lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 18, 2022 6:33:39 GMT
Day 1466 of World War II, September 18th 1943Eastern FrontPriluki, Lubny and Romodan were retaken by the Soviets during their advance towards Kiev. In the south they took Pavlograd, Krasnograd, Pologi and Nogaysk. Air War over Europe5 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 49 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Biscay ports without loss. The second prototype Hawker Tempest II fighter made its maiden flight. The Political Warfare Executive took over Mussolini's National Fascist Radio frequency to broadcast a false message from an imitation "Mussolini". A Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire was brought in for a heavy landing and a tail wheel sheared off. Another Halifax bomber from the same airfield force landed in a field near Lissett, after the starboard inner engine caught fire. Six of the crew were injured. Two more Halifax bombers from the same airfield crashed, the first near Finningley after both starboard engines caught fire at 17,000'. The pilot and two of the crew were killed and two others injured. The second crashed into a row of houses at Chapel Hill, Darrington, Yorkshire. The MOD gave the number of killed as six crew and four civilians, however an eye-witness, who owned one of the houses on which the bomber crashed, stated that eight airmen were killed. The same eye-witness was, with her very young baby, staying with her mother 50 yards away, when the plane crashed, unfortunately her baby suffered the effects of all the fumes from the wreckage and died later aged five months. The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 61 and 62 against 3 installations. (1) 25 B-26B Marauders hit Tille Airfield at Beauvais. (2) 18 B-26Bs dispatched to the Rouen marshalling yard and 72 B-26Bs dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield were recalled because of failure to rendezvous with fighter escort and bad weather, respectively. Italian CampaignUS Seventh Army forces took Altavilla, Persano, and Battipaglia without opposition. To aid in the impending breakout from the Salerno beachhead by British and American forces, it became increasingly important to take Potenza, a city which served as a road hub and thus provided a direct communications link between Taranto and Salerno. A force consisting of the West Nova Scotia Regiment with Calgary tanks, RCHA, engineers, machine gun and anti-tank detachments and commanded by Lt-Col Bogert (Boforce) was given the task of liberating this city. Photo: An officer examines a knocked-out German PzKpfw IV, 18 September 1943 Boforce left from Villapiani on September 17 then headed inland from Nova Siri, arriving at Sant Archangelo by dusk. There was no enemy opposition. Continuing the northward advance, Boforce moved into Corleto but rubble and blown bridges resulting from Allied bombing caused severe delays. The advance was stopped at Laurenzana by yet another recently destroyed bridge. This bridge was destroyed by retreating enemy. US Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit the marshalling yard at Pescara, Italy. US Twelfth Air Force B-17s bombed Viterbo Airfield and the Salerno-Avellino road, while B-25s and B-26s bombed the airfields at Ciampino and Pratica di Mare; B-25s fired 75mm shells at small vessels and a lighthouse near Capraia and between Pianosa and Corsica; P-38 Lightnings on detached service with the Northwest African Tactical Air Force strafed 4 satellite airfields at Foggia and bombed roads, railroads, bridges, and towns in the battle area. Sardinia surrendered to the Allies. British forces occupied the islands of Simi, Stampalia and Icaria in the Aegean Sea. German aircraft hit the British airfield on Kos. Battle of the AtlanticUS freighter 'William Pepperell' was attacked by German submarine 'U-260', but the torpedo detonated in the ship's torpedo streamer, causing only minor damage to the freighter herself. There were no casualties to either the 42-man merchant complement or the 26-man Armed Guard. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy attack transport USS Callaway (APA-35) off the New York Naval Shipyard (USA), on 18 September 1943. Callaway was loading supplies from a civilian barge. Also alongside is the tug handling the barge and two Coast Guard motor boats United KingdomPhoto: HMS Ripley (G79), 18 September 1943 Photo: HMS Jamaica, 18 September 1943 Pacific War GILBERT ISLANDS (Seventh Air Force) Twenty four 7th AF B-24's, flying out of Funafuti Island in the Ellice Islands and Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands, bomb Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll and Maiana and Abemama Islands in the Gilbert chain during the night of 18/19 September. This action is part of a coordinated USAAF-USN attack on Tarawa, aimed at preventing Japanese attacks on US installations at Baker Island and in the Ellice Islands. During the day, carrier-based aircraft of the USN's TF 15 (Rear Admiral Charles A. Pownall) aircraft [attack] Tarawa, Makin, and Abemama, Gilberts, to decrease Japanese pressure on the Ellice Islands and provide operational training. During the attack on Tarawa, TBFs, SBDs, and F6Fs from carrier Lexington (CV-16), and small carriers Princeton (CVL 23) and Belleau Wood (CVL 24) sink Japanese motor torpedo boats Gyoraitei and Gyoraitei No. 3. BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): The 71st Liaison Squadron, US Army Forces CBI, based at Ramgarh, India sends a detachment to Ledo, India with L-4's and L-5's. CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-25's and 7 P-40's attack rail yards and blast furnaces at Shihhweiyao, China. SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): B-24's bomb the airfield and attack a phosphate plant and radio station on Nauru in the Gilberts. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): A-20's hit Tami in the Lae area; B-26's and RAAF airplanes bomb and strafe Finschhafen. The 65th Troop Carrier Squadron, 54th Troop Carrier Wing, based at Port Moresby begins operating from Tsili Tsili with C-47's. SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN The fighting on Arundel Island, a small island off the northwest tip of New Georgia Island, continues as the US Army's 27th Infantry Regiment continues their advance. New Zealand General Barrowclough takes command the New Zealand and US forces on Vella Lavella Island. USAAF P-39 Airacobra and P-40 pilots and USMC F4U Corsair pilots shoot down 15 IJN aircraft at midday. ALASKA Photo: The U.S. Navy attack transport USS Arthur Middleton (APA-25) underway at sea on 18 September 1943 PACIFIC Submarine S-42 (SS-153) damages Japanese gunboat Chowa Maru, 50°22'N, 155°43'E. Submarine Scamp (SS-277) attacks Japanese convoy north of New Guinea, sinking army cargo ship Kansai Maru, 00°41'N, 146°28'E, but although damaged by depth charges (perhaps dropped by submarine chasers Ch 38 and/or Ch 16, known to be among the escorts) remains on patrol. Submarine Spearfish (SS-190) damages Japanese torpedo boat Sagi (premature explosion of two torpedoes), 29°08'N, 134°29'E. Submarine Trigger (SS-237) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Yowa Maru, 27°20'N, 126°53'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 19, 2022 2:46:24 GMT
Day 1467 of World War II, September 19th 1943Eastern FrontYartsevo and Dukovachina NE of Smolensk fell to the Soviets. Air War over EuropeThe US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 63 and 64 against 2 airfields. 18 B-26Bs hit Nord Airfield at Lille but clouds prevented the 2nd group from bombing. 72 B-26s dispatched to Merville airfield were recalled due to weather. Italian CampaignAuletta and Potenza fell to the British 8th Army. The US Fifth Army gained firm control of the Salerno plain. The advance northwards by Boforce resumed in the morning. Progress was considerably slower than on the previous day; slowed by Teller mines along the route and small rearguard actions conducted by the retreating Germans. Potenza was reached in the evening and the West Novas mounted a night assault across the river (Basento)against a spirited defense. The Calgarys advanced as far as they could until stopped by demolished buildings and mined roadways. Once the obstructions had been removed under cover of darkness, the advance continued into the town on the morning of the 20th. The Germans hastily retreated. The capture of Potenza permitted a link up with elements of the British forces in Auletta 30km west of the Canadian positions. Simultaneous to the approach by Boforce on Potenza, two squadrons from 4 Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, assisting 1 Infantry Brigade made a dash for the sea along the line of the main route between Potenza and Taranto. This detachment made contact with and inflicted heavy casualties on an enemy force at Miglionico which lies approximately halfway between Potenza and Taranto. Photo: A patrol of the 2/7th Queen's Regiment enters the village of Pugliano, 19 September 1943 US Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers and planes of other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements [US and RAF] concentrated on attacking roads and vehicles in the Benevento-Montesarchio-Contursi-Potenza-Avellino areas, and a railway station at Castelnuovo. Battle of the AtlanticGerman submarine 'U-341' was sunk southwest of Iceland, by depth charges from an RCAF Liberator Mk III, s/n 586, aircraft "A" of No 10 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Gander, Newfoundland, flown by Flight Lieutenant R.F. Fisher and crew. All hands, 50-men, on the U-boat were lost. The aircraft was returning to Gander from Iceland after escorting Prime Minister Winston Churchill in HMS 'Renown' from the Quebec Conference. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Haggard (DD-555) taken 22 September 1943 shortly after her completion off Point No Point, Washington (USA). The Haggard is armed in the standard configuration of five twin 40 mm gun mounts, seven single 20 mm and 10 torpedo tubes Photo: The U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Overton (APD-23) off the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia (USA), on 19 September 1943 Pacific War ALEUTIAN ISLANDS CAMPAIGN The 21st Bombardment Squadron, 30th BG (Heavy), begins a movement from Shemya with B-24's to Smoky Hill AAFld, Kansas where it will be inactivated on 1 Nov 43. GILBERT ISLANDS USN carrier-based aircraft attack targets in Tarawa and Makin Atolls and then Task Force Fifteen, consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington and the small aircraft carriers USS Belleau Wood and Princeton. In addition to attacking installations, photographic reconnaissance missions are flown over reefs, beaches and island defense. TF then retires to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. Twenty USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb and photograph Tarawa and Abemama Atolls; one B-24 is lost. SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and USN SBD Dauntlesses, covered by fighters, bomb Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island and a causeway, Japanese positions, and ammunition dump at Disappointment Cove on New Georgia Island. Other B-25s bomb and strafe barge centers at Ringa Cove and Webster Coves on New Georgia Island. