This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[Hugh Spencer]

30 SEPTEMBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-960' fired one FAT torpedo at the convoy VA-18 40 miles west of Russkij Island and heard a detonation after 5 minutes 50 seconds. The 'Arkhangel´sk' (Master G.G. Ermilov) was hit in hold #2 and settled on even keel, but after a minute broke in two before the bridge and sank within 5 minutes. 15 crew members were lost and 27 picked up by the Soviet minesweeper T-886 (No 31), but two of them later died.

'U-309' lost a crewmember in the North Atlantic while working out on the deck.

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army continued to steamroller westwards. It announced the capture of Rudnya, in the northwest and of Kremenchug, the important rail junction on the east bank of the Dnieper, 140 miles south of Kiev. Huge forces were now massing for the final phase of the assault on Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine. Russian guns were shelling Gomel, and further north the Red Army advanced six miles towards another important German base, Mogilev in White Russia. Unofficial reports from Moscow said that a fierce battle was also going on in the outskirts of Zaporozhe, at the southern end of Dnieper bend, some 50 miles from the town of Dnepropetrovsk. This meant that the Russian forces have now reached every important place along the Dnieper and that the Germans were fighting hard to maintain a toehold on the eastern bank. More importantly, the Russians expanded their bridgeheads on the western bank south of Kiev and began to link them up to form a solid base.

MEDITERRANEAN: Advance units of X Corps reached Naples. Allied troops have fought their way to the gates of Naples to find that the population had risen against the German garrison. Hundreds were killed in street fighting which was finally put down. Outside the city, the British V Corps surrounded Vesuvius; and the US VI Corps took Avelino. Naples seemed certain to fall, but this anticipated triumph did not still the concern voiced by many US (and some British) commanders at the slowness of General Montgomery's Eighth Army in coming to assist the US Fifth Army at Salerno.

US Twelfth Air Force P-38 Lightnings, B-25s, and B-26 Marauders bombed road and rail and road bridges at Ausonia, Piana, Castelvenere, Amorosi, and Capua, and carried out sweeps from Bastia to Elba Island; 7 B-25s hit Benevento and surrounding rail and road communications; XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers carried out strafing and bombing missions north and northeast of Naples as Avellino fell to the US 3d Division.

NORTH AMERICA: The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps becomes the Women's Army Corps, a regular contingent of the U.S. Army with the same status as other army service corps.

NORTHERN FRONT: 'U-711' suffered a man lost during landing in Narvik.

WESTERN FRONT: The underground newspaper defence de la France published the first photographs of Nazi concentration camps. In a bold and hazardous night operation, Danish fishermen were smuggling almost all of Denmark's over 7,000 Jews across the stormy Oresund Strait to the safety of Sweden. The voyage costs £100 for each person; the price of failure is death. The Gestapo and Danish Nazis had begun the roundup and deportation of Danish Jews. Among the refugees were the Nobel prize-winning atomic scientist Niels Bohr and his wife. Bohr came ashore from a Danish fishing boat at Helsingborg; he went straight to Stockholm to beg the Swedish government to help his fellow Jews. The Swedes promised asylum to all who reached their shores and sent a protest note to Germany. Swedish opinion was outraged by the latest persecutions. Even the explorer Sven Hedin, known for his German sympathies, called them "deplorable". Pastoral letters from bishops condemning the Germans have been read out in Danish churches.

A French agent, Andre Comps, steals blueprints of a V1 launch site to send to London.

A JU 88C-6 from crashed 12./NJG 3 near Fliegerhorst Grove. The plane was too low and hit some trees in Guldborgland Plantation when it was on the final turn for landing. It crashed to the ground and a fire erupted and engulfed the wreckage that was a 100% loss.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

1 October 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-703' sank SS 'Sergej Kirov' in Convoy VA-18.

'U-532' sank SS 'Tahsinia'.

'U-410 'sank SS 'Fort Howe' and damaged SS 'Empire Commerce' in Convoy MKS-26.

'U-402' was attacked by a Ventura aircraft (VB-128, US Navy) but suffered no damage.

EASTERN FRONT: Under Vatutin, in the north and Konev, in the south, Russian forces crossed the Dniepr River in numerous places around Kremenchug. They quickly improvised bridges to assist in their advance. This action would continue over the next 5 days. During first week of the month, three Soviet army groups apply strong pressure against the German line along the Dnieper River bend and succeed in establishing small bridgeheads in the vicinity of Kiev, Kremenchug, and Dniepropetrovsk.

MS "TSch-896"/No. 42 (ex-RT-308 "Krasnii Onejanin") - was sunk by 'U-960', close to Mikhailov Peninsula, in Karsk Sea.

In the Archdiocese of Posen in Poland, 74 Catholic priests have been shot or have died in the concentration camps, and 451 are being held in prisons or camps. Of the 441 churches in this diocese only 30 are still open for Poles.

GERMANY: 243 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 5 Group attacked Hagen, 2 Lancaster lost. This raid was a complete success achieved on a completely cloud covered target of small size with only a moderate bomber effort and at trifling cost. The Oboe skymarking was perfect and severe damage was caused in Hagen. There was the usual housing damage but 2 of the town's 4 industrial areas were severely hit and a third suffered lesser damage. Hagen reported that 46 industrial firms, not individual buildings, were deatroyed and 166 were damaged. In his post-war interrogation, Albert Speer stated that the destruction in Hagen of an important factory making accumulator batteries slowed down the output of U-boats considerably. Speer did not mention this raid specifically but Hagen was not heavily attacked again until December 1944. Other details from the Hagen report: 3,480 fires of which 100 were large and 715 medium-sized, 241 German and 25 foreigners killed, 2,386 Germans and 135 foreigners wounded and 30,000 people bombed out. At the same time as the main attack on Hagen was ending, 12 Oboe Mosquitoes were dispatched to attack a steelworks at Witten, northwest of Hagen, for training purposes. 8 Mosquitoes bombed at Witten and 2, whose Oboe equipment failed, dropped their bombs on the fires burning in Hagen. No aircraft were lost.

In the third attack from the Mediterranean on behalf of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO), B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force and B-24s on detached service from the USAAF Eighth Air Force in England, bomb two targets: 73 bomb the aircraft industry at Wiener-Neustadt and 26 bomb a tank factory at Steyr. The B-17s, sent against an airplane factory at Augsburg, Germany, failed to locate the target, and bombed several alternate targets and targets of opportunity in Austria, Italy, and off Corsica and Elba Island. The attack by US Twelfth Air Force bombers was the 3d operation against Reich targets from bases in the Med. The plan was for 4 BGs to attack the Messerschmitt installations at Augsburg. In addition, 5 groups of B-24s were to attack the W.N.F. aircraft works at Wiener Neustadt. Unable to locate the targets at Augsburg because of weather, they dropped their bombs on targets of opportunity including Gundelfingen, the rail-yards at Prato and Bologna and German transport barges between Elba and Corsica. The B-24s had greater fortune, dropping 187 tons on the W.N.F. installations at Neustadt. Both forces endured strong fighter opposition. The B-24s encountered intense flak and strong fighter forces to and from the target, including Bf 110s equipped with WGr. 21 rocket mortars and Me 210s with 3.7cm BK cannons. 14 B-24s were lost and a further 52 damaged.

Colonel Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg was posted in Berlin as chief of staff in the Replacement Army.

In an effort to bolster the fighting groups defending the homeland, Oblt. Anton 'Toni' Hackl, formerly of II./JG 77 and recently recovered from wounds, was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 11 based at Oldenburg.

The 'Wilde Sau' units were increased as JG 301 was formed in Neubiberg with Hptm. Richard Kamp appointed as Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 301, Hptm. Graf Resugier as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 301 (formed in Altenburg from parts of II./JG 300) and Hptm. Manfred Mossinger as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 301 (formed in Zerbst.). II./JG 301 did not have its own aircraft until November and until then, shared those used by I./JG 11. Obstlt. Helmut Weinrich was appointed as Geschwaderkommodore.

MEDITERRANEAN: Naples, fell to the US 5th Army. At the cost of 12,000 British and American casualties in a 21-day campaign. Allied troops entered the wrecked city today. Allied bombs and German engineers have systematically destroyed everything of possible military value in Naples. The port - the Allies' prime target - was a mass of twisted wreckage, the harbour choked by sunken ships and the industrial area almost flattened. The stench of raw sewage hung over everything. The retreating Germans blew up the drainage system and the aqueduct that brought fresh water to the city. The population of more than a million people was threatened with mass epidemics and it had to be fed. British tanks of Lt-Gen Richard McCreery's X Corps were the first to enter the city (King's Dragoon Guards, part of the US Fifth Army), but already they were moving on northwards to the Volturno river where the Germans were establishing a defensive line. The American 82nd Airborne Division moved into Naples to police the city. Even though the bulk of German forces had retreated north, the fight from Salerno to this city was never easy. To reach the plain of Naples, Allied troops had to cross rugged terrain easily defended by small German demolition detachments - aided by heavy rain that washed away bridges and flooded roads. With the major ports of Taranto and Bari in Allied hands, Montgomery was preparing a major offensive in the east against Foggia, following on from the occupation of the Foggia airfields by the British Eighth Army. The Germans were placing much reliance on a new weapon: the radio-controlled glider bomb which crippled HMS 'Warspite' at Salerno and sank the Italian flagship 'Roma'. After his success with the delaying actions in Italy, Kesselring is ordered, by Hitler, to hold a defensive line south of Rome.

With the collapse of the Foggia airfield, the Luftwaffe transferred several units to airfields around Rome and elsewhere. IV./JG 3 returned from Sardinia, III./JG 77 flew to Rumania, II./JG 53 went to Austria, I./JG 51 went to soiuthern Germany while I./JG 4 went to northern Italy from Rumania.

US Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders hit communications targets in the Capua, Grazzanise, Arce, and Mignano areas; and Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and XII Air Support Command medium and light bombers, and fighter-bombers hit the Benevento town area and marshalling yard, the bridge at Capua, and motor transport, trains, and railroads mainly in the Isernia area and north to Avezzano.

NORTH AMERICA: President Roosevelt announced the resignation of Admiral William H. Standley as Ambassador to Russia and named W. Averell Harriman as his successor.

The authorized complement of fighters in USN Essex Class carrier air groups is raised, increasing the total aircraft normally on board to 36 fighter, 36 scout bombers and 18 torpedo bombers. The authorized complement for small aircraft carrier (CVLs) air groups is established at the same time as 12 fighters, nine scout bombers and nine torpedo bombers and revised in November 1943 to 24 fighters and nine torpedo bombers and remained at that level through the war.

UNITED KINGDOM: A report by the intelligence section of the US Eighth Air Force in England showed that despite recent efforts of the Allies to destroy the German aircraft industry, fighter production had expanded greatly and enemy fighter strength on the Western Front had increased.

During September 1943 1,211 RAF aircrew were lost, killed or POW.

WESTERN FRONT: Danes begin to smuggle the bulk of the Jewish community, 7,300 people, across the Oresund Strait to Sweden.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

2 October 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-168' sank SS 'Haiching'.

'U-223' damaged SS 'Stanmore' beyond repair in Convoy MKS-27.

EASTERN FRONT: Oblt. Erich Hartmann, Staffelkapitaen of 9./JG 52 claimed 4 victims - 2 LaGG-5s, a Pe-2 bomber and a Russian Lend-lease P-39 to bring his score to 121 kills.

GERMANY: 349 B-17s were dispatched to the industrial area of Emden, Germany led by 2 B-17 pathfinders. 339 hit the target and claimed 15-6-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17s were lost. Escort was provided by 227 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 5-3-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. In addition to the above, 21 B-24 Liberators were dispatched to Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands. The target was obscured by clouds and the mission was aborted.

