Air Operations, Aleutians

6 A6M2-N 'Rufe' figher bombers attack the runway of the airfield at Amchitka.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack Rabaul, shipping in the harbor, and the Rapopo airfield at Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

• 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the bridge at Myitnge.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping and the town area at Amboina Island.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack Dili and the Dili airfield on Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 23 Bostons attack Dunkirk harbor claiming hits on ships. 12 Mosquitos bomb the railway workshops at Tours.
• There are no losses.

Barely missing the buildings over the target, this Mosquito provides an excellent example of just how low a low-level attack was!

Low-Level Attack Example

Fires Burning in the Roundhouse at Tours

• 6 Oboe Mosquitos bomb Essen, Rheinhausen ahd the German night-fighter airfiels at St Trond. A map from Essen shows the bombs dropped there hit the southern part of the Krupps factory. 4 Stirlings lay mines in the Gironde River and 2 OTU Wellingtons drop leaflets over France.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack supply dumps at Malahang.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen and a ship in Stettin Bay.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 13th Air Force B-26s, P-39s, and P-40s attack the Vila airfield on Kolombangara.
• 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the airfield on Ballale and the Kahili airfield on Bougainville. 2 of the B-24s are brought down by heavy, effective antiaircraft fire.

Convoys To Russia during the Second World War - Convoy JW-53, 15-27 February 1943

HMS Opportune, an escorting destroyer, in dazzle paint, seen during rough seas on a Russian convoy patrol. Image taken from aboard HMS Inglefield.

Convoy-Escorting Destroyer

Eastern Front

Contrary to Hitler's orders to stand and fight, the II SS Panzer Corps withdraws from Kharkov.

German forces begin to withdraw their 11 infantry divisions of the II and X Corps from the Demyansk pocket. Hitler had sanctioned the withdrawal earlier in the year but added the clause that it must not be completed until the end of March. During this time 16th Army makes extensive preparations to deny the Soviets the use of the capture territory. Mines and booby traps are planted in abundance, making the Soviet advance difficult and costly. As the first units pull back 11th, 34th and 53rd Armies of the Northwest Front and 1st Shock Army of the Kalinin Front attack but are unable to break the German line. The Northwest Front begins the Demyansk Offensive Operation with 327,600 men.

The battle for Kharkov reaches its peak. With Soviet attacks threatening his rear, Hausser again requests permission to evacuate. Having no immediate reply he begins to pull his force back at 1300 hours, only to receive a 'hold at all costs; order at 1630. Disobeying Hitler's and Gen Lanz's direct orders, Hausser continues to withdraw the SS Panzer Corps. With the SS in retreat Lanz has no option but to order the rest of his Army Detachment to evacuate, thus saving his men from certain destruction at the hands of the Soviets.

The XL Panzer Corps is instructed to abandon Slavyansk and redeploys to Krasnoarmieskoye.

North Africa

Rommel joins in the Axis attack, sending a detachment of 15th Pzr and some Italian armor against the southern section of the line at Gafsa which is taken. Most of Rommel's forces have had to be left in the Mareth line where the last of his rearguard is now arriving from Libya. An American counterattack by the US 1st Arm Div in the Sidi Bou Zid sector is repulsed, but during the night the Americans manage to withdraw from Djebel Lessouda unharmed.

In the British 1st Army area, Gen K. A. N. Anderson orders the forces holding the high ground west of Faïd withdrawn and Kasserine Pass organized for defense. In the US II Corps area, Headquarters, Services of Supply, North African Theater of Operations, USA, is established under Brig-Gen Thomas B. Larkin. Combat Command C. 1st Armored Div, counterattacks in the Sidi Bou Zid area in an effort to relieve the encircled forces on the hills, but is unable to accomplish its mission and falls back with heavy tank losses. Most of the US force on Djebel Lessouda succeeds in escaping during the night. While action at Sidi Bou Zid is in progress, Gen Anderson directs Gen Fredendall to withdraw all forces, after the isolated troops have been extricated, to positions defending Sbeïtla, Kasserine and Fériana. Axis forces, moving cautiously against Gafsa, discover that it has been evacuated. The French XIX Corps is quietly and gradually moving its right flank forces back to Sbiba.

In the British 8th Army area, improving weather conditions permit the resumption of operations toward the Mareth Line.

Vichy France

Vichy France begins drafting laborers for work duties.