Air Operations, Bismarcks49th Fighter Group P-38s down 2 A6M Zeros over Gasmata at 1000 hours. [ | ]Air Operations, East Indies6 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Boela, Ceram. [ | ]Air Operations, New Guinea
Air Operations, Solomons
Eastern FrontSOUTHERN SECTORAround Veliki Bukrin the Voronezh Front launches a new assault with the 27th, 40th and 3rd Guards Tank Armies, but meet fierce resistance from the XLVIII Panzer Corps. The German defenses are very thin but hold the Soviets solidly. Fighting is intense as the Germans try to wear down the Soviet attack on its start lines. The LVII Panzer Corps comes under sustained attack southeast of Kremenchug and breaks apart, the 5th Guards Army smashing the German forward positions. With the forward German defenses crushed, the Soviets introduce their armor, the 5th Guards Tank Army pouring into the rear of the 1st Panzer. The Soviet air armies provide crucial support, the 5th Air Army smashing German ground forces as the armies advance. [ | ]ItalyThe battle on the Volturno goes on. The American 5th Army continues to advance, especially on their right. The British 56th Div crosses the river east of its previous position and also pushes forward joining up with other 5th Army units which are trying to advance on to the ridge that divides them from the Rapido and Garigliano Rivers. North of the Volturno Gen Hans Hube's German XIV Pzr Corps has established 3 fortified defensive lines: the so-called 'Barbara' line which goes from Monte Massico to the Matese hills by way of Teano and Presenzano: the 'Bernhard' ('Reinhard') line, much longer and stronger, consisting of a broad strip of fortified strongholds, from the mouth of the Garigliano to Castel di Sangro, relying on the natural defenses of the mountains, Difensa, Maggiore and Camino in the area between Presenzano and Sant' Ambrogio, and Monte Sammucro west of Venafro; and lastly, further north, the 'Gustav' line, the most solid of the 3 defensive lines, which follows the Garigliano and Rapido Rivers and takes in the natural fortification provided by Monte Cassino, then turning north through Roccaraso and Casoli to finish on the Adriatic coast south of San Vito. Behind these lines stands Gen von Vietinghoff's 10th Army, with Gen Hube's XIV Pzr Corps to the south and Gen Trangott Herr's LXXI Pzr Corps to the north. After crossing the Volturno the American 3rd Div takes Cisterna. In the 8th Army sector 1st Canadian Div takes Vinchiaturo and Campobasso. [ | ]New GunieaThe Japanese mount an air attack on Allied positions in Oro Bay. The attacking aircraft take heavy losses. The attack is repeated on October 17 with the same results. [ | ]Pacific
Southeast Asia, CommandThe British Gen Sir Henry Pownall is appointed Chief of Staff to Adm Mountbatten at SEAC. Gen Albert C. Wedemeyer, an American, is to be his deputy Chief of Staff. Scenes from October 15, 1943
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[October 14th - October 16th] |