294 Lancasters and 2 B-17s attacked Munich, 8 Lancasters lost including ED718 of 61 Sqdn with its crew - F/Lt C. Cleveland, F/Lt G. Hamilton, Sgt E.G. Bartlett, Sgt P.S. Camsell, Sgt F. Ellick and Sgt N.J. Wheeler. Visibility over the target was clear but the initial marking was scattered. Heavy bombing developed over the southern and south-eastern districts of Munich but later stages of the raid fell up to 15 miles back along the approach route. Most of this inaccurate bombing was carried out by 5 Group aircraft which were again attempting their 'time and distance' bombing method independently of the Pathfinder marking. The 5 Group crews were not able to pick out the Wurmsee Lake which was the starting point for their timed run. Brief reports from Germany stated that 339 buildings were destroyed, 191 people were killed and 748 were injured. No other details were available. During the night attack on Munich by the RAF, 16 bombers were claimed by pilots from NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 5, NJG 6, JG 300, JG 301 and others out of 24 lost during the raid. Among the victors were Oblt. Heinz Schnaufer of 12./NJG 1, Major Helmut Lent of Stab./NJG 3 and Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Mueller of Stab./JG 300 but lost was Hptm. Rudolf Sigmund of Stab III./NJG 3 who was killed. Major Lent was wounded during his attack on a Stirling and his injuries kept him from combat duty until November.

8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Gelsenkirchen while 117 aircraft went minelaying at various places from Lorient to Heligoland. 1 Halifax minelayer was lost.

The Ar 234 program suffered a serious setback when the Ar 234V-2 crashed due to an engine failure, killing the pilot. Since September 4 prototypes of the jet were flying.

The Bf 109Gs of Hptm. Gunther Specht's II./JG 11 moved from Jever to Marx.

MEDITERRANEAN: In U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, the U.S. 82d Airborne Division moves into Naples to police it while an advance is being continued to the Volturno River, a natural barrier covering Naples. In the VI Corps area, while the 3d Infantry Division drives northward toward the Volturno River on the left flank of the corps, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions, the 45th on the right, are moving along separate routes toward Benevento, an important road junction. To hasten the advance along the Adriatic coast in the British Eighth Army area, the 2d Special Service Brigade (commandos) of XIII Corps lands, during the night of 2/3 October, near Termoli and secures the town and port; they soon join the 78th Division, which, moving north along the coast, secures a bridgehead across the Biferno River.

Fighter-bombers of the XII Air Support Command attacked motor transport, roads, and bridges during armed reconnaissance missions from the Volturno Valley north to Isernia and west to Benevento.

During the night of 2/3 October, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack two targets: 30 attack the Coast Road at Formia and 30 bomb the pontoon bridge at Grassanise.

NORTHERN FRONT: Icebreaker 'Sisu' is damaged by magnetic mine at Melkki sea-lane just off Helsinki.

UNITED KINGDOM: During low-level evasive action, a Junkers Ju 188E, hit the water and crashed on to a mudbank, ½ mile from the Spurn Lighthouse, Spurn Head, Yorkshire at 23.40. The crew were all killed.

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF's Eight Air Force flew three missions. 72 B-26 Marauders were dispatched to the Longuenesse Airfield at St. Omer, France but because of cloud cover, only 6 hit the target. The remainder refrained from bombing because the target was in occupied territory.

 

[Njaco]

3 October 1943

GERMANY: 223 Halifaxes, 204 Lancasters, 113 Stirlings and 7 Mosquitoes attacked Kassel, 24 aircraft lost including Lancaster W4279 from 61 Sqdn with crew Wing Commander W. Penman, squadron commander, F/Lt E. Mitchell, F/Lt D. Thomson, F/Lt D. Wilkinson, P/O M. Root-Reid, P/O K. Stephenson and W/O M. Braines. This raid did not proceed according to plan. The H2S blind marker aircraft overshot the aiming point badly and the visual markers could not correct this because their view of the ground was restricted by thick haze. German decoy markers may also have been present. The main weight of the attack thus fell on the western suburbs and outlying towns and villages. But, even so, large fires were started at both the Henschel and Fieseler aircraft factories, at the city's main hospital and at several other important buildings. The eastern suburb of Wolfshanger was devastated. Kassel's casualties were 118 dead - 68 civilians, 12 military and 38 foreigners - and 304 injured. Musgrove, in his excellent book , Pathfinder Force, records that a large ammunition dump at Ihrigshausen, just north of Wolfshanger, was hit by a chance bomb load and the resulting explosions attracted further bombs; photographs taken later showed 84 buildings in the military location destroyed and a great mass of craters. The outlying townships of Bettenhausen and Sandershausen were also severely hit but details for these places were not available. During the RAF raid on Kassel, Hptm. Rudolf Sigmund of Stab III./NJG 3 (28 kills) was shot down and killed. Obfw. Kurt Welter of 5./JG 301 destroyed 2 bombers during his 3d mission of the night.

10 aircraft on a diversion to Hannover, 12 Oboe aircraft to Knapsack power station near Cologne and 4 aircraft went on Mark 11 Oboe trials to Aachen without loss.

WAAF Photographic Interpretation Officer, F/O Babington-Smith, discovered evidence of the V1 flying-bomb. It was photographed by a Mosquito of No. 540 Squadron during a sortie over Peenemünde, Germany.

MEDITERRANEAN: In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division takes Benevento and establishes a bridgehead across Calore River. Meanwhile, elements of the US 5th Army captured Aversa and Maddaloni. During the early morning hours, British commandos land and occupy Termoli in Italy. The Germans reacted quickly by counterattacking with the 16th Panzer Division. The commands successfully held out until relief came when a linkup with the British 78th Division was made. The Canadian 1st Division, hampered by terrain, is within 55 miles (89 kilometers) of Vinchiaturo.

The Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command dispatched B-26s, B-25s, and P-38s to bomb railroad, highway, and pontoon bridges, an overpass, and road junction at Capua, Castel Volturno, Piana, Arce, Mignano, and Isernia; P-38s also hit shipping between Corsica and Italy. XII Bomber Command fighter-bombers hit motor transport in the battle area as US Fifth Army troops took Benevento.

The marshalling yard at Civitavecchia is bombed by 46 RAF aircraft of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group during the night of 3/4 October without loss.

U-class submarine HMS 'Usurper' was lost after leaving for a patrol off Algiers on 24 September. It was thought that she may have been sunk in minefield QB.192 in the Gulf of Genoa, or been the victim of an attack by UJ.2208 on this date. There were no survivors.

Corsica is liberated by Free French troops.

As the British occupied more islands in the Aegean Sea, they began to pressure Turkey to enter the war. In an effort to force Turkey to remain neutral, the Germans launched Operation Polar Bear, a series of attacks in these islands. The first attack came from paratroops landing on the island of Kos. Ju 88s of Einsatzkampf Gruppe Ju 88/Gen.d.Fl.Ausb supported the operations.

NORTHERN FRONT: Miniature submarine X-10 was scuttled in the North Sea after meeting up with HMS 'Stubborn' on 28 September. With no working compass, a periscope propped in the up position and the weather worsening, Flag Officer Submarines ordered that it be scuttled rather than risk the lives of the transit crew who would otherwise have to bring it back to the UK. There were no casualties.

UNITED KINGDOM: USS 'Rodgers' (DD-254), was commissioned as HMS 'Sherwood' (I-80), as part of the bases-for-destroyers deal. Now stripped of usable parts she has been paid off at Chatham and towed to the Humber Estuary and beached today. She will be used as a target for RAF rocket-equipped Beaufighters. Her hulk is scrapped in 1945.

WESTERN FRONT: USAAF Eighth Air Force' VIII Air Support Command flies two missions: 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Vendeveille Airfield at Lille, France, but weather prevents their hitting the target and 72 B-26Bs are dispatched to Tille Airfield, Beauvais with 63 hit the target at 1724-1727 hours; a B-26 is lost.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force VIII Air Support Command sends 131 B-26B Marauders to three airfields: 71 bomb Schiphol Airfield, Amsterdam; 34 hit Woensdrecht Airfield ; and 26 bomb Haamstede Airfield at 1120-1136 hours.

7 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians. During the night, six RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over France.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

4 October 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: North of the Azores, aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC 9) in the escort carrier USS 'Card' (CVE-11) attacked three German submarines, 'U-264', 'U-422', and 'U-455', rendezvousing with a Milch cow, 'U-460'. 'U-460' and 'U-422' were sunk respectively by F4F Wildcats and TBF Avengers. All hands were lost on 'U-422' and there are 2 survivors of the 64 aboard 'U-460'. This action in the central Atlantic allowed convoy UGS 19 to pass through the vicinity unmolested by U-boats.

Southwest of Iceland, German submarine 'U-279' was caught on the surface and sunk by depth charges from a USN PV-1 Ventura of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Eight (VB-128 ) based at NAF Reykjavik, Iceland. The sub sank with all hands. 'U-389' (Type VIIC) was sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from a British B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/X). 50 dead.

'U-539' shot down a RAF Liberator aircraft (Sqn 120/V.) in the Atlantic. Lost with this aircraft was Wing Commander R M Longmore, the commanding officer of the 120 Squadron.

RAF Hudson aircraft (Sqn 269/S) attacked 'U-731'. The commander and 5 more men were wounded and the boat was damaged. The boat did not have to abort its patrol.

GERMANY: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 108: 4 targets in Germany and a diversion were flown. 12 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 4 B-24s were lost. Escort was provided by 223 P-47 Thunderbolts and they claimed 19-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft. 104 B-17s were dispatched to the Wiesbaden industrial area. 15 aircraft hit Wiesbaden and 77 hit the industrial area at Frankfurt and claimed 19-3-15 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s were lost. 37 B-17s bombed Frankfurt and claimed 18-8-22 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s were lost. 115 B-17s were dispatched to the Saarlautern industrial area. 67 hit Saarlautern and 38 hit Robinson Airfield in St Dizier, France. They claimed 37-7-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s were lost. 47 B-17s bombed the Sarreguemnines and Saarbrucken marshalling yards and 38 B-24s flew a diversionlosing 4 B-24s. Among the pilots lost by the Luftwaffe was Major Erwin Clausen, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 11 who shot down his 14th 4-engined bomber - a B-24 over the North Sea - and his 132d enemy aircraft overall before losing his life.

162 Lancasters,170 Halifaxes, 70 Stirlings, 4 Mosquitoes and 3 B-17s attacked Frankfurt with 10 aircraft lost plus 1 B-17. This was the last RAF night-bombing raid in which American aircraft took part but individual B-17s occasionally carried out bombing flights in following weeks. Clear weather and good Pathfinder marking produced the first serious blow on Frankfurt so far in the war with extensive destruction being caused in the eastern half of the city and in the inland docks on the River Main; both of these areas are described in the Frankfurt report as having been a 'sea of flames'. Many city centre type buildings are also mentioned as being hit. The new Rathaus had its roof burnt out. No overall figures were given for casualties, the only mention being a tragedy at an orphanage housed in the former Jewish hospital where a bomb scoreda direct hit on the basement shelter killing 90 children, 14 nuns and other members of staff. In the following days the main railway station was packed with people trying to leave Frankfurt.

66 Lancasters carried out a diversionary raid on Ludwigshafen without loss but the marking and bombing were scattered.

12 Mosquitoes attacked Knapsack power station, 1 Mosquito went to Aachen and 5 Stirlings went minelaying in the River Gironde, all without loss. The Mosquito attacking Aachen was carrying out the first operational trial of the G-H blind bombing equipment but the trial was not successful.

A Bf 110G-3 of 5./ZG 76 was shot down near Lammersdorf. the pilot, Lt. Hans Metzen and his Wop, Uffz,. Gunther Barth were both killed. Lt. Metzen had an identical twin brother, also a pilot in the Luftwaffe. Sadly, Fhj-Fw. Jakob Metzen was killed in action on 14 February 1945 at Manze while serving in Gren. Regt. 1238.

