Air Operations, Aleutians

7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack Kiska.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a road bridge at Shweli.

Air Operations, Europe

177 American B-24 Liberator bombers commanded by Gen Brereton, commander of the US 9th Air Force, drop 311 tons of bombs on the oil refineries at Ploesti, center of the Rumanian oil fileds in Operation TIDAL WAVE. The attack puts 40% of the refining plant out of action, but it costs the Americans dearly as they lose 54 bombers and 532 men.

25 German bombers cause heavy damage in Palermo.

US Raid on Ploesti

B-24s at Low Altitude

Oil Storage Tanks at the Columbia Aquila Refinery

A B-24 Clearing the Stacks of the Astra Romana Refinery

• 15 Stirlings and 14 Wellingtons lay mines off the Biscay ports without a loss.

NASAF B-17s attack the Capiodichino Airdrome.

• In Operation TIDALWAVE, 177 IX Bomber Command B-24s based aroung Benghazi, Libya, conduct a low-level attack on the strategic oil-refining facilities at Ploesti and Campina. The damage inflicted is severe.
• 42 B-24s are lost, 13 in operational accidents, 7 interned in Turkey; 532 crew are lost from all causes

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• NACAF Beaufighters claim hits on Axis shippint at sea between Sadinia and Italy.
• 2 Do-217s are downed over sea by 52nd Fighter Group Spitfires about 0605 hours and 1 Mc-202 is downed over sea by a 14th Fighter Group P-38 at 1115 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

1 V Bomber Command B-24 attacks the Malahang airfield at Lae.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NASAF B-25s attack Milazzo.
• NATAF A-20s and B-25s attack Bronte, Paterno, Randazzo, and Santa Maria di Licondia, and motor vehicles near Orlando.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Adrano.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s conduct a record 230 sorties against a variety of Sicilian towns and Axis ships at sea in the Straits of Messina.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 18 US Marine Corps TBFs and and 18 SBDs, covered by 30 AirSols fighters, attack ammunition dumps, antiaircraft emplacements, and ground defenses on the Munda battle front.
• 21 XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 50 other AirSols aircraft attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville.
• More than 80 AirSols aircraft attack shipping in the Shortland Islands and southern Bougainville.
• 1 P-40 with the 18th Fighter Group’s 44th Fighter Squadron downs an A6M Zero over Gizo Island.

Atlantic

In Operation WUNDERLAND II, a planned combined anti-convoy operation, the Lützow and 4 U-boats sink only 2 ships later in the month on August 27 and 28.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-383 is sunk by Sunderland 'V' of No 228 Squadron. The U-boat is spotted by the aircraft which attacks but meets so much flak, it breaks off the attack. On a second run seven depth charges are dropped which severely damages the submarine. U-383 does not sink immediately but before help can come, the weather deteriorates and she founders.

U-383 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Horst Kremser Location Atlantic, NW of Cape Ortegal Cause Air attack Casualties 52 Survivors None

U-454 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Burkhard Hacklander Location Atlantic, NW of Cape Ortegal Cause Air attack Casualties 32 Survivors 13

• U-454 is sunk by Sunderland 'B' of No 10 Squadron RAAF in an accurate attack in which the aircraft is shot down as the 2nd Support Group ships reach the area.

Diplomatic Relations

Nationalist China breaks off diplomatic relations with Vichy in protest against the hand-over of the French Concession in Shanghai to the 'Central Government of China'.

Eastern Front

With the initiative in the east firmly in the hands of the Red Army and Hitler's attention fixed on the west, Army Group Center is given permission to withdraw from the exposed Orel salient to the Hagen line, an ad hoc defense position east of Bryansk.

The top-scoring Soviet female pilot, Junior Lieutenant Lydia Litvak of the 73rd Guards Fighter Air Regt, is shot down and killed in the Ukraine. Her awards are as follows: Order of the Red Star, Order of the Red Banner, medal 'For the Defense of Stalingrad', Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and Hero of the Soviet Union (the latter awarded posthumously in 1990.

The Americans carry out a major daylight raid on the Ploesti oilfields in Rumania, destroying more than 40 percent of the refining capacity and seriously affecting the supply of fuel to the German units on the eastern front. It is from this period onward that the Germans are to suffer severe damage to their manufacturing and transport infrastructure and in turn their ability to effectively supply the increasingly committed combat armies.

France, Politics

The Free French reorganize their leadership. Giraud will now preside in the National Liberation Committee only when purely military matters are discussed. De Gaulle is to be president of the Committee at all other times.

Germany, Armed Forces

The 1st Cossack Cavalry Div is formally established in the army's order of battle. It comprises two brigades, each one made up of 3 sabre squadrons and an artillery battalion.

A Sherman Tank of 'A' Squadron, 50th Royal Tank Regiment

Japan, Politics

Tokyo announces that Burma is now independent and has declared war on the United States and Britain. The head of the puppet government, Ba Maw, signs a secret treaty with the Japanese.

In Indonesia a party of national unity has recently been founded under Japanese aegis and has set up a central council which is collaborating in the creation of the sphere of common prosperity in Asia to which the Japanese look forward.

As for Thailand, it has been an ally of Japan since 1942 under its regent, Marshal Pibul Songgram. At this period the Japanese Empire has about 500 million people under its control. It controls 95% of the world production of rubber, 70% of the production of rice and of tin and almost the whole world production of quinine. The Allies have found several substitutes for quinine, and have increased - as the Germans have also - the production of synthetic rubber.

New Georgia

The 145th and 161st Infantry under the command of the 37th Infantry Division capture Horseshoe Hill. The 169th and 103rd Infantry of the 43rd Infantry Division advance 800 yards without meeting opposition. The American ground attack is supported by 36 SBD Dauntless dive-bombers and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. 13th Air Force P-40s and US Navy F4U Corsairs attack Munda, bombing anti-aircraft positions, ammo storage dumps, and target of opportunity.

Occupied Burma

A Burmese puppet government is formed by Ba Maw. A secret Burmese-Japanese military treaty is signed and Burma declares war on Britain and the United States.

Pacific

• PT-109 under Lt John F. Kennedy is rammed and sunk by the destroyer Amagiri in the Solomons.
• Two other PT boats are sunk in the Solomon Islands area by Japanese bombers, PT-117 and PT-164.

PT-117, Beached with a Gaping Hole in her Bow

PT-164, With Bow Demolished

Sicily

There is heavy fighting around Troina as the American 1st Div attacks and Axis forces put up a strong defense. In the British sector the 231st Bde, supported by units of the Canadian 1st Div, succeeds in penetrating into Regalbuto. Axis resistance near Centuripe continues, taking advantage of the terrain which in the northeast of the island is very rugged and greatly helps defense.[MORE]

Solomons

In New Georgia the Americans advance to the edge of the Munda airfield without resistance. The Japanese Imperial Staff realizing that New Georgia is no longer defensible, has decided to concentrate all available men and materials on Kolombangara Island, northeast of New Georgia. The units left in New Georgia, however, are ordered to defend the airfield to the last man.