fire. Twelve died before a colonel intervened. Those liberated today included Lt-Cdr Patrick Albert O'Leary), a Belgian, who ran a PoW escape network in France before his betrayal in 1943. Silent under torture, he was sent to Dachau.

Convoy RA-66 of 24 ships, becomes involved in the last convoy battle of the war. There are no transports sunk, only one damaged. But two U-boats are lost. This battle will continue through the 2nd of May. _'U-427' _attacked destroyer HMCS _'Haida' _but missed upon departure of Convoy RA-66 from Kola Inlet. Also in escort were sister ships HMCS _'Iroquois' _and _'Huron'_. _'U-307' _sunk in the Barents Sea near Murmansk, Russia, in position 69.24N, 33.44E, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS _'Loch Insh_'. 37 dead and 14 survivors. _'U-286' _Type VIIC Sank the first time 17th March 1944 in the Baltic Sea east of Rgen after collision with _'U-1013'_. 26 survivors. Raised and repaired and returned to duty. On 18 July 1944 a Norwegian Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 333/K) attacked the boat, causing damages and killing 1 man and wounding 7 more. The boat reached Kristiansand, Norway on the same day. Finally sunk today in the Barents Sea north of Murmansk, Russia, in position 69.29N, 33.37E, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS _'Loch Insh'_, _'Anguilla' _and _'Cotton'_. 51 dead (all hands lost).

Whilst engaged on an A/S sweep off Kola prior to the departure of convoy RA.66, frigate HMS _'Goodall' _is torpedoed and magazine explodes blowing away the forward part of the ship. Beyond salvage, she is abandoned and scuttled. Location: entrance to Kola Inlet at 69 25N 33 38E. _'Goodall' _is the last British warship to be sunk by submarine attack.

_'U-1017' _sunk in the North Atlantic NW of Ireland, in position 56.04N, 11.06W, by depth charges from an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator. 34 dead, unknown number of survivors. 

*Operation Manna*: A large pocket in Western Holland was still in German hands and the population was approaching starvation; many old or sick people had already died. A truce was arranged with the local German commander and Lancasters of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups started to drop food supplies for the civilian population. Eighteen aircraft of No 153 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, began dropping food parcels from a height of 400 feet to the starving Dutch civilians. In the winter of 44/45, the 'Hunger Winter' as the Dutch call it, northern Holland and the heavily populated cities in Western Holland was still under German occupation. Around 18,000 of the elder, sick and young had died through sickness and lack of sufficient food. Churchill had written on April 10th, 'I fear we may soon be in the presence of a great tragedy'. The first food drop (284 bags) was over Ypenburg, near the Hague, subsequent drops were on the Dundigt Racecourse. Before the food-drop operation began an agreement was reached whereby German anti-aircraft units would not fire on low flying aircraft dropping food. This was agreed to by the then Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands, Artur Seyss-Inquart, who was later found guilty of participating in the deportation of Jews. (He was hanged at Nuremberg on October 16, 1946) Over the next ten days the squadron flew 111 sorties, dropping 7,029 tons of the much needed food. Pathfinder Mosquitos 'marked' the dropping zones. 2,835 Lancaster and 124 Mosquito flights were made before the Germans surrendered at the end of the war and allowed ships and road transport to enter the area. Bomber Command delivered 6,672 tons of food during Operation Manna. The operation continues for ten days, delivering 7,000 tons of food. US Army Air Force joins in, with Operation Chowhound, delivering 4000+ tons of food supplies.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 971: 8 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. 

HQ 64th Fighter Wing moves from Edenkoben to Schwabisch-Hall, Germany.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels operations by the 9th Bombardment Division. Fighters fly patrols and airfield cover, hit special targets, fly armed reconnaissance over E Germany and W Czechoslovakia, and cooperate with the XII Corps moving SE between the Danube River and the Czech border N of Linz, Austria, and with the XX Corps as some of its units establish bridgeheads and begin crossing the Isar River in the Plattling-Landau an der Isar-Landshut-Passau, Germany areas. Unit moves: HQ 48th Fighter Group and 494th Fighter Squadron from Kassel to Illesheim, Germany with P-47s; HQ 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) from Clastres, France to Beek, the Netherlands. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: After three weeks of tense negotiations, the German garrison in Italy surrendered unconditionally. More than one million men - 22 German divisions in Italy and Austria - are preparing to lay down their arms and march into prison camps. A vast are of former Axis territory is now in Allied hands. Negotiations began in great secrecy. The Germans had lost most of their heavy guns and tanks when they were trapped south of the Po. Fleeing survivors - including generals - had been forced to swim to safety as Allied tanks raced across the valley. Bologna had fallen and partisans had taken control of Milan and Turin. The German position was hopeless. It was an SS general, Karl Wolff, who made the first overtures, using Cardinal Schuster of Milan as intermediary. The surrender document was signed at Allied headquarters here today. In a proclamation, General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, the German commander, told his soldiers: "Hitherto you have obeyed your Führer. Today you must obey your orders."

Venice is liberated by the 8th Army. American 1st Armored Division enters Milan, Italy.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather again prevents bomber operations. 8 P-51s and P-38s complete weather and photo reconnaissance missions. 39 P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over NE Italy; 5 of the fighters bomb and 4 strafe various targets of opportunity, claiming 4 motor transports destroyed and a reconnaissance car and 2 parked aircraft damaged. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather again restricts operations; the medium bombers are grounded; fighters and fighter-bombers attack retreating forces and communications throughout NE Italy including Thiene Airfield and claim 350+ motor transport destroyed; enemy forces in Italy, commanded by General Heinrich von Vietinghoff surrender unconditionally at Caserta, effective 2 May; HQ 57th Fighter Group and 64th, 65th and 66th Fighter Squadrons move from Grosseto to Villafranca di Verona, with P-47s.


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## Njaco (Apr 30, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: The battle of Berlin is reaching its bloody climax. Isolated pockets of German resistance throughout the city are overpowered and systematically destroyed. The Reichstag building is now under Russian control. The Russians turned their guns on the building at 0500 and pounded it until early this afternoon, when Zhukov's men poured through shell holes in the walls and fought their way, hand to hand, through the shattered corridors and rooms. The honour of raising the Red Flag over the building fell late tonight to two sergeants, M. A. Yegorov and M. V. Kontary. The final battle of Berlin is over. 

To the north, troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front advance toward Straslund, Waren and Wittenberge. In Czechoslovakia, Mor Ostrava is occupied after a lengthy battle. German forces continue to hold a part of Maravia and most of Bohemia. Slovakia has been completely overrun by Soviet forces. Troops of the Second White Russian Front capture Greifswald, Treptow, Neustrelitz, Fuerstenberg, Gransee, Lassen, Wolgast, Rheinsberg, Hanshagen, Zuessow, Guetzkow, Jarmen, Bartow, Burow, Sarow, Wolde, Penzlin, Menz, Gros-Woltersdorf, Dolgow.

Soviet troops liberate Ravensbruck concentration camp. The defenders of Breslau, decimated by relentless Soviet attacks, are still holding out.

*GERMANY*: Eva Braun had no appetite for lunch today, so Hitler dined with his two secretaries and his cook. At 3.30 pm having finished his meal, he sent for Eva, his bride of 36 hours, and they retired to his quarters. In the passage, Goebbels and a few other faithful followers waited. A single shot rang out. After some minutes they opened the door. The body of Adolf Hitler, dripping blood, was slumped on a couch. He had shot himself in the mouth. Beside him was Eva Braun. Two revolvers lay on the floor, but she had not used hers; she had taken poison. Hitler's valet, SS Major Heinz Linge, and a servant carried Hitler's body, wrapped in an army blanket, up to the garden of the Chancellery. Martin Bormann brought Eva Braun's, then handed it to the Führer's chauffeur Erich Kempka. With Russian shells exploding all around, Linge and Kempka slid the bodies into a shell hole. The bodies were doused with petrol and set alight with a burning rag. Goebbels stood to attention and raised his right hand in the Nazi salute. The propaganda wizard had risen to the heights with Hitler; now he was preparing to follow him in death. It was Himmler's "treachery" - the SS chief was trying to make a separate peace with the western Allies - that persuaded Hitler that the end had come. But first his mistress's long-cherished desire must be fulfilled. In the early hours of Sunday, a city councillor called Wagner was tracked down fighting with the Volkssturm and brought to the bunker to marry the Führer and Eva, who both swore that they were "of complete Aryan descent". In the space on the marriage form for the name of his father (Schicklgruber) Hitler left a blank. The bride began to write "Eva Braun", stopped, struck out the "B" and wrote "Eva Hitler". The next day a pistol shot put an end to the "Thousand Year Reich" that lasted for little more than twelve years. The new German "Führer" is to be the commander of the German navy. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. Appalled by Himmler's treachery and Göring's incompetence, Hitler appointed the former U-boat commander as president of the Reich because he was the only man left to trust.

The last Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito, an experimental prototype with angled wing tips and middle wing aerials for night fighting work, crashes during a service flight at Stade.

British troops liberate over 21,500 prisoners in Sandbostel, Germany. Allied forces reach Moosburg, liberating a prisoner-of-war camp of 110,000 British and American troops.

*WESTERN FRONT*: Forces of French 1st Army enter Austria near Lake Constance, in the south, while units of British 2nd Army, in the north, advance toward the Baltic coast. The US Seventh Army (Patch) enters Munich. 

American, French, and Canadian forces make an amphibious assault on Ile d'Oleron on the French Atlantic coast. By evening, they capture St. Trojan. 

Canadian forces clear most of Leer, Netherlands, from German forces.

_'U-2511' _set out from Bergen for her first and last patrol. The crew served under very experienced U-boat officers like Oak-Leaves owner Korvkpt. Adalbert Schnee, the former very successful commander of _'U-201' _and then two years one of closest staff members of Dönitz. The destination for that patrol was to be the Caribbean, where the boat had should be tested under all conditions.

US Strategic Air Forces in Europe and the British Air Ministry declare an end to strategic bombing in Europe. The policy is declared to have come up to every expectation, wrecking oil plants, aircraft factories, and railway systems.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 972: 6 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels 9th Bombardment Division and XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) operations. In Germany, the IX Tactical Air Command flies airfield cover, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance; the XIX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance, and cooperates with the XII Corps moving SE between the Danube River and the Czech border N of Linz, Austria and with the XX Corps crossing the Isar River at several points in the Landau an der Isar-Landshut area. Unit moves in Germany: HQ 354th Fighter Group and 356th Fighter Squadron from Ober Olm to Ansbach with P-47s; HQ 362d Fighter Group and 379th Fighter Squadron from Frankfurt to Furth with P-47s; HQ 405th Fighter Group from Ophoven, Belgium to Kitzingen; 31st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) from Ober Olm to Furth with F-5s. 

*MEDITERRANEAN*: American 5th Army's 442nd Infantry Regiment enters Turin, Italy. Allies capture Gargnano, Cittadella, Bassano, Friolo, Treviso, Chioggia, and Alessandria. 

In Milan, Italy, partisans execute former chief of staff for the Italian Army Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, following a quick trial.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): For the fourth consecutive day bad weather cancels bomber operations; P-38s fly reconnaissance, escorted by P-51s. Other P-51s and P-38s escort supply-dropping missions to N Italy and Yugoslavia. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 29/30 Apr, A-20s and A-26s hit motor transport near Lake Como and roads in the Trento, San Michele all'Adige, and Bolzano areas; bad weather grounds the medium bombers; fighter-bombers fly armed reconnaissance over N Italy, blasting guns, vehicles, and other targets of opportunity; the 12th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) moves from Peretola Airfield, Florence to Villafranca with F-5s.


