Free Republic

Perry Como’s record of “Goodbye, Sue” makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. This is his first single to make the charts and it stays there for 1 week reaching Number 20.

"Goodbye, Sue"

http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/16.htm

October 16th, 1943 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Headquarters, 9th AF, is formally reactivated at Sunninghill Park, England, following its transfer from Egypt. Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton resumes his duties as commanding general. IX Bomber Command is reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Samuel E. Anderson. IX Fighter command is reactivated under the temporary command of Lt. Col. Ray J. Stecker. IX Air Support Command is reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry J. Miller. A new IX Troop Carrier command is activated under the command of Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Giles. All four B-26 groups are transferred to the 9th AF from the 3d Medium Bombardment Wing when it was disbanded. IX Troop Command assumes control of all 8th AF troop carrier units. (Skip Guidry)

The four B-26 groups transferred are:

322d Bombardment Group (Medium) [449th, 450th, 451st and 452d Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

323d Bombardment Group (Medium) [453d, 454th, 455th and 456th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

387th Bombardment Group (Medium) [556th, 557th, 558th and 559th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

388th Bombardment Group (Medium) [560th, 561st, 562d and 563d Bombardment Squadrons (Medium)]

The IX Troop Carrier Command is activated at Cottesmore with Brigadier General Benjamin F Giles as Commanding General; the 315th Troop Carrier Group (34th and 43d Troop Carrier Squadrons with C-47s) is transferred from the Eighth Air Force; and the 434th Troop Carrier Group and its 71st, 72d, 73d and 74th Troop Carrier Squadrons that arrived on 9 Oct are also assigned. The IX Air Service Command is re-formed under Major General Henry J Miller.

Frigates HMS Tortola and Waldegrave laid down.

Frigate HMS Spragge launched.

Frigate HMS Fitzroy commissioned.

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

GERMANY: During the night of 16/17 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches nine Mosquitos to Dortmund; all bomb the target without loss. One of the Mosquitos is carrying out a G-H trial but its equipment fails and it has to bomb by dead reckoning.

U-319 launched.

U-396 commissioned.

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

Chief of the Rome SIPO office, SS-Obstbf., Herbert Kappler, organises an ‘Aktion’ against the Jewish community. 1,259 Italian Jews are arrested. (Russel Folsom)

At 0530 hours, a 44- man SS unit under the command of SS Captain Theodor Dannecker, rounds up 1,259 Jews in Rome. Many of these are baptized Christians and following a protest from Pope Pius X11 some 218 are released. The other 1,041 are put on a train to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland, and at war’s end only 15 survive to return home to the Holy City. Others, around 4,238, are in hiding in hundreds of monasteries, convents, private homes and church institutions in and around Rome. To protect other Jews from the same fate, the Vatican opens its doors and gave shelter to 477 men, women and children.

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

U.S.S.R.: The Germans defeat Russian tanks and infantry trying to break out of a Dnieper bridgehead south of Kiev.

In the southern Ukraine, a group of Red armies led by General Ivan Konev crosses the Dnieper, bursts through German defenses and pushes toward Krivoi Rog, a steelmaking center.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Twelfth Air Force P-38s bomb a vessel in Leukas Channel off the west coast of Greece.

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

GULF OF OMAN: Doug Tidy flying in Bisley (aka a Blenheim V) O for Orange (serial BA 437, call sign LFBO) of 244 Squadron RAF from Sharjah sinks U-Boat U-533 in position 25.28N, 56.50E, by depth charges. 2 of 53 crew get to and spring after hatch while sinking to bottom, blow to surface, without gear, 1 survives 28 hours until rescue (the one with the red beard). (Doug Tidy and Jack McKillop)

CHINA: British Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command (SEAC), arrives in Chungking.

BURMA: Tenth Air Force fighter patrols are increased from 4 to 8 aircraft with little effect on enemy marauders over the Hump. Three A-36 Apaches fail to return from a mission over Sumprabum.

NEW GUINEA: A Japanese counter attack against Allied positions around Finschhafen today. Lasting 3 days, the Australian troops successfully defend their positions.

The Australian 9th Division uses captured documents to smash a Japanese attack near Finschafen, New Guinea.

60+ Fifth Air Force B-25s attack the Alexishafen area, hit coastal targets between Reiss Point and Sio, and bomb the airfield at Wewak, New Guinea.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The U.S. 3d Marine Division, having trained at Guadalcanal for operations against Bougainville, conducts rehearsals in the New Hebrides, concluding them on 20 October.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: A-20s bomb and strafe Gasmata Island off New Britain Island. A lone B-24 sinks an IJA auxiliary submarine chaser between Hoskins and Rabaul on New Britain Island. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 8 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Kara Airfield on Bougainville Island while 6 B-25s hit the airfield on Ballale Island.

CANADA: Gate vessels HMC GV 20, GV 22 and 2 other unknown numbers ordered.

Frigate HMCS Ste Therese launched.

Corvette HMCS Brandon completed forecastle extension refit Grimsby UK.

U.S.A.: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, accepting the plan presented by General Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, to divide Twelfth Air Force in Italy into two forces, propose to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in North Africa, that the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force be formed from XII Bomber Command. The Twelfth Air Force will become a tactical unit supporting ground units in Italy while the Fifteenth Air Force will be a strategic air force with the primary mission of increasing the weight of Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany.

The report titled “ Examination of Japanese Equipment. 37mm Anti-Tank Ammunition, 3-in. A. A. Ammunition, 75mm Howitzer Ammunition, 50mm Mortar Projectile, 50mm Mortar Grenade. was published. It is Rept. no. 57and was prepared by the NAVAL PROVING GROUND DAHLGREN VA Report Date : 24 MAR 1943. It has 46 pages. (Bill Howard)

Perry Como’s record of “Goodbye, Sue” makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. This is his first single to make the charts and it stays there for 1 week reaching Number 20.

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

Escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay launched.

Frigate USS Annapolis launched.

Destroyer escort USS Gunason launched.

Submarine USS Picuda commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Trumpeter commissioned.

Destroyer USS Marshall commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U.S.-built destroyer escorts transferred under Lend-Lease to Great Britain (HMS Byard, HMS Bentinck, HMS Berry, HMS Drury, and HMS Bazely) enter combat for the first time as escorts for convoy O, Nova Scotia. 20. Byard will sink U-841 on 17 October. The British classify the ships as “frigates.”

German U-boats have a bad day when they attack two Allied convoys in the North Atlantic. Eight U-boats are sunk or damaged by RAF patrol planes and RN warships while the Germans sink only one merchant ship. The three boats sunk are:

- U-470 sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 58.20N, 29.20W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft “C” of No. 59 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland, and Liberator and Liberator Mk. III, aircraft “E” of No. 120 Squadron based at Reykjavik, Iceland. Two of the 48 crewmen on the U-boat survive.

- U-844 is sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 58.30N, 27.16W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk. V, aircraft “S” of No. 59 Squadron and a Liberator, aircraft “L” of No. 86 Squadron; both squadrons are based at based at Ballykelly, Ireland. All 53 hands on the submarine are lost.

- U-964 is sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 57.27N, 27.17W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator, aircraft “Y” of No. 86 Squadron based at Ballykelly, Ireland. Three of the 50 U-boat crewmen survive.

