Air Operations, Bismarcks

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Gasmata and 11 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Tobera, Rapopo, and Wide Bay.
• The US 864th Engineer Aviation Battalion arrives at Cape Gloucester, New Britain to help rehabilitate and improve the airfield there.
• During the night, 15 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Lakunai and Vunakanau airfields at Rabaul and other Rabaul-area targets.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 311th Fighter Group P-51s bomb Maran Ga and Shaduzup and attack Japanese Army ground troops at Lalawng Ga. 1 490th Medium Bomb Group B-25 and 4 P-51s attack supply dumps and the airfield at Myitkyina. 27 10th Air Force P-40s attack dumps and communications targets along the Kamaing-Mogaung road.

• 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack shipping, a radio station, and warehouses between Hong Kong and Hainan Island. 6 14th Air Force P-40s attack 2 Japanese Army pack trains between Lungling and Tengchung.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command bombers on antishipping sweeps attack a freighter off Tanimbar Island in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Mosquitos are sent to Essen, 9 to Duisburg, 2 to Aachen and 2 to Koblenz.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

Air Operations, Marshalls

9 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack shipping at the Wotje Atoll. 21 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron A-24s and 16 VII Fighter Command P-39 escorts attack the Mille Atoll as does 10 VII Fighter Command P-39 fighter-bombers.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• More than 130 V Bomber Command B-24s and B-25s, and V Fighter Command P-40 fighter-bombers mount the final air attack against Alexishafen. B-24s and B-25s attack Kaukenau and Timoeka.
• A 418th Night Fighter Squadron P-38 downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber over Alexishafen at 1845 hours.

Air Operations, Solomons

A VF(N)-75 F4U downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber near the Torokina airfield on Bougainville at 0415 hours.

Burma

In the Hukawng valley the Chinese 38th Div succeeds in eliminating a Japanese strongpoint in the Yupgang Ga area, so that they now control the whole of the Tarung River area. Some units cross the Tarung and thrust north as far as Tabawng.

Eastern Front

Vatutin's troops take Korets between Novograd-Volynskiy and Rovno.

With the fighting in the Ukraine having raged unabated since the Battle of Kursk in the middle of 1943, the Soviets prepare to turn their attention north. Around Leningrad the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic Fronts have trained hard during 1942 and 1943 to break the 18th Army's grip on Leningrad.

Still in much the same positions as in the winter of 1941, the Stavka aims to break the siege for good and destroy the German 18th Army before pushing south and west to reconquer the Baltic States. Govorov's Leningrad Front will begin the offensive from the Oranienbaum pocket and the perimeter of Leningrad, encircling the left wing of the German siege positions against the Gulf of Finland. Meretskov's Volkhov Front is to crush the right flank of the 18th Army against the Volkhov while Popov's 2nd Baltic Front pins down the 16th Army south of Lake Ilmen to prevent the transfer of forces to Leningrad. The Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts have assembled 417,000 and 260,000 men respectively, with 1,200 tanks and Su's, 14,300 arty pieces and nearly 720 aircraft in support.

Against this formidable array Kuchler's Army Group North deploys 40 infantry divisions, 1 panzer grenadier and 2 panzer divisions, split between the 18th Army and 16th Army. The 18th Army fields the III SS Panzer Corps at Oranienbaum, LIV Corps between Oranienbaum and Leningrad, XXVI and XXVIII Corps on the Leningrad perimeter and the I Corps along the Volkhov, a total of only 50,000 combat infantry from a complement of over 200,000 men. It is supported by 200 panzers and assault guns, around a third of which are serviceable. South of Lake Ilmen the 16th Army has its X, XXXVIII and II Corps strung out on a long and vulnerable line to the junction with the 3rd Panzer Army near Pustoshka.

Italy

The US II Corps is near Monte Trocchio, the last bulwark barring the road to the Rapido River.

New Britain

Skirmishing continues around the Cape Gloucester beachhead. The US air force and artillery give unusually strong support to the units on the ground, but they still cannot take the day's objective, Hill 660. A unit of specialist engineers arrives on the beachhead to reopen the airfield captured from the Japanese.

Pacific

The plans for the next campaign in the Pacific, code-named GRANITE, are completed. Around March 24, aircraft from a task force still to be detailed are to attack the big Japanese base on Truk Island, the Japanese Pearl Harbor, in support of the landing on the Admiralty Islands and New Ireland. The invasion of the atolls of Eniwetok and Ujelang in the Marshall Islands is fixed for May 1, the capture of Mortlock and Truk in the Carolines for August 1 and the landing in the Marianas, Operation FORAGER, for November 1. If the operations go well enough to allow Truk Island to be 'skipped', a landing could be made on the Palau Islands on August 1.

Images from January 13, 1944

Religious Ceremony in Italy, 13 January 1944

Strike Photograph of Mission 128, 320th Bomb Group, Ciampino Airdrome South, Italy, 13 January 1944

Fueling two ships at one time

Fueling two ships at one time became the norm in the latter part of World War II. Here, Kankakee refuels light cruiser Montpelier (CL-57) in the Solomons on 13 January 1944 while a Fletcher-class destroyer approaches to starboard to receive fuel from that side of the oiler. Note the modifications that have been made to improve oiling at sea; particularly prominent are the large combination kingpost/ventilator shafts aft with their huge fueling booms. Other notable features include elevated cargo winches, a spar deck with its cargo of lube oil drums, and the addition of twin 40 mm gun positions atop the after deck house. (National Archives)

Canadian Officers Warm Themselves at a Stove in San Vito Chietino, Italy, 13 January 1944