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN The Australian 2/6th Independent Company takes Kaiapit in the Markham River Valley in Northeast New Guinea in lively fighting and repels repeated counterattacks. Kaiapit is 45 air-miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Nadzab. Kaiapit is needed for the airstrip that is to be constructed there once the Japanese have been driven from the area. Kaiapit became a base for the Australian 7th Division's advance up the Markham Valley. USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders attack Finschhafen, Northeast New Guinea, in preparation for Allied landings three days hence. JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells fly small strikes against Ambon Island in the Moluccas Islands, Selaroe Aerodrome on Selaroe Island in the Tanimbar Islands, and Penfui (Penfoei) Airfield on Dutch Timor. PACIFIC Submarine Harder (SS-257) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Kachiyama Maru, 33°25'N, 135°38'E. Submarine Scamp (SS-277) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kansai Maru, 00°25'N, 146°21'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 20, 2022 2:52:00 GMT
Day 1468 of World War II, September 20th 1943Eastern FrontGeneral Yeremenko's forces liberated Velizh, northwest of Smolensk. After weeks of bitter fighting, Kholm fell to Red Army forces. Heeresgruppe Sud began its withdrawl to the Melitopol-Zaporoshe line. Air War over Europe8 Mosquitoes went to Berlin and 20 Wellingtons went minelaying off Brest, Lorient and St Nazaire without loss. Italian CampaignThe Allies launched an assault on Naples as British and US units link up at Eboli and formed a solid line from Salerno to Bari. Canadian units of the British 8th Army entered Potenza. General Lucas took command of US VI Corps from General Dawley. The US Seventh Army started into the mountains north of Salerno. The US Ninth Air Force flew its last mission to Italy. B-24s of 98th and 376th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) were dispatched to the Castelfranco Veneto marshalling yard. Clouds obscured the target, but the 98th Group dropped bombs on the estimated time of arrival. The 376th bombed a marshalling yard and airfield at Pescara during the return trip. US Twelfth Air Force B-17s and B-26s bombed the Castelnuovo road junction, the town of Formia, the Torre Annunziata area roads, and roads and railroad southwest of Sarno; XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches attacked and dispersed enemy tank and troop concentrations forming near Nocera for a counterattack. Other USAAF and RAF aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force hit enemy movement in the Avellino-Naples-Potenza-Benevento-Calabritto-Pomigliano-Pescopagano areas. Battle of the AtlanticU.S. freighter William Pepperell is again attacked by German submarine U-260, but with the same result as two days before. Again, there are no casualties and the ship ultimately reaches port under her own power. German submarine U-238 attacks New York-bound convoy ON 202, torpedoing U.S. freighters Frederick Douglass, 57°03'N, 28°08'W, and Theodore Dwight Weld, 57°03'N, 28°12'W. British rescue ship Rathlin rescues all hands (40-men merchant complement, 29-man Armed Guard, and one female stowaway) from Frederick Douglass, which remains afloat until finished off later the same day by U-645. Theodore Dwight Weld sinks so quickly that 20 of the 42-man merchant complement and 13 of the 28-man Armed Guard perish. Rathlin rescues the survivors. Arctic naval operationsBritish commandos launched an attack on the German battleship 'Tirpitz' at its anchorage in Alta Fjord. The six midget (4-man crew) submarines were sent against the anchorage. Three were lost before reaching the target, but the survivors succeeded in damaging the ship, knocking it out of action for six months. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy submarine tender USS Beaver (AS-5) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 20 September 1943. Beaver was underway for duty in Alaska Pacific WarALEUTIAN ISLANDS CAMPAIGN Photo: USS LST-483 and USS President Monroe (AP-104) docked at Adak, Alaska, 20 September 1943. As SeaBees load a barge with material for the airfield they are building at Tanaga Island CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, B-24's bomb Sagaing and Naba. The 384th Bombardment Squadron, 311th BG (Dive), arrives at Nawadih, India from the US with A-36's. The squadron will fly it's first mission on 17 Oct. CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 27 Japanese bombers and 20 fighters attack the airfield at Kunming, China; 24 P-40's and 3 P-38's intercept, claiming 17 airplanes shot down; 1 US fighter is lost; damage to the airfield is negligible. The 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, transfers from Kweilin to Hengyang, China with P-40's. SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon Islands, First Lieutenant Henry Meigs II (of the 6th Night Fighter Squadron), flying a P-38 against Japanese night attackers over Bougainville, shoots down two G4M1 Betty bombers of the 702nd Kokutai within 60 seconds: G4M1 piloted by Itakura and G4M1 piloted by Kisuberi. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): B-25's and B-17's hit roads from Kaiapit to Madang, destroying 3 key bridges; P-39's strafe and dive-bomb the Bogadjim-Yaula area; and B-24's bomb Wewak and Boram airfields. B-25's hit Penfoei on Timor Island. Lost are P-38H "Mareelee II" 42-66851 and P-38H 42-66841. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 2/6th Independent Company kills another 100 Japanese north of Kaiapit in the Markham Valley. JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Penfui (Penfoei) Airfield on Dutch Timor Island. SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN The 27th Infantry Regiment forces on Sagekarasa Island find that Japanese have withdrawn from the island. PACIFIC Submarine Haddock (SS-231) damages Japanese fleet tanker Notoro east of the Palaus, 07°23'N, 150°11'E; auxiliary submarine chaser Takunan Maru conducts fruitless search for Haddock. Submarine S-28 (SS-133) sinks Japanese gunboat Katsura Maru 165 miles southwest of Paramushiro, Kuriles, 49°05'N, 151°45'E. Repair ship Hayase is sunk by Chinese aircraft, Ch'iu-Chiang, Yangtze River, China.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 21, 2022 2:50:56 GMT
Day 1469 of World War II, September 21st 1943Eastern FrontA Soviet Army spearhead reached the Dnieper River 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Kiev, and another force took Chernigov-on-the-Desna, a provincial capital northeast of Kiev. Since the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Army has liberated half the Soviet territory overrun by the Germans. Air War over Europe A Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire, burst a tyre on take-off, the aircraft swung on landing and the undercarriage collapsed. A Dornier Do 217K was held in a searchlight's beam and hit the ground at Out Newton near Withernsea, Yorkshire at 01.05, the crew were all killed. 26 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Brest without loss. The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 65: 44 B-26B Marauders hit the Tille Airfield at Beauvais at 0937-0938 hours; bad weather caused 20+ to abort; they claimed 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-26 was lost. Italian CampaignIn Italy, in the British 15th Army Group area, General Sir Harold Alexander outlined plans for future operations in four phases: (1) consolidation of current positions on a line Salerno-Bari; (2) capture of Naples and Foggia; (3) seizure of Rome and neighboring airfields as well as the communications center of Terni; and (4) eventual capture of Leghorn, Florence, and Arezzo. In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions continued north over the mountains from Salerno toward the east-west Highway 7, meeting delaying opposition just south of Acerno and west of Oliveto, respectively. The 34th Infantry Division, whose 133dd Infantry Regiment was to reinforce VI Corps for the drive on Avellino, began landing at Paestum. In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s hit a bridge and the town area at Benevento; B-25s and B-26s hit landing craft and a ferry near Elba Island and bridges at Cancello Arnone and Capua; B-24s on detached service from the Eighth Air Force in England, bombed Leghorn and Bastia; medium bombers and fighter-bombers hit town areas, troop concentrations, trucks and tanks, and targets of opportunity in the Solofra-Avellino-Benevento areas. French troops, shipped across the Mediterranean from North Africa in the past nine nights, were advancing into the interior of Corsica. So far over 3,000 have come ashore. More were landing from the Free (Fighting) French cruisers 'Jeanne d'Arc' and 'Montcalm' and the destroyers 'Le Fantasque' and 'Le Terrible' every night. The Free French commandos were supporting 20,000 mostly communist resistance fighters, who rose up after the Italian surrender, took to the Maquis (the Corsican interior, a traditional hiding place for outlaws), and were now fighting a garrison reinforced to 26,000 men after the German evacuation of Sardinia. This was the first wholly Free French operation on French home territory. Battle of the Mediterranean'U-593' fired two spreads of two torpedoes at the convoy NSS-3 about 45 miles south of Salerno, heard one detonation from the first and observed one hit from the second spread and reported one freighter probably sunk and another damaged. However, only the 'William W. Gerhard' (Master Olof J. Anderson) in station #13 was hit by one torpedo on the port side in the middle of the #1 hold. The explosion lifted the bow up, broke steam and water lines and buckled the deck. As the ship settled by the bow, a large crack appeared on both sides and caused the flooding of #3 hold. The eight officers, 38 crewmen, 30 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and 191 passengers (US and British Army personnel) abandoned ship in four lifeboats, four rafts and 15 floats. The crew was ordered by the escort commander to reboard the vessel and to stand by for a tow. The remaining survivors were picked up by the escort vessels and taken to Salerno on 22 September. One armed guard was killed by the explosion and another died of wounds aboard the British hospital ship HMHS 'Vita' on 23 September. Three crew members and six armed guards were injured and hospitalized. Battle of the Indian OceanU.S. freighter Cornelia P. Spencer is torpedoed by German submarine U-188 at 02°08'N, 50°10'E; when the U-boat surfaces to finish off the merchantman, however, the Armed Guard gunfire proves so accurate that the U-boat submerges and torpedoes the ship again (the explosion kills two merchant sailors). Cornelia P. Spencer is then abandoned. Torpedoed a third time she sinks soon thereafter. The survivors (39 merchant sailors and the 27-man Armed Guard) are divided amongst four lifeboats. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Miller (DD-535) in San Francisco Bay, California (USA), on 21 September 1943. The photo was taken from an aircraft based at Naval Air Station Alameda, flying at an altitude of 120 metres Pacific War CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 8 B-25's and 8 P-40's attack railroad yards and warehouses at Chiuchiang, China, causing considerable destruction. SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon Islands, 20+ B-24's bomb the runway and revetment area at the airfield on Buka Island. About 20 Japanese fighters intercept; 2 Zekes are shot down. SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN On Arundel Island, the 27th Infantry Regiment, upon renewing their assault, finds that the Japanese have withdrawn from the mainland of Arundel as well as islands nearby. The Japanese are estimated to have lost 600 dead on Arundel. By this time Japanese have decided to abandon the central Solomons entirely and want only to escape northward. Map: Map of the land battle on Arundel, 1943 SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): A-20's, B-26's, and RAAF aircraft hit Tami Island and pound Finschhafen in preparation for the Allied amphibious assault on the following day; B-25's bomb and strafe the Bogadjim area and Langgoer. B-24's hit Cape Gloucester and a freighter near Talasea; A-20's and RAAF aircraft bomb Gasmata. Lost is P-40N 42-104984. The 70th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, transfers from Townsville, Queensland, Australia to Attu, New Guinea with C-47's. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN The amphibious assault force (the Australian 20th Brigade Group, Australian 9th Division) sails from Lae for Finschhafen while the Australian 22d Brigade starts an overland drive from Lae toward Langemak Bay. The 21st and 25th Brigades, Australian 7th Division, are flown to Kaiapit from Nadzab to pursue the Japanese up the Markham Valley to Dumpu. PACIFIC Submarine Haddock (SS-231) torpedoes Japanese collier Shinyubari Maru west-northwest of Truk, 08°53'N, 148°30'E. Submarine Trigger (SS-237) sinks Japanese fleet oilers Shiriya and Shoyo Maru and merchant cargo ship Argun Maru, and damages fleet oiler No.1 Ozura Maru north of Keelung, Formosa, 26°27'N, 122°40'E. Submarine Wahoo (SS-238) sinks Japanese merchantfishing vessel Hokusei Maru, 45°45'N, 145°46'E. USAAF B-24 aircraft sink Japanese transport Takashima Maru southeast of the Admiralties, 03°45'S, 149°20'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 22, 2022 2:47:07 GMT
Day 1470 of World War II, September 22nd 1943Eastern FrontThere was fierce fighting at Poltava as the Germans began to pull out. Anapa in the Kuban and Novomoskovosk, north of Dnepropetrovsk, fell to the Soviet Army. Air War over Europe USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 66 against 2 airfields. 72 B-26s were dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais but aborted due to bad weather, and 70 of 72 B-26s hit Fauville Airfield at Evreux. 322 Lancasters, 226 Halifaxes, 137 Stirlings and 26 Wellingtons attacked Hannover, its first major raid for 2 years. This was the first of a series of 4 heavy raids on this target with the loss of 26 aircraft. 5 American B-17s also took part, their first night raid on Germany. Visibility in the target area was good but stronger winds than forecast caused the marking and the bombing to be concentrated between 2 and 5 miles south south east of the city centre. It was not possible to obtain a German report but it is unlikely that serious damage was caused. 21 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid, dropping much Window and many flares and target indicators to simulate the arrival of a larger force. The losses on the Hannover raid, lower than the recent average, may have indicated that this tactic was partially successful. No aircraft were lost on this diversionary raid. 12 Mosquitoes went on a further diversion to Emden and 4 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians. Italian CampaignU.S. Fifth Army directed the British X Corps to seize Naples and U.S. VI Corps to secure the line Avellino-Teora. The VI Corps was to be prepared to continue to Benevento. In VI Corps area, the 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions overcame opposition barring their advance. The 3d occupied Acerno and the 45th Oliveto. In the British Eighth Army area, the Indian 8th Division arrived from Africa. In 5 Corps area, a special force (elements of the 78th Division and of the 4th Armoured Brigade), under 78th Division command, landed at Bari, during the night of 22/23 September, to drive to Foggia. Photo: Men of the 2/6th Queens's Regiment advance past a burning German PzKpfw IV tank in the Salerno area, 22 September 1943 In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s bombed roads, railroad, and bridges at or near San Martino Sannita, Grottaminarda, Amorosi, and Mignano; B-25s attacked small vessels near Elba Island with 75mm cannon fire; tactical aircraft hit troop concentrations and gun positions near Serino and Santa Lucia di Serino, a road block at Nocera, town and roads at Fisciano, the town of Pagani, tanks and trucks between Acerno and Montella and in the Foggia area, vessels and docks at Manfredonia, the town of Camarella, and the landing ground at Capua. The US Ninth Air Force flew its final mission from North Africa. B-24s bombed Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes and Eleusis Airfield in Greece. The bomb groups of IX Bomber Command subsequently were transferred to the US Twelfth Air Force. After two weeks of heavy fighting, the Italian “Acqui” Division surrendered to the Germans. 1500 Italians died in the fighting. Of the survivors of the fighting on Cephalonia 5000 were murdered and the rest sent to labor camps. Battle of the AtlanticGerman submarine 'U-229' was sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from the RN destroyer HMS 'Keppel'. All hands on the U-boat, 50-men, were lost. Whilst escorting convoy (sic) OB.202 frigate HMS 'Itchen' was torpedoed by 'U-666' which caused her forward magazine to explode and the ship sank almost immediately. At the time she was carrying 80 survivors from 'St Croix' as well as her own ship’s company. There were 147 casualties, and only 3 survivors. Battle of the MediterraneanU.S. freighter Richard Olney, in convoy KMS 26, is mined off Bizerte, Tunisia, 37°25'N, 09°54'E; two of the 43-man merchant complement perish in the explosion. There are no casualties among the 31-man Armed Guard or among the 143 troop passengers. Although Richard Olney reaches Bizerte under tow of British (ex-Coast Guard) cutter HMS Landguard, the freighter will be written off as a total loss. Ocean going tugs Moreno (AT-87) and Narragansett (AT-88) and British rescue tug HMS Weazel scuttle the stern section of U.S. Liberty ship William W. Gerhard with gunfire off Salerno. Battle of the Indian OceanBritish destroyer HMS Relentless rescues 34 survivors from two boats from U.S. Liberty ship Cornelia P. Spencer, torpedoed by German submarine U-188 the day before. Freighter Sandown Castle rescues 16 men from a third boat. Arctic naval operationsThe 'Tirpitz', in Altenfiord, was attacked by British midget submarines. These two man subs had been towed behind conventional fleet submarines from Loch Cairnbawn in Scotland to a point 150 miles from Altenfjord. They were code named "X-craft" and were powered by engines from London buses. Their only weapons were two detachable charges with clockwork detonators, dropped below the target. They had a crew of four. Six set out: two (X-8 and X-9) were lost in transit and one had to be scuttled, but three got through the mines and approached the target. Attacks on 'Tirpitz' had been allocated to X-5, X-6 and X-7, with X-8 to make an attack on 'Lützow', and X-9 and X-10 to attack 'Scharnhorst'. Since X-8 and X-9 were lost before reaching the Norwegian coast, the attacks intended to be made against 'Scharnhorst' and 'Lützow' were abandoned, and X-10 reallocated to make an attack on 'Tirpitz'. Lt. Cameron in X-6 lost his periscope and attacked blind. He was sighted, but was too close to the 'Tirpitz' to be engaged by other than small-arms, and laid his charges before scuttling his boat. Lt. Place in X-7 was caught in nets, escaped, laid his charges under the ship, was caught in nets again, and then was blown free by the explosion, but X-7 was damaged and had to be abandoned. All of the X-6 crew were captured and brought aboard the 'Tirpitz', only the commander and one of the crew of X-7 were able to abandon their craft (the other two men lacking sufficient oxygen for their (DSEA) escape equipment) and taken prisoner, where they had the rather unusual experience of being able to witness their success at first hand. At 0812 hours, the 46,000-ton battleship was blown up. The blast lifted the ship several feet out of the water, disabling her three main engines and leaving her with a 15 degree list. Repair would disable 'Tirpitz' until March, 1944. Submarine X-10, commanded by an Australian, Lt. Hudspethm attacked after X-6 but was sunk with all hands. X-10 had suffered from a number of faults which made her close to unnavigable underwater. When the crew heard the others' charges explode, on the morning of 22 Sept., they decided to abandon their part in the operation and made a successful rendezvous six days later with towing submarine HMS 'Stubborn'. However, it was then decided to scuttle X-10, rather than risk the lives of a passage crew to bring the craft back to the UK under tow. The third midget submarine X-5 was last seen in close proximity to the 'Tirpitz' but its precise fate was not known, but recent underwater discoveries at Kaafjord (at the head of the Altenfjord) now suggest that it, too, may have been successful in reaching its target. The 6 survivors of the operation remained POW's until the end of the war; both commanders were awarded the Victoria Cross. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Haggard (DD-555) taken 22 September 1943 shortly after her completion off Point No Point, Washington (USA). The Haggard is armed in the standard configuration of five twin 40 mm gun mounts, seven single 20 mm and 10 torpedo tubesPhoto: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Satterlee (DD-626) off the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts (USA), on 22 September 1943 United KingdomPhoto: General view of the damage to HMS Escapade at Greenock. Note the broken RD7 which was smashed by the blast, September 22, 1943 Photo: A general view of the damage to HMS Escapade at Greenock, with the damage to the bridge in the foreground, September 22, 1943 Pacific War CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, B-25's attack the Ye-u branch line railroad bridge over the Mu River between Ywataung and Monywa. Negligible damage is done to the target. BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24's and B-25's bomb Gasmata Airfield on New Britain Island. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): After a preparatory naval bombardment, elements of the Australian 9 Division land at the mouth of the Song River N of Finschhafen and push to the S; B-25's pound defenses in the Finschhafen area; almost 90 fighters battle Japanese aircraft attacking the convoy; 38 enemy aircraft are claimed shot down. Lost is G4M1 Betty piloted by Uchibaba. AUSTRALIA General Headquarters South West Pacific Area issues orders for Operation DEXTERITY, the landing on Cape Gloucester, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago. The ALAMO Force (U.S. Sixth Army) is to make an airborne and amphibious assault on Cape Gloucester; neutralize Gasmata Island and then take it in a shore-to-shore operation. D-Day, at first set for 20 November, is finally postponed to 26 December. JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES In the Netherlands East Indies, 5th AF B-24's bomb Ambon Island in the Moluccas Islands. HAWAIIAN ISLANDS Admiral William F Halsey Commander Third Fleet, issues a warning order for the invasion of the Northern Solomon Islands and directs Rear Admiral Theodore S Wilkinson, Commander Amphibious Force, Third Fleet, who is to head landing forces, to make detailed plans. It is later decided to invade the Treasury Islands and the Empress Augusta Bay area of Bougainville. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN After a preparatory naval bombardment by the USN's Task Force 76 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey), the Australian 2/13th, 2/15th and 2/17th Battalions, 20th Brigade Group, 9th Division, land on Scarlet Beach at the mouth of the Song River, 6 miles north of Finschhafen, Northeast New Guinea, early in morning. The brigade establishes a beachhead with little difficulty and pushes south toward Finschhafen. The landing is opposed by 300-400 Japanese troops of the 80th and 238th Regiments; the Australians suffered 20 killed, 9 missing and 65 wounded. On the Huon Peninsula, the Australian 22nd Battalion lands on Blue Beach near Hopoi on the southern coast. The battalion’s objective is to advance east and then north to Finschhafen. The rest of the 2/16th Battalion and HQ 21st Brigade are flown into Kaiapit and the battalion moves west and crosses the Maniang River. Photo: Scarlet Beach on the Huon Peninsula of New Guinea on 22 September 1943, not long after it was captured by Australian soldiers Captured Japanese documents reveal that the Japanese force destroyed by 2/6th Independent Company at Kaiapit on 20 September was not an isolated patrol but the vanguard of 3,500 Imperial Japanese Army troops. In the air, the 5th AF provides air support and intercepts Japanese aircraft making ineffective attacks on the convoy. B-25's hit defenses in the Finschhafen area; almost 90 fighters battle Japanese aircraft attacking the convoy; 38 Japanese aircraft are claimed shot down. A-20's and B-25's hit the Lae area. PACIFIC Gunboat Charleston (PG-51) is damaged when accidentally rammed by U.S. merchant ship Sam Jackson, Kuluk Bay, Adak, Alaska. Submarine Harder (SS-257) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Daishin Maru and cargo ship Kowa Maru, 34°46'N, 140°55'E. Submarine Hoe (SS-258) attacks Japanese fleet tanker Gen'yo Maru, 10°08'N, 147°01'E. Submarine Snook (SS-279) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Katsurahama Maru, 39°00'N, 124°20'E, and damages merchant cargo ship Hakutetsu Maru, 39°15'N, 123°30'E. Submarine Trigger (SS-237) damages Japanese army cargo ship Gyoku Maru, 26°27'N, 122°40'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 23, 2022 5:26:11 GMT
Day 1471 of World War II, September 23rd 1943Air War over Europe312 Lancasters, 193 Halifaxes, 115 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitoes and 5 B-17s attacked Mannheim, 32 aircraft lost. The USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 102: 4 B-17s of the 422d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), bombed Mannheim with the RAF in a night attack. This raid was intended to destroy the northern part of Mannheim which had not been so severely hit in the successful raid earlier in the month. The Pathfinder plan worked well and concentrated bombing fell on the intended area, although later stages of the raid crept back across the northern edge of Ludwigshafen and out into the open country. The following buildings were destroyed in Mannheim: 927 houses, 20 industrial premises, 11 schools, 6 public buildings and a church. A large number of other buildings were damaged and approximately 25,000 people were bombed out of their homes. 102 people were killed and 418 were injured. There were more than 2,000 fires. Local records, provided on this night by Herr Erwin Folz and not from the local authorities, show that the later stages of the bombing crept back across the Rhine to the northern part of Ludwigshafen, where the I.G. Farben factory was severely damaged, and the to the smaller outlying towns of Oppau and Frankenthal. Ludwigshafen suffered 47 people killed and 260 injured. A firther 8,000 people were bombed out of whom 4,289 were foreign workers. The centre of the small town of Frankenthal was completely burnt out and 38 people were killed there. 21 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid on Darmstadt without loss. The diversionary purpose of this raid was not achieved because Darmstadt was too close to Mannheim and the German nightfighters could see the main attack only 20 miles away quite clearly. But the small force of bombers caused much damage in this university town which had little industry and which had not been seriously bombed before. 273 buildings were damaged and 147 people were killed. 6 Mosquitoes went to Aachen. The USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 100 against three targets: 46 B-17s bombed the Nantes port area and claimed 22-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft. 55 B-17s hit Meucon Airfield at Vannes and 53 63 B-17s hit Bastard Airfield at Kerlin claiming 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 B-17 was lost. Italian CampaignThe U.S. Fifth Army began a general advance. The British X Corps, making the main effort, attacked toward the Nocera-Pagani Pass on the left with the 46th Division. The 56th Division drove northward on the Salerno-San Severino road but firm enemy opposition made progress slow. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions continued northward, hampered more by extensive demolitions than by the enemy. Engineers were playing an important role in keeping routes of advance open. The British Eighth Army drove the enemy from Altamura. In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26s bombed bridges at Cancello Arnone and 3 miles (4,8 km) northeast of Capua; light bombers and fighter-bombers attacked motor transport, roads, railroads, town areas, gun positions, and targets of opportunity in the areas of San Severino Rota, Avellino, Sarno, Torre Annunziata, Aversa, Nocera, Resina, Serino, Pompeii, and Camarella. Free French forces occuppied Bonifaccio, Corsica. They now controlled more than half of the island. Three British sergeants were sentenced to death by firing squad, and 189 corporals and other ranks were given long prison sentences, for mutiny after the Salerno landings. The men, from the 51st Highland Division and the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, all of whom were wounded in North Africa, had been rushed to the beach-head without proper orders. In the past their divisional commanders had said that they could insist on their right to rejoin their old battalions, so they refused to join the English country regiments. The sentences were suspended when the men agreed to fight with the new units. Battle of the AtlanticGerman minesweeper M-343 collided with 'U-962' in Danish waters causing some damage to the U-boat. Several ships were lost during Convoy ON-202. 'U-238' sank SS 'Fort Jemseg', 'Oregon Express' and 'Skjelbred' in the convoy and 'U-952' damaged SS 'James Gordon Bennett' and sank SS 'Steel Voyager' . Although reboarded when Canadian corvette HMCS 'Morden' and Free French corvette 'Renoncule' arrived to provide assistance, 'Steel Voyager' was abandoned a second time when it became obvious that the ship could not be gotten underway. All hands (39-man merchant complement and 27-man Armed Guard) were taken on board the two corvettes.Corvette HMCS 'Morden' was then attacked by 'U-666' . 'U-666' fired a Gnat, which detonated after 8 minutes 21 seconds in the wake of 'HMCS 'Morden'. At 02.01 hours, the U-boat fired another Gnat, which hit HMS 'Itchen' (K 227) after 1 minute 10 seconds. The frigate blew up after the hit. Debris from the vessel was later found on the conning tower of the U-boat and on HMCS 'Morden' . 'U-422' was attacked by a Liberator aircraft from 10 RAF Squadron. A few crewmembers were wounded and the boat was damaged. The boat was depth charged and gunned by the allied aircraft (reported by the boat as "Halifax"). Asking for medical assistance the boat finally met the tanker 'U-460' on the 29th of September. United StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Rall (DE-304) immediately after her launching at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, (USA), on 23 September 1943 Pacific WarALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Admiral Thomas C Kinkaid issues Operations Plan (Op Plan) 9-43 which reorganizes the Alaskan Army and Navy air strength. The Commanding General Eleventh Air Force becomes Commander of Task Force 90 (TF 90), composed of Task Group 90.1 (TG 90.1), designated the Air Striking Unit (comprising 16 medium bombers, 12 heavy bombers, 100 fighters) and of TG 90.2, designated the Air Search Group, a Navy air arm. For operations, the Eleventh Air Force is now under the jurisdiction of Commander Northern Pacific (COMNORPAC) Forces. There is no administrative change. SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): 23 B-24's, 16 P-38's, and 60+ USN dive bombers, covered by AAF, USMC, USN, and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) fighters, attack Kahili; Allied aircraft claim at least 9 fighters shot down. 21 B-24's bomb area from Stanmore Plantation to the mouth of the Vila River. P-39's strafe 2 barges, at Sasamunga and Malanono, leaving both aflame. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): B-25's bomb and strafe villages in the upper Markham River Valley. P-40's bomb Gasmata. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN Australian Lieutenant General Sir Iven Giffard Mackay arrives in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to take command of the New Guinea Force. Continuing south toward Finschhafen, Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 20th Brigade, 9th Division takes the airfield and reaches the Bumi River, where the Japanese are firmly established. PACIFIC Submarine Trout (SS-202) sinks Japanese transport Ryotoku Maru and merchant cargo ship Yamashiro Maru northwest of the Marianas, 20°45'N, 142°10'E, and eludes counterattacks of the escort, auxiliary minesweeper Keinan Maru. Submarine Tuna (SS-203) attacks Japanese cargo vessel Shinwa Maru, 04°50'N, 105°50'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 24, 2022 14:28:17 GMT
Day 1472 of World War II, September 24th 1943YouTube (Red Army Reaches the Dnieper)Eastern FrontHeavy fighting was in progress in the vicinity of Smolensk and Roslavl. The Soviet Army captured Borispol, east of Kiev while Army Group Center prepared to abandon Smolensk and Roslavl. Air War over EuropeHQ 20th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) transfers from Horsham St Faith to Hethel, England. HQ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) and it's 552d, 553d, 554th and 555th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) transfer from Boxted to Great Dunmow, England with B-26's. The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 69 and 70 against 2 airfields without loss. 71 B-26B Marauders hit Fauville Airfield at Evreux and claimed 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft while 66 B-26Bs hit Tille Airfield at Beauvais. 4 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 39 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and south of Texel, 1 Stirling lost. Italian CampaignIn the British Eighth Army's 5 Corps area, 78th Division patrols reached the Ofanto River. In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s hit roads, railways, bridges, and junctions at Grottaminarda, Maddaloni, Benevento, Avellino, Capua, Cancello Arnone, Amorosi, Ponte, and Mignano, and attacked a destroyer between Corsica and Elba Island; B-24s on detached service from the Eighth Air Force bombed the marshalling yard at Pisa; US and RAF planes attacked vehicles, roads, troop concentrations, and gun positions around Santa Lucia di Serino, Serino, Caserta, Benevento, Camarella, Baronissi, Nocera, Montemarano, and San Severo. Photo: Augusta, Sicily, Italy. c. September 1943. Airmen of No. 3 Squadron RAAF, launching an Italian Breda Ba.25 seaplane which was captured intact when the port of Augusta was occupied by Allied Forces. The Breda was flown by the Squadron and later handed over to the Free French Arctic naval operations16 Mosquitoes of the RAF Banff Wing attacked and sank the 'Biber' and 'Storfsund' off of Hjeltefjord. Accurate flak was encountered with one Mosquito landing at Banff minus a large chunk of leading edge. 'U-387' put a weather reporting unit ashore on Spitsbergen in the Arctic Sea. 'U-711' used its deck gun to attack the Soviet radio station Blagopolucya on the island of Nova Zemlja in the Barents Sea. Battle of the Indian OceanU.S. freighter Elias Howe is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-10 about 75 miles southeast of Aden, 11°40'N, 44°35'E. Subsequently, British seaplanes rescue one boatload of survivors and those on board two rafts; British trawler HMS Aiglon rescues the remainder. Two of the 42-man merchant complement are killed in the initial explosion; the 18-man Armed Guard survives intact. Pacific War SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): B-24's fly a small strike against Sorong and Manokwari. BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO ALAMO Scouts begin reconnaissance of the Cape Gloucester area on New Britain Island in preparation for the upcoming invasion. ALAMO is the code for the U.S. Sixth Army while operating as a special ground task force headquarters directly under General Headquarters, South West Pacific Area. HAWAIIAN ISLANDS Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the Central Pacific Force, recommends to Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet and commander of the Pacific Ocean Area, that an amphibious operation against Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands be substituted for projected invasion of Nauru. [Nauru Island is a 21 square kilometer (8 square mile) island in the South Pacific Ocean, located about halfway between the Gilbert and Solomon Islands. The island is rich in phosphate deposits and was occupied by the Japanese on 25 August 1942.] This plan is subsequently accepted. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN In Northeast New Guinea, the 20th Brigade, Australian 9th Division, forces the Bumi River, north of Finschhafen, against heavy opposition, capturing Finschhafen Airdrome. In the Markham River Valley, the 2/14th Battalion, with a battery from the 2/4th Field Regiment, lands at Kaiapit. In the air over Northeast New Guinea, nine Japanese bombers with a fighter escort bomb and strafe Finschhafen Airdrome. A USAAF Fifth Air Force P-38 Lightning pilot shoots down one of the escorting Zero's SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN Barakoma Field on Vella Lavella Island becomes operational and the first Allied plane lands. PACIFIC Submarine Cabrilla (SS-288) attacks Japanese carrier Taiyo, escort carrier Chuyo, and destroyer Shimakaze northwest of Chichi Jima, torpedoing Taiyo at 28°00'N, 146°10'E. Chuyo tows the disabled carrier to Yokosuka. Taiyo is saved from worse damage because two of the three torpedo warheads that hit the ship (of the six fired by Cabrilla) detach upon impact. USAAF B-24 sinks small Japanese cargo vessel Shonan Maru off Mussau Island, 00°27'S, 147°43'E.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 25, 2022 6:29:55 GMT
Day 1473 of World War II, September 25th 1943Eastern FrontSmolensk and Roslavl fell to the Soviets of General Popov's Bryansk Front. This was perhaps the most important success of the Russian Army since the end of the Battle of Kursk. The general German retreat from here south had been forced by the Russians. It was been ordered to stop at the Dniepr River. The retreat, long urged by Manstein, was too late to be of great value to the Germans. Describing the action which liberated Smolensk after several days of heavy fighting, Moscow reported that Popov's men broke into the northern suburbs and drove the Germans back street by street until the city was cleared. The Germans admitted that Smolensk had fallen, but claimed that it was evacuated by their rearguard in the face of advancing Russian forces "after completing the most important and necessary measures and demolition of important military installations." Berlin Radio reported that bad weather prevented the Luftwaffe from intervening in the battle and that "the German formations were faced with the extremely difficult task of holding their positions against the numerically superior enemy." Roslavl, 37 miles south-east of Smolensk, also fell to the Red Army, and fighting was now raging along a 300-mile front on the eastern approaches to the Dnieper. Stalin promised to award Russia's highest decoration, the Hero of the Soviet Union, to any soldiers who force crossings of the Dnieper, and there were reports that small bridgeheads had been established in the Rzhintsev/Kanev region, south of Kiev. It was likely that these bridgeheads were made by Cossack horsemen who specialized in river crossings, swimming their horses across at night, above and below German strongpoints, and then attacking from the rear. The Russians pointed out that the Germans had not yet been able to hold a river line, and did not expect them to hold the Dnieper. But the Russians also have their problems. A paratroop drop on the western bank met with disaster. Air War over EuropeThe US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 71: 68 B-26B Marauders hit Longuenesse Airfield at St Omer without loss. 8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Dusseldorf and 10 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians without loss. Italian CampaignGen Bernard Montgomery began regrouping the British Eighth Army to strengthen the eastern flank. V Corps, which was to include the 5th, 1st Airbourne, and the Indian 8th Divisions, was initially to remain in the Taranto area while XIII Corps, with the 78th Division on the right and the Canadian 1st Division on the left, continued an advance. V Corps was later to move forward behind XIII Corps and secure its left flank. In the air, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force dispatched about 90 B-17s to bomb the Bologna marshalling yard; 14 others attacked the Bolzano railroad bridge; B-25s and B-26s bombed airfields at Pisa, Lucca, and Bastia/Borgo, a highway at Mignano, a road junction at Maddaloni, and railroad and road bridges at Cancello Amone, Caiazzo, and Ponte; USAAF and RAF fighters attacked Serino (causing a roadblock), troop concentrations at Sarno, gun positions, troops, and vehicles near Nocera, Aquino airfield, a storage dump north of Foggia and a dredger at Termoli. Photo: A supermarine Spitfire fighter, in U.S. Army Air Force markings, which made a forced landing on the beach at Paesternum, South of Salerno, in Sept. 1943. Note USS LST-359 in background Battle of the AtlanticAt the end of the Battle of Convoys ONS-18 and ON-202, 20 U-boats have sunk 36,422 tons of merchant shipping and three escorts; British ships sank three U-boats and damaged a further three. Battle of the MediterraneanMinesweeper Skill (AM-115) is sunk by German submarine U-593 in the Gulf of Salerno, 40°19.5'N, 14°35.5'E. Sistership Speed (AM-116) rescues the few survivors, screened by Seer (AM-112). Pilot (AM-104) conducts a followup search for survivors without success. 