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

U-844 shot down RAF Liberator aircraft, Squadron 59/S near Convoy O, Nova Scotia.-20. The aircraft was damaged and had to ditch near HMS Pink. U-844 was lost in this attack.

Two men were lost overboard in the North Atlantic from U-220. [Bootsmaat Georg Koerner, Matrosenobergefreiter Gerhard Lange]. Thus only 54 men were on board when the boat was sunk 12 days later.

U-231 pulled from the water five men from the just-sunk U-964. One of them, the commander ObltzS Hummerjohann, was already dead, and a second survivor died some minutes after his rescue, so only three men of U-964 survived.

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/oct1943/f16oct43.htm

Germans falling back in Italy
Saturday, October 16, 1943 www.onwar.com

In Italy... As the US 5th Army offensive continues, German forces conduct a fighting withdrawal to the Barbara Line, in accordance with Kesselring’s orders.

From Washington... General Brereton takes command of the US 9th Air Force in Britain.

In New Guinea... Japanese forces counterattack Australian forces around Finschafen without success.

Clark Batters Foe (Bracker) – 2-3
Red Army Gaining – 3-4
Heavy Toll Paid for Zaporozhye (Parker) – 5
Arnold Calls Bomber Blow at Nazi Plants Worth Cost (Graham) – 5-6
War News Summarized – 6
When Nazi Ball Bearing Plant First Felt the Weight of Bombs (photo) – 7
U.S. Air-Sea Blows Rock New Britain – 8
American is Aide to Mountbatten – 8-9
Chinese Fall Back along Burma Road – 9
A New Picture of Wake Island Under the Direction of U.S. Navy Airmen (photos) – 10-12
Board Set Up to Advise on Ship Payments to be Made to Owners for Use During War – 12
Monster Tanks and Light Rifles among Arms Tested at Aberdeen (Baldwin) – 13
Government Maps Post-War Air Plan – 13
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the War – 14-15

Billboard Top Ten for the Week of October 16, 1943

#1 - “Sunday Monday or Always” - Bing Crosby, with the Ken Darby Singers
#2 – “Paper Doll” - Mills Brothers
#3 - “Pistol Packin’ Mama” - Al Dexter
#4 - “I Heard You Cried Last Night” - Harry James, with Helen Forrest
#5 – “You’ll Never Know” - Dick Haymes, with the Song Spinners
#6 – “You’ll Never Know” - Frank Sinatra, with the Bobby Tucker Singers
#7 – “People Will Say We’re in Love” - Frank Sinatra, with the Bobby Tucker Singers
#8 - “All or Nothing At All” – Harry James, with Frank Sinatra
#9 - “In the Blue of the Evening” - Tommy Dorsey, with Frank Sinatra
#10 - “People Will Say We’re in Love” - Bing Crosby, with Trudy Erwin

The first two of the following excerpts are continued from yesterday.

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Allied Advance to Volturno River, Reorganization, and Attack on Gustav Line (17 January-11 May 1944)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
New Guinea and Alamo Force Operations: Clearing the Huon Peninsula and Securing the Straits, 19 September 1943-26 April 1944
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

I will repost the excerpt from August 2 in which Churchill summarizes his reasons for pushing the Aegean offensive.

That is interesting. I wonder why he didn’t get transferred to the U.S. with the German rocketeers.

A little bit more, maybe too much but its personal.

Too much personal recollection? Not hardly.

This was sort of a blackout period for me. I was undergoing infantry training then.

I'm pleased to be able to help you catch up with the news. I remember how cut off from the outside world I felt during boot camp (a mere 43 years ago).

http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/15.htm

October 15th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: British General Pownall is appointed Chief of Staff; US General Wedemeyer is appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to Admiral Mountbatten at South East Asia Command.

HQ U.S. Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom (USAAF”>USAAFUK) is activated to exercise supervision over and provide coordination between the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces in the UK. Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker is appointed Commanding General in addition to his duties as Commanding General Eighth Air Force.

HQ Ninth Air Force moves from North Africa to England and Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton assumes command. Although the Ninth Air Force is scheduled to provide tactical support to Allied ground forces after the Normandy invasion, the Ninth’s fighters will support the Eighth Air Force in its strategic missions over Europe.

Frigate HMS Pitcairn launched.

Submarine HMS Vigorous launched.

Frigates HMS Anguilla and Helmsdale commissioned.

Minesweeper HMS Pickle commissioned.

Frigate HMS Pitcairn launched.

Submarine HMS Vigorous launched.

FRANCE: The 1.Staffel [squadron] of Fernaufklarungs-Gruppe 5 [German for Long Range Reconnaissance Group] with Ju 290A-2s and -3s joined operations over the Atlantic. (230)(Greg Kelley)

GERMANY:

U-1405 laid down.

U-369 commissioned.

BALTIC SEA: U-23 damaged TSC-486 Sovetskaja Rossija.

ITALY: British units of General Mark Clark’s Fifth Army finally break German defenses and push across the Volturno river, some on pontoon bridges built by combat engineers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division.

In the U.S. Fifth Army’s British X Corps area, the 56th Division crosses the Volturno River, using bridges in the former U.S. VI Corps sector. The VI Corps’ 3d Infantry Division takes Cisterna, but elements are being strongly opposed near Villa and Liberi. Elements of the U.S. 34th Infantry Division take Ruviano. The Germans withdraw from this area during the night of 15/16 October. On the right flank of the U.S. VI Corps, the 45th Infantry Division finishes clearing to Titerno Creek and makes contact with the 34th Infantry Division across the Volturno River to left.

The British Eighth Army’s XIII Corps pauses as the Canadian 1st Division takes Vinchiaturo and Canadian tanks support British units attacking Termoli.

The Germans begin rounding up the Jews of Rome. Prior to these arrests, the Jewish community is told by the Germans that unless it could raise 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of gold (equivalent to US$56,000) within 36 hours, 300 hostages would be taken. When it turned out the Jews could raise only 35 kilograms (77 pounds), the Chief Rabbi, Israel Zolli, asked for and received a loan from the Vatican treasury to cover the balance. The Pope approved the transaction.

XII Air Support Command and other elements of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force hit roads, railroads, bridges, junctions, railway facilities, town areas, and motor transport at or near Piedimonte, Vairano, Termoli, Petacciato, Sparanise, and Civitanova, and hit gun positions and communications in the general battle area north of the Volturno River.

Forty seven bombers of RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack a railroad bridge at Talamone without loss.

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

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

NEW GUINEA: The Japanese attack Allied positions in Oro Bay. 59 Fifth Air Force P-38s and 8 P-40s intercept around 100 Japanese aircraft attacking Allied shipping in Oro Bay, New Guinea. The US fighters shoot down 26 “Val” dive bombers, a “Kate” torpedo bomber (Nakajima B5N, Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber) and 19 “Oscar” fighters (Nakajima Ki-43, Army Type 1 Fighter Hayabusa) between 0805 and 0900 hours.

At 1730 hours, P-38s and P-40s shoot down 5 “Lily” bombers (Kawasaki Ki-48, Army Type 99 Twin-engine Light Bombers) east of Finschhafen, New Guinea.

