This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

22 August 1943

EASTERN FRONT: German forces, threatened with encirclement at Kharkov begin to withdraw from Kharkov. Manstein has persuaded Hitler to relax his "stand firm" policy.

A Ju 88D-1 from 4(F)./122 was damaged in combat and belly landed at Fp.Bagerovo.

GERMANY: 12 Mosquitoes went to the Ruhr and 6 to Hamburg. 47 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel without loss.

Albert Speer reported to Adolf Hitler on the damage to the rocket research facilities at Peenemünde. The extensive damage resulted in Germans moving the rocket testing to Poland, and production to central Germany. Hitler ordered that mass production of rockets be relocated to Blizna near Debice in Poland. The damaged buildings were successfully used as camoflage for continued work. An estimated two months of V-2 rocket output was lost, about 720 rockets, potentially saving 3600 lives.

257 Lancasters, 192 Halifaxes and 13 Mosquitoes attacked Leverkusen. 3 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost. Lancaster DV228 of 61 Sqdn, which had survived the Peenemunde raid, was one of the losses with the crew of P/O J.A. Spencer, Sgt S.J. Banting, Sgt R. Horwood, Sgt E. Johnson, Sgt J. Punter and Sgt T.F. Watkins. The I.G. Farben factory at Leverkusen was chosen as the aiming point for this raid and it was hoped that some of the bombs would hit this important place. But the raid was not successful. There was thick cloud over the target area and there was a partial failure of the Oboe signals. Bombs fell over a wide area. At least 12 other towns in and near the Ruhr recorded bomb damage. Dusseldorf was the hardest hit of these other places. 132 buildings were destroyed and 644 seriously damaged. Solingen reported 40 people killed and 65 injured. Only a few bombs fell in Leverkusen where 4 people were killed. The I.G.Farben factory received only superficial damage in the acid department. 5 Germans were injured in the factory and 1 foreign worker was killed.

MEDITERRANEAN: Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26s, with an escort of Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) A-36 Apaches, bombed the marshalling yard at Salerno, Italy; they claimed 26 enemy fighters destroyed.

The German submarine 'U-458' was sunk southeast of Pantelleria, Italy, by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS 'Easton' and the Greek destroyer HHMS 'Pindos'. 39 of the 47 U-boat crewmen survived.

All fighter and medium bomber groups of the US Ninth Air Force were transferred to the US Twelfth Air Force.

UNITED KINGDOM: In an incident very similar to that of August 12th this year , yet another Hurricane operating from Milfield airfield, in Northumberland, crashed in a field at Kimmerston Farm, near Wooler at 17.00, owing to engine trouble. The aircraft damaged a fence on crashing and in turn suffered damage to its propeller and undercarriage.

Short S.25 Sunderland Mk. III, s/n DD848 assigned to No. 201 Squadron based at Castle Archdale, County Fermanagh, Ireland, crashed on the lower slopes of Mount Brandon on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry at 0530 hours. This aircraft had taken off at 0330 hours in a flight of four Sunderlands to fly ASW patrols in the South Atlantic. The aircraft was flying off course, below the minimum safety altitude and in low clouds when it crashed. Three of the 11 crewmen aboard survived.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command in England flew Missions 30A and 30B against 2 Luftwaffe airfields in France. 35 B-26B Marauders attacked Beaumont-le-Roger Airfield and 36 B-26's were dispatched to Nord Airfield at Poix. They all returned early when they were unable to contact the escort fighters, RAF Spitfires.

A V-1 was fired from a He 111 for testing purpose and landed on the Danish island of Bornholm, northwest of Bodilsker church at 13:05 hours. The yellow painted V-1 touched down in a grass field and bounced across a small road to end up in a turnips field belonging to Klippedam farm. This was reported to the police in Nexø and Constable Johs. Hansen and Explosive expert Lt. Captain Hasager Christiansen prepared to drive to the location. Not until they were ready to go did Hansen inform the Wehrmacht as was his duty. This gave them a 15 minute advantage which was used to take several pictures of the V-1 and to put down a very detailed description in writing. By 15:00 hours the wreck had been removed by the Wehrmacht. This material was soon after sent to London via Sweden.

23 August 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The 40th Escort Group, consisting of sloops HMS 'Landguard', 'Bideford', 'Hastings' and frigates HMS 'Exe', 'Moyola' and 'Waveney' were deployed on a U-boat hunt off Cape Ortegal. Light cruiser HMS 'Bermuda' covered the whole operation. On the 25th, the Canadian 5th Support Group, consisting of frigates HMS 'Nene', 'Tweed' and corvettes HMCS 'Calgary', 'Edmundston' and 'Snowberry' were deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group. While this was in progress the ships were attacked by 14 Dornier Do-217's and 7 Ju-88's with the new German weapon, the Henschel Glider Bombs, (the "Hs293 A-1"). Designed by the German Professor Herbert Wagner. HMS 'Landguard' and 'Bideford' were the first of the Allied and RN ships to be attacked and damaged by them. Several sailors were injured on 'Bideford' and one sailor was killed.

EASTERN FRONT: Red Army forces entered Kharkov, the fourth, and last time the city would change hands in this war. The Germans attempted to launch a spoiling attack, but this was met by the newly reconstituted 5th Guards Tank Army and beaten back. Troops of General Konev's Steppe front took the city after Field Marshal von Manstein pulled his XI Corps out in defiance of Hitler's orders that Kharkov had to be held at all costs. Von Manstein had no alternative. His soldiers were about to be cut off by immensely superior Russian forces sweeping round the city, and he knew that the men of XI Corps were of more value to him than the shattered ruins of Kharkov. In the south, General Tolbhukin had broken the German line at the river Mius and was driving for the Donets bason with the aim of recovering the area's mineral riches and cutting off the German forces still in the Crimea and the Kuban bridgehead. The Germans admitted that a "Soviet spring flood" was pouring through a gap smashed in their lines at Mius. The fall of the city effectively ended the Battle of Kursk. A massive 224-gun salute by the Red Army thundered out in Moscow in celebration of the recapture of the principal city of the Ukraine.

The Soviet motor torpedo boat TK 94 sank the Finnish minelayer 'Riilahti' in the Baltic Sea. 24 men, including commander, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Lt.-Cdr Osmo Kivilinna were lost.

The crews of III./JG 52 moved yet again, leaving Kutanikowo for the airbase at Makejewka.

GERMANY: The Battle of Berlin: RAF bombers once again took to the night skies over Berlin. This was the opening of a new Bomber Command terror campaign which would come to be known as "The Battle of Berlin". 335 Lancasters, 251 Halifaxes, 124 Stirlings and 17 Mosquitoes attacked Berlin, 56 aircraft were lost. The Mosquitoes were used to mark various points on the route to Berlin in order to help keep the Main Force on the correct track. A Master Bomber was used. He was Wing Commander K.H. Burns of RAF No.97 Squadron. Wing Commander Burns was blown out of his Lancaster when it was shot down near Berlin a week later and lost a hand. Bomber Command suffered its greatest loss of aircraft in one night so far in the war. The raid was only partially successful and was badly scattered but still managed to kill over 900 people. The Pathfinders were not able to identify the centre of Berlin by H2S and marked an area in the southern outskirts of the city. The Main Force arrived late and many aircraft cut a corner and approached from the south west instead of using the planned south south east approach. This resulted in more bombs falling in open country than would otherwise have been the case. The German defences, both flak and night fighters were extremely fierce. Much of the attack fell outside Berlin. 25 villages reported bombs with 6 people killed there and in the sparsely populated southern suburbs of the city. Despite this, Berlin reported the most serious raid of the war so far with a wide range of industrial, housing and public properties being hit. 2,611 individual buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. The worst damage was in the residential areas of Lankwitz and Lichterfelde and the worst industrial damage was in Mariendorf and Marienfelde. These districts are all well south of the city centre. More industrial damage was caused in the Tempelhorf area, nearer the centre, and some of those bombs which actually hit the centre of the city fell by chance in the 'government quarter', where the Wilhelmstrasse was recorded as having not a building undamaged. 20 ships on the city's canals were sunk. Casualties in Berlin were heavy considering the relatively inaccurate bombing. 854 people were killed. 684 civilians, 60 service personnel, 6 air raid workers, 102 foreign workers (89 of them women) and 2 prisoners of war. 83 more civilians were classified as missing. The city officials who compiled the reports found out that this high death rate was caused by an unusually high proportion of the dead not having taken shelter, as ordered, in their allocated air raid shelters. With the first of the Berlin raids, the 'Wilde Sau' concept was fully realized. Every available night-fighter including all servicable 'Wilde Sau' fighter became airbourne to intercept the Berlin raiders. On the ground, searchlights brilliantly lit up the sky and gun batteries had been issued incandescent rockets to launch, providing even more illumination. With the raiders illuminated by all this, the night-fighters destroyed 56 of the attacking bombers.

The fate of one Halifax lost on the Berlin Raid: Halifax V DK261 crashed near the island of Mandø on 24/8 1943

MEDITERRANEAN: US Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit a marshalling yard at Bari and Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-26 Marauders bombed the Battipaglia marshalling yard.

NORTH AMERICA: Quebec, Canada: The "Quadrant" conference between Mr. Churchill, President Roosevelt and the Canadian prime minister, Mr. Mackenzie King, and their staffs ended with a decision to press for a "second front" against Germany in France. This invasion, to be codenamed "Overlord", would be the top priority. The communiqué issued today said that "the whole field of world operations" had been surveyed, and the "necessary decisions have been taken to provide for the forward action" of Allied forces. Mr. Churchill had favoured a number of operations, against Norway and in southern Europe by continuing the offensive in Italy; the Americans wanted a frontal assault in France. A study was to be made of a landing in southern France. There were also strategic differences over the conduct of the war in South-east Asia, where the US generals want to invade Burma, while Mr. Churchill wants to attack Sumatra. Again the Americans won the argument, although the new South-east Asia Command (SEAC) to direct operations in Burma would likely be headed by a Briton. Preparations for a new offensive in Burma would now proceed, along with a second campaign behind Japanese lines by Brigadier Wingate's Chindits. Britain also approved US plans for the next stages of the Pacific War.

