Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack airfields at Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack storage facilities near Rangoon.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack shipping in the Shortland Islands and around Bougainville.
• At 1300 hours, 3 large US Navy landing craft and 2 destroyers sailing around Guadalcanal’s Cape Esperance after landing US Army ground troops behind Japanese lines are attacked by 14 D3A 'Val' dive bombers. The 'Vals' fatally damage 1 destroyer and near-miss the other. VMF-112 and VMO-251 F4Fs down 2 'Vals' and 18 of 30 A6M Zero escorts, 2 VMSB-131 SBD crews down 2 Zeros, and a 347th Fighter Group P-39 downs 1 Zero.
• At 1820 hours, 17 Cactus Air Force SBDs and 7 TBFs, escorted by 17 F4Fs and an unknown number of 347th Fighter Group fighters, attack a force of as many as 20 Japanese destroyer-transports in New Georgia Sound near New Georgia. As it turns out, these ships are on their way to Guadalcanal to evacuate Japanese Navy ground troops. 1 destroyer is seriously damaged, and 3 SBDs are lost with their crews.

Allied Planning

Allied area commanders meet in New Delhi and decide to launch a major campaign to retake all of Burma beginning in November. The ultimate objective is to clear the way into China which will be used as a base for direct action against Japan.

Burma

In the Arakan the 55th Indian Bde, which has replaced the 47th, renew their attack on Donbaik but can make no progress. Japanese anti-tank guns knock out some tanks supporting the action.

Eastern Front

The Russians follow up the offensive opened on Jan 12 by the Bryansk, Voronezh, southwestern and southern armies against Army Group B under von Weichs and the Don Army Group under von Manstein. The Russian 3rd Armored Army captures Svatovo, southeast of Kharkov between Kupyansk and Starobelsk, cutting the railway joining this city with the Don basin.

There is heavy fighting in the Tractor Factory as Strecker's XI Corps is pounded by the Don Front. Over 4,000 men are killed or wounded as the Red Army launches concentrated tank and infantry attacks, supported by massive arty fire.

The main part of the Don Front is moving to the west to join the line fighting the Germans in the Ukraine. Voronezh Front begins its new attacks toward Kursk and Kharkov, 3rd Tank Army taking Svatovo as it crossed the Oskol near Valuyki. The tank army runs into elements of the II SS Panzer Corps north of Kupyansk and is involved in heavy fighting.

Southwest Front attacks with its 6th Army and 1st Guards Army. Popov crosses the Donets with his IV Guards Tank Corps and captures Kramatorsk, while X Tank Corps moves up to support. Elements of 1st Guards crosses the Northern Donets west of Krasny Liman, forcing the Germans back to Barvenkovo. Other units enter Lisichansk but are halted by the 19th Panzer Division.

Russian T-34 Tanks in German Service, Lujew, February 1943

Hitler's headquarters issues the official communiqué on the defeat at Stalingrad:

'The Battle for Stalingrad has ended. True to its oath to its last breath, 6th Army, under the exemplary leadership of Field Marshal Paulus, has succumbed to the overwhelming strength of the enemy and to unfavorable circumstances. The enemy's two demands for capitulation are proudly rejected. The last battle was fought under a swastika flag from the highest ruin in Stalingrad.'

February 1, 1943. Soviet Soldiers Atop a Captured German Panzer IV Tank

Guadalcanal

The command of the western pursuit passes from Gen De Carre to Gen Sebree. The 1st Battalion, 147th Infantry, assisted by artillery and naval gunfire, again attempts unsuccessfully to cross the Bonegi River mouth to join forces with the 3rd Battalion on the west bank, but does force the enemy rear guards from the eastern bank. The destroyer and field artillery fire into the Bonegi River valley and patrols, finding that the enemy has withdrawn from the east bank, reach the river mouth by 1525, but the battalion does not cross. Using 6 tank landing craft the 2nd Battalion, 132nd Infantry, Americal Div, under Col Alexander M. George, makes an unopposed landing at Verahue, to the rear of the enemy in the Cape Esperance area. The intent of this force is to prevent further Japanese landings at Cape Esperance, Visale, and Kamimbo Bay and to press the enemy's rear. The Americans are aware of the Japanese naval activity but believe that it heralds a new offensive. During the night the Japanese begin the evacuation of their forces by sea from Cape Esperance. Instead, during the night the Japanese start to re-embark the remains of their 17th Army. 5,000 men are evacuated by a force of 20 destroyers, one of which is sunk by air attack. This action by the Japanese is part of Operation KE which will continue until February 7.

Columns of German Wehrmacht soldiers pass through the streets of Stalingrad on February 1, 1943.