70+ B-25s hit positions and villages from Sio to Saidor, New Guinea.

EAST INDIES: Six B-24s bomb Boela on Ceram Island in the Moluccas Islands.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The I Marine Amphibious Corps (I MAC) issues final orders for the invasion of the Northern Solomons. The attack force (Task Force 31 under Rear Admiral Theodore Wilkinson, Commander of the 3rd Amphibious Force), with ground forces of Lieutenant General Alexander A. Vandegrift’s I MAC, will seize the Treasury Island bases on 27 October in preparation for main invasion of Bougainville Island on 1 November. In support will be carrier- based and land-based aircraft, surface forces, and submarines.

21 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s and 12 P-38s plus 17 USN F4U Corsairs attack Kahili Airfield supply and personnel areas on Bougainville Island at about 1200 hours. Six “Zekes” are claimed shot down. During the late evening B-25s bomb the airfield on Buka Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 0100 hours: USS Tullibee (SS-284) a transport at 24-30 N, 120-26 E. (Skip Guidry)

Admiral Halsey issues orders for the invasion of Northern Solomons by Task Force 31.

CANADA: Target towing vessels ordered - HMCS Kirkwood, Atwood, Brentwood, Eastwood, Greenwood, Inglewood, Lakewood, Oakwood and Wildwood.

Corvette HMCS Camrose completed forecastle extension refit Pictou , Nova Scotia.

Corvette HMCS Halifax completed refit Liverpool , Nova Scotia.

Submarine HMS L-27 commenced refit Sydney , Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: The Joint Chiefs of Staff accept General Henry H. “Hap” Arnolds’s proposal to split the Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean into two air forces; the Twelfth Air Force will become a tactical air force while the new Fifteenth Air Force will become a strategic air force.

Submarine USS TANG (SS-306) is commissioned with Lieutenant Commander Richard H. O’Kane in command. (John Nicholas)

Destroyer escort USS Coolbaugh commissioned.

Escort carrier USS Petrof Bay laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Underhill launched.

Douglas DC-3-178, msn 1588, registered NC16008 and named “Flagship Missouri” by the U.S. airline American Airlines, crashes near Centerville, Tennessee, at 2317 hours local. This is American Flight 63 from Nashville to Memphis, Tennessee, with four crew and 11 passengers; all are killed. The aircraft struck the ground nose-first in a vertical attitude while en route and is completely demolished by the impact. The cause of the crash is the inability of the aircraft to gain or maintain altitude due to carburetor ice, propeller ice or wing ice or some combination of these icing conditions, while over terrain and in weather unsuitable for an emergency landing.

CARIBBEAN SEA: Submarine USS Dorado lost to an American patrol craft from Guantanamo Bay or possibly lost to mines from U-214. Dorado was in transit from the New London submarine base to the Panama Canal.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A man died of illness on U-488. [Maschinenmaat Karl Bergmann].

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

U-426 sank SS Essex Lance in Convoy ONS-20.

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/oct1943/f15oct43.htm

Allied troops fighting beyond Volturno
Friday, October 15, 1943 www.onwar.com

British troops crossing the Volturno [photo at link]

In Italy... The Canadian 1st Division (part of British 13th Corps, 8th Army) captures Vinchiaturo. In the US 5th Army offensive, the attack has moved beyond the river but the Germans have skillfully maintained their defensive front while being pushed back.

In the Arctic... The British base at Spitzbergen is reestablished.

In New Guinea... The Japanese mount an air attack on Allied positions in Oro Bay. Japanese planes suffer heavy losses.

From London and Washington... British General Pownall is appointed Chief of Staff to Admiral Mountbatten at SEAC (Southeast Asia Command). American General Wedemeyer is appointed his deputy Chief of Staff.

Fiercest Air Fight – 2
War News Summarized – 2
Nazis Reel in Italy (Bracker) – 3-4
Russians Take Zaporozhye; Threaten to Cut Off Crimea – 4-5
Nazis Admit Loss of Prestige in Retreat, but Say They Won Strategic Gains in Russia – 5
Allied Blockade Now Faces Rabaul (Kluckhohn) – 5-6
Japanese Base at Rabaul Under Attack by Allied Airmen (photos) – 6-7
Pacific Strategy-V (Baldwin) * – 8
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 9-10

* This is the final installment of Baldwin’s series on the Pacific Strategy. After he submitted it he packed up his typewriter and toothbrush, grabbed a stack of gasoline ration stamps, and hit the road. In the coming weeks he will be reporting from military bases all over the U.S.A. For a sneak preview of his itinerary look at his entry in the author index on Homer’s profile, which is now updated through November 13, 1943. First stop: Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The excerpt on the left is continued from October 13. The one on the right is continued from yesterday.

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

Continued from October 7.

The West Point Military History Series, Thomas E. Griess, Editor, The Second World War: Europe and the Mediterranean

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Allied Advance to Volturno River, Reorganization, and Attack on Gustav Line (17 January-11 May 1944)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
New Guinea and Alamo Force Operations: Clearing the Huon Peninsula and Securing the Straits, 19 September 1943-26 April 1944
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/14.htm

October 14th, 1943 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS Halstead launched.

Destroyer HMS Zest launched.

Frigate HMS Gore is commissioned.

NETHERLANDS: The USAAF Eighth Air Force’s 55th Fighter Group, with P-38 Lightnings, and the 356th Fighter Group with P-47 Thunderbolts make their combat debut in a pair of fighter sweeps over the Frisian Islands. The 55th is the first P-38 unit to operate from the U.K. since all P-38 units were committed to Operation TORCH in 1942. It is also the first VIII Fighter Command unit to actually enter combat with P-38s. (Skip Guidry)

GERMANY: The US 8th Air Force sends 291 B-17s to raid Schweinfurt and the ball-bearing factories there They lose 60 aircraft. There is no appreciable reduction of supplies of ball-bearings to German industry.
This raid, on Schweinfurt, will be the last Allied daylight air raid deep within Germany until the arrival of the long range fighter escorts.

Flying Fortresses of the US Eighth Army Air Force took the dangerous route to the city of Schweinfurt deep inside Germany today to bomb the ball-bearings factories vital to Hitler’s war industries. The Fortresses crews claim to have damaged their targets heavily. One said: “When we left the factory was just a mass of smoke and flames. Our bombs were all concentrated right on the target.”

However, the bombers have paid a heavy price for their success. Sixty out of 291 planes which set out - 228 bombed the target - have failed to return and many more are badly damaged, 559 airmen are killed and 40 wounded. They were escorted part of the way by Thunderbolt fighters, but when the fighters turned back at the limit of their range, the bombers had to face swarms of German fighters and rely on their own guns and formation flying for protection; it was not enough, though the bomber crews claim to have shot down 288 German aircraft, postwar analysis shows the real figure to have been 27.

The lesson is that the Fortresses cannot live in the air over Germany without fighters for protection. A ninth air force is therefore to be formed on 16 October to provide escort cover for bombing attacks and, in the longer term, a future invasion of Europe.

276 civilians died in Schweinfurt.