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## Njaco (May 1, 2010)

*EASTERN FRONT*: In the battle of Berlin, the remaining pockets of German resistance in the center of the city are crumbling. General Krebs, head of the OKH after Guderian's dismissal on March 26, begins negotiations with General Chuikov, CO of Eighth Guards Army, about the Soviet terms for a surrender. He is informed that surrender must be unconditional. German-Soviet truce talks are ended when a German sniper injures Russian Major Belovsoff. Soviet forces retaliate with a intense shell barrage. 

*GERMANY*: The Fuhrerbunker, in Berlin, empties as Martin Borman leaves with others. Josef Goebbels and his wife die after killing their six children. First the children had to be poisoned, all six of them: Helga, 12; Hilda, 11; Helmut, nine; Holde, seven; Hedda, five; and Heide, three. Having given them lethal injections. Josef Goebbels and his wife Magda left the bunker and asked an SS orderly to shoot them in the back of the head.

Recovering from his wounds in a bed in a villa on the shores of the Tegernsee, Generalleutnant Adolf Galland typed out a note and sealed in an envelope, handed it to Major Willi Herget, a former nightfighter. Galland instructed Herget to fly - in a Storch Galland had procured - to Schleissheim to offer a special surrender of JV 44 to the Allies. Major Herget, along with Hptm. Kessler, reach the Allies, delivers his message and flies back to Galland with a reply. Although Galland types another note to the Allies, Herget is unable to take-off due to the weather. The special surrender will have to wait until the next day.

Grossadmiral Dönitz, following the death of Hitler, assumes his duties as the new German head of state. He orders utmost resistance on all fronts, especially in the East where tens of thousands of German civilians are still trying to escape from the stampeding Red Army. From the deck of the Aviso (sloop) _'Grille' _Dönitz announces the death of Hitler.

*WESTERN FRONT*: In the north, the British continue their moves toward Lubeck and Hamburg. The US 1st and 9th Armies are firmly established along the line of the Elbe and Mulde rivers. They have been forbidden to advance farther into the zone designated for Soviet occupation. The US 7th Army continues advancing into Austria.

German forces begin abandoning Denmark. Canadian forces capture Delfzijl, Netherlands.

The Portuguese Government orders flags at half-staff and two days of mourning for Adolf Hitler.

Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt is captured by US troops. US 7th Army captures German Field Marshal General Wilhelm Rutter von Leeb and German Field Marshal General Wilhelm List.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 973: 396 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies in the Hague (237) and Rotterdam (155), the Netherlands; a total of 777.1 tons of food are dropped. Mission 974: During the night of 1/2 May, 4 of 5 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 9 A-26s bomb an ammunition plant at Stod, Czechoslovakia. The IX Tactical Air Command escorts the bombers, flies airfield cover, and patrols the Leipzig-Schwarzenberg, Germany area. The XIX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance over E Germany, W Czechoslovakia, and Austria, dive-bombs Berchtesgaden, and operates with the US XII Corps which is advancing SE between the Danube River and the Czech border and N into Czechoslovakia N of Passau, Germany, and with the XX Corps whose advance elements speed toward the Inn River at Wasserburg, Germany; the 353d and 355th Fighter Squadrons, 354th Fighter Group, move from Ober Olm to Ansbach, Germany with P-47s. 

*MEDITTERANEAN*: German General Vietinghoff agrees to the terms signed at Caserta. Partisans under Tito capture Trieste a few hours before Britain's Eighth Army. Possession of this city will become a point of dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia after the war. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Despite bad weather 27 B-17s bomb the main station and marshalling yard at Salzburg, Austria; this is the final Fifteenth AF bombing mission of the war; P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): During the night of 30 Apr/1 May A-20s and A-26s bomb targets of opportunity in N Italy; bad weather during the day cancels medium bomber operations; fighter-bombers destroy numerous motor and horse-drawn vehicles in NE Italy; US Fifth Army forces approach the Brenner Pass on the Austro-Italian border, while British Eighth Army elements make contact with Yugoslav troops of Marshal Tito near Monfalcone; the flight of the 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), operating from Pisa with F-5s returns to base at Peretola Airfield, Florence. 

Greek Commandos with co-operation of British Navy and Air Force make four simultaneous raids on the west coast of Rhodes Island in the Dodecanese Islands in Aegean Sea. German and Italian casualties are estimated at 89, with just three British troops wounded.


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## syscom3 (May 1, 2010)

> *The Portuguese Government orders flags at half-staff and two days of mourning for Adolf Hitler.*



Just out of principle, Truman and Churchill should have ordered the occupation of Portugal for "de-nazification".


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## Njaco (May 1, 2010)

I was waiting for someone to respond to that!


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## pbfoot (May 1, 2010)

Thats a fair trade off for use of the Azores , which was probably the best asset they had


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## Njaco (May 2, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Karl Dönitz appoints Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk as Foreign Minister, replacing Joachim von Ribbentrop.

As Major Herget flies near the outskirts of Munich with Galland's answer to the Allies about the status of JV 44, his Storch is fired upon by Allied ground troops. Herget crash-lands, is burned and ends the war in an Allied medical station.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet forces complete the capture of Berlin, when Soviet units in the north and south of Berlin link up on the Charlottenburg Chaussee. German forces surrender to Marshal Zhukov, who immediately despatches troops to search for the bodies of Hitler and Goebbels. The German surrender is made by General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling, CO of LVI Panzer Korps, and last "Kampf-kommandant" of Berlin. He unconditionally surrenders all German forces in the 'Reichshauptstadt' of Germany to the forces of the Soviet Red Army. With over 130,000 men surrendering in Berlin, General Weidling was taken, together with Mohnke, Gunsche, and other survivors, to the airfield at Strausberg, about 35 km east of the city, where the Russians had established a special holding camp for VIP prisoners. Through O'Donnell's account, Mohnke has told us that the next day (May 4) Weidling and his staff had to leave the camp in the morning, returning that night. He had been taken to the Reichskanzlei where he was filmed coming out of one of the exits to the Voss Strasse from the cellars beneath the ruins of the Reichs Chancellery. Later, the Russians were to use this piece of film as propaganda , saying that it had been taken at Weidling's headquarters (he had actually directed the battle from Army Headquarters in the Bendlerblock) after he had signed the surrender document. Stalin announces the fall of Berlin in his Order of the Day No. 359. 

Breslau learns of the surrender of Berlin, and General Herman Niehoff asks Army Group Center that he be allowed to surrender the city. His request is denied.

North of Berlin, Soviet units have taken Rostock and many other towns. The only large German forces which remain in contact with the Soviet armies are those isolated in Latvia and those in Austria and Czechoslovakia.

In Berlin, a Major Feodor Novikov of the Red Army ordered the vaults of the Reichbank to be opened. Still in the vaults were 90 gold bars worth 1.3 million dollars and gold coins worth 2.1 million dollars. Also 400 million dollars worth of negotiable bonds. Major Novikov ordered the vaults locked and demanded the keys. Shortly afterwards the entire contents of the vault disappeared. The gold was never seen again, but the bonds keep turning up even today all over the world!. Another six and a half tons of gold, recovered from Ribbentrop's castle 'Schloss Fuschl' near Salzburg and turned over to the US Army on June 15, 1945, also disappeared and no records of it being received at the Frankfurt US Foreign Exchange Depository can be found. In 1945 it was worth over seven million dollars. Much of the gold recovered by the Americans was re-smelted and in the process all hallmarks, Nazi symbols and identification numbers, were erased.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The British 2nd Army captures Lübeck and Wismar. US and Soviet troops meet near Barow and Abbendorf. Units Canadian 1st Army capture Oldenburg. American units continue their advances in Austria and Bavaria. The defenders of Innsbruck begin to sue for peace. The French I Corps reaches Gotzis and Obersdorf. The final German defenders of the Dutch port of Delfzijl surrender.

A large group of German rocket engineers surrender to American forces.

US 7th Army in Germany captures Field Marshal General Karl von Rundstedt, former commander in the West.

The American 13th Armored Division peacefully enters Braunau, in former Austria, birthplace of Adolf Hitler. 

16 RAF Mosquito Mk XVIs of No. 608 Squadron, No. 8 Group join Halifaxes of No.100 Group (Nos. 177 and 199 Squadrons) to make the last Bomber Command raid of the Second World War, an attack on Kiel. There had been no offensive operations by Bomber Command since 26/27 April and most squadrons thought that their war in Europe was over, but it was feared that the Germans were assembling ships at Kiel to transport troops to Norway in order to carry on the war there. A last raid by No 8 Group Mosquitos was thus organized, with a large supporting effort being provided. 16 Mosquito bombers of No 8 Group and 37 Mosquitos of No 100 Group were first dispatched to attack airfields in the Kiel area. A Mosquito of No 169 Squadron, No 100 Group, was lost while carrying out a low-level napalm attack on Jagel airfield; its crew - Flying Officer R Catterall, DFC, and Flight Sergeant DJ Beadle - were killed. 126 Mosquitos of No 8 Group then attacked Kiel in 2 raids, 1 hour apart. The target area was almost completely cloud-covered but H2S and Oboe were used. Large fires on the ground were seen through the cloud. No Mosquitos were lost on these raids. Towards morning, a large column of military vehicles departed in the direction of Flensburg on the Danish frontier. Meanwhile, there had been a final small tragedy for Bomber Command. 89 RCM aircraft of No 100 Group had been sent to support the Mosquito bomber force and 2 Halifaxes from No 199 Squadron, each with 8 men on board, were lost. The Halifaxes had been part of the Mandrel screen and were also carrying 4,500lb bombs and large quantities of Window. The 2 aircraft crashed at Meimersdorf, just south of Kiel, and it is probable that they collided while on their bomb runs. They were the last Bomber Command aircraft to be lost in the war. There were only 3 survivors. 13 airmen, 12 from the United Kingdom and one from the Irish Republic, mostly second-tour men, died.

RCAF, RAF, and Norwegian 'Mosquito' fighter-bomber a/c from RCAF 404 Sqn, RAF 143, 235, and 248 Sqns and Norwegian 333 (RAF) Sqn, attacked and sank _'U-2359' _in the Kattegat, in position 57.29N, 011.24E. There were no survivors from her crew of 12. 

RAF Mitchell light bombers of 2nd T.A.F. make their last mission of the war when 47 aircraft of Nos. 98, 108, 226, 320 and 342 Squadrons bomb railway marshalling yards at Itzehoe.

Minesweeping trawler HMS _'Ebor Wyke' _was torpedoed and sunk by _'U-979' _off Hrafneyri Light, seven miles north of Skagi, Iceland. The only survivor was Coxswain John Milnes.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 975: 401 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies in the Netherlands at Schipol (250) and Alkmaar (20) Airfields, Vogelenznag (40), Hilversum (20), Utrecht (59) and targets of opportunity (4); 4 B-17s are damaged by 20mm fire which ceases as soon as a green flare is fired; a total of 767.1 tons of food are dropped. Mission 976: 8 B-17s, escorted by 9 P-51s, drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during daylight hours. 

