Air Operations, CBI

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a road bridge at Shweli.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a cement factory at Haiphong.

Air Operations, Europe

• The Allies (US 15th Air Force?) bomb Rome for the first time. Some 700 American bombers drop 800 tons of bombs on the Littorio and Ciampino airport and the railway junction that crosses the San Lorenzo district. The attack, carried out in two phases, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, kills about 2,000 people and causes immense damage, casualties include the basilica of San Lorenzo, built by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century and containing the graves of many popes. The historic center of the city is not bombed, but there is great distress in the city and throughout the country. Only 5 planes are lost.

On the morning of July 19, 1943 more than 521 American bombers attacked the city of Rome for the first time since the Second World War.

The Bombing of Rome

Railway station Ostiense after Allied air raid on Rome, July 19, 1943

Railway Station Ostiense

• Luftwaffe planes of the 1st Air Division conduct a campaign to stem the advance of the Russians near Orel. Red Army tanks incur some of the heaviest losses ever suffered from the air by armored units.

Air Operations, New Guinea

1 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17 attacks the airfield at Finschhafen Airdrome. 1 V Bomber Command B-25 attacks a bridge, and RAAF Bostons attack a gun emplacement and a military encampment.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 8 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, 19 US Marine Corps TBFs, and 18 Marine SBDs attack Japanese ground defenses at Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia.
• During the night, in attacks on a Japanese Navy task force near Choiseul, AirSols PBYs and 8 AirSols TBFs sink a Japanese destroyer with bombs and seriously damage a heavy cruiser. 8 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 5 AirSols TBFs attack the convoy before dawn, but no hits are scored. 2 B-25s and 2 TBFs are lost to antiaircraft fire.

Aleutians

Rear-Adm Kinkaid confirms the plan for the invasion of Kiska Island. The island is bombed and shelled from sea and air a number of times. During the past month the aircraft of the US 2nd Air Force have dropped over 1,200 tons of bombs.

Axis Politics

Hitler and Mussolini meet at Feltre in the Italian Dolomites in northern Italy. The talks last from 11:00a.m. to 6:00p.m. and the Führer tries to revive the Duce's morale, which has slumped in the wake of the military disasters in Africa and Sicily and of the changed political situation at home. Hitler hardly lets Mussolini speak and does little but demand more effort from the Italians. Hitler is aware of proposals put forward by some senior officers and political leaders that Italy should seek a separate peace with the Allies.

Mussolini realizes that Italy cannot fight much longer, but face to face with Hitler he will not admit it. The angry criticism of Mussolini's government following the heavy Allied air raids on Rome illustrates the Italian war weariness. Hitler dazzles Mussolini with his usual long-winded eloquence. He tells him of secret weapons being built in Germany which will guarantee an Axis victory, and he offers to send German troops to Italy. At the same time he demands from his 'colleague', giving the suggestion the form of an ultimatum, that Mussolini should wield the iron fist and purge his party and his country of those who oppose him.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Over the next 2 weeks US and Brazilian aircraft sink 4 U-boats.
• Naval land-based aircraft (VP-74) sink the German submarine U-513 off Brazil.

British troops and local civilians examine a knocked-out German PzKpfw VI Tiger tank, Sicily, 19 July 1943.

Examining a Tiger Tank

Eastern Front

The Russians are on the offensive everywhere not what the German effort against the Kursk salient has been all but crushed. From north to south, attacks are mounted by the Kalinin Front of Yeremenko, the Western Front of Sokolovsky, the Bryansk Front of Popov, the Central or Belorussian Front of Rokossovsky, the Voronezh or the 1st Ukrainian Front of Vatutin, the Steppe or the 2nd Ukrainian Front of Konev, the Southwestern or 3rd Ukrainian Front of Malinovsky, the South or 4th Ukrainian Front of Tolbukhin and the North Caucasus Front of Petrov. The Soviets continue to push forward in both sides of the Kursk salient. In the north they threaten Bolkhov.

The 3rd Guards Tank Army enters the fighting east of Orel. The tank army joins the attacks of 3rd and 63rd Armies and 3rd Guards Tank, which are pushing the Germans back upon Orel itself. The offensive by the 11th and 11th Guards aims to capture Bryansk and cut the 9th Army's line of retreat.

Mediterranean

German and Italian minelayers begin intensive operations around the Italian coast.

Sicily

The American forces advance quickly to north and west, meeting little resistance. On the east coast the British attack is held and Montgomery therefore directs the weight of his attack somewhat further inland toward Gerbini, Agira and Leonforte. The 231st Bde reaches the outskirts of Agira, while the Canadian 2nd Bde of the 1st Div attacks towards Leonforte. Near Catania the British XIII Corps is held up by the firm resistance of the Germans. The progress of the American 7th Army towards Trapani and Palermo is faster and the enemy's resistance is negligible.

188th Medical Battalion Medics on New Georiga Island July 19, 1943