UNITED KINGDOM: On the slopes above Slieveglass, above Brandon village, Dingle Peninsula, a Short S.25 Sunderland III of RAF No. 201 Sqdn crashed at about 06:00 on a hill side. Several crewmen were killed. The wreckage was completely burned out except for the tail but was abandoned where it was after the recovery of some ordinance.

WESTERN FRONT: 40 Wellingtons went minelaying in the Frisians and off Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.

24 August 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command was redesignated I Bomber Command and reassigned to the First Air Force after the USAAF and US Navy reached an agreement under which the USAAF withdrew from antisubmarine operations.

Two German submarines were sunk. 'U-134' was sunk in the North Atlantic near Vigo, Spain by 6 depth charges from an RAF Wellington Mk XIV of No 179 Squadron based at Gibraltar. All 48 men on the U-boat were lost. 'U-185' was sunk in the mid-Atlantic, by depth charges from 3 USN TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron Thirteen (VC-13) in the escort aircraft carrier USS 'Core' (CV-13). 22 of the 51 crewmen in the U-boat survived.

EASTERN FRONT: On the first mission of the day, Hptm. Erich Rudirffer of II./JG 54 shot down 5 Russian aircraft. On the second mission he downed another 3 Russian aircraft to bring his total for the day to 8 kills. Uffz. Georg Kauper of 10./JG 5 went missing and was presumed killed.

GERMANY: SS Chief Heinrich Himmler was promoted to Reichminister of the Interior by Hitler. Neurath resigned as Protector of Bohemia and Moravia with Frisch as his replacement.

6 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 42 aircraft went minelaying off Brest and the Biscay ports without loss.

MEDITERRANEAN: Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) fighter-bombers hit a railroad tunnel and a cruiser offshore at Sibari, tracks and buildings at Castrovillari, and the town area at Sibari. RAF Desert Air Force airplanes strafed motor transport north of Reggio di Calabria and provided withdrawal cover for the NATAF fighter-bombers.

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command in England flew missions to France. US VIII Air Support Command Missions 33A and 33B: B-26B Marauders flew 2 diversions for the VIII Bomber Command B-17s. An air depot and airfields in France were targeted by the US VIII Bomber Command in Mission 86 Part I. 110 B-17s were dispatched to the Villacoublay Air Depot. 86 hit the target at 1800-1805 hours and claimed 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 42 B-17s were dispatched to the Conches and Evreux/Fauville Airfields and a B-17 was lost.

US VIII Bomber Command Mission 86 Part II had 85 B-17s, which had flown to North Africa after attacking Regensburg, Germany on 17 August, dispatched to the Merignac Airfield at Bordeaux. 58 hit the target at 1157-1200 hours and claimed 3-3-10 Luftwaffe aircraft. 3 B-17s were lost. Nine B-17s returned to North Africa after encountering difficulties.

There were several bomb incidents in Copenhagen, Denmark and strikes in shipyards, courtesy of the Danish resistance.

A Bf 110G-2 of 8./ZG 26 collided with another Bf 110G-2 from 8./ZG 26 north of the Frisian islands and crashed into the North Sea with the loss of both crews.

25 August 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-523' was sunk west of Vigo, by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS 'Wanderer' and the corvette HMS 'Wallflower'. 37 of the 54-man crew of the U-boat survived. 'U-340' rescued 5 Luftwaffe airmen off Spain. Shortly afterwards the boat was attacked by an aircraft and a few men were wounded, the boat being damaged.

German warships attack and sink two Swedish trawlers in Danish waters.

EASTERN FRONT: Red Army forces pursued the retreating Germans occupying Zenkov and Akhtyrka, west and north of Kharkov.

The Soviet 'Shkval' (Senior-Lt V.S. Timofeev) struck two mines laid on 12 August by 'U-625' in the east part of the Yugorskij Shar Strait in the Kara Sea and sank immediately. The ship provided a transfer of river ships from Pechora to Ob´ river.

GERMANY: The Arado 234 V3 jet bomber made its first flight. This aircraft had a pressurized cabin, an ejector seat and RATOG (Rocket Assisted Take-Off Gear).

MEDITERRANEAN: US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Foggia while about 135 Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and 140 P-38 Lightnings attacked satellite airfields at Foggia. The P-38s of the US 1st FG swept in on a low level attack and destroyed 43 Ju 88s, 1 Ju 52 and 1 Bf 109 along with dozens of others damaged for the loss of two Lightnings to flak. Unwilling to expose their aircraft and pilots to the free ranging Lightnings, the Luftwaffe found itself on the ground at Foggia when another 136 B-17s with P-38 escort blasted the complex into ruin. As many as 47 aircraft were destroyed on the ground. Major Johannes Steinhoff of Stab./JG 77, intercepting the Allied force, accounted for 4 P-38s destroyed while 3 B-17s fell to pilots from JG 53 and JG 3.

WESTERN FRONT: The US Eighth Air Force was assigned to the role of bombing important Luftwaffe targets in Operation STARKEY, designed to contain enemy forces in the west to prevent their transfer to the Eastern Front, and to serve as a dress rehearsal in the Pas de Calais, France area for the invasion of western Europe. The Allies hoped to provoke the Luftwaffe into a prolonged air battle.

The US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 34A and 34B against two targets in France. 21 B-26B Marauders bombed the power station at Rouen and 31 B-26s attacked Tricqueville Airfield. They claimed 1-8-5 Luftwaffe aircraft.

In a military first, the Germans test a new guided bomb, the Hs293, in the Bay of Biscay. The Canadian 5th Support Group, consisting of frigates HMS 'Nene', 'Tweed' and corvettes HMCS 'Calgary', 'Edmundston' and 'Snowberry' were deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group. While this was in progress the ships were attacked at 1415 hours by 14 Dornier Do-217s of Hptm. Molinus' II./KG 100 and 7 Ju-88s with the new German weapon, the Henschel Glider Bombs, (the "Hs293 A-1"). Designed by the German Professor Herbert Wagner, the device, launched from a bomber, was guided by radio signal from an airborne observer to the target. HMS 'Landguard' and 'Bideford' were the first of the Allied and RN ships to be attacked and damaged by them. Several sailors were injured on 'Bideford' and one sailor was killed. The initial test failed to hit the ship, but the system did show great promise.

32 aircraft went minelaying off Brest and the Biscay ports without loss.

26 August 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet submarine SC-203 was sunk near Cape Uret in the Baltic Sea by a torpedo from Italian submarine SB.4. All hands were lost.

GERMANY: Stalag 383, Bavaria: Two British prisoners made a daring escape from this camp yesterday by walking out of the gate wearing home-made German uniforms and carrying forged passes. The escapers, Lance-Sergeant Suggit of the 5th (Inniskilling) Dragoon Guards and Sergeant Beeson of the RAOC, had to bring their attempt forward a day because there was so much activity, masterminded by the escape committee, that their original plan would have clashed with an attempt by others to "go over the wire". They made their German uniforms from Australian tunics dyed green with dyes acquired from the camp theatre. Their badges were made of cardboard covered in silver paper, and their medal ribbons cut out of tin coloured with red and black ink. A friendly guard from Alsace lent them his papers so that they could be forged. At dusk tonight, with sandwiches in their fake holsters, they walked nonchalantly out of the gate.

NORTHERN FRONT: JG 5 lost several aircraft during the day. A Bf 109G-2 from II./JG 5 was damaged during taxiing at Petsamo and a Bf 110F-2 from 13.(Z)/JG 5 crashed at Kirkenes with no injuries. A Bf 109G-2 from I./JG 5 crashed and the pilot Obfhr. Benno Schmieder was wounded.

MEDITERRANEAN: The RAF's Desert Air Force (DAF) was assigned to the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF), along with US units of the Ninth Air Force which have been an operational part of DAF and Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force (NATBF).

80+ Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-17s, with P-38 escort, bombed Capua Airfield and 100+ fighter-escorted medium bombers hit Grazzanise Airfield and satellite field.

At 22.16 hours, 'U-410' fired a spread of three torpedoes at the convoy UGS-14 off La Calle, Algeria, heard three hits and reported two ships sunk and another damaged. In fact, the 'John Bell' and 'Richard Henderson' were sunk. The 'John Bell' (Master David Dunlap Higbee) had been in station #52, but changed the to station #32 in the afternoon as the convoy was reformed into four columns to pass through minefields. The ship was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side between the #4 and #5 holds in a compartment with aviation gasoline. The explosion ignited the cargo, the flames rose 25 feet above the holds and spread rapidly aft and slowly forward. The most of the eight officers, 35 crewmen and 29 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship immediately in five of the six lifeboats. But five armed guards on the stern had to jump overboard and swam to the boats. The ship was soon ablaze from stem to stern and burned for nine hours before sinking stern first. The survivors were picked up within 45 minutes by the British minesweeper HMS BYMS-23 and the South African armed whaler HMSAS 'Southern Maid' (T 27) and landed at Bizerte on 27 August. The only casualty was an oiler who had been trapped in the shaft alley. The 'Richard Henderson' (Master Lawrence Joseph Silk) had been in station #43, but changed to station #22 in the afternoon as the convoy was reformed into four columns to pass through minefields. The ship was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side, aft of the #5 hatch. The explosion destroyed the quarters of the gun crew, blew away the rudder and screw and flooded the engine room. As the vessel began to settle slowly by the stern, the engines were secured and the eight officers, 34 crewmen and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in six lifeboats. The ship sank by the stern after five hours. The next morning, three lifeboats made landfall at La Calle, Algeria. The remaining survivors in the other three boats were rescued by escort ships, among them the South African armed trawler HMSAS 'Southern Maid' (T 27) and landed on 27 August at Bizerte, Tunisia.

UNITED KINGDOM: HQ 67th Fighter Wing arrives at Walcot Hall, England from the US. The wing will remain at this station until Oct 45. HQ 20th Fighter Group arrives at Kings Cliffe, England from the US. The group will remain at this station until Oct 45. The 359th and 360th Fighter Squadrons, 356th Fighter Group, arrive at Goxhill, England from the US with P-47's.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command Mission 35: 36 B-26's are dispatched to Caen/Carpiquet Airfield, France; all hit the target at 1846 hours; 1 B-26 is damaged beyond repair when it crashes on landing.

