Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail yards at Naba.
- 7 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Htawgaw.
- The 311th Fighter-Bomber Group’s 530th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, in P-51As, mounts its first combat sorties along the Hump ferry route from the airfield at Kurmitola, but there are no contacts.
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]Air Operations, East Indies
6 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Ternate Island in the Molucca Islands—a 2,200-mile round trip.
[ | ]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDEvening Ops:
- 8 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 2 to Aachen, 2 to Hamborn, 54 Stirlings and Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians and off the Biscay ports and there are 16 OTU sorties.
- There are no losses.
ITALY:
NATAF aircraft, especially A-20s and B-25s, attack numerous rail, road and tactical targets.
[ | ]Air Operations, New Guinea
- 7 V Bomber Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfield at Boram and Wewak at low level.
- 18 B-25s and 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Sattelberg.
- Japanese aircraft on their way to attack shipping in Oro Bay are intercepted by 40 475th Fighter Group P-38s and 18 Japanese aircraft attacking Finschhafen are intercepted by 4 35th Fighter Group P-39s. 49th and 475th Fighter group P-38s down 24 A6M Zeros, 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter, and 1 Ki-61 'Tony' fighter over Buna and Cape Ward Hunt between 1015 and 1040 hours. 35th Fighter Group P-39s down 5 Ki-48s and 1 Ki-43 'Lily' bomber off Finschhafwen at 1100 hours.
| ]Air Operations, Solomons
- The sustained aerial offensive against Japanese bases in the Bougainville area opens with an attack by Marine Corps SBDs and TBFs against the Kahili airfield on Bougainville. 6 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 21 Marine Corps F4Us, sweep the airfield at Ballale.
- When the F4Us are engaged over the airfield at Ballale by as many as 40 A6M Zeros at 1650 hours, 14 of the Zeros are downed. 1 F4U is lost in an operational accident.
| ]Battle of the Atlantic
- U-540 is found on the surface by Liberators 'D' of No 58 Squadron and 'H' of No 120 Squadron. The depth charges of the Liberator 'D' in its first attack overshot the U-boat. In the second attack the depth charges straddle the U-boat, but the attack by Liberator 'H' finishes the U-boat.
- The British corvette Sunflower is escorting Convoy ON-206 when she detects U-631 on her asdic. She makes two attacks in foul weather, but a large oil slick is subsequently observed.
- U-841 is surprised by an aircraft while shadowing Convoy ON-206. She dives but has sustained damage with water leaking through a torpedo tube. She is then spotted by British destroyer escort Byard and is attacked by the British ship increasing the damage. The U-boat surfaces and is scuttled as the crew wave a white flag.
[U-841
Class Type IXC/40 CO Kapitänleutnant Werner Bender Location N Atlantic, E of Cape Farewell Cause Depth charge Casualties 26 Survivors 27 | ]
CBI
Col Lewis A. Pick arrives in-theater to take charge of the construction of he Ledo Road. Beginning in Ledo, India, it is intended to link with the original Burma Road. Pick will follow as best as possible an old caravan route through northern Burma. The 849th and the 1883rd Aviation Engineer Battalions and the 382nd Consruction Battalion will play a large role in the construction. These all-black units, along with the all-white 330th Engineer General service Regiment and the 209th Engineer Battalion, will do a large share of this enormous undertaking. Black Americans make up 60 percent of the 15,000 men assigned to this mission.
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Eastern Front
The Soviets break the German line around Kremenchug and push forward toward Krivoy Rog. The objective is still to cut off the Crimea. Troops of the Central Front under Rokossovsky cross the Dniepr south of Gomel and take Loyev.
CENTRAL SECTOR
Fighting flares up around Vitebsk as the 43rd Army drives a deep salient in the junction of IX and LIII Corps. The LIII Corps, recently moved to reinforce this sector, fights around the town. On the southern flank of Army Group Center the Central Front crosses the Dniepr near Loyev and gains a significant bridgehead.
SOUTHERN SECTOR
Inconclusive fighting continues at Veliki Bukrin as the Stavka considers calling off the attack. With the Lyutezh bridgehead now established to the north, the Soviets will be able to turn the northern wing of Army Group South, but it will take time to redeploy forces into this sector. Farther south the 8th Army and 1st Panzer Army are forced back as the Steppe and Southwest Fronts exploit the hole blown in the German line. Forward elements of the Steppe Front push toward Krivoi Rog.
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German Raiders
The last operational German auxiliary cruiser, Michel, is sunk by the US submarine Tarpon (SS-175) off Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands. Michel has sunk 17 ships during its cruise. It is the last of the 10 armed merchantmen which the German navy employed during the war. Beginning in February 1940, when the first one put to sea, they were a scourge to Allied merchant vessels. Each was equipped with 6 to 8 powerful guns and torpedo tubes. Some even had 1 or 2 of their own reconnaissance planes. Raiders only attacked ships operating alone. With the exception of 1 raider captain, Helmuth von Ruckteschell who was later tried as a war criminial, the officers commanding these ships always operated within the rules of warfare and international law. In all, the raiders accounted for a total of 133 ships of 830,000 tons.
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Italy
Units of the American 3rd Div take Liberi and Alvignano. Elements of the American 34th Div occupy Alvignano.
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Mediterranean
The British submarine Trooper is presumed lost on a patrol east of Leros probably due to mining. She had departed Beirut 26 September and due back this date. The entire crew of 63 is lost.
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Norway
Allied destroyers land Norwegian troops on Spitzbergen.
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Pacific
- There is an exchange of Japanese and Allied civilian internees aboard the liners Teia Maru and Gripsholm at Marmagao, Portuguese India.
- The US submarine Tarpon (SS-175) sinks the German auxiliary cruiser Michel off Chichi Jima, Bonins.
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Scenes from October 17, 1943
Another Tank Crossing the Volturno
Wrecked Japanese Barges at Scarlet Beach
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