Official report: The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 115: 229 of 291 B-17s dispatched hit the city area and ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany, in 2 group; the first group bombs at 1439-1445 hours, the second group at 1451-1457 hours; they claim 186-27-89 Luftwaffe aircraft; 60 B-17s are lost, 7 damaged beyond repair and 138 damaged. The attack, which causes great damage and interference with production, results in German reorganization of the bearing industry. Fierce opposition of great numbers of fighters, many of them firing rockets, accounts for the 60 US aircraft shot down. As a result of these heavy losses, daylight bombing against strategic targets deep in Germany is temporarily discontinued.

Only 29 of 60 B-24s are able to form up in poor weather; they abandoned their planned mission and fly a diversion towards Emden, Germany. (John Nicholas, Jack McKillop, Glen Steinberg and Gene Hanson)

Capt. Frank E. McCauley, 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieves ace status (5.5 kills) when he downs a Bf 110 near Aachen at 1345 hours.

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

U-1170 is launched.

U-768 is commissioned.

NORWAY: SPITZBERGEN: U-737 destroys a landing stage off Grummanntbyan with a demolition charge.

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

U.S.S.R.: On the Dnieper River bend, Zaporozhye, the industrial center of the Ukraine, falls to the Red Army. The railroad from the Crimea to Melitopol is cut by the Red Army.

USSR: Luftwaffe pilot Major Walter Nowotny shoots down his 250th Russian plane. Before war’s end, four other German pilots will surpass Nowotny’s score.

Sobibor: The 600 inmates of the extermination camp, mainly women working in the small tailors’ workshop, have risen against the camp regime and staged an astonishing escape attempt.

The revolt was spearheaded by a group of White Russian Jewish partisans led by Aleksandr “Sacha” Pieczerski, a 34-year old Russian Jew who had served as a political commissar in the Red Army. The Jews were armed with a few guns and hand-grenades, stolen from the SS barracks, and a handful of knives and hatchets.

The mutiny started this afternoon during the routine inspection of the prisoners’ huts. The rebels killed 11 guards, then shouted “Hurrah” to signal a mass breakout. In the chaos that followed, the guards shot 200 inmates dead. Others perished in the minefield that surrounds the camp; estimates of the number who escaped successfully vary from 100 to 300.

Pierczerski and his second-in-command, Leon Feldhandler, are thought to be among those who did escape to join the partisans. A small group of Dutch Jews is apparently trying to get home. In a camp where deportees stand only a one in 40 chance of avoiding immediate death in the gas chambers, today’s breakout was a brave attempt to shorten the odds.

ITALY: The battle along the Volturno River continues.

The Fifth Army expands its bridgeheads across the Volturno River. The U.S. 3d, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions have pushed 4 miles (6.4 km) beyond the river.

The unloading of supplies is transferred from Salerno to Naples.

Lieutenant General Mark Clark, Commanding General US Fifth Army, alters the boundary between corps and changes the plan of attack. Since the British 56th Division, on the right flank of the British X Corps, is unable to cross the Volturno River at Capua, the boundary is moved east to permit it to use bridge within the Triflisco Gap, formerly in the US 3d Infantry Division zone. The 3d Infantry Division of the US VI Corps is to take over the mission of 34th Infantry Division and latter is to move to the right to make contact with the 45th Infantry Division. The US VI Corps is to advance astride the Volturno River to Venafro-Isernia area, clearing the upper Volturno Valley. The 3d and 34th Infantry Divisions are to make converging attacks toward Dragoni, but the 34th is forced to await improvement of its supply situation. Army bridgeheads across the Volturno River are being expanded.

In the British Eighth Army’s XIII Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division takes Campobasso.

XII Bomber Command B-25s hit Argos Airfield and B-17s bomb the Terni marshalling yard. Other B-17s and B-24s attack a bridge at Giulianova, the town area of Piano-Vomano and railroad and highway bridges north of Pescara and along the eastern coast of Italy. Weather hinders tactical aircraft operations, but the XII Air Support Command and RAF Desert Air Force hit trains and vehicles and fly patrols from north of the Volturno River to Formia and north of Pescara. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

During the night of 14/15 October, 17 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the railway line at Orbetello.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS/M Trooper (N 91) sailed from Beirut on 26 September, 1943 for a patrol in the Aegean Sea off the Dodecanese Islands, including the Leros area. She fails is sunk by a German Q-ship off the island of Kos in the Greek Aegean.

CHINA: 4 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s attack shipping in the Amoy area, damaging 2 freighters, and also bombing Amoy Airfield.

NEW GUINEA: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Alexishafen in Papua New Guinea.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 60+ Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island.

EAST INDIES: Three USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells fly harassing strikes against Dili and Lautem on Dutch East Timor Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese planes attack six Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Eleven (MTBRon 11) PT boats off Choiseul Bay, Solomon Islands, damaging PT-183. The boats were based in Lambu Lambu Cove on the northeast coast of Vella Lavella Island.

At 1700 hours in the East China Sea, the USN submarine USS Grayback (SS-208) sinks a Japanese fleet tanker about 84 nautical miles (155 kilometers) north of Naha, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, in position 27.35N, 127.30E. The sub eludes hunter-killer operations carried out by an aviation supply ship. (Skip Guidry)

1800 hours: USS Bonefish (SS-223) sinks a schooner at 00-10 N, 119-15 E. (Skip Guidry)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The New Zealand 8th Brigade Group of the 3d Division, begins rehearsal for the landings in the Treasury Islands on Florida Island. The rehearsals conclude on 17 October.

A single Thirteenth Air Force B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs 4 barges west of Taiof Island, leaving 1 sinking.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Atholl is commissioned.

U.S.A.: The National Broadcasting Company sells one of its two networks today. NBC had consisted of the Red and Blue Networks with the Red Network producing roughly 75 percent of NBC’s commercial programs. In an anti-monopoly move, the Federal Trade Commission, had mandated that companies would no longer be allowed to control more than one network and NBC was forced to sell one of its divisions. Naturally, it sold the weaker Blue Network to Edward J. Noble who had earned millions from the sale of “Lifesavers” candy. Noble named the new company the American Broadcasting Systems but this was changed within a year to the American Broadcasting Company, Inc. (ABC).

Submarine USS Segundo is laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS George M Campbell, John M Bermingham, Mason and Russell M Cox laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Day, Rudderow and Currier launched.

Aircraft carrier USS Franklin launched.

Escort carrier USS Natoma Bay commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Knave commissioned.

Heavy cruiser USS Canberra commissioned.

PUERTO RICO: The U.S. Coast Guard district patrol vessel USCGC EM Dow (WYP-353) runs aground off Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and is abandoned. A former fishing boat, the EM Dow was assigned to the USN’s Carribean Sea Frontier and was stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her crew abandoned ship in a gale off Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and were rescued by the Coast Guard submarine chaser USCGC Marion (WPC-145). All hands were saved. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

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

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/oct1943/f14oct43.htm

USAAF calls off daylight raids on Germany
Thursday, October 14, 1943 www.onwar.com

A damaged B-17 falling from the sky [scary photo at link]

Over Germany... The American 8th Air Force conducts a raid on the German ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt. The force of 291 B-17 Flying Fortresses does considerable damage to the target but lose 60 planes with others damaged. The loss rate is too high to maintain so the USAAF abandons long-range, unescorted daylight raids.

On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces capture Zaporozhye. To the south, Red Army forces attack Melitopol. Still farther south, Soviet forces cut the railroad leading to the Crimea from Melitopol.

