Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 45 AirSols fighters stopping first at the Torokina airfield on Bougainville mount a morning sweep over Rabaul. V Fighter Command fighters cover the Arawe and Cape Gloucester beachheads, where 19 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s bomb and strafe Japanese Army ground positions directly ahead of advancing US Marine ground forces.
• Marine Corps F4Us down 20 A6M Zeros and 6 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters in the Rabaul area between 0745 and 0810 hours. A 348th Fighter Group P-47 downs a B5N 'Kate' dive bomber over Rettock Bay at 0830 hours.

Air Operations, CBI

• P-40s from the 80th Fighter Group’s 89th Fighter Squadron down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the airfield at Myitkyina at 1120 hours.

• 4 11th Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 4 23rd Fighter Group P-51s attack shipping on the Yangtze River. 7 14th Air Force P-40s attack rail facilities at Yun-chi.

Air Operations, Europe

• XII Air Support Command A-20s, B-25s, and A-36s support an attack by RAF medium and heavy bombers against a variety of targets in the Rome area.
• 12th Air Force tactical aircraft attack the Ciampino Airdrome, road and rail targets around Roccasecca, rail sidings at Frosinone, port facilities and ships at Civitavecchia, the harbor at Anzio, and communications targets around Atina and Pontecorvo.

• A 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire downs a Luftwaffe twin-engine fighter at sea east of Elba.

• About 100 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Rimini.
• 17 unescorted B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Vincenza.
• 10 376th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s are downed over the target by an estimated 50 Luftwaffe fighters

Air Operations, Marshalls

• 15 VII Bomber Command B-24s based at Canton Island and Funafuti passe through the airfields at Baker Island Betio to attack the Majuro, Maloeap, and Mille atolls. 18 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron A-24s attack Mille, followed by 9 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s based at Tarawa (in their unit’s combat debut). A total of 32 318th Fighter Group P-39s escort the two Mille missions.
• The first aerial photo-reconnaissance of the Eniwetok Atoll is undertaken.

Air Operations, Solomons

14 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack supply dumps at Bonis and 22 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack supply dumps at Kahili.

Bay of Biscay

The 11 German destroyers and torpedo boats which had been sent to escort the Alsterufer are met by 2 British cruisers, Enterprise and Glasgow. 3 German ships are sunk and the rest break off the engagement. This is a notable achievement by the British against a superior force.

Burma

The Chinese 38th Div takes a number of Japanese strongpoints in the Tarung River valley.

CBI

The Chinese 38th Division takes a number of Japanese strongpoints along the Tarung River in the Hukawng valley.

Diplomatic Relations

The British talk to Turkey in hopes of bringing Turkey into the war.

Eastern Front

Vatutin's attacks west of Kiev are making good ground. Korostyshev and Kateyvka near Zhitomir are recaptured.

The XLVIII Panzer Corps rushes to counterattack at Kazatin to halt the 1st Tank Army. Progress is limited as the exhausted unit is halted in its tracks. With his northern wing broken, Manstein begins to make an unauthorized movement of his armies. Moving the 1st Panzer Army from the Dniepr bend to the right of the 4th Panzer Army will shorten the sector held by the 4th Panzer Army and also provide stability to the south. However, to move an army headquarters and a number of its units at the height of an enemy offensive is risky venture and it is a credit to the Ostheer and Manstein's exceptional leadership that the maneuver is carried out successfully. During the move, the 1st Panzer hands over control of its sectors to the 6th and 8th Armies, the movement beginning on January 1. Upon its arrival on the northern flank of the army group, the 1st Panzer is to assume control of the XXIV Panzer Corps and VII Corps southeast of Berdichev while the III Panzer Corps, en route, will assemble on the left wing at the junction with the 4th Panzer Army. The 4th Panzer is also to receive the XLVI Panzer Corps as reinforcement.

Indian Ocean

The US freighter Robert F. Hoke (7176t), en route from Abadan, Iran to Mombasa, Keny, is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-26 and abandoned by all but the 27-man Armed Guard. They man their guns and prevent further attacks by thd I-boat. The crew re-boards but cannot get the ship underway again and abandons her a second time. An RAF crash boat rescues the 41-man crew and the Armed Guard. The boat is towed to Aden, but is written off as a total loss.

Italy

The Canadians of the British V Corps complete the capture of Ortona on the Adriatic coast after prolonged, savage, house-to-house fighting with German paratroops and Panzergrenadiers, supported by tanks concealed inside buildings.

New Britain

Gen Krueger makes his reserve forces available to Gen William H. Rupertus, consisting of the 5th Marine Regiment reinforced by army units. The marines begin to advance to attack the Japanese airfield at Cape Gloucester.

New Japanese counterattacks are repulsed by the troops manning the beachhead on the Arawe peninsula.

Secret War

There is an abortive British Commando raid on Sark, a Channel Island.

Images from December 28, 1943

Learning to Handle Mines