Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-25s attack villages, barges, and small craft in the Vitu Islands.

Air Operations, CBI

• 17 Japanese bombers and 25 fighters attack the airfield at Kweilin. Although 14th Air Force fighters are unable to intercept, the Japanese bombs miss their targets.

Air Operations, Europe

Frankfurt is bombed in round-the-clock attacks. Among the casualties are 529 dead.

• 406 aircraft are sent to Frankfurt. In this total are 162 Lancasters, 170 Halifaxes, 70 Stirlings and 4 Mosquitos. 3 American B-17s join in the raid.
• Clear weather and good Pathfinder marking produce the first serious blow on Frankfurt thus far in the war. There is extensive damage in the eastern part of the city and in the inland docks of the Main River. This is the last RAF night bombing raid in which American aircraft take part.
• 5 Halifaxes, 3 Lancasters and 2 Stirlings are lost as well as 1 of the American B-17s.
• 6 Lancasters carry out a diversionary raid on Ludwigshafen without lost but the marking and bombing are scattered.

• 12 Mosquitos are sent to the Knapsack power station, 1 Mosquito to Aachen, 5 Stirlings lay mines in the Gironde River and there are 8 OTU sorties. The Mosquito attacking Aachen carries out the first operational trial of the G-H blind bombing equipment, but the trial is not successful. There are no losses.

B-17F 'RUTHLESS' 547th BS 384th BG was lost on 04 OCT 1943, ditched in the North Sea, all crew were rescued.

B-17F 'RUTHLESS' 547th BS 384th BG

Air Operations, Solomons

• 23 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville.
• 4 AirSols F4Us and 4 P-39s are credited with destroying 16 barges in a sweep along Choiseul’s west coast.
• 1 VMF-214 F4U downs 3 A6M Zeros over Moila Point at 1330 hours. A XIII Fighter Command staff officer and 4 347th Fighter Group P-38s down 4 Zeros over Kahili between 1330 and 1340 hours.

Arctic

In Operation LEADER German shipping off the Norwegian coast near Bodo is attacked by aircraft from the US carrier Ranger operating with the British Home Fleet. 4 freighters are sunk and 7 badly damaged at little cost. The battleships Duke of York and Anson are in support.

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless

A Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless of U.S. Navy bombing squadron VB-4 during Operation LEADER, on 4 October 1943, flying from the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4). The objective of the force was the Norwegian port of Bodø. The task force reached launch position off Vestfjord before dawn 4 October completely undetected. At 0618, Ranger launched 20 Dauntless dive bombers and an escort of eight Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighters of VF-4. One division of dive bombers attacked the 8,000-ton freighter LaPlata, while the rest continued north to attack a small German convoy. They severely damaged a 10,000-ton tanker and a smaller troop transport. They also sank two of four small German merchantmen in the Bodø roadstead.

Home Fleet And US Ships In Norway Attack

Home Fleet And US ships In Norway Attack. October 1943, the Home Fleet, under the command of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, carried out an operation against enemy shipping in the Norwegian fiords in the Bodo Area, 70 miles south of the Lofoten Islands. In the force were US ships, including an aircraft carrier whose aircraft scored bomb hits on a cluster of large enemy supply vessels. USS Ranger and Tuscaloosa under way during Operation LEADER, an attack on German shipping in Norwegian fiords around Bodo.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Planes (VC-9) from the US carrier Card (CVE-11) sink the 'U-tanker' U-460 and U-422 and damage U-264 near the Azores. A passing convoy escapes attack.
• The German submarine U-336 is sunk by US naval land-based aircrafte (VB-128) in the North Atlantic area.

Britain, Command

Adm Sir Dudley Pound resigns his post as First Sea Lord because of ill health. So determined to be a capable, 'hands-on' leader, he had taken on too great a work load and his decision-making, such as that concerning Convoy PQ-17, suffered accordingly. He dies on October 21. His position is taken by Adm Sir Andrew Cunningham after Adm Sir Bruce Fraser has refused the job.

Corsica

The liberation of the island is completed when French Partisans, Moroccan Goums, American OSS agents and Italian forces enter Bastia.

Italy

Eisenhower and Alexander forecast that Allied troops will be able to enter Rome by the end of the month. So, having decided to transfer GHQ form Algiers to Naples, Eisenhower now decides to wait so that he can establish himself in Rome.

New Guniea

The Australian 7th Div and 21st Bde advancing northwest up the Huon Peninsula manage to capture Dumpu as they extend their advance into the Ramu valley from the Markham Valley. Japanese forces are now confined along the northern coastline of the peninsula.

Solomons

The Japanese complete the evacuation of Kolombangara. Despite the attention of American destroyers, 9,400 men of Gen Sasaki's garrison have been evacuated by Adm Ijuin's ships. A number of small boats have been lost, along with about 1,000 men.

Wake Island

Ths isolated Japanese outpost of Wake Island comes under a heavy naval and aerial bombardment from the large US Navy Task Force 14 commanded by Rear-Adm Alfred E. Montgomery. B-24 Liberator bombers drop more than 320 tons of bombs. Some 61 Japanese aircraft are destroyed, comprising 30 on the ground and 31 in aerial combat. US forces lose 13 aircraft.

At the end of September and beginning of October 1943, the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion was in a rest area near Znamianka, where it had time to maintain and repair vehicles and conduct training. This picture shows recovery training that was conducted on 4 October 1943.

Recovery Training in Progress

Tiger ‘332’ of 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion trying to make it’s way out of the mud.

Tiger in the Mud