In Italy... The US 5th Army offensive continues. The 6th Corps continues to advance while elements of the British 10th Corps cross the river and continue to push forward. In the east, the Canadian 1st Division (part of British 13th Corps, 8th Army) captures Campobasso.

Rule of Air is Won – 2-3
Ships in Rabaul Bay Scurry but are Bombed into Flames (Kluckhohn) – 4
Reich’s Acts Cited (Bracker) – 5-6
Nazis Shrug at Act; Sneer at Badoglio – 6
War News Summarized – 6
Allies’ Advance Renewed in Italy – 7
Red Army Pierces Line above Crimea – 8
AFL Votes to Admit Lewis Mine Union (Stark) – 9
Pacific Strategy-IV (Baldwin) – 10
Moscow Bars Talk on Boundaries; Puts Victory First as Parley Topic (by W.H. Lawrence, now in Moscow) – 10
The Text of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones – 11-13
275 U.S. Fliers Win Awards in Britain – 13

The first of these excerpts is continued from October 10. The second from October 3.

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Allied Advance to Volturno River, Reorganization, and Attack on Gustav Line (17 January-11 May 1944)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
New Guinea and Alamo Force Operations: Clearing the Huon Peninsula and Securing the Straits, 19 September 1943-26 April 1944
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/13.htm

October 13th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS Bentley commissioned.

GERMANY: Lee “Shorty” Gordon becomes the first American prisoner-of-war to successfully from a German camp. He escapes from Stalag VIIA on a bicycle yelling the only German he knew, “Heil, Hitler”. Gordon, from southern California, was serving as a ball turret gunner with the USAAF’s 305th Bomb Group when his B-17 was shot down over Wilhelmshaven on February 26, 1943. He survived the parachute landing, but was quickly captured by German troops. After two failed escape attempts, Gordon tried again, trading identification tags with an Australian POW to gain access to the outdoor work area of the Moosburg camp where he bribed guards with coffee and cigarettes and hid in a bathroom stall until dark. He then hopped a fence when a guard’s back was turned and walked out of the camp, Doyle said.

Gordon rode freight trains to France, where he made contact with a Resistance group that helped him reunite with the Allied forces. He told the story of walking into a French cafe in “Escape From a Living Hell,” a 2000 History Channel documentary: “The waitress walked up to me. I looked at her and I said, ‘I’m an American.’” More than a year later, on Feb. 27, 1944, Gordon arrived in England. (Kim Curtis, Associated Press)

During the night of 13/14 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Mosquitos to bomb Cologne and four to bomb Duisburg without loss.

U.S.S.R.: General Feodor Tolbukhin’s army fights its way into Melitopol in the Ukraine, a way station on the Moscow-to-Crimea railroad. Tolbukhin’s attack threatens to cut off the German-Romanian 17th Army in the Crimea and ignites a fierce 10-day battle.

SPAIN: Madrid: Less than five weeks ago, Italy was Hitler’s ally. Today it is his enemy. The Italian ambassador here handed Italy’s declaration of war to his German counterpart for transmission to Berlin. The declaration, signed by Italy’s new leader, Marshal Badoglio, does not make Italy one of the Allies as such. With war crimes charges pending against some Fascist leaders and generals, Italy officially becomes no more than a “co-belligerent”. However, Badoglio has called on all Italian soldiers to “fight against the Germans to the last man.” In a letter to General Eisenhower, Badoglio said: “By this act, all ties with the dreadful past are broken, and my government will be proud to be able to march with you on to the inevitable victory.”

There is debate as to whether Italian forces will be used against the Germans in Italy. However, they are fighting with the British in the Aegean and serve to garrison Sardinia and Corsica. One tricky problem remains to be resolved: the thousands of Italian PoWs in Allied hands.

ITALY declares war on Germany. Italy, at this point, has little to offer militarily, but what Italy lacked in military armament, she made up with in hatred for the Germans and the Fascist/Nazi ideology. It would still be a difficult battle, Germany has 22 divisions and Mussolini has six Italian Socialist Republic (RSI) divisions that liberated Italy and the partisans would be up against.

Six American and British divisions of Mark Clark’s Fifth Army attack German defenses along the Volturno River, 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Naples. The U. S. 3rd, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions establish three bridgeheads on the north side of the Volturno. They had been bitterly resisted by three German divisions. Engineers play an important part since the Germans have destroyed the bridges while making a planned withdrawal. The attack had begun yesterday, but rain, mud and the swollen river provided sterling assistance to the Germans who had retreated to the river following the Allied capture of Naples on 1 October. The rainy season began a month earlier than usual, slowing the Allied advance and giving the Germans more time to prepare their defences here and further north along the rivers Liri and Rapido.

The British X, on the western flank of the army, makes their main effort with the 46th Infantry Division at Cancello while the 7th Armoured Division, in the center, and the 56th Division, on the right, make diversionary attacks at Grazzanise and Capua, respectively. The 46th Division establishes a bridgehead in the coastal sector, and the 7th Armoured Division gains a toehold on the northern bank, but the 56th Division is unable to cross at Capua. The U.S. VI Corps, to the right of the British X Corps, crosses the river on a two division front. On the left, the 3d Infantry Division crosses east of Capua with the 34th Infantry Division to its right. The 3d Infantry Division seizes Mt. Ma1ulo, Mt. Caruso, and Piana di Caiazzo. The 34th Infantry Division gains a bridgehead from Piana di Caiazzo to the junction of the Calore and Volturno Rivers. On the right flank of the VI Corps, the 45th Infantry Division is clearing Mt. Acero area with the 179th and 180th Infantry Regiments.

In the British Eighth Army’s XIII Corps area, the 5th Division, advancing along Route 87, reaches Casacalenda.

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

During the night of 13/14 October, 46 bombers of the RAF’s No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the railroad bridge at Civitavecchia.

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

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The USN destroyer USS Bristol (DD-453) is struck by a G7s T5 Zaunköning (Gnat) electric torpedo fired by the German submarine U-371. The torpedo hits on the port side at the forward engine room at 0425 hours Greenwich Mean Time, while the destroyer is escorting a small convoy to Oran, Algeria. The ship breaks in two and has to be abandoned; the stern sinks after eight and the bow after twelve minutes about 74 nautical miles (137 kilometers) west-northwest of Bone, Algeria, in position 37.19N, 06.19E. Fifty two of her crew are lost while the survivors are rescued by the USN destroyers USS Trippe (DD 403) and Wainwright (DD 419).

BURMA: Japanese fighters appear in strength over Sumprabum to attack over-the-Hump flights. The enemy evades US patrols and shoots down 3 transports. A fighter-bomber offensive against airfields in Burma from which fighters might operate against Hump transports opens with an attack by Tenth Air Force P-40s on Myitkyina.

CHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a sea sweep off southeastern China hit shipping in Amoy harbor and sink an auxiliary submarine chaser.

GILBERT ISLANDS: Photographic coverage of Makin Atoll is obtained in preparation for the invasion next month.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese cargo ship.

USS Barbel sinks a destroyer at 29-38 N, 127-27 E at about 0600.

USS Begall sinks an attack transport at 11-53 N, 109-17 E (Japanese give location as 11-53 N, 109-17 E) at about 0900.

