This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[syscom3]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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)

 

[syscom3]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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)

 

[Njaco]

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.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

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)

 

[Hugh Spencer]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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)

 

[Njaco]

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)

 

[Njaco]

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)

 

[Njaco]

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 FRONT: 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.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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)

 

[Njaco]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

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.

 

[Njaco]

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)

 

[Njaco]

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.

 

[Heinz]

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)