'Joltin Janie' B-24D-30-CO Liberator 42-40065 of the 403rd Bomb Squadron, shown parked in a revetment at Dobodura Airfield on Papua New Guinea on June 11, 1943. This aircraft was lost on December 9, 1943 when it crashed into the sea after take-off for a mission.

'Joltin Janie' B-24D-30-CO Liberator

Air Operations, Aleutians

7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 8 B-25s, 4 343ed Fighter Group P-38s, 10 P-40s, and 2 F-5s reconnoiter and attack Kiska.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields in the Rabaul area and targets of opportunity around Gasmata and Keravia Bay.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack motor vehicles at Mangshih, military camps on the Salween River, and warehouses at Tungling.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-24s attack Koepang, Timor and B-25s attack the Dili and Penfoei airfields on Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

Fortresses of the American 8th Air Force, unescorted, attack Wilhelmshaven in the evening, damaging shipyards where U-boats are built. It does become clear though that, without adequate fighter protection, precision bombing is prevented by enemy interceptor aircraft.

• 783 aircraft are sent to Düsseldorf. In this total are 326 Lancasters, 202 Halifaxes, 143 Wellingtons, 99 Stirlings and 13 Mosquitos.
• The Pathfinder marking is progressing well until an Oboe Mosquito inadvertently releases a load of target indicators 14 miles northeast of the target area. This causes part of the Main Force to release its bombs in open country. The main bombing, however, does cause extensive damage to the center of the city where 130 acres are claimed to have been destroyed. 1,292 people are killed. This proves to be the most damaging raid of the war for Düsseldorf.
• 14 Lancasters, 12 Halifaxes, 10 Wellingtons and 2 Stirlings are lost. 5 of the aircraft are claimed shot down by 'ace' Maj Werner Streib, flying the first purpose-built German night fighter, the He-219.
• In a smaller effort, 29 Lancasters, 22 Halifaxes and 21 Stirlings attack Münster.
• All the aircraft are provided by No. 8 Group and is really a mass H₂S trial. 33 aircraft carry markers or flares with the remaining planes acting as the bomb force although some of the marking planes also drop bombs. The marking and bombing are very accurate and the whole raid lasts about 10 minutes. Photo reconnaissance shows that heavy damage is done to railway installations in Münster as well as to housing areas.
• 2 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters and 1 Stirling are lost.

Aerial recce picture of extensive damage to the Derendorf district of Dusseldorf.

Aerial View of Damage in Düsseldorf

Aerial recce picture of Munster after the raid of 11/12 June.

Aerial View of Damage in Münster

• 3 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg, 2 to Cologne and there are 23 OTU sorties to France.
• 1 OTU Wellington is lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack coastal targets at Huon Gulf and P-40s attack a Japanesesubmarine off Cape Nelson.

Diplomatic Relations

• The US and Britain recognize the new provisional government in Argentina.
• The French Committee of National Liberation is given official recognition by Uruguay, the first nation to do so.
• Saudi Arabia rejects the idea of a Jewish state.

Body of a Dead German near a Nebelwerfer, June 11, 1943

Germany, Policy

Himmler orders the liquidation of all the Jewish ghettos in Poland.

Mediterranean

After 10 days of intense attack by air and sea, Pantelleria's 11,000-strong Italian garrison surrenders without a fight at 12 noon on the approach of an Allied assault force. More than 5,000 tons of bombs have been dropped on this one small island in the last month and although the damage has been great, it has been far less than has been expected. This is an important indication of the difficulties in store for the main strategic-bombing campaign. The British 1st Div lands on the island and meets very little opposition. The fall of Pantelleria allows the Allies to concentrate the activities of the Mediterranean air forces on Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily.

British Troops Advance Inland on Pantelleria

During the night the Allies carry out an intensive air and naval bombardment of Lampedusa.

Pacific

• The US naval vessel PT-22 is damaged in a storm, then beached and abandoned in the Adak area of the Aleutian Islands.
• The Australian corvette Wallaroo is sunk after a collision with the American steamer Gilbert Costin off Freemantle with the loss of 3 of her crew. An Australian warship rescues the survivors.

82nd Airborne load a 75mm howitzer into a CG-4A Troop Glider during training at Oujda, French Morocco, North Africa a month before the Sicily invasion, Jun 11 1943.

Howitzer Being Loaded into a Troop Glider