USS Permit sinks a patrol vessel at 07-15 N, 151-45 E at about 1500. (Skip Guidry and Jack McKillop)

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 100+ Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25s are sent against Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago; bad weather forces the bombers to turn back, but 40+ B-24s hit targets including Hoskins, Lindenhafen, Cape Gloucester and Gasmata Island off the south coast of New Britain Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 11 Eleventh Air Force P-40s unsuccessfully intercept 8 Japanese medium bombers attacking Massacre Bay and the nearby airfield on Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Thetford Mines launched Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Garland laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-402 is sunk in position 48.56N, 29.41W, by a Mark 24 Acoustic Torpedo (FIDO) from TBF Avenger and F4F Wildcat aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11). All hands in the submarine, 50 men, are lost. The submarine is on the surface sailing towards a rendevous with a milch cow when forced to dive by the pilot of an F4F-4 Wildcat and it is sunk by the pilot of a TBF-1 Avenger who drops a 500-pound (227 kilogram) bomb near the sub.

Avenger aircraft from escort carrier Card dropped a Fido on U-603, but the U-boat was not damaged.

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/oct1943/f13oct43.htm

General Clark’s army keeps fighting
Wednesday, October 13, 1943 www.onwar.com

Leader of US 5th Army, General Mark Clark (center right) [photo at link]

In Italy... The US 5th Army offensive continues.

In Brindisi... Marshal Badoglio’s Italian government declares war on Germany.

To Join the Allies – 2
U.S. to Use Azores, President Affirms (Hulen) – 3-4
Russians Deepen Thrusts over Dnieper, Flank Kiev – 4
Invaders of Italy Consolidate Gains – 5
Jews Defended by Finnish Press – 6
War News Summarized – 6
Fliers Decorated in South Pacific – 7
Azores Vital to Allies (Krock) – 8
Pacific Strategy-III (Baldwin) – 8
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 9-10
The Burma Road is the Topic (photo) – 10

This letter from Camp Cable, Australia was written on a V-Mail form but was mailed as-is, without photocopying and shrinking.

The first two longish excerpts below are continued from yesterday.

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Allied Advance to Volturno River, Reorganization, and Attack on Gustav Line (17 January-11 May 1944)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
New Guinea and Alamo Force Operations: Clearing the Huon Peninsula and Securing the Straits, 19 September 1943-26 April 1944
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

From time to time you remind us of the surpassing importance of the superiority of America’s production capacity over that of Japan. Today Baldwin reinforces the point.

I’ll bet that makes it tricky for the place kickers.

http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/12.htm

October 12th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: MAC ship Empire MacCallum launched.

GERMANY: U-1103 and U-1199 launched.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: SKR-14 (ex-RT-86 “Indiga”) - wrecked on rocks in Kara Sea(Sergey Anisimov)(69)

PORTUGAL: Lisbon: The BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC swung firmly in favour of the Allies tonight when Dr. Salazar, the Portuguese leader, revealed that British land, sea and air forces have arrived in the Azores. The islands, strategically placed in mid-Atlantic, will be used for the aerial protection of merchant shipping plying between the United States and Britain.

The move comes after weeks of secret talks between Britain and Portugal. Though the two countries have a treaty relationship that dates from the 14th century, Dr. Salazar, in close co-operation with Franco’s Spain, has remained cautiously neutral between the Allied and Axis powers. The Azores pact reflects the growing certainty among neutrals that Hitler will eventually lose the war.

The US, though not a signatory to the pact, will use the islands for joint military operations with Britain. Air cover by RAF Catalina and Wellington aircraft based in Britain and Newfoundland left a gap - which will now be closed - of several hundred miles in mid-Atlantic, where the U-boats assembled to prey on Allied shipping.

The German consulate in the Azores is being closed and all German citizens are being evacuated. On the Portuguese mainland diplomatic links will continue.

ITALY: Tonight the US 5th Army begins the attack on the Volturno line. Due to weather, inadequate roads and German demolitions the Allied advance is limited to major roads until spring.

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

During the night of 12/13 October, the XII Air Support Command, supplemented by RAF Desert Air Force fighters, supports the US Fifth Army, which during the assault crossing of the Volturno River on a 40-mile (64 kilometer) front.

BURMA: 5 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb the warehouse area and railroad yards at Myitkyina.

NEW BRITAIN: Rabaul is the target of the US 5th Air Force and receives 350 tons of bombs.

The Fifth Air Force and RAAF open an aerial campaign to neutralize or cripple the four Japanese airfields and naval base at Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, in support of the upcoming invasion of Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands. The first mission today is flown by 349 aircraft, 87 B-24s, 114 B-25s, 125 P-38s, 12 RAAF Beaufighters and 11 weather and reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft attack the airfields, the town, the harbour and ships in the harbour and sink 2 transports, 2 cargo lighters and a guard boat and damage 3 destroyers, 3 submarines, a special service ship, an oiler and 2 auxiliary sailing vessels. 50+ Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground; 4 B-24s and a B-25 are lost.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: B-25s fly small strikes against targets on Timor Island and other areas of the Netherlands East Indies. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, two Japanese battalions attack an Australian battalion at a position designated “John’s Knoll” in the Ramu Valley south of Madang. The Japanese attack four times during the day but do not budge the Australians.

SOLOMON ISLANDS:2 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s skip-bomb 2 small vessels in Matchin Bay on Bougainville Island.

NEW CALEDONIA: Admiral William F. Halsey, Commander South Pacific Area and Commander Third Fleet, issues a basic plan for invasion of the Solomon Islands.

WESTERN PACIFIC: Submarine USS HALIBUT torpedoes and sinks the Japanese cargo ship EHIME MARU (4,500 tons), a medium freighter. (Mike Yared and the Honolulu Star)

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Matapedia departed Dartmouth, Nova Scotia under tow for repairs at Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Eight German mines are neutralized by Canadian minesweepers operating in the approaches to St. John’s.

U.S.A.: The Blue Network Inc. (former NBC Blue Network) is purchased by Edward Noble, of Lifesavers fame or about $8 million. He bought the rights to the name American Broadcasting Company in 1945 from George Storer.

Submarine USS Pipefish launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Sellstrom, Mills and Harveson commissioned.

CARIBBEAN SEA: USS Dorado (SS-248) was probably sunk in error by US aircraft.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11) break up another German U-boat refuelling rendezvous when they attack U-488 about 600 miles (965.6 km) north of Flores Island, Azores and damage U-731. This is the second attack on submarines refuelling; the first was on 4 October.

An Avenger aircraft (VC-9) from escort carrier USS Card attacked U-378 with a Fido homing torpedo but the boat managed to outmanoeuvre it.

U-967 lost a man overboard on 12 October in the North Atlantic. [Mechnikergfreiter Hans Brackert].

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/oct1943/f12oct43.htm

German lines remain unbroken
Tuesday, October 12, 1943 www.onwar.com

Germans prepare to counterattack [photo at link]

In Italy... During the night (October 12-13) the US 5th Army begins its assault on the German Volturno Line. Elements of the British 10th Corps (McCreery) make some progress on the coast but German counterattacks generally hold its attacks. The 3 divisions of US 6th Corps (Lucas), however, push forward. A combination of determined German defenders and poor weather restrict advances to the main roadways.