Capt. Walker M. Mahurin, 63d FS/56 FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downs three Bf 110s (raising his score to six e/a destroyed) near Duren, Germany between 1132 and 1140 hours. Mahurin goes on to shoot down 19.75 German plane, one Japanese plane, 3.5 Mig 15s in Korea for a total of 24.75 destroyed.

After these raids Reichsmarschall Goering became disturbed when told how the Luftwaffe had failed to prevent the raid including a protest by a local party Gauleiter who made claims that the Allied bombers filled the perfectly clear skies over his town with no German fighters in sight. The Gauleiter protested very loudly about the fact that the "terror bombers" were not intercepted. Goering finally issued the following directive to all Reich defense units:

1. There are no meterological conditions which would prevent fighters from taking off and engaging in combat.
2. Every fighter pilot taking off in a machine not showing any sign of combat or without having recorded a victory will be prosecuted by a court martial.
3. In the case where a pilot uses up his ammunition, or if his weapons are unusable, he should ram the enemy bomber.

Goering also demanded that the efforts of all the fighter units in Jagdkorps I in Holland be directed first and foremost against the four-engined Allied bombers, all Zerstroer units were to attack unescorted bombers and that the equipping of the Wr 21cm underwing rocket mortars to fighters on the front be accelerated. Generalfeldmarschall Milch tried to convince Goering that this order would create a feeling of oppression among the Luftwaffe pilots, to which Goering responded;

"They don't need to feel oppressed! They just need to go in to 400 meters instead of 1000 meters. And they need to shot down 80 bombers just for once, not 20! Then all the feelings of oppression will disappear and I'll gladly take my hat off to them!"

In a letter to a friend on the Eastern Front, Obstlt. Hans 'Fips' Philipp, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1, reflected on the hardships the fighter pilots had facing the Allied bombers;

"You cannot imagine how hard one has to crack the whip here. On the one hand we live very comfortably - plenty of girls, everything you could wish for. On the other, the fighting in the air is extraordinarily hard. Hard, not so much because the enemy is numerous and the Boeings so well armed, but more because one is suddenly torn from the comfort of a deep armchair and the almost relaxed atmosphere of the field. Against 20 Russians trying to shoot you down, or even 20 Spitfires, it can be exciting, even fun. But curve in towards 40 Fortresses and all your past sins flash before your eyes. And when you yourself have reached this state of mind, it becomes that much more difficult to have to drive every pilot of the Geschwader, right down to the youngest and lowliest NCO to do the same."

The orders were finally put to rest and virtually forgotten about.

MEDITERRANEAN: The liberation of Corsica was complete. The Germans completed their conquest of Kos capturing 1400 British and 3150 Italians. Even more important was the destruction of the northern most British airfield in the Aegean. The losses amongst the communist guerrillas and the Fighting (Free) French regular troops were light - partly because the Germans were not seriously fighting to hold on to the island. Fighting between the German garrison, reinforced by troops from Sardinia, and communist guerrillas has been going on since the Italian surrender. Regular Free French troops under General Henri Martin arrived 20 days ago, with only a few hundred landing each night. Furnished with motor and mule transport by the Italian troops on the island, his men seized the island's spine, pushing the Germans back to their bridgehead at Bastia, from which they withdrew today. The Germans had no intention of holding Corsica; their concern was purely to secure an orderly withdrawal. Under Commander von Liebenstein, who had organized the German evacuation of Sicily, they brought out 26,000 men, 3,200 vehicles, 5,000 tons of stores and 1,200 PoWs, in a movement described by the German News Agency as "an operational and organizational masterpiece." Participating in the expulsion of the Germans are patriots, Battalion du Choc (shock battalion), Moroccan Goums, the knife-wielding irregular troops, of the 4th Moroccan Mountain Division, and a small U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) party.

Adolf Hitler decided not to withdraw to Northern Italy, but to prepare a firm defense called Winterstellung from rivers Garigliano and Rapido in the west, and the river Sangro in the east.

100+ US XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the Pisa marshalling yard and Bolzano bridges; B-25 Mitchells and B-26s attacked the airfield at Argos, road defiles at Terracina and Isernia, a highway overpass at Mignano, and shipping at Bastia; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force aircraft hit road and rail junctions on the main road north from Capua; XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers hit trains, roads, railroads, and vehicles near Isernia, Avezzano, Pescara, and Isolella.

'U-596' fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy XT-4 about 60 miles west of Derna, heard three detonations and claimed three ships probably sunk. In fact, only the 'Marit' (Master Sverre Caspersen) had been hit. The explosion destroyed one lifeboat and killed one Indian crew member working on deck. The tanker developed a heavy list to starboard when the oil in the destroyed tanks on the port side ran out into the sea. Trimming the vessel by letting out water from #1 tank on the starboard side proved to be useless and the surviving seven Norwegian officers, five British gunners and 41 Indian crew members abandoned ship in three lifeboats. The ship sank 30 minutes after the crew left. The survivors were picked up by an escort vessel and taken to Benghazi, where four injured men were brought to a hospital, but one of the gunners later died of wounds.

NORTHERN FRONT: Operation LEADER, the only USN carrier operation carried out in northern European waters during WW II, caused "appreciable losses" to two convoys off the Norwegian coast and to shipping in the harbour of Bodo, Norway. The task force, consisting of RN ships and the USN aircraft carrier USS 'Ranger' (CV-4), reached the launch position off Vestfjord before dawn completely undetected. At 0618 hours, Carrier Air Group Four (CVG-4) in USS 'Ranger' launched 20 SBD Dauntless dive bombers of Bombing Squadron Four (VB-4) and an escort of 8 F4F Wildcat fighters of Fighting Squadron Four (VF-4). One division of dive bombers attacked the 8,000-ton freighter SS 'LaPlata', while the rest continued north to attack a small German convoy. They severely damaged a 10,000-ton tanker and a smaller troop transport and sink two of four small German merchantmen in the Bodö roadstead. A second attack group of 10 TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Four (VT-4) and six Wildcats of VF-4 destroy a German freighter and a small coaster and bombed yet another troop-laden transport. Three Ranger planes were lost to antiaircraft fire. In the afternoon, USS 'Ranger' was finally located by three German aircraft, but her combat air patrol shot down a Junkers Ju 88 and a Heinkel He 111 and chased off the third. The Ju 88D-1 was from 1.(F)/22 and the entire crew went missing while a He 115B from 1./406 wa also missing, probably shot down by aircraft from VF-4.

UNITED KINGDOM: Admiral Pound resigns as British First Sea Lord due to ill health. Admiral Fraser refuses the position, and it is accepted by Admiral Andrew Cunningham.

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Air Support Command Mission 79: 25 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to Nivilliers Airfield at Beauvais and Fauville Airfield at Evreux, France; they returned to base without bombing.

 

[Njaco]

5 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-336' was sunk in the Straits of Denmark southwest of Iceland, by rockets fired by an RAF Hudson. (Sqdn. 269/F). 50 dead (all crew lost).

'U-188' sinks the SS 'BRITANNIA'.

Patrol Squadron Six (VP-6 CG), was established as a U.S. Coast Guard squadron under U.S. Navy operational control at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland. Squadron personnel have actually been arriving since 23 July 1943, by Naval Air Transport Service. Upon arrival they commence training and indoctrination in cold weather operations. The squadron's home port is Narsarssuak, Greenland, code name Bluie West-One (BW-1). Upon establishment it came under the administrative control of the USN's Fleet Air Wing Nine (FAW-9). Personnel matters continue to be handled by Coast Guard Headquarters. The squadron flew the PBY-5A Catalina, with ten aircraft (one designated as a spare), 22 officers and 145 enlisted men, including eight enlisted pilots. Operational flights begin on 13 October 1943, after the first three PBY-5A Catalinas arrive at Narsarssuak. Two of the squadron's nine operational aircraft are detached to NAS Argentia. These aircraft and crews are rotated frequently to allow maintenance and repair work to be done on the other seven. At Narsarssuak all the squadron's aircraft sit outside and all maintenance, refueling and arming takes place in the open regardless of weather conditions because it is found that moving aircraft from warm hangars to the cold outside results in condensation and subsequent freezing in fuel pumps, controls and instruments. Herman Nelson F-1 portable heaters are needed to warm the engines and the aircraft interiors before starting. Crews are relieved every 12 months, with relief crews staggered every four months. The USAAF provides aerology support and daily weather briefings.

MEDITERRANEAN: The US 5th Army captured Aversa and Maddaloni. Advance units of X Corps reached the Volturno River. Heavy fighting between the British 78th Division and the 16th Panzer Division continued at Termoli, bringing the advance of the British 13th Corps (8th Army) to a halt.

Lieutenant General James H Doolittle assumed command of the Twelfth Air Force during the absence of General Carl Spaatz. One hundred twenty four USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the Bologna marshalling yard with the loss of one aircraft; B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bomb the Formia road, a road loop north of Mignano, and the Isernia chokepoint; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force, XII Air Support Command, and RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) aircraft bomb numerous targets in and north of the battle area, including heavy traffic in the Isernia area, gasoline dumps at Alfedena, trains at Termoli, and towns of Venafro and Isolella. During the night of 5/6 October, 51 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack Grossetto Airfield.

German troops complete the evacuation of the island of Corsica.

German bombers attacked convoy UGS 18; a near-miss damaged the U.S. freighter 'Cotton Mather' about 15 miles north of Cape Tenes, Algeria. There were no casualties among the 53-man merchant complement and the 27-man Armed Guard and the ship reached Algiers under her own power.

UNITED KINGDOM: HQ 356th Fighter Group transfers from Goxhill to Martlesham, England.

 

[Njaco]

6 OCTOBER 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Two Russian armies take Nevel on the boundary between Army Groups North and Centre.

LD "Kharkov", DD "Vesposchadnii" and DD "Sposobnii", of the Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla were all lost to German aviation. In Kuvshinskaya Salma, the Floating Base "Mayak" of the Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla was also sunk by the Luftwaffe.

MEDITERRANEAN: Caserta fell to the US 5th Army, which then advanced to the Volturno River. The U.S. Fifth Army reaches the south bank of the Volturno River, successfully concluding another phase of the Italian campaign. In the British X Corps area, the 56th Division takes Capua. In the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps area, the 78th Division gains firm control of Biferno bridgehead at Termoli.

US XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the Mestre marshalling yard while B-26 Marauders hit a highway chokepoint at Isernia, the highway at Mignano, and road junction at Formia; P-38s strafed Araxos Airfield in Greece; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force planes on road-blocking missions hit targets at Teano, at Alfedena, between Cassino and Capua, and near Sessa Aurunca; US XII Air Support Command P-40s and A-36 Apaches attacked roads and vehicles north of the US Fifth Army battle zone and patroled the Naples area.

German troops, some with "shopping lists" from Hermann Göring , were systematically looting the museums and churches of Rome and carrying off priceless works of art to Germany. Manuscripts and old masters were being removed wholesale by the men who came here to "guard" the city against the Allies. And not only works of art were leaving Italy for the Reich: thousands of former Italian soldiers were being rounded up and taken to Germany as forced labourers. As Germany intensified its control over its former Axis partner, Nazi paratroopers ringed the Vatican, and one report claimed that the pope sent a sealed letter to each of his Italian cardinals to be read only in the event of his arrest.

NORTHERN FRONT: A Bf 109G-2 crashed in Norway and Uffz. Richard Fleischmann of 5./JG 5 was killed.

 

[Njaco]

7 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U.S. freighter 'Yorkmar', in convoy SC 143, was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine 'U-645'. Of the 39-man merchant complement, 11 drown in the abandonment; 2 of the 28-man Armed Guard perish as well. Canadian corvette HMCS 'Kamloops' and British frigate HMS 'Duckworth' rescued the survivors.

EASTERN FRONT: Nevel, a rail center north of Vitebsk, and Taman fall to Soviet forces. A lull in fighting begins along the Dniepr River south of Kiev as the Soviet forces pause to bring up supplies and build bridges. German resistance is stiffening all along the line and the progress of Red Army is becoming less spectacular.