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather cancels 9th Bombardment Division operations. In Germany, fighters fly airfield cover, defensive- freelance patrols, a sweep over the Dessau area, and patrol the Straubing- Ingolstadt area and the US Third Army front in Austria and Czechoslovakia; unit moves: HQ 394th BG (Medium) from Niergnies Airfield, Cambrai, France to Venlo, the Netherlands; 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group) from Erlangen to Regensburg with L-5s; 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), from Gmund to Augsburg; 377th and 378th FS, 362d FG, and 425th Night Fighter Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command, from Frankfurt to Furth with P-47s and P-61s respectively. 

Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera expresses condolences to the German Legation for Adolf Hitler's death. 

French Pierre Laval arrives at Barcelona airport, agreeing to be interned and dealt with by Allied Governments.

*MEDITTERANEAN*: The German surrender is effective at noon. The long, difficult and controversial campaign in Italy is over. Allied forces reach Trieste, Milan and Turin during the course of the day, while others are advancing north toward Brenner Pass where they will link up with US 7th Army forces from the north. 490,000 troops become PoWs. A remarkable story of the dangerous intrigue that led up to the surrender of German forces in Italy began to emerge today. It was an SS man, Karl Wolff, who masterminded negotiations in Switzerland and north Italy with Allen Dulles, the representative of the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which was formed in 1942 to gather intelligence and aid resistance groups. The first peace-feelers were put out in December by two SS men concerned with the possibility that Hitler's threat of a "scorched-earth" policy would destroy much of Italy's culture. Dulles took a cool view of Wolff's involvement, but agreed to talk when two Italian partisans were freed as a gesture of good faith. Negotiations began seriously at Ascona, a resort of Lake Maggiore. Despite Russian objections, two Allied officers, joined Dulles in total secrecy. In grave danger, Wolff was recalled to Berlin but used his charm to escape Hitler's wrath. Even so, he and his co-conspirators faced death until the surrender was signed at Caserta. German command radio calls on remaining troops to surrender.

New Zealand 2nd Division of the British 8th Army accepts the surrender of the German garrison in the port of Trieste, Yugoslavia.

(US Twelfth Air Force): Bad weather continues; medium bombers are grounded while the XXII Tactical Air Command flies an uneventful armed reconnaissance in NE Italy. 

*ENGLAND*: The British Government announces that the air raid warning system has been discontinued. It was heard 1224 times during the war.

*SOUTH AMERICA*: Over two days, residents of Montevideo, Uruguay celebrate the fall of Berlin, Germany. The celebrations turn to rioting and looting; 58 are injured, and thousands of dollars worth of property are damaged.


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## syscom3 (May 2, 2010)

> *Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera expresses condolences to the German Legation for Adolf Hitler's death. *



I will remember that on Saint Patty's day. What a schm**k!


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## Njaco (May 2, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Admiral Dönitz moves his seat of government to Flensburg. Karl Dönitz signs an edict written by Albert Speer, prohibiting the destruction of any facilities.

The Me 163 rocket fighters of JG 1 move from Ludwigslust to Leck.

JV 44, the “Squadron of Experts” ends its wartime mission at Salzburg. At dawn, the pilots gathered for a final briefing where _Geschwaderkommodore _Heinz Bar disperses the ground crews and some pilots. He orders the engine governors of the Me 262s on the field removed. After several hours, American tanks begin to move towards the airfield. Without any word of a surrender or orders, Hptm. Walter Krupinski and a mechanic grab a box of grenades and climb aboard a kettenkrad. Driving down the row of JV 44's Me 262s, Krupinski places grenades within the engine nacells and within a few minutes there was a line of smoking Me 262s laid waste behind them. A while later, American troops entered the field and the senior officers of JV 44 - Bar, Krupinski, Barkhorn, Herget, Hohagen, Schnell and Gutowski - are captured and led away to captivity at Bad Aibling.

In Bavaria, _GeschwaderKommodore _Wolfgang Falck, the originator of the German night fighter force, surrenders to American forces. He still hasn’t found his HQ or staff.

'U-446' scuttled near Kiel, and _'U-3505' _was bombed and sunk.

P-47 unit moves in Germany: 314th, 315th and 316th Fighter Squadrons, 324th Fighter Group, from Luneville, France to Stuttgart; 406th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, from Eschborn Airfield, Frankfurt to Furth.

*WESTERN FRONT*: British Field Marshal Bernhard Montgomery tells German General of the Army, Admiral Hans von Friedeburg and three others to surrender unconditionally all German forces in Holland, Friesen, Frisian Islands, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark, and all other islands. They take the message back to Field Marshal Ernst Busch. Friedeburg informs Montgomery of the German wish to dicuss surrender of all German armed forces. 

In northern Germany, the British 12th Corps (Dempsey) occupies Hamburg, the last significant objective of British offensive operations. The British 6th Airborne and the US 7th Armoured Division captured the north German town of Wismar. The actual capture was carried out by men of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Just outside the town were the Russian front lines from where drunken soldiers, fuelled by a mixture of vodka and rocket fuel, were flocking into town in search of wine, women and song. The main hospital in Wismar was now occupied by the Paras. That night, a group of Russian soldiers approached the main gate of the hospital and demanded that all German nurses be brought out. Told that no women were here they pushed the sentry aside and entered the courtyard. A half dressed Para pocked his head out of a window and shouted 'They are our girls, get lost'. Suddenly a shot rang out followed by the rattle of a British Sten-gun. The drunken Russians scattered as shooting broke out on both sides. It was all over in minutes, the Russians retiring to their own lines. US forces are advancing swiftly on Salzburg and Linz while British troops pursue the Germans up the Kiel Canal.

American, British, and Canadian planes sink or damage over 64 ships off the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein, as thousands of Germans flee toward Denmark and Norway. 

A tragic episode today claimed the lives of 8,000 people who had survived the hell of the concentration-camp system. The victims, mainly Jews, were survivors from Neuengamme, and Stutthof. The commandant, Max Pauly, had loaded them onto the liners, German Hamburg South America Line ship _'Cap Arcona' _(27,600 tons), '_THIELBEK_' and _'Deutschland' _rather than hand them over in their camps to the Red Cross or the Allies. Their hopes ended this afternoon when three RAF Typhoon ground-attack fighters swooped low over Neustadt Bay and sank the ships in a rocket attack. Most drowned immediately. A few managed to jump overboard, only to run the gamut of Nazi machine-gun fire.

_'U-1210' _sunk near Eckernförde, in position 54.28N, 09.54E, by USAAF bombs. 1 dead, unknown number of survivors. 

_'U-2521' _sunk in the Flensburg Fjord, in position 54.49N, 09.50E by rockets from RAF 184 Sqn Typhoons. 44 dead, unknown number of survivors.

_'U-3032' _sunk east of Frederica, in position 54.26,5N, 11.32,2E, by rockets from RAF 184 Sqn Typhoons. 36 dead and 24 survivors.

_'U-2524' _RAF 236 and 254 Sqn Beaufighters attacked the boat killing 1 man and damaging the boat. The boat was scuttled later that day. The LI refused to leave the boat and perished with it.

During an attack from a Beaufighter aircraft on a rocket penetrated into the control room of _'U-2503' _killing the commander and 12 of his men. She was scuttled the next day.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 977: 399 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies in the Netherlands at Schipol (251) and Alkmaar (20) Airfields, Vogelenzang (42), Hilversum (21), Utrecht (58) and a target of opportunity (3) in the Netherlands; a total of 739.1 tons of food are dropped. Mission 978: 14 B-17s, escorted by 43 of 47 P-51s, drop leaflets in Germany during the day. 

(US Ninth Air Force): 132 A-26s (on the final 9th Bombardment Division raid) bomb the Stod, Czechoslovakia ammunition plant. The IX Tactical Air Command escorts the A-26s and C-47s and flies airfield cover; the XIX Tactical Air Command patrols the US Third Army front, flies armed reconnaissance over Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia in the frontline areas and around Kiel and Lubeck, Germany, and escorts the A-26s; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) escorts C-47s, flies sweeps, and hits shipping in the Kiel- Lubeck area. Unit moves: HQ 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) from Havrincourt, France to Venlo, the Netherlands; HQ 362d Fighter Group from Furth to Illesheim, Germany. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army makes contact with American troops on the Elbe, to the west of Berlin, and with British troops to the north. In the city itself it mops up the last pockets of resistance.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: US troops meet US 5th Army from Italy at Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): Bad weather again restricts operations to reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort missions by 20 P-38s and escort of Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) a B-25 leaflet dropping mission in N Italy. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): To assure that the enemy implements the surrender terms in Italy and to observe road activity, fighters fly reconnaissance missions over N Italy and SW Austria; medium bombers drop leaflets in several areas where enemy troops might be unaware of the surrender. The 121st Liaison Squadron, Twelfth AF (attached to Fifth Army), moves from Florence to Verona, Italy with L-4s and L-5s. 

Brazilian War Minister Eurico Dutra announce the Brazilian Expeditionary Force will return home from Italy immediately.


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## Marcel (May 3, 2010)

Hi Njaco, Operation Mannah started on April 29th, is maybe a nice thing to add?


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## Njaco (May 3, 2010)

Marcel, its on there. I did a whole paragraph. Check the date.


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## Njaco (May 4, 2010)

*WESTERN FRONT*: In a tent on the desolate Lüneburg Heath, three generals and two admirals this evening put their signatures to the surrender of all German armed forces in north-west Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. As Montgomery read out the capitulation terms, a nervous German general took out a cigarette; Monty, who disapproves of smoking, gave him a sharp glance and the German hastily put it away. The German team was led by an Admiral, Hans Georg von Friedeburg. The surrender takes effect from 8am tomorrow. More than 500,000 troops are involved; these will join the 500,000 taken prisoner in the past 24 hours. The Germans also agree to the Allied demand that German submarines should be surrendered rather than scuttled -- in the German naval tradition. 

German delegates of the 24th Army request surrender terms of the French.

General Harry Crerar of the Canadian 1st Army orders all planned assaults called off, as a German surrender is considered imminent.

The British Second Army occupies Kiel. Troops of the US First Army prepare to march into Czechoslovakia. Salzburg is taken by US forces, who then move on towards Berchtesgaden. Units of the US 3rd Army complete the crossing of the river Inn, and Innsbruck finally surrenders. 

_'U-2511' _Korvkpt. Adalbert Schnee, the former very successful commander of _'U-201' _and then two years one of closest staff members of Dönitz, received the ceasefire orders. A few hours later _'U-2511' _made a contact with cruiser HMS _'Norfolk' _among some other British warships. The boat approached to within 500 meters of the British warship without any sonar contact from the enemy destroyers. Schnee had here the possibility for an absolute deadly attack against the cruiser, but then he left the scene without attacking and headed back to base. 

_'U-711' _sunk in the Arctic near Harstad, Norway, in position 68.43,717N, 16.34,600E, by depth charges from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft of escort carriers HMS _'Searcher'_, _'Trumpeter' _and _'Queen'_. 40 dead and 12 survivors. 

_'U-2338' _sunk ENE of Frederica, position 55.34N, 09.49E, by RAF 236 and 254 Sqn Beaufighters. 12 dead and 1 survivor. 

_'U-155' _shot down an RAF 126 Sqn Mustang.

British forces land on Jutland, Denmark. Soviet forces begin attacking Danish islands of Moen, Laaland, and Falster. 

Nine ships carrying Germans escaping toward Denmark and Norway are sunk in the Baltic. 100 other ships are damaged.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 978: 1 B-17s and 8 B-24s are dispatched on a leaflet mission during the night of 4/5 May; 7 aircraft drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. 

