Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 62 3rd Light and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s, escorted by 54 V Fighter Command P-38s, attack three airfields in the Rabaul area, where they destroy an estimated 45 aircraft on the ground. 3 B-25s are lost and 2 crash-land on Kiriwina.
• 8th, 49th, and 475th Fighter group P-38s down 40 Japanese fighters over the Rabaul area between 1100 and 1210 hours.
• During the night, VP-101 Black Cat PBYs sink the Japanese destroyer Mochizuki in Rabaul Harbor.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Htawgaw while on a resupply mission on the Hump ferry route.

• 14 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 13 P-40s attack the barracks at Co Bi.

Air Operations, Europe

• 13 Mosquitos are sent to 5 targets in the Ruhr area and 6 are sent to Emden, 30 Stirlings and Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians and off Texel.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s mount a light attacks against Manokwari.
• 3rd Light Bombt Group A-20s attack defenses in the Lae area.

Air Operations, Solomons

9 XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 13 AirSols fighters attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville. 47 AirSols SBDs, 22 TBFs, and 28 AirSols fighters attack antiaircraft batteries in the area of the Kahili airfield. In another attack on Kahili, 36 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 39 AirSols fighters attack the runway and revetments. There are no Allied losses.

Atlantic

32 German MTBs make an unsuccessful attack on a convoy off Cromer. 2 MTBs are lost.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US submarine Dorado (SS-248) is reported as presumed lost in the Atlantic Ocean area.

Eastern Front

The 5th Guards Tank Army breaks through to Krivoi Rog as the 37th Army moves to support, only to be held back by the 11th Panzer Division. A German counterattack forces the 5th Guards Tank to pull back its forward units.

On the Nogaisk Steppe the XLIV Corps, having been evacuated from the Taman and deployed on the extreme southern wing of the 6th Army, is struck by the 2nd Guards Army and almost overrun. However, the Germans hastily reorganize their units and counterattack, halting the Soviet advance.

Italy

The US 34th Div takes Sant'Angelo. This is one of the few successful actions in this phase of the battle. The Germans continue to slow down the Allies' progress.

Mediterranean

The British destroyer Eclipse sinks on a mine in the Aegean Sea with the loss of 260 on board. 109 of the men on board are rescued by various ships in the area.

Pacific

The Japanese destroyer Mochizuki is sunk by US naval land-based aircraft east of New Britain.

Scenes from October 24, 1943

Priests inside the ruined church at Benevento, northeast of Naples, October 24, 1943.

Destroyed Church in Benevento

Vunakanau Airfield ravetment with JAAF aircraft including Ki-43 Oscars and Ki-45 Nick. (Credit: USAAF, 5th AF, 345th BG, 498th BS Date: October 24, 1943)

Vunakanau Airfield with Japanese Aircraft

On 24th October 1943, Australian commando Leonard Siffleet was beheaded on Aitape Beach in Papua New Guinea, along with two Ambonese, H. Pattiwal and M. Reharing. This photograph, of Japanese soldier Yasuno Chikao just before he struck, was taken from the body of a Japanese casualty later in the war.

Australian Commando Beheaded