'U-667' shot down RAF Wellington, Squadron 179/F in the Gibraltar Straits. Pacific War CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): The 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th BG (Heavy), transfers from Bishnupur, India to Panagarh, India with B-24's. SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): B-25's join USN TBF's and SBD's in pounding gun positions in the areas around Vila Airfield and Disappointment Cove on New Georgia. SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN The Japanese begin to evacuate Kolombangara Island. The garrison has been isolated by the island hopping campaign of the U.S. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): Nearly 40 B-17's, B-24's, and B-25's bomb installations and supply lines from Bogadjim to villages on the Ramu and Markham Rivers; A-20's and RAAF airplanes pound positions near Finschhafen as the Australian 9 Division, having crossed the Buni River the previous day, pushes S toward the town. B-25's bomb and strafe AA positions at Rein Bay on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. The 66th Troop Carrier Squadron, 54th Troop Carrier Wing, transfers from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with C-47's. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 20th Brigade, 9th Division, continues the battle for Finschhafen and consolidates its bridgehead across the Bumi River. In the Markham River Valley, the Australian 2/14th Battalion, with part of a battery of the 2/4th Field Regiment, lands at Kaiapit. PACIFIC Tank landing ships LST-167 is damaged by dive bomber off Vella Lavella, Solomons, 07°45'S, 156°30'E. Submarine Bluefish (SS-222) damages Japanese merchant cargo ship Akashi Maru, 06°23'S, 118°55'E, and escapes counterattack by escorting auxiliary minesweeper Wa 4 (see 29 September 1943). Submarines Bowfin (SS-287), Billfish (SS-286), and Bonefish (SS-223) attack Japanese convoy; Bowfin sinks tanker Kirishima Maru 220 nautical miles north of Nha Trang, French Indochina, 09°50'N, 112°03'E. None of the other attacks prove successful, and the enemy ships continue their passage to Manila.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 26, 2022 2:57:59 GMT
Day 1474 of World War II, September 26th 1943Eastern FrontSoviet troops penetrated the suburbs of Kiev. A decision was made to withdraw the Spanish Blue Division from the Eastern front. Air War over EuropeThe US Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 103 against targets in France with the loss of 1 B-17. 40 B-17s hit Champagne Airfield at Reims and 55 B-17s were dispatched to the Paris area but abandoned the mission after crossing the enemy coast. 63 B-17s dispatched to Meulon Les Mureaux and Citroen in the Paris area were prevented from bombing by the weather. 72 B-26B Marauders of the US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command were dispatched to Conches Airfield during Mission 72 but were recalled due to weather. 5 Mosquitoes went to Aachen and 4 each to Cologne and Hamborn without loss. The 5 Mosquitoes attacking Aachen were carrying out the first trials of Mark 11 Oboe but the equipment failed and bombs were released visually or on dead reckoning. Italian CampaignThe British X Corps met no resistance due to German withdrawals. The demolitions and booby traps proved to be plenty of resistance. Advance units from the US XIII Corps 8th Army entered Canosa on the Ofanto River. The U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps continued its efforts to break out into the Neapolitan plain; enemy positions were beginning to weaken under its blows. To reinforce the west flank, the U.S. 82d Airborne Division was transferred to Maiori by sea and, under X Corps control, took command of the Rangers. VI Corps was handicapped by autumn rains as well as demolitions, but the 45th Infantry Division took Teora and the junction of Highways 7 and 91. In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps patrols reached Canosa. The 15th Army Group was directed by General Dwight Eisenhower to secure air bases in Rome area. The 1,432 men of the US 100th battalion entered combat. In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters, and light and medium bombers patrolled the battle zone, escorted convoys, carried out bombing and strafing sweeps against motor transport in the Benevento-Melfi area and north of Foggia, bombed the Pomigliano landing ground, and hit the town of Sarno and military concentrations to the north. Bad weather prevented heavy bomber missions. The island of Corfu surrendered to a German force that has recently landed there. German Ju-88 bombers sank destroyers HMS 'Intrepid' and HS 'Vasilissa Olga' in Leros, Dodecanese. Battle of the Atlantic Naval Operating Facility, Natal, Brazil, is established. United StatesThe USN aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill is moored main dock, N.A.S. San Diego, California. She had just finished her shake-down cruise and with Carrier Air Group Seventeen (CVG-17), had qualified all pilots. They told me she is a tight fit in the Panama Canal. We, Fighting Squadron Eighteen (VF-18 ) are told to board the carrier for transport to Pearl Harbor for further training. We are 45 percent through our training program. Things got a little tight with an additional 36 fighters aboard. IIRC, a lot of Marine Regiment are also loaded FFT to Pearl. Photo: Launch of the U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Bright (DE-747) at the Western Pipe and Steel Company, Los Angeles, California (USA), on 26 September 1943 Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS David W. Taylor (DD-551) in Mobile Bay (USA) on 26 September 1943. David W. Taylor had been commissioned on 18 September 1943 Pacific War SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN 21 B-24's, covered by 14 P-38's, bomb a bivouac near Kahili; 30 P-40's and P-39's and 15 USN F4U's support 50+ USN dive bombers in a strike on the hangar area of the airfield at Kahili and gun positions at Kangu Hill and Jakohina. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, B-24's bomb But and Dagua Airfields; P-38's claim 9 enemy fighters shot down in the But-Dagua-Wewak areas; other B-24's hit Nubia and Potsdam Plantation. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN In Northeast New Guinea, the Japanese try in vain to destroy the Australian beachhead in the Finschhafen area but the 20th Brigade repels their attacks. Two companies of the Australian 2/17th Battalion moving towards Sattelberg in the hills 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of Finschhafen, stop the advance of Japanese reinforcements heading for the town. JAPANESE OCCUPIED SINGAPORE During Operation JAYWICK, six members of the Australian SOA (Special Operations Australia) Unit in three canoes, attach limpet mines to seven ships Singapore Harbour. The six men then retire safely.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 27, 2022 2:47:18 GMT
Day 1475 of World War II, September 27th 1943Eastern FrontThe Soviets reached the suburbs of Dnepropetrovsk. In the Kuban, the Russians captured Temryuk, their last port. There was a general withdrawl of all German forces in the Ukraine to positions on the west bank of the Dnepr. Air War over EuropeThe US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 73 and 74 against 2 airfields in France. 65 72 B-26B Marauders hit Tille Airfield at Beauvais and claimed 4-6-4 Luftwaffe aircraft. 68 of 72 B-26's hit Conches Airfield and 1 B-26 was lost. The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flew 2 missions. Mission 104: The port of Emden, Germany was the target. In the first pathfinder (PFF) mission, 2 of 3 H2S equipped pathfinder B-17s lead the mission. 246 B-17s hit the Emden industrial area and targets of opportunity and claimed 32-7-24 Luftwaffe aircraft. 7 B-17s were lost while escort was provided by 262 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 21-2-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 was lost. 312 Lancasters, 231 Halifaxes, 111 Stirlings, 24 Wellingtons and 5 B-17s attacked Hannover with the loss of 38 RAF aircraft and 1 B-17. The use by the Pathfinders of faulty forecast winds again saved the centre of Hannover. The bombing was very concentrated but fell on an area 5 miles north of the city centre. No details were available from Germany but RAF photographic evidence showed that most of the bombs fell in open country or villages north of the city. One of the lost Lancasters was ED314 QR-Y from 61 Sqdn but only one aircrew is recorded, Sgt E. Fraser. 21 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes of 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid on Brunswick which was successful in drawing off some night fighters. 218 people were killed in Brunswick - 51 Germans and 167 foreigners. 1 Lancaster was lost. 9 Mosquitoes went on another diversion to Emden, 5 Mosquitoes on Oboe tests to Aachen (3 were successful) and 19 aircraft minelaying in the Kattegat and the Frisians without loss. Italian CampaignFoggia greeted the advance units of the British 8th Army. The airfields were now in Allied hands. The capture of Foggia brought with it the massive airbase, allowing the Allies to stage future raids throughout the Balkans and southern Germany and Poland. The main body of the 8th Army was still not ready. Canadian units captured Melfi, Italy. The people in Naples began an insurrection against Germans, which would last through to the end of the month. Weather almost halted US Twelfth Air Force operations; XII Air Support Command fighters strafed Viterbo Airfield and Bracciano seaplane base, bombed a road junction at San Servero, and strafed a locomotive and the train station; other Northwestern Tactical Air Force aircraft hit trucks in the Benevento area. The Germans took full control of the island of Corfu having wiped out the Italian garrison. Destroyer HMS 'Intrepid' was damaged by two air raids on the port of Leros and abandoned. Considered to be beyond repair, she capsized. There were 15 casualties. Battle of the Atlantic Two German submarines were sunk. 'U-161' was sunk in the South Atlantic near Bahia, Brazil, by depth charges from a USN PBM-3 Mariner of Patrol Squadron Seventy Four (VP-74) based at Natal, Brazil. All 53 hands on the U-boat were lost; 2 crewmen in the PBM were wounded by AA fire from the U-boat. 'U-221' shot down an RAF Handley Page Halifax aircraft (Sqdn. 58/B) but was sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the same aircraft, an RAF Halifax Mk II of No 58 Squadron based at Holmsley South, Hampshire, England. All 50 hands on the U-boat were lost. United StatesPhoto: USS Matagorda (AVP-22), 27 September 1943 at Norfolk, VA, with a main armament of 4 5"/38 guns.
