Air Operations, Bismarcks
- 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Gasmata.
- 1 V Bomber Command B-24 sinks a patrol boat between Cape Hoskins and Rabaul.
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]Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- In their unit’s combat debut, 3 311th Fighter Group A-36s are lost while patrolling the Hump ferry route near Sumprabum.
| ]Air Operations, Europe
The Luftwaffe flies many hundreds of sorties against the Dnieper bridgeheads.
RAF BOMBER COMMANDEvening Ops:
- 9 Mosquitos are sent to Dortmund and there are 11 OTU sorties. There are no losses. One of the Mosquitos is carrying out a G-H trial, but its equipment fails and it has to bomb by dead reckoning.
GREECE:
12th Air Force P-38 fighter-bombers attack ships at sea off the west coast of Greece.
ITALY:- XII Bomber Command B-25s attack rail lines, a rail tunnel, marshalling yards, a highway underpass, a gas works, and industrial buildings in and around Bologna.
- NATAF aircraft attack a large number of communications and transportation targets, troop concentrations, road traffic, and a landing ground from the battle area north to around the city of Rome.
| ]Air Operations, New Guinea
- More than 60 V Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfield at Wewak, Alexishafen, and numerous coastal targets.
- 8th Fighter Group P-38s down 4 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters and 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over the airfield at Boram Airdrome at 1100 hours. 348th Fighter Group P-47s down 10 A6M Zeros and 2 'Tonys' over Alexishafen and Madang at 1100 hours and 1 Zero over Wewak at 1125 hours. A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Zero over Madang at 1400 hours.
| ]Air Operations, Solomons
3 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Kara airfield on Bougainville. 6 B-25s attack the airfield at Ballale.
[ | ]Battle of the Atlantic
- U-470 is shadowing Convoy ON-206 when she is attacked by Sunderland 'S' of No 422 Squadron RCAF. The U-boat manages to shoot the aircraft down. She is then attacked by 2 more aircraft, Liberators 'E' of 'Z' of No 120 Squadron. Both aircraft deliver one attack when joined by Liberator 'C' of 59 Squadron which attacks twice resulting in the U-boat being blown out of the water.
- U-844 in the vicinity of Convoy ONS-206 is attacked by Liberator 'S' of No 59 Squadron. Through heavy flak and the aircraft drops four depth charges around the U-boat. As the explosions subsided the U-boat begins to dive and the aircraft drops another four depth charges ahead of the swirl. [
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| ]China
Adm Lord Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander for Southeast Asia, arrives in Chungking, the provisional capital of Nationalist China, for a conference with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
[ | ]Eastern Front
There is fierce fighting in Melitopol.
SOUTHERN SECTORBloody fighting continues at Veliki Bukrin as the XLVIII Panzer Corps fends off repeated Soviet attacks. The German line around Kremenchug also collapses, enabling the Steppe Front to push southwest toward Krivoi Rog.
[ | ]Indian Ocean
U-533 is moving into the Gulf of Oman to operate against tanker traffic when she is attacked by a Bisley aircraft of No 244 Squadron RAF. The submarine is taken completely by surprise and sunk with four depth charges.
| Class | Type IXC/40 |
| CO | Kapitänleutnant Helmut Hennig |
| Location | Indian Ocean, Gulf of Oman |
| Cause | Air attack |
| Casualties | 52 |
| Survivors | 2 |
| ]Italy
In the 5th Army sector the Germans begin to make a fighting withdrawal to the 'Barbara' line according to the schedule that Kesselring has ordered.
[ | ]New Guinea
A captured enemy document has enabled the Australian 9th Div to take the necessary step to repulse a series of fierce counterattacks launched by the Japanese from their strongpoint of Sattelberg, which overlooks Finschafen.
[ | ]Occupied Yugoslavia
The sixth German offensive against Tito's Partisans commences in Bosnia. It will end inconclusively in mid-January 1944.
[ | ]Pacific
The Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No. 31 is sunk by US Army aircraft off New Britain.
[ | ]Persian Gulf
U-533 is sunk by patrolling aircraft from RAF 255 Squadron.
[]United States, Command
Gen Lewis H. Brereton takes command of the US 9th Air orce in the UK.
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Scenes from October 16, 1943
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