27 August 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: USN Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the escort aircraft carrier USS 'Card' (CVE-11) has a busy day with German submarines. TBF Avengers and F4F Wildcats attacked 'U-508' but the sub escaped. Later, they sank 'U-847' in the Sargasso Sea, by air-launched (Fido) torpedoes. All hands, 62 men, on the U-boat were lost.

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet offensive contiued as the Central Front took Sevsk and Vatutin's forces took Kotleva. Field Marshal von Manstein told Adolf Hitler that his Army Group South can't hold off the Soviet offensives in southern Russia and Ukraine. He urged falling back to the Dnieper, the largest river in the western Soviet Union. Hitler insisted the Donets area must be held.

'U-354' fired a single torpedo at a Soviet convoy consisting of four merchants and two patrol boats and heard a detonation after 1 minute 55 seconds and two further detonations five minutes after firing a spread of three torpedoes at 20.22 hours. The U-boat saw after the attack only two merchants and one escort and claimed the sinking of two ships. In fact, the 'Petrovskij' was only damaged.

GERMANY: 349 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes and 104 Stirlings attacked Nuremberg, 33 aircraft lost. The marking for this raid was based mainly on H2S. 47 of the Pathfinder H2S aircraft were ordered to check their equipment by dropping a 1,000 lb bomb on Heilbronn while flying to Nuremberg. 28 Pathfinder aircraft were able to carry out this order. Heilbronn reported that several bombs did drop in the north of the town soon after midnight. The local officials assumed that the bombs were aimed at the industrial zone. Several bombs did fall around the factory area and other bombs fell further away. No industrial buildings were hit. One house was destroyed but there were no casualties. Nuremberg was found to be free of cloud but it was very dark. The initial Pathfinder markers were accurate but a creepback quickly developed which could not be stopped because so many Pathfinder aircraft had difficulties with their H2S sets. The Master Bomber, whose name is not recorded, could do little to persuade the Main Force to move their bombing forward. Only a quarter of the crews could hear his broadcasts. Bomber Command estimated that most of the bombing fell in open country south-south-west of the city but the local reports said that bombs were scattered across the south-eastern and eastern suburbs. The only location mentioned by name was the Zoo which was hit by several bombs. 65 people were killed.

MEDITERRANEAN: In Italy, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) B-17s bombed the Sulmona marshalling yard, and medium bombers hit the Benevento and Caserta marshalling yards. Nearly 150 P-38s escorted the bombers. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) medium and light bombers, and fighters attacked targets in S Italy, including Cantanzaro rail and road junction, guns near Reggio di Calabria, Sibari rail junctions, Cetraro marshalling yard, barracks at Tarsia, train and repair shops at Paola, and a barge at Diamante.

Fighting broke out between the Germans and elements of the Italian 15th Corps in Ljubljana, Slovenia after the Italians refused to withdraw from the city.

A British reconnaissance group found the toe of the Italian boot had been deserted by German and Italian forces and was open for invasion.

The Badoglio government secretly moved former dictator Benito Mussolini to a mountaintop resort in the Apennine mountains 70 miles (112.7 kilometres) east of Rome. For the past month, Mussolini's guards moved him from place to place to foil German rescue schemes.

NORTHERN FRONT: A Douglas DC 3 belonging to ABA Sweden on a Passenger flight to Bromma Sweden, crashed at Skagerak. Radio contact with the aircraft which was named "Gladan" was lost at approx. 01:30 English time. It was believed that Lt. Karl Rechberger of 12./NJG 3 claimed this aircraft at 23:41 hours Danish time at 5100 metres altitude in Plan Quadrat FT-72 which is located west of Hirtshals. At 00:30 hours the crew of the rescue launch of Hirtshals were alerted and at 01:05 the boat with a German marine onboard left for a search South West of Hirtshals, presumably looking for a German aircraft. At 09:15 the launch returned to Hirtshals without having found anything.

SOUTH AMERICA: A Junkers Ju.52/3m, msn 5459, registered PP-SPD to the Brazilian airline VASP (Viacao Aerea Sao Paulo S.A.), struck a building and crashed at Rio de Janeiro; 3 of the 21 aboard the aircraft survived.

UNITED KINGDOM: An RAF Coastal Command Liberator Mk. V, RAF s/n BZ802, aircraft "V" of No. 86 Squadron based at Aldergrove, County Antrim, Ireland, crashed at Kilmacown, County Cork in poor weather. Seven crewmen were killed.

The last Westland Wallace (K 4344) biplane target-tug was 'struck off charge' by the RAF.

The 77th and 79th Fighter Squadrons, 20th Fighter Group, arrive at Kings Cliffe, England from the US with P-38's. The squadrons will fly their first mission on 28 Dec 43.

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 87: 224 B-17s were dispatched to the German rocket-launching site construction at Watten, France and lost 4 B-17s. The bombers thoroughly destroyed the site. The mission escort consisted of 173 P-47s and they claimed 8-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 P-47 was lost and the pilot was listed as MIA. This was the first of the Eighth Air Force's missions against V-weapon sites (later designated NOBALL targets).

US VIII Air Support Command Missions 36A - 36B: Two missions were scheduled to targets in France. 36 B-26s were dispatched to the Poix Nord Airfield and 21 B-26s were dispatched to the Rouen Power Station but the mission was aborted because of bad weather and extremely heavy enemy fighter opposition.

47 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off La Pallice, Lorient and St Nazaire, 1 aircraft was lost.

Ex French president Lebrun was arrested by the Gestapo. Lebrun deferred to the National Assembly's 10 July 1940 vote approving Marshal Henri Petain as head of state and then he retired to Vizille in the Italian zone of occupation. He was arrested after the Germans moved in and deported to Austria from 1943 to 1945. He survived the war and met with de Gaulle shortly after the war ended to acknowledge the General's leadership.

A second operation using the new Luftwaffe guided missle weapon brought a better result that the first operation on 25 August. Sloop HMS 'Egret', HMCS 'Athabaskan', a Tribal-class destroyer, Capt. G.R. Miles, OBE, RCN, in company with three other British warships, was attacked in the Bay of Biscay by 16 German Dornier Do-217 bombers from II./KG 100, each carrying one HS-293 radio-controlled bomb. HMS 'Egret', the name ship of her class of sloops, was hit. When the smoke of the initial explosion cleared, all that could be seen of 'Egret' was her upside down bow section. 'Egret' was thus the first ship to be sunk by a guided missile. Three missiles were launched at 'Athabaskan'. Two were near misses - one missed astern and the other skimmed over the bridge and landed to starboard. The third hit the port side abaft 'B-turret', flew straight through the wheelhouse and the CPO's Mess, exited the starboard side and exploded after hitting the water. There was extensive damage from the missile, exploding cordite in the gun house, and shrapnel. Amazingly, only four men were killed and another 36 were wounded. 'Athabaskan' was dead in the water for about two hours. She was transferred the survivors from 'Egret' and detached for Plymouth, which she reached under her own power on 30 August after a very difficult voyage. Two German Do-217s were shot down and another was damaged in this engagement. 'Athabaskan' was under repair until 01 Jan 44. HM ships 'Grenville', the flotilla leader for the U-class fleet destroyers, 'Rother' and 'Jed', both River-class frigates, were undamaged in the engagement.

HMCS Athabaskan was not a lucky ship she was sunk by freindly fire from an RN MTB late April 44 while battling a couple of KM Destroyers in the Channel

28 AUGUST 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Red Army forces captured Lyubotin. Taganrog on the Sea of Azov was evacuated by German troops.

'U-18' fired one torpedo at the TSC-11 'Dzhalita', observed a hit under the aft mast after 1 minute 55 seconds and further detonations as the ship sank quickly by the stern about 25 miles northwest of Poti. The survivors were picked up by the Soviet coastal minesweeper SKA-0108.

Flying from his airbase at Makejewka, Hptm. Gunther Rall, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 52 downed his 200th aircraft during his 555th mission, becoming the 3d Luftwaffe pilot to do so. But the Geschwader lost another experte when Lt. Berthold Korts of 8./JG 52 (113 kills) was listed as missing in action and believed killed.

MEDITERRANEAN: Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s hit the Orte marshalling yard, and B-26s bombed Torre Annunziata. Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters escorted the NASAF bombers, hit a rail junction at Bagnara, bridge and town of Angitola, gun positions in the Villa San Giovanni-Reggio di Calabria areas, and a marshalling yard at Lamezia.

III./KG 100 was equipped with 'Fritz X' mounted Do 217K-2s and started operations over the Med.

A Me 410 from 2(F)./122 failed to return from a sortie. Two crew, Ofw. Alexander Kaschub and Uffz. Werner Kirchoff were missing.

NORTH AMERICA: The formation of USN combat units for the employment of assault drone aircraft began within the Training Task Force Command as the first of three Special Task Air Groups was established. The component squadrons, designated VK, began establishing on 23 October.

UNITED KINGDOM: US Eighth Air Force Major General William E Kepner succeeded Major General Frank O Hunter as Commanding General US VIII Fighter Command.

WESTERN FRONT: The Danish government of Prime Minister Erik Scavenius, resigned and the Danish Army was disbanded after the Danes refused to yield to a German demand that saboteurs be executed. General von Hanneken declared marshal law and moved in 50,000 troops as sporadic fighting was reported. Most of the Danish fleet was scuttled, preventing its capture by the Germans. 1 coast defence ship, 9 submarines, a tender, 3 minesweepers and 4 minelayers, were scuttled at Copenhagen and a coast defence ship was scuttled at Isefjord. A patrol boat, 3 motor minesweepers and 9 small auxiliary vessels sortied to Sweden; the German captured 3 minesweepers and 2 patrol boats.

Ofw. Addi Glunz of 4./JG 26 was awarded the Ritterkreuz with 40 victories over western front aircraft.