 Pacific War SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): 27 B-24's, 20+ P-40's and P-39's, and several USN fighters pound the Kahili area. P-39's over Choiseul Island strafe (and explode) 3 barges off Wogai Point, and strafe 2 others off Bambatana, leaving 1 ablaze. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): 117 B-24's and B-25's, escorted by 129 P-38's and P-40's, attack airfields and shipping in the Wewak area; about 40 aircraft are destroyed on the ground and 8 are claimed shot down in combat; the bombers claim 10 ships (totaling about 28,000 tons), 11 luggers, and a launch sunk; Finschhafen is bombed twice during the day. CHINA Mao Tse-min (Mao Tse-tung's brother) and the Communist party founder Chen Tan-chi are executed by order of Chiang Kai-shek. JAPANESE OCCUPIED SINGAPORE In Singapore harbor, the limpet mines attached to seven Japanese ships by the Australian SOA (Special Operations Australia) Unit yesterday (Operation JAYWICK) begin exploding at 0515 hours local. Two freighters are sunk and five others are badly damaged. SOLOMONS ISLANDS Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570) receiving mail by highline from the light cruiser USS Columbia (CL-56), while steaming in the Solomon Islands, 27 September 1943. On the night of 27-28 September, shortly after this photograph was taken, Charles Ausburne's gunfire sank two Japanese barges off Vella Lavella PACIFIC Submarine Bluefish (SS-222) sinks Japanese torpedo boat Kasasagi 25 miles south of the Flores Sea, N.E.I., 05°45'S, 121°50'E. Submarine Bonefish (SS-223) sinks Japanese army transport Kashima Maru, and damages cago ship Chihaya Maru, 10°10'N, 109°40'E
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 28, 2022 2:47:39 GMT
Day 1476 of World War II, September 28th 1943Air War over Europe8 Mosquitoes attacked Cologne and Gelsenkirchen without loss. Italian CampaignThe British X Corps arrived on the plain of Naples at Nocera and continued their advance. The US VI Corps advanced near Avellino and captured Teora, Italy. The US Fifth Army was ready for an assault on Naples and Avellino while Caistellamare di Stabia, Nocera, and Sala Consilina were taken. Photo: Bishop 25-pdr self-propelled gun near Cava, 28 September 1943 Photo: Rear view of a Bishop 25-pdr self-propelled gun near Cava, showing the crew inside the fighting compartment 28 September 1943 Weather prevented completion of US Twelfth Air Force B-17 missions against the Bologna marshalling yard and the Bolzano railroad bridge, except for a B-17 which bombed Bolzano. Tactical aircraft operations were also severely curtailed by weather but fighter-bombers bombed and strafed motor transport in the Benevento-Caserta area. A Bf 110 of 2(F)./122 was lost east of Corsica – possibly shot down by a Cptn Gauthier of GC II/7. Crew status unknown. GermanyAdolf Hitler issued Directive 50: preparations for the movement of 20th Mountain Army to Northern Finland and Northern Norway in case Finland withdraws from the war, or collapses like Italy. United StatesLoaded up, USS Bunker Hill departs San Diego, underway for Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. Pacific War SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): 5 B-24 snoopers attack a convoy in N Solomons waters and claim several damaging hits. The convoy reverses its course.During the night, the Japanese garrison on Kolombangara Island begins withdrawing. Five USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberator snoopers attack a convoy in northern Solomon waters and claim several damaging hits causing the convoy to reverse its course. SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): The Wewak area is again hit, the 40 attacking B-24's being escorted by 29 P-38's which claim 8 fighters shot down; A-20's and RAAF Vengeances attack the Finschhafen and Lae area; B-24's and P-39's hit a road near Bogadjim. The 21st Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, transfers from Port Moresby, New Guinea to Archerfield, Queensland, Australia with C-47's. The 39th Troop Carrier Squadron, 317th Troop Carrier Group, transfers from Archerfield to Port Moresby with C-47's. PACIFIC The USN submarine USS Cisco (SS-290) is sunk in the Sulu Sea about 74 nautical miles SW of Iloilo, Panay Island, the Philippines, by the gunboat Karatsu [ex-river gunboat USS Panay (PR-7)] and a "Pete" seaplane (Mitsubishi F1M, Navy Type 0 Observation Seaplane) in position 9.47N, 121.44E. Submarine Grouper (SS-214) lands men and supplies on south coast of New Britain. Submarine Gudgeon (SS-212) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Taian Maru, 15°22'N, 145°38'E. Minelayer No.2 Fumi Maru (which Gudgeon had engaged on 16 September 1943), counterattacks, but does not damage the submarine as Gudgeon and No.2 Fumi Maru encounter each other for the second time. Japanese minelayer Hoko is sunk by aircraft off New Britain.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 29, 2022 2:57:39 GMT
Day 1477 of World War II, September 29th 1943
Eastern Front
Kremenchug and Rudnya fell to the Soviets. The Red Army took control of the Smolensk to Vitebsk railway, in the north-west, and occupied Kremenchug in the south, the last German strong point on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, and continue to close in on Kiev to the northwest.
Air War over Europe
13 Lancasters, 130 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitoes attacked Bochum, 9 aircraft lost. The Oboe-assisted Pathfinder plan worked perfectly and led to accurate and concentrated bombing. In the Bochum air-raid area, which included 3 small towns near by, 527 houses were destroyed and 742 were seriously damaged. The Altstadt is mentioned as having been particularly hard hit. 161 people were killed, including 33 foreign workers and prisoners of war, and 337 people were injured.
During the night of 29/30 September, three RAF Bomber Command Lancasters laid mines in the Baltic Sea off Gdynia.
11 Mosquitoes went to Gelsenkirchen and 14 Lancasters went minelaying off Danzig, Gdynia and Pillau in the Baltic without loss.
Italian Campaign
The attack against Avellino by the US Fifth Army, 3rd Div began during the night. The US X Corps advance passed Pompeii. US Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bombed bridges at or near Piana, Castelvenere, Amorosi, and Cancello Amone; P-38 Lightnings bombed Ausonia defile and a bridge near San Apollinare; US and RAF tactical aircraft hit the town of San Giorgio del Sannio and roads in the area S of Benevento.
General Eisenhower and Marshal Badoglio sign the full armistice agreement on HMS 'Nelson' at Malta. But why HMS 'Nelson'? In the words of A.B. Cunningham:
"The British and American Governments were anxious that the full terms of surrender should be signed by Badoglio with some ceremony. I suggested that one of the battleships of Force "H" at Malta should be the scene of the signing, and Eisenhower asked me to make the arrangements. My first inclination was to hoist my flag in my old ship, the RODNEY; but on second thoughts I decided that the NELSON, Admiral Willis's flagship should be the place of meeting".
Off Salerno, Italy, tank landing craft LCT-342 sinks after running aground; LCT-537, LCT-553, LCT-556, LCT-583, LCT-603, LCT-605, LCT-606, LCT-614, LCT-616, LCT-618, LCT-621, and LCT-626 are all damaged when gale strands them off Salerno's south beaches.
Pacific War
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA
(Fourteenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-24's bomb Myitkyina and Sadon during routine ferry trips over the Hump.
SOUTH PACIFIC
(Thirteenth Air Force): On Choiseul P-40's, P-38's, and P-39's join USN fighters in supporting a strike by USN dive bombers on a barge depot at Kakasa; other P-40's strafe and set afire a barge off Sambi Point.
NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN
In Northeast New Guinea, Australian troops encounter strong resistance around the town of Finschhafen while the 2/2nd Independent Company ambushes the Japanese near Kesawai in the Ramu River Valley inflicting heavy casualties.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC
(Fifth Air Force): B-24's on armed reconnaissance attack scattered shipping in the Netherlands East Indies and Solomon and Bismarck Seas. Lost on a training flight is B-25D "Axis Fate" 41-30053.
CHINA
Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, commander of the U.S. China-Burma-India Theater, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, commander of the Northern Area Combat Command and deputy commander of the South-East Asia Command, issues "A" Program for China, which he recommends that 60 Chinese Nationalist divisions be reformed.
PACIFIC
During a sweep to destroy Japanese barge traffic north of Kolombangara, destroyers Patterson (DD-392) and McCalla (DD-488) are damaged in collision, 07°36'S, 157°12'E.
Submarine Bluefish (SS-222) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Akashi Maru, 06°11'S, 126°00'E (see 25 September 1943).
