Air Operations, CBI

• 13 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack building and fuel dumps at Owchihkow and Shihshow, and 23rd Fighter Group P-40 escorts attack gun emplacements near Shihshow.
• 10 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s and 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack targets of opportunity between Sinti and Yoyang, and Yoyang and Sienning; and 4 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack a convoy in Hong Kong harbor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 660 bombers are sent to hit the twin towns of Monchengladbach and Rheydt. Included in this total are 297 Lancasters, 185 Halifaxes, 105 Stirlings, 57 Wellingtons and 14 Mosquitos.
• The visibility is good and the Oboe-assisted marking of both targets is what Bomber Command describes as 'a model' of good Pathfinder marking. The bombing is very concentrated with little 'creepback'.
• 25 bombers are lost.
• There is a minor raid to St Omer. This is the first of a series of small raids in which OTU crews bomb ammunition dumps located in various forests of northern France. A handful of Pathfinder aircraft mark each target and one of the purposes of the raids is to accustom OTU crews to bombing on markers before being posted to front-line squadrons. This raid is carried out by 33 OTU Wellingtons, with the Pathfinders providing 6 Oboe Mosquitos and 6 Halifaxes. The target is a dump in the Forêt d'Eperlecques, just north of St Omer. The bombing is successful and a large explosion was seen.
• 2 Wellingtons are lost.

• 12 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg and 9 Stirlings lay mines in the Frisians.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

Inspecting Hercules Engines

• 33 323rd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack an ammo dump at Eperlecques with nearly 49 tons of bombs about 1800 hours.
• 14 B-26s are damaged; 3 crewmen are wounded

• NASAF B-26s, escorted by 44 1st Fighter Group P-38s, attack marshalling yards at Aversa about noon. Upon crossing the Italian coast, an estimated 75 Axis fighter attack the bomber formation which are immediately engaged by the fighter escorts. With a determined effort no Axis fighter get through to the bombers and 8 Luftwaffe fighters and an Mc-202 are downed.
• 13 P-38s and their pilots are lost
• NASAF B-26s attack the Viterbo Airdrome.
• NASAF B-25s attack marshalling yards at Civitavecchia.
• NATAF A-20s and B-25s attack marshalling yards at Marina di Catanzaro and Paola, and gun emplacements and troop bivouacs near Reggio di Calabria.
• NATAF A-36s attack Pellaro and marshalling yards at Lamezia and Sapri.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack But, Dagua, and Tadji while B-25s mount sweeps along the northwestern coast.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack barges in the Bubui River.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NAAF P-40s strafe the radar station at Pula.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 27 XIII Bomber Command B-24s and more than 40 AirSols P-39s, P-40s, and F4Us attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville, where 1 B-24 is lost.
• XIII Fighter Command P-39s and P-40s down 5 A6M Zeros between Kahili and Vella Lavella between 1600 and 1630 hours.
• Marine Corps F4Us down 14 Zeros between Vella Lavella and southern Bougainville between 1630 and 1715 hours. 6 AirSols fighters are lost in the action.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-634 is sunk in a depth charge attack by British sloop Stork and the corvette Stonecrop.

U-634

Germany, Planning

Gen Keitel issues instructions for the occupation of Italy when the time comes. 'The most important task', he declares, 'will be to disarm the Italian army as quickly as possible . . . The pacification of North Italy will be carried out through the Fascist organization.'

Diplomatic Relations

The period laid down at the Lisbon talks for the acceptance by Italy of unconditional surrender is about to expire, but the Italian government has not yet come to a decision. Gen Castellano is summoned to Sicily by the Allies through the British ambassador to the Vatican, D'Arcy Osborne.

Eastern Front

Stalin, in a special Order of the Day, announces two major successes. The West Front under Sokolovsky has taken Yelnya, on the approach to Smolensk. In the south Tolbukhin's armies take Taganrog on the Sea of Azov.

The Russian advance following the counteroffensives in the Kursk salient has been spectacular, particularly in the southern sector of the front. The Germans now face the prospect of having to evacuate their forces from a great part of the Ukraine.

The 10th Guards Army and elements of the 5th Army enters Yelnya as the IX Corps of the 4th Army is pushed back.

Taganrog falls to the 44th Army as the South Front pounds the XXIX Corps. The Germans manage to break out of the city and fall back to the west, linking up with the battered remnants of the 6th Army.

Pacific

The US submarine Halibut (SS-232) sinks the Japanese cargo ship Taiban Maru (6531t).