Air Operations, Europe

The heavy-bomber forces of the USAAF and the RAF concentrate on German targets. The RAF attacks on Hamburg continue intermittently, between now and November there are 14,500 sorties in 30 major raids. This month Bomber Command drops 19,000 tons and 8th Air Force 3,600 tons. Among the targets are Nuremberg, Berlin and Bochum. Milan, Turin and Genoa are also hit by bombers based in Britain. Milan is attacked 4 times, 4,000 tons of bombs are dropped altogether. There are particularly important attacks on Schweinfurt and Peenemünde (see August 17-18). Lighter aircraft of both Allies attack communications and airfields in Occupied Territory.

On August 1 Ploesti in Rumania is hit by a strong American Liberator group but losses are heavy. From a force of 177 bombers, 50 fail to return.

After successful raids by the RAF Bomber Command on Hamburg and by the Americans on the Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg, it is decided by Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris at Prime Minister Churchill's urging to go after Berlin. Harris has estimated it will take 40,000 tons of bombs for a prolonged attack on Berlin. That total represents between 20 and 25 raids using the full strength of Bomber Command. They will go 'as soon as the moon wanes'. On August 21 Harris informs Churchill that the attacks on Berlin are about to Begin.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

Italian communications are the main targets in many fairly small raids in the Mediterranean. Major efforts are also made against Rome and Foggia(?).

Air Operations, Aleutians

7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack Kiska.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a road bridge at Shweli.

Air Operations, Europe

177 American B-24 Liberator bombers commanded by Gen Brereton, commander of the US 9th Air Force, drop 311 tons of bombs on the oil refineries at Ploesti, center of the Rumanian oil fileds in Operation TIDAL WAVE. The attack puts 40% of the refining plant out of action, but it costs the Americans dearly as they lose 54 bombers and 532 men.

25 German bombers cause heavy damage in Palermo.

• 15 Stirlings and 14 Wellingtons lay mines off the Biscay ports without a loss.

NASAF B-17s attack the Capiodichino Airdrome.

• In Operation TIDALWAVE, 177 IX Bomber Command B-24s based aroung Benghazi, Libya, conduct a low-level attack on the strategic oil-refining facilities at Ploesti and Campina. The damage inflicted is severe.
• 42 B-24s are lost, 13 in operational accidents, 7 interned in Turkey; 532 crew are lost from all causes

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• NACAF Beaufighters claim hits on Axis shippint at sea between Sadinia and Italy.
• 2 Do-217s are downed over sea by 52nd Fighter Group Spitfires about 0605 hours and 1 Mc-202 is downed over sea by a 14th Fighter Group P-38 at 1115 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

1 V Bomber Command B-24 attacks the Malahang airfield at Lae.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NASAF B-25s attack Milazzo.
• NATAF A-20s and B-25s attack Bronte, Paterno, Randazzo, and Santa Maria di Licondia, and motor vehicles near Orlando.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Adrano.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s conduct a record 230 sorties against a variety of Sicilian towns and Axis ships at sea in the Straits of Messina.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 18 US Marine Corps TBFs and and 18 SBDs, covered by 30 AirSols fighters, attack ammunition dumps, antiaircraft emplacements, and ground defenses on the Munda battle front.
• 21 XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 50 other AirSols aircraft attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville.
• More than 80 AirSols aircraft attack shipping in the Shortland Islands and southern Bougainville.
• 1 P-40 with the 18th Fighter Group’s 44th Fighter Squadron downs an A6M Zero over Gizo Island.

Atlantic

In Operation WUNDERLAND II, a planned combined anti-convoy operation, the Lützow and 4 U-boats sink only 2 ships later in the month on August 27 and 28.

Diplomatic Relations

Nationalist China breaks off diplomatic relations with Vichy in protest against the hand-over of the French Concession in Shanghai to the 'Central Government of China'.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-383 is sunk by Sunderland 'V' of No 228 Squadron. The U-boat is spotted by the aircraft which attacks but meets so much flak, it breaks off the attack. On a second run seven depth charges are dropped which severely damages the submarine. U-383 does not sink immediately but before help can come, the weather deteriorates and she founders.

U-383 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Horst Kremser Location Atlantic, NW of Cape Ortegal Cause Air attack Casualties 52 Survivors None

U-454 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Burkhard Hacklander Location Atlantic, NW of Cape Ortegal Cause Air attack Casualties 32 Survivors 13

• U-454 is sunk by Sunderland 'B' of No 10 Squadron RAAF in an accurate attack in which the aircraft is shot down as the 2nd Support Group ships reach the area.

Eastern Front

With the initiative in the east firmly in the hands of the Red Army and Hitler's attention fixed on the west, Army Group Center is given permission to withdraw from the exposed Orel salient to the Hagen line, an ad hoc defense position east of Bryansk.

The top-scoring Soviet female pilot, Junior Lieutenant Lydia Litvak of the 73rd Guards Fighter Air Regiment, is shot down and killed in the Ukraine. Her awards are as follows: Order of the Red Star, Order of the Red Banner, medal 'For the Defense of Stalingrad', Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and Hero of the Soviet Union (the latter awarded posthumously in 1990.

The Americans carry out a major daylight raid on the Ploesti oilfields in Rumania, destroying more than 40 percent of the refining capacity and seriously affecting the supply of fuel to the German units on the eastern front. It is from this period onward that the Germans are to suffer severe damage to their manufacturing and transport infrastructure and in turn their ability to effectively supply the increasingly committed combat armies.

Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group bombers join a US Navy task force in the preinvasion bombardment of Kiska. 8 B-24s, 9 B-25s, and 8 343rd Fighter Group P-38s attack the island in two waves.

Air Operations, Europe

• 740 aircraft are sent to Hamburg. In this total are 329 Lancasters, 235 Halifaxes, 105 Stirlings, 66 Wellingtons and 5 Mosquitos.
• The bombing force runs into a large thunderstorm area over Germany. Many of the crews turn back early or bomb alternate targets. At least 4 aircraft are lost because of icing, turbulence or are struck by lightning. No Pathfinder marking is possible at Hamburg and only scattered bombing takes place there. Many other towns in a 100-mile area of northern Germany receive bombs from this raid. A sizeable raid develops on the small town of Elmshorn, 12 miles from Hamburg. It is believed that a flash of lightning set a house on fire there. Bomber crews see the fire through a gap in the clouds and drop their loads there.
• 13 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes, 4 Wellingtons and 3 Stirlings are lost.

• 5 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg, 6 Wellingtons lay mines in the Elbe River and there are 12 OTU sorties.
• 1 Wellington mine-layer is lost.
• The 'Battle of Hamburg' ends with night raids by 425 RAF bombers in very bad weather. 30 planes are lost. In the bombing of Hamburg by the RAF 2,752 planes dropped a total of 8,621 tons of bombs. Casualties include about 42,600 killed and 37,000 seriously wounded. 580 factories are hit, 170,000 tons of shipping and 3 U-boats are lost.

• 49 323rd and 386th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Merville and St.-Omer/Ft. Rouge Airdromes, respectively.
• 28 B-26s are damaged; 6 crewmen are wounded
USAAF
ITALY:


NATAF aircraft attack port facilities and shipping at Reggio di Calabria.

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Air Operations, New Guinea

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack supply dumps at Hansa Bay and targets of opportunity along the Francisco River.
• V Bomber Command B-17s and B-24s attack the harbor at Lae, Salamaua, and the Voco Point area and B-25s attack barges between Bogadjim and Lae and elsewhere along the coast.
• P-38s from the 49th Fighter Group’s 9th Fighter Squadron down 11 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near Saidor at 1310 hours.
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Air Operations, Sardinia

The only confirmed aerial victories in the theater are awarded for 4 Luftwaffe fighters downed during an afternoon mission by 14th Fighter Group P-38s.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF aircraft attack ammunition and supply dumps, motor vehicles, and road junctions throughout southeastern Sicily; docking facilities and shipping at Messina and Milazzo, and various targets of opportunity in the battle area.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Adrano.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping off Milazzo and in the Straits of Messina.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 6 XIII Bomber Command B-17s and 12 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by XIII Fighter Command P-40s, attack the Bairoko Harbor area.
• 13th Air Force B-24s, B-25s, and P-40s, and Marine Corps F4Us attack the Webster Cove area.

Aleutians

The Americans bombard Kiska with 2 battleships, 5 cruisers and 9 destroyers, yet again unaware that the Japanese have gone. Kiska is also being bombed every day from the air. Between August 2 and August 15, the scheduled date of the landing, the island will be shelled from the sea 10 more times.

Battle of the Atlantic

• German submarine U-706 is sunk in the eastern Atlantic by US Army aircraft.

U-706 Class Type VIIC CO Korvettenkapitän Alexander von Zitzewitz Location Atlantic, NW of Cape Ortegal Cause Air attack Casualties 42 Survivors 4

U-106 Class Type IXB CO Oberleutnant zur See Dietrich Damerow Location Atlantic, NW of Cape Ortegal Cause Air attack Casualties 22 Survivors 36

• U-106 is sunk in an attack by Sunderlands 'N' of No 228 Squadron and 'M' of No 461 Squadron. The submarine had been previously damaged by a Mosquito of No 407 Squadron RCAF and had requested assistance. While attempting to find those coming to his aid she surfaces and is spotted by the two aircraft. Both planes carry out a series of attacks resulting in the sinking of the U-boat stern first.

Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group bombers and 343rd Fighter Group fighters are sent on 6 separate missions against Kiska, but 2 missions are aborted because of bad weather.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command bombers attack targets at Borgen Bay and an island in Marien Harbor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Wellingtons of No. 6 Group lay mines off Lorient and St Nazaire without a loss.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-17s, B-24s, and B-25s attack small craft, barges, aircraft, military encampments, and trails over a broad area, but especially at Bogadjim, Lae, Manokwari, and Salamaua.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF A-20s attack tactical targets in the battle area.
• NAAf A-20s, medium bombers, and fighters attack Adrano Biancaville, shipping at Milazzo and in the Straits of Messina, and gun emplacements in the battle area.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Adrano three times during the day.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s mount a record 320 sorties against docking facilities and shipping at Milazzo and Messina, and provide direct air support for British Army ground forces around Bronte and Catania.
• 4 79th Fighter Group P-40s are lost; 4 pilots are lost

Battle of the Atlantic

• The German submarine U-572 is sunk by US naval land-based aircraft (VP-205) north of Dutch Guiana.

U-572 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Heinz Kummetat Location Caribbean, NE of Georgetown Cause Air attack Casualties 47 Survivors None

U-647 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Willi Hertin Location Norwegian Sea, presumed Cause ? Casualties 48 Survivors None

• U-647 was lost some time between July 28 and August 10 in the Norwegian Sea north of the Shetland Islands. There is no plausible explanation for its loss.

