Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-24s attack Cape Gloucester and a freighter near Talasea.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 8 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack warehouses and rail facilities at Chiuchiang.

Air Operations, Europe

• 26 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and off Brest and there are 21 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 22nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s, 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s, and RAAF bombers attack Finschhafen and Tami Island while B-25s attack Bogadjim and Langgoer.
• 6 Ki-21 'Sally' bombers attack Allied ships assembling in Huon Gulf for the impending Finschafen invasion. No hits are scored as P-40s from the 49th Fighter Group’s 8th Fighter Squadron down 4 of the 'Sallys' and 6 fighters between 1735 and 1745 hours.
• 2 Australian Army infantry brigades are airlifted from the airfield at Nadzab to the airfield at Kaiapit, from which they begin a pursuit of Japanese ground forces fleeing up the Markham Valley toward Dumpu.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 1 XIII Fighter Command P-38 downs 2 G4M 'Bettys' over Guadalcanal between 0400 and 0402 hours.
• More than 20 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield at Buka.

Atlantic

The Tirpitz is disabled by 'X-Craft', British midget submarines, in Alta Fjord in northern Norway.

Britain, Home Front

Churchill describes the Salerno landings as 'the most daring amphibious operation we have yet undertaken.'

Corsica and Sardinia

The Germans complete their evacuation of Sardinia and move to Corsica.

Eastern Front

The Soviets take Demidov, north of Smolensk. Troops from Rokossovsky's Central Front take Chernigov, between Gomel and Kiev which was completely destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1941, and Sinelnikovo, a little to the east of Dnepropetrovsk, is also captured.

The 43rd Army of the Kalinin Front captures Demidov. The 60th Army of the Central Front enters Chernigov, destroying the defending Germans in a bitter 3-day battle.

Leading elements of the 3rd Guards Tank Army reaches the Dniepr opposite Kanev. Farther south, the 1st Panzer Army is pushed back to the Dnepropetrovsk bridgehead. Sinelnikovo falls to the Southwest Front.

Italy

Gen Alexander draws up his plan for future operations. There will be four phases: first, consolidation of the positions on the Salerno-Bari line; second, capture of Naples and Foggia; third, capture of Rome; and fourth, possible attacks on Florence and Arezzo.

5th Army wheels to the left as 8th Army moves to the east side of the country. The Germans are falling back everywhere except in the vital passes leading to Naples.

New Guinea

An Australian brigade sails from Lae to occupy Finschhafen and a second moves from Lae toward Langemak Bay. 2 other brigades are air-lifted from Nazdab to Kaiapit to follow up the Japanese garrison from Lae, which is withdrawing along the valley of the Markham River.

Pacific

In Operation JAYWICK Australian commandos enter Singapore harbor in canoes and sink 2 Japanese transports.

Solomons

On Arundel Island the Americans discover that the Japanese, having lost 600 men defending it, have abandoned it as well as Sagekarasa and the other neighboring islets. The Japanese troops are leaving the Central Solomons and concentrating in the southern islands.

Pics from September 21, 1943

B-17F-100-BO 'Spot Remover', serial number 42-30246, of the 570th Bomb Squadron made an emergency landing in the September 21, 1943 at the airport Framlingham, Suffolk, England. In the future, the aircraft was restored and crashed February 20, 1944 near the town of Tirstrup, Denmark.

B-17F-100-BO 'Spot Remover'

Italian Soldiers Taken Prisoner by the Germans in Corfu, September 1943