The Germans invaded Leros in the Aegean's/
We tend not to think of the Germans engaging in offensive operations this late in the war, but they did, of which this was a successful example. After four days of fighting, they'd take the island from its British, Italian and Greek defenders. The island had been occupied by a reduced British force as the Italians, during their Axis period, had heavy fortified the port facilities. The US had not approved of the British, i.e. Churchill, focus on the Aegean, so it had not participated with the British in the occupation of various Aegean islands, including this one.
According to some, the novel The Guns of Navarone is based contextually on the Battle of Leros, but I don't see that really.
Leros is extremely close to Turkey. So much so, that it's a bit amazing that the island wasn't transferred to the Turks in 1923. It has a Greek population, but it became an Italian possession in 1912 following the Italo Turkish War, one of the pre World War One wars that's nearly wholly forgotten now, leading to the commonly cited falsehood that Europe had been "at peace for fifty years" prior to World War One breaking out. It was annexed by Italy in 1923. It became a Greek possession at the end of World War Two.
The Allies won the Battle of Treasury Island in the Solomon's.
The Japanese bombed Darwin, Australia for the last time.
Remaining Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft are withdrawn from Rabaul. The overwhelming majority had already been lost.
The Allies bombed Arezzo, Italy, for the first time.
Franklin Roosevelt left for the Tehran Conference on board the USS Iowa.
Women in Lebanon turned out in the streets in favor of their deposed government.
The U-508 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by a US B-24.
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