Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s support US Marine ground troops at Cape Gloucester.
• 10 5th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, escorted by 25 AirSols fighters, attack the Tobera airfield at Rabaul. 11 B-24s attack shipping at Rabaul. 1 B-24 is lost with its entire crew, including the 5th Heavy Bomb Group commanding officer, Col Marion D. Unruh.
• VF-33 F6Fs down 3 A6M Zeros over Rabaul at 1140 hours.
• The Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain is declared secure.

Air Operations, CBI

• 20 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail facilities and other targets at Monywa.

• 8 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters strafe Suichwan airfield at 0645 hours while 8 others provide top cover. 2 USAAF fighters are destroyed on the ground, but P-40s from the 23rd Fighter Group’s 76th Fighter Squadron down 4 of the 'Oscars'.

Air Operations, Europe

• 513 VIII Bomber Command B-17s and 145 B-24s attack the port area and an oil refinery at Ludwigshafen with 1,394 tons of bombs.
• 23 heavy bombers are lost, 5 written off, 117 damaged; 11 crewmen killed, 200 missing
• The VIII Fighter Command dispatches 79 P-38s, 463 P-47s, and 41 P-51s to escort the bombers and undertake several fighter sweeps over France. P-47s down 7 Luftwaffefighters over France between 1115 and 1420 hours.
• 11 P-47s and 2 P-51s are lost; 12 pilots are lost

• Approximately 100 IX Bomber Command B-26s attack an airdrme at St.-Omer and a V-weapons site near the English Channel coast, but 100 other abort due to bad weather.

• XII Air Suppoort Command A-20s attack Atina.
• XII Air Support Command A-36s and P-40s attack troops and a variety of tactical targets in and around the battle area.

• 14th Fighter Group P-38 escorts down 3 Luftwaffe fighters over or near Padua about 1250 hours.
• 325th Fighter Group P-47s down 3 Bf-109s over central Italy about 1400 hours.

• The theater's last aerial victory credited in 1943 is a Ju-88 downed at sea at 1530 hours by a 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire.

• XII Air Support Command B-25s attack a variety of targets at Zara and fighters attack a ship at Crkvice.

• 15th Air Force B-17s attack marshalling yards at Verona, Rimini, and Padua, and rail bridges around Padua.
• 15th Air Force B-26s attack marshalling yards at two locations, a road junction, and a viaduct.

Air Operations, Marshalls

17 VII Bomber Command B-24s based at Tarawa attack the Kwajalein Atoll. 9 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Jabor in the Jaluit Atoll. 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron A-24s, escorted by 24 318th Fighter Group P-39s, attack artillery batteries in the Mille Atoll.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-24s and B-25s attack Alexishafen, Madang, Sio, and targets of opportunity in the Huon Peninsula. V Fighter Command P-47s strafe targets around Madang and Sio and P-39s strafe barges along the Huon Peninsula coast.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 16 XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 35 B-25s attack Kahili and vicinity. 6 B-25s attack the Korovo area.
• Construction work on the Piva Uncle airfield on Bougainville is completed.

Atlantic

The Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, Renown, Illustrious and Unicorn leave Scapa Flow and the Clyde for Ceylon.

Eastern Front

In the Kiev sector the Soviets take Kazatin near Berdichev southwest of Kiev and south of Zhitomir.

The XLVIII Panzer Corps loses Kazatin to the 1st Tank Army. A drop in the temperature causes the ground to freeze which returns some mobility to the Germans. While this is an advantage is also allows the Red Army to press ever deeper into the German rear.

Italy

In the US 5th Army's II Corps area, the 34th Division relieves the battle-worn 36th Division. The 142nd RCT is attached to the 34th Division to garrison positions on Monte Sammucro. In the VI Corps area, the 180th Infantry of the 45th Division attempts to clear the hills astride the San Elia road in the region east of Acquafondata and succeeds in getting elements on one, Monte Rotondo.

New Britain

The 7th Marines move out to expand their perimeter, clearing out Japanese defenses and capturing weapons and ammo supplies.

During the night, the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, fights the Battle of Coffin Corner. A Japanese assault in a heavy rainstorm, supported with mortar and machine-gun fire, temporarily breaks a company's defensive perimeter, but the marines counterattack with a platoon cobbled together by Lt James R. Mallon and throw the enemy back. The Japanese lose 89 men and 5 prisoners are captured. The marines suffer 6 killed and 17 wounded.

Elements of the 1st and 5th Marines capture the Cape Gloucester airfield. 5th Air Force A-20 Havocs hit positions in the Cape Gloucester area in support of the marines. The marines find that the airfield has been heavily damaged by US air attacks.

New Guinea

The operation against Saidor is now set for January 2.

Pacific

The US submarine Bluefish (SS-222) sinks the Japanese oiler Ichiyu Maru (5061t) in the Java Sea.

Images from December 30, 1943

9 Commando After Night Raid

Unloading Airmail for Canadian Soldiers

Crash Landing in England

A Captured Marder III

First Aid

401st Bomb Group over Germany