Eastern Front

The Russian offensive is further stepped up by the armies of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts in the direction of Kharkov, while 3 other Russian Fronts, the Western, Bryansk and Central, converge on Orel.

The Soviet Operation RUMYANTSEV begins. Its objectives are the destruction of both the 4th Panzer Army and the 6th Army by reaching the Black Sea coast behind them. The Voronezh and Steppe Fronts have more than 980,000 troops, 2,439 tanks and self-propelled guns, 12,627 guns and mortars and nearly 1,300 aircraft, against 300,000 men, 250 tanks and assault guns, 3,000 guns and mortars, and fewer than 1,000 aircraft. The offensive begins at 5:00am, and by early afternoon the German lines have been penetrated sufficiently for Vatutin to commit 4 tank brigades to exploit the breach,which they do to a depth of 16 miles. By the end of the day the Soviets have driven a 6-mile wesge between the 4th Army and Army Detachment Kempf.

The Steppe Front is not so successful. Manstein brings the SS panzer divisions Das Reich and Totenkopf back from the Mius River and, along with the battered 3rd Panzer Div, they are placed under III Panzer Corps. This force is given instructions to halt the Soviet armor northwest of Kharkov. Army Detachment Kempf is reinforced by the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking.[MORE]

Germany, Home Front

The German news bureau reports that the Ploesti raid appears to have been a disaster for the attackers with heavy losses and several forced landings because of damage on their return.

Air Operations, Aleutians

In 134 combat sorties arriving between 0855 and 1846, 22 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 48 B-25s, 16 A-24s, 40 343rd Fighter Group P-38s, and 8 P-40s attack Kiska with a record 152 tons of bombs.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-25s attack targets along New Britain’s Itni River and B-24s mount individual attacks against the Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Selaroe Island in the Moluccas.

Air Operations, Europe

• 5 Mosquitos bomb the estimated positions of cloud-covered Cologne and Duisburg.
• There are no losses.

• 33 322nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the shipyards at Le Trait about 1930 hours.
• There are no losses

• NASAF B-17s attack the Naples submarine base.
• NASAF medium bombers attack the rail bridges at Catanzaro and Paola.
• NATAF aircraft attack rail sidings throughout the Calabria region.
• 14th Fighter Group P-38s down 7 Bf-109s and 1 Mc-202 between Cape Vaticano and Pizzo, in Calabria, about 1715 hours.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

Naples is attacked by US planes. The harbor and factories are the targets. The Cathedral and the Royal Palace are also hit. 150 people are killed and 228 injured. This raid is denounced in Rome as 'the most barbarous and merciless of the 96 raids on the city'.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF aircraft attack a wide variety of tactical and communications targets in and around the battle area as well as shipping in the Straits of Messina.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping at Messina and provide direct support for Allied ground forces fighting near Mt. Etna.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-489 is sunk by a Sunderland of No 424 Squadron RCAF. The aircraft spotted the U-boat at a distance of four miles and turned to attack. The submarine opened fire and hit the aircraft causing a fire, but that did not deter the aircraft. Depth charges are dropped and the U-boat destroyed.

U-489

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-24s mount individual attacks along the Francisco River.

Air Operations, Solomons

• AirSols light bombers and 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack targets between Gurasai and Kindu.
• VMF-124 F4Us down 2 F1M reconnaissance float planes over the Shortland Islands during a morning mission.
• P-40s from the 18th Fighter Group’s 44th and 70th Fighter squadrons down 8 A6M Zeros over Munda and VMF-214 F4Us down 3 more Zeros between Rendova and Munda at 1030 hours.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

1 V Bomber Command B-24 attacks an island in Marien Harbor, New Britain.

Air Operations, Europe

• 5 Mosquitos, out of 8 sent, bomb Duisburg and Düsseldorf without a loss.

2 P-38s of the Iceland Air Command's 50th Fighter Squadron down an FW-200 flying boat over the island.

Air Operations, New Guinea

More than 30 V Bomber Command B-25s attack Bogadjim and Saidor, barges at Alexishafen and Madang, and a bridge while 1 B-24 attacks Finschhafen.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NASAF B-25s attack the switching station at Guspini, and P-40 escorts claim a U-boat sunk off southwestern Sardinia.

Air Operations, Sicily

• Two forces of NASAF B-17s mount separate attacks on he port facilities and rail yards at Messina.
• NATAF aircraft attack a variety of tactical targets, including troop positions and gun emplacements, in direct support of Allied ground forces.
• NATAF aircraft also attack motor vehicles behind the lines and all manner of ships and craft encountered in the Straits of Messina or along the coasts on either side of the straits.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack roads and road junctions around Francavilla three times and troop concentrations around Adrano twice in support of British 8th Army ground attacks.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack Messina harbor and shipping in the Straits of Messina.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Rekata Bay.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and Marine Corps F4Us strafe barges at Gizo Island.
• US Army ground forces capture the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia.

Baltic Sea

U-34 is sunk after a collision with the U-boat tender Lech.

U-34

Battle of the Atlantic

The US gunboat Plymouth (PG-57) is torpedoed and sun by U-566 about 120 miles east of Cape Henry, Virginia.

Eastern Front

The attacks of Konev's armies make rapid progress, capturing Belgorod, a key position on the north side of the German salient at Kharkov, and advancing to the southwest. In the Orel sector the Germans are also being pushed back after 2nd Panzer Army suffered such heavy losses that it has been incorporated in 9th Army. Besides holding their own salient at Kursk the Russians are eliminating the German salient at Orel, to the north of Kursk. But the Germans have prepared a fortified line, called the Hagen line, at the base of the salient, based on the Bryansk and covering almost the whole of a line running from Sevsk in the south to Kirov in the north.

The Soviet 3rd and 63rd Armies re-capture Orel.

The Soviet 5th Guards and 6th Armies batter enemy forces around Tomarovka as the 27th and 40th Armies advance to the west of the town. Toward evening, the units of the XLVIII Panzer Corps begin a fighting withdrawal from the town to save themselves. The Soviet 1st Tank and 27th Armies approach Bogodukhov as the 53rd Armies severs the Belgorod-Kharkov road. Inside the city, the 7th Guards and 69th Armies eject the German defenders and establish bridgeheads over the Donets.[MORE]

Air Operations, East Indies

During the night, 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Laha airfield on Ceram.

Air Operations, Europe

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Cologne and Duisburg, 20 Stirlings and 14 Wellingtons lay mines south of Texel and off Brest and the Biscay ports, and there are 13 OTU sorties.
• 2 mine-laying Stirlings are lost.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• A P-39 with the 350th Fighter Group's 346th Fighter Squadron downs 1 Ju-88 recon bomber at sea 100 miles off the coast from Cherchell, Algeria, at 1355 hours.
• A 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire downs a Bf-109 40 miles northeast of Palermo at 1740 hours.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NASAF B-17s attack the coastal roads leading to Messina.
• NASAF B-25s attack rail bridges and road junctions.
• NATAF aircraft attack frontline targets, including Axis-occupied towns.
• NAAF and IX Fighter Command fighter-bombers moutn aggressive anti-shipping sweeps and attacks from Vito Valentia to the Straits of Messina, and in direct support of attacks by British 8th Army ground forces.
• IX Bomber Command attack Axis-held towns north of the Biancaville-Adrano road.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 24 XIII Bomber Command B-17s and B-24s, 24 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and more than 50 Marine Corps F4Us and SBDs attack Rekata Bay.
• 20 XIII Fighter Command P-39s and P-40s attack Tanagaba Harbor.

• VMF-214 and VMF-221 F4Us down 6 A6M Zeros and 2 E13A 'Jake' reconnaissand floatplanes over and around Morgusaisai Island at 0920 hours.

Axis Politics

German and Italian representatives meet at Tarvisio, on the border between Italy and Austria. The purpose of the meeting is to clarify relations between the 2 countries. Foreign Ministers Ribbentrop and Guaniglia and the Chiefs of Staff Keitel and Ambrosia are present. The Italians try to assure the Germans that they are not negotiating with the Allies. The fact that neither of the leading German delegates is in the first rank of the Nazi hierarchy shows that the Germans attach little importance to the conference.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-615 is sunk by US naval land-based aircraft (VB-130, VP-204, VP-205) and Army aircraft in the Caribbean.

Eastern Front

In Moscow 120 guns fire 12 salvos in honor of the forces that liberated Orel and Belgorod. The daily bulletin announces that Kromy, 25 miles southwest of Orel, and 70 other places have been liberated, and that the great offensive in the direction of Kharkov is developing favorably. The Soviets also capture Zolochev, northwest of Kharkov.

The 9th Army falls back upon the Hagen line, Kromy being given up to the advancing 13th Army.

During the early hours of the morning the 1st Tank Army launches an attack aimed at isolating the Germans at Borisovka. Lead units of the 27th Army, supporting the attack, smashes the Germans aside and drives upon Grayvoron. Near the town elements of the LII Corps launch a counterattack.

The 5th Guards Tank Army attacks the re-deploying III Panzer Corps near Zolochev and becomes embroils in heavy fighting. The ferocity of the German defense halts further Soviet progress.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Lautem and the Cape Chater airfield on Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 197 Lancasters are sent to attack Genoa, Milan and Turin.
• It is believed that every aircraft reached its target area and that 195 dropped bombs. The only report available from the ground says 20 people are killed and 79 injured in Turin. Group Captain JH Searby, of 83 Squadron, acts as Master Bomber for the bombing at Turin but with only limited success. This is a trial in preparation for the role he will play in the raid on Peenemünde later in the month.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

• 4 Mosquitos are sent to Cologne and 1 to Düsseldorf without a loss.

• Two separate formations of NASAF B-25s attack the Crotone Airdrome.
• NASAF B-26s attack highway and rail bridges at Marina di Catanzaro.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

82nd Fighter Group P-38s down 2 FW-190s off Pizzo about 1620 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-24s attack Kela and the Salamaua area.

Air Operations, Sardinia

325th Fighter Group P-40s down 2 Bf-109s and damage 5 others during a morning sweep over southern Sardinia.

Air Operations, Sicily

• Randazzo, the final escape route for many Axis units, is attacked throughout the day by NATAF A-20s and B-25s, and 150 IX Bomber Command B-25s.
• NATAF bombers also attack Maletto.
• NATAF A-36s and P-40s attack motor vehicles near Randazzo.
• NATAF A-36s and P-40s and IX Fighter Command P-40s attack numerous small vessels at sea between Sicily and the Italian mainland, and a variety of communications targets near the battle area and supply points in northeastern Sicily.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 16 XIII Bomber Command B-17s and B-24s, more than 40 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 30 Marine Corps light bombers and fighters attack Bairoko.
• 18th Fighter Group P-40s down 3 A6M Zeros between Munda and Rendova at 1430 hours.
• The Munda Point airfield on New Georgia is declared operational for emergency use.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Aircraft (VC-1) from the US escort carrier Card sink the German submarine U-117 in the North Atlantic area.

