World War II in real time

Day 1364 of World War II, June 7th 1943

Air War over Europe

HQ US 353d Fighter Group arrived at Goxhill, England from the US.

Battle of the Mediterranean

For the fourth straight day, the island of Pantelleria is bombarded from sea and air. Following a night raid by Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons on Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean, heavy, medium and light bombers, and fighters of the NASAF and Northwest Tactical Air Force (NATAF) pounded the island throughout the afternoon, dropping 600 tons of bombs.

North Africa

Photo: Beach party communications at work, with a radio being used, as naval beach parties and commandos train at HMS Saunders, Kabrit, Bitter Lakes near the Mediterranean, June 1943



German occupied Europe

The Axis discovered the "Comet Line," an underground network of safe houses established in 1940 to rescue Allies trapped behind enemy lines. The houses stretched from Belgium through France, Spain, and Gibraltar.

United States

The Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet established a project for airborne test, by Commander Fleet Air, West Coast, of high velocity, "forward shooting" rockets. These rockets, which had nearly double the velocity of those tested earlier at Dahlgren, had been developed by a rocket section, led by Dr. C. C. Lauritsen, at the California Institute of Technology under National Defense Research Committee auspices and with Navy support. This test project, which was established in part on the basis of reports of effectiveness in service of a similar British rocket, completed its first airborne firing from a TBF of a British rocket on 14 July and of the CalTech round on 20 August. The results of these tests were so favorable that operational squadrons in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets were equipped with forward firing rockets before the end of the year.

Pacific War

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

The USAAF's Alexi Point Airfield and Naval Air Facility Attu are established on Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, just seven days after the island was declared secured.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Thirteenth Air Force) P-38's and P-40's, along with Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P-40's and Navy and Marine fighters, intercept a large force of fighter-escorted dive bombers on a mission against Allied shipping off Guadalcanal. Fighters from the newly-opened Banika Island bases initiate the interception. A running fight develops and extends down to Guadalcanal. More than 20 Japanese aircraft are downed; 9 Allied fighters are lost but all the pilots are recovered. Some of the Zeros were performing glide bombing attacks.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Fifth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's attack Wewak, Lae, Madang, and Kesup hitting town areas and airfields, and strafe sampans on the Sepik River.

PACIFIC

Submarine chaser PC-496 is sunk by mine, 37°23'N, 09°52'E.

Day 1366 of World War II, June 9th 1943

Eastern Front

German and Russian forces on the eastern front launched a series of probes against each other. Soviet thrusts along the Mius River gained some ground while a German attack near Lisichansk did not.

Air War over Europe

RAF No. 350 (Belgian) squadron moves to Ouston Airfield.

8 OTU Wellingtons went on leaflet flights to France. 1 aircraft crashed in England.

Battle of the Mediterranean

The heavy shelling of Pantelleria Island continued for the sixth straight day, dropping more than 822 tons and the Allies say that it will go on until the island surrenders. Medium and heavy bombers, and fighters of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) continued pounding the Island in predawn hours and during the afternoon.

German occupied Yugoslavia

The Axis “Operation Black” against the Yugoslavian partisans succeeded in trapping Tito and a battalion of his troops. A breakout was made which left 100 partisans dead, Tito was wounded during a German air attack and his forces scattered. However, they regrouped and fought on.

In Sicily, B-24s bombed the landing ground at Gerbini and the airfield at Catania.

United Kingdom

Photo: Airborne soldiers retrieve folding motorcycles or 'Welbikes' from equipment containers, Bulford, 9 June 1943



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force) 6 P-4O's damage a railroad bridge at Puchi, China and strafe nearby railroad yards.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Thirteenth Air Force) In the Solomon Islands, B-24's on reconnaissance attack a small vessel WNW of Cape Henpan. B-17's, P-40's, and P-38's' pound the airfields at Munda and Vila.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Fifth Air Force) In New Guinea, 2 B-24's bomb the town area of Manokwari and Nabire Airfield. A lone B-17 bombs Unea Island in the Bismarck Archipelago.