GERMANY: An order was issued by the Luftwaffe for the establishment of a number of night ground-attack groups within the service. Thus a number of Störkampfstaffeln (Harassing Squadrons) already operating were put on a more organised footing. The main equipment of these units were the Arado 66 and Gotha 145 two seat trainers equipped to carry 2 and 4 kg anti-personnel bombs.

343 Lancasters attacked Stuttgart, 4 aircraft lost. The first aircraft to be equipped with A.B.C. (night fighter communications jamming - "Cigar" ) from 101 Sqdn operated on this night. The German nightfighter controller was confused by the Mosquito diversion on Munich and only a few night fighters reached Stuttgart at the end of the attack. The target area was cloud covered and the H2S Pathfinder marking developed in two areas. Many bombs fell in various parts of Stuttgart where 344 buildings, mostly dwelling houses, were destroyed and 4,586 buildings were damaged. In the city centre 4 hospitals, a museum (the Lindenmuseum) and the garrison church were hit and 36 people were drowned in an underground air raid shelter at the main railway station when a water main was damaged by a bomb and burst. Total casualties in Stuttgart were 104 killed and missing, 300 injured. The town of Boblingen, 10 miles to the south west, must have been under the second group of markers. 350 houses were hit and 60 people were killed here.

16 Lancasters carried out a diversionary raid without loss and claimed hits on the Zeppelin factory.

10 Mosquitoes went to Munich, 7 to Emden, 5 to Aachen and 79 aircraft went minelaying from Brest to Heligoland. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.

MEDITERRANEAN: The U.S. Fifth Army begins preparations for an assault across the Volturno River. The crossing date is set tentatively at the night of 9/10 October and later postponed to the night pf 12/13. The U.S. VI and British X Corps improve positions along the southern bank of the river. In the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps area, another brigade of the 78th Division, the last to arrive in Italy, lands in the Biferno bridgehead as the Germans retire across Trigno River. Fighting between the 16.Panzerdivision and the British 78th Division at Termoli ended as the Germans pulled back behind the Trigno River. Montgomery did not follow closely.

Bad weather cancelled many operations. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force medium and light bombers struck roads, railway, junction, and town areas in the Capua and Guglionesi regions while RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers hit trucks in the Termoli-Vasto areas.

A German convoy of 7 small ships bound for Kos in the Aegean Sea was intercepted by 2 cruisers - the 'Penelope' and the 'Sirius' - and 2 destroyers. The British Task Force sank 7 transports and one destroyer. As the British force withdrew through the Scarpanto Straits, "Penelope' was damaged by attacks from Ju 87s and Ju 88s.

Tank landing craft LCT-215 and LCT-216 sank after breaking in half in heavy seas off coast of North Africa; LCT-196 broke in half in heavy seas off coast of North Africa; the after section was scuttled by British surface ship but the forward section was towed to Bizerte, Tunisia.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack two targets: 24 bomb Kastelli Airfield while 11 bomb Maritza Airfield on Rhodes.

NORTHERN FRONT: Another Bf 109G-2 crashes in Norway and this time Uffz. Fritz Hüllenhütter from 2./JG 5 was killed.

'U-703' picked up three survivors from Hope Island in the Arctic Sea. The three people (two men and a woman) were the last survivors from the Soviet steamer 'Dekabrist', which had been sunk on 5 Nov 1942 by a JU-88 aircraft. The entire crew had escaped to this island. In May 1943 they were detected by an He-111 aircraft and on 24 July, 1943, 'U-354' picked up the ship's master, leaving the remaining survivors behind but providing food and vitamin tablets. When 'U-703' reached the island in September, three of those stranded still lived. The U-boat crew enjoyed watching these people, with the help of lots of food and care, come slowly back to human civilization after living nearly a year on such an island.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 110. During the night, 4 B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped 240,352 leaflets over Paris.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

8 October 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: An escort of Convoy SC-143 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, to U.K.) and three German Type VIIC submarines tracking the convoy are sunk by aircraft in the North Atlantic.

The escort Polish destroyer ORP 'Orkan' (ex HMS 'Myrmidon') sunk by 'U-378'. The destroyer is struck by a torpedo and sinks about 578 nautical miles south-southwest of Rekjavik, Iceland in position 56.30N, 26.26W. There are only 23 survivors of the crew of 198.

RCAF Sunderland patrol a/c from RCAF 423 Sqn attacked and sank 'U-610', KptLt Walter Freiherr Von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen, CO, in the North Atlantic, in position 55.45N, 024.33W. Although 15 men were seen in the water after 'U-610' was sunk, no survivors were recovered and her crew of 51 men was lost.

The commander of 'U-603' became so ill that he was incapacitated, leaving the U-boat unable to act against the enemy.

'U-419' (Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 86/R). 48 dead, 1 survivor. 'U-643' (Type VIIC) was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from 2 British Liberator aircraft (Sqdns. 86/Z and 120/T) . 30 dead, 18 survivors in captivity. 'U-762' was bombed by a Liberator aircraft from 120 RAF Squadron. Three crewmembers were wounded, and the boat was slightly damaged.

GERMANY: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 111: 4 locations in Germany were targeted. On this mission the Eighth Air Forces used, for the first time, airborne transmitters (Carpet equipment) to jam German radar. The B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24s were escorted by 274 P-47 Thunderbolts from 6 different fighter groups. They claimed 12-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft and lost 30 bombers and 3 P-47s. 105 B-17s bombed the shipyard at Breman, 53 B-17s bombed the industrial area at Breman, 43 B-24s bombed the U-boat yards at Vegesack and 156 B-17s bombed the city of Bremen and targets of opportunity. One of the Luftwaffe's over 200-kill club, Obstlt. Hans 'Fips' Philipp, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1, was killed in action against the escorting P-47s of the 78th FG over Nordhorn. The last transmission from Obstlt. Philipps was;

"Reinhardt, attack!".

Fw. Reinhardt was Philipps' wingman on this day. Obstlt. Philipp had 178 kills on the Eastern Front and 29 on the Western Front including the Battle of Britain flying with JG 76 and JG 54. His death was claimed by Robert S. Johnson but some said it was the gunners in the B-17 he was attacking that got him. Major Hermann Graf replaced him as acting Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1. Also killed was the Staffelkapitaen of 1./ZG 1, Oblt. Rudiger Ossmann. Oblt. Hermann Horstmann was made Staffelakpitean of 1./ZG 1. The battle also made JG 1 aware that their brightly marked Fw 190s with checkerboard designs on the cowlings were very similar to the markings of the US 78th FG which had a checkerboard design of their own. It was because of this similarity that flak units had a hard time distinguishing friendly from enemy fighters. The markings were changed soon after. On the bomber escort mission, the USAAF 334th FS were bringing up the van. They saw over thirty Luftwaffe aircraft above and in the sun. The US fighters orbited to gain altitude but were continually bounced by sections of four to eight Germans. This broke up the squadron and drew it away from the bombers. No enemy aircraft attacked the bombers. During the fighting Ralph Hofer chased a Bf 109 at 400 feet above the Zuider Zee, trying to get it off another P-47. The P-47 was shot down, but Hofer shot down the Bf 109. Duane Besson shot down two Bf 109s, bringing his score to six. Maj. Roy W. Evans, CO of the 335 FS/4 FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downed a Bf 109 near Oldenburg at 1455 hours. He scored one more victory to end the war with six kills.

282 Lancasters, 188 Halifaxes, 26 Wellingtons and 8 Mosquitoes attacked Hanover, 27 aircraft lost including Lancaster DV239 of 61 Sqdn, crew - F/O H.E. Carrott, F/O E.A. Thomas, P/O M. Thompson, P/O R. Coulson, F/Sgt R. Cramp, Sgt D. Hydes and Sgt W.S. Smith. This was the last Bomber Command raid in which Wellingtons took part when aircraft of Nos. 300 and 432 Squadrons were used. RAF No. 300(Polish) and 432(Canadian) Squadrons provided the 26 Wellingtons which operated on this night; they all returned safely. In total Wellington's based in the United Kingdom have dropped 42,440-tons of bombs. The German controller guessed correctly that Hanover was the target and many night fighters arrived before the attack was over. Conditions over Hanover were clear and the Pathfinders were finally able to mark the centre of the city accurately. A most concentrated attack followed with a creepback of only 2 miles, all within the built-up area. This was probably Hanover's worst attack of the war. RAF reconnaissance showed that the important Continental rubber factory and the Hanomag machine works were badly hit.

95 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes and 7 Lancasters attacked Bremen. This was a diversionary raid on a larger scale than ever before. The bombing was scattered but this was a subsidiary aim of the operation. 3 Stirlings were lost.

10 Mosquitoes went to Castrop-Rauxel, 7 to Berlin and 1 to Duren.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British 8th Army captured Larino and Guglionesi as the advance on Biferno, Italy. The US 5th Army finished its advance to the Volturno River and began planning the next attack for October 12.

Twelfth Air Force aircraft attacked targets in Greece. XII Bomber Command B-24s bombed Tatoi and Eleusis Airfields at Athens, airfields at Kastelli and Heraklion Airfields on Crete, and Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes; B-25 Mitchells also hit Eleusis airfield; P-38s flew convoy cover, patrols, and sweeps over the Aegean Sea. In Italy, the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and RAF Desert Air Force aircraft hit a bridge at Minturno and a road junction and military concentration at Termoli.

UNITED KINGDOM: A Lancaster bomber operating from Linton on Ouse airfield near York, had to be abandoned over Hutton le Hole near Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire, when the controls jammed. The crew jumped to safety, but a farmer was killed when the bomber crashed at Spaunton in Yorkshire and the bomb load blew up.

RAF No. 453 Squadron (Spitfire) flying from Perranporth, Cornwall, intercepts eight Me110s over the Channel, shooting down five of them, two fall to Flt. Lt. Russell Leith.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 80: 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to Vendeville Airfield at Lille and Chievres Airfields in France. The mission was abandoned due to thick haze and generally unsuitable weather.

17 Stirlings went minelaying in the River Gironde and off La Pallice without loss.

Gruppenkommodore Major Erich Simon of Stab. IV./NJG 3 took of from Fliegerhorst Grove in a Ju 88C-6 in search for mine laying aircraft. A Stirling was returning after having dropped mines in the sea of Kattegat when it at 01:00 hours was attacked by a Ju 88. Major Simon was closing in from astern and below when he was observed by Rear gunner Sgt S. Etridge who instructed Pilot Wing Commander G. E. Harrison to Corkscrew. Major Simon closed further in and moved to port beam low, and W/Cdr Harrison turned port to allow both Rear gunner Sgt Etridge and Mid upper gunner Sgt C. W. Buffham a chance to open fire. They did so and both reported to have hit the Ju 88 that turned away and was seen to catch fire. It fell in flames and was seen to hit the sea where it burned for some time. Only Engineer Obergefreiter Erwin Schröder managed to get out of the falling Ju 88 and landed by parachute in the sea and entered his dinghy. Major Erich Simon and Wop Uffz. Hans Vogel went down with the Ju 88. They did not survive.

 

[Njaco]

9 OCTOBER 1943

EASTERN FRONT: The forces of General Ivan E. Petrov, Commander of the North Caucasas Front, complete the occupation of the Kuban. The German 17.Armee completed the evacuation of the Kuban Peninsula moving across the Strait of Kerch into the dubious safety of the Crimean Peninsula. 225,000 German and Romanian soldiers and 27,000 civilians made the withdrawal. Most of the German 17.Armee has escaped to the Crimea. They are sent to reinforce the German line south of Zaporozhye.