U-117 Class Type XB CO Korvettenkapitän Hans-Walter Neumann Location N Atlantic Cause Air attack Casualties 62 Survivors None

U-615 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Ralf Kapitzky Location Caribbean, W of Grenada Cause Air attack Casualties 4 Survivors 43

• After being sighted off and on for several days, 2 Mariners and a Ventura make a concerted attack on U-615 damaging her severely. She stays afloat until approached by the destroyer Walker at which time the submarine is scuttled.

Air Operations, Central Pacific

A VMF-441 F4F based at the airfield at Funafuti downs a G3M 'Nell' medium bomber over Nui Island at 1215 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

A week of hell begins for the big cities in the north of Italy. Milan is bombed 4 times by a total of 916 RAF aircraft, which drop 4,000 tons of bombs on the city, completely destroying 11,700 buildings and seriously damaging 15,000 others. British bombers, 380 strong, carry out 3 violent raids on Turin, causing tremendous damage and many deaths, and Genoa is laid waste by an attack by 73 aircraft, again with many casualties.

NASAF B-26s attack the highway and rail bridges at Angitola, and escorting P-38s strafe trains and other targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

8 Luftwaffe are downed in the theater during the day which include 1 Ju-88 reconnaissance bomber off Algiers, and 7 fighters over Italy at various times and places between 0940 and 1830 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-24s attack Larat, barges at Kokas, and ships at Semboh.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF A-20s and NATAF and IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Randazzo.
• NAAF fighters attack motor vehicles north of Mt. Etna and Axis ships at sea in the Straits of Messina and support Allied ground forces.
• More than 140 P-40 sorties are mounted against ships, boats, and barges in the Straits of Messina and in support of Allied ground forces.
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Air Operations, Solomons

23 42nd Mediums Bombardment Group B-25s, escorted by Air Corps and Marine Corps fighters, attack Buki and Vila on Kolombangara.

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Eastern Front

SOUTHERN SECTOR


The remnants of the LII Corps retreat to the area east of Akhtyrka where the Grossdeutschland Division holds off units of the 1st Tank Army. III Panzer Corps continues to attack the 1st Tank Army, forcing the Soviets onto the defensive south and east of Bogodukhov. Zolochev falls to 5th Guards Tank Army as the III Panzer Corps pulls back from the town. Aleksandrovka also falls to the Soviets.

With the Borisovka pocket destroyed the Soviets regroup their 27th and 6th Guards Armies. These armies are to push southwest toward Akhtyrka and Kotevka while 40th Army pushes toward Trostyanets.

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Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command bombers attack Japanese Army troops at Borgen Bay and Unea Island.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command bombers attack targets of opportunity in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• 286 Lancasters and 171 Halifaxes are sent to Mannheim.
• The target is mainly cloud-covered and the Pathfinder plan does not work well. As a result the bombing is widely scattered.
• 6 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters are lost.

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg, 10 Stirlings lay mines in the Frisians and there are 14 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.
• There are RAF night raids on Mannheim and Ludwigshafen.

• 72 322nd and 386th Medium Bomb Group B-26s arrive over St.-Omer/Ft. Rouge Airdrome at 1904 hours, but all but one are prevented from dropping their bombs because of heavy cloud cover.
• 11 B-26s are damaged by flak; 6 crewmen are wounded
• Elements of the newly committed 353rd Fighter Group, in 16 P-47s, join the 4th, 56th, and 78th Fighter Groups for a sweep through the Abbeville-Poix area, but encounter no opposition.

• NASAF B-25s attack bridges at Catanzaro and Soverato.
• P-38s attack targets of opportunity in southern Italy.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 33 V Bomber Command B-24s and 7 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack Salamaua with 140 tons of bombs.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack Lae and numerous other targets.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NAAF P-40s mount sweeps across southern Sardinia.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NASAF B-17s attack a vital crossroads north of Messina.
• NATAF bombers attack the road junction at Gesso.
• NAAF fighters mount numerous attacks against road targets, rail sidings, gun emplacements, and various military targets of opportunity.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Divieto, a tunnel west of Spadafora San Martino. and selected targets near the front lines.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping at Messina, Milazzo, and Palmi, Italy.

Air Operations, Solomons

10 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, followed by 22 XIII Bomber Command B-24s, attack Vila.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-664 is sunk by aircraft (VC-1) from the US escort carrier Card (CVE-11) in the North Atlantic area.

U-664

Denmark, Resistance

Erik Scavenius, the Danish prime minister, refuses to accept the German demand that saboteurs be tried in German courts.

Diplomatic Relations

In Ankara a secret agreement is reached between Britain and Hungary. In exchange for the Allies not bombing Hungarian targets, the Hungarians will not fire on Allied aircraft flying to Italy.

Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, B-25s, and A-24s, and 343rd Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s attack Kiska.

Air Operations, Europe

• 653 aircraft are sent to Nuremberg. In this total are 318 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes and 119 Stirlings.
• The Pathfinders attempt to ground-mark the city, and although their markers are mostly obscured by cloud, a successful raid develops. The central and southern parts of the city are hit. The Lorenzkirche, the largest of the city's old churches, is badly damaged and about 50 houses in the preserved Altstadt are destroyed. A large 'fire area' is created in the Wöhrd district.
• 7 Halifaxes, 6 Lancasters and 3 Stirlings are lost.

• 9 Mosquitos are sent to the Ruhr and 18 Wellingtons lay mines off Texel and in the Frisians.
• There are no losses.

NASAF P-38 fighter-bombers attack communications targets throughout the toe of Italy, and bridges at Angitola and near Locri.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack antiaircraft batteries around Borgen Bay.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack barges near Gasmata.

Air Operations, New Guinea

More than 20 V Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields in the Lae area while B-25s and 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack barges around Lae.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF aircraft and IX Bomber Command P-40s attack Randazzo.
• NATAF and IX Fighter Command aircraft mount anti-shipping sweeps over the Straits of Messina and northeastern Sicily.
• NATAF aircraft conduct numerous attacks in direct support of Allied ground forces.

Air Operations, Solomons

An estimated 40 A6M Zeros sent to attack against engineers rehabilitating the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia turn back when they are confronted by AirSols fighters. An 18th Fighter Group P-40 downs 1 A6M Zero over western New Georgia at about 1550 hours.

Eastern Front

Khotinets, east of Orel, falls to the Soviets. Their offensives farther south continue to make good progress despite skillful German defense.

Khotinets falls to the 61st Army as the Bryansk Front closes upon Karachev.

Heavy fighting rages around Bogodukhov as the 1st Tank Army attempts to bring up additional units to overpower the increasingly strong German forces. Heavy fighting also rages at Aleksandrovka where Soviet mechanized forces are trying to push their way forward to cut the Poltava railway line. The 5th Guards Tank Army continue to attack at Olshany but is held up.

Occupied Yugoslavia

Buritch forms the new Free Yugoslav Cabinet.

Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group bombers and 343rd Fighter Group fighters and fighter-bombers mount preinvasion strikes against Kiska throughout the day.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

A V Bomber Command B-24 on an armed-reconnaissance mission sinks a Japanese freighter near Kavieng.

Air Operations, Europe

The Luftwaffe sends a 70-plane night raid on Plymouth. Other bombers attack 'military installations' in Bournemouth.

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Cologne and Duisburg, 23 Wellingtons lay mines off Brest, Lorient and St Nazaire, and there are 19 OTU sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Wellington is lost and 1 OTU Wellington goes down in the sea.

• NASAF B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Terni.
• NASAF B-25s attack bridges spanning the Angitola River.
• NASAF B-26s and P-38s attack the bridge at Catanzaro.

Air Operations, Japan

9 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s based at the airfield on Attu attack Paramushiro Island, the Kashiwabara airfield there, and the Kataoka naval base with high-explosive and incendiary bombs. 40 A6M Zeros attack the bombers, but there are no losses.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF fighter-bombers provide close tactical support for landings by US Army forces at Orlando.
• NAAF and IX Bomber Command medium bombers and IX Fighter Command P-40s support British 8th Army ground forces attacking in the Randazzo area.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping at Messina and Milazzo, Axis troop concentrations awaiting evacuation to the Italian mainland, and a train near Messina.
• Only 3 Axis aircraft are encountered and downed in the theater, all during afternoon missions.

Air Operations, Solomons

5 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack supply dumps.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-468 is sighted by Liberator 'D' of No 200 Squadron RAF. The U-boat puts up a barrage of flak which sets the aircraft on fire before it begins its attack. Six depth charges are dropped with perfect accuracy sinking the U-boat before the aircraft crashed with the loss of the entire crew.

U-468 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Klemens Schamong Location Atlantic, SW of Dakar Cause Air attack Casualties 42 Survivors 7

U-525 Class Type IXC/40 CO Kapitänleutnant Hans Joachim Drewitz Location Atlantic, NW of the Azores Cause Air attack Casualties 54 Survivors None

• The German submarine U-525 is sunk by aircraft (VC-1) from the US escort carrier Card (CVE-11) in the North Atlantic area.
• The German submarine U-604 is damaged by US naval land-based aircraft (VB-129 and VP-107) and the US destroyer Moffett (DD-362) in the South Atlantic area. It is later scuttled.

U-604

Eastern Front

The Russian Voronezh Front under Vatutin, the Steppe Front under Konev and the Southwestern front under Malinovsky continue to close on Kharkov, which has already been by-passed in the northwest by the capture of Akhtyrka. The Soviets manage to cut the Poltava-Kharkov railroad about 30 miles west of Kharkov. Manstein stands up to the enemy maneuvers with considerable skill, but skill is not enough to repulse troops who are numerous, well armed, and - since Stalingrad and Kursk - convinced of their ability to win.

Lead elements of the 1st Tank Army reach Vysokoplye and after a hard fight take the town. However, late in the day the III Panzer Corps counterattacks and retakes the town.

As fighting continues at Olshany, the Germans bring up elements of the XXIV Panzer Corps. At this point Zhukov orders the 5th Guards Tank Army to call off its attack. The 6th Guards Army deploys southwest of Bogodukhov in order to stiffen the right wing of 1st Tank Army.

Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s and B-25s based at the airfield on Adak Airdrome mount 26 sorties against Kiska through the day. B-24s, B-25s, A-24s, and 343rd Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s based at the airfield on Amchitka mount 70 sorties against Kiska through the day.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 1 V Bomber Command B-24 attacks the Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Gasmata.