PACIFIC

Submarine Greenling (SS-213) damages Japanese oiler Akebono Maru en route to Truk, 02°17'N, 145°38'E.

Day 1368 of World War II, June 11th 1943

YouTube (Eisenhower Lays Out His Plans for Sicily)



Air War over Europe

The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flew Mission Number 62: 252 B-17s were dispatched against the U-boat yard at Wilhelmshaven, Germany and the port area at Cuxhaven, Germany. 218 hit the targets and claimed 85 Luftwaffe aircraft. Eight B-17s were lost. The raid on Wilhelmshaven demonstrated the difficulty of operating beyond range of fighters escort as enemy fighter attacks prevented accurate bombing of the target.

326 Lancasters, 202 Halifaxes, 143 Wellingtons, 99 Stirlings and 13 Mosquitoes attacked Dusseldorf. 38 aircraft were lost. This was the first night that more than 200 Halifaxes took part in a raid.The Pathfinder marking plan proceeded excellently until an Oboe Mosquito inadvertently released a load of target indicators 14 miles north-east of Dusseldorf. This caused part of the Main Force to waste its bombs on open country. But the main bombing caused extensive damage in the center of Dusseldorf where 130 acres were claimed as destroyed and this proved to be the most damaging raid of the war for this city. Dusseldorf reported that the fire area measured 8 km by 5 km covering the city center - both the old and the new parts, the Derendorf district and the south of the city. No less than 8,882 separate fire incidents were recorded of which 1,444 were classified as large. 1,292 people were killed and 140,000 people were bombed out of their homes. The list of destroyed and seriously damaged industrial and public buildings covered 4 typed pages in the Dusseldorf report. 42 industries connected with the war effort suffered complete stoppages of production and 35 more suffered a partial reduction. 20 military establishments were hit. 8 ships were sunk or damaged. The Gau (province) local government headquarters was destroyed.

29 Lancasters, 22 Halifaxes and 21 Stirlings were dispatched on an interesting raid on Munster. All the aircraft were provided by 8 Group and it was really a mass H2S trial. 33 of the aircraft carried markers or flares, the remaining aircraft acting as the bombing force although the marker aircraft also bombed. The marking and bombing were very accurate and the whole raid lasted less than 10 minutes. Photographic reconnaissance showed that much damage was done to railway installations in Munster as well as to housing areas. Munster's report was very brief stating only that 132 buildings were destroyed, 317 were seriously damaged and 52 people were killed. Unfortunately the raid was expensive for the small force involved. 5 aircraft were lost.

Major Hermann Graf arrived at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim airfield to begin forming a new high-altitude fighter Geschwader for Reichmarschall Goering's anti-Mosquito group. Major Graf, who was directly responsible to Goering, had very little problem arranging the transfer of a number pilots to his group. The fighter unit started with 8 specially modified Bf 109Gs though the arrival of the planes and pilots was delayed. The Bf 109Gs were equipped with a special tank for a Nitro-Oxide mixture contained under pressure in liquid form and injected directly into the supercharger intake to cool the engine temperature and increase performance. The unit was named Jagdgruppe Sud.

HQ US 388th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 560th, 561st, 562d and 563d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) arrived at Knettishall, England from the US with B-17s. The group will fly it's first combat mission on 17 Jul 43.

HQ US 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and it's 564th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) arrived at Hethel, England from the US with B-24s. The group will fly it's first mission on 9 Jul.

A Ju 88A-6 belonging to 12./KG 30 crashed at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West due to pilot error and was 80% damaged. Obergefreiter Adriano Puzzilli and Gefreiter Duino Vanzini died and were brought to Frederikshavn from Lazarett Aalborg and were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery on 16 June 1943.

Battle of the Mediterranean

The Allies launched “Operation Corkscrew”, a landing on the bomb range formally known as Pantelleria Island. As the British 1st Infantry Division landing craft headed toward the island, B-17s delivered a final pounding to the Pantelleria harbor area. During the next 12 minutes, the Fortresses dropped tons of bombs, resulting in "simultaneous flashes and a great roar," stated the AAF official history. "Suddenly the whole harbor area appeared to rise and hang in midair, while smoke and dust billowed high, dwarfing Montagna Grande, Pantelleria's tallest peak."