(US Ninth Air Force): No bomber operations. In Germany, the IX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance, the XIX Tactical Air Command flies patrols and armed reconnaissance and operates in concert with the XII Corps assault on Linz, Austria, and with the XX Corps which crosses the Inn River and pushes E and SE; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) sweeps the Dessau and Wittenberg areas and attacks shipping in the Kiel and Flensburg areas; German forces in the Netherlands, NW Germany and Denmark surrender. Unit moves: 377th, 378th and 379th Fighter Squadrons, 362d Fighter Group, from Furth to Illesheim, Germany with P-47s; 556th, 557th, 558th and 559th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 387th Bombardment Group (Medium), from Clastres, France to Beek, the Netherlands with B-26s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops liberate all of Slovakia. In Breslau, German General Herman Niehoff requests a cease fire with the Russians. General Gluzdovsky accepts.

German forces conduct rearguard actions, in northern Germany, in Czechoslovakia and Austria, as the bulk of the German forces attempt to disengage and reach the Anglo-American lines, rather than be taken by the Russians. In the East, fierce fighting continues in Moravia, the Vistula delta and in Kurland.

German Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, Commanding Army Group South (Russia), is killed in an air-raid. 

The last Me-109G fighters of the Hungarian Air Force under de Heppe, are destroyed by strafing P-51s.

*GERMANY*: The only "kill" attributed to the Volksjaeger FG-1 flying the Heinkel 162 jet is that of I/JG1's Lt.Rudolf Schmitt today for a low-flying RAF Typhoon. This claim has since been attributed to flak.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): No offensive operations; activity is limited to reconnaissance missions (with escort), escort of MATAF leaflet drops in N Italy, and escort of C-47s on supply dropping missions to Yugoslavia. HQ 332d Fighter Group and the 100th and 301st Fighter Squadrons move from Ramitelli Airfield to Cattolica, Italy with P-51s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): The XXII Tactical Air Command continues flying visual reconnaissance during the night and day in N Italy; the US 85th Infantry Division reaches the Austrian border near San Candido and pushes on to the Brenner Pass at Vipiteno without opposition.


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## Marcel (May 4, 2010)

Njaco said:


> Marcel, its on there. I did a whole paragraph. Check the date.



 must have been sleepy last night


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## Njaco (May 5, 2010)

*GERMANY*: All He 162 Volksjager Gruppen are combined to form three Staffel Einsatzgruppe (I./JG 1) with a strength of 50 aircraft.

At the villa on the shores of the Tegernsee, Generalleutnant Adolf Galland surrenders to American forces. Because of his injuries, he is taken by ambulance to Bad Tolz. He asks the Allies to launch a search to find the remains of Gunther Lutzow, but they found nothing.

Grossadmiral Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases: "You have fought like lions!"

The German airline Lufthansa suspends all operations due to the destruction of German airports by Allied aircraft. The last flight is between Oslo, Norway and Flensburg, Germany.

HQ 371st Fighter Group and 404th and 405th Fighter Squadrons move from Eschborn to Furth, Germany with P-47s.

*WESTERN FRONT*: German Army Group G, under General Hausser, surrenders unconditionally to US forces in at Haar in Bavaria. Third US Army's 11th Armored Division liberates Mauthausen concentration camp. On the Baltic coast Swinemunde and Peenemunde, the site of the rocket-weapon research centre that was supposed to win Hitler the war, are captured.

US 11th Armored Division enters Linz, Austria, occupying it within an hour without a fight. 

Starting yesterday and finishing today, the US Army's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, ("Curahee") of the 101st Airborne 'Screaming Eagles' Division, under Col. Robert Sink, capture Hitler's fortified military complex on the Obersalzburg, the 'Berghof'. 

The US 9th Army discovers art treasures in a damp copper mine near the town of Siegen in Westphalia, Germany. Included are paintings by Rembrant, Van Gogh, Rubens; gold sarcophagus of Emperor Charlemagne; original manuscript of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. 

In Stendal area, German 9th and 12th Armies surrender, to take effect at noon May 6.

Copenhagen: British paratroopers land after fighting breaks out between Danish civilians and Germans.

In Wageningen, Netherlands, German General Johannes Blaskowitz surrenders the troops of the 25th German Army in Netherlands to Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, commander of 1st Canadian Corps.

Five German U-boats, including four of the powerful XXI types, were sunk today in an Allied air strike on the Kattegat, just 24 hours after Admiral Dönitz had ordered the U-boats to cease hostilities and return to base. More air raids are planned to ram home the message that the six-year BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC is over; for the second time this century, Germany's attempt to defeat Britain by crippling its merchant fleet had failed. This time the U-boats sank more merchant ships, although their combined tonnage was less. Some 175 Allied warships, mostly British, were also lost; but so were 784 of Germany's 1,162 U-boats.

U-2511 reached Bergen on the 5 May 1945. There the commander a few days later had a talk with officers of the HMS Norfolk and they could not believe the fact, that U-2511 was able to get so close without any sonar contact.

U-579 sunk in the Kattegat east of Aarhus, in approximate position 56.10N, 11.04E, by depth charges from an RAF 547 Sqn Liberator. 

U-733 scuttled Flensburg Fjord, position 54.48N, 09.49E, after being damaged by bombs and gunfire. Broken up 1948. 

U-2367 sank near Schleimünde, in approximate position 55.00N, 11.00E, after a collision with an unidentified German U-boat. Raised in August 1956. Renamed U-Hecht (pike) and served in the German Federal Navy from 1 Oct 1957. Stricken on 30 Sep, 1968 and broken up at Kiel in 1969. 

U-2551 sunk near Flensburg Solitude, in position 54.49N, 09.28E Wreck broken up.

U-534 sunk in the Kattegat NW of Helsingör, in position 56.39N, 11.48E, by 10 depth charges from an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator. 3 dead and 49 survivors. Earlier in the action, U-534 shot down an RAF 547 Sqn Liberator. U-534 raised 1995 and now a museum piece at Birkenhead. 

At 1740, the unescorted _'Black Point' _was struck by a torpedo from U-853 in the stern, while proceeding in fog. The explosion carried away the aftermost forty feet of the ship aft of the #5 hold. The vessel quickly began to sink by the stern about five miles southeast of Point Judith, Rhode Island. The most of the eight officers, 33 crewmen and five armed guards (the ship was armed with one 6pdr and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in two boats and a raft. The _'Black Point' _capsized and all but the bow disappeared beneath the water 25 minutes after the torpedo struck. Eleven crewmen and one armed guard (W.L. Whitson Lloyd USNR) died. 17 men on a raft were picked up by the Yugoslavian steam merchant _'Karmen' _and two men by the Norwegian steam merchant Scandanavia. All were later transferred to a US Coast Guard patrol boat, which brought them to Point Judith. Crash boats from Quonset Point, Rhode Island rescued 15 survivors and landed them at Newport. The _'Black Point' _was the last American-flagged ship sunk by a German U-boat. Immediately after the sinking the US Navy searched for U-853 and sank her in the morning of 6 May. 

The French politicians Paul Reynaud and Edouard Daladier, with the French General Maurice Gamelin, the German pastor Martin Niemoller and the former Austrial Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, all imprisoned by the Nazis, are set free.

The Hopseidet Incident. Two German submarines U 318 and U 992 broke the surface in Hopsfjorden, Norway late the night of the 4th of May 1945. They continued tor travel on the surface toward Hopseidet. 10 km away from the village the submarines put 30 men ashore, and they returned with a prisoner, a fisherman Ivar ÿye, who would be used as a guide further inland. This operation was followed by Norwegians ashore. The local policeman in SjÂnes informed The Military Command about the subs approaching Hopseidet. An observation post was situated in the village, and the soldiers and some volunteer civilians got ready for a fight by taking station in a couple of places with view to the shore.

(US Eighth Air Force):: Mission 980: 403 B-17s are dispatched to drop food at Schipol Airfield (261), Vogelenzang (40), Utrecht (60), N of Hilversum (16), Alkmaar (21) and other targets (4) in the Netherlands; a total of 744.5 tons of food are dropped. 

(US Ninth Air Force): No Ninth AF operations except tactical and photo reconnaissance in forward areas. The 584th and 585th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 394th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Niergniew Airfield, Cambrai, France to Venlo, the Netherlands with B-26s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: Russian forces capture the German naval base of Swinemünde on Usedom Island. German 11th Panzer Division surrenders to US 90th Division in Czechoslovakia.

Beginning of a civilian uprising in Prague which is aided by defecting units of the anti-Bolshevist Vlasov Army. Czech patriots rose against the Germans still occupying Prague today following several spontaneous revolts against the Nazis in other parts of the country. Street fighting is raging in the streets of the Czech capital. The situation tonight is that the patriots hold most of the city, but the Germans remain in control of several strongpoints while tanks and other Wehrmacht units move in from bases outside. General Patton's Third Army is now in Czechoslovakia, and could well make a dash for Prague, but the Russians insist that the Czech capital is their prize. The situation is complicated by the presence in Prague of General Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army (Russkaya Osvoboditel'naya Armiya, the POA). When the Allies make no reply to the Czech's plea they turn to General Bunyachenko of the 1st Division of the POA. German Army Group Centre conducts a fighting withdrawal in Czechoslovakia with bitter fighting near Olmutz. 

Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov informs U.S. Secretary of State Stettinius that the Red Army has arrested 16 Polish peace negotiators who had met with a Soviet army colonel near Warsaw back in March. When British Prime Minister Winston Churchill learns of the Soviet double-cross, he reacts in alarm, stating, "There is no doubt that the publication in detail of this event would produce a primary change in the entire structure of world forces."

*MEDITTERANEAN*: Genoa: US forces seize the poet Ezra Pound, wanted on charges of treason.

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 14 P-51s escort MATAF C-47s on supply-dropping missions over Yugoslavia. The 99th Fighter Squadron, 332d Fighter Group, moves from Ramitelli to Cattolica, Italy with P-51s. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): XXII Tactical Air Command fighters continue reconnaissance flights over N Italy, SW Austria, and as far N as Munich, Germany; fighters destroy numerous aircraft at an airfield SE of Munich. 

*UNITED STATES*: The War Department announces that about 400,000 troops will remain in Germany to form the US occupation force and 2,000,000 men will be discharged from the armed services, leaving 6,000,000 soldiers serving in the war against Japan.


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## Njaco (May 6, 2010)

*GERMANY*: Dönitz sacks Himmler from all offices.

*WESTERN FRONT*: The US 97th Division, part of US 5th Corps of the US 3rd Army, occupies Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. The US 12th Corps advances toward Prague but the army is ordered to halt the advance and allow Soviets to occupy the rest of the country as has been arranged. 

Nazis in Denmark surrender to Canadian Flying Officer Bob MacDougall, a Halifax bomber tail gunner who had been shot down April 26, and held as a prisoner of war.

Dr. Hans Thomsen, German Minister to Sweden, signs capitulation of about 350,000 German troops in Oslo, Norway.