Air Operations, Europe

330 heavy bombers of the 8th Air Force are sent to the Ruhr and Bonn. Strong defenses, a thick cloud cover and smoke screens hamper the bombing. Capt Clark Gable, the movie star, flies in the leading B-17 of the 351st Bomber Group.

• 321 Lancasters and 183 Halifaxes carry out a successful raid on Milan. 1,252 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs are dropped on Milan in the heaviest raid yet suffered by an Italian city. Among the buildings hit are the Castello Sforzesco, the Palazzo Reale and almost all the buildings in the center of the city.
• 2 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster are lost.
• 152 aircraft of Nos. 3 and 8 Groups bomb Turin. Included in the total are 112 Stirlings, 34 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters.
• 2 Stirlings are lost.

• 7 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 24 Wellingtons lay mines off the Brittany ports and there are 9 OTU sorties.
• 1 Mosquitos and 2 mine-laying Wellingtons are lost.

In their unit's first individual mission, 27 353rd Fighter Group P-47s conduct an unchallenged and uneventful sweep across the Belgian coast.

• 133 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Recklinghausen, and several targets of opportunity.
• Flak and Luftwaffe fighter opposition down 23 bombers, 103 are damaged, 2 crash-land in the UK and are written off; 5 crewmen are killed, 49 wounded, 232 missing
• 110 4th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack the city of Bonn and several targets of opportunity between 0850 and 0900 hours.
• 2 B-17s are lost, 70 damaged; 1 crewman is killed, 7 wounded, 21 missing
• Using pressurized steel belly tanks for the first time, 131 P-47s of the 4th, 56th, and 78th Fighter Groups undertake penetration and withdrawal escort sorties, during which 4 Luftwaffe fighter are downed by planes of the 4th Fighter Group.

• NASAF B-25s attack the Crotone Airdrome.
• NASAF B-26s attack the Grazzanise Airdrome.
• During a large engagement over the Grazzanise Airdrome at 1300 hours, 1st Fighter Group p-38s down 2 and damage or possibly down 8 Axis fighters. B-26 gunners claim 9 Axis fighters during this action.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack a road near Bogadjim.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-24s bomb Paramushiro and Shimushu in the Kurile Islands.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF A-20s and NATAF and IX Bomber Command B-25s attack several Axis-held towns near the battlefront.
• NATAF A-36s and P-40s provide direct support for Allied ground forces and, with IX Fighter Command P-40s, attack Axis shipping in the Straits of Messina and along the northeastern coast.
• In their unit's first action in the Sicily Command on a mission against shipping traffice in the Straits of Messina, 79th Fighter Group P-40s down 1 FW-190 and damage or possibly down 4 other Axis fighters.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 25 XIII Bomber Command B-24s, escorted by 8 AirSols P-40s and 22 F4Us, attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville with 520 100-pound bombs.
• In several engagements through the day, Marine Corps F4Us down 4 A6M Zeros over Choiseul and Bougainville. 1 18th Fighter Group P-40 downs an A6M Zero over Kahili at about 1250 hours. 1 P-40 and 1 F4U are lost in the day's action.

Air Operations, Tunisia

52nd Fighter Group Spitfires down 1 FW-190 and damage another in an engagement 10 miles off Bizerte at 1850 hours.

Aleutians

5 US cruisers and 5 destroyers carry out the last pre-invasion bombardment of Kiska Island, firing over 60 tons of shells.

Eastern Front

In the Kharkov sector Chuguyev falls to the Soviets. The threat to Poltava is more serious, however, for if it is taken not only will the garrison of Kharkov be almost certainly cut off, but the German forces farther south will also be in grave danger. The III Panzer Corps is therefore brought back north from the Taganrog area. The Red Army advance on the Bryansk front continues.

The 1st Tank Army renews its attack yet again and recaptures Vysokopolye. Once more the Germans launch ferocious counterattacks. Chuguyev falls to the 57th Army while elements of the Steppe Front enter the outskirts of Kharkov.

Air Operations, Aleutians

7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s based at the airfield on Adak attack Kiska, as do B-24s, B-25s, A-24s, and 343rd Fighter Group P-38s based at the airfield on Amchitka.

Air Operations, CBI

• 4 23rd Fighter Group P-40 fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army positions at Lungling.
• After being grounded for several weeks by bad weather, the 23rd Fighter Group’s 16th Fighter Squadron, based at Yunnani, mounts offensive patrols over western China and northern Burma, but no contacts are made.

Air Operations, East Indies

Between midnight and 0145 hours on August 13, 9 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at the airfield at Fenton, Australia, attack oil facilities at Balikpapan, Borneo. The mission is 1,200-miles from Australia to Borneo, and back, and the B-24s are in the air for 17 hours. 1 fuel-starved B-24 crash-lands, but its crew survives.

Air Operations, Europe

• To try to force the Badoglio government to surrender, the US 12th Air Force carries out a second heavy raid on Rome. Fighter-escorted NASAF bombers totaling 106 B-17s, 66 B-25s, and 102 B-26s attack several marshalling yards in and around Rome with more than 500 tons of bombs. Although fighter opposition is reported as being 'strong', 1st and 14th Fighter Group P-38 escorts account for only 1 Bf-109 and 1 Mc-202.
• 2 B-26s are lost
• NASAF B-25s attack an Axis ship off Pizzo.
• NATAF bombers and IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Piedimonte.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack bridges and shipping along the southwestern coast.

• In the first Allied bombing mission against a target inside Austria (Operation JUGGLER), 61 of 114 IX Bomber Command B-24s dispatched attack an aircraft factory and ball-bearing factor at Wiener-Neustadt. The flight to the target and back from bases around Benghazi, Tunisia, is 1,200 miles. Flak and fighter opposition over the target is extremely light. The aircraft factory's output of Bf-109 airframes is reduced by one-third in the wake of the attack and severe damage is inflicted on the ball-bearing plant.
• 2 B-24s are lost

Air Operations, New Guinea

In the largest single strike in the theater to date, 37 V Bomber Command B-24s, 13 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s, and 9 22nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack targets in and around Salamaua with a record 173 tons of bombs.

Air Operations, Sardinia

While conducting a sweep over southern Sardinia, NAAF P-40s strafe a rail junction, small boats, and a power station.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF bombers and IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Falcone.
• NATAF bombers attack bridges near Scaletta.
• NATAF A-36s, IX Bomber Command B-25s, and IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping in the Straits of Messina.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack various targets of opportunity in northeastern Sicily and along the battlefront.

Air Operations, Solomons

• The first AirSols airplanes—4 XIII Fighter Command P-40s—land at the Munda Point airfiled on New Georgia. After refueling, they mount a sweep over Kolombangara.
• 9 XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack a supply depot; 2 B-17s attack Vila, Kolombagara; 13 B-24s attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville; 8 B-24s attack the airfield at Ballale; and 2 B-24s attack Sauvanau Point.
• A 6th Night Fighter Squadron P-38 damages a G4M 'Betty' bomber over Guadalcanal during the evening.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-24s raid the Balikpapan oil installations on Borneo.

Allied Planning

Over the next 12 days the British and American military leaders meet in Quebec ('Quadrant') and are joined by Roosevelt and Churchill to discuss future Allied strategy.

Gen Morgan's plans for the invasion of Europe are presented and accepted as the basis of more detailed work. The target date for the cross-Channel invasion ('OVERLORD') is set for May 1, 1944. Britain is committed to producing Mulberry Harbors - artificial ports which will be placed of the French beaches. Churchill accepts that the Supreme Commander for the invasion should be an American. In the Mediterranean the British are pleased that some exploitation of the defeat of Italy is provided for. The Pacific operations will continue, as agreed before, with the US authorities in full control. There is some difficulty in devising plans for Burma, however. It is decided to prepare another Chindit operation and to continue with the policy of sending aid to Chiang Kai-shek. Adm Mountbatten is selected to lead a new Southeast Asia Command (SEAC).

Arctic Ocean

U-boat group Dachs ('Badger') lays mines in the Kara Sea. U-639 is lost on August 28.

Borneo

The US 5th Air Force sends 380 planes of the 380th Heavy Bomber Group to raid the oilfields at Balikpapan from its bases in Australia.

Air Operations, Aleutians

8 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 1 B-25, and 10 343d Fighter Group P-38s attack Kiska.

Air Operations, Europe

• 140 Lancasters from Nos. 1, 5 and 8 Groups are sent to Milan inflicting more damage on the city.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
Evening Ops:

• 7 Mosquitos carry out a nuisance raid on Berlin without a loss.
US 9th AIR FORCE
AUSTRIA:


61 IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the Bf-109 factory at Wiener-Neustadt.

US 9th AIR FORCE
ITALY:


NATAF aircraft and IX Bomber Command B-25s attack a road junction near Palmi.

[ | ]


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Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-25s attack barges at Talasea and Rein Bay.

[ | ]


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Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Koepang, Timor.

[ | ]


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Air Operations, New Guinea

• More than 50 V Bomber Command B-17s, B-24s, and B-25s attack the Salamaua area.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s strafe barges near Finschhafen.
[ | ]


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Air Operations, Pacific

US aircraft take off from Darwin in northern Australia to attack the oil refineries at Balikpapan in Borneo. The 17-hour flight is the longest strategic aerial mission of the war.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF aircraft attack a refueling point near Gesso, shipping in the Straits of Messina, and numerous targets of opportunity in northeastern Sicily and southwestern Italy.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping around Milazzo and Messina.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Nine XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack Rekata Bay.
• A 6th Night Fighter Squadron P-38 downs an A6M Zero over the Russell Islands at 2115 hours.

Allied Planning

The Allied Supreme Command issues the naval plan for Operation AVALANCHE, the landing at Salerno.

Eastern Front

Fierce fighting for Karachev, on the Bryansk front, as the Germans try desperately to halt the Russian advance.

Italy, Politics

The Italian government declares Rome an 'Open City' to avoid further destruction by bombing.

Air Operations, Europe

There is a 90-plane raid by the Luftwaffe on Portsmouth.

Operation STARKEY begins. The first in a series of B-17 raids on French airfields takes place. The intent is to deceive the Germans into believing that the Allies will land in the Pas de Calais.

• 199 Lancasters continue to offensive on Milan. A particular concentrated bombing is claimed. 7 Lancasters are lost, mostly by German fighters awaiting the bombers' return over France.
• 154 aircraft of Nos. 3 and 8 Groups are sent to Turin. This total includes 103 Stirlngs, 37 Halifaxes and 14 Lancasters. This raid concludes Bomber Command's attacks on Italian cities which had commenced in June 1940.
• 2 Halifaxes, 1 Lancaster and 1 Stirling are lost.

