Air Operations, Bismarcks
- >More than 100 V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s attack Cape Gloucester. A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-40s attack the Cape Hoskins airfield on New Britain. P-39s attack targets in Borgen Bay and Rein Bay.
- 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 8 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 2 fighters over Arawe at noon. 348th Fighter Group P-47s down 8 D3A 'Vals' over Arawe at 1645 hours and 2 A6M Zeros between Arawe and Cape Gloucester at 1720 hours.
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]Air Operations, CBI
CHINA- 14 11th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Hwajung.
- 29 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail facilities at Chiengmai.
| ]Air Operations, East Indies
380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Amahai airfield on Ceram.
[ | ]Air Operations, Europe
9th AIR FORCEFRANCE:
- 84 IX Bomber Command B-26s from two groups, escorted by 208 VIII Fighter Command P-47s, are dispatched to two V-weapons sites. Targets of opportunity are also attacked.
ITALY:
- XII Air Support Command B-25s and P-40s attack Terracina.
- XII Air Support Command A-36s and P-40s attack numerous transportations andd tactical targets, including a fuel dump and a munitions plant at Cervaro and a radar station and other targets between Civitavecchia and Rome.
| ]Air Operations, Marshalls
- 12 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron A-24s based at Starmann Field on Butaritari and 5 VMSB-331 SBDs, and 15 VF-1 F6Fs based at Mullinnix Field on Tarawa mount an anti-shipping attack in the Jaluit Atoll. 1 cargo ship is claimed as sunk, but it is a hulk that had already been worked over by US carrier aircraft on November 20. (This will be the only offensive mission undertaken by any unit of the 4th Marine Base Defense Aircraft Wing until March 1944. The VMSB-331 SBDs are soon withdrawn from Mullinnix Field to the airfield on Nukufetau in anticipation of the upcoming Marshalls invasion.)
- 8 VII Bomber Command B-24s based at Nanomea accompany 4 US Navy PB4Y photo-reconnaissance bombers to the Kwajalein Atoll. While the PB4Ys photograph the atoll, the B-24s attack the airfield at Roi and other military targets. 16 318th Fighter Group P-39s based at Makin attack shipping and fuel dumps at the Mille Atoll.
| ]Air Operations, New Guinea
V Bomber Command B-25s attack Madang, 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack bivouacs near Finschhafen, and V Fighter Command P-40s attack Kaukenau.[ | ]
Air Operations, Pacific
US bombers based on Attu, in the Aleutians, bomb military targets in the Kuril Islands.
[ | ]Air Operations, Solomons
- 6 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Japanese Army ground positions on Bougainville.
- During the night, AirSols aircraft mount heckling and snooping missions against Japanese Army bivouacs on Bougainville.
| ]Battle of the Atlantic
Damage in heavy seas, presumably flooding of the battery, made it impossible for U-284 to return to France or continue her patrol. The crew is taken off and she is scuttled.
| Class | Type VIIC |
| CO | Oberleutnant Günther Scholz |
| Location | N Atlantic |
| Cause | Scuttling |
| Casualties | None |
| Survivors | 49 |
| ]CBI
Gen Joseph Stilwell arrives in Ledo to take personal command of the upcoming Burma offensive.
[ | ]Eastern Front
The Soviets eliminate a small German bridgehead east of the Dniepr near Kherson. Army Group Center presses with great force on the Russian salient west of Zhlobin, which is northwest of Gomel, beyond the Dniepr. The Germans are making supreme efforts to hold at least part of the vital Dniepr line.
CENTRAL SECTORThe Belorussian Front renews its attacks at Zhlobin, the 48th and 65th Armies inflicting heavy losses upon the hard-pressed LV Corps and XLI Panzer Corps.
SOUTHERN SECTORThe XLVIII Panzer Corps is involved in further heavy fighting at Meleni, it becoming clear to the German commanders that they are facing a major Soviet force. From this it is deduced that the next phase of the Soviet offensive can not be far off. The Ukrainian offensive has been costly since the end of September: 2nd Ukrainian Front, 77,400 killed and missing; 3rd Ukrainian Front, 34,000 killed and missing; and 4th Ukrainian Front, 61,000 killed and missing. Combined front totals for wounded are a staggering 580,000.
The German 6th Army loses its hold on the Kherson bridgehead as the 2nd Guards Army of the Ukrainian Front closes up to the mouth of the Dniepr.
[ | ]India
Gen Stilwell arrives at Ledo, in Assam to take over personal direction of the preparations for the coming campaign in northern Burma.
[ | ]Italy
There is heavy fighting in the 8th Army sector on the approaches to Ortona and in the 5th Army area, especially near Monte Sammucro.
[ | ]Mediterranean
During the night the old German cruiser Niobe is sunk by British MTBs.
[ | ]Pacific
- The US submarine Grayback (SS-208) sinks the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Kashiwa Maru (515t) and the merchant passenger/cargo ship Konan Maru (2627t) south-southwest of Kagoshima, Japan.
- The US submarine Sailfish (SS-192) sinks the Japanese transport Uyo Maru (6376t) off Miyazaki.
- The US submarine Skate (SS-305) sinks the Japanese fleet tanker Terukawa Maru (6428t) northwest of Truk, Carolines.
| ]Images from December 21, 1943
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