29 August 1943

GERMANY: 4 Oboe Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 4 to Duisburg, 1 aircraft lost.

30 August 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine 'U-634' was sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, by depth charges from the RN sloop HMS 'Stork' and the corvette HMS 'Stonecrop'. All hands on the U-boat, 47-men, were lost.

EASTERN FRONT: The withdrawal in the south began as Taganrog on the Sea of Azoz was abandoned by the Germans. Further to the north, the Soviets rolled forward in the Smolensk area. The Soviet Army scored two more victories as it took Taganrog and Yelnya, a road center on central Russia's Desna river and moved to cut off the Germans in the Crimea. Since the defeat of German panzer divisions at Kursk, the Heer hasn't been able to halt the Soviet tanks that repeatedly have gouged huge holes in its defenses.

'U-18' attacked the Soviet SKA-0132 with the 20mm AA gun and scored several hits before the U-boat had to break off the attack because a floodlight from the coast dazzled the Germans.

GERMANY: 297 Lancasters, 185 Halifaxes, 107 Stirlings, 57 Wellingtons and 14 Mosquitoes attacked Monchengladbach and Rheydt, 25 aircraft lost. This was a 'double' attack with a 2 minute pause after the first phase while the Pathfinders transferred the marking from Monchengladbach to the neighboring town of Rheydt. It was the first serious attack on both towns. The visibility was good and the Oboe assisted marking of both targets was described in Bomber Command's records as a 'model' of good Pathfinder marking. The bombing was very concentrated with little creepback. Approximately half of the built up area in each town was destroyed. Only short reports were available from Germany. Monchengladbach recorded 1,059 buildings destroyed - 171 industrial, 19 military and 869 domestic with 117 people killed. The town's telegraph office was the only building mentioned by name. The number of buildings destroyed in Rheydt was given as 1,280 with damage to the main railway station and many rail facilities being stressed and with 253 people being killed. A further 2,152 people were injured and 12 were missing but these last figures were combined ones for the two towns.

MEDITERRANEAN: The German General Staff ordered Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's forces to occupy Italy if the Badoglio government surrenders.

B-17s of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force bombed Viterbo Airfield and B-25s hit the Civitavecchia marshalling yard. P-40s strafed a radar station at Pula, Sardinia. Also in Italy, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers attacked marshalling yards at Marina di Cantanzaro and Paola, and gun emplacements and bivouac south of Reggio di Calabria and A-36 Apaches bombed marshalling yards at Sapri and Lamezia.

In a massive air battle over Italy, 44 US P-38 fighters of the 1st FG, escorting B-26 medium bombers of the 319th and 320th BGs ran into 75 Luftwaffe fighters. The two fighter groups fought as the bombers went on to obliterate the marshalling yards at Aversa. The Americans lost 13 fighters to the German 9. This battle featured substantial inflated claims on both sides. Luftwaffe pilots from JG 53, JG 3 and JG 77 claimed to have shot down at least 32 P-38s and 2 Marauders. The 1st FG claimed 8 Bf 109s including one each from JG 77 and JG 53.

The 'Nagwa' was shelled by 'U-596' and sank within three minutes.

UNITED KINGDOM: The 482d Bombardment Group (Pathfinder), a Pathfinder (PFF) group fitted with British Oboe and H2S and US H2X blind-bombing equipment, becomes operational.

WESTERN FRONT: A FW 190A-2 from 11./JG 5 crashed at Sola and the pilot, Uffz. Reinhard Neugebauer, was killed. A Bf 109G-2 from IV./JG 5 also crashed but the pilot survived. A FW 190A-4 from 10./JG 11 was 40% damaged when it overturned during landing at Fliegerplatz Aalborg Ost due to pilot error. The pilot was unharmed.

The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Mission 38: 33 B-26B Marauders bombed an ammunition dump at Foret d'Eperlecques near Saint-Omer, France without loss.

OTU crews made the first of a series of small raids in which they bombed ammunition dumps located in various forests of Northern France. A handful of Pathfinder aircraft marked each target and one of the purposes of the raids was to accustom OTU crews to bombing on to markers before being posted to front line squadrons. This raid was carried out by 33 OTU Wellingtons with the Pathfinders providing 6 Oboe Mosquitoes and 6 Halifaxes. The target was a dump in the Foret d'Eperlecques, just north of St Omer. The bombing was successful and a large explosion was seen. 2 Wellingtons were lost.

12 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 9 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians. 1 Mosquito was lost.

31 August 1943

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army advanced south from Sevsk and captured Glukhov and Rylask.

Soviet submarine "Sch-130" of the Pacific Fleet was lost when it collided with "Shc-128" at America Gulf. (Later raised and went into service.) Soviet motor torpedo boat TK 94 sank the Finnish minelayer 'Riilahti'. 24 men, including the commander, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Lt.-Cdr Osmo Kivilinna were lost.

GERMANY: Battle of Berlin cont.: RAF Bomber Command dispatched 613 aircraft: 331 Lancasters, 176 Halifaxes, 106 Stirlings with nine Oboe Mosquitoes as route markers. 47 aircraft lost, among them was Lancaster JB132 which collided with Lancaster R5698 of 1654 HCU after the raid and crashed at Beasley Moreton, Nottinghamshire. The crew were S/Ldr D.C. Wellburn, F/Lt R.E. Davies, F/O R.L. Clarke, F/O T.F. Joyce, Sgt J. Blackett, Sgt J.R. Forrest, Sgt A. Paterson and Sgt J.K. Watson, from 61 Sqdn. The Stirling casualties were 16%. This raid was not successful. Many of the crews were tired, having had only a few hours sleep since the raid of the previous night. The force was easily tracked on its approach and at least 18 bombers were shot down by fighters. Twenty-two aircraft, mostly Stirlings and Halifaxes were shot down in the target area and during the initial 70 miles of the journey back to England. Approximately two thirds of the bombers lost were shot down by German fighters operating over or near Berlin. The use of 'fighter flares' dropped by German aircraft to 'mark' the bomber routes into and away from the target was noted for the first time in Bomber Command records. There was some cloud in the target area. This, together with difficulties with H2S equipment and probably the ferocity of the German defences, all combined to cause the Pathfinder markers to be dropped well south of the centre of the target area and the Main Force bombing to be even further away.The main bombing area eventually extended 30 miles back along the bombers' approach route. 85 dwelling houses were destroyed in Berlin but the only industrial buildings hit were classed as damaged, 4 severely and 3 lightly. The only important public buildings hit were the headquarters of the Berlin inland canal and harbour system, the state police hospital and some market halls. 66 civilians and 2 soldiers were killed, 109 people were injured nd 2,784 bombed out. After this raid Gauleiter Goebbels ordered the evacuation from Berlin of all children and all adults not engaged in war work to country areas or to towns in Eastern Germany where air raids were not expected. A total of 377 bombing photographs were examined. Only ten of the photos showed aircraft bombing in the center of Berlin. Most bombs fell in a long spread 30 miles south of Berlin, scattered in a wide area of the south. Sixty-eight people were killed in Berlin and 19 in the countryside.

30 Wellingtons with 6 Mosquitoes and 5 Halifaxes of the Pathfinders bombed an ammunition dump in the Foret de Hesdin and 6 Mosquitoes were sent to Brauweiler without loss.

MEDITERRANEAN: Negotiations for Italy's surrender resumed near Syracuse, with General Giuseppe Castellano of the Italian General Staff pleading with the Allies to occupy Rome and protect King Victor Emmanuel and the Badoglio government. U. S. General Walter Bedell Smith insisted on unconditional surrender, with the armistice to be announced as a large Allied army lands in Italy. Smith refused to tell Castellano where the Allies would come ashore or how large the army would be. Disappointed by the unconditional surrender demand and fearful of the large numbers flooding into Italy, Castellano returned to Rome to confer with Italy's new head of state, Marshal Pietro Badoglio.

US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Pescara and claimed 9 enemy fighters destroyed. About 150 Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s blasted the Pisa marshalling yard, doing a large amount of damage. Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers bombed the Cosenza marshalling yard and road-railway junction in Cantanzaro during the morning, and in the afternoon bombed the area around Cosenza when clouds prevented hitting specific targets; and fighter-bombers hit Sapri railroad and seaplane base; and during the night light bombers hit the bivouac areas southeast of Reggio di Calabria.

NORTHERN FRONT: The Luftwaffe suffered the loss of several planes in Norway. A Bf 109G-4 from IV./JG 5 and a Bf 109G-4 from 1.(F)/124 both crashed without injuring the pilots. A Ju 87D-5 from I./StG 5 crashed at Hosio, killing the pilot, Lt. Ernst Scharwat, and injuring Uffz. Rolf Jahn.

UNITED KINGDOM: During this month RAF Bomber Command losses, killed or POW, were 2,030.

WESTERN FRONT: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command both fly missions against targets in France. The US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 41 and 42: 104 B-26B Marauders bombed the Rouen and Mazingarbe power stations, Poix/Nord and Lille/Nord Airfields and the Hesdin fuel dump. 1 B-26 was lost.

The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 88 against two aviation locations. 105 B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked Glisy Airfield at Amiens and claimed 5-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft. 3 B-17s were lost. 149 B-17s were dispatched to the aircraft plant at Meulan. The plant was cloud covered and 1 B-17 hit a railway northeast of Rouen. These missions were escorted by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 2-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 P-47s were lost.

The Japanese submarine I-8 reached Brest from Singapore.

1 SEPTEMBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The USN assumed full responsibility for all airborne antisubmarine operations by US forces in the Atlantic and USAAF units were reassigned. The 5th and 13th Anti-submarine Squadrons (Heavy), 25th Antisubmarine Wing, ceased flying ASW patrols from Westover Field, Massachusetts and Grenier Field, New Hampshire respectively with B-24s. The 5th was redesignated the 827th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 Oct 43 and would arrive in Italy in Apr 44 with B-24s. The 13th was redesignated 863d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) and would arrive in England in Jan 44 with B-17s.

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet troops made good progress around Smolensk and Vyazma capturing Dorogobuzh, east of Smolensk, and south around Taganrog.

