Air Operations, Bismarcks

More than 100 V Bomber Command B-24s and B-25s attack Cape Gloucester and Gasmata while other B-24s attack ships off Kavieng.

Air Operations, CBI

• 16 14th Air Force P-40s attack troop-laden boats on Tungting Lake as other P-40s attack Yangtze River traffic.

Air Operations, Europe

• 764 planes are sent to Berlin which include 469 Lancasters, 234 Halifaxes, 50 Stirlings and 11 Mosquitoes. 68 aircraft abort their missions.
• The time over the target is 19:58-20:20. 2,501 tons of bombs are dropped

  1,153 tons of high explosives and 1,348 tons of incendiaries. The target area is again covered with clouds. The main force, however, does will bombing on the Pathfinder markers. This raid is the first real success in the Battle of Berlin by the RAF. It is an all out effort by Harris in sending every possible aircraft by the shortest possible route with maximum bomb loads. The bad weather keeps most of the German fighters on the ground and the bombers are able to take a 'straight in, straight out' route to the target.

• The bombing is concentrated into a 4-mile swath covering the districts of Mitte, Tiergarten and the eastern part of Charlottenburg or basically the center and west-central part of the city. Many public buildings and a mass of streets containing 4-6 story apartment buildings are destroyed. Interesting entries among the lists of buildings destroyed or severely damaged are: the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church which is now, half ruined, half restored, a major attraction in West Berlin), the Charlottenburg Castle, the Berlin Zoo, much of the Unter den Linden, the British, French, Italian and Japanese embassies, the Ministry of Weapons and Munitions, the Waffen SS Administrative College, the barracks of the Imperial Guard at Spandau and, among many industrial premises, 5 factories of the Siemens electrical group and the Alkett tank works which had recently moved from the Ruhr. A total of 2,791 individual buildings are listed as destroyed, 2,835 as seriously damaged and a about 23,000 more slightly damaged. 1,737 people are killed, 6,923 are injured and about 180,000 have been left homeless. Because of the dry weather conditions, several 'firestorm' areas are reported and a German plane next day measures the height of the smoke cloud as nearly 19,000 ft.
• 26 bombers are missing - 11 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes and 5 Stirlings. 6 more are lost in crashes and accidents returning to England. Aircrew casualties include 167 killed and 25 POWs.

• 12 Mosquitos are sent to Leverkusen, 14 Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians and off Texel and there are 12 OTU sorties.

Air Operations, Marshalls

• 11 VII Bomber Command B-24s based at Canton Island attack the Mille Atoll.
• Task Group 50.1 carrier aircraft also attack the Mille Atoll.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

Stukas attack Tigani on Samos.

Air Operations, New Guinea

22 V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack Japanese Army ground troops around Sattelberg.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 5 US Navy PB4Ys, 8 AirSols P-38s, and 8 AirSols F4Us attack the airfield at Buka.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack barges and shore targets at Chabai.

Allied Planning

The first Cairo Conference opens attended by Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek. The discussions center on plans for Burma and China but no major decisions are reached. It is also agreed that B-29s would be based in the CBI theater for strikes against Japan proper. Churchill and the British are again turned down in their arguments to launch a large-scale military operation in the Balkans. Equally there is no attempt, as the British want, to prepare a joint approach for the coming Teheran talks with Stalin.

Eastern Front

The Soviet Belorussian Front opens a fresh offensive against the German 9th Army at Propaisk.

The Belorussian Front begins another attack aimed at the German 9th Army around Propaisk. Fighting is bitter as the Soviets attempt to break free of the Pripet Marshes and gain a foothold to the north.

Gilbert Islands

Another day of furious fighting on Betio Island, in the Tarawa Atoll. Aircraft, naval guns and artillery hammer the Japanese pillboxes, and they fall one after another, but not until all the men in them are dead, after blowing themselves up with hand-grenades held against their chests rather that be taken prisoner. The word 'surrender' does not exist in the army of the Rising Sun, and Japanese propaganda has often told of the torture inflicted by the Americans on their prisoners.

There is now no question of the outcome ot the battle on Tarawa although the Japanese are fighting fiercely for every inch of groung. During the night there are fanatical counterattacks by the Japanese at the east end of the island but they achieve nothing.

The only fortified strongpoint on the islet of Bairiki is destroyed by aircraft action. In the evening the attacking forces are reinforced, and there appears to be a slight dimunition in the strength of the Japanese fire. In fact, the defenders are running out of ammunition, and Rear-Adm Keiji Shibasaki is cut off in a heavily fortified redoubt of reinforced concrete and unable to communicate with the rest of his garrison.

The American advance on Makin continues and by nightfall almost all of Butaritari has been taken. During the night the last remaining Japanese units, who have been withdrawn from the eastern end of the island, launch a counter-attack. They are virtually wiped out.

There are US landings on Abimama, another atoll in the Gilbert Islands.

Italy

The British forces have now won a fairly substantial bridgehead north of the Sangro about 5 miles wide and nearly 2000 yards deep. 5 battalions of the British 78th Div are now in the bridgehead. It is very difficult to bridge or cross the river in its present state and supplies and other help to the north bank are tenuous indeed.

Lebanon

The president of Lebanon and his ministers are released after the French decide to discuss the question of Lebanese independence.

Mediterranean

The British minesweeper Hebe sinks on a mine off Bari, Italy, with the loss of 36 crew members. 72 of the crew are rescued.

New Guinea

The Australian 9th Div is still engaged in the operation for the capture of the Japanese strongpoint os Sattelberg, north of Finschhafen.

Pacific

The Japanes submarine I-35 is sunk by US destroyers Meade (DD-602) and Frazier (DD-607) in the Gilbert Islands area.

Scenes from November 22, 1943

Avro Lancaster D for Donald or No. 49 Squadron returns to RAF Fiskerton after bombing Berlin, 22 November 1943.

Lancaster After Bombing Berlin

Gunners of 78th Field Regiment Royal Artillery queuing at a NAAFI refreshment van, 22 November 1943.

Artillery Soldiers at Refreshment Van

Hotel Kaiserhof was a luxury hotel in Wilhelmplatz, Berlin, Germany. It opened in October 1875. On 22 November 1943 the hotel was destroyed during a raid on Berlin; the ruins were completely demolished.

Hotel Kaiserhof Destroyed during Raid on Berlin

Cairo Conference November 22-26, 1943

A Sherman tank makes its way along the main street in Torino Di Sangro, passing mules of the 8th Indian Division, 22 November 1943.

Sherman Tank in Torino Di Sangro

Tarawa–22 November, 1943-Marines of 1stLt Alexander Bonnyman's assault group on top of the large Japanese bombproof shelter near the Burns-Philp wharf. (USMC Photo)

Marines on top of Japanese Bomb Shelter