YouTube (Allied forces attack the islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa - 1943)



At about 11:00 hours, Allied airplanes spotted a white cross on the airfield. Shortly thereafter, the first British assault wave hit the beach. The commander of the landing force contacted Pantelleria's military governor, Vice Adm. Gino Pavesi, who surrendered the island and the garrison of 78 Germans and 11,121 Italians. A small number of captured German technicians maintained that German soldiers and anti-aircraft gunners would have made a much better showing than the island's garrison. On the other hand, the sheer intensity of bombing and its increasing weight, according to the testimony of prisoners of war, made it doubtful that the outcome would have been different. Although more than 5000 tons of bombs were dropped on the island, there was less damage than expected. The harbor facilities at Pantelleria had been badly damaged; the town itself had been practically destroyed; communications were a shambles; roads had been obliterated; electric power had been destroyed; and water mains were broken. At Marghana airdrome, the airfield was cratered. Although the underground hangar had withstood a number of direct hits, except for two aircraft, all of the 80-plus enemy airplanes had been either destroyed or damaged. The 1943 Pantellerian experience pointed the way toward the Allies' future strategy: Intensive air bombardment, increasing in tempo, and naval bombardment would precede landing operations. As the AAF official history noted: "The pattern set here was probably one that would be followed in other island operations and perhaps in the invasion of the continent itself." The Allies now intensified preparations for the assault on Sicily in July 1943. Allied airplanes operating from Pantelleria would play a critical role in that assault operation.

Photo: The U.S. Navy amphibious force command ship USS Ancon (AGC-4) on 11 June 1943 during preparations for the invasion of Sicily



Photo: Bombs bursting on the docks and harbour of Pantelleria, as seen from on board the cruiser HMS ORION, in preparation for the allied invasion of the island in 1943



Photo: Pantelleria and Lampedusa May - June 1943: Men of 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, advance past a burning fuel store on Pantelleria. Left to right: Lance Sergeant A Haywood, Private C Norman and Private H Maw



United Kingdom

Photo: HMS Blackbird, a British Isles-class Trawler. 11 June 1943



Pacific War

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

(Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutian Islands, 7 B-24's, 8 B-25's, 10 P-40's, 4 P-38's, and 2 F-5A's fly weather, photo, reconnaissance, and attack missions to Kiska Island. Main targets are Gertrude Cove and Main Camp, South Head, North Head, runway, and offshore barges. Fighter bombing and strafing, and subsequent bomber runs over emplacements, are effectively coordinated. CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force) Eight P-40's hit a camp on the Salween River, trucks at Mangshih, and warehouses at Tungling, China.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Fifth Air Force) B-24's again bomb the airfield at Rabaul and hit targets of opportunity at Gasmata and along the shore of Keravia Bay. In New Guinea, B-25's pound areas along Huon Gulf coast, hitting Kela Point, Salamaua and the bridge at Nuk Nuk. P-40's strafe a submarine off Cape Nelson. In Timor, Koepang is thoroughly blasted by B-24's while Penfoei and Dili airfields are hit by light B-25 attacks. The 432d Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group transfers with P-38's from Charters Towers, Australia to Amberley Field, Townsville, Australia. Lost is B-24D "Care Less" 42-40500.

PACIFIC

Submarine Finback (SS-230) attacks Palau-bound convoy just west of Babelthuap, sinking Japanese army cargo ship Genoa Maru, 07°36'N, 134°17'E. Patrol Boat No.46's counterattack fails to inflict damage, and Finback escapes undamaged.

Submarine Runner (SS-275) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Seinan Maru off Monomi Zaki, off northwest coast of Honshu, 41°00'N, 141°30'E.

Submarine S-30 (SS-135) sinks Japanese merchant cargo vessel Jimbu Maru, anchored in Kakumabetsu Wan, Paramushiro, Kuriles, 50°23'N, 155°36'E.