On a morning bomber escort mission, Oblt. Walter Nowotny, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54, destroyed 4 attacking Soviet fighters. Quickly noticing another formation of Russian fighters, he attacked and shot down 2 more. As the dogfight carried him 180km over Russian lines, he closed in on a 7th victim, only to have his cannon jam, finishing off the Soviet with his machine guns. He made good his return by flying on the deck, right through flak thrown uo from a large town. Later that afternoon, on another sortie, he added 3 more during an in-and-out duel in the clouds, bringing his total for the day to 10 kills.

A Soviet IL-2s rear gunner shot down and killed Fw. Helmut Kabisch of 2./JG 52 (7 kills).

MEDITERRANEAN: NAAF P-40s bombed a zinc plant at Iglesias and strafed a factory north of Gonnesa while medium and light bombers hit Bova Marina, areas near Salina and Sant' Eufemia d'Aspromonte town area and a bridge at Oliveto.

All Administrative functions of the Army Air Forces elements of the Northwest African Air Force were transferred to the appropriate US Twelfth Air Force organizations. Operational control remained with the Northwest African Air Force. The 506th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), ceased operating from Benina, Libya with B-24s and returned to it's base at Shipdham, England.

II./KG 6 and II./KG 51 were both deployed to Greece and remained there through No. '43. Both were used exclusively in the Aegian and Dodecanese Island areas against British forces and did not take part in anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia.

WESTERN FRONT: 30 RAF OTU Wellingtons with 6 Mosquitos and 5 Lancasters of the Pathfinders successfully bombed an ammunition dump in the Forêt de Mormal, 8 Mosquitos were sent to Cologne and Duisburg, 89 aircraft were minelaying in the Frisians, near Texel and off Brittany and Biscay ports. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.

7 aircraft of RAF No. 305 Sqdrn (Polish) took off for a night attack on enemy rail movements in France Belgium and all aircraft successfully carried out their tasks. RAF No. 317 Sqdrn (Polish) flew to Manston in the morning. Fourteen aircraft took off at 0850 hours led by S/LDR. KORNICKI, F. Several operations seemed probable but none did infact materialize, and the aircraft returned again to Fairlop at about 1600 hours. The weather was apparently too cloudy for bombers to operate. Two aircraft of "A" Flight carried out tests. Six aircraft escorted Mustangs to Bologne.

Geschwaderkommodore Obslt. Walter Oesau introduced a new emblem that was to be used by all JG 1 Gruppen - a red winged '1' in a white diamond, which was enclosed in a black circle. II./JG 1 - like I./JG 1 - quickly adopted this symbol in place of their traditional markings

2 September 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Red army forces liberated Lisichansk and Kommunarsk in the Donets while to the north, Sumy and Glushkovo were recaptured.

Fw. Bernhard Hessel of 2./JG 51 (40 kills) was listed as missing in action.

Lt. Erich Hartmann was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 9./JG 52.

GERMANY: Hitler appointed Albert Speer, the minister of armaments and munitions, to the new post of Reich minister for arms and war production.

MEDITERRANEAN: Almost 200 B-17s and B-25s of the US Twelfth Air Force bombed marshalling yards at Bologna, Trento, Bolzano, and Cancello Arnone; bombers and fighters escorting the B-25s claimed 28 enemy airplanes shot down; and tactical aircraft, including RAF and US Ninth Air Force airplanes, hit gun positions and other targets on the Italian toe, bombed rail communications at Bova Marina, Locri, Marina di Monasterace, Siderno Marina, Lamezia, and Catanzaro, and attacked barges in the Golfo di Sant' Eufemia and an ammunition dump at Saptri. Shortly after noon, fighters from II./JG 53 intercepted the Allied flight of bombers attacking the marshalling yards at Cancello Arnone but were bounced by the escorting flight of P-38s. 10 P-38s were shot down but at a cost. as Oblt. Franz Scheiss (67 kills) was shot down. Other German air units involved were JG 3, JG 53 and JG 77 and claimed at least 18 P-38s destroyed.

The Italian mainland defenses near Reggio were shelled by British battleships HMS 'Valiant' and HMS 'Warspite'.

WESTERN FRONT: The US Eighth Air Force in England dispatched both the VIII Air Support Command and the VIII Bomber Command to attack targets in France. The VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 41 and 42: 216 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 5 targets in France (36 per target). The missions to a power station at Rouen and Poix/Nord and Lille/Nord Airfields were aborted due to weather but 35 B-26s hit a power station at Mazingarbe and 69 hit a fuel dump at Hesden. 1 B-26 was lost.

The VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 89 against airfields in France but because of unfavorable cloud conditions only part of one force was able to attack a target. B-17 Flying Fortresses were dispatched to airfields in northwestern France but the mission was abandoned at the French coast due to heavy clouds. 34 of 86 B-17s dispatched to Mardyck and Denain/Prouvy Airfields hit the target at 1922 and 1905 hours respectively. 182 P-47 Thunderbolts were dispatched to escort the bombers but they carried out fighter sweeps. 3 P-47's were lost.

30 Wellingtons, 6 Mosquitoes and 5 Lancasters successfully bombed an ammunition dump in the Foret de Mormal. 8 Mosquitoes were sent to Cologne and Duisburg. 89 aircraft were minelaying in the Frisian Islands, near Texel and off Brittany and Biscay ports. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.

Obfw. Kurt Welter was transferred from Blindflugschule 10 to 5./JG 301, a 'Wilde Sau' unit. Here he performed missions intercepting Allied bombers in a single-seat fighter at night.

Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix was appointed as Jagdfliegerfuhrer of Jafu 4 in place of Obstlt. Walter Oesau.

The crew of a Ju 88C-6 from Stab IV./NJG 3 were on conversion flight training when the pilot suffered from "Höhenkrankheit" which can best be translated as lack of oxygen and at approximately 18:00 hours belly landed in a turnips field belonging to Tage Sloth of Borre. Engineer Uffz. Hubert Groten was injured during the landing and was taken to Lazarett Viborg for treatment by Luftwaffe personnel arriving from Fliegerhorst Grove. The JU 88 was 25% damaged and was dismantled over the next 4-5 days and taken back to Fliegerhorst Grove.

3 September 1943

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet offensive rolled forward as the Germans abandoned Putivl. Bovask in the Donets Basin was also liberated. The Bryansk/Kiev railway line was cut.

III./JG 5 lost two Bf 109F-4s during the day without the pilots being injured. Lt. Joachim Hamer of 7./JG 51 (35 kills) was listed as missing in action.

An He 111H-16 from 4(F)./122 crashed at Sarabus with 2 killed and 1 injured.

GERMANY: The Battle of Berlin continued. 316 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes attacked Berlin. Because of the high casualty rates among Halifaxes and Stirlings in recent Berlin raids the heavy force was composed only of Lancasters. 22 Lancasters were lost. The Mosquitoes were used to drop 'spoof' flares well away from the bombers' route to attract German night fighters. This raid approached Berlin from the north-east but the marking and bombing were, once again, mostly short of the target. That part of the bombing which did reach Berlin's built up area fell on residential parts of Charlotteburg and Moabit and in the industrial area called Siemensstadt. Several factories were hit and suffered serious loss of production and among 'utilities' put out of action were major water and electricity works and one of Berlin's largest breweries. 422 people were listed as killed - 225 civilians, 24 servicemen, 18 men and 2 women of the air-raid services, 123 foreign workers - 92 women and 31 men. 170 further civilians were 'missing'. The Berlin records also mentioned the deaths of another soldier and 7 'criminal' assistants when the 2 delayed-action bombs on which they were working exploded. These 'criminals' could earn remission of their sentences by volunteering for this work on unexploded and delayed-action bombs. (For a short list and history of some of the RAF planes lost this night - Lancaster III W4988 crashed Larös North West of Helsingborg, Sweden 4/9 1943) One million civilians have been evacuated from Berlin in the last month.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood: Following two days of heavy bombardment by four battleships, British troops of XIII Corps, Eighth Army crossed the Straits of Messina and landed in force on the European mainland north of Reggio di Calabria, on the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war. General Montgomery took no chances. Every available artillery piece as lined up on the Sicilian coast. Monitors, cruisers and destroyers rained shells ranging from six to 15 inches in size on beaches near Reggio di Calabria. Eisenhower had planned this invasion - Operation Baytown - to draw German forces away from Salerno, where large-scale landings were planned. Two Panzer divisions had been in the Reggio area, but the Germans had left by the time that the men of XIII Corps - the British 5th and Canadian 1st Divisions of the British Eighth Army - came ashore. There was little resistance; some Italian soldiers even volunteered to unload the landing craft. The invaders were fanning out quickly into the hilly countryside of Calabria, and the lack of roads, the rough terrain and the effects of German demolition work were causing problems in moving men and armour. Reggio, Catona, San Giovanni, Melito and Bagnara were captured by the end of the day. Meanwhile, convoys were preparing for the second stage of the invasion of Italy. The US Fifth Army, comprising the US VI Corps and the British X Corps, under the command of General Mark Clark, would hit the mainland at Salerno.

Ninth Air Force: B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Sulmona, Italy and claimed 11 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; 6 B-24s were lost. Twelfth Air Force: P-40s on a sweep over Sardinia hit Pula and Capo Carbonara radar installations. In Italy, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, fighters and RAF light bombers hit gun positions throughout the toe of Italy, attacked airfields at Crotone and Camigliatello and hit railway yards at Marina di Catanzaro and Punta di Staletti, troop concentration near Santo Stefano d'Aspromonte and road junctions and bridges at Cosenza.

On the Main Guard Square in Valletta, Malta the remains of a Gloster Sea Gladiator, labelled Faith and serialled N5520, was presented to the people of Malta. During this presentation, the Air Officer Commanding, Sir Keith Park, said,

"the famous fighter........the sole survivor Faith". He then added, "Faith has earned a place of honour in the Armoury'.

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Near Syracuse, Sicily, Italian Guiseppe Castellano signed the capitulation of Italy. General Dwight Eisenhower's chief of staff Walter Bedell Smith signed on behalf of the Allies.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 44 without loss: 36 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 36 were dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and 69 were dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille.