The Hopseidet Incident: On the 6th, between two and three o'clock, the Germans went ashore, and fire was opened from the defenders. After some heavy fire from machineguns the defenders were forced to retire. Only one man stayed behind on the beach; the "Bergen-man" Henry Mohr was hiding behind some big rocks while he was responding the fire with his light arms. When he finally ran out of ammo, he stretched his arms up and surrendered. He was badly mistreated by the Germans, but for some reason not shot. Together with the "guide" Ivar ÿye was taken aboard the sub. The Germans concentrated their energy elsewhere; all livestock they could find was gathered and shot. All the buildings who was in such a state that people could take shelter or live in, were blown up . The Germans were leading six fishermen, who were taken prisoner as they were trying to make it for the mountains, towards the only building left in the village, a warehouse. The fishermen were lined up with their hands above their heads, and three Germans lined themselves up against them with their weapons ready. The victims were screaming. An officer then gave them coup de grace with his bayonet. After this the Germans went back to the beach. The loudspeakers on the subs played march-music, and a voice declared that Hopseidet was taken without German casualties, and that six enemies were fallen. The soldiers embarked the subs, and accompanied by loud music they left and were soon out of sight. At 5 o'clock the following day Norwegian troops arrived at Hopseidet only to find that six innocent civilians lives were lost. Half an hour later the Germans in Norway surrenders, Hopseidet became the last German military action in Norway. Both U-boat captains were tried after the War, but were found not guilty as the crimes committed were not committed by the U-boat crews. 

Destroyer escort USS _'Atherton'_, while en route from New York to Boston, encountered a U-boat. After four depth charge attacks, pieces of broken wood, cork, mattresses, and an oil slick broke the surface. _'Atherton'_, in conjunction with frigate USS _'Moberly'_, was later credited with destroying _'U-853'_. 

_'U-881' _sunk in the North Atlantic SE of Newfoundland, in position 43.18N, 47.44W, by depth charges from destroyer escort USS _'Farquhar'_. 53 dead (all hands lost).

_'U-1008' _sunk in the Kattegat north of Hjelm Island, in position 56.14N, 10.51E, by depth charges from an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator. 44 survivors (No casualties)

_'U-3523' _sunk at 1839hrs in the Skaggerak east of Århus, Denmark, in position 57.52N, 10.49E, by depth charges from an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator. 58 dead (all hands lost).

(US Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 981: 383 B-17s are dispatched to drop food at Schipol (249) and Alkmaar (18 ) Airfields, E of Vogelenzang (37), W of Utrecht (59), and N of Hilversum (18 ), the Netherlands; a total of 693.3 tons of food are dropped. Mission 982: 15 B-17s, escorted by 8 of 26 P-51s, drop leaflets in France and Germany during the day. Mission 983: 10 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Channel Islands during the night of 6/7 May. 

(US Ninth Air Force): No operations by the 9th Bombardment Division and the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands. The XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) flies a demonstration mission in the Klotze, Germany area. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: After an 82-day siege, the remaining defenders of Breslau finally surrender to Soviet forces. Pilsen is liberated by the US 3rd Army, but is ordered to stay there to allow the Russians to occupy the rest of the country. 

The Second White Russian Army capture Rügen Island, the German island seaplane base in the Baltic. 4660 Germans are taken prisoner.

Prague: The 1st Division of the POA join the fight with the Czech patriots against the remaining German SS units. By the evening the city is clear of SS.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: American soldiers of the 85th Infantry Division of the US Ninth Army capture a resort hotel near Dobbiaca, Italy, near the Austrian border. The 150-man German garrison surrenders with little fight. Inside are 133 political hostages, intended to be executed if the hotel was captured. Included are former French Premier Léon Blum, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg, former Hungarian Premier Nicholas von Kallay, former Chief of German General Staff Franz Halder, and Alex von Stauffenberg. Schuschnigg had been held for seven years. 

(US Fifteenth Air Force): 9 P-38s escort RAF Balkan AF supply-dropping missions to Yugoslavia. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): Brigadier General Robert S Israel, Jr takes command of the XXII Tactical Air Command. Fighters fly reconnaissance over the French and Italian Alps.


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## Njaco (May 8, 2010)

*GERMANY*: This day marks the end of hostilities between the Wehrmacht and the Allied armies in Europe. At 2:41 a.m. CET, Generaloberst Jodl signs the instrument of unconditional surrender of all German forces in a schoolroom at Rheims, France, to be effective at noon the following day. Jodl said that the German people and the German armed forces had "achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world. I can only express my hope that the victor will treat them with generosity." The cease-fire covers the Soviet front as well as western Europe and comes into effect at 2301 hours tomorrow. It was witnessed by General Bedell Smith for Eisenhower's Allied Command, General Suslaparov for the USSR and General Sevez for France.

'Kommando Welter', also known as 10./NJG 11, after spending the last few weeks based on the Autobahn outside of Hamburg moves to the airfield at Schleswig-Jagel to await Allied occupation forces. Full staffel strength is four single seat Me 262s and two radar equipped two seaters. As they wait, one pilot, Herbert Altner, deciding to surrender in better conditions, grabs a bicycle and pedals home.

German 7. Jagddivision reports that JV 44 had been taken 'prisoner'. II./JG 7 is reported to be at Gettorf 'minus aircraft'.

Jagdgeschwader 2 'Richthofen' was formally deactivated east of Munich by it's last Geschwaderkommodore Kurt Buhligen.

The US 97th Infantry Division is credited with firing the last official shot in the European Theatre of Operations by US troops tonight when, near Klenovice in the Pilsen area, Private First Class Domenic Mozzetta Company B, 387 Regiment, fires at a German sniper near Klenovice shortly before midnight.

On a dirt road some 12 kilometres into Czechoslovakia, a reconnaissance platoon of the US Army's 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, Company C, is blindsided by a hail of enemy machine gun and small arms fire from concealed positions in the woods. Soldiers from the German 11th Panzer Division fire off four rounds of panzerfausts, which explode around the lead American vehicle, an M-8 armoured car. The American GIs in the second vehicle, an open jeep, get the worst of it: Two take hits to the hands and face: Pfc Charley Havlat is killed. Pfc Charles Havlat, was the last American GI killed in action on the 5th Division front, and is officially the last American KIA in the entire European Theatre. He was 34 years old. The re-con men of the 803rd returned fire until their radio operator received word that, some nine minutes before the ambush, a cease-fire order had gone into effect, and an armistice was in effect. The company got orders to withdraw back into the town of Wallern, now known as Volary. Less than six hours after the attack, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally. Taken captive later, the German officer who led the ambush said he knew nothing of the cessation of hostilities until 30 minutes after their effective time and apologised for the incident. 

*WESTERN FRONT*: Canadian freighter SS _'Avondale Park' _torpedoed and sunk in the Firth of Forth in position 56.10N, 002.32W, by _'U-2336'_, Kptlt Emil Klusmeier, CO. _'Avondale Park' _was Canadian-owned but British-manned merchantman and was the last British ship to be sunk during WW.II. The ship was part of Convoy EN-91 bound for Belfast and was two miles south-east of May Island, in the Firth of Forth, when she was torpedoed at 2240. The ship sank in ten minutes. Two members of her crew of 41 men were lost. The coaster _'Sneland' _was also sunk in this attack.

The 196th and final U-boat sunk by Coastal Command (_U-320_) is destroyed by a Consolidated Catalina of No. 210 Squadron 120 miles north-east of Sullom Voe.

At 2145, KNM NYMS-382 was hit by a Gnat from _'U-1023' _and sank within two minutes off Lyme Bay. The commander and 21 crewmembers were lost. Ten injured survivors were picked up by KNM NYMS-379 and NYMS-381 of the 3rd Minesweeping Unit stationed in Cherbourg, to which the minesweeper also belonged.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 984: 231 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies at Schipol (154) and Alkmaar (10) Airfields, Vogelenzang (25), W of Utrecht (28) and N of Hilversum (12), the Netherlands; a total of 426 tons of food are dropped. Mission 985: 15 B-17s, with 30 of 32 P-51s escorting, drop leaflets in Germany during the day. 

(US Ninth Air Force): The XIX Tactical Air Command flies sweeps over E Germany and W Czechoslovakia and carries out demonstration flights over prisoner of war (POW) camps. The 586th and 587th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 394th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Niergnies Airfield, Cambrai, France to Venlo, the Netherlands with B-26s. 

*ENGLAND*: An order for another 300 de Havilland Vampire jet fighters is placed with English Electric at Preston, Lancashire.

*EASTERN FRONT*: Soviet troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reach the Elbe river north and southeast of Magdeburg. In Czechoslovakia, fighting continues north of Olmutz and in the town itself. On the Frische Nehring, in East Prussia, the remaining German forces continue to hold out near the village of Vogelsang.

General Bunyachenko of the 1st Division POA is informed that Prague is to be occupied by the Soviets. The incoming pro-Soviet government of Eduard Benes demands their surrender or abandonment of Prague.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: (US Fifteenth Air Force): 13 P-51s escort 3 RAF Balkan AF supply dropping missions to Yugoslavia.

(US Twelfth Air Force): P-47s fly reconnaissance over the Austrian Alps. HQ 57th Fighter Group and the 65th Fighter Squadron move from Verona to Grosseto, Italy with P-47s.


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## Njaco (May 8, 2010)

*GERMANY*: VE-DAY (Victory-in-Europe Day), Offensive Operations end at 2301. - In deference to the Soviet victors, the surrender ceremony at Rheims of the previous day is repeated before Marshall Zhukov and other Soviet generals at Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin. The German surrender is ratified. For Germany, Keitel, Freideburg and Stumpf sign, and for the Allies, Spaatz, Tedder, Zhukov and de Lattre. Hostilities officially end at one minute past midnight. Allied troops, fully supported by Bomber Command, had liberated the whole of Western Europe in just eleven months of hard fighting. The British Army lost nearly 40,000 men during this campaign. Bomber Command had lost 2,128 aircraft during the same period, with approximately 10,000 airmen being killed. Many of the bomber squadrons were now earmarked for Tiger Force, to continue the war against Japan, but the dropping of two atom bombs three months later brought the surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War before Tiger Force left England. American and British planes have dropped 2,453,595 tons of explosives on German targets since the start of the war. Losses of aircraft have been 40,822 German, 26,715 American and British.

US troops arrest Göring, who assumes that he will be taken to Eisenhower to negotiate a truce.

Near the the Obersalzburg, Germany, Colonel "Bob" Sink, CO of the US Army's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, ("Curahee") 101st Airborne 'Screaming Eagles' Division, accepts the surrender of the German LXXXII Corps, commanded by Lt General Theodor Tolsdorf. 

U-1109, U-2502, U-2506, U-2513, U-3008 of the 11th Flotilla surrendered at Horten. 

Test pilot Hauptman Heinz Braur flies 70 women, children and wounded troops to Munich-Reim airport . After he lands, Brauer is approached by one of Colonel Harold E. Watson's Whizzers intelligence team who give him the choice of either going to a prison camp or flying with the Whizzers. Braur thinks flying is more preferable. Three Messerschmitt employees also joined the Whizzers: Karl Baur, the Chief Test Pilot of Experimental Aircraft, test pilot Ludwig "Willie" Huffman, and engineering superintendent Gerhard Coulis. Test pilot Herman Kersting joined later. When the Whizzers located nine Me 262 jet aircraft at Lechfeld airfield, these German test pilots had the expertise to fly them.

With only a few flyable aircraft left, the _Gruppenkommandeur _of I./JG 52, Major Erich Hartmann, flies one last mission and scores his last kill of the war bringing his total to 352 aerial victories. On returning to the airfield he finds it under attack by Soviet forces. Gathering all personnel and their families, he orders the entire Gruppe to march toward the American lines. At 1300 hours the Gruppe surrenders to the 90th United States Infantry Division at the town of Pisek in Czechoslovakia. The war is over.