Submarine Silversides (SS-236) attacks Japanese convoy about 270 miles south of Truk, sinking transport Hinode Maru north of New Ireland, 02°43'N, 152°00'E.

Day 1370 of World War II, June 13th 1943

Air War over Europe

US VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 63: 151 B-17s were dispatched against the Bremen, Germany U-boat yards and a smaller force of 76 B-17s were dispatched against the Kiel, Germany U-boat yards. Both forces were unescorted and short-range P-47s were used on 2 diversionary sweeps off the coast during the morning and afternoon. The Thunderbolts from the US 56th FG met with the Fw 190s of III./JG 26 off the Belgian coast in the morning sweep. 2 Fw 190s were claimed by Col. Hub Zemke although only Ogfr. Heinrich Zenker was shot down and killed and Oblt. Karl-Heinz Bocher was wounded. The second sweep in the afternoon found 44 P-47s from the US 78th FG clashing with the Fw 190s of II./JG 26. 2 P-47s were shot down without loss to the Gruppe. 3 P-47s were claimed by pilots of JG 26, claimants including Ofw, Heinz Gomann and Lt. Friedrich Lange - both from 5./JG 26 - and Fw. Hans Mayer of 6./JG 26. Meanwhile the B-17s continued on to their targets, hoping that the two-pronged attack would split the defending fighters. The Bremen formation was attacked by 6./JG 11 and 32 Bf 109s and Fw 190s of III./JG 26 led by Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Kurt Ruppert. A massive diving frontal attack raked the lead B-17 with cannon fire and it fell out and spiraled down. On board was Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest III of HQ 402d PCBW, riding in the co-pilots seat. All 13 crewmen bailed out but only one, the group navigator survived. General Forrest was the first American General to be lost in combat in Europe. The body of General Forrest was found near the seaplane base at Bug on Rügen and was laid to rest in Wiek cemetery on 28 September 1943. In 1947 his body was moved to Arlington cemetery, USA. (B 17F 42-30164 crashed Kiel Bay 13/6-1943) A second massive sweep through the formations from the rear immediately destroyed 4 more B-17s from the US 95th BG. On this pass, Hptm. Ruppert was hit by return fire and forced to bail out. He tried to open his parachute too quickly and it ripped his hemp harness and he fell to his death. 5 more B-17s were shot down bringing a total of 10 lost by the 95th BG in a few minutes of combat. In what the USAAF says was one on the heaviest fighter attacks to date, 26 B-17s were lost. A B-17F belonging to the 95 BG, 336 BS which was christened “Rat Killer”, was one of those shot down, crashing in the sea south of the island of Langeland. 3 more B-17s crashed in Kiel Bay. 31 B-17s were claimed by pilots from JG 1, JG 11, JG 26, JG 54 and NJG 3.

6 Mosquitoes went to Berlin, 4 to Dusseldorf and 3 to Cologne, no losses. All targets were cloud covered and only estimated positions were bombed.

German raiders dropped "butterfly" anti-personnel bombs for the first time, killing 74 people and injuring 130.

At about 11.30 hours, a Typhoon operating from Milfield airfield, near Wooler, crashed in a field at Kimmerston Farm, Milfield. The plane was heard to come down in a power dive at a speed estimated at 600 mph, it did not pull out of it in time. The pilot was killed.

Night fighter ace Wing Commander John Cunningham, brought down his 16th victim over southern England.

18 Wellingtons and 12 Stirlings went minelaying off the Biscay ports. 1 Wellington was lost.

Battle of the Atlantic

The United States Coast Guard Cutter 'ESCANABA' (PG-77), was sunk by a German submarine torpedo, off Ivigtut, Greenland.

Battle of the Mediterranean

In Sicily, US and Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers attacked Catania and Gerbini Airfields, causing severe damage to aircraft, runways, hangars, and other installations. The heavy bombers claimed 5 fighters but 2 B-24s were shot down at sea.