The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort was provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 were lost. 168 B-17s were dispatched to the Romilly sur Seine air depot, 28 hit the secondary target, the airfield at St Andre de L'Eure and 12 hit a target of opportunity, Fauvill Airfield at Evreux. They claimed 11-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s were lost. 65 B-17s were dispatched to Mureaux Airfield while 18 hit a dummy airfield near Dieppe and 65 B-17s were dispatched to an industrial area at Caudron-Renault near Paris. They claimed 15-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s were lost.

32 Wellingtons, 6 Mosquitoes and 6 Halifaxes went to an ammunition dump in the Foret de Raismes near Valenciennes. 44 Stirlings and 12 Halifaxes went minelaying off Denmark, in the Frisians and off the Biscay coast. 4 Mosquitoes went to Dusseldorf. 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington were lost.

After 15 months of training, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ship out by sea to England on the transport ship 'SAMARIA'. This is the group in the TV drama "The Band of Brothers."

Ofw. Kurt Knappe of 10./JG 2 (56 kills) was killed in action.

4 September 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Hitler partially corrected one of his stupidities by ordering the German 17.Armee to abandon Novorossisk and a tiny corner of the Kuban steppe, north of the Caucasus. For seven months more than 250,000 Germans and Romanians were uselessly cooped up in the Kuban because Hitler thought the Heer some day would go on the offensive again and capture the Caucasian oilfields. There was now a good chance the 17.Armee would be trapped and captured by the Soviet Army.

GERMANY: 8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Duisburg. 25 Wellingtons and 13 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians, in the River Gironde and off Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.

Lord Haw-Haw tells Britain that;

"the final blow will be struck by Adolf Hitler."

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MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 2: Allied troops landed between Reggio and Catona.

Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, bad weather prevented XII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses from locating their targets (airfields); P-38s sent to hit landing grounds at Grazzanise also failed to find targets, but attacked targets of opportunity in the general area; US fighter-bombers and RAF light bombers hit motor transport scattered along the Italian toe, and bombed gun positions northeast of Reggio di Calabria and roads and railroad junction in the Cosenza-Catanzaro-Nicastro area and at Colosimi.

The Luftwaffe finally made an appearance over the Allied invasion fleet near Messina and lost Oblt. Martin Laube of 5./JG 53 (10 kills) who was listed as missing in action.

Lieutenant John Bridge (b. 1915), RNVR, was awarded the George Cross for leading the bomb disposal work at Messina with the Royal Navy's Port Clearance Party 1500. P1500 had started work on 25 August, attempting to make the port useable in time for the Allied invasion of mainland Italy. P1500's original officer and four others were killed at the start by booby-trapped depth charges. Under Bridge's leadership, over 250 booby-traps ashore, and forty in the water, were made safe. Bridge himself made 28 dives to disarm two large clusters of depth charges.

NORTHERN FRONT: Uffz. Karl-Ernst Homann of 11./JG 5 was killed when his FW 190A-4 crashed for unknown reasons.

UNITED KINGDOM: At RAF conversion units (a training unit for pilots changing the type of aircraft they fly, usually heavier planes) the accident rate was high. Riccall airfield near Selby, was one such unit and in this month alone ten crashes were recorded. Although some of these took place outside the boundaries, they have, this once, been included as a pointer to the number of casualties caused by occurrences of this nature. The first was at 14.10 hours, caused by a Halifax bomber pilot, on a training flight, who collapsed the undercarriage as he tried to correct a swing on take-off. One of the crew was injured.

A. Plisnier of RAF No. 350 Sqdrn (Belgian) earned a DFC.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 47: 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 4 marshalling yards in France (36 B-26s to each target); 33 hit Courtrai marshalling yard, 33 hit the Deliverance marshalling yard at Lille, 34 hit the Hazebrouck marshalling yard and 23 hit the St Pol marshalling yard.

Lt. Elfried Eichhoff and Wop Gefr. Gerhard Köhler of II./LG 1 took off from Fliegerhorst Aalborg West with a fully loaded DFS 237 glider in tow. The purpose was to tow it to Stavanger in Norway where it would demonstrate a glider assault. The Ju 87 stalled shortly after take off and at 13:10 hours crashed in a field belonging to Farmer Røn of Vadum killing Lt. Eichhoff outright and severely wounding Gefreiter Köhler. Köhler was taken to Luftwaffe Lazarett Aalborg where he died on 6 September. On 13 September 1943 both Eichhoff and Köhler were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery. The pilot of the glider reacted quickly when the JU 87 stalled, and let go of the tow wire and landed safe in a field belonging to Farmer Therp a little southwest of the crash site.

Against the Allies Lt. Kurt Goltzsch of 8./JG 2 was severely wounded while Ofw. Walter Grunlinger of Stab./JG 26 (7 kills) was killed.

Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen was appointed commander of Luftflotte 2, giving up his duties as commander of Luftflotte 4.

5 August 1943

EASTERN FRONT: The sectors of Bryansk and Donets find the Red Army making excellent advances against the defending Germans. Red army forces continued their attacks, liberating Artemovsk, Kuhtov and Mikhailovsky.

Another experte was lost over Russia. Hptm. Heinz Schmidt of 6./JG 52 (173 kills) went missing in action near Marker. There was a belief that he was possibly shot down by mistake by a Hungarian fighter.

GERMANY: 299 Lancasters, 195 Halifaxes and 111 Stirlings raided Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, 34 aircraft lost. The target area for this double attack was clear of cloud and the Pathfinder marking plan worked perfectly. Ground markers were placed on the eastern side of Mannheim so that the bombing of the Main Force, approaching from the west, could move back across Mannheim and then into Ludwigshaven on the western bank of the Rhine. The creepback did not become excessive and severe destruction was caused in both targets. Mannheim's normally detailed air-raid report did not give any specific details of property damage or casualties. It is probable that the raid was so severe that the normal report gathering and recording process broke down. The Mannheim records speak only of 'a catastrophe' and give general comments on the activities of the air-raid services and the behaviour of the population which are both described as 'vorbildlich' (exemplary). More detail was available from Ludwigshaven where the central and southern parts of the town were devastated. The fire department recorded 1,993 separate fires including 3 classed as 'fire areas' and 986 as large fires. 139 of the fires were in industrial areas. 1,080 houses, 6 military and 4 industrial buildings were destroyed and 8 more industrial buildings were seriously damaged including the I.G.Farben works. 127 peope were killed and 568 were injured. 10 of the dead were Flak troops. A further 1,605 people were described as suffering from eye injuries. The relatively small number of deaths may be an indication that many of the German cities were evacuating parts of their population after the recent firestorm disaster at Hamburg and other heavy raids.

4 Mosquitoes went to Dusseldorf. 25 aircraft went minelaying in the German Bight, near Texel and off Brest and Lorient, all without loss.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 3: Montgomery's Eighth Army was taking its time liberating the peninsula's toe. In three days with no opposition, the British have crawled 15 miles (24 kilometres) to Bagnara on Calabria's north coast. The Allies' main Italian invasion force sailed from North African ports and headed for Salerno, 25 miles (40 kilometres) south of Naples. More than 450 ships were carrying 69,000 American and British troops commanded by General Mark Clark, Commanding General U.S. Fifth Army. The Allies would land at Salerno on 9 September, and Clark confidently expected to take Naples five days later.

In the air, 130+ USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the airfield at Viterbo and the town of Civitavecchia; 200+ B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit landing grounds at Grazzanise. Weather hampered operations of the fighters and medium and light bombers of the Twelfth Air Force and RAF, and only a few targets (guns, roads, railroads, and troops) were attacked during missions over the toe of Italy. In Sardinia USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers and fighters hit the Pula radar station and town of Pabillonis.

NORTH AMERICA: The United States 101st Airborne Division troops leave New York by ship for Britain.

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Air Support Command Mission 48: 3 marshalling yards were targeted. 72 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 2 marshalling yards at Ghent, Belgium; 31 bombed one yard and 32 bombed the second yard. The 36 B-26s dispatched to the marshalling yard at Courtrai, France were recalled due to weather.

6 September 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet forces continued their drive through the Donets Basin in the Ukraine capturing the steel centers at Makeyevka and Kromatorsk, and chemical works at Slavyansk. In central Russia, the Soviets took the rail hub at Konotop and pushed toward Kiev and the Dnieper. The capture of these cities resulted in the separation of the German Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) and Heeresgruppe Sud (von Manstein).

GERMANY: US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 91: Aircraft and bearing factories in and around Stuttgart, Germany were targeted but extensive clouds prevented all but a few B-17s from attacking the primary targets; 45 B-17s and a P-47 Thunderbolt were lost. Formations became separated and disorganized and attacked targets of opportunity in a wide area. Fighters from JG 50 shot down 4 B-17s during the raid. Credit for one bomber went to Major Graf and another to Oblt. Grislawski for the loss of 3 of the specially-equipped Bf 109s. One pilot was killed. Major Graf was shot down but survived a crash landing. Oblt. Walther Dahl of III./JG 3 brought down 2 of the bombers to bring his score to 53 kills.

257 Lancasters and 147 Halifaxes attacked Munich, 16 aircraft lost. The Pathfinders found that Munich was mostly covered by cloud and neither their ground-markers nor their sky-markers were very effective. Most of the Main Force crews could do no more than bomb on a timed run from the Ammersee, a lake situated 21 miles south-west of the target. The bombing was mostly scattered over the southern and western parts of the city. No report was available from Munich.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 4: The British 8th Army continued creeping through southern Italy, taking Gioia Tauro on Calabria's northern coast. German demolitions caused more resistance than actual German troops. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, Commander in Chief South, ordered his 16.Panzerdivision to occupy hills surrounding Salerno, the site of the Allies' upcoming invasion.

In the air, the USAAF's Twelfth Air Force dispatches B-17s to hit Capodichino Airfield, Villa Literno marshalling yard, Gaeta harbor, and Minturno railroad facilities; weather prevented a B-17 attack on Pomigliano airfield. B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit Capua airfield and landing grounds at Grazzanise. US and RAF planes operated on a reduced scale, flying patrols and hitting railroads and targets of opportunity on the Italian toe.

