Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group bombers and 343rd Fighter Group fighters are sent on 6 separate missions against Kiska, but 2 missions are aborted because of bad weather.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command bombers attack targets at Borgen Bay and an island in Marien Harbor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Wellingtons of No. 6 Group lay mines off Lorient and St Nazaire without a loss.

Operation GOMORRAH Ends

August 3, 1943: 'Gomorrah' was the name chosen for the eight-day long Allied bombing of Hamburg. The RAF dropped over 2,000 tons of bombs over Hamburg, killing 1,500 people; the heat of the firestorms was so intense that the asphalt itself burst into flames. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people were killed by the end of the raids. In comparison, around 43,000 are estimated to have died during the Blitz, which lasted eight months.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-17s, B-24s, and B-25s attack small craft, barges, aircraft, military encampments, and trails over a broad area, but especially at Bogadjim, Lae, Manokwari, and Salamaua.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-572 is sunk by US naval land-based aircraft (VP-205) north of Dutch Guiana.

Eastern Front

The Russian offensive is further stepped up by the armies of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts in the direction of Kharkov, while 3 other Russian Fronts, the Western, Bryansk and Central, converge on Orel.

The Soviet Operation RUMYANTSEV begins. Its objectives are the destruction of both the 4th Panzer Army and the 6th Army by reaching the Black Sea coast behind them. The Voronezh and Steppe Fronts have more than 980,000 troops, 2,439 tanks and self-propelled guns, 12,627 guns and mortars and nearly 1,300 aircraft, against 300,000 men, 250 tanks and assault guns, 3,000 guns and mortars, and fewer than 1,000 aircraft. The offensive begins at 5:00am, and by early afternoon the German lines have been penetrated sufficiently for Vatutin to commit 4 tank brigades to exploit the breach,which they do to a depth of 16 miles. By the end of the day the Soviets have driven a 6-mile wesge between the 4th Army and Army Detachment Kempf.

The Steppe Front is not so successful. Manstein brings the SS panzer divisions Das Reich and Totenkopf back from the Mius River and, along with the battered 3rd Panzer Div, they are placed under III Panzer Corps. This force is given instructions to halt the Soviet armor northwest of Kharkov. Army Detachment Kempf is reinforced by the 5th SS Panzer Div Wiking.[MORE]

Anti-aircraft self-propelled gun Sd.Kfz. 10/4 to the left on the basis of half-track truck with a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun FlaK 30. Kursk, August 3, 1943.

Self-Propelled Anti-aircraft Gun

Germany, Home Front

The German news bureau reports that the Ploesti raid appears to have been a disaster for the attackers with heavy losses and several forced landings because of damage on their return.

Italy, Politics

The Italian regime puts out peace-feelers to the Allies. In reply, the Allies lay down the following conditions for an armistice: the handing over of the fleet; all Italian territories to be made available to the Allies for military operations; Allied prisoners in Italy to be freed and not be allowed to fall into German hands; and the disarming of all ground and air forces.

Mediterranean

• Italian human torpedoes hit 3 ships at Gibraltar.
• The US destroyer Buck (DD-420) sinks the Italian submarine Argento off Tunisia.

Sicily

In the north the US 1st Div continues its assault on Troina. In the British sector the 78th Div takes Centuripe, forcing the enemy nortwards over the Salso River. The Canadians capture Agira. During the night the British 5th Div, operating in the coastal sector south of Catania, carries out a series of attacks on the town.

Meanwhile the remaining Italian forces begin to evacuate the island, leaving the Germans to cover their withdrawal with rearguard actions.

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Solomons

The Americans continue to make progress against Munda airfield in New Georgia. Some units advance from the Bairoko sector to cut off the enemy's retreat towards the southern part of the island.

United States, Policy

150 US merchant ships are transferred to the British Merchant Navy.