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.

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.

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.

Burma

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

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 Rupertus, consisting of the 5th Marine Regt 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

The British Army in Italy: Troops learn to handle mines and booby-trap devices ‘blind’ using a special screen at X Corps Mine School, 28 December 1943.

Learning to Handle Mines