German Soldiers Passing through Stalingrad

Mediterranean

• The British cruiser-minelayer Welshman is sunk by U-617 35 miles east-northeast of Tobruk with a loss of 150 Royal Navy officers and men. Only a few survivors are rescued by the the British destroyer escorts Belvoir and Tetcott.
• U-118 lays a minefield in the Straits of Gibraltar. 4 ships will be sunk and 3 damaged as a result of this minefield.

New Guinea

Small American detachments advance west along the north coast towards the mouth of the Kumusi River. Australian forces manage to hold off Japanese attempts to tak Wau airfield even though the Japanese advance comes within 1150ft of the airfield's center. The Japanese begin withdrawing from Wau.

North Africa

In British 1st Army's US II Corps area, Combat Command A, 1st Armored Div, continues its attack toward Faïd Pass after a very heavy artillery bombardment, but makes little progress. French units and Combat Command A then organize defense positions and remain in place to await reinforcements. The British 1st Army cancels the projected attack on Maknassy because of an enemy threat west of Kairouan. The II Corps, protecting the right flank of Allied forces, is to employ Combat Command C and Combat Command D, 1st Armored Div, as mobile reserve near Sbeïtla, although Combat Command D is to secure a more favorable position 3-4 miles east of Sened Station first. Brig-Gen Ray E. Porter is to command Combat Command D temporarily, relieving Col Robert V. Maraist. Combat Command D, reinforced by the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry, 34th Div, attacks and captures Sened Station. Combat Command C, almost through Maizila Pass, north of Maknassy, withdraws to Sbeïtla and from there to Hadjeb el Aïoun.

Mid-Air Collision

A mid-air collision on February 1, 1943 between a B-17 and a German fighter over the Tunis dock area became the subject of one of the most famous photographs of World War II… An enemy fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control, probably with a wounded pilot then continued its crashing descent into the rear of the fuselage of a Fortress named All American, piloted by Lt. Kendrick R. Bragg, of the 414th Bomb Squadron.

When it struck, the fighter broke apart, but left some pieces in the B-17. The left horizontal stabilizer of the Fortress and left elevator were completely torn away. The two right engines were out and one on the left had a serious oil pump leak. The vertical fin and the rudder had been damaged, the fuselage had been cut almost completely through connected only at two small parts of the frame and the radios, electrical and oxygen systems were damaged. There was also a hole in the top that was over 16 feet long and 4 feet wide at its widest and the split in the fuselage went all the way to the top gunner’s turret.

Although the tail actually bounced and swayed in the wind and twisted when the plane turned and all the control cables were severed , except one single elevator cable still worked, and the aircraft still flew-miraculously! The tail gunner was trapped because there was no floor connecting the tail to the rest of the plane. The waist and tail gunners used parts of the German fighter and their own parachute harnesses in an attempt to keep the tail from ripping off and the two sides of the fuselage from splitting apart.

When the bomb bay doors were opened, the wind turbulence was so great that it blew one of the waist gunners into the broken tail section. It took several minutes and four crew members to pass him ropes from parachutes and haul him back into the forward part of the plane. When they tried to do the same for the tail gunner, the tail began flapping so hard that it began to break off. The weight of the gunner was adding some stability to the tail section, so he went back to his position.

The turn back toward England had to be very slow to keep the tail from twisting off. They actually covered almost 70 miles to make the turn home. The bomber was so badly damaged that it was losing altitude and speed and was soon alone in the sky. For a brief time, two more Me109 German fighters attacked the All American. Despite the extensive damage, all of the machine gunners were able to respond to these attacks and soon drove off the fighters. The two waist gunners stood up with their heads sticking out through the hole in the top of the fuselage to aim and fire their machine guns. The tail gunner had to shoot in short bursts because the recoil was actually causing the plane to turn.

Allied P51 fighters intercepted the All American as it crossed over the Channel and took one of the pictures shown. They also radioed to the base describing the empennage was waving like a fish tail and that the plane would not make it and to send out boats to rescue the crew when they bailed out. The fighters stayed with the Fortress taking hand signals from Lt. Bragg and relaying them to the base. Lt. Bragg signaled that 5 parachutes and the spare had been “used” so five of the crew could not bail out. He made the decision that if they could not bail out safely, then he would stay with the plane and land it.

Two and a half hours after being hit, the aircraft made its final turn to line up with the runway while it was still over 40 miles away. It descended into an emergency landing and a normal roll-out on its landing gear.. When the ambulance pulled alongside, it was waved off because not a single member of the crew had been injured. No one could believe that the aircraft could still fly in such a condition. The Fortress sat placidly until the crew all exited through the door in the fuselage and the tail gunner had climbed down a ladder, at which time the entire rear section of the aircraft collapsed onto the ground. The rugged old bird had done its job.