In what is believed to be the last jet sortie of the war, the acting _Gruppenkommanduer _of I./JG 7, Oblt. Fritz Stelle, shot down a Yak-9 over Czechoslovakia whilst flying one of the last airworthy Me 262s of the composite battle command _Gerfechtsverband Hogeback_. Stelle then made his way to Fassberg to surrender.

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 986: 12 B-17s drop leaflets in Germany during the day. 

HQ 324th Fighter Group moves form Luneville, France to Stuttgart, Germany.

(US Ninth Air Force): The IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands patrol the Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Adorf, Germany and Linz, Austria areas, and fly sweeps and demonstration missions. Unit moves in Germany: HQ 405th Fighter Group and 509th Fighter Squadron from Kitzingen to Straubing with P-47s; 455th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 323d Bombardment Group (Medium), from Prouvy Airfield, Leon, France to Gablingen with B-26s. 

*EASTERN FRONT*: The Red Army occupies Dresden. Russian soldiers of the 1st Division POA start to retreat back to the German border.

The units of Army Group Kurland, long cut off in Latvia, surrender to Soviet forces. Most of the German pockets, which have been holding out in eastern Germany, have also given in. 

The last convoys of German refugees from the East arrive in western Baltic ports, ending the largest rescue operation by sea in history. Since January 25, a total of 420,000 civilians and wounded soldiers have been evacuated - besides the U-boat campaign, it is the Kriegsmarine's most memorable feat of WWII. The remnants of AOK Ostpreussen have held their positions in the Vistula delta and the Frische Nehrung to the last. In recognition of their valor, their commander, General der Panzertruppen von Saucken, is awarded the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross by Grossadmiral Dönitz.

In the morning, 35 Ju 52 transport aircraft flew from Norway into the Kurland pocket and landed at Grobin, directly east of Libau. It was the last intact German airfield. In exemplary fashion, they took the wounded and fathers of families on board for transport to the Reich. They were attacked by Russian fighters and ground-attack aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Almost all of them went down, burning and trailing heavy plumes of smoke, in an hour of increasing attack by more than 100 Russian fighters and IL-2 ground-attack aircraft. None of those aircraft could be saved. Only two of the Ju 52s were able to sneak through at extremely low altitude, only about 20 meters above the water. The local fighter unit meant to cover the transports, JG 54 couldn't help as it was already ordered to fly to Kiel in the early morning.

The US announces that the US 7th Army near Strobl, east of Salzburg, has liberated Belgian King Leopold III and family and staff. In Berchtesgaden, Germany, the German 82nd corps of about 3300 troops surrenders to the US 101st Airborne Division.

*ENGLAND*: London: "The German war is at an end. Advance Britannia! Long live the cause of freedom! God save the King!" The great crowds waiting all day in the streets of London fell totally silent to hear those word broadcast by Mr. Churchill from 10 Downing Street at 3pm. The official announcement has been a long time coming, but they knew that the war was over. In this morning's Daily Mirror strip cartoon, the scantily-clad "Jane" has disrobed completely, as she had always promised to do for peace. When at last the end was official, pent-up feelings broke loose. People waved flags, blew whistles, climbed the lampposts, sang and danced in the streets. Above all they massed in front of Buckingham Palace, chanting "We want the King!" He soon appeared bareheaded on the balcony with his wife and daughters, a simple family group waving back to them as they sang "For he's a jolly good fellow and so say all of us". It was the first of eight appearances which the royal family made, up till midnight. Meanwhile, Mr. Churchill had gone to read his statement to the House of Commons: "Finally almost the whole world was combined against the evil-doers who are now prostrate before us ... but let us not forget that Japan, with all her treachery and greed, remains unsubdued and her detestable cruelties call for justice and retribution." Later Mr. Churchill appeared on the Palace balcony with the king and queen and then on a balcony above the sea of faces in Whitehall. He waved his hat and joined in singing "Land of Hope and Glory". "This is your victory," he told them. "In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this." Tonight, floodlights and bonfires light up the capital and searchlight beams dance in the sky to the sound of ships' sirens sounding the V sign.

*UNITED STATES*: Washington: President Truman warns the US that the war is only half won.

*WESTERN FRONT*: VE Day is celebrated in Paris with fireworks and extra rations of wine.

*CANADA*: The Canadian navy ceases fighting German forces. In the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, VE Day celebrations turn into a riot as Canadian sailors loot shops.

*NORWAY*: Eleven Allied officers arrive at Oslo with Norwegian troops and Crown Prince Olav to liberate Norway.

*MEDITERRANEAN*: German forces in the Dodecanese Islands surrender to the British on Symi Island, effective 1300 hours Greenwich time. 

All Fifteenth AF aircraft stand down on V-E Day and offensive operations end. Subsequent operations involve transport, supply, training, and movement flights. 

(US Twelfth Air Force): Transports carry out evacuation and supply missions in S Europe. The 64th and 66th Fighter Squadrons, 57th Fighter Group, move from Villafranca di Verona to Grosseto, Italy with P-47s. 

*THE PACIFIC*: Every shore and ship battery of the US at Okinawa, Japan, fires one shell on a Japanese target, indicating German surrender, that Japan now stands alone.


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## RabidAlien (May 8, 2010)




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## Gnomey (May 8, 2010)

A momentous day. 

Many thanks for keeping this thread going.


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## Njaco (May 9, 2010)

German forces in Kurland, the Greek islands and the still undefeated garrisons of St. Nazaire, La Rochelle, Lorient, La Pallice and the British Channel Islands surrender. The last Wehrmacht soldiers to surrender were a small company on the tiny Channel Island of Minquiers and a group of eleven soldiers on the island of Spitzbergen. A French fishing boat, skippered by Lucian Marie, approached the island of Minquiers and anchored nearby. A fully armed German soldier approached and asked for help saying 'We've been forgotten by the British, perhaps no one on Jersey told them we were here, I want you to take us over to England, we want to surrender'. This was on the 23rd of May, 1945, three weeks after the war ended! Under German occupation since June 30, 1940, the German garrison surrendered the Channel Islands on May 9. This was the only British home territory occupied by the enemy. On a tiny outpost of Hitler's Third Reich, eleven German soldiers and naval marines maintained a top secret weather monitoring station on an isolated part of the east island of Spitzbergen, code name, 'Operation Haudegen'. Although they were told that the war had ended on September 4, 1945, nothing was done to fetch them back. They survived on canned food and by shooting polar bears until their distress calls were picked up by the Norwegians. A seal-hunting ship was sent to their rescue. It arrived on September 4 and its captain accepted their surrender, four months after the war had ended!.

The repatriation of Italian POW's from Russia took place between September 1945 and March 1946. A total of 10,087 were released from the Soviet camps where many had died. Twenty-eight of the prisoners were considered 'Fascist War Criminals' by the Soviets and unjustly accused of the most horrendous crimes. They were detained for a further twelve years and only after the death of Stalin in 1954 were they released. One prisoner, Father Giovanni Brevi, kept a diary in which he listed all the names of prisoners who died in the camp. Alongside each name he added the cause of death; starvation, torture and shooting etc.

From 1941 to 1945, a total of 17,955,000 Americans were medically examined for induction into the armed forces. Some 6,420,000 (35.8 percent) were rejected as unfit because of some physical disability. Altogether, 16,112,566 Americans served their country in World War 11. A total of 38.8 percent (6,332,000) were volunteers. In all, 405,399 American service men and women gave up their lives in a war that cost the US $288 Billion Dollars. 

Just before Christmas, 1946, the ban on fraternization between German Prisoners of War and British civilians was finally lifted. Invitations poured into P.O.W. camps in Britain from British families eager to invite the POWs into their homes for Christmas, the first real Christmas the prisoners had experienced in years. The last of German POWs were repatriated by the end of 1948 but around 24,000 decided to stay in Britain rather than return to their homes now in the communist zone of East Germany. Many of those who stayed behind ended up marrying British girls and raising families.

The Nürnberg International Military Tribunal began on November 20, 1945. It was conducted in four languages, English. French, Russian and German. The trials lasted ten months in which it held a total of 403 sessions. Twenty surviving leaders of the Third Reich were arraigned before the Allied judges as major war criminals. All pleaded 'Not Guilty'. Ten were hanged on 16th October, 1946, seven were given prison sentences and three were acquitted. Two, Herman Göring and Robert Ley committed suicide during the trial. (It is doubtful that Goring would have taken his own life if the Tribunal had granted him his most cherished wish, to die like a soldier in front of a firing squad) Thirty-three witnesses gave oral evidence for the prosecution against the defendants and sixty-one witnesses gave evidence for the defence. Written evidence was given by 143 witnesses for the defence. A total of 1,809 affidavits from other witnesses were also submitted. Everything said at the trial was stenographically and electrically recorded. The United Nations War Crimes Commission was established in London on October 7, 1942, with the support of seventeen other Allied governments. On August 8, 1945, Britain, America, France and Russia signed the London Agreement setting up the N.I.M.T. to bring the top leaders of Hitler's Germany to trial.
The evidence against the defendants were, in most cases, documents of their own making on which their own signatures were proved authentic. Some historians believe that the hanging of General Jodl was a miscarriage of justice but by signing Hitler's order to have fifty prisoners of war shot for escaping from Sagan, sealed his fate

By the end of the war in Europe, British civilian deaths due to enemy action total 60,595. British-American forces lost 18,000 aircraft and 81,000 aircrew dead. The German Luftwaffe lost 62,500-100,000 aircraft and 70,000 aircrew dead or missing. During the war, German submarines sunk 2603 merchant ships and 175 warships, killing 50,000 victims. Germany lost 690 submarines and 32,000 crewmen killed or taken prisoner. Total Canadian soldiers killed in European fighting: 42,042. In 1418 days of military operations, 20-26 million Soviets were killed, with another 40 million wounded, leaving 25 million homeless. On the German-Russian front, 10 million German troops were killed or wounded. Destruction to the Soviet Union: 70,000 villages, 1700 cities and towns, 84,000 schools, 40,000 hospitals, 43,000 libraries, 32,000 factories, 400 museums, 40,000 miles of railway, and 45 million horses, cattle, and pigs.


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## syscom3 (May 9, 2010)

Because this thread has been strictly a chronological account of the war, from when the US entered it; its been discouraged to add pictures.

But I think its only fitting that we can all celebrate the end by posting some pictures taken from around the world on "V-E Day".

Note - I will take up this thread from NJACO to list any important events in Europe as they happen untill V-J day.


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## Bug_racer (May 9, 2010)

syscom3 said:


> Just out of principle, Truman and Churchill should have ordered the occupation of Portugal for "de-nazification".




I really dont understand why . As much as so many people on this forum hate the Nazi and there regime I still dont believe it to be the great evil as so many people from the era make it out to be . My grandfather was a boy growing up in Germany at the time and he remember the fun times he had on camps with other boys of the hitler youth . Learning all about the military hardware and meeting famous soldiers of the reich . When your a teenager growing up all of these things are exciting and will be with you forever . The Nuremburg rallies , the olympics even Albert Speers architecture were a marvel of what Nazism could do . Hilter followed glorification of Germany in the same way as Romans did . I dont remember Rome being called an evil empire , yet what they did was probably just as cruel although not on the same scale as the Germans . If this website truly is non political then there should not be any bias against or towards any of the nations in the war . We all know Germany had done some cruel acts in the war , but no single country is innocent , no single man can say they dont have blood stained hands . I myself will respect all nations and peoples and know that what they did was the best for their country at the time . 