The Italian island of Linosa in the Sicilian Channel surrendered to the British.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Abner Read (DD-526) off the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 13 June 1943, after repairs in the drydock there



Pacific War

BURMA-INDIA

(Tenth Air Force) In Burma, 9 B-25's attack the Meza railway bridge on the Mandalay- Myitkyina line, causing minor damage.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force) In China, 11 B-25's supported by 14 P-40's, bomb hangars and the depot area at Nanchang Airfield.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Thirteenth Air Force) B-24's and B-17's again bomb Kahili Airfield. The 371st and 372d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 307th Bombardment Group transfers from Kahuku and Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii respectively to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands with B-24's.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Fifth Air Force) B-17's and B-24's bomb airfields in the Rabaul area and at Gasmata. Lost to J1N1 night fighter is B-17F "Georgia Peach" 41-24454. B-25's hit Dili and Koepang and bomb and strafe barges off the Huon Peninsula, at Jacob Island, off Cape Gerhards, and S of Cape Cretin, New Guinea. Single B-24's bomb Lahang Airfield and attack a freighter in Humboldt Bay, both in New Guinea.

PACIFIC

Destroyer Frazier (DD-607) sinks Japanese submarine I-9 one and a half miles east of Sirius Point, Kiska, Aleutians, 52°08'N, 177°38'E.

Submarine Guardfish (SS-217) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Suzuya Maru off the southwest coast of New Ireland, 03°08'S, 151°24'E.

Submarine Sargo (SS-188) attacks Japanese convoy 250 miles south of Yap, Carolines, and sinks army transport Konan Maru, 06°08'N, 138°28'E. The submarine is damaged by depth charges, 06°40'N, 136°59'E, but remains on patrol.

Day 1372 of World War II, June 15th 1943

Eastern Front

German General Heinz Guderian told Adolf Hitler that the new Panther tanks were not ready for battle.

Air War over Europe

6 Mosquitoes carried out a nuisance raid on Berlin without loss.

Additional modifications of YB-40 escort bombers were completed in the United Kingdom. It was now hoped that these B-17s converted to heavily armored aircraft with great firepower would solve the problem of long-range escort for bombers

The 565th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Hethel, England from the US with B-24s.

RAF Squadron 101, Radio Counter Measures (RCM), was based at Ludford Magna, near Louth in Lincolnshire, as part of No. 1 Group, Bomber Command. At Ludford a dangerous task was assigned the squadron. Many Allied bombers were falling victim to German night-fighters guided by ground controllers scrutinizing radar screens. An Allied counter-measure named ‘Window’ partially upset this, but the Luftwaffe responded by coordinating the commentaries of several controllers at different locations, and delegating overall command to a single master controller who guided the night-fighters towards the Allied aircraft. The British Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) at Malvern developed a response to this that was tested by 101 Squadron. It was called ‘Airborne Cigar’, or ABC, a battlefield version of ‘Ground Cigar’, and its original code name was ‘Jostle’. Using a receiver and three 50-watt T.3160-type transmitters, the German VHF frequency – and language - was identified and then jammed. The jamming caused a loud and constantly varying note running up and down the scale of the relevant speech channel. For this purpose, a German-speaking eighth crew member was included in the crew of especially fitted Lancaster bombers. He was known as the Special Duty Operator, ‘Spec. Op.’, or SO. All were volunteers from various aircrew trades. Since the enemy often gave phoney instructions to divert the jammers, it was essential that they know German reasonably well. In addition, if the Germans changed frequencies the SO would have to be skillful enough to do likewise. The SO had to recognize German codewords – such as Kapelle, for ‘target altitude’ - and log any German transmissions for passing on to Intelligence at the post-flight debriefing. Jewish veteran Flight Sergeant Leslie Temple recalls the Germans trying to distract the SOs by using screaming female voices or martial music. Some sources allege that the SOs were trained in ‘verbal jamming’, that is giving false information in German, but this was very little used. see: Jewish RAF Special Operators in Radio Counter Measures with 101 Squadron

Battle of the Atlantic

German U-boats hit a convoy in the Atlantic but failed to cause major damage after a running battle of 5-days.