Submarine Gudgeon (SS-212) damages Japanese gunboat Santo Maru off Saipan, 15°28'N, 145°57'E. Transport Kenryu Maru tows the gunboat into Saipan.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Sept 30, 2022 6:09:43 GMT
Day 1478 of World War II, September 30th 1943Eastern FrontThe 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. Italian CampaignAdvance 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. Battle of the Atlantic '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. United States (First Air Force): The 10th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), 26th Antisubmarine Wing, ceases flying ASW patrols from Galveston, Texas with B-25's. The squadron will be redesignated 867th Bombardment Squadron and will transfer to the Central Pacific with B-24's in Jun 44. 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. Pacific War JAPANESE OCCUPIED SINGAPORE A canoe-borne Australian Special Forces group has penetrated the heavily protected harbour at Singapore and blown up between 37,000 and 38,000 tons of Japanese shipping in Operation Jaywick. The operation began on the night of 26-27 September. Led by Major Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders, six "Z" Special men entered the harbour in three canoes and attached limpet mines to seven ships, all of which were sunk or badly damaged. All three canoes were clear of Singapore when the first mines exploded at 5.15am on 27 September. The "Z" Special group was a mix of army and navy men. Its canoes, limpet mines and equipment were conveyed to a point near Singapore in the 68-ton ketch Krait. The ketch left Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, on 1 September and on entering enemy waters posed as an Indonesian trading vessel. The KRAIT is a former Japanese fishing vessel, the KOKUFU MARU, seized from the Japanese in the early part of the Pacific War. Sailing to Singapore without incident the group sighted the lights of the city on 18 September. While attaching a limpet mine to a tanker two of the crewmen became aware of a sailor watching them intently through a porthole. The froze in their task, but fortunately the sailor did not raise the alarm. CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): The 311th BGroup is redesignated 311th Fighter-Bomber Group. The 385th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) is disbanded at Nawadih, India; the 382d, 383d and 384th Bombardment Squadrons (Dive) are redesignated 528th, 529th and 530th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons. CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 2 B-25's and 4 P-40's claim heavy damage to a gunboat at Ft Bayard, China. SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): 16 B-24's, covered by 20+ P-38's and P-40's and a few US Navy F4U's, pound the Kahili Airfield area, hitting a supply and bivouac area NE of the strip. 6 B-25's bomb Kakasa on Choiseul Island. AUSTRALIA Photo: The U.S. Navy gasoline tanker USS Susquehanna (AOG-5) on 30 September 1943. Susquehanna operated between Australia and Milne Bay, New Guinea, at that time PACIFIC In the Solomons area, tank landing ships LST-334 is damaged by dive bombers, 07°43'S, 156°40'E; motor torpedo boat PT-126 is damaged, accidentally, by USMC F4Us, 07°50'S, 157°05'E. Motor torpedo boat PT-68 is damaged by grounding off Vincke Point, Huon Peninsula, eastern New Guinea, 05°56'S, 147°18'E. Submarine Bowfin (SS-287) delivers supplies and evacuates people from Siquijor Island, P.I., and sinks small Japanese cargo ship Mitake Maru, 05°17'N, 121°57'E. Submarine Harder (SS-257) sinks Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.3 Shosei Maru, 34°10'N, 150°45'E. Submarine Pogy (SS-266) sinks Japanese army transport Maebashi Maru 300 miles east of Palau, 06°01'N, 139°08'E. USAAF B-25s and P-40s sink Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Chikushi Maru in Kwangchow Bay, China, 21°12'N, 110°24'E; the vessel is later salvaged, however, and resumes active service.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Oct 1, 2022 15:29:47 GMT
Day 1479 of World War II, October 1st 1943YouTube (Smolensk and Naples Liberated! Both in ruins)Eastern FrontUnder 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. Air War over EuropeA 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. 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. Italian CampaignNaples, 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. Photo: Daimler scout car of 1st King's Dragoon Guards at the town hall in Naples, 1 October 1943 Photo: Sherman tank of the Scots Greys carrying troops of the 1/6th Queen's Regiment during mopping up operations in Torre Annunciata, 1 October 1943 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. Battle of the Atlantic '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. PV-1s (VB-128) attack German submarines U-402 and U-448 as the latter seek (unsuccessfully) convoy HX 258 in the North Atlantic. Naval Air Facility, Recife, Brazil, is established. Naval forces under Commander Naval Forces Europe (Admiral Harold R. Stark) are designated the Twelfth Fleet. Escort carrier Block Island (CVE-21) and destroyer Black (DD-666) are damaged in collision in Elizabeth River channel, Norfolk, Virginia. GermanyColonel Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg was posted in Berlin as chief of staff in the Replacement Army. German occupied DenmarkDanes begin to smuggle the bulk of the Jewish community, 7,300 people, across the Oresund Strait to Sweden. United States 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 StatesPhoto: The U.S. Navy high speed transport USS Schley (APD-14) underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California (USA), on 2 October 1943, following overhaul Pacific War BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): During Oct, HQ 80th Fighter Group and it's 88th Fighter Squadron transfer from Karachi to Nagaghuli and Mokelbari, India respectively with P-40's. AUSTRALIA The government discontinues recruiting for the Royal Australian Navy because of a severe manpower shortage. BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO B-25s strafe a power boat near Gasmata, New Britain Island. JAPANESE OCCUPIED FRENCH INDOCHINA 21 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s, supported by 21 P-38s and P-40s, bomb a power plant, the warehouse and dock area at Haiphong. 40-65 Japanese Army fighters intercept, shooting down two US aircraft; 30 fighters are claimed destroyed by the Fourteenth in the air battle. NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 9th Division commits another battalion to the assault on Finschhafen, making three in all. In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s and ten RAAF A-31 Vengeances and eight A-20s bomb and strafe the Finschhafen area as the Australian 9th Division pours more troops into the assault on the town. SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., commander of the South Pacific Area and commander of the Third Fleet, informs General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander South West Pacific Area (SWPA) in Australia, of his decision to invade Bougainville Island at Empress Augusta Bay on 1 November and is promised maximum air assistance from SWPA. Twenty four USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb a supply and bivouac area north of Vila airfield on Kolombangara Island. B-25s and P-38s join USN SBDs in a strike on a barge depot at Kakasa on Choiseul Island. Eight USN destroyers make a sweep near Kolombangara Island and sink 20 or 35 Japanese barges. The destroyers are shadowed by Japanese aircraft that constantly harrass the ships; one destroyer is damaged by a near-miss. PACIFIC Motor torpedo boat PT-68, damaged by grounding off Vincke Point, Huon Peninsula, eastern New Guinea, 05°56'S, 147°18'E, is scuttled by motor torpedo boat PT-191 to prevent capture. Destroyer Saufley (DD-465) is damaged by near-miss of bombs from Japanese horizontal bomber, Solomons, 07°42'S, 160°14'E. Tank landing ships LST-448 is damaged by horizontal bomber, Solomons, 07°45'S, 156°30'E. Mobile degaussing barge YDG-4 sinks nine miles southeast of Bulari Passage, after running aground off New Caledonia. Submarine Peto (SS-265) sinks Japanese transport Tonei Maru and Japanese army cargo ship Kinkasan Maru, Southern Carolines, 04°00'N, 143°50'E. Submarine Wahoo (SS-238) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Masaki Maru in Sea of Japan.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Oct 2, 2022 7:53:15 GMT
Day 1480 of World War II, October 2nd 1943
Air War over Europe
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 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.
Italian Campaign
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.
Battle of the Atlantic
'U-168' sank SS 'Haiching'.
'U-223' damaged SS 'Stanmore' beyond repair in Convoy MKS-27.
Battle of the Baltic's
Icebreaker 'Sisu' is damaged by magnetic mine at Melkki sea-lane just off Helsinki.
Pacific War
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO
The USAAF Fifth Air Force attacks various targets on New Britain Island: B-25s strafe villages in the Talasea area and barges off Gasmata while B-26s bomb Hoskins (Cape Hoskins or Gabubu) Airfield; and a B-24 bombs Cape Gloucester Airfield.
CHINA
Five USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s dive-bomb and strafe Yangtze River shipping in the Chiuchiang area. Strafing damages several small craft.
HQ 51st Fighter Group transfers from Dinjan, India to Kunming, China and is reassigned from the Tenth to Fourteenth Air Force.
NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN
In Northeast New Guinea, troops of the Australian 2/17th Battalion, 20th Brigade, 9th Division, seize the village and harbor of Finschhafen and make contact with the Australian 22d Brigade, which has moved forward from Lae. The Japanese retain Sattelberg and Wareo, both of which command the Finschhafen area and must be cleared.
B-25's strafe villages in the Talasea area and barges off Gasmata; B-26's bomb Hoskins Airfield; and a B-24 bombs Cape Gloucester Airfield. Other B-24's bomb Amboina in the Moluccas.
The 6th Troop Carrier Squadron transfers from Port Moresby, New Guinea to Garbutt Field, Townsville, Queensland, Australia with C-47's.
SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN
During the day, six USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25s join USN SBDs in attacking the Hamberi Cove barge hideout near Vila on Kolombangara Island.
During the night of 2/3 October, the Japanese completed their withdrawal from Kolombangara Island. Efforts of U.S. naval forces to interfere are largely ineffective and some 9,400 Japanese escape safely.
PACIFIC
Submarine Kingfish (SS-234) lays mines off southern Celebes, N.E.I.
Tank landing ships LST-203 is damaged by grounding near Nanumea, Ellice Islands.
Japanese minesweeper W.28 is damaged by mine (laid by submarine Silversidess (SS-236) on 4 June 1943) off Kavieng, 02°36'S, 150°34'E.
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