FYI and a bit of irony - My great grandfather was killed by Soviet troops in 1939 when they invaded Poland . He also fought for the Russian in the 1904-05 Russo-Jap war . 

And Im also not a Nazi or Neo-Nazi . I will just speak for the many Wermacht soldiers and soldiers of the Hitler youth who fought and died and never seem to be remembered because the empire they fought for was considered evil !


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## syscom3 (May 9, 2010)

"I still dont believe it to be the great evil as so many people from the era make it out to be"

That speaks volumes about you.


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## Bug_racer (May 9, 2010)

syscom3 said:


> "I still dont believe it to be the great evil as so many people from the era make it out to be"
> 
> That speaks volumes about you.



Every empire has some kind of evil in it . Then again what is really considered evil to you may be different for others . For example , there are certain tribes that use to (dont know if they still do) , eat other humans . This for them is considered normal , for us it is not . We can call them evil for doing so without understanding that its the way of life they have lived for many generations .


Hitlers decisions were based upon what he had seen in his life and what he believed was right and what was wrong . You and me both have the benefit of hindsight and can see all his mistakes . He did not have this luxury , just whatever he could see around him . How do you know in 65 years time people will look back at the US and say they were evil for invading Iraq and Afghanistan ? Or the US was evil for trading with China , a communist country it fought against in Korea 50 odd years ago ? You just dont know , all you know is that people make decision based upon the information they have at the time and do what they believe is right .


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## Marcel (May 10, 2010)

> We all know Germany had done some cruel acts in the war , but no single country is innocent , no single man can say they dont have blood stained hands .


Absolutely true, and fully agreed. All countries did things they rather not remember during the war.



Bug_racer said:


> I really dont understand why . As much as so many people on this forum hate the Nazi and there regime I still dont believe it to be the great evil as so many people from the era make it out to be .


Here I disagree. Maybe it's different when your family was on the recieving end of NAZI policy. The fact that some people had a marvalous time with the Hitler-jugend don't make it a good organisation as many Jews learned. The SA was probably also a nice drinking-club, but here again, most Jews, gypsies, and other Europeans will disagree.

I think you can say without bias that NAZI-rule was evil, just like Stalinism and colonialism was. They had illogical, ideals, based on wrong assumptions, for which millions payed with their lives. The fact that there were others that were as evil doesn't take away the fact that NAZISM was evil.

From my point of view, I cannot believe there are still people claiming that NAZISM was NOT evil, even after learning all the facts.



Bug_racer said:


> Hitlers decisions were based upon what he had seen in his life and what he believed was right and what was wrong . You and me both have the benefit of hindsight and can see all his mistakes . He did not have this luxury , just whatever he could see around him . How do you know in 65 years time people will look back at the US and say they were evil for invading Iraq and Afghanistan ? Or the US was evil for trading with China , a communist country it fought against in Korea 50 odd years ago ? You just dont know , all you know is that people make decision based upon the information they have at the time and do what they believe is right .


Why then were there so many people who did see it totally the other way? It's quite a lame excuse for the killing of 6 million women and children from a special population. You cannot prove me that Hitler would do it any other way if he had the same hindsight as we have today. You'll have to do better than that.


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## Njaco (May 10, 2010)

Bug-Racer, first I want to say that your comments are totally outside the scope and purpose of this thread.

Second, this is a non-political forum in that we do not hold political discussions. But everyone is welcome to an opinion.

Third, we will not allow ANY disparaging of someone's country, any country. Political regimes are different from the people.

Fourth, the world was aware of what Hitler was doing even during the war, they just didn't realize the scope of it.

And last there is no way you can compare or accept the attrocities of the National Socialists under Hitler with any other political regime during that time period. It was an evil regime, plain and simple and I don't see any negative in stating that fact. There is far too much liberal revisionist mindset when it comes to history that distorts the facts and denies the truth.

Other than Syscom posting anything else in HIS thread, I won't allow any more discussion from anyone here about it. This is not the thread for it.


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## Bug_racer (May 10, 2010)

Marcel said:


> Here I disagree. Maybe it's different when your family was on the recieving end of NAZI policy. The fact that some people had a marvalous time with the Hitler-jugend don't make it a good organisation as many Jews learned. The SA was probably also a nice drinking-club, but here again, most Jews, gypsies, and other Europeans will disagree.
> 
> I think you can say without bias that NAZI-rule was evil, just like Stalinism and colonialism was. They had illogical, ideals, based on wrong assumptions, for which millions payed with their lives. The fact that there were others that were as evil doesn't take away the fact that NAZISM was evil.
> 
> ...



Yes , some of the things that were done under Nazi rule were evil , probably the most evil the world has known . But , everything I hear implies that all people in Germany between 1933-1945 were Nazi's and they all had a part in killing the 6 million people . All I am saying is that despite some evil goings on in the regime there was still a lot of mateship / comradary etc that was going on . The Hitler youth brought together a whole generation of kids to be fit and healthy , which is more than what I can say about USA's obesity epidemic . 

Nazism was evil , then again so is communism , fascism , democracy (Im sure a lot of muslims will agree here) , etc etc . Each political group has its own strengths and weaknesses and each will work for a given group of people . 

Hitler had reason to kill , it may be right , it may be wrong , thats a discussion for another day . What Im saying is that thats all most people know the Nazi's for , the killing . Im sure Albert Speer wasnt designing massive concentration camps for the greater Germany . Im sure Werner Von Braun was building rockets to go to the moon . As evil as the empire was , I beleive its goals for humanity exceeded many others , its just they were dwarfed by the level they murdered a lot of innocent people .

And as for hindsight , who knows , if Hitler knew he was going to loose the war he may have started using Gas ? Who knows , maybe he might have stopped the whole concentration camp effort and concentrate on building armaments instead . Im pretty sure running the concentration camps was a wasted resource that could have been used elswhere 




Njaco said:


> Bug-Racer, first I want to say that your comments are totally outside the scope and purpose of this thread.
> 
> Second, this is a non-political forum in that we do not hold political discussions. But everyone is welcome to an opinion.
> 
> ...



Yes they are . Im just jack of people being so critical of the German empire in WW2 . 

I dont intend to bring politics into it . If I was I think you would all think Im mad ! 

Political regimes may be different from people , but its the people who are there at the time who are seen as the political regime whether they like it or not . Seperating a German citizen is the start but there is a lot more to it than just that . 

The world also saw the level of which Germany could rise from its suppression after WW1 . I think it would be easily said Hitler was evil , but how easy would it have been to prove it without actually going into Germany itself ? 

You point the finger and say the whole regime was evil . This is where I will disagree . Im happy to point the finger at the USA and say its current regime is evil too . Maybe not to the same degree as the Nazis but it still has its elements . Have you had a good look at the Soviet and Japanese regimes during the same period ? They dont seem much different to me in their mindset . Or do you look at how evil a regime is with body count ? Liberal revisionist ? Ummm ok , if it was so evil and created so many attrocities why did the Germans fight as hard as what they did throught the war ? You can not tell me that life under Hitler as an ordinary German citizen was that bad . You compare the standard of living in 1930 to 1940 and tell me how much hope it gave the people . 

Happy to start a new thread . I just thought its the end of the war in Europe and it will be a good time to reflect on everything thats happened . The Good , the bad , the evil , the couragous and the memorable .


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## Njaco (May 10, 2010)

I think the point you seem to miss is that Syscom was commenting on Portugal's response to Hitler's demise. Not Germany's.

Lets leave it at that.


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## Bug_racer (May 10, 2010)

Njaco said:


> I think the point you seem to miss is that Syscom was commenting on Portugal's response to Hitler's demise. Not Germany's.
> 
> Lets leave it at that.



Sorry I got carried away


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## syscom3 (May 11, 2010)

May 10th 1945

NORWAY: Quisling and some supporters are arrested by resistance in Norway. They will be held until trial and execution.
Reich Commissar Terboven and the German Chief of Police in Norway commits suicide.


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## syscom3 (May 24, 2010)

Syria: Damascus: Fresh violence in the Middle East seems likely in the wake of decisions today by Syria and Lebanon to break off negotiations with France. Arab nationalists are attempting to assert their claims for independence, but France has so far seemed to determined to maintain its hold on the Levant through indirect rule. In 1941, when the Free French liberated Syria and Lebanon from Vichy, they offered independence. Since then limited self-government, with France controlling defence and external affairs, has been permitted, but attempts to attain full independence have been countered by French imperial troops. 

Germany: Belsen: By order of the British, the last remaining hut of the concentration camp is burnt to the ground. 

Goering is transferred from Augsburg PoW camp to the Palace Hotel at Mondorf, where he joins over senior Nazis awaiting interrogation.

Great Britain: Blackpool: The Labour Party votes to withdraw its support from the coalition government.


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## syscom3 (May 24, 2010)

UNITED KINGDOM: British PM Churchill forms a caretaker government to serve until the elections. This action is due to the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the coalition government.

GERMANY: Heinrich Himmler is captured by the British and commits suicide between being searched and his first questioning.

The German government and High Command, headed by Grossadmiral Karl Doenitz and nominated by Adolf Hitler in his last will, is arrested by the British at Flensburg near the Danish border. The Allies originally
feared that without a German government acting as the central authority the Wehrmacht units would not surrender smoothly. By this day the German surrender is effectively finished, and there's no need for Doenitz's
government.


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## syscom3 (Jun 6, 2010)

June 5th 1945

GERMANY: The Allied Control Commission meets for the first time in Berlin. This group consists of Russian, British, French and US representatives. It assumes the task of governing Germany.


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## syscom3 (Jun 13, 2010)

UNITED KINGDOM: Channel Islands: Captured German howitzers welcomed King George and Queen Elizabeth with a 21-gun salute when they arrived on the liberated island of Guernsey today. Thousands lined the streets and lanes to wave red, white and blue bunting and flowers as the royal couple toured the holiday islands. The king told the States of Jersey (the island's parliament): "After long suffering, I hope the island will regain its former glory."

GERMANY: All German citizens in the zone occupied by the western allies are ordered to watch films of Belsen and Buchenwald.

NORWAY: King Haakon returns aboard HMS Norfolk, to a warm reception. The Norwegian government in exile also returns on RN ships, but are now regarded with disfavour for having spent the war years in relative comfort, away from the inconveniences of the occupation.


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## syscom3 (Jun 13, 2010)

GERMANY: Hamburg: In a message broadcast by Hamburg radio this evening, Field Marshal Montgomery says that the German people must learn their lesson "once and for all", not only that they have been defeated, but that they were guilty of beginning the war, as they had been guilty in 1914. "If that is not made clear to you and your children," he says, "you may again allow yourselves to be deceived by your rulers and led into another war." Montgomery says that parents should read the message to their children and ensure that they understand it.
Frankfurt: Marshal Zhukov confers the Order of Victory - made of platinum encrusted with rubies and diamonds - on Eisenhower and Montgomery.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Prague: The Czechs, so recently freed from Nazi rule, are becoming increasingly restive over what they see as Russian determination to impose "voluntary Sovietization" on them. The Russians have a stranglehold on the Czech economy and are using it to apply political pressure on the new Czech government. This is backed by the presence of three Russian divisions in the outskirts of the capital. "They are treating us", grumbled one Czech "as if we were bad children in need of political education."


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## syscom3 (Jun 13, 2010)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The Soviet authorities start the forcible expulsion of ethnic Germans from the Sudetenland to the west.

