Air Operations, Aleutians

Bad weather prevents all but 2 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s from supporting US 7th Infantry Division troops battling Japanese Army defenders on Attu Island. 4 B-24s diverted from Attu attack Kiska, and 8 343rd Fighter Group P-40s sent to attack Kiska are diverted by bad weather to Little Kiska.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack Rabaul-area airfields.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Gasmata airfield on New Britain and other targets in the area.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack the Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain.
• B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount individual attacks against numerous targets on New Britain.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Bostons attack the docks at Cherbourg and 6 Mitchells attack the railway targets at Boulogne.
• 1 Mitchell is lost.

• 442 aircraft are sent to bomb Bochum. Included in this total are 135 Halifaxes, 104 Wellingtons, 98 Lancasters, 95 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitos.
• The raid starts well, but after about 15 minutes, what is believed to be decoy markers draw much of the bombing away from the target.
• 13 Halifaxes, 6 Wellingtons, 4 Stirlings and 1 Lancaster are lost.
• 156 Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes are sent on another attempt to bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen.
• 120 of these aircraft are from No. 5 Group, the rest being Pathfinders. The target again proves to be a difficult one to find and mark accurately. Almost all the bombs fall in open country north of the Skoda factory.
• 9 planes are lost.

• 12 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 8 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and there are 12 OTU sorties.
• 1 Mosquito on the Berlin raid is lost.

• 88 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack the Albert/Meaulte Airdrome with more than 218 tons of bombs.
• 3 B-17s are lost, 11 damaged; 1 crewman wounded, 31 missing
• The 4th Heavy Bomb Wing comprising the 94th, 95th, and 96th Heavy Bomb Groups in 72 B-17s makes its combat debut with an independent attack against the St.-Omer/Longuenesse Airdrome. It does not go well. 1 B-17 crashes shortly after takeoff, the lead 96th Bomb Group B-17 aborts due to an oxygen leak, all 14 B-17s of the 351st Heavy Bomb Group fail to join the main group and abandon the mission over the English Channel. Once over the target, only 31 of the 72 originally sent manage to drop their bombs.
• 1 B-17 is lost, 1 is damaged; 1 crewman is lost, 2 are wounded

IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the harbor at Augusta and damage the oil storage tanks and a number of anchored vessels and seaplanes.

Proof that the Wellington could take an large amount of damage, and still fly home.

Wellington Damage

The extensively damaged rear fuselage of a Wellington hit during the mission to Bochum

Damage to Wellington Fuselage

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack the airfields at Boram and Wewak.
• B-17s mount individual attacks against numerous targets in the Admiralty Islands and northeastern New Guinea.
• During the night, Japanese bombers mount several inneffective attacks against Allied bases.

Air Operations, Sardinia

96 USAAF B-25s, 107 USAAF B-17s, and 22 RAF Wellingtons, escorted by 4 fighter groups, attack port facilities, marshalling yards, an oil dump, and a chemical plant at Cagliari with 438 tons of bombs. 3 Axis fighters are downed near Cagliari by 1st and 82nd Fighter Group P-38s between 1240 and 1330 hours.

Air Operations, Solomons

• About 1300 hours, 62 USN and USMC fighters, 34 USAAF fighters, and 6 RNZAF fighters encounter a Japanese Navy reconnaissance plane escorted by an estimated 25 A6M Zeros. VMF-112 and VMF-124 F4Us down 16 of the Zeros, and an 18th Fighter Group P-38 downs 1. 1 P-38 and 3 F4Us are lost as well as the 3 F4U pilots.
• During the evening, 5 XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfield at Ballale and the Kahili airfield on Bougainville.
• An 18th Fighter Group P-38 downs 1 A6M Zero over Guadalcanal at 1947 hours.

Aleutians

The Japanese continue to hold Jarmin Pass, despite the efforts of the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Battalion of the 17th Infantry to capture the position. The 3rd Battalion of the 32nd Infatnry lands at Holtz Bay to reinforce the attack on Hill X. The battleship Idaho and a destroyer support the landing with naval gunfire. The American forces are still being contained virtually in their landing areas although they now outnumber the Japanese by about 4 to 1. The American troops, anticipatine a quick victory against minimal enemy resistance, have no winter clothing. Extreme weather conditions and lack of supplies limit the effectiveness of the combat troops. Bad weather has been hindering the US air support and the terrain is very difficult. The Japanese have recovered from their surprise and are putting up a vigorous, well co-ordinated defense. In the northern part of the island they have gone over to the attack, trying, but without success, to dislodge the invaders from a hilltop called Hill X.

Allied Planning

The Trident Conference approves the final version of the plans for the landing in Sicily, called Operation HUSKY, including the date, July 10, and the areas chosen for the landings.

Depth charges exploding after being dropped by the destroyer HMS Vanoc over the spot indicated by the submarine detecting apparatus, which reported a contact during an Atlantic Convoy. Some crew members can be seen at the stern watching the explosion.

HMS Vanoc Dropping Depth Charges

Battle of the Atlantic

• Liberator 'B' of No 86 Squadron attacks a surfaced U-boat (U-456) in poor visibility near convoy HX-237. U-456 dives on seeing the aircraft, but the aircraft drops a Fido which functions perfectly hitting the U-boat and sinking it.

• Sunderland 'G' of No 423 Squadron sights a fully surfaced U-boat 10 miles from convoy HX-237. When the aircraft approaches, the U-boat opens fire having no intention of diving. When a couple of the convoy's escorts approached, U-753 dives. The aircraft then attacks with two depth charges which explode near the boat. The two escorts, HMS Lagan and HMCS Drumheller continue attacking until oil and wreckage appear on the surface.
• U-176 attacks Convoy DM-69 in the Greater Antilles sinking the US tanker Nickeliner (2249t) and the Cuban tanker Mambi (1983t) and eludes the escort ships. There are no casualties on board the Nickeliner and the survivors are rescued by a Cuban submarine chaser.

Britain, Home Front

British Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee formally announces the end of the campaign in North Africa.

Japan, Policy

Japan's powerful lord keeper of the privy seal, Marquis Koichi Kido, confides to the foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, that the war can be ended only by the royal family's assistance in bringing the military under control. Shigemitsu had joined the Tojo cabinet in an effort to conclude a peace in China honorable to the Chinese and to avert what is increasingly perceived as a disastrous military outlook in the war against the US. Kido, Shigemitsu and other Japanese leaders, however, can never overcome the destructive momentum of the military's actions until it is too late. The emperor was by no means the ultimate decision-maker.

A Fleet Air Arm Martlet fighter from HMS Formidable patrols over the veteran battleship HMS Warspite off Sicily. The Warspite and other Royal Navy battlewagons bombard Pantelleria Island, between Tunisia and Sicily, on this day in 1943.

Martlet Fighter on Patrol

New Guinea

Japanese aircraft begin another series of raids on Allied positions.

North Africa

Field-Marshal Messe orders the surrender of the remaining German and Italian troops. Altogether 250,000 have been captured in the last few days, half of them German. Gen Alexander sends the following message to Churchill: 'It is my duty to report that the Tunis campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are masters of the North African shores.'

With the surrender of Gen Messe, Rommel's successor, who is notified on this date of his promotion to marshal, the Tunisian Campaign ends.

Pacific

An accidental explosion damages the US light cruiser Nashville (CL-43) and the US destroyer Nicholas (DD-449) in the Solomon Islands area.

United States, Home Front

Czech Pres Benês addresses Congress.