Air Operations, Bismarcks

• As Allied bombers and fighters step up their pre-invasion attacks against Japanese troops in the Cape Gloucester area, 70 V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and B-26s attack the Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain, 37 B-24s attack the Cape Hoskins airfield on New Britain, and more than 20 B-25s attack targets in the Borgen Bay area.
• 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 3 fighters near Cape Raoult at 1145 hours.
• Efforts by AirSols aircraft to attack Rabaul are thwarted by bad weather.

Air Operations, CBI

• 27 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, escorted by 28 14th Air Force P-40s, attack the airfield at Namsang while several 14th Air Force P-40s strafe the Laihka airfield.

• When Japanese bombers attack the airfield at Kunming, 16th and 26th Fighter squadron P-40s down 2 Ki-21 'Sally' bombers and 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the base between 1110 and 1125 hours.
• 5 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack Nanhsien while 2 B-25s attack a freighter in the Hainan Strait.

Air Operations, Marshalls

14 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Mille Atoll.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 33 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack bivouacs and dumps near Finschhafen.
• A P-39 with the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group’s 82d Tactical Reconnaisance Squadron downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber over the Huon Peninsula.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 19 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack ground targets around Chabai and Porton, 10 B-24s attack supply dumps at Kahili and 5 B-24s attack a supply dump at Bonis.
• 11 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Korovo, 5 B-25s attack Japanese Army ground troops at Poroporo (Choiseul) at low level, and AirSols fighters attack numerous targets of opportunity on Bougainville and Buka. Also, XIII Bomber Command B-24s mount individual attacks against Kahili, Kieta, and Poporang while conducting armed-reconnaissance flights.

China

Chiang Kai-shek gives Gen Stilwell command of all Chinese troops in India and the Hukawng valley in northern Burma. Japanese aircraft bomb Kunming, in Yunnan. This action fits into the plan for campaign of strategic bombing aimed at disrupting the Allies' vital centers as a preliminary to an offensive against India.

Italy

5th Army takes Monte Lungo, making the German position at San Pietro less secure. There are violent German counterattacks all along 5th Army's front.

Early on, troops from US 36th Div enter San Pietro. To the north VI Corps is advancing all along its front as the Germans pull back a little way.

Mediterranean

The French submarine Protée is lost of Toulon, France with all on board.

New Britain

The American air force steps up its operations against targets in New Britain in preparation for the landing at Cape Gloucester.

Images from December 18, 1943

Alexander Fleming, Scottish Bacteriologist, 18 December 1943

Manufacturing Penicillin, 18 December 1943

Douglas C-47's enroute to Finschhafen, N.E. New Guinea, carrying supplies for a fighter group. 18 December 1943

Douglas C-47's Enroute to Finschhafen

US soldiers Loading Ammunition into an Artillery Weapon in Italy, 18 December 1943

View of a line of destroyers at sea in the North Atlantic when on anti-submarine patrol. Those which are visible include HMS Venus (nearest to the camera) and HMS Savage beyond. December 1943

Destroyers on Anti-Submarine Patrol