Air Operations, Bismarcks
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, CBICHINA
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, EuropeRAF BOMBER COMMANDEvening Ops:
US 15th AIR FORCE ITALY:
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, MediterraneanA 57th Fighter Group P-40 downs 1 Do-24 rescue-and-reconnaissance flying boat at sea during the afternoon. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, Solomons
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, TunisiaThe 15th Air Force is activated at Tunis under the command of Maj-Gen James H. Doolittle. Headquarters, XII Bomber Command, is redesignated Headquarters, 15th Air Force, a move that effectively disbands the XII Bomber Command. Initially, the new air force consists of the 5th Heavy Bombardment Wing, composed of 4 B-17 groups (2nd, 97th, 99th and 301st) and 2 B-24 groups (98th and 376th); the 42nd Medium Bombardment Wing, composed of 3 B-26 groups (17th, 319th, and 320th); the 47th Medium Bombardment Wing, composed of 2 B-25 groups (310th and 321st); the new 306th Fighter Wing, composed of 3 P-38 groups (1st, 14th, and 82nd) and 1 P-40 group (325th); and the veteran but newly redesignated 68th Tactical Reconnaissance Group. [![]() ![]() ArcticThe first in a new series of Arctic convoys sails from the Kola Inlet to Loch Ewe and arrives without loss on November 14. Of the next 3 convoys only 1 is attacked and the only damage is to an attacking U-boat. These operations are completed by December 9. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Battle of the AtlanticThe German submarine U-405 and the American destroyer Borie (DD-215) fight an epic duel in the eastern Atlantic. They collide and hand-to-hand fighting ensues. Both sink, the U-boat this day and the destroyer on the 2nd.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Eastern FrontThe Soviets take Perekop and advance to Armyansk at the base of the peninsula, thus isolating the Crimea. Von Manstein's forces around Krivoy Rog begin a series of counterattacks which temporarily hold the Soviet advance. Berlin claims 'great successes'. Part of the Soviet 56th Army is landed in the Crimea east of Kerch near Enikale and also at Eltigen. During the next week 18th Army reinforcements are landed, but German light naval craft establish a blockade and sink 206 Russian craft. SOUTHERN SECTORNovember begins with fierce attacks upon the 4th Panzer Army as the 38th Army tries to break into Kiev. In addition the 40th and 27th Armies begin new attacks at Veliki Bukrin aimed at diverting German attention from the main offensive which is about to unfold to the north. In the Dniepr elbow, the XL Panzer Corps counterattacks around Krivoi Rog in an effort to force back the 2nd Ukrainian Front. The 4th Ukrainian Front launches strong attacks into the Crimea, heavy fighting erupting around Perekop and Armyansk as XLIX Mountain Corps tries to halt the 51st Army. The 51st carries out an assault crossing of the Zivash to land behind the Perekop line. A small foothold is gained which the XLIX only manages to contain by swiftly transferring and infantry and flak division from the Perekop isthmus. To the east the 56th Army crosses the Kerch strait and lands around Kerch itself, becoming embroiled in heavy fighting with the V Corps. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ItalyField-Marshal Kesselring, Commander-in-Chief of the German forces in southern Italy, issues a 'directive for the conduct of the campaign', in which he lays down that Gen Heinrich von Vietinghoff's 10th Army can disregard the danger of Allies combined operations on the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts, but should concentrate all its efforts on the defense of the 'Bernhard' line to gain time and fortify the 'Gustav' line even more. The British X Corps continues its attacks against the German line between Monte Massico and Monte Santa Croce. Roccamonfina is taken by 56th Div in these attacks and units of the American 34th Div reach Capriati on the Volturno. The fighting along the Trigno in 8th Army's sector continues. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() SolomonsIn Operation CHERRY BLOSSOM, after a forceful air and naval preparation the US landings on Bougainville begin at 7:30a.m. The island is defended by Gen Haruyoshi Hyakutake's 17th Army with about 40,000 men and 20,000 naval personnel. Most are concentrated in the south of the island where the Japanese airfields are and where the sea conditions favor a landing. The Americans choose instead to land in Empress Augusta Bay at Cape Tarokina on the central southern coast. The landing force is Gen Allen H. Turnage's 3rd Marine Div, transported by Adm Theodore S. Wilkinson's Task Force 31. The local Japanese garrison is only 200 men and is quickly overcome. Offshore a marine battalion lands on Puruata Island and takes it after a fight. By the end of the day 14,000 men are ashore along with about 6,000 tons of materials. Wilkinson sends off his transport ships and has 4 minesweepers lay a minefield off the coast covering the beachhead. Adm Aaron S. Merrill's Task Force 39, with 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers, is in support and also shells Buka Island. Adm Frederick C. Sherman has the carriers Saratoga (CV-3) and Princeton (CVL-23) of Task Force 38 to the west and they add air attacks against Buka Island, northwest of Bougainville, and the airfields at Buna. Although many of their aircraft are unserviceable the Japanese manage to concentrate a considerable number of planes against the landing force, and damage a destroyer and several American transports. Of their 104 fighters and 16 bombers available, they lose about 100 of those planes. After thier mostly unsuccessful air attacks on the landings the Japanese send Adm Sentaro Omori from Rabaul with 4 cruisers and 6 destroyers to make attacks. Vandegrift has chosen the landing point skilfully, foreseeing that Hyakutake would concentrate his forces near the airfields. And the difficult nature of the terrain means that the Japanese will take a long time to bring up reinforcements to Cape Torokina. A small contingent of Raiders lands on the small islet of Puruata, less than about half a mile from the Cape Torokina beachhead, and there meets with savage resistance from a platoon of Japanese. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() United States, Home FrontPres Roosevelt orders Harold Ickes and his Solid Fuels Administration to take over the running of the country's coal mines. There are 530,000 men out on strike. There have been a number of disputes throughout October but from October 28 the strike gains momentum. The problem is resolved, for the moment, on November 3. Roosevelt urges Congress to continue food subsidies to encourage production and as a measure against inflation. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Scenes from November 1, 1943
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[October 31st - November 2nd] |