HMS 'Puckeridge' was escorting convoy NSM-1 from Gibraltar to Oran and was attacked by 'U-617' with a spread of 4 torpedoes of which 2 hit the ship, causing her to sink about 40 miles east of Gibraltar. 129 men were rescued.

NORTHERN FRONT: Unternehmen Sizilien. 'Scharnhorst' together with the battleship 'Tirpitz', and the destroyers Z-27, Z-29, Z-30, Z-31, Z-33, 'Erich Steinbrinck', 'Karl Galster', 'Hans Lody' and 'Theodor Riedel', left Altenfiord under the command of Admiral Kummetz, to attack the allied installations in the island of Spitzbergen.

A Bf 110G-2 from 13.(Z)/JG 5 collided with a P-39 in combat near Havningsberg. Crewmen Ofw. Hans Kolodziej and Uffz. Willi Schipper were both killed.

UNITED KINGDOM: 10 Me 410s of V./KG 2 along with 12 Fw 190s from other units, including SKG 10, were tasked to attack Cambridge during the night. One of the Fw 190s, flown by Helmut Breier was chased by S/L Howitt of RAF No. 85 Sqdrn and shot down south of Felixstowe. Another Fw 190 was chased by F/L Houghton of RAf No. 85 Sqdrn but was lost due to searchlight interference. However a Fw 190 flown by Hptm. Kurt Geisler of 3./SKG 10 crashed at Filey's Farm at Hawstead near Bury St. Edmunds. Hptm. Geisler was a former transport pilot and holder of the Ritterkreuz before becoming Gruppenkommandeur of 1./SKG 10 in March 1943 and had flown over 300 missions.

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 50 and 51 without loss. 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the marshalling yards at Ghent, Belgium and Rouen, France. The Ghent mission was recalled when bad weather prevented the fighter escort from taking off. 66 B-26s hit Rouen and 126 B-26s bombed the marshalling yards at Amiens and Serqueux, France.

Squadron Leader Johnny Checketts, RAF No. 485(NZ) Sqdn. (Biggin Hill) flying a Spitfire IX, was shot down during a dogfight over France involving some 20 Focke-Wulf 190s. With no ammunition left, Checketts had no chance and his Spitfire was soon belching flames through the cockpit. Badly burned, he parachuted to safety and was looked after and hidden by the French for several weeks until he and 12 other escaping servicemen were crammed into a small fishing boat and smuggled across the channel back to England. He had burns to his face, legs and arms and was wounded in both legs, knees and arms.

During the Ameins raid, twelve aircraft of RAF No. 317 Sqdrn (Polish) led by S/LDR. KORNICKI took to the air to play the part of escort cover to the first "box" of two "boxes" of 36 Marauders in each. It was whilst whirling left that F/O. J. Walawski on the right hand wing, was left behind while weaving. He saw a Spitfire VII go diving past him and also six FW 190s at 8,000 feet above him at 25,000 feet. He dived down and came up again with a diving Bf109 and a pursued Spitfire Vb as he was giving emergency boost. He went in getting the Bf 109 into his sight at 200 yards and let him have it. The enemy aircraft pulled up and F/O. J. Walawski was able to give him another burst, using all his cannon shells and 400 rounds of .303 ammunition. This manoeuvre brought on a stall and spin and when he looked again he saw the Bf 109 crash on the ground and burst into flames. F/O. J. Walawski claimed it as destroyed

Luftwaffenpersonalamt issued an order for Jagdfliegerfuhrer 4 to be renamed Jafu Bretagne and for the creation of a new Jafu 4 and for a Jafu 5, although there was evidence that Jafu 4 may have been using Jafu Bretagne as early as July 1943. The headquarters of Jafu Bretagne was initially located in a monastery in Rennes. Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix gave up his position as Jagdfliegerfuhrer of Jafu 4.

7 SEPTEMBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-596' shelled the 'Hamidieh' in the Atlantic for seven minutes. The sailing vessel caught fire and the stern sank after 20 minutes, but the fore part burned for about eight hours.

'U-402' shot down RAF Wellington aircraft, Squadron 172/D. Another two Wellingtons were also involved in the attack, one of them had to crash land.

'U-669' was sunk in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from a Canadian aircraft (RCAF-Sqn. 407).

EASTERN FRONT: The German 17.Armee began the evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead across the Strait of Kerch to the Crimea. The Soviet Army captured Baturin, east of Konotop, and Zvenkov in the Kharkov sector. The Germans began evacuations at Stalino.

Hitler visited the HQ of Heeresgruppe Sud (von Manstein) were he was briefed on the disasters on that front. That afternoon, he flew back to Germany. It was the last time he would set foot on Soviet territory.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 5: The British 8th Army tried to trap the German rearguard in the toe of the Italian boot. Commandos and infantry landed at Pizzo on Calabria's northern coast, but the Germans sidestepped them. Montgomery's army has advanced only 60 miles (97 kilometres) in five days.

U.S. Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor began a spy mission to see whether a surprise parachute drop by the 82d Airborne Division could capture Rome. Posing as a downed Allied airman, Taylor -- the 82d's artillery commander -- went to Rome and found it crawling with Germans. After meeting with Italian Prime Minister Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Taylor realized the 82d would be cut to pieces. He sent a secret signal to cancel the drop. Taylor then escaped.

In the air, USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed 2 satellite airfields at Foggia while B-25s and B-26s hit road and rail bridges at Saptri and Trebisacce and roads at Lauria. A-20s of the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force supported British landing on 7/8 September near Pizzo in an unsuccessful attempt to cut off enemy retreat up west coast of the Italian toe. Medium and light bombers, in an afternoon raids, bombed Crotone airfield and roadblock and gun batteries north of Catanzaro. USAAF P-40s hit the landing ground at Pabillonis and barges off Portoscuso.

HQ US Army Air Forces decided to transfer Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General Ninth Air Force, and his HQ staff from Africa to the United Kingdom and to reform the Ninth Air Force as a tactical air force in the European Theater of Operations by absorbing the VIII Air Support Command.

UNITED KINGDOM: At 12.00 hours a Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire was on a training flight when it went into a steep bank to starboard with smoke coming from the starboard outer engine, the pilot recovered at 9,000' but the plane then spun-in and exploded two miles S of the airfield. Ten were killed. At 17.05 hours at the same airfield a Halifax bomber had just landed when its undercarriage collapsed. The aircraft was a write off.

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 52: In France, marshalling yards at Lille and St Pol were targeted but confusion at the rendezvous point caused one group and half of another to abort the mission. St Pol was hit by 81 B-26B Marauders.

US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 92 in 3 forces: 105 B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Evere Airfield at Brussels, Belgium, 3 B-24s bombed Alkmaar Airfield at Bergen, the Netherlands and 19 hit a convoy off Texel Island and 147 B-17s were dispatched to attack V-weapon site at Watton, France, but weather was a problem and 3 groups aborted the mission but 58 hit the target. Strikes 1 and 2 were escorted by 178 P-47 Thunderbolt that claimed 3-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-47 was lost. The attacks greatly disrupted the German plan for this new "Blitz" against England.

One Section of Spitfires from RAF No. 306 Sqdrn (Polish) took off from Friston, and sighted a boat with one person in it 10 miles off Fecamp. The position was given and a Walrus arrived on the scene and picked him up. The person turned out to be a German sailor.

8 September 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-760' was sailing on the surface alongside 'U-262' when they were attacked by an RAF Wellington Mk XIV of No. 179 Squadron based at Gibraltar about 150 miles (241 km) out of Cape of Finisterre. The 'U-760' arrived at Vigo harbor and was put under the supervision of the Spanish Navy cruiser 'Navarra'. After 24 hours the boat had not left the harbour (the neutrality laws allowed this time frame for emergency repairs) and it was interned. The boat was taken to El Ferrol where she remained until the end of the war. On July 23, 1945 'U-760' was taken to England for Operation Deadlight.

'U-662' was listed as missing in the Bay of Biscay, cause unknown. All hands, 52-men were lost.

'U-669' (Type VIIC) was listed as missing in the Bay of Biscay with all 52 crew on 8 Sept. There is no explanation for its loss.

EASTERN FRONT: Stalino, the vital industrial centre of the Donets basin, Krasnoarmeisk and Yasinovataya were liberated by the Soviets.

Soviet submarine Shch-203 of the Black Sea Fleet was sunk by mines off Cape Tarkhankutskiy, Sevastopol.

'U-983' was sunk north of Loba, after a collision with 'U-988'. 38 of the 43 crewmen survived.

MEDITERRANEAN: Italian Prime Minister Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio sent a message to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Allied Expeditionary Force Mediterranean, repudiating the surrender terms with the Allies. The Italian government was beginning to feel apprehensive of letting Allies freely into Rome. Italy was still capable of fighting for the Allies. Eisenhower, upset over the lack of progress in the surrender talks, broadcast Italy's surrender over the radio at 1830 hours local. Italy was now placed in a tough situation, to either confirm the surrender, or face warring both the Allies and Germany. At 1945 hours local, Badoglio informed his country of the Italian surrender. Italians cheered and the Germans became infuriated. The main body of the Italian Fleet sailed from La Spezia and Genoa with 3 battleships, 6 cruisers, and 9 destroyers to surrender to the Allies.

The Germans decided to bolster the air units of Luftwaffenkommando Sud-Ost and rushed new units to the area. Units transferring were mainly III. and IV./JG 27 with Bf 109Gs, I. and II./StG 3 with Ju 87Ds, 11./ZG 26 with Ju 88Cs and elements of LG 1 and SAGr 126.

The British 8th Army liberated Locri.

US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the landing ground at Foggia, as convoys approached Salerno to begin the Allied invasion of Italy (Operation AVALANCHE).

