Air Operations, Bismarcks
- More than 120 V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and B-26s attack Japanese Army ground troops at Cape Gloucester. In one notable mission, made at about 0900 hours, 54 B-24s attack tactical targets in close proximity to US Marine ground forces with 156 tons of 500-pound bombs dropped from 10,000 feet. These B-214s are followed closely by numerous B-25s, which drop 300- and 500-pound bombs on Japanese defenses in the same area.
- Almost without opposition, and thanks in large measure to support provided by V Bomber Command bombers, US Marine ground troops advancing through torrential downpours capture the Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain.
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]Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- 4 14th Air Force P-40s attack rail facilities and the town area at Hsipaw, rail lines between Hsipaw and Hopong, and rail facilities at Hopong.
- 3 11th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack shipping on the Yangtze River.
| ]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDBattle of Berlin
- 712 planes are dispatched to Berlin including 457 Lancasters, 252 Halifaxes and 3 Mosquitoes. 45 aircraft abort. The time over the target is 19:58-20:18. The total bomb tonnage is 2,222 tons - 1,026 tons of high explosives and 1,196 tons of incendiaries. 20 planes are lost, 11 Lancasters and 9 Halifaxes. Aircrew casualties are 81 killed, 53 POWs and 1 evader. 43 aircraft are involved in minor operations with no losses.
- There are 2 diversionary raids in the hopes of drawing off some of the night fighters from the main raid, the first is on Magdeburg and the second on Leipzig. The main force reaches Berlin in good order having only lost 7 or 8 due to cloud cover over the night fighter airfields which limited them to only the most experienced fighters. The two diversions also confuse them so they arrive at Berlin when the raid is almost over. The raid is classified as a failure as the bombs are scattered over a huge irregular area 12 miles on a side. More bombs are dropped south of the city and most of the bomb loads outside the city limits. 182 people are killed and 10,800 are bombed out. The bombing results are disappointing for the enormous expenditure of bombs, fuel, aircraft flying hours and crew fatigue.
BELGIUM:
- 125 VIII Fighter Command P-47s strafe transportation targets.
- 55th Fighter Group P-51 pilots down 7 FW-190s near Antwerp between 1300 and 1330 hours.
- 393 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack 16 German Army artillery batteries and other defensive positions in and around Brest.
- More than 50 'war-weary' 8th Air Force B-24s transport supplies from bases in England to the Orleans/Bricy Airdrome as part of an ongoing effort known as Operation TRUCKING.
- 325 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack a synthetic-oil plant at Ludwigshafen.
FRANCE:
- 181 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack defensive positions and bridges in the Brest area.
- IX TAC fighters and fighter-bomhers supporting the US 1st Army's pursuit of German Army forcees set a one-day record for the war when they destroy 919 motor vehicles, 757 horse-drawn vehicles, and 58 armored vehicles.
FRANCE:
- 12th Air Force fighter-bombers harass German Army ground forces retreating up the Rhone River valley.
- 12th Air Force medium bombers attack bridges in the Po River valley.
- During the night, XII TAC A-20s attack motor vehicles around Milan and Turin.
HUNGARY:
- 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack roads and supply lines south of Budapest.
- 15th Air Force B-24s attack bridges throughout northern Italy. ROMANIA:
- 3 15th Air Force B-17s complete the third REUNION evacuation mission of USAAF airmen liberated from prisoner-of-war camps around Ploesti and Bucharest.
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| ]Air Operations, New Guinea
V Bomber Command B-24s attack line-of-comminication targets and bivouacs near Sio and mount a light attack against Manokwari.
[ | ]Eastern Front
The Soviets take Korosten and Chernakov northwest of Kiev, and Skvira to the southwest. A new Russian offensive is under way in the Dnieper Bend, west of Zaporozhe. Marshal Vatutin begins a spectacular breakthrough along a 185-mile front west of Kiev. 22 German divisions are hurled back toward the Polish border.
SOUTHERN SECTORThe XLVIII Panzer Corps pulls back from the Berdichev sector to shorten its line. Korosten falls to the 60th Army and Skvira to the 40th Army. Zhitomir is isolated by the 3rd Guards Tank Army. Elements of the XIII Corps, trapped in the town, try to break out but encounter strong Soviet forces and are held back.
The SS Leibstandarte Div, operating in the Kazatin sector, is attacked by a force of 140 Red Army tanks. In the subsequent battle 68 Red Army tanks are destroyed.
[ | ]Italy
An Allied Commando unit carries out a raid on the Tyrrhenian coast north of the mouth of the Garigliano.
[ | ]New Britain
The Japanese abandon their defensive position, which the marines have named 'Hell's Point'. The 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, lands to support the 1st Marines. The plan is to have the 5th Marines sweep around the left flank of the enemy while 1st Marines advances. The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, holds Target Hill.
The assistant commander of the 1st Marine Division, Brig-Gen Lemuel Shepherd, Jr, takes two battalions of the 7th Marines to clear the Japanese from Borgen Bay. The marines are reinforced by artillery and a platoon of tanks from the 1st Tank Battalion.
Fresh Japanese attacks against the Arawe beachhead have no more success than the earlier ones.
[ | ]New Guinea
The operation for the occupation of Saidor in provisionally fixed for January 2, 1944.
[ | ]Pacific
The US submarine Silversides (SS-236) attacks a Japanese convoy off Palau sinking the transport Tenposan Maru (1970t), army cargo ship Shichisei Maru (1911t( and merchant cargo ship Ryuto Maru (3311t).
[ | ]Vichy France
Reprisals against 'terrorists' continue. The Vichy government announces that more than 20,000 people have been arrested in the last 3 months.
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Images from December 29, 1943
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Marines on a Mission |
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