Battle of the Baltic Sea

MS "T-411" of the Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla was sunk by a U-boat in the Sukhumi area. At 14:19, 'U-24' fired a spread of two torpedoes at the BTShCh-411 'Zashchitnik' (No 26), which had been spotted at 13:54 and observed one hit in the stern after 1 minute 30 seconds. The vessel broke in two and sank about 20 miles west of Suchumi. The survivors were picked up by the Soviet patrol craft SKA-0101 and SKA-0138.

Battle of the Mediterranean

During the night Northwest African Strategic Air Force(NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the airfields at Milo, Sciacca, Castelvetrano, and Boccadifalco, Sicily. B-17s, B-25s, B-26s, and P-38s followed during the morning hours with raids on the same targets and hit the airfield at Bo Rizzo and radio stations near Marsala, Sicily. The US 448th BS took off with 36 planes to bomb the landing ground at Sciacca, Sicily. Hits were made on some planes on ground N of the field and others among barracks S of field. 12 Bf 109s and 6 MA-202s came up from the deck and were attacked by the escorts. The escorts shot down 1 Bf 109. 2 planes were hit by flak and 1 crash landed at Mateur.

A detachment of the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter), 67th Reconnaissance Group began operating from Malta with F-5s.

Submarine HMS 'Umbra' torpedoed and sank the Italian heavy cruiser 'Trento'. 'Trento' was already damaged by a torpedo from an RAF No. 217 Sqn Beaufort from Malta. Submarine HMS 'Ultor' sankthe Italian auxiliary minesweeper 'Tullio'/No.92.

A Ju 88D-1 belonging to 2(F)./122 failed to return from a recce to Malta. Suspected engine failure was the cause and Oblt. Heinrich Fennel (observer), Lt Josef Träger and Fw Michael Feiersinger all MIA.

At 14:30, the 'Athelmonarch', escorted by the Greek destroyer 'Aetos', was torpedoed and sunk by 'U-97' NW of Jaffa, Palestine. Four crewmembers were lost. The master, 35 crewmembers and eleven gunners were picked up by the destroyer and landed at Beirut.

A meeting was held this evening by the 447th BS and the officers and enlisted men asked to vote on whether they would like to contribute more money each month in order to continue to get fresh vegetables and meat. The enlisted men voted to contribute five dollars each for the month of June and the officers voted to contribute ten dollars each.

United States

President Roosevelt approved a ceiling of 31,447 useful aircraft for the USN.

Photo: USS Octans (AF-26) drydocked in YFD 18 at San Francisco, 15 June 1943. Octans was used to test the new Yard Floating Drydock which was 543’ long and 114’ wide and had a nominal lift of 10,500 tons, 15 June 1943



Germany

The Arado Ar-234, the world's first jet bomber aircraft, had its first test flight at Munster, piloted by Flugkapitän Selle. The Ar 234V-1 had no landing gear so it took off from a 3 wheeled trolley and landed on retractable skids. All went well with the flight but the five braking parachutes failed to open and the landing trolley was destroyed. The Ar 234 was originally concieved in early 1941 by an engineering team under Professor Walter Blume, director of the Arado aircraft company. The design project was code-named 'E-370" and was in response to a German requirement for a fast recon aircraft. Arado projected a speed of 780 kph, an operating altitude of almost 11,000 meters and a maximum range of 2,000 meters. The range was alittle less than the Air Ministry wanted but they liked the design anyway and ordered 2 prototypes. The 2 prototypes, designated Ar 234V-1 and Ar 234V-2 were largely complete before the end of 1941. However the Jumo 004 engines weren't ready and wouldn't be ready for over a year. In February 1943, Arado finally got a pair of Jumo 004As. However, these engines were only cleared for static and taxi tests. At the time, Messerschmitt had priority for engine deliveries for their Me 262 fighter and Arado had to accept what they could. Flight qualified engines were finally delivered that spring and the Ar 234V-1 was flown.