In Italy, the US Twelfth Air Force sent about 130 B-17s to bomb Frascati; 160+ medium bombers hit a highway at Lauria and bridges at Trebisacce and Saptri; fighters hit Pabillonis, Sardinia, covered Allied forces near Pizzo, and bombed and strafed roads and vehicles in the Lamezia-Vibo Valentia-Pizzo-Catanzaro areas; and bombers hit roads and junctions in the Naples area during the night.

NORTHERN FRONT: Unternehmen Sizilien: The German battleship 'Tirpitz' plus the 'Scharnhorst' and a destroyer flotilla shelled Barentsburg, Spitsbergen, Norway and then landed troops that destroy facilities at Gronfjord and Advent Bay. All of the German forces then returned to their bases in Norway.

UNITED KINGDOM: The 44th and 93d Bombardment Groups (Heavy) resume operations in the UK after detached service in Africa; the 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy), previously diverted to Africa, becomes operational in the UK.

WESTERN FRONT: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Missions 53 and 54 against targets in France. 68 B-26B bombed Nord Airfield at Lille and 68 B-26s bombed Vendeville Airfield at Lille. 1 B-26 was lost. 68 B-26s attacked Boulogne coastal defenses.

119 Wellingtons, 112 Stirlings, 16 Mosquitoes and 10 Halifaxes attacked Boulogne gun positions. 5 B-17's also flew the first American night bombing sorties of the war with RAF Bomber Command. Nos 4 and 5 Groups did not take part in the raid. There were no losses.
The target was the site of a German long-range gun battery and the marking was mainly provided by Oboe Mosquitoes, some of whom were experimenting with a new technique. But the raid was not successful. The marking and the bombing were not accurate and the battery did not appear to have been damaged.

The fighters of JG 26 lost another pilot when Fw. Edgar Dorre of 9./JG 26 (9 kills) was killed in combat.

9 SEPTEMBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Midget submarine "Welman 10" which was being operated by SOE sank alongside the depot ship HMS 'Forth'. The commander (Lt B Pedersen of the Norwegian Army) made an unaided escape to the surface. There were no casualties.

EASTERN FRONT: The Russians took Bakhmach after an advance west from Konotop. The German 17.Armee began to pull out of its forward position in the Kuban. The Red Army had set out with a powerful thrust towards Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, which the Germans have turned into a major base. This followed the storming of the railway junction at Bakhmach after two days of fighting. Red Star, the army's newspaper, said "we feel the beginning of the end."

Lt. Wilhelm 'Willi' Batz of JG 52 scored his 20th victory while Oblt. Walter Nowotny of JG 54 finally reached the 200 kill mark.

GERMANY: Oberst Dr. Ernst Kupfer, Geschwaderkommodore of StG 2 was appointed the first Waffengeneral der Schlachtflieger with 5 Schlachtgeschwader under his command. They comprised 5 Gruppen equipped with Ju 87s, Hs 129s and Fw 190s. Oblt. Hans-Karl Stepp took his place as Geschwaderkommodore of StG 2.

MEDITERRANEAN: The Italian mainland is invaded in Operations 'Avalanche' and 'Slapstick'. Under protection of the USN's Task Force 80 (Vice Admiral H. Kent Hewitt), the Allied Fifth Army (Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, USA) landed on the assault beaches in the Gulf of Salerno in Operation 'Avalanche' . Salerno had been chosen as the site for the invasion because it was the northern-most point to which the Allies could provide air cover from bases in Sicily. On the left flank, British Commandos and U.S. Rangers landed at Vietri and Maiori respectively with orders to advance northward and capture passes through the hills. The British 46 and 56 Divisions landed south of Salerno meeting strong German resistance but managed to get ashore. The U.S. 36th Infantry Division landed north and south of Paestum and took heavy casualties because of strong German resistance. Once ashore, the Americans met less resistance. On the right flank of the British X Corps the 56th British Infantry Division met no opposition as it disembarked on empty beaches, but has come under fierce counter-attacks from tanks as it advances on Montocorvino airfield. Others from the division reached the village of Battipaglia, but - despite the aid of naval gunfire - could not dislodge the Germans. Troops from the 46th Division were driving northwards along the coast road to Salerno itself. To the south of the Sele river - which divided the two Allied beach-heads - two regiments of the US 36th "Texas" Division were wading ashore when flares lit the entire scene. The Americans - many facing their first battle - came under withering fire from unseen German defenders and threatened to panic. Weeks of careful planning and rehearsal were forgotten as soldiers dived for cover and landing craft turned back towards the transports out at sea. While the Texas Division sorted itself out - making its way eventually to its first objective, one-and-a-half miles inland - three battalions of US Rangers succeeded in taking Chiunzi Mount during the night. By dawn they had taken the twin peaks overlooking the pass and the main highway to Naples.

Meanwhile, the British launched Operation 'Slapstick'. The British 1 Airborne Division made an amphibious landing at Taranto and then captured the airfield at Foggia. In the hastily-improvised Operation 'Slapstick', six British warships entered port to land 3,600 British paratroopers on Italian soil. No Germans were to be seen, and the Italian garrison cheered as the British came ashore. Taranto was beyond the range of air fighter cover from Sicily, but the Allies wanted to secure a port to supply advances up Italy's eastern flank. They also wanted to ensure that Italian warships did not fall into German hands; but the Italian fleet is already under way to surrender at Malta.

German troops tried to occupy Bari harbor. Major General Nicola Bellomo, commander Commander in Chief IX Territorial Defence Command, formed a group of about 100 men and counter-attacked the German position, with himself personally leading the action. After two hours of fighting, the Germans were ousted out of Bari.

The Germans unleashed a new weapon of warfare which claimed as its first victim one of the Italian ships heading to surrender. The battleship 'Roma' was hit by a "glider bomb" in the Gulf of Asinara off Sardinia and blew up soon after firing her first and last shots in battle. The ship was en route to Malta from the Italian naval base at La Spezia. The Germans have two types of glider bomb - the Ruhrstahl SD-1400 and the Henschel HS-293 - which were released from the air to hit targets on the ground. In effect, they were unmanned missiles which could be used against targets on land as well as at sea. Amongst the 1,523 dead on the 'Roma' was Admiral Carlo Bergamini, commander of the Italian combined battle fleet (hence senior naval commander afloat in the Italian forces.)

One of the clauses of the armistice between the Allies and Italy specified that the ships of the Italian Navy, bearing black circular panels in sign of surrender, would sail to Malta to await their final destiny. The Italian ships sailed but did not bear the black circular panels. At 0300 hours local, three battleships, the 'Roma', the 'Vittorio Veneto' and 'Littorio', left La Spezia along with 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers. Instead of sailing for Malta, they headed for the naval port of La Maddelena on Sardinia and were sighted by Allied aircraft at dawn. At 1340 hours, the Italians learned that the port had been occupied by the Germans and they turned south and headed for Malta. German aircraft sighted the fleet and attacked but miss. At the same time, 6 Dornier Do 217K-2s of II/KG 100 took off from Istres, France, armed with Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-1 (Fritz X) remote control bombs with a 320 kilogram warhead. The first attack came while the ships were about 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) southwest of Cape Testa, Sardinia. The first Fritz X was directed toward the 'Littorio' and it fell near the battleship temporarily blocking the rudder; the crew went to auxiliary rudder and continued. At 1545 hours, a Fritz X struck 'Roma' on the starboard side, goes through the hull and explodes in the water reducing the ship's speed to 10 knots. A second Fritz X hit 'Roma' and exploded in the forward superstructure starting a fire. The ship listed to starboard and sank with 88 officers and 1,264 sailors. Other Italian ships lost were the cruiser 'Taranto', destroyers 'Maestrale', 'Corazziere', 'Nicole Zeno' and FR 21 (Former French destroyer Lion) and Torpedo Boats 'Antonio Cascino' and 'Procione', all of which were scuttled in various ports to prevent German capture. The destroyer 'Antonio Da Noli' sank off Corsica after hitting a mine.

In the air, USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s hit the satellite airfield at Foggia in support of British airborne landings. The USAAF Twelfth Air Force sent 100+ B-17s to bomb bridges at Capua and Cancello Arnone, and 240+ B-25s and B-26s to hit railroad-bridges at Potenza and landing ground at Scanzano.

German forces entered Rome, brushing aside the Italian garrison and forcing the government to flee.

Iran declared war on Germany.

NORTHERN FRONT: Unternehmen Sizilien: The pride of the German fleet battered the shore installations and succeeded in putting the radio station out of action when troops of the German 349th Grenadier Regiment landed and blew up the Allied installations. The attacking force comprised two battleships, 'Tirpitz' and the 'Scharnhorst', and ten destroyers. The 'Tirpitz' was Germany's most powerful battleship, yet today's action was the first time that her heavy guns have been in action since she was built two years ago.

WESTERN FRONT: Operation 'Starkey' (a rehearsal for the invasion of France), the US Eighth Air Force in England dispatched a record number of 330 heavy bombers against various targets in France. 20 B-17s bombed the industrial area at Paris and 48 others hit the secondary target, the Beaumont Suroise Airfield. They claimed 16-2-9 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 B-17s were lost. 59 B-17s bombed Tille Airfield at Beauvais, 37 B-17s attacked Nord Airfield at Lille, 52 B-17s bombed Vendeville Airfield at Lille, 51 B-17s hit Vitry-en-Artois Airfield, 28 B-24s bombed Ft Rouge and Longuenesse Airfields at St Omer and 35 B-24s attacked Drucat Airfield at Abbeville. All missions except the Drucat Airfield mission were escorted by 215 P-47 Thunderbolts that claimed 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 P-47's were lost. The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 55 against coastal defenses around Boulogne, France. 202 B-26Bs hit the targets and 3 B-26s were lost. Operation 'Starkey' was a disappointment as the Luftwaffe refused to commit fighter defenses on a large scale, thus preventing possible destruction of many of their aircraft, which Allied air forces hoped to accomplish.

The Lockheed Ventura made its last operation with RAF Bomber Command.

Major Johannes Seifert returned toJG 26 as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 26. Exiled to Bulgaria on a request from his mother (after his brother died), Major Seifert had appealed to General Galland for his return to combat duty. Galland agreed and returned him to his old unit at Lille.