Posted on 08/12/2013 5:03:49 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/aug1943/f12aug43.htm
Red Army nearing Plotava
Thursday, August 12, 1943 www.onwar.com
Soviet soldiers advancing into a village near Kharkov [photo at link]
On the Eastern Front... Near Kharkov, Chuguyev is captured by Soviet forces. They also threaten Plotava which is crucial for the possession of Kharkov and would unhinge German defenses farther south. Consequently, the Germans pull 3rd Panzer Corps out of the Taganrog fighting to address the threat to Plotava.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/12.htm
August 12th, 1943 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England dispatches both the VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command on missions.
- The VIII Air Support Command sends 71 B-26B Marauders to the Nord Airfield at Poix, France on Missions 17 and 18; 34 hit the target at 1052 hours.
- The Ruhr is targeted by 2 forces with the bombers concentrating on manufacturing installations and synthetic oil during VIII Bomber Command Mission 81. (1) 183 B-17s are dispatched to attack synthetic oil installations at Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen; some B-17s become separated on the bomb run and bomb various targets of opportunity;
133 B-17s hit the targets at 0845-0925 hours; 23 B-17’s are lost. (2) 147 B-17s are dispatched to manufacturing installations at Bonn; 110 hit the target at 0850-0858 hours; 2 B-17s are lost.
Captain Clark Gable of the USAAF today flies on a raid on the Ruhr.
Corvette HMCS Bowmanville (ex HMS Nunney Castle) laid down Sunderland.
GERMANY: U-860 commissioned.
U-864 launched.
U-1278 launched.
ITALY: 656 RAF bombers devastate Milan, dropping 1,252 tons of incendiary bombs; secret negotiations for an armistice are opened.
Turin: Flt-Sgt. Arthur Louis Aaron (b.1922), No. 218 Squadron RAFVR, suffered terrible injuries in a fighter attack, in spite of which he brought his Short Stirling in to land in Algeria. He died nine hours later. (Victoria Cross)
U.S.S.R.: Chuguyev in the Kharkov sector falls to the Soviets. The advance on Poltava threatens to cut off the German units at Kharkov and further south. Therefore the III Panzer Corps is brought north from Taganrog. The use of Panzer forces as a mobile reserve is indicative of the weakness of the German Army on the Eastern Front.
CHINA: Shantung: An isolated Chinese Nationalist division in Shantung is in danger of being destroyed as it comes under attack from both the Chinese Communists and the Japanese. Members of the Kuomintang’s 51st Corps which operates in the Yi-meng Shan area have been acting as a guerrilla force for the last three months following Japanese attacks. Now the diehard Nationalists have lost their HQ and their commander, following an attack by the rival Chinese Communists Eighth Route Army.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: The US Thirteenth Air Force dispatches 25 B-24s, with 8 P-40s and 22 US Marine F4U Corsairs, to bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island, causing considerable damage in the dispersal and runway areas. The Allied airplanes claim 11 A6M “Zekes” shot down; 1 P-40 and 1 F4U are lost. During the night, a US Army detachment lands at Barakoma on Vella Lavella Island.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The USN Task Unit 16.6.1 consisting of the heavy cruisers USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and USS Salt Lake City (CA-25), the light cruisers USS Detroit (CL-8), USS Raleigh (CL-7) and USS Richmond (CL-9), and 5 destroyers bombard Kiska Island between 0712 and 0733 hours local with 85 rounds of 8-inch (203.2 mm), 450 rounds of 6-inch (152.4 mm) and 1,072 rounds of 5-inch (127 mm) shells. Scouting aircraft are launched by the cruisers to spot the shellfire but damage is difficult to assess because of the excellent camouflage the departed Japanese had used. Later in the day, US Eleventh Air Force B-24s and B-25 Mitchells fly 26 bombing, strafing, and radar and photo reconnaissance sorties over Kiska Island targets from bases on Adak Island. From Amchitka Island P-40s, P-38 Lightnings, B-24s, B-25s, and A-24 Dauntlesses fly 70 bombing sorties over the island and are joined by B-24s, P-40s, and F-5A Lightnings flying 6 reconnaissance and photo sorties. Targets include the runway, harbour and shipping installations, army barracks, and the Rose Hill area.
