Air Operations, Bismarcks
V Fighter Command P-40 fighter-bombers attack Gasmata. This is the first appearance of US Army Air Force fighters over New Britain.
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]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDEvening Ops:
- 628 aircraft are sent to Mannheim. Included in the total are 312 Lancasters, 193 Halifaxes, 115 Stirlings and 8 Mosquitos. 5 American B-17s also participate.
- The Pathfinder plan works well and concentrated bombing does fall on the intended area. The later stages of the raid, however, 'creeps back' across the northern edge of Ludwigshafen and out into open country.
- 18 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes and 7 Stirlings are lost.
- 21 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group carry out a diversioary raid on Darmstadt. The diversionary purpose of this raid is not successful because Darmstadt is too close to Mannheim and the German nightfighters could clearly see the main effort only 20 miles away. This small bombing force does a lot of damage to this university town which had not been bombed before.
- There are no losses.
- 6 Mosquitos are sent to Aachen and there are 28 OTU sorties.
- 1 Wellington is lost.
| ]Air Operations, New Guinea
V Bomber Command B-25s attack Japanese-held villages in the Markham Valley.
[ | ]Air Operations, Solomons
- 23 AirSols B-24s, more than 60 SBDs, 16 P-38s, and RNZAF P-40s attack the airfield at Kahili.
- 21 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Kolombangara.
- XIII Fighter Command P-39s attack barges.
- VMF-213 and VMF-214 F4Us down 9 A6M Zeros over the Shortlands and southern Bougainville at 0930 hours.
- 1 347th Fighter Group P-39 downs 1 A6M Zero over Kahili at 0930 hours.
| ]Britain, Home Front
Elinor Glyn, Anglo-Canadian author of 'scandalous' romances including 'Three Weeks', dies at age 78.
[ | ]Corsica
Free French forces occupy Bonifacio. They now control more than half of the island.
[ | ]Diplomatic Relations
The 'pocket' republic of San Marino declares war on Germany in retaliation for the capture and deportation of its 300-strong 'Army'.
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Eastern Front
The Soviets of Konev's Front take Poltava and to the north, between Bryansk and Gomel, they enter Unecha east of Klintsy.
CENTRAL SECTORFighting in the Smolensk sector intensifies as the Germans are pressed back around the city. Both the Kalinin and West Fronts approach from the north, east and south, hemming in the German 4th Army. Farther south, the 9th Army loses Unecha to the Bryansk Front.
SOUTHERN SECTORPoltava falls to the Steppe Front. At Veliki Bukrin there is heavy fighting as the 3rd Guards Tank and 27th Armies extend their bridgehead.
[ | ]Italy
The British X Corps begins formal attacks to clear the passes toward Naples as they move toward the Nocera-Pagani Pass and on the road between Salerno and San Severino. Although more than 3 divs are employed against little more that a regt, the terrain and tenacious German defense prevent very much progress. The attacks continue. The troops of Montgomery's 8th Army occupy Altamura and driver out the Germans.
5th Army launches an offensive north of Salerno.
[ | ]Italy, Politics
Mussolini proclaims the foundation of the 'Italian Social Republic', and he forms a new government with authority over the part of the peninsula occupied by the Germans. However, Italy has to yield Trieste, Istria and the Trentino-Alto Adige to direct administration by Germany.
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| ]Mediterranean
The destroyer Eclipse sinks a German torpedo boat and the prison ship Donizetti carrying 1,576 Italians, south of Rhodes.
[ | ]New Guinea
The Australian 20th Bde advances south toward Finschhafen taking an airfield and reaching the Bumi River where there is a powerful Japanese defense position.
[ | ]Pacific
A tanker convoy is destroyed by the US submarine Trigger off Formosa.
[ | ]Pics from September 23, 1943
'Polly Ann', a B-17F Lost in Air Collision |
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Arab German Soldiers 'Legion Freies Arabien', Greece, 23 September 1943 |
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Sturmgeschütz III, Russia, 23 September 1943 |
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A Sd.Kfz. 250/11 (Armored Half-Track) |
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