Air Operations, Bismarcks
- V Bomber Command B-24s attack Cape Gloucester.
- 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 7 G4M 'Betty' bombers, 1 Ki-61 'Tony' fighter, and 1 A6M Zero over the Arawe and Cape Gloucester areas between 1355 and 1400 hours. 348th Fighter Group P-47s down 1 B5N 'Kate' torpedo bomber and 5 Zeros near Arawe between 1645 and 1700 hours.
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]Air Operations, CBI
CHINA- 9 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 11 14th Air Force P-40s attack Owchihkow. 4 B-25s on an anti-shipping sweep attack a freighter and the port area at Tunguan. 15 P-40s strafe the airfield at Pailochi. 11 P-40s attack small craft near Nanhsien. 6 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s strafe a troop train near Changanyi and small craft on the Yangtze River.
| ]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDBattle of Berlin
Evening Ops:
- 483 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitoes are sent to Berlin. 30 planes abort. The time over the target is 19:58-20:12. About 1,773 tons of bombs are dropped which include 925 tons of high explosives and 848 tons of incendiaries.
- The worst damage from the Berlin raid occurs inside a rectangle 4 miles long and one half mile wide in the south central area of the city. 720 people are killed or missing of which only 438 are Germans. The remainder are foreign forced workers. The total aircrew casualties in the bad weather landings in England are 127 killed and 34 injured. This is the worst day for landing casualties for Bomber Command in the war and becomes known as 'Black Thursday'.
- 25 Lancasters are lost in the raid, but 34 more are wrecked in collisions or crashes or abandoned by their crews in bad weather over England. Aircrew casualties from all incidents include 294 killed, 14 POWs and 7 interned in Sweden.
- 91 aircraft are sent on mine-laying missions with no aircraft being lost.
GERMANY:
- 392 VIII Bomber Command B-17s, 133 B-24s, and 2 pathfinder B-17s attack the Bremen port area.
- 8 B-17s are lost
- Bomber escort is provided by 131 P-47s, 31 P-38s, and 39 P-51s. 1 Bf-109 and 1 Ju-88 are downed by the escorts.
ITALY:
- XII Air Support Command A-20s attack gun emplacements.
- XII Air Support Command A-36s and P-40s attack gun batteries, gun emplacements, troop concentrations, and strongpoings in direct support of the US 5th and British 8th Armies.
- XII Air Support Command A-36s and P-40s bomb the port area at Civitavecchia and a town.
- XII Air Suppoort Command B-25s attack a marshalling yard and the port area at Sibenik, and ships at Zara.
- 12th Air Force P-40s and P-47s strafe targets of opportunity in the Peljesac Peninsula. 57th Fighter Group P-47s down 6 Luftwaffe fighters near Trpanj during the morning.
ITALY:
- 15th Air Force B-24s attack the rail bridge and rail tunnel at Dogna, and the rail line between Dogna and Chiusaforte.
- P-38s escorting the B-24s strafe oil tanks and trains.
- 15th Air Force B-17s attack the rail junction and marshalling yard at Padua.
| ]Air Operations, Gilberts
CenCATS (Marine Corps Central Pacific Combat Air Transport Service) transport aircraft begin operating from Starmann Field on Butaritari and the newly operational O'Hare Field on Abemama.
[ | ]Air Operations, New Guinea
V Bomber Command B-25s and B-26s attack Kelana and Sio. V Fighter Command P-40s attack the Timoeka area.
[ | ]Air Operations, Solomons
- A VF(N)-75 F4U night-fighter downs an A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter-bomber near Cape Torkina at 0105 hours. 14 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Monoitu while smaller B-24 formations attack the Bonis airfield on Bougainville, Poporang, and Sohano Island.
- 5 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Sankau Island.
- US Navy PVs attack Green Island and several areas on Bougainville.
- AirSols SBDs and fighters attack Sohano Island and antiaircraft batteries at Bonis and fighters strafe targets of opportunity on Bougainville.
| ]Battle of the Atlantic
The US tanker McDowell (10,195t), en route from New York to Aruba, N.W.I., is torpedoed and sunk by U-516. US tanker Fairfax rescues 63 survivors, motor minesweeper YMS-56 picks up 8. 2 of the crew are lost in the abondonement, 1 later dies of injuries. There are no losses of the 28-man Armed Guard.
[ | ]Eastern Front
Novoseltsy, southeast of Cherkassy, is captured by the Russians.
SOUTHERN SECTORThe XLVIII Panzer Corps has redeployed and again attacks the 1st Ukrainian Front, aided by the LIX Corps. The main attack hits Meleni, the Germans virtually isolating what they believe is a single Soviet corps but what is lated revealed to be a considerably superior concentration. The fighting rages through the next week, the Germans struggling to overcome the numerically superior defending units.
[ | ]Italy
The US 36th Div takes Monte Lungo, and attacks continue on San Pietro, where the positions are not easy to defend now that Monte Lungo has fallen. To cover their withdrawal the Germans launch powerful counterattacks, lasting the whole night. In the VI Corps sector patrols sent out by the 45th Div enter Lagone, which the retreating Germans have abandoned.
[ | ]Mediterranean
The German submarine U-73 is sunk by the US destroyers Trippe (DD-403) and Woolsey (DD-437) off Oran, Algeria.
[ | ]Pacific
- The Japanese submarine I-179 is sunk by US naval land-based aircraft (VP-52) off New Britain.
- The US submarine Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Ginyo Maru (8613t) southwest of the Ryukyus.
| ]United States, Planning
Gen MacArthur orders Lt-Gen Walter Krueger to organize a task force to capture Saidor, part of Operation DEXTERITY. Saidor will be used as a naval and air base and will pressure Japanese forces at Finschhafen. Brig-Gen Clarence A. Margin, the deputy commander of the 32nd Infantry Division, will command the 126th RCT from his division.
[ | ]Images from December 16, 1943
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