U.S.S.R.: Stalin writes to US President Truman "During the war the strategic materials and foodstuffs shipped to the U.S.S.R. under Lend-Lease played an important role and to a significant degree contributed to the successful outcome of the war against the common enemy, Hiterlite Germany"


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## syscom3 (Jun 15, 2010)

GERMANY: Hamburg: British troops capture the former foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop. 

GREAT BRITAIN: London: King George VI officially dissolves a parliament that has lasted for nine and a half years.


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## syscom3 (Jun 21, 2010)

UNITED KINGDOM: William Joyce is put on trial in London. The charge is treason. He will be convicted and executed for broadcasting propaganda from Germany during the war as "Lord Haw Haw". He will be hung in January 1946.

USA: General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower receives a tumultuous welcome in Washington, D.C., where he addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress.


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## syscom3 (Jun 21, 2010)

USA: Millions of people in New York City turn out to cheer General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, who is honored with a parade.


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## syscom3 (Jun 25, 2010)

USSR: Moscow: The Swastika standard of the 1st SS Panzer Adolf Hitler Division - once Hitler's personal bodyguard - was thrown to the ground before Lenin's tomb in Red Square today. The Soviet leaders watched from the top of the tomb as 200 captured flags were carried into the rain-soaked square by soldiers who threw them down to the rumble of hundreds of drums. Marshal Georgi Zhukov led the parade, riding a white horse, the traditional Russian mount for a conquering hero. Speaking later to the huge crowd, Zhukov said that the Red Army was the most powerful in the world, but Russia must not become "conceited or complacent."


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## syscom3 (Jun 25, 2010)

Great Britain: London: William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw"), the Nazi propagandist from Berlin, is to be sent for trial on a charge of high treason.


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## syscom3 (Jun 25, 2010)

USA: The Charter for the UN is signed by representatives of 50 Allied countries.
The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO) was held in San Francisco, California. Officials gathered to draft a UN Charter, and 50 countries signed the Charter on this date at what is now the Herbst Theater. This signifies the birth of the UN.


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## syscom3 (Jun 29, 2010)

June 28th 1945

POLAND: Warsaw: The Government of National Unity is formed; it includes several members of the old London-based Polish government in exile.


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## syscom3 (Jun 29, 2010)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Prague: The government cedes 4,781 square miles of Ruthenia to the USSR.


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## syscom3 (Jul 23, 2010)

FRANCE: French Marshal Henri Petain, who headed the Vichy government during the war, goes on trial, charged with treason. He is condemned to death, but his sentence is commuted.


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## syscom3 (Jul 26, 2010)

UK: The results of the British Election are announced. The Conservative Party of Winston Churchill loses to the Labour Party. Clement Attlee becomes Prime Minister.


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## syscom3 (Jul 31, 2010)

Pierre Laval surrenders to US forces in Austria. The French will try and execute him.
Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of German-occupied Vichy France, surrenders to U.S. forces in Austria; he is then extradited to France to stand trial. Laval had served as minister of state under Henri Petain after the French surrender in June 1940 but was dismissed by Petain in December 1940 for negotiating privately with Germany. By 1942, Laval had won Hitler's confidence and became premier of Vichy France and Petain was relegated to a figurehead. Laval collaborated with Hitler's programs of oppression and genocide and was forced to flee east after the Allied liberation of France. After VE Day, he fled to Spain but was expelled and then went into hiding in Austria. After his extradition, he was tried by the French High Court of Justice, sentenced to death, attempted suicide by poison and then executed on 15 October 1945.


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## syscom3 (Aug 26, 2010)

GERMANY: Hermann Goring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and 22 others former Nazi government officials are indicted as war criminals. Hermann Goring heads the list of 24. Rudolf Hess, formerly deputy to Hitler, who has been a prisoner in Britain since May 1941, is next on the list, followed by Martin Bormann, the secretary of the NSDAP, who disappeared from the Berlin bunker. Others include Konstantin von Neurath, the first foreign minister to Hitler; Gustav Krupp von Bohlen, the industrialist; Franz von Papen, the vice-chancellor in 1933-34; and, Hjalmar Schacht, who served as the minister of finance in the Nazi government until falling out of favor with Hitler.


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## syscom3 (Aug 30, 2010)

ITALY: The USAAF Twelfth Air Force is inactivated.


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## syscom3 (Sep 9, 2010)

NORWAY: Vidkun Quisling is sentenced to death for collaborating with the Germans during the occupation. During a visit to Adolf Hitler in Berlin in the winter of 1939-40, Quisling, the leader of the national socialist Nasjonal Samling Party, points out how valuable it would be for Germany to occupy Norway. Immediately after the invasion, on the morning of 9 April 1940, he proclaims himself the new head of the government and orders the Norwegian armed forces to stop battling the Germans but he is ignored. Realizing that Quisling did not serve their purposes, the Germans chose to base their administration of the country on a certain degree of give-and-take with the existing civilian authorities. Eventually, the Nasjonal Samling Party is declared the only legal party and Quisling is installed as Norwegian Prime Minister in 1942 and throughout the war he collaborates with the Germans. He is executed on 24 October 1945.


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## syscom3 (Sep 15, 2010)

GERMANY: A meeting of 72 Jews takes place at No. 38 Rothenbaumchaussee with the intention of rebuilding the Jewish community in Hamburg by founding the "Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg"


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 15, 2010)

I would love to know exactly what Hess did to get life in prison. Excellent posts as always syscom!


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## syscom3 (Sep 15, 2010)

vikingBerserker said:


> I would love to know exactly what Hess did to get life in prison.



He was a senior member of the nazi party. 

Personally, I think he should have met his fate at the gallows.


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## Rocketeer (Nov 28, 2010)

25 Feb 1944:- U-601' sunk in the Arctic Ocean NW of Narvik, Norway by depth charges from an RAF 210 Sqn Catalina aircraft. 51 dead (all hands lost).

Pilot was my grandfather, Sqn Ldr F J French, a very proud grandson I am.


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## kengarth (Dec 3, 2010)

Njaco said:


> EASTERN FRONT: Soviet General Eremenko's Independent Maritime Army has taken Yalta in the Crimea. This is the last port apart from Sevastopol through which the Germans can escape the Crimea. Sevastopol's airfield at Kacha has also been captured and, as fighting rages across the old battlefields of Balaklava and Inkerman, the position of Germany's 17th Army looks hopeless. A terrible toll is being taken of the Germans as they try to escape. A German correspondent describes how "_bombers, dive-bombers and fighters in endless procession are raining their bombs on our ships and riddling them with cannon fire_." Sevastopol harbour is choked with sunken ships and the bodies of drowned men.
> ....In the Ukraine, Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's troops cross the Dniester at Tiraspol. The 3rd Ukrainian Front establishes several bridgeheads over the Dniester River. German forces launch immediate counterattacks that fail to dislodge the Soviet troops.
> ....432 US Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s hit targets in Romania and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb the industrial area at Belgrade, Yugoslavia and an aircraft plant at Brasov, Romania; B-24s hit marshalling yards at Brasov and Turnu Severin, Romania; 90+ fighters fly escort while 50+ others, failing to rendezvous with the bombers, strafe trains on the Craiova line east of Turnu Severin. The Belgrade Zemun airdrome was bombed by Allied forces for the 3rd day in a row. The bombing was carried out by the 414th Bomb Squadron stationed at Amendola, Italy.
> 
> ...



La Malouine was commissioned into the RN in 1940, and _never_ had a French sailor on board.


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## uhhuh35 (Dec 20, 2010)

On this day in WWII, my grandfather, Lt. Donald L. Bone and his crew went down during a mission over Pilzn Skoda Works, Czechoslovakia. Amazingly, a picture exists of him and his crew in front of the actual B-24 he piloted on that mission. He is in the center of the back row and is positively identified by two of his daughters, my mother Merle Ann and my aunt Mary. 







Here is the MACR for that day. His co-pilot, Lt. Rollin Batham was taken prisoner and spent the rest of the war in a Nazi POW camp. The rest of the crew made it back to their base in Italy 8 days later.






My Grandfather was assigned to the 15th AF, 455th Bomb Group, 741st Squadron based at San Giovanni Italy. My avatar is the 741st squadron logo, "The Vulgar Vultures". I researched the 455th BG's history at the National Archives in College Park Maryland and as far as I can tell he flew 39 missions with various crew and aircraft. On one mission over Germany his co-pilot was George McGovern! On a few missions his aircraft was tasked with being the photo ship so I have reproductions of the actual "bombs away" pics from from his bomber. Also the various Fighter squadrons that escorted him on missions included the 332nd FG "Tuskeegee Airmen".

Here is the B-24 he trained with while stateside. That would be my grandmother Elizabeth on the side. She hated the fact that she was immortalized on the side of a bomber in all her natural glory and stayed angry at my grandfather for many years afterward. We never found out what "Miss-I-Hope" meant though as no one bothered to ask grandpa about it. He never flew that tail number on any recorded mission either. He did say this though:
"We called the B-24 the Flying Prostitute because it had no visible means of support!". 






My Grandmother, in her youth, played piano at silent movie theaters and later was in an episode of the TV show "Queen For A Day". She passed way in 1984.
My Grandfathers real father was killed in WWI and was adopted by another WWI vet who was a Navy Medic and won the Silver Star at the battle of Belleau Wood (But that's another story)
My Grandfather passed away in 1987 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Here is his barely legible grave marker.

"Donald L. Bone. Capt. USAF. 1917-1987".






In 1979 (when I was 15) I went to visit him at his home in Pennsylvania for two weeks and during that time I got to fly in the back seat of a Piper Cherokee while he got his Pilots License renewed. It was windy as hell and I was getting tossed around pretty good but I'll never forget seeing my Grandfather and the Check Pilot in the front seat chatting and just as calm as can be!


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## Linda (Jan 21, 2011)

syscom3 said:


> *
> GERMANY:
> 8th AF: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 650: 1,192 bombers and 678 fighters, in three forces, are dispatched to hit industrial and transportation targets in western Germany using Pathfinder Force (PFF) methods for all targets; 28 bombers and two fighters are lost.
> (3) Two hundred forty eight B-24s attack the Henschel aircraft plant at Kassel; 35 also hit Gottingen; they claim 5-3-0 aircraft; 26 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 207 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 25-0-6
> ...


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## Bertus Kerssies (Jun 21, 2019)

syscom3 said:


> *13 December 1941*
> 
> *EASTERN FRONT:* The Red Army launches a counter-offensive from the Kalinin area toward besieged Leningrad. German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte evacuate Tula.
> 
> ...


Ark Royal was sunk on 13th of november, not 13th of december!


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## fubar57 (Jun 21, 2019)

I have it sunk on November 14th
HMS Ark Royal, British aircraft carrier, WW2


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jun 21, 2019)

I got 14 November as well...


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## Bertus Kerssies (Jun 21, 2019)

fubar57 said:


> I have it sunk on November 14th
> HMS Ark Royal, British aircraft carrier, WW2


You are right! Ark Royal was torpedoed on November 13th and sank on November 14th. But definitely not on December 13th

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


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## Elmas (Sep 15, 2019)

Njaco said:


> omissis
> *MEDITERRANEAN*: American 5th Army's 442nd Infantry Regiment enters Turin, Italy. Allies capture Gargnano, Cittadella, Bassano, Friolo, Treviso, Chioggia, and Alessandria.
> 
> In Milan, Italy, partisans execute former chief of staff for the Italian Army Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, following a quick trial.
> omissis



Maresciallo d'Italia Rodolfo Graziani died 11th January 1955 in his bed.

An interesting 3d this one, even not always accurate.


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