GERMANY: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 113 against 2 targets in Germany and 2 in Poland; 26 B-17s and 2 B-24s were lost. One group made a feint to Woensdrecht, another to Leeuwarden, both in the Netherlands. A diversionary strike was made on Anklam, Germany, then the main attack force of 246 B-17 and B-24 bombers attacked Gdynia and Danzig in Poland, and destroyed the Focke-Wulf aircraft plant at Marienburg in East Prussia. 106 B-17s hit the industrial area in Anklam, Germany and claimed 65-19-47 Luftwaffe aircraft. 96 B-17s hit the industrial area in Marienburg, Germany claiming 9-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 41 B-24s hit the U-boat yards at Danzig and the port area at Gdynia, Poland claiming 7-3-4 Luftwaffe aircraft and 109 B-17s hit the port area at Gdynia, Poland claiming 41-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft. Five fighter Geschwaders, 2 Zerstorer Geschwaders and 3 Nachtjagdgeschwaders were involved in the interceptions.

One of the most heavily involved were fighters from JG 11. One Bf 109 belonging to Stab II./JG 11 belly-landed in a field southeast of Faaborg and another from III./JG 11 landed in a field southeast of Toftlund due to a lack of fuel. Uffz. Karl-Heinz Kutzera of II./JG 11 crash-landed near Nykobing Falster after being hit by return fire from the bombers. Uffz. was wounded and taken to hospital. 13 pilots from JG 11 were confirmed for kills. But Lt. Michael Widmann of 2./JG 11 was missing after combat near Fehmarn. Lt. Harry Peltzer of 1./JG 11 attacked the bombers from the rear and was hit by defending gunfire. He crashed near Vojens and was killed.

JG 54 was also heavily involved. Four pilots were confirmed for kills but the Geschwader lost several pilots as well. Fw. Fritz Ungar of 9./JG 54 landed his Bf 109 near Arvlund because of a lack of fuel. Another Bf 109 from 7./JG 54crash-landed at Fliegerhorst Kastrup as did Fw. Emil Hecker from 9./JG 54 who took a bullet through the cockpit and was injured. Oblt. Fritz Brock also from 9./JG 54 crash-laned near Nykobing Falster and was uninjured.

The NJG contributed to the gain and loss columns as well. 15 Nachtjagdflieger made claims for kills including Hptm. Borchers of Stab III./NJG 5, Oblt. Muller of IV./NJG 3 and Major Rolf Jung of Stab I./NJG 2. But they, too lost aircraft and crews. Lt. Heinz Knittel of 8./NJG 2 crashed his Bf 110G-2 near Store Heddinge, killing Lt. Knittel. Another Bf 110 from I./NJG 2 ditched in 4 feet of water off shore of Storstrommen. The crew was found standing on the wing by the Danish police and taken ashore.

From the Zerstorergeschwaders, Lt. Richard Heller of 8./ZG 26 claimed 3 B-17s while Fw. Josef Scherkenbeck of 9./ZG 26 claimed 2 Fortresses.

6 Mosquitoes attacked Berlin without loss.

Hptm. Egon Albrecht, Staffelkapitaen of 1./ZG 1, succeeded Hptm. Karl-Heinrich Matern (12 kills, RK, KIA 8/10/43) as Gruppenkommandeur of II./ZG 1.

MEDITERRANEAN: Allied intelligence warned General Eisenhower and top Allied commanders that the Germans have decided to defend Rome and the southern two-thirds of the Italian peninsula. Intelligence discovered that three elite German divisions have reinforced Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's 10th Army along the Volturno River, 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Naples. Intelligence also learned the Germans were using Italian labourers to prepare a stronger position -- called the Gustav Line -- 85 miles (136.8 km) south of Rome.

XII Bomber Command B-17s bomb airfields at Larissa, Athens and Salonika, Greece, and Argos, Italy. B-24s hit Pediada Airfield at Kastelli, Crete. P-38s fly a sweep between the island of Corfu, Greece and Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, and escort shipping in the Karpathos Straits between Carpathos and Rhodes. In Italy, the XII Air Support Command does not operate, but the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and the RAF's Desert Air Force hit traffic in the Termoli and Montenero areas, guns north of Capua, a HQ at Palata, and roads and railroads north of Naples.

While providing air cover for RN warships that bombarded German installations in the Dodecanese Islands, two P-38 pilots of the 37th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, achieved "ace" status. Major William L. Leverette, Commanding Officer of the 37th, downed seven Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers in a single pass to become an ace. This was the highest single-mission score in either the European and Mediterranean Theater of Operations in World War II. He ended the war with 11 confirmed victories. The second pilot was 2d Lieutenant who downed five JU-87s to become an "instant ace." These were his only victories of the war. II./StG 3 lost 9 Ju 87D-3/Trops when they were intercepted during the mission against Royal Navy ships in the Aegean. Seven crashed into the sea and 2 made emergency landings on Rhodes. 4 crewmen were killed and 7 listed as missing in action.

In company with HMS 'Panther', cruiser HMS 'Carlisle' was severely damaged by the Ju 87 dive bomb attacks and had to be taken in tow by 'Rockwood'. She reached Alexandria but was considered to be beyond economic repair and declared a constructive total loss. There were 20 casualties. Destroyer HMS 'Panther' was sunk in the attacks that damaged HMS 'Carlisle' at the same position.

At 0036 hours, destroyer USS 'Buck' (LCDR M. Klein, lost) was on patrol off Salerno, when she was hit in the bow by a Gnat fired by 'U-616', causing the forward magazine to explode and sank within four minutes. Destroyer USS 'Gleaves' and landing craft HMS LCT-170 picked up the survivors.

NORTH AMERICA: General Henry H. "Hap"Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, recommends to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in Italy be divided into two air forces, one strategic and one tactical, to increase the power of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). It has already been decided that Italian-based aircraft will assist in offensive to knock out Germany.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 81: 66 B-26B Marauders bombed the Woensdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands. This awas the final Eighth Air Force B-26 operation - the B-26s would be transferred to the US IX Bomber Command, Ninth Air Force on 16 October.

 

[Njaco]

10 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Atlantic entrance to the PANAMA Canal was mined by a German submarine.

EASTERN FRONT: Dobrush, east of Gomel, was liberated by Soviet forces.

Ofw. Karl Fuchs of 3./JG 54 (67 kills) was killed in combat.

With the war's tide turning, the Franco government ordered the Spanish 250th 'Blue' Division home. A few thousand volunteers, however, refused to abandon the struggle against Communism and enlisted in a so-called "Blue Legion" that was attached to the German 121st Infantry Division.

GERMANY: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 114: 236 B-17s hit the railroads and waterways in and around Munster, Germany plus targets of opportunity at Coesfeld, Germany and Enschede Airfield in the Netherlands, claiming 183-21-51 Luftwaffe aircraft. 30 B-17s were lost. 39 B-24s flew a diversion without loss or casualties. The B-17s were escorted by 216 P-47 Thunderbolts and claimed 19-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. A P-47 was lost. This was recorded as one of the most brutal battles of the war as the Allied fighter cover left the bombers 9 minutes from the IP when an estimated 200 Luftwaffe planes entered the battle. The air battle lasted about 45 minutes in which the standardized attack pattern of single-engined fighters attacked head-on while Bf 110s and Me 410s used rockets to hit the bombers from the rear. In about 25 minutes, 30 bombers were lost. It was during this battle that it was first reported that D0 217s attacked with "lateral" firing weapons. The Luftwaffe also lost aircraft as 26 Fw 190s from JG 1 and JG 26 were shot down. Maj. David C. Schilling, 56th FG's operations officer, USAAF, achieved aces status when he downed an Fw 190 near Altenberg, Germany. Maj. Schilling ended the war with 22.5 kills. 1st Lt. Robert S. Johnson 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieved ace status by downing a Bf 110 and a Fw 190 near Munster, Germany. He ended the war with 27 kills and was the second highest scoring US fighter ace in the ETO, sixth highest of all US fighter pilots. Capt. Walter C. Beckham, 351th FS/353d FG, USAAF, achieved ace status when he downed an Me 210 and two Bf 110s near Munster, Germany. Beckham ended the war with 18 e/a destroyed.

MEDITERRANEAN: The U. S. 45th "Thunderbird" Infantry Division edged close to German defenses along the Volturno River by taking Pontelandolfo, a mountain town 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Benevento.

The Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and RAF's Desert Air Force concentrate on gun positions on both the US Fifth and British Eighth Army battlefronts; vehicles, railroads, and town areas also are hit; the attacks take place northeast of Capua, at Guglionesi, at Cassino and Mondragone, between Rome and Terracina, and around the Termoli-Isernia-Pescara areas.

A time bomb killed 12 in a cathedral just before ranking U.S. officers arrived for Mass.

Adolf Hitler's decision to fight for Rome doomed Churchill's plan to take the Dodecanese Islands in the eastern Mediterranean and open a supply route to Turkey and the Soviet Union. During a strategy conference, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his top commanders realized they didn't have enough men and equipment for two Mediterranean campaigns; one in Italy, the other in the Dodecanese. Ike angered British Prime Minister Winston Churchill by refusing to send part of his forces to the islands.

P-38s escorted shipping off Rhodes, hit Antimachia Airfield in the Dodecanese Islands, and attacked vessels in the harbors of Corfu, Greece, and Kotor, Yugoslavia, and off Tivat, Yugoslavia, and hit targets of opportunity in the Aegean Sea and along its eastern coastline. Twelfth Air Force B-17s bombed 2 airfields at Athens, while B-24s hit Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes and Calato and Heraklion Airfields on Crete.

Partisans attacked German forces in Trieste, a large port near the Italian-Yugoslav frontier. The partisans penetrated into several of the city's suburbs and ignited a fierce battle.

Submarine HMS 'Trooper' was not heard from after leaving Beirut for a patrol west of the Dodecanese on 26 September. She may have been mined, or the victim of an accident. There were no survivors, all 60 crew becoming casualties.

'U-73' set an agent ashore on Cape Khanis in the Mediterranean.

Destroyer HS 'Miaoulis' rescued the crew of the destroyer HMS 'Panther'.

UNITED KINGDOM: The 360th Fighter Squadron, 356th Fighter Group, transfers from Goxhill to Martlesham, England with P-47's. The squadron will fly it's first mission on 15 Oct.

WESTERN FRONT: Oberst Walter Oesau of JG 2 was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1, relieving Major Hermann Graf who had taken over the Geschwader after the death of Obstlt. 'Fips' Philipp on 8 October.

 

[Njaco]

11 OCTOBER 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Novobelitsa on the outskirts of Gomel was liberated by the Soviets.

Hptm. Erich Rudorffer of II./JG 54 shot down 7 Russian aircraft in only 7 minutes to bring his total past 100 victories.

Lt. Gunther Kurz of Stab II./JG 52 (33 kills) was killed in combat.

Lt. Rudolf Wagner in a Bf 109G-6 collided in aerial combat with Uffz. Helmut Neu in a Bf 109G-6 near Yarzevo. Lt. Wagner survived with injuries while Uffz. Neu was listed as missing in action. Both pilots were serving with 10./JG 51 at the time.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British V and XIII Corps were now in the line of the 8th Army. They paused while Montgomery finished his reorganization plans.

US XII Bomber Command B-25 Mitchells bombed Garitsa Airfield, Greece and P-38s hit a vessel in the Corfu harbor on Corfu Island. In Italy, US XII Air Support Command and Northwest Tactical Bomber Force operations were cancelled or aborted due to weather, but RAF Desert Air Force fighters hit trains, trucks, and gun positions near Montesilvano and Vasto.

Partisans battled to within 23 miles (37.0 km) of Belgrade and raided Zagreb, Croatia's capital.

HMS 'Hythe' (J 194) (LtCdr Leslie B. Miller, RN) was hit by a Gnat from 'U-371' and sank off Bougie, Algeria.

UNITED KINGDOM: Advanced Amphibious Training Base, Falmouth, Cornwall, England, was established.