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 63 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians, off Texel and off the main Brittany and Biscay ports, and there are 16 OTU sorties.
• 2 Wellingtons and 1 Stirling mine-layers are lost.

• On a mission confused by bad weather, 91 of 180 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s dispatched attack their secondary target, the Flushing/Vlissingen Airdrome, about 1930 hours. About the same time, 56 other B-17s from the original formation attack the Poix and Amien/Glisy Airdromes in France.
• There are no losses, 48 are damaged; 3 crewmen are wounded

• Of 147 4th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s sent, 82 of the planes drop half their bombs on the Merville Airdrome and half on the Lille/Vendeville Airdrome. 61 other B-17s attack the Vitry-en-Artois Airdrome.
• 2 B-17s are lost, 11 are damaged; 1 crewman is killed, 3 wounded, 20 missing
• In the VIII Air Support Command's first mission of the day, 31 387th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the St.Omer-Ft. Rouge Airdrome about 1000 hours.
• 18 B-26s are damaged
• 19 323rd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Abbeville marshalling yart with 54 1,000-pound bombs about 1930 hours.
• 9 B-26s are damaged; 1 crewman is wounded

• NASAF B-25s and B-26s attack the rail junction and marshalling yard at Sibari.
• NASAF P-38s attack the tracks and tunnel at Sibari as well as trains, troops, and radar installations throughout the Sibari area.

Air Operations, Aleutians

Despite bad weather that prevents air support, a US Army ground force invades Kiska, which has been secretly abandoned by the Japanese. Eventually, 1 343rd Fighter Group P-38 bombs and strafes a hill on Kiska.

Air Operations, East Indies

2 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack oil-storage tanks at Balikpapan.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

2 Bf-109 are downed over the Isle of Capri by a 1st Fighter Group P-38.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• Just in time, the V Fighter Command’s 35th Fighter Group transfers to the airfield at Tsili Tsili from Port Moresby. When 12 Japanese bombers and 20 fighters attack there for the first time. P-39s of the 35th Fighter Group’s 40th and 41st Fighter squadrons down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters and 10 Ki-21 'Sally' bombers over or near the base and the airfield at Marilanan between 0910 and 0915 hours. 4 P-39s and 3 of the pilots are lost, as are 2 C-47s that were about to land at the base when the attack began.
• V Bombers Command B-17s and B-24s attack the Salamaua area.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NAAF P-40s attack a troop bivouac near Monserrato.

Air Operations, Sicily

• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack ships picking up troops along the beaches.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s mount more that 180 sorties against ships and craft in the Straits of Messina./li>

Air Operations, Solomons

• A 6th Night Fighter Squadron P-38 downs an A6M Zero over Guadalcanal at 0115 hours.
• Under cover provided by AirSols fighters and supported by AirSols bombers, a US Army ground force makes an unopposed landing near Barakoma on Vella Lavella. Beginning at 0741 and lasting until after 2030, Japanese Navy aircraft mount 127 largely ineffective sorties against the Allied invasion flotilla. VMF-123 F4Us down 4 A6M Zeros and 1 D3A 'Val' dive bomber over Vella Lavella between 0750 and 0755 hours. P-40s from the 18th Fighter Group’s 44th Fighter Squadron down 3 A6M Zeros near the Vella Lavella area between 0800 and 0820. VMF-124 F4Us down 6 A6M Zeros and 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers over and near Vella Lavella at 0830 hours. 1 VMF-215 F4U downs a 'Val' over Vella Lavella at 1230. VMF-123 and VMF-124 F4Us down 4 Zeros and 2 'Vals' over or near Vella Lavella between 1720 and 1730. 1 P-39 with the 18th Fighter Group’s 12th Fighter Squadron downs a Zero over Vella Lavella at 1752 hours. VMF-214 F4Us down 2 'Vals' and a Zero over the Kahili airfield on Bougainville at 1800 hours.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack targets around Rekata Bay.

Aleutians

29,000 American and 5,300 Canadian soldiers who sailed from Adak on the 13th in about a hundred special transports - LSTs, landing ships, tanks: ships of 1,500 tons specially designed for the transport of armored fighting vehicles, LCIs, landing craft, infantry, and LCTs, landing craft, tanks: able to carry about three medium tanks - escorted by huge naval forces, land at dawn on the western beaches of Kiska Island. They discover for the first time that the Japanese are gone. Everything that the Japanese have not destroyed on leaving has been destroyed before or after by American bombs and shells.

Axis Planning

There is an urgent meeting between German and Italian military representatives at Bologna. Strategy on the Italian peninsula is discussed. The delegations are led by Field-Marshal Rommel and Gen Mario Roatta, Chief of Staff of the Italian army. The talks take place in a very tense atmosphere. The Germans are suspicious about Italian troop movements from the south of Italy to the north, and both sides make veiled suggestions that the others are pursuing ends which are not strictly those of both allies.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10th Air Force bombers attack 2 ships at sea south of Rangoon.

• 4 23rd Fighter Group P-40 fighter-bombers attack Tengchung.

Air Operations, Europe

• 171 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack the Paris/Le Bourget Airport with more than 397 tons of bombs about 0930 hours.
• 4 bombers are lost, 46 damaged; 1 crewman killed, 4 wounded, 31 missing
• In s saparate attack between 0911 and 0923, 66 4th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s each drop have their bombs on Poix Airdrome and half on Abbeville/Drucat Airdrome.
• There are no losses, 38 planes are damages; no crew losses
• 31 387th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Bernay St.-Martin Airdrome about 1115 hours.
• At 1700 hours, 29 322nd Medium Bomb Group attack the Beaumont-le-Roger Airdrome and 3 B-26s attack Concnes Airdrome.
• 4th Fighter Group P-47s down 18 Luftwaffe aircraft while escorting 1st Heavy Bomb Group B-17s over and around Paris.
• 3 P-47s are lost, 2 more written off after crash-landing in the UK

• NASAF B-25s and B-26s attack Staletti and a temporary bridge across the Angitola River at Angitola.
• NATAF A-36s and P-40s attack various communication targets throughout the toe of Italy.
• 86 IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the airdrome complex and city of Foggia.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 5 V Bomber Command B-25s attack Larat.
• 15 P-38s of the V Fighter Command’s 475th Fighter Group and 32 P-47s of the V Fighter Command’s 348th Fighter Group intercept a Japanese strike force that is preparing to attack an Allied transport off Tsili Tsili. The USAAF pilots down 2 B5N 'Kate' bombers, 7 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters, and 6 A6M Zeros over the airfield at Marilanan between 1500 and 1530 hours. This is the first time either group has been engaged in combat, and the first time P-47s have ever appeared in combat against the Japanese.

Air Operations, Pacific

Over the next 8 days the Japanese airfields around Wewak, New Guinea are subjected to a series of attacks by planes of 5th Air Force from Australia. Many Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground for small losses to the attackers.

Air Operations, Sicily

NATAF A-20s, NATAF and IX Bomber Command B-25s, and IX Fighter Command attack shipping and landing craft in and around the Straits of Messina. [ | ]

Air Operations, Solomons

• 9 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack targets at Rekata Bay and 5 B-17s, 12 B-25s, and more than 30 Marine Corps aircraft attack the Vila airfield on Kolombangara/Vila Field.
• Artillery fired by Japanese Navy ground troops on Baanga Island strikes the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia for the first time.

Allied Planning

The Allied Supreme Command issued the final directives for the landing in Italy: between September 1 and September 4 the British XIII Corps, with 2 divisions, the 1st Canadian and the 5th British, will be put down on the coast of Calabria. This operation, code-name BAYTOWN, will be followed on September 9, or not more that 48 hours later, by the landing of the American 5th Army at Salerno called Operation AVALANCHE.

Air Operations, CBI

• 4 23rd Fighter Group P-40 fighter-bombers attack Mangshih.

• 23 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a Japanese Army barracks at Cau Lo in 3 waves.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack oil facilities at Balikpapan, Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

The Americans mount a large daylight raid on the ball-bearing manufacturing centers at Schweinfurt by 230 aircraft and Regensburg by 146 aircraft. 51 aircraft are lost, one-fifth of the attacking force. Such losses are insupportable.

• 596 aircraft are sent to hit Peenemünde, the German research on the Baltic coast where V2 rockets are being built and tested. In the total are 324 Lancasters, 218 Halifaxes and 54 Stirlings.
• The raid is carried out in moonlight to increase the chances of success. There are several novel features:- there is a Master Bomber controlling a full-scale Bomber Command raid for the first time; there are three aiming points - the scientists' and workers' living quarters, the rocket factory and the experimental station; the Pathfinders employ a special plan with crews designated as 'shifters', who attempt to move the marking from one part of the target to another as the raid progresses; crews of No 5 Group; bombing in the last wave of the attack, have practiced the 'time-and-distance' bombing method as an alternative method for their part in the raid.
• The Pathfinders find the target area without difficulty in the moonlight and the Master Bomber controls the raid successfully throughout. It is estimated that this raid set back the V2 experimental program by at least 2 months and reduces the scale of the eventual rocket attack. A mosquito diversionary raid to Berlin draws off most of the German night-fighters for the first 2 of the raid's 3 phases. Most of the casualties suffered by the attacking force occurs in the third phase when the night-fighers arrive in force. This is the first night on which the Germans use their new schräge Musik weapons; these are twin upward-firing cannons fitted in the cockpit of Me 110s. Two schräge Musik aircraft find the bomber stream flying home from Peenemünde and are believed to have shot down 6 of the bombers lost on the raid.
• 23 Lancasters, 15 Halifaxes and 2 Stirlings are lost.

• 8 Mosquitos carry out a successful diversionary raid on Berlin. This raid provides a good example of the effectiveness of window. The Mosquitos dropping window cause about 200 German fighters to operate over Berlin.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

During the night 88 German bombers are sent to attack Lincoln. None find the target as bombs are scattered along the East Coast. 11 planes are lost.

• 29 386th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Bryas Sud Airdrome at 1051 hours with about 35 tons of bombs.
• 2 B-26s are damaged; no crew casualties
• In the afternoon, 35 323rd Madium Bomb Group attack the Poix/Nord Airdrome.
• 20 B-26s are damaged; 1 crewman is wounded
• 180 Tunisian-based NASAF B-17s attack the Istres-le-Tube and the Salon-de-Provence Airdromes, dropping over 25,000 20-pound fragmentation bombs and claiming 94 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground. 1 Luftwaffe plane is downed by an escort fighter, and bomber crews claim 23 enemy aircraft downed.