U.S.A.: The HQ USAFISPA, Air Information Bulletin No. 23, reproduces information found in HQ AAF, SWPA Intelligence Summary No. 126 on the Nakajima Ki-43. (Mike Yared)
Destroyer escorts USS Stern and Swearer laid down.
Destroyer escort USS Bull commissioned.
Submarine USS Boarfish laid down.
Frigate USS Woonsocket laid down.
Frigate USS Pouhgkeepsie launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: During an air attack on U-760 in the North Atlantic one man was lost. [Matrosenenobergefreiter Günter Werner].
U-181 sinks SS Clan MacArthur in Convoy DN-55.
Map from David Glantz and Jonathan House, "The Battle of Kursk."
Map from David Glantz and Jonathan House, "The Battle of Kursk."
Drew Middleton’s article could have been written ten years later, not as a prediction of what might happen, but as a history of what did. Every major trend on the Ostfront, along with the operational implications, is right there. He even hinted at the possibility of something like Operation Valkyrie.
It’s pretty obvious from the maps where the main weight of the Soviet offensive is. The short densely packed army frontages south of Bryansk show how much the Soviets concentrated their forces to eliminated the Orel salient, and those armies are about at the end of the logisitc lines and human endurance. They will continue to batter at the new German line for a while, but most of the big gains there are over.
In the south around Kharkov, however, there no less than six combined arms and two tank armies are hammering away at the German defenses. As I’d stated a few days ago, only the massive expenditure of artillery ordinance is holding the Soviets away from the city. However, with many rail links cut, and the Soviet superiority in numbers, the Germans can’t hold out much longer.
As the other posts today have noted, German III Panzer Corps has arrived from the southeast, and is now comprised of the three divisions that fought along the Mius along with SS Viking division. They will try a counter-attack to the northwest of Kharkov to relieve the pressure. They will cut the 1st and 5th Guards Tank Armies to pieces (again). The plan is to “bag” the Soviet 40th, 27th and 6th Guards Armies at the nose of the Soviet salient. It’s worked before. But after continuous combat since July 5, the German divisions simply are not strong enough to repeat the successes the Germans used to have.
The Ostheer’s counter strokes are becoming increasingly feeble. As bad as the situation appears to be, it will only get worse. The Soviet offensive west of Kharkov is reaching its limit. The Red Army does not yet have the trucks to sustain a deeper exploitation of the holes they can tear in the German lines. Soon they will. Every month, thousands of well-built American and Canadian trucks are pouring into the USSR from Iran.
Middleton was excellent - right up there with Baldwin. He had an outstanding post-war career as the Times’ go-to military correspondent. Makes one realize how far the Times has fallen.
There was an article the last couple of days about overconfidence in a quick victory among the U.S. home front. Obviously, that was wrong with so many battles remaining. But to the German high command who had not been overcome by Hitler’s kool-aid the Eastern situation must be very worrying. Their summer offensive sputtered and for the first time the Sov’s have mounted one of their own. And they know Germany simply does not have significantly more resources to throw into the Eastern Front with Italy collapsing and the two Western Allies promising a second front. The Wehrmacht was disbanded for the most part after WWI, but now there is the possibility that a fight to the finish could smash it.
The actual Memphis Belle was Margaret Polk of Memphis. He originally wanted to call the plane Little One, his pet name for her, but the crew decided they liked Belle better. They might have married on Morgan's return, but the Army discouraged it to keep him on the war bond tour. They got into a long distance fight about the ladies who seemed to swarm around him and she ended the engagement. Only took him a week to find a new fiance!
Margaret was not bitter about it and was friends with Morgan until she died.
This was not Margaret, however. It was a pin-up painted by one of Esquire's artists and given to the crew.
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