 

[Njaco]

12 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC swung firmly in favour of the Allies when Dr. Salazar, the Portuguese leader, revealed that British land, sea and air forces arrived in the Azores. The islands, strategically placed in mid-Atlantic, would be used for the aerial protection of merchant shipping plying between the United States and Britain. The move came after weeks of secret talks between Britain and Portugal. Though the two countries had a treaty relationship that dated from the 14th century, Dr. Salazar, in close co-operation with Franco's Spain, remained cautiously neutral between the Allied and Axis powers. The Azores pact reflected the growing certainty among neutrals that Hitler would eventually lose the war. The US, though not a signatory to the pact, would use the islands for joint military operations with Britain. Air cover by RAF Catalina and Wellington aircraft based in Britain and Newfoundland left a gap - which would now be closed - of several hundred miles in mid-Atlantic, where the U-boats assembled to prey on Allied shipping. The German consulate in the Azores was being closed and all German citizens were being evacuated. On the Portuguese mainland diplomatic links would continue.

Aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS 'Card' (CVE-11) broke up another German U-boat refuelling rendezvous when they attacked 'U-488' about 600 miles (965.6 km) north of Flores Island, Azores and damaged 'U-731'. This was the second attack on submarines refuelling; the first was on 4 October. An Avenger aircraft (VC-9) from escort carrier USS 'Card' attacked 'U-378' with a Fido homing torpedo but the boat managed to outmanoeuvre it.

MEDITERRANEAN: The US 5th Army began the attack on the Volturno line. Due to weather, inadequate roads and German demolitions the Allied advance was limited to major roads until spring. The British X Corps operating along the coast made little progress, being faced by determined German counterattacks. Lucas' US 6th Corps made more progress but poor weather and determined resistance limited advances.

US XII Bomber Command operations were cancelled by weather. In Italy, the US XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements operated on a reduced scale, hitting road junctions at Vasto and Fossacesia, Aquino Airfield, motor transport on the Itri-Pico road and on a road north of Rome in the Bolsena and Capranica areas, roads near Tarquinia, rail facilities at Cisterna di Latina, trains between Pescara and Benedello, and guns and troops near Cercemaggiore.

UNITED KINGDOM: In the evening, 4 Ju 88S-1s of III./KG 6 took-off for a nuisance attack on London. Two aircraft attacked the city without results. The other two aircraft broke off the attack due to engine problems. One bomber had an aerial combat with RAF night fighters from RAF No. 151 Sqdrn over London. Several hits on a Ju 88 from 7./KG 6 convinced the pilot to order his crew to bail out. Two parachutes were seen. These 2 crewmen, Uffz. Kurt Emmert and Ogfr. Kurt Abramowski have been listed as missing ever since. The pilot then ascertained that the aircraft was still flyable and headed for home base.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

13 October 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-402' was sunk by a Mark 24 Acoustic Torpedo (FIDO) from TBF Avenger and F4F Wildcat aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS 'Card' (CVE-11). All hands in the submarine, 50 men, are lost. Avenger aircraft from escort carrier 'Card' also dropped a Fido on 'U-603', but the U-boat was not damaged.

EASTERN FRONT: General Feodor Tolbukhin's army fought its way into Melitopol in the Ukraine, a way station on the Moscow-to-Crimea railroad. Tolbukhin's attack threatened to cut off the German-Romanian 17th Army in the Crimea and ignited a fierce 10-day battle.

Paul Finkler of JG 54 (20 kills) was killed in combat against Russian planes.

GERMANY: Lee "Shorty" Gordon becomes the first American prisoner-of-war to successfully escape from a German camp. He escaped from Stalag VIIA on a bicycle yelling the only German he knew, "Heil, Hitler". Gordon, from southern California, was serving as a ball turret gunner with the USAAF's 305th Bomb Group when his B-17 was shot down over Wilhelmshaven on February 26, 1943. He survived the parachute landing, but was quickly captured by German troops. After two failed escape attempts, Gordon tried again, trading identification tags with an Australian POW to gain access to the outdoor work area of the Moosburg camp where he bribed guards with coffee and cigarettes and hid in a bathroom stall until dark. He then hopped a fence when a guard's back was turned and walked out of the camp, Doyle said. Gordon rode freight trains to France, where he made contact with a Resistance group that helped him reunite with the Allied forces. He told the story of walking into a French cafe in "Escape From a Living Hell," a 2000 History Channel documentary:
"The waitress walked up to me. I looked at her and I said, 'I'm an American.'"
More than a year later, on Feb. 27, 1944, Gordon arrived in England.

A new I./ZG 26 was formed at Bad Lippspringe from I./ZG 1 and a new II./ZG 26 was formed at Hildesheim near Hannover from III./ZG 1.

4 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 4 to Duisburg without loss.

MEDITERRANEAN: Italy declared war on Germany. Less than five weeks ago, Italy was Hitler's ally. Today it is his enemy. The Italian ambassador in Madrid, Spain handed Italy's declaration of war to his German counterpart for transmission to Berlin. The declaration, signed by Italy's new leader, Marshal Badoglio, did not make Italy one of the Allies as such. With war crimes charges pending against some Fascist leaders and generals, Italy officially became no more than a "co-belligerent". However, Badoglio called on all Italian soldiers to;

"fight against the Germans to the last man."

In a letter to General Eisenhower, Badoglio said:

"By this act, all ties with the dreadful past are broken, and my government will be proud to be able to march with you on to the inevitable victory."

There was debate as to whether Italian forces would be used against the Germans in Italy. However, they were fighting with the British in the Aegean and served to garrison Sardinia and Corsica. One tricky problem remained to be resolved: the thousands of Italian PoWs in Allied hands.

Six American and British divisions of Mark Clark's Fifth Army attacked German defenses along the Volturno River, 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Naples. The US 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions established three bridgeheads on the north side of the Volturno. They had been bitterly resisted by three German divisions. The attack had begun yesterday, but rain, mud and the swollen river provided sterling assistance to the Germans who had retreated to the river following the Allied capture of Naples on 1 October. The rainy season began a month earlier than usual, slowing the Allied advance and giving the Germans more time to prepare their defences here and further north along the rivers Liri and Rapido.

US XII Bomber Command B-25s and B-26 Marauders bombed the town of Alife, a road junction at Sessa Aurunca, and airfield at Tirana; XII Air Support Command, supplemented by RAF Desert Air Force fighters, supported the US Fifth Army, which during the assault crossing of the Volturno River on a 40-mile (64 km) front during the night of 12/13 October. Fighters and fighter-bombers hit troop and tank concentrations, trains, trucks, and communications the lines in the forward areas, especially around Ortona, Giulianova, and Campobasso. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force light bombers joined in the attacks, hitting road junctions in the Vairano, Carinola, Dragoni, Vasto, Terracina, and Minturno areas.

Yugoslav partisans struck at the German industrial empire at Zeneca, wrecking several of the huge Krupp factories including the biggest steel works in the country. The partisans claimed to have destroyed 27 railway engines and 150 wagons. Street fighting was also reported in Zeneca and other towns. German reinforcements were said to be rushing to the district. A partisan communiqué revealed that the Italian Venezia division - which, a few days ago, had been fighting against the partisans - had come over to the Yugoslav side.

Lt. Helmut Hansel of Stab./JG 77 (8 kills) was killed in action.

Destroyer 'Bristol' (DD-453) was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine 'U-371', 70 miles west-northwest of Bone, Algeria.

 

[Njaco]

14 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-455' collides with 'U-631' and suffers heavy damage.

EASTERN FRONT: German forces evacuated the Zaporoshe bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnepr river and it fell to the Russians. The railroad from the Crimea to Melitopol was cut by the Red Army.

Major Walter Nowotny shot down his 250th Russian plane. Before war's end, four other German pilots would surpass Nowotny's score.

The 600 inmates of the Sobibor extermination camp, mainly women working in the small tailors' workshop, revolted against the camp regime and staged an astonishing escape attempt. The revolt was spearheaded by a group of White Russian Jewish partisans led by Aleksandr "Sacha" Pieczerski, a 34-year old Russian Jew who had served as a political commissar in the Red Army. The Jews were armed with a few guns and hand-grenades, stolen from the SS barracks, and a handful of knives and hatchets. The mutiny started in the afternoon during the routine inspection of the prisoners' huts. The rebels killed 11 guards, then shouted "Hurrah" to signal a mass breakout. In the chaos that followed, the guards shot 200 inmates dead. Others perished in the minefield that surrounds the camp; estimates of the number who escaped successfully vary from 100 to 300. Pierczerski and his second-in-command, Leon Feldhandler, were thought to be among those who did escape to join the partisans. A small group of Dutch Jews was apparently trying to get home. In a camp where deportees stood only a one in 40 chance of avoiding immediate death in the gas chambers, today's breakout was a brave attempt to shorten the odds.

GERMANY: Black Thursday: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 115: 229 of 291 B-17s were dispatched to hit the city area and ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany, in 2 groups; the first group bombed at 1439-1445 hours, the second group at 1451-1457 hours. They lost 60 aircraft shot down, 7 damaged beyond repair and 138 damaged. There was no appreciable reduction of supplies of ball-bearings to German industry. The factories had previously been attacked on August 17, resulting in a disastrous loss of aircraft. The second mission turned out no different, and has become known as Black Thursday due to the heavy loss of men and aircraft. The weather hampered the Bomber formations rendezvous, and as a result the wrong formations were in the wrong position. Much of the American formations were spread out, offering little protection for each other; an invitation for attacking fighters. The Germans had suspected a deep penetration raid because of the substantial raid traffic. Jagddivision 3 was positioned to meet the bombers as they crossed the coast. The P-47s tried to protect the scattered bomber groups and succeeded in downing 7 Bf 109s for a single loss, and the only P-47 loss of the day. Over the Netherlands JG 1 and 26 made repeated attacks. The 305th Bomb Group lost 13 of its 16 B-17s in minutes. After dropping their bombs the American bombers were almost immediately attacked by German fighters, having landed, refuelled and rearmed, struck again. JG 11 shot down 18 B-17s during this period. Finally, the B-17s reached the coastline of Europe and relative safety, some of them so heavily damaged that though they brought their crews home, they would never fly again. Out of 2,900 men in the crews, about 650 men did not return, although 65 survived as POWs. Five were killed and forty-three wounded in the damaged aircraft that made it home, and 594 were listed as Missing in Action. Only thirty-three bombers landed without damage. The 306th Bomb Group was hard hit, losing 100 men, of which 35 died on the mission, or of wounds, and 65 were captured. The 305th Bomb Group lost 130 men, with 36 killed. The 87 percent loss rate had left the group devastated. The bomber crews claimed to have shot down 288 German aircraft, postwar analysis showed the real figure to have been 27. This raid, on Schweinfurt, would be the last Allied daylight air raid deep within Germany until the arrival of the long range fighter escorts. The lesson was that the Fortresses could not live in the air over Germany without fighters for protection. A Ninth Air Force was therefore to be formed on 16 October to provide escort cover for bombing attacks and, in the longer term, a future invasion of Europe.

Only 29 of 60 B-24s were able to form up in poor weather. They abandoned their planned mission and fly a diversion towards Emden, Germany.

Capt. Frank E. McCauley, 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieved ace status (5.5 kills) when he downed a Bf 110 near Aachen.

MEDITERRANEAN: The battle along the Volturno River continued. The Fifth Army expanded its bridgeheads across the Volturno River. The US 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions pushed 4 miles (6.4 km) beyond the river.

US XII Bomber Command B-25s hit Argos Airfield and B-17s bombed the Terni marshalling yard. Other B-17s and B-24s attacked a bridge at Giulianova, the town area of Piano-Vomano and railroad and highway bridges north of Pescara and along the eastern coast of Italy. Weather hindered tactical aircraft operations, but the US XII Air Support Command and RAF Desert Air Force hit trains and vehicles and flew patrols from north of the Volturno River to Formia and north of Pescara.

Submarine HMS 'Trooper' was sunk by a German Q-ship off the island of Kos in the Greek Aegean.

An Me 410A-1 from 2(F)./122 was shot down by Spitfires near Bari while reconnoitering along the route Termoli-Bari. The crew of Lt Werner Hirschfelder (F) and Obgfr. Helmut Seidel, were reported missing.