• The VIII Bomber Command mounts an attack against ball-bearing-industry targets in and around Schweinfurt. Between 1148 and 1207 hours, 127 4th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack aircraft factories at Regensburg with about 300 tons of bombs. Heavy resistance from Luftwaffe fighters and flak is encountered. The B-17s then fly to friendly bases in North Africa.
• 24 B-17s are lost, 50 damaged; 4 crewmen killed, 9 wounded, 200 missing
• In the second phase of the mission, 183 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack the Schweinfurt ball-bearing plants with over 424 tons of bombs between 1459 and 1511 hours. Flak and Luftwaffe fighter opposition is extremely heavy. B-17 gunners claim 148 Luftwaffe fighters downed along with 18 probables, but actual losses are lower by several orders of magnitude.
• 36 B-17s are lost, 121 damage; 3 cresmen killed, 12 wounded, 352 missing
• P-47 escorts of the 4th, 56th, and 78th Fighter Groups down a total of 19 Luftwaffe fighters in a series of sharp battles over Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

• About 100 NASAF medium bombers attack Battipaglia and Castrovillari, in the toe of Italy, and escorting P-38s strafe numerous targets of opportunity in the region.
• NATAF aircraft and IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping in the Straits of Messina and neighboring bodies of water.
• NATAF aircraft attack the rail junction at Lamezia and strafe and bomb Axis troops moving through the area.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• In anticipation of an Allied ground offensive against Lae, the 5th Air Force opens a campaign to neutralize the airfield at Wewak and satellite fields at Boram, But, and Dagua. Between 0300 hours and dawn, 36 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 12 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack all 4 airfields with incendiary bombs and parachute fragmentaion clusters. After first light, 29 3rd Light Bomb Group B-25 strafers (of 32 sent), escorted by 85 P-38s (of 99 sent), mount a low-level attack against the airfields at Boram and Wewak, and 3 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25 level bombers (of 26 sent from Port Moresby) attack the airfield at Dagua with fragmentation bombs. 3 heavy bombers are lost.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Japanese Army ground troops in the Salamaua area.

Air Operations, Pacific

The US 5th Air Force carries out a devastating series of raids on Japanese 4th Air Army air bases in the Wewak area of New Guinea. The attack shocks the Japanese, who believed that US aircraft were outside the combat radius for a raid on Wewak. However, US engineers covertly constructed a forward air base 60 miles west of Lae, putting Wewak only 400 miles away from USAAF aircraft of Lt-Gen George C. Kenney. The attack by 200 US aircraft results in three-quarters of the Japanese air base being rendered unusable and only 38 Japanese aircraft left operational.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Fresh ground troops are landed on Vella Lavella despite Japanese Navy air attacks. After AirSols fighters depart the beachhead area at dusk, several D3A 'Val' dive bomberss attack shipping off Barakoma and fatally damage 1 LST. Also, the early-warning air radar facility at Barakoma is demolished by a direct hit.
• Japanese Navy artillery based on Baanga Island continues to disrupt flight operations at the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia.

Air Operations, Europe

• 30 OTU Wellingtons make leaflet flights over France without a loss.
• During the night 570 British four-engined bombers pound the 'V1' and 'V2' factories at Peenemünde, on the Baltic coast.

• Although briefed to attack the Lille/Vendeville Airdrome in France, 22 of 36 322nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Ypres/Vlamertinghe Airdrome in Belgium because of bad weather over the intended target.
• 23 B-26s are damaged; there are no crew casualties

• NASAF medium bombers and fighters attack bridges and a road junction at Angitila, barracks and a rail line at Gonessa, rail facilities and a bridge at Soverato, and a road junction and highway at Staletti.
• NATAF aircraft attack road and rail targets and gun emplacements throughout southern Italy.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack road targets and shipping around Scilla.

36 386th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Woensdrecht Airdrome with 45 tons of bombs about 1030 hours.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

A 414th Night-Fighter Squadron Beaufighter downs a reconnaissance Ju-88 off Cap Bon at 1530 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 17 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, 9 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s, and 53 V Bomber Command B-25 strafers, supported by more than 100 V Fighter Command fighters, mount a mid-morning attack against the airfields at Wewak, Boram, But, and Dagua. 3 B-25s and 2 P-38s are lost.
• 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 15 Japanese fighters over Wewak between 0935 and 0955 hours.

Air Operations, Solomons

• As Japanese Navy bombers continue to mount minor attacks against ships off Barakoma, 1 LST is temporarily beached following a near miss.
• 1 VMF-123 F4U downs 1 D3A 'Val' dive bomber over Vella Lavella at 0800 hours and VMF-215 F4Us down 2 A6M Zeros over Kahili and Rekata Bay at 0845 hours.
• Japanese Navy artillery fire from Baanga Island continues to strike the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia.
• During the night, as US and Japaneses destroyers are about to clash off Horaniu, Vella Lavella, 8 AirSols TBFs bomb the Japanese warships without result.

Diplomatic Relations

Roosevelt and Churchill, meeting in Quebec, authorize Gen Eisenhower to send 2 representatives to Lisbon to negotiate with the Italian emissaries about an armistice.

An agreement is reached between Britain and Portugal on the establishment of air bases in the Azores.

Eastern Front

Soviet losses in the Orel bulge have been high since their counteroffensive began on July 12. The 50th Army has lost 5,400 killed and missing and 17,700 wounded while the 11th Army has lost 5,000 killed and missing and 15,000 wounded. The 4th Tank Army has suffered 2,400 killed and 5,000 wounded. In all the Bryansk Front has lost 39,000 killed and 123,000 wounded and the Central Front 47,700 killed and 117,000 wounded. The 2 fronts have also lost 2,586 tanks, 892 arty pieces and 1,014 aircraft.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Saumlakki in the Molucca Islands.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack Fuilaro, Koepang, and Lautem on Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

There are heavy Allied air raids by B-17s, B-24s and Wellingtons on Avellino, Salerno and Foggia.

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 36 323rd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Amiens/Olisy Airdrome at 1130 hours.
• 35 387th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Poix/Nord Airdrome about 1215 hours.

• NAAF P-40s sweeping across southern Italy attack a train and strafe several trucks.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s sweeping across southern Italy bomb roads and buildings.
• More than 150 NASAF B-17s and 70 IX Bombers Command B-24s, in separate formations, attack marshalling yards at Foggia.
• About 100 NASAF medium bombers attack marshalling yards at Salerno and Sapri.
• 14th Fighter Group P-38 escorts down 7 Axis fighters in a running fighte southwet of Foggia and Salerno just after noon.
• A 27th Fighter-Bomber Group A-36 downs a Bf-109 while attacking a marshalling yard at Catanzaro.

• A total of 93 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s, of 125 dispatched, attack the Gilze-Rijen and Flushing/Vlissingen Airdromes about 1800 hours. 4th Heavy Bomb Wing aborts its attack on the Woensdrecht Airdrome because of bad weather.
• 5 B-17s are lost, 50 damaged; 9 crewmen are wounded, 51 missing
• Several fighter groups are involved with escort duty. A 78th Fighter Group P-47 downs 1 Luftwaffe plane, and 56 Fighter Group P-47s down 9 Luftwaffe fighters.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-24s attack Manokwari, Larat, and small craft near Babo.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Pairs of 42nd Medium Bomb B-25s, each with a fighter escort, mount anti-shipping strikes and attack a radio station.
• Japanese Navy aircraft in the Solomons open an interdiction campaign against Allied forces on Vella Lavella.

• Following days of inconclusive fighting on Baanga Island, a US Army ground force captures Japanese Navy field artillery pieces that have been used to bombard the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia. The remaining Japanese on the island withdraw.
• A VMF-215 F4U downs 2 A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter-bombers over Rekata Bay during the late afternoon.

Diplomatic Relations

The Italians have made approaches to the Allies to negotiate a surrender. Gen Bedell Smith, Eisenhower's Chief of Staff, and Gen Kenneth Strong, his chief of Intelligence, arrive in Lisbon to continue the talks with approaches to the British ambassador there, Sir Samuel Hoare. The leading Italian representative is Gen Giuseppe Castellano who must still refer to Rome about the Allies' reaction to the Italian wish for an armistice.(See September 3 and 8.)

Eastern Front

Leading units of the 53rd Army clear the forests west of Kharkov, while Gen Pavel Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank becomes bogged down in bitter street fighting with the XI Corps. Furious battles cost the 5th Guards Tank another 180 tanks disabled. The 6th Panzer Division, fighting the hordes of Soviet vehicles, number just 15 operational panzers. Meanwhile, the 57th Army swings around the German flank south of Kharkov in an effort to take Army Detachment Kempf in the rear. The 69th Army moves to support the 53rd Army.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-25s attack barges near Cape Gloucester.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack the Tienho airfield at Canton.
• 74th Fighter Squadron P-40s down 2 A6M Zeros over Kweilin during the morning and 23rd Fighter Group P-40 escorts down 4 A6M Zeros over the Tienho airfield at Canton during the afternoon. 3 P-40s are lost over Kweilin.

Air Operations, Europe

There are further Allied air raids on Naples, Avellino and Salerno provinces.

• NASAF B-25s attack a marshalling yard at Benevento.
• B-26s attack marshalling yards at Aversa and Capua.
• NATAF and IX Fighter Command P-40s attack road and rail targets while conducting several sweeps across the toe of Italy.
• In a large fighter battle near the Naples coast about 1230 hours, 1st and 82nd Fighter Group P-38s down 13 Axis fighters and damage many others.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 24 V Bomber Command B-25s, escorted by 46 P-38s, attack the airfield at Boram in the late morning. 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Lae and Salamaua.
• P-38s of the 35th Fighter Group’s 39th Fighter Squadron and the 8th Fighter Group’s 80th Fighter Squadron down 13 Japanese fighters over and around Wewak in the late morning.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NAAF P-40s attack a marshalling yard at Monserrato.

Air Operations, Solomons

B5N 'Kate' torpedo bombers mount a dawn torpedo attack against US destroyers and LSTs approaching Barakoma via Gizo Channel. The torpedo attack is ineffective, but 1 US destroyer is damaged and 27 crewmen are killed or wounded when a bomber strafes the ship. An afternoon Japanese Navy bombing attack is ineffective, but a late-afternoon attack by B5N 'Kates' and D3A 'Val' dive bmobers against LSTs unloading supplies at Barakoma results in damage to 3 LSTs from near misses and the loss of several Japanese bombers to antiaircraft fire.

Baltic Sea

U-670 is lost in a collision with the target ship SS Bolkoburg the circumstances of which are unknown.

U-670

Diplomatic Relations

The talks between Gen Giuseppe Castellano and Gens Bedell Smith and Kenneth Strong finish. The Allies insist on Italy's unconditional surrender. Gen Castellano is given 10 days to inform his government of the decisions.

Eastern Front

The Soviets take Liberdin, to the west of Kharkov.