Pacific War

BURMA-INDIA

(Tenth Air Force) B-25's score 2 direct hits on the bridge at Myitnge, Burma.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force) Ten B-25's, escorted by 12 P-40's, support Chinese ground forces by bombing positions at Owchihkow, China.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Thirteenth Air Force) B-24's bomb the airfield on Ballale.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Fifth Air Force) B-24's bomb airfields at Rabaul on New Britain Island in predawn strikes and hit Kendari Airfield, Celebes in the evening. In New Guinea, a single B-25 attacks a power boat in Hanisch Harbor and strafes a beach near Finschhafen.

PACIFIC

Submarine Gunnel (SS-253) sinks Japanese merchant passenger-cargo ship Koyo Maru in Tsushima Straits, 33°55'N, 127°38'E.

Submarine Sailfish (SS-192) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Shinju Maru south of Todozaki, Honshu, 39°00'N, 142°00'E.

Submarine Trout (SS-202) damages Japanese oiler Sanraku Maru in the Celebes Sea, off Sibitu, 05°09'N, 119°38'E; Sanraku Maru is eventually scuttled, 04°45'N, 119°48'E

Day 1374 of World War II, June 17th 1943

Air War over Europe

RAF No. 186 Squadron flying the Hawker Hurricane MK IID made the first rocket attacks against targets at Flushing in the Netherlands.

The BBC warned civilians in occupied Europe to evacuate the vicinity of all factories working for the German war effort.

7 Mosquitoes, 4 to Berlin and 3 to Cologne and the Ruhr. No losses.

Battle of the Atlantic

HMT 'Yoma' sunk by 'U-81'. On 13 Nov, 1941 the boat, under the command of Guggenberger, sank the famous British aircraft carrier HMS 'Ark Royal' in the Mediterranean.

An RAF No. 206 Sqdn Fortress damaged 'U-338', killing one and wounding three. The 'U-338' was nicknamed the 'Wild Onager' in reference to an incident that occurred when it was first launched. Apparently, the U-boat broke its moorings on the day of launch and sank a small tug boat.

Battle of the Mediterranean

United States naval vessels LST 6 and LST 326, were damaged by collision in the North African area.

B-24s attacked airfields at Biscariy and Comiso, Sicily. During the night Wellingtons bombed docks and a marshalling yard at Naples, Italy.

Preparations for the Allied invasion of Sicily continued as the British battleships 'Valiant' and 'Warspit' were transferred from the Scapa Flow in the North Sea to North Africa.

Tank landing ships LST-6 and LST-326 are damaged in collision, North African area, 37°18'N, 09°51'E.

United Kingdom

Photo: Army cadets demonstrate various forms of body camouflage, 17 June 1943



Photo: Ground crews of No 300 (Polish) Squadron RAF work on their Vickers Wellington Mk Xs at RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire, UK, June 17, 1943



Pacific War

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Seventh Air Force) During the night of 17/18 Jun, 4 B-24's take off from Funafuti Atoll, Ellice Islands at 2-hour intervals to bomb Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. One aborts and another fails to find the target. The 2 heavy bombers bombing the target hit runways, silence an AA battery, and blow up an ammunition dump. The raid is a diversion in support of the first night photo-reconnaissance mission by the VII Bomber Command, during which 3 B-24's photograph Mille Atoll and nearby waters in the Marshall Islands.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force) P-40's strafe a warehouse and train S of Chiuchiang and a train N of Nanchang, both in China. Road traffic E of Hanoi, French Indochina is also attacked.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS

(Fifth Air Force) B-25's administer a thorough pounding to the Madang and Salamaua areas. B-24's bomb Sorong and Boela. A single B-24 bombs the airfield at Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island and, during the night of 17/18 Jun, a B-25 attacks power launches nearby, sinking 1 and badly damaging 2 more. The 433d Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group transfers with P-38's from Charters Towers, Australia to Amberley Field, Townsville, Australia.

PACIFIC

Submarine chaser SC-740 sinks after running aground, 15°32'S, 147°06'E.

Submarine Drum (SS-228) attacks Japanese convoy, sinking transport Myoko Maru about 175 miles east-northeast of Kavieng, New Ireland, 02°03'S, 153°44'E.