NORTHERN FRONT: 'U-737' destroys a landing stage off Grummanntbyan with a demolition charge.

General der Artillerie Alfred Jodl arrives Finland to present the German view of the present military-political situation. He explains that the Italian surrender has no significance and that Germany will hold its positions around Leningrad.

WESTERN FRONT: The 55th FG, USAAF, (P-38s) and 356th FG, USAAF, (P-47) made their combat debut in a pair of fighter sweeps over the Frisian Islands (Netherlands). The 55th was the first P-38 unit to operate from the UK since all P-38 units were committed to Operation TORCH in 1942. It was also the first 8th Fighter Command unit to actually enter combat with P-38s.

 

[Njaco]

15 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The 1.Staffel of Fernaufklarungs-Gruppe 5 [German for Long Range Reconnaissance Group] with Ju 290A-2s and -3s joined operations over the Atlantic.

The SS 'Essex Lance' (Master Arthur Henry Dean), a straggler from convoy ONS-20, was torpedoed and sunk by 'U-426' southeast of Cape Farewell. Earlier 'U-842' (Heller) reported that they had sighted the 'Essex Lance', but were unable to attack the ship. The master, 43 crew members and eight gunners were picked up by the British rescue ship 'Accrington' and landed at Halifax on 26 October.

'U-371' damaged SS 'James Russell Lowell' beyond repair in Convoy GUS-18.

EASTERN FRONT: 'U-23' fired one torpedo at a small convoy of two steamers and a coastal minesweeper and observed a hit in the bow of the first steamer. The U-boat had followed the ships since several hours off Kodor and then tried to attack the second steamer, but was chased away by gunfire from the vessel and the escort. TSC-486 'Sovetskaja Rossija' was damaged in this attack.

Oblt. Helmut Fickel was made Adjutant in III./SG 2. He accompanied Rudel on many of his most difficult and dangerous tank raids and was himself successful in these attacks.

Hans Grubert of JG 54 (5 kills) was killed in action. Oblt. Anton 'Toni' Hafner of JG 51, newly returned from injuries suffered in January, downed 3 Russian fighters to bring his score to 100 victories.

MEDITERRANEAN: British units of General Mark Clark's Fifth Army finally broke German defenses and pushed across the Volturno river, some on pontoon bridges built by combat engineers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. The 1st Canadian Corps took Vinchiaturo. US XII Air Support Command and other elements of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force hit roads, railroads, bridges, junctions, railway facilities, town areas, and motor transport at or near Piedimonte, Vairano, Termoli, Petacciato, Sparanise, and Civitanova, and hit gun positions and communications in the general battle area north of the Volturno River.

Twelfth Air Force B-25s of the US XII Bomber Command hit airfields at Salonika and Megalo Mikra in Greece.

'U-616' encountered the British submarine HMS 'Untiring', which fired three torpedoes without success.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff accepted General Henry H. "Hap" Arnolds's proposal to split the Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean into two air forces; the Twelfth Air Force will become a tactical air force while the new Fifteenth Air Force will become a strategic air force.

'U-371' fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy GUS-18 off Cape de Fer, Algeria and heard three hits. Mehl reported one ship sunk and another probably damaged. In fact, the 'James Russell Lowell' (Master Richard Newton Forman Jr.) in station #85 was hit by three torpedoes. The first struck on the rudder, carrying it and the rudder post away. The second struck on the port side at the #3 hold and blew off the hatch cover, created cracks in the hull on both sides and flooded the hold and engine room. The third torpedo struck at the #1 hold, blew the hatch cover off and flooded the hold. The engines were secured immediately and the eight officers, 38 crewmen and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in four lifeboats, which stayed near the ship. About one hour later, the British armed whaler HMS 'Southern Sea' (FY 326) appeared and took the master on board for a conference. 30 minutes later the merchant crew went back on board and the whaler took the ship in tow. As weather conditions worsen, all but the master and two men abandon ship once more.

British scientists recovered German guided bomb parts from nine Dorniers Do 217 bombers abandoned at Foggia, Italy, including tranceivers and control panels, allowing technical analysis.

UNITED KINGDOM: British General Pownall was appointed Chief of Staff; US General Wedemeyer was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to Admiral Mountbatten at South East Asia Command. HQ U.S. Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom (USAAFUK) was activated to exercise supervision over and provide coordination between the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces in the UK. Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker was appointed Commanding General in addition to his duties as Commanding General Eighth Air Force. HQ Ninth Air Force moved from North Africa to England and Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton assumed command. Although the Ninth Air Force was scheduled to provide tactical support to Allied ground forces after the Normandy invasion, the Ninth's fighters will support the Eighth Air Force in its strategic missions over Europe.

WESTERN FRONT: Eight Typhoon Mk Ibs of RAF No. 257 (Burma) Sqdrn took off at 15:03 hours to take part in 10 Group's 'Rodeo 41'. The aircraft swept over the Brest penisula and met 4 Fw 190s with long-range tanks flying 500m above the Typhoons. One Focke-Wulf was shot down by F/O S.J. khin and F/Sgt D.C.J. Calman. F/O Khin also claimed one Fw 190 damaged. Ofw. Helmut Hasse of 1./SAGr 128 was shot down and killed by the pair of Typhoons at Tal-ar-Groas, south of Brest. The RAF squadron also spotted 2 Bf 110s and gave chase but could not catch them.

A sweeping re-organization and complete restructuring of the Jagdwaffe command structure was called for and this was implemented this day. The Luftwaffe disbanded XII Fliegerkorps and formed two Jagdkorps and the renumbered most of the Jagddivisionen. XII Fliegerkorps became I.Jagdkorps and a new II.Jagdkorps was created. The necessary orders for the re-organization were issued on 15 September but re-organizing the Stabe and the communication system required time and the new organizations thus became effective on 15 October.

 

[Hugh Spencer]

16 October 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U.S.-built destroyer escorts transferred under Lend-Lease to Great Britain (HMS 'Byard', HMS 'Bentinck', HMS 'Berry', HMS 'Drury', and HMS 'Bazely') entered combat for the first time as escorts for convoy O, Nova Scotia. 20. The British classify the ships as "frigates."

German U-boats had a bad day when they attacked two Allied convoys in the North Atlantic. Eight U-boats were sunk or damaged by RAF patrol planes and RN warships while the Germans sank only one merchant ship. The three boats sunk were: 'U-470' sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft "C" of No. 59 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland, and Liberator and Liberator Mk. III, aircraft "E" of No. 120 Squadron based at Reykjavik, Iceland. Two of the 48 crewmen on the U-boat survived. 'U-844' was sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft "S" of No. 59 Squadron and a Liberator, aircraft "L" of No. 86 Squadron; both squadrons were based at based at Ballykelly, Ireland. All 53 hands on the submarine were lost. 'U-844' had shot down an RAF Liberator aircraft, Squadron 59/S near Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-20. The aircraft was damaged and had to ditch near HMS 'Pink'. 'U-964' was sunk southwest of Iceland by depth charges from an RAF Liberator, aircraft "Y" of No. 86 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland. Three of the 50 U-boat crewmen survived. 'U-231' pulled from the water five men from the just-sunk 'U-964'. One of them, the commander ObltzS Hummerjohann, was already dead, and a second survivor died some minutes after his rescue, so only three men of 'U-964' survived.

'U-448' shot down RCAF Sunderland aircraft, Squadron 422/S near Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-20. 'U-448' and 'U-281' were both involved in the attack and the former was so damaged she had to abort her patrol. One man was killed and two wounded.

EASTERN FRONT: Vatutin's forces launched attacks out of the Bukrin bridgehead south of Kiev. The attacks were met by several German panzer divisions. Fighting was severe and the Germans defeated the Russian tanks and infantry. In the southern Ukraine, a group of Red armies led by General Ivan Konev crossed the Dnieper, bursting through German defenses and pushing toward Krivoi Rog, a steelmaking center.

GERMANY: 9 Mosquitoes went to Dortmund, without loss. One of the aircraft was carrying out a G-H trial but its equipment failed and it had to bomb by dead reckoning.

MEDITERRANEAN: German forces, in Italy, facing the US 5th Army finished their fighting retreat to the Barbara Line as scheduled by Kesselring.

Twelfth Air Force P-38s bombed a vessel in Leukas Channel off the west coast of Greece. In Italy, US XII Bomber Command B-25s bombed the marshalling yard and rail lines, railroad tunnel, highway underpass, warehouses, industrial buildings, and gas works in or near Bologna; US XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements provided close support to the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies; fighters and light and medium bombers hit communications centers of Venafro, Vairano, Sparanise, Latina, Alife, and the town of Pietravairano; roads, railroads, and junctions in the areas southeast of Rome to the bomb line, between Vasto and Pescara, and at Mondragone; gun positions, trucks, and military concentrations near Vinchiaturo, Boiano, and Termoli; landing ground of Cisterna di Latina; and several other targets in the area between Rome and Ancona.

Chief of the Rome SIPO office, SS-Obstbf., Herbert Kappler, organised an 'Aktion' against the Jewish community. 1,259 Italian Jews were arrested.

Monks at Monte Cassino in Italy began removing the archive and library, following a German warning that it would soon be in the line of fire.

NORTH AFRICA: The 4th and 5th New Zealand Brigades begin a movement from Port Tewfik. Egypt to Italy.

NORTH AMERICA: The USN accepts its first helicopter, a USAAF Sikorsky YR-4B-SI Hoverfly at Bridgeport, Connecticut. The USN receives three and designates them XH, Nova Scotia.-1s.

UNITED KINGDOM: Headquarters, 9th USAAF, was formally reactivated at Sunninghill Park, England, following its transfer from Egypt. Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton resumed his duties as commanding general. US IX Bomber Command was reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Samuel E. Anderson. US IX Fighter command was reactivated under the temporary command of Lt. Col. Ray J. Stecker. US IX Air Support Command was reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry J. Miller. A new US IX Troop Carrier command was activated under the command of Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Giles. All four B-26 groups were transferred to the 9th AF from the 3d Medium Bombardment Wing when it was disbanded. US IX Troop Command assumed control of all 8th AF troop carrier units. The US IX Troop Carrier Command was activated at Cottesmore with Brigadier General Benjamin F Giles as Commanding General; the 315th Troop Carrier Group (34th and 43d Troop Carrier Squadrons with C-47s) were transferred from the Eighth Air Force; and the 434th Troop Carrier Group and its 71st, 72d, 73d and 74th Troop Carrier Squadrons that arrived on 9 Oct were also assigned.

WESTERN FRONT: Hptm. Rolf Hermichen was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 11.

During the night of 16/17 October, eight RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over northern France without loss.

 

[Njaco]

17 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 'U-540' (Type IXC/40) is sunk east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from 2 British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 59/D and 120/H). 55 dead (all crew lost).

'U-631' (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS 'Sunflower'. 53 dead (all crew lost).

'U-841' (Type IXC/40) is sunk in the North Atlantic east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS 'Byard'. 26 dead, 26 survivors.

In the evening of this day a Liberator aircraft attacked 'U-281' with bombs and machine guns, wounding three crewmembers.

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet forces shatter the Dniepr River line defenses with attacks near Kremenchug. They crossed the Dniepr River south of Gomel and captured Loyev.

MEDITERRANEAN: The Allied campaign slowed to a crawl in the face of bad weather and fierce German rearguard actions. During the next month, Clark's Fifth Army and Montgomery's 8th Army will creep forward about a mile (1.6 km) per day, fighting mud, mines and booby-traps and Germans entrenched on the high ground. Cold and hungry front-line infantrymen build rock shelters to protect themselves from snipers and shellfire. By mid-November, the Fifth Army will be so bloodied and exhausted that Clark will order a two-week halt to rest and recuperate. The Germans were methodically withdrawing to three south-of-Rome defence lines called Barbara, Bernhard and, the toughest, Gustav. Units of the US 5th Army captured Liberi and Alvignono.