Lebedin falls to the 40th Army as it moves west. At Kharkov, Gen Pavel Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army tries to force the XI Corps from the city by direct frontal assault. The Germans are lying in wait with concealed panzers and anti-tank guns and exact terrible punishment on the 5th Guards Tank Army.

Finland, Home Front

A peace petition is handed to Prime Minister Ryti.

Air Operations, CBI

• 14 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 7 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s, escorted by 11 23rd Fighter Group P-40s, are sent to attack the airfield at Hankow. The P-40s are delayed when the airfield at Hengyang Airdrome is attacked by Japanese bombers. The unescorted B-24s fail to locate the primary target, but they are able to attack the city’s dock area despite determined attacks by as many as 50 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters. 1 B-24 is shot down. A second B-24, which is severely damaged, later crash-lands with 3 dead and 2 seriously wounded crewmen. A third B-24 is written off following an emergency landing at the airfield at Lingling. It is later reported through Chinese sources that bombs from the B-24s, in addition to causing massive material damage, are responsible for the deaths of 3 Imperial Army generals and several other high-ranking officers.
• 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s and 23rd Fighter Group P-40s down 6 A6M Zeros over the airfield at Hengyang at 1000 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Pombelaa, Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

• NASAF B-17s and B-26s attack marshalling yards at Aversa and Villa Literno. 1st and 82 Fightr Group p-38s down 5 Axis fighters near Villa Literno at 1300 hours.
• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack an air depot and rail facilities at Cancello Arnone.
• NATAF fighter-bombers attack road traffic in the toe of Italy.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack Bogadjim.
• 18 V Bomber Command B-25s, escorted by 60 V Fighter Command P-38s, attack the airfields at But and Dagua and B-24s mount individual attacks against Salamaua and targets of opportunity around Malahang.
• In an aerial engagement from Dagua to Wewak, 8th, 35th, and 475th Fighter group P-38s down 35 Japanese fighters between 0935 and 1015 hours.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by AirSols fighters, attack barges.
• Throughout the day, Japanese Navy aircraft mount piecemeal attacks against Allied shipping off Vella Lavella, but little damage results.
• Marine Corps F4Us down 3 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 10 A6M Zeros in the Vella Lavella area between 0945 and 1530 hours.

Australia, Politics

In the General Election, Premier Curtin's Labor Party wins a decisive victory. The Opposition Leader Menzies comments, 'the steam-roller has passed over us!'

Diplomatic Relations

Andrei Gromyko becomes the Soviet Ambassador in Washington.

Air Operations, CBI

• 4 23rd Fighter Group P-40 fighter-bombers attack a Japanese Army headquarters and supply dump at Tengchung, and 2 P-40s attack road traffic between Tengchung and Lungling.

Air Operations, Central Pacific

An advance detachment of Seabees land at Nukufetau Island in the Ellice Islands to begin construction of an advance airfield from which the projected invasion of the Gilbert Islands can be supported.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Dili, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

Allied aircraft attack Salerno and cause serious damage.

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Evening Ops:

• 462 aircraft are sent to bomb Leverkusen. Included in the total are 257 Lancasters, 192 Halifaxes and 13 Mosquitos.
• The I. G. Farben factory is the aiming point for this raid and it is hope that some of the bomb would actually fall there. There is thick cloud over the target and partial failure of the Oboe signals. As a result, the bombs fall over a wide area with at least 12 other town in or near the Ruhr recording bomb damage.
• 3 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes are lost.

• 12 Mosquitos are sent to the Ruhr and 6 to Hamburg, 47 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and off Texel and there are 7 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

35 386th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack Beaumont-le-Roger Airdrome at 2110 hours.

• NASAF B-26s and escorting NATAF A-36s attack marshalling yards at Salerno.
• NATAF P-40s conducting an armed reconnaissance attack motor vehicles in southern Italy.
• 86th Fighter-Bomber A-36s down 3 Axis fighters and damage or possibly down 4 others in a running fighte 25 miles west-southwest of Naples.

Air Operations, New Guinea

The airfield at Wewak and satellite fields are considered neutralized following ongoing attacks by 5 Air Force bombers.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and Marine Corps SBDs attack barges and barge facilities in western Vella Lavella.
• A VMF-214 F4U downs an A6M Zero near Mundi Mundi at 1522 hours.
• VB-101, in PB4Ys, undertakes its final patrol missions from Carney Field on Guadalcanal before being withdrawn to the United States.
• 10 USAAF SB-24 radar-equipped pathfinders arrive at Carney Field, Guadalcanal, where they are attached to the 5th Heavy Bomb Group’s 394th Heavy Bomb Squadron.

Central Pacific

Over the next week US forces occupy various islands in the Ellice group, including Nukufetau and Namumea, without opposition. Work is begun on airfields.

Eastern Front

The Germans begin to pull out of Kharkov after a stubborn defense. Manstein, commanding Army Group South, refuses to hold out any longer because he believes that it would sacrifice Army Detachment Kempf (Gen Werner) in a re-run of the very costly Stalingrad offensive. The battle extends south of Izyum and along the Mius River, where the Germans have a hard task holding up the Russian attacks. Near the Mius the Russians reach the Taganrog-Stalino railway.

The Stavka brings its Mga Operation to a close, having failed to drive the XXVI Corps of the 18th Army out of its Mga defenses. The fighting has cost the Soviets 20,890 killed and missing and 59,047 wounded.

Air Operations, Asia

In the first raid since 1941 the Japanese bomb Chungking, the home of the Chinese Nationalist Government.

Air Operations, CBI

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s mount a low-level attack against a bridge at Myitnge.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Kendari airfield on Celebes.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

A 14th Fighter Group P-38 downs 1 Bf-109 over the sea.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Aroe Islands, Finschhafen, and several villages.
• 22nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack Kela.

Air Operations, Europe

• Mosquito night fighters shoot down 4 Me-410 fighter-bombers attacking airfields in East Anglia.
• RAF Mitchells, escorted by Spitfires, bomb the St Omer marshalling yards. Wing-Cdr J. E. Johnson scores his 23rd victory.

• A total of 719 aircraft: 335 Lancasters; 251 Halifaxes; 124 Stirlings and 9 Mosquitoes, are dispatched to Berlin. Counting planes involved in route marking, mine-laying and leaflet dropping, 788 Bomber Command aircraft will be operational, almost the entire strength of Bomber Command.
• 70 aircraft abort their missions for various reasons, a serious depletion of the main bombing force. German night fighters take out a few more, but they are not as effective in locating targets since the diversionary 'window' began being used about a month earlier.
• The Luftwaffe is currently using a tactic known as Wild Boar (Wilde Sau). They would commit single-engined fighters directly over the projected target. Using various types of illumination over a target city - searchlights, the glow of burning buildings and the flares and markers dropped by British Pathfinders - to seek out the bombers by sight and attack them on their vulnerable bomb runs. Local Flak units cooperate by restricting the height of their gunfire to allow the Wild Boar pilots to operate above that height.

• Bomber Command loses 62 aircraft: 1 Lancaster destroyed in a bomb accident before take-off, 57 lost over Holland, Germany and the sea, 2 Halifaxes in a collision over England, a Stirling written off after crash landing at its airfield; and another Lancaster returning when hit by fire over Norfolk. This is the heaviest loss of Bomber Command in one night so far in the war: 8.7% of the bombers dispatched.

• 40 Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians and off Lorient and St Nazaire and there are 22 OTU sorties. There are no losses.

• NASAF B-26s attack a marchalling yard at Battipaglia.
• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Bari.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NAAf fighter-bombers attack barracks and a factory near Cagliari.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and XIII Fighter Command P-39s strafe Wagina Island.
• VMF-124 F4Us down 5 A6M Zeros over Vella Lavella between 1145 and 1305 hours. VMF-123 F4Us down 4 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters over Vella Lavella at 1705 hours.

Air Operations, CBI

• 14 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 6 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s, escorted by 14 23rd Fighter Group P-40s and 8 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s, are sent to attack the airfield at Hankow and neighboring Wuching, but 7 B-24s abort in the face of bad weather. The remaining 7 B-24s are attacked by an estimated 40 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighers over the airfield. 4 of the heavy bombers are shot down and the other 3 are severely damaged (with 2 dead and 6 wounded aboard) as they come off the target. 23rd Fighter Group P-40s down 10 A6M Zeros over and around Hankow at 1245 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 66 aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland, Frisian and Texel areas.
• There are no losses.

• Of 85 4th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s on their way back to the UK from bases in North Africa, 58 attack the Bordeaux/Marignac Airdrome about noon. 9 of the B-17s dispatched return to North Africa due to various mechanical problems, and 1 of these is written off.
• 3 B-17s are lost, 40 damages; 32 crewmen are missing
• In a late afternoon strik against airfields in France, only 22 of 42 B-17s dispatched are able to find targets in the bad weather. About 30 tons of bombs are dropped on the Conches and Evreux/Fauville Airdromes between 1844 and 1900 hours.
• 1 B-17 is lost, 15 damaged; 1 crewman killed, 9 wounded
• 86 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack the Villacoublay Airdrome with 257 tons of bombs at 1800 hours.
• 17 B-17s are damaged; 10 crewmen are wounded
• While escorting the afternoon bombing mission, P-47s down 6 Luftwaffe fighters over France.

NATAF fighter-bombers attack an Italian Navy cruiser off Sapri as well as various communications targets throughout southwestern Italy.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Salamaua and Wewak and B-25s attack Larat and barges near Wotap.
• 1 P-38 from the 35th Fighter Group’s 39th Fighter Squadron downs an A6M Zero over Wewak at 1045 hours.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 25 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Rekata Bay.
• XIII Fighter Command P-39s strafe barges.
• VMF-123 F4Us down 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 7 A6M Zeros over Kolombangara between 1230 and 1240, and VMF-124 F4Us down 2 withdrawing Zeros over Vella Lavella at 1245 hours.

Allied Planning

The eight-day Quebec Conference comes to an end. Roosevelt and Churchill, with their Chiefs of Staff, have taken or confirmed the following decisions: precedence in operations against Germany will be given to Operation POINTBLANK, the Anglo-American air offensive aimed at destroying Germany's industrial potential as a prelude to OVERLORD, the invasion of northwest Europe, still fixed for May 1, 1944. The plans for the invasion of the Italian mainland are approved, but the forces at present engaged must suffice.

The big offensive against Japan will be carried out along two center-lines, one for the Central Pacific and one for the Southwest Pacific. In the Central Pacific precedence will be givien to the capture of the Gilbert Islands and Marshall Islands. In the Southwest Pacific Rabaul will have to be neutralized without being captured, and New Guinea will have to be neutralized in a westward direction as far as the air base at Wewak. Manus, on the other hand, and the base at Kavieng in New Ireland, will have to be captured and used as jumping-off places for further leaps forward.