In the Bismark Archipelago... The US 5th Air Force raids Rabaul, New Britain, with 349 aircraft, dropping 350 tons of bombs. Several defending Japanese aircraft are shot down and 3 destroyers as well as several merchant ships in harbor are damaged.

Fifth Army Gains (Bracker) – 2
Sozh Bank Freed – 3
Reich Battleship Damages in Norway Fjord by Raiders (Anderson) – 4
War News Summarized – 4
His Buddies See Him Off (photo) – 5
Pacific Strategy-II (Baldwin) – 7
The Text of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones – 8-9

The second excerpt below (PM to Kerr) is continued from October 1.

1

2

3

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Allied Advance to Volturno River, Reorganization, and Attack on Gustav Line (17 January-11 May 1944)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
New Guinea and Alamo Force Operations: Clearing the Huon Peninsula and Securing the Straits, 19 September 1943-26 April 1944
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

claims on both sides of conflict usually were inflated...

In this case the number is pretty accurate. The 8th Air Force website gives 30 B-17s lost and 1 P-47. The numbers in the paper were generally fairly good for losses on our side. An exception that comes to mind was when about 60 B-17s were lost on a mission to Schweinfurt in August. The first number reported in the Times was half that, although it was corrected in subsequent days. The inflation happened with estimates of enemy losses.

http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/11.htm

October 11th, 1943 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMCS Mimico (ex-HMS Bullrush) launched Sunderland. Built by John Crown and Sons Ltd. Revised Flower Class (Increased Endurance) 970 tons, 208.3x33x11ft 16kts, crew 6/79,1-4in, 1-2pdr, 2-20mm, hedgehog. Renamed Sep 43. Post WW.II, sold 1950, renamed Olympic Victor, whale catcher, sold 1956, renamed Otori Maru No 12; 1962 renamed Kyo Maru No 25. Last noted 1977-78.

GERMANY: U-821 is commissioned.

POLAND: The last train of deportees to be gassed at Sobibor arrives at the camp.

U.S.S.R.: Novobelitsa on the outskirts of Gomel is liberated by the Soviets.

ITALY: The British V and XIII Corps are now in the line of the 8th Army. They pause while Montgomery finishes his reorganization plans.

In the British Eighth Army area, a gap is developing between the 78th Division on the Adriatic coast and the Canadian 1st Division, and General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, regroups the units: Corps, with 78th Division and Indian 8th Division under command, is given responsibility for the right flank; XIII Corps is to advance on a two division front, employing the Canadian 1st and British 5th Divisions; the New Zealand 2nd Division, which is to concentrate in the Taranto area by mid-November, is to be held in army reserve.

USAAF XII Air Support Command and Northwest Tactical Bomber Force operations are cancelled or aborted due to weather, but RAF Desert Air Force fighters hit trains, trucks, and gun positions near Montesilvano and Vasto.

During the night of 11/12 October, 52 RAF Bomber of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit the Coast Road at Terricina.

GREECE: On the Greek island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea, USAAF XII Bomber Command B-25 Mitchells bomb Garitsa Airfield while P-38 Lightnings hit a vessel in Corfu harbor.

YUGOSLAVIA: Partisans battle to within 23 miles (37.0 km) of Belgrade and raid Zagreb, Croatia’s capital.

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

Minesweeper HMS Hythe (J 194) is torpedoed and sunk by U-371 off Bougie at 37 04N 05 00E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Submarine HMS Usurper is believed to have been mined in the Gulf of Genoa. All hands lost.

CHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the town area of Tengchung.

BURMA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the town areas of Sadon and Myitkyina.

JAPAN: The submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238) is sunk in La Perouse Strait off the coast of Hokkaido with its ace skipper, Commander Dudley “Mush the Magnificent” Morton. During five patrols, Morton and Wahoo sank 19 ships.

Japanese records reported that, on 11 October, the date USS Wahoo was due to exit through La Perouse Strait, an antisubmarine aircraft found a surfaced submarine and attacked, dropping three depth charges sinking the sub. USS Wahoo was announced overdue on 2 December 1943 and stricken from the Navy list on 6 December 1943. [On 11 October 1943, the commander of a Japanese shore battery over looking Soya Strait reported sighting and firing on a surfaced submarine. A number of hits were claimed before the submarine dived and an aircraft from Ominato was sent to the spot. At 0920 hours, the plane detected an oil patch and the shadow of a conning tower and bombs were dropped on this shape. The aircraft radioed for assistance and circled until other planes arrived. A submarine was positively identified and more bombs were dropped until surface ships, including HIJMS Submarine Chasers 15 and 43 arrived. These, and other ships, dropped depth charges. HIJMS Submarine Chaser 15 reported part of a ship’s propeller thrown to the surface by an underwater explosion. More aircraft and HIJMS Auxiliary Minesweeper 18 arrived, but nothing more of the submarine was seen.]

EAST INDIES: During the night of 11/12 October, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Cape Chater and Lautem Airfields on Dutch Timor Island in the Netherlands East Indies.

NEW GUINEA: Over Northeast New Guinea, Colonel Neal Kearby, Commanding Officer 348th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force, shoots down six Japanese fighters, four “Zekes” (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) and two “Tonys” (Kawasaki Army Type 3 Fighter Hien) near Wewak, Northeast New Guina. He is awarded the Medal of Honor for this action.

In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack Manokwari, Bira, and Fakfak and score hits on a small vessel at Fakfak.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Twenty two Thirteenth Air Force B-24s join 30 SBD Dauntlesses and 22 TBF Avengers in bombing Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island and the nearby area. Hits are scored on the airstrip, fuel dumps, supply areas, gun positions, bridges between Rangu and Jakohina, barges at the mouth of the Uguima River, and several other targets. USAAF P-40 and USMC F4U Corsair pilots claim 11 Japanese aircraft shot down during the day.

Japanese aircraft attack U.S. shipping off Koli Point, Guadalcanal, torpedoing two merchant freighters.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: Colonel Neal Kearby, a Fifth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot, shoots down six Japanese fighters, 4 “Zekes” (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) and 2 “Tonys” (Kawasaki Army Type 3 Fighter Hien) near Wewak, New Guinea and is awarded the Medal of Honor for this action. The citation for the medal reads, “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy, Colonel Kearby volunteered to lead a flight of 4 fighters to reconnoiter the strongly defended enemy base at Wewak. Having observed enemy installations and reinforcements at 4 airfields, and secured important tactical information, he saw an enemy fighter below him, made a diving attack and shot it down in flames. The small formation then sighted approximately 12 enemy bombers accompanied by 36 fighters. Although his mission had been completed, his fuel was running low, and the numerical odds were 12 to 1, he gave the signal to attack. Diving into the midst of the enemy airplanes he shot down 3 in quick succession. Observing 1 of his comrades with 2 enemy fighters in pursuit, he destroyed both enemy aircraft. The enemy broke off in large numbers to make a multiple attack on his airplane but despite his peril he made one more pass before seeking cloud protection. Coming into the clear, he called his flight together and led them to a friendly base. Colonel Kearby brought down 6 enemy aircraft in this action, undertaken with superb daring after his mission was completed.” Kearby shoots down his 22nd Japanese aircraft on 5 March 1944 but dies of injuries sustained while bailing out of his crippled fighter.