In the air, weather prevented operations by the US XII Bomber Command. US and RAF units of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force operated at a reduced pace. Light and medium bombers hit the towns of Teano and Alife and motor transport at Benedello, Penna, and Pedesso; fighter-bombers bombed and strafed troops, trucks, guns, train stations, and a bridge near Vinchiaturo, Benedello, Teramo, and Sparanise; other fighters strafed locomotives south of Ancona.

The British cruiser HMS 'Sirius' was deployed in the Aegean with HM Destroyers 'Pathfinder', 'Eclipse' and 'Beaufort'. Reinforced with HMS 'Aurora' and destroyers in support of military operations the ships bombarded Cos harbour. Under heavy and sustained air attack, 'Sirius' was hit by a 250 Kg bomb south of Scarpanto Strait on the quarterdeck and had a further 4 near misses causing fires aft. There was major damage to armament and radar aerials from splinters. 14 of ship's company were killed and 30 wounded.

UNITED KINGDOM: A Barrage balloon broke away from moorings at Dunston and crashed on a row of houses in Delaval Street, Scotswood Road. One or two injured, two chimney stacks and slates etc were damaged.

WESTERN FRONT: 8 Mosquitoes went to Berlin, 2 to Aachen and 2 to Hamborn. 54 Stirlings and Wellingtons went minelaying in the Frisians and off Biscay ports, no losses.

 

[Njaco]

18 OCTOBER 1943

EASTERN FRONT: Fighting around Melitopol continued as the Soviets penetrated to the centre of town.

British, American, and Soviet foreign ministers met in Moscow, Russia, over 13 days. They established the European Advisory Commission, to elaborate a joint Allied plan for Germany.

Ofw. Werner Kloss of 5./JG 3 (18 kills) was killed in combat.

GERMANY: During the night, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 360 Lancasters to attack Hannover; 349 aircraft attack the city with the loss of 18 aircraft, 5.0 per cent of the force. The target area is covered by cloud and the Pathfinders are not successful in marking the position of Hannover. The raid is scattered, with most bombs falling in open country north and north-west of the city. This raid concludes the current series of raids on Hannover. Bomber Command has dispatched 2,253 sorties in four raids and ten USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress sorties had also been flown; 1,976 aircraft claimed to have bombed in the target area. Only one raid has been completely successful but that had caused severe damage. One hundred ten bombers are lost on the raids, 4.9 per cent of those dispatched. One of the Lancasters lost on the Hannover raid is the 5,000th Bomber Command aircraft lost on operations since the start of the war. By the end of this night, the bombers have flown approximately 144,500 sorties, 90 per cent of them by night, and lost 5,004 aircraft, 4,365 by night and 639 by day, over German territory, crashed in the sea or shot down over England by German Intruders or "friendly" defences.

RAF Bomber Command also dispatches Mosquitos to attack targets: ten bomb a blast furnace at Duisburg, eight hit Emden, seven hit Berlin, three bomb a zinc factory at Stolberg and one bombs Dusseldorf.

For the past month, Allied planes have been trying to wreck German troop and supply trains to Italy but the Germans are organizing their trains in Austria and making high-speed night runs to depots near the front lines.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British 8th Army, after a brief rest period to regroup and resupply, launched its offensive toward the Trigno River while the US 5th Army captured Gioia. The slowly advancing US 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions took two dozen Italian towns and villages as the Germans retreated toward their mountainous Barbara defence line, 35 miles north of Naples. For the past month, Allied planes have been trying to wreck German troop and supply trains but the Germans were organizing their trains in Austria and making high-speed night runs to depots near the front lines.

US XII Bomber Command dispatched B-25 Mitchells to bomb the marshalling yard at Skoplje, Yugoslavia; P-38s followed with a strafing mission, damaging or destroying several locomotives and vehicles. In Italy, US XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches hit the Venafro railroad yards, and other fighter-bombers hit gun positions, troops, and railway stations in or near Boiano, Petacciato, and Vairano. Fighters strafed airfields around Rome and also hit Viterbo, Grosseto, and the seaplane base at Bracciano, and attacked trains on the Rome-Orte and Rome-Naples, Italy lines. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force light bombers bombed the road and railway near Cassino, the town of Carpinone, the road junction at Castiglione della Valle, and roads, bridges, and motor transport near Minturno and Chieti.

Nazi deportations of Italy's Jews to the extermination camps began when 1,007 Roman Jews were despatched to Auschwitz. The operation against the ghetto in Rome began on 26 September when the German authorities - in control of most of Italy since the surrender - threatened to arrest 200 ghetto inhabitants unless 110 pounds (50 kg) of gold was produced within 36 hours. The whole city gave gold to save them. On Saturday 16 October, the Jewish Sabbath, the arrests began. Today the first transportation left for Auschwitz.

WESTERN FRONT: 228 US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders dispatched to bomb 4 airfields were recalled before attacking because of unfavourable weather. Six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Texel Island without loss.

Several thousand disabled Allied and German prisoners were swapped at Goteborg, Sweden, and Barcelona, Spain.

French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, who escaped from a POW camp six weeks ago, was one of seven Frenchmen flown to Britain from hiding in France.

 

[Njaco]

19 OCTOBER 1943

ATLANTIC OCEAN: US freighter 'Delisle', in convoy WB 65, fouls a mine laid by German submarine 'U-220' as the merchantman lies to, 15 miles out of St. John's, Newfoundland, rescuing survivors of British freighter 'Penolver'. 'Delisle' suffered no casualties and was abandoned by the 32-man crew and 7-man Armed Guard, and three sailors from 'Penolver'. British trawler HMS 'Miscou' rescued the survivors.

EASTERN FRONT: Pyatikhatki, west of Dnepropetrovsk was under Soviet attack as was Krivoy Rog from the Kremenchug bridgehead. North of Kiev, Soviet units were consolidating their bridgeheads. Manstein was juggling units and attempting to reinforce to allow his forces holding the bend in the Dniepr River time to retreat.

The foreign ministers of the "Big Three" Allied powers - Cordell Hull, Eden and Molotov - sat down together in the Kremlin to tell one another, in the words of an official spokesman;

"....frankly and freely what is on each others' minds".

The talks, which were expected to last for ten days, will conclude with a firm pledge that the US, Britain and the Soviet Union would not consider any separate peace negotiations with Germany. Postwar co-operation between the Big Powers to guarantee peace and security would also be discussed. An outline plan for the creation of an international organization, open to all peace-loving states, was drafted and was expected to be approved. In a separate meeting in London the US and Britain promised Stalin big increases in military aid in the next eight months: 2,700,000 tons will arrive via Soviet Pacific ports, 2,400,000 tons via the Persian Gulf and 1,000,000 tons by Arctic convoy.

Luftwaffe ace pilot Erich Hartmann was shot down and taken captive by Russian soldiers. However, he pretended to be wounded and when the opportunity arises he escaped.

SS General Odilo Globocnik, SS and police leader in the Lublin District of the Generalgouvernement, announces the end of Aktion Reinhard Operation REINHARD, the code name for the German plan to murder Polish Jews, and dissolution of the camps. Most SS personnel involved in Aktion Reinhard are transferred to the Adriatic coastal operation zone to fight the partisans and select and deport the Jews of that area.

GERMANY: The German War Office contracted the Mittelwerk to produce 12,000 V-2 rockets. Mittelwerk was the underground WWII rocket and aircraft factory operated by the government Mittelwerk GmbH company and which consisted of 2 main tunnels 1.6 km long. Mittelwerk GmbH also headed V-2 rocket development sites at Schlier (Project Zement) and Lehesten. General Emil Leeb, head of the Army Weapons Office, issued War Contract No. 0011-5565/43 to Mittelwerk GmbH for 12,000 A-4 missiles at 40,000 Reichsmarks each. Initially V-2 rockets were shipped to depots for storage prior to use, but faults from short-term aging required 500 partially-defective V-2s to be cannibalised, with parts returned to the Nordhausen plant. One such defect was that the bearing bushings of the servomechanisms swelled during storage due to moisture.

Major Gunther von Kornatzki persuaded certain powers to let him form an experimental air unit based on the Wehrmacht's Sturm units who got in close to enemy units and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He envisioned a unit designed to break up the heavily armed four-engined bombers of the Allies. After consulting with Reichsmarschall Goering and others about the idea (Goering was still angered by the 4 October Allied raid on Frankfurt when no fighters intercepted the bombers), General Galland issued the following;

"German fighters have been unable to obtain decisive successes in the defense against American four-engined formations. Even the introduction of new weaponry has not appreciably changed the situation. The main reason for this is the failure of the formation leaders to lead up whole formations for attack at the closest possible range. Goering has therefore ordered the establishment of a Sturmstaffel whose task will be to break up Allied formations by means of an all-out attack with more heavily armed fighters in close formation at the closest range. Such attacks that are undertaken are to be pressed home to the very heart of the Allied formation whatever happens and without regard to losses until the formation is annihilated."

It was left up to Major von Kornatzki to form the new unit. General Galland's staff began to scour the fighter bases looking for volunteers and eventually ended up with 15 pilots, enough to make a staffel. They were sent to Berlin to meet with Major von Kornatzki, who explained the purpose of the unit, given the name 'Sturmstaffel 1'. The unit soon adopted the Fw 190 modified with additional armour. The pilots also initially wore specially-designed steel helmets but these were found to be impracticable.

MEDITERRANEAN: The German units holding Dragoni, a village 28 miles (45.1 km) north of Naples, escaped just before the attack by the US 34th Infantry Division started. The offensive by the US Fifth Army (Clark) along the Volturno river bogged down due to bad weather and in the face of the skillful German defenses.

The Northwest African Air Force began an air offensive against railroad bridges in Italy in the hope that the Germans will have to rely on coastal vessels and motor transport. During a low-level raid, US XII Bomber Command B-24s bombed bridges at Porto Civitanova, south of Porto Sant' Elpidio, north of Pedaso, and north of Cupra Marittima; fighters, fighter-bombers, and light bombers of the US XII Air Support Command, Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force, and RAF Desert Air Force attacked the town of Boiano, gun positions and troop concentrations on the outskirts of town, and an ammunition dump and railroad tunnel nearby, Viterbo and Tarquinia landing fields, the towns of Cassino and Anzio, the railroad north of Pesaro and near Pineto, trains near Barisciano, troops near Mintumo, and vehicles at several points.

USAAF B-25s and RAF Beaufighters attacked German convoys north of Crete, sinking the transport 'Sinfra' which, unbeknownst to the attackers, was transporting POWs. The ship was carrying 2,700 British and Italian prisoners; only 566 survive.

NORTH AMERICA: The Third (London) Protocol, extending through 30 June 1944, is signed. It promises 2.7 million tons (2,5 metric tonnes) to USSR via the Pacific route and 2.4 million (2,2 million) by either the northern Soviet ports or the Persian Gulf.

NORTHERN FRONT: The USN heavy cruiser USS 'Tuscaloosa' (CA-37), accompanied by a US and three British destroyers, transported Norwegian troops and equipment to Spitsbergen Island to re-establish bases destroyed in the German raid of 8 September 1943. A second Allied force, with aircraft carrier USS 'Ranger' (CV-4) included, provided cover for the operation.

UNITED KINGDOM: HQ 359th Fighter Group and it's 369th Fighter Squadron arrives at East Wretham, England from the US with P-47's. The group will fly it's first mission on 13 Dec 43.

WESTERN FRONT: The exchange of thousands of sick and seriously wounded British and German PoWs began at the Swedish port of Gothenburg. Most of the British were captured in 1940 at Dunkirk; others were taken in last year's raid on Dieppe, including Canadians. Germans from Rommel's Afrika Korps were still in desert uniform. This was the first PoW exchange between Germany and Britain of the war; negotiations for an earlier exchange in 1941 were broken off by Germany, which this time asked for the exchange: 5,000 Germans and 5,400 British and Imperial forces were now going home.