Supreme command of the Southeast Asia front will be assumed by Adm Lord Louis Mountbatten, with Gen Stilwell as his deputy; but both of these will still be under Chiang Kai-shek where the Chinese front is concerned. The offensive for the re-capture of Burma will be launched in February 1944.

Denmark, Resistance

Over the next two days there are several bomb incidents in Copenhagen including the blowing up of Forum Hall and many strikes in the shipyards.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack New Hanover Island.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Gasmata.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack the port area at Kowloon.
• A 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 damaged on the previous day’s disastrous mission against the airfield at Hankow crashes on its way to Kunming from Kweilin. 10 of 12 airmen aboard are killed.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack various targets on Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 42 aircraft lay mines off Brest and the Biscay ports and there are 7 OTU sorties.
• 1 OTU Wellington is lost.

• 21 387th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Rouen power station with 63 1,000-pound bombs at 1832 hours.
• 31 322nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Tricqueville Airdrome at 1834 hours with 44 tons of bombs.
• 4 B-26s are damaged, 2 from each group; no crew casualties

• 75 82nd Fighter Group P-38s and 65 1st Fighter Group P-38s mount a devastating low-level strafing raid against the Foggia Airdrome comples. The raid claims 137 Axis planes destroyed or damaged on the ground. The P-38s also strafe numerous anti-aircraft emplacements, airfield buildings, and such equipment as can be seen from the air.
• 2 P-38s and their pilots are lost

• After the P-38 raid, 136 NASAF B-17s, escorted by 14th Fighter Group, drop 240 tons of bombs on four of the Foggia satellite fields. An estimated 60 Axis aircraft are damaged or destroyed on the ground in this phase of the attack.
• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the Foggia marshalling yards.

Air Operations, New Guinea

Nearly 100 V Bomber Command B-17s, B-24s, and B-25s attack Awar, Hansa Bay, and Nubia and B-24s mount small multi-plane attacks against Finschhafen.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 6 XIII Bomber Command B-24s, escorted by 24 AirSols fighters, attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville.
• 13 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and more than 40 AirSols SBDs, escorted by AirSols fighters, attack Ringa Cove and Webster Cove.
• XIII Fighter Command P-40s attack barges in New Georgia Sound.
• VMF-215 F4Us down 4 A6M Zeros over the Kahili area at 1500 hours.

Arctic Ocean

The Soviet submarine S-101 is patrolling in the Kara Sea when her asdic operators detected a surfaced U-boat's diesels. Three torpedoes are fired from 1,000 yards with one explosion is heard. The Soviet submarine surfaces to recover evidence identifying the U-boat as U-639.

U-639

Air Operations, Algeria

A 350th Fighter Group P-38 downs 2 Bf-109s 15 miles off Taher at 1725 hours.

Air Operations, CBI

• 15 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, escorted by 17 23rd Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s, attack port facilities at Kowloon.
• 5 11th Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by 11 23rd Fighter Group P-40s, attack the Tienho airfield at Canton.
• 76th and 16th Fighter squadron P-40s and a 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 5 A6M Zeros over Canton at 1130 hours.
• 23rd Fighter Group and 74th Fighter Squadron P-40s two Ki-44 'Tojo;' fighters over Hong Kong at 1230 hours. 1 P-40 is lost.

Air Operations, Europe

Devastating raids on centers in southern Italy continue without respite.

• 32 aircraft lay mines off Brest and the Biscay ports and there is 1 OTU sortie. There are no losses.

• 36 323rd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Caen/Carpiquet Airdrome at 1846 hours with more than 47 tons of bombs.
• There are no losses

• At least 80 NASAF B-17s attack the Capua Airdrome. 4 Bf-109s are downed by escorting P-38s of the 14th Fighter Group's 48th Fighter Squadron.
• More than 100 NASAF medium bombers attack the Grazzanise Airdrome and a satellite runway. A 1st Fighter Group escort P-38 downs 1 Bf-109 over the target at 1245 hours.
• NATAF P-40 fighter-bombers attack Carloforte, San Pietro Island.
• NATAF A-20s and B-25s attack a variety of communcations targets and gun emplacements throughout southern Italy. 33rd Fighter Group P-40s down 3 Bf-109s over southern Italy during the afternoon.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NAAF P-40s strafe targets of opportunity during a sweep across southern Sardinia.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 7 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack targets in the Rekata Bay area and 15 B-24s attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville.
• 11 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and more than 40 Marine Corps SBDs, escorted by AirSols fighters, attack barges.
• XIII Fighter Command P-39s strafe Gizo Island and P-40s strafe barges and a small steamer.
• VMF-214 and VMF-215 F4Us down 11 A6M Zeros and Ki-61 'Tony' fighters between Vella Lavella and southern Bougainville at about 1630 hours.

Diplomatic Relations

The United States, Britain and Canada give limited recognition to the French Committee of National Liberation. On August 27 the Soviet Union and China follow suit.

Air Operations, CBI

• 5 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack a motor convoy between Sintsiang and Yoyang and 6 P-40s attack road and river targets between Yoyang and Hankow. 1 P-40 is lost to ground fire.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Dili and the Cape Chater airfield on Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

187 B-17 'Flying Fortresses' of the US 8th Air Force carry out their first mission over Europe, bombing Watten, France.

• 674 aircraft are sent to Nuremberg. In this total are 349 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes and 104 Stirlings.
• After scratching two targets after the first Berlin raid, Nuremberg is selected as the target for this night. The marking for this raid is based mainly on H₂S. 47 of the Pathfinder H₂S aircraft are ordered to check their equipment by dropping a 1,000-lb bomb on Heilbron while flying to Nuremberg. 28 of the aircraft are able to carry out this order. Nuremberg is free of cloud but it is a very dark night. The initial Pathfinder markers are very accurate but a 'creepback' quickly develops which cannot be stopped because too many of the Pathfinder aircraft have trouble with their H₂S equipment. The Master Bomber can do little to persuade the Main Force to move their bombing forward as only about a fourth of the crews can hear his broadcasts. There is only slight damage in the city as German night fighters attack in great force.
• 11 Halifaxes, 11 Lancasters and 11 Stirlings are lost.

• 47 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and off La Pallice, Lorient and St Nazaire and there are 10 OTU sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Wellington is lost.

• 35 386th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the Poix/Nord Airdrome with more than 54 tons of bombs at -826 hours. This attack is unopposed.
• 322nd Medium Bomb Group aborts its attack on a power station at Rouen because of heavy cloud cover.
• 1 B-26 is lost, 6 damaged; 2 crewmen are wounded, 6 missing
• In support of Operation CROSSBOW, the RAF bombing campaign against German V-weapons facilities and factories, 187 1st and 4th Heavy Bomb Wings B-17s, of 224 dispatched, attack V-1 launching sites around Watten with 368 2000-pound bombs between 1846 and 1941 hours.
• 4 B-17s are lost, 98 are damaged, 1 escorting P-47 is lost; 1 crewmen is killed, 18 wounded, 32 missing

• 36 unescorted 310th Medium Bomb Group B-25s dispatched against a marshalling yard at Benevento, northeast of Naples, are met over the shoreline by an estimated 50 Axis fighters, which make repeated attacks on the bomber formations all the way through the flight to the target and early in the withdrawal phase. All the B-25s attack the target. Three main rail lines running through Benevento are severed.
• 3 B-25s are lost
• NASAF B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Sulmona.
• NASAF medium bombers attack a marshalling yard at Caserta.
• NATAF aircraft attack a large number of transportation targets and gun emplacements throughout southern Italy.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 22nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack bridges around Bogadjim.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Japanese barges and troops in the Lae area.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 12 Airsols B-25s, 8 P-39s, and 8 F4Us attack barges and shore installations at Kakasa. P-39s also attack barges and shore installations at Ringa Cove.
• During the evening of August 27 and through the night, 394th Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s flying at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,500 feet undertake their first radar-guided antishipping sweep over sea lanes in the northern Solomon Islands.

Atlantic

In a German glider bomb attack 30 miles west of Vigo in the Bay of Biscay, the British sloop Egret is sunk and the Canadian destroyer Athabaskan is badly damaged. 194 men are lost on the Egret. Athabaskan picks up 35 survivors.

Battle of the Atlantic

Aircraft (VC-1) from the US escort carrier Card (CVE-11) sinks the German submarine U-847 in the mid-Atlantic area.

U-847

Air Operations, Europe

• NASAF B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Terni.
• NASAF B-25s attack marshalling yard at Cancello Arnone.
• NASAF B-26s attack Sparanise and a marshalling yard at Aversa.
• NATAF A-20s, B-25s, and P-40 fighter-bombers attack numerous rail targets and road junctions throughout southern Italy.
• NAAF fighter down 13 Axis fighters over Italy throughout the day.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack shore installations at Lae and Voco Point, and barges in the Lae–Salamaua area.
• 26 B-25s attack shipping in Hansa Bay.
• A 67th Fighter Squadron P-39 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance aircraft near Woodlark Island at 0838 hours.

Air Operations, Sardinia

NAAF P-40s bomb and strafe targets of opportunity all across southern Sardinia.

Air Operations, Solomons

• AirSols B-25s, P-40s, and F4Us attack Japanese troops, barges, and buildings.
• On their second night of operations, 5 of 8 394th Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s dispatched sink a Japanese destroyer and damage several other large vessels, thus forcing a Japanese convoy to retire.

Atlantic

The British sloop Egret is sunk by Hs-293 glider-bombs, launched from Do-217s. The first were used on August 25.

Bulgaria, Home Front

The pro-Axis King Boris III is assassinated by a pro-Russian gunman. His six-year-old son, Prince Simeon, succeeds to the throne under 3 Regents, Prince Kyrill, Professer Filov and Gen Michov.

Denmark, Resistance

The Danish government refuses to accept a German ultimatum and resign. The German commander, Gen Hermann von Hanneken, takes over. On August 29 he proclaims martial law and there is some fighting in various parts of the country. The Germans manage to capture 1 or 2 of the Danish Navy's few small ships but most are scuttled and a few are sailed to Sweden. The Danish government has been very successful until now in mitigating the effects of the German occupation while rigorously avoiding collaboraton.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack dumps in the Gasmata area.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack the airfield at Chingmen.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Adobo in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• 4 Oboe Mosquitos are sent to Cologne and 4 to Duisburg.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

• NASAF B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Orte.
• NAsAF B-26s attac Torre Annunziata.
• NATAF fighters escorting the bombers attack rail targets and gun emplacements along the bomber routes.

• In fighter action, a 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire downs an Me-210 over Utica Island at 0950 and 14th Fighter Group P-38s down 3 Mc-202s and damage or possibly down 12 Bf-109s over Orte between 1020 and 1030 hours.