Other Fifth Air Force activity in New Guinea has B-24s attacking the towns of Manokwari, Bira, and Fak Fak and score hits on a small vessel at Fak Fak. During the night of 11/12 October, B-25s bomb Cape Chater Airfield and Lautem on Timor Island.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Buckingham (ex-Royalmount) is laid down in Lauzon, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Baseball!

Destroyer USS Collett is laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS McAnn and USS Tisdale are commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-616 sinks HM LCT 553.

U-532 sinks SS Jalabala.

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/oct1943/f11oct43.htm

British army in Italy regrouping
Monday, October 11, 1943 www.onwar.com

General Montgomery commanding British 8th Army [photo at link]

In Italy... The British 8th Army (Montgomery) regroups. Both 5th and 13th Corps are now deployed at the front.

On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces capture Novobelitsa on the outskirts of Gomel.

We Lose 32 Craft (Graham) – 2
Planes from Africa Bomb Greece, Crete and Rhodes (Bracker) – 3-4
Italy Drive Gains – 4-5
Victorious Doughboys Advancing through Captured Italian Town (photo) – 5
Time Bomb Kills Twelve in Naples Just before Clark Goes to Mass (Matthews) – 6
War News Summarized – 6
Russians Win Hill West of Dnieper – 7
61 Enemy Planes Wrecked at Wake (Trumbull) – 8-9
U.S. Forces Occupy Vila in Solomons – 9
Eaker Forecasts Channel Invasion – 9
Lieut. Winant Lost in Muenster Blow – 11
Pacific Strategy-I (Baldwin) – 11
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 12-13
Churchill and Eden Confer with Sforza, Whose Arrival in Algiers is Expected Soon – 13

The first of these excerpts is continued from yesterday.

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Allied Advance to Volturno River, Reorganization, and Attack on Gustav Line (17 January-11 May 1944)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
New Guinea and Alamo Force Operations: Clearing the Huon Peninsula and Securing the Straits, 19 September 1943-26 April 1944
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

I see on p24 that the Wotan line is cracking

That article brings to mind henkster's point from a while back that German commanders experienced on the eastern front advised Americans planning for a future war with the Red Army that, whatever they do, don't let the Reds establish beachheads across rivers. That advice appears to be easier given than successfully followed.

Is there a classical music ping list? If anyone knows of one please notify the keeper. I thought it was interesting to learn that Pablo Casals promoted the Bach cello suites from exercise piece to important performance works comparable to the Goldberg Variations. Before Yo Yo there was Pablo.

http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/10.htm

October 10th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The US VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 114: 236 B-17s hit the railroads and waterways in and around Munster, Germany at 1503-1518 hours plus targets of opportunity at Coesfeld, Germany and Enschede Airfield in the Netherlands; they claim 183-21-51 Luftwaffe aircraft; 30 B-17s are lost. 39 B-24s fly a diversion without loss or casualties. The B-17s are escorted by 216 P-47 Thunderbolts; they claim 19-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-47 is lost.

Frigate HMS Papua launched.

NETHERLANDS: As part of USAAF VIII Bomber Command Mission 114, 29 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the industrial area at Enschede.

GERMANY: Maj. David C. Schilling, 56th FG’s operations officer, USAAF, achives aces status when he downs an Fw 190 near Altenberg, Germany at 1515 hours. Maj. Schilling ends the war with 22.5 kills.

1st Lt. Robert S. Johnson 61st FS/56th FG, USAAF, achieves ace status by downing a Bf 110 and a Fw 190 near Munster, Germany at 1530 hours. He ends the war with 27 kills and was the second highest scoring US fighter ace in the ETO, sixth highest of all US fighter pilots.

Capt. Walter C. Beckham, 351th FS/353d FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downs an Me 210 and two Bf 110 near Munster, Germany between 1530 and 1550 hours. Beckham ends the war with 18 e/a destroyed. (Skip Guidry)

U.S.S.R.: Dobrush, east of Gomel, is liberated by Soviet forces.

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

The U. S. 45th “Thunderbird” Infantry Division edges close to German defenses along the Volturno River by taking Pontelandolfo, a mountain town 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Benevento. (John Nicolas and Jack McKillop)

Naples: A time bomb kills 12 in the cathedral just before ranking U.S. officers arrive for Mass. Partisans attack German forces in Trieste, a large port near the Italian-Yugoslav frontier. The partisans penetrate into several of the city’s suburbs and ignite a fierce battle.

YUGOSLAVIA: Partisans attack German forces in Trieste, a large port near the Italian-Yugoslav frontier. The partisans penetrate into several of the city’s suburbs and ignite a fierce battle.

GREECE: Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb 2 airfields at Athens, while B-24s hit Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes and Calato and Heraklion Airfields on Crete.

P-38s escort shipping off Rhodes, hit Antimachia Airfield in the Dodecanese Islands, and attack vessels in the harbors of Corfu, Greece, and Kotor, Yugoslavia, and off Tivat, Yugoslavia, and hit targets of opportunity in the Aegean Sea and along its eastern coastline.

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

Submarine HMS Trooper is not heard from after leaving Beirut for a patrol west of the Dodecanese on 26 September. She may have been mined, or the victim of an accident. There were no survivors, all 60 crew becoming casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)

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

BURMA: Seven Tenth Air Force B-24s pound the Meza railroad bridge destroying the 3 spans on the eastern end and dropping the end of a central span into the river.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Twenty Fourteenth Air Force 20 B-24s and 18 P-40s attack docks at Haiphong.

CHINA: 8 P-40s bomb a match factory and ammunition dump at Tengchung and 8 others hit a supply dump and targets of opportunity in the Lungling area.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 24 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, 50+ P-38s, P-40s, and P-39s, and 50+USNfighters and dive bombers attack Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island and surrounding areas, hitting runways, a fuel dump, supply area, buildings, and Malabita Hill gun positions. US airplanes claim 15 interceptors shot down and B-24 sink a Japanese army cargo ship 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) southwest of Buka passage.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force A-20s and RAAF aircraft again attack the Sattelberg area. During the night of 10/11 October, B-25s hit Saumlakki on Tanimbar Island in the Moluccas Islands.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two USN submarines sink an IJA cargo ship and a troopship while the submarine USS Kingfish (SS-234) lays mines off Cape Pepe, Makassar Strait, Celebes.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Chilliwack completed forecastle extension refit Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Destroyer escorts USS Barber and Loeser commissioned.

Destroyer USS Barton launched.

Submarine USS Piranha launched.

PANAMA: The Atlantic entrance to PANAMA Canal mined by a German submarine. (Glenn Steinberg)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyer HS Miaoulis rescued the crew of the destroyer HMS Panther.

One man was lost from U-584 in the North Atlantic. (Thus only 52 men were onboard when the boat was sunk 3 weeks later, instead of 53 like in most sources).

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/oct1943/f10oct43.htm

American army in Italy attacking
Sunday, October 10, 1943 www.onwar.com

American troops enter an Italian village [photo at link]

In Italy... Elements of the US 5th Army enter Portelandalfo, north of Benevento.

On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces capture Dobrush, east of Gomel.