Sunday, October 24, 1943. The murder of Leonard Siffleet and H. Pattiwal

Australian POW, commando Sgt. Leonard Siffleet and Ambonese private H. Pattiwal  were murdered by the Japanese.

Their story is an odd one, as they were basically turned over to the Japanese by New Guinea natives who had ambushed them, once again demonstrating that native populations were not universally hostile to the Japanese.  They were interrogated and tortured, and then executed under the orders of Vice Admiral Michiaki Kamada.  The officer committing the murders had the process photographed.  His fate is unknown.

British psyop radio channel Soldatensender Calais, broadcasting on German frequencies, went on the air at 5:57 local time, filling the gap, with British broadcasts, every time Radio Deutschland was off the air due to bombing raids.

The Battle of Finschhaften resulted in an Allied victory

The U.S. Army captured Sant'Angelo in Italy.

The HMS Eclipse was sunk by a mine in the Aegean, resulting on the loss of 119 sailors and 134 soldiers it was carrying

The Japanese destroyer Mochizuki and five merchant ships were sunk southwest of Rabaul by American aircraft.

The U-566 was sunk in the Atlantic by a Vickers Wellington.

Saturday, October 2, 1943. Japan extends conscription to university students.

The Japanese government ended the student deferment for conscription.

I am surprised to learn, frankly, that they had been deferred.

Japan had 45 universities and other additional institutions of higher education at the start of the war, and the number actually expanded during it.  The university system itself only extended back to 1877, to this was quite an expansion over a short period of time.

The Second Battle of Smolensk ended in a victory for the Red Army.

The Soviets gave Romanian POWs the choice of joining a Soviet formed Romanian division or remaining POWs.

Sweden issued a proclamation welcoming Danish refugees.  Sarah Sundin notes on her blog:

Today in World War II History—October 2, 1943: During the night of Oct. 1-2, the Nazis arrest Danish Jews, but most are in hiding, and only 284 are arrested.

The German governor of Poland Hans Frank created a court staffed by the Gestapo, which was authorized to carry out sentences immediately.  

The Australians took Finschafen, New Guinea.

The U.S. 6th Corps took Benevento, Italy.  The British 78th Division crossed the Biferno.  British commandos occupied Termoli.

Wednesday, September 23, 1943. State of Emergency

It was day two of Operation Source.

It would take until March, 1944, to repair the Tirpitz.

Having commenced killing surrendered Italian soldiers at Cephalonia the day prior, the Germans started killing Jews, both Italians and non Italians, at Lake Maggiore.

On the same day, over the recommendation of local administrator, Gestapo member Werner Best, Hitler approved the planned deportation of Danish Jews, to commence on October 2.  As earlier noted, the actions of the Danish underground, combined with a local diplomat providing them information, frustrated this effort and most escaped to Sweden.

Best would be convicted of war crimes after the war and serve a prison sentence.

The German Governor General of Belarus was assassinated by his maid, a secret Soviet partisan, who placed a bomb in his bedroom.

Japanese Prime Minister Tojo declared a state of emergency.  Plans were made for the evacuation of Tokyo.

The Huon Peninsula Campaign began on New Guinea with the US and Australian landing at Scarlet Beach.

As part of the offensive, the Battle of Finschhafen began between Australian and Japanese forces, following the Australian landing at Katika.

The Red Army took Anapa in the Kuban Peninsula, and Novomoskovosk. 

Toni Basel, popular in the 1980s, was born.  This is an odd thought as it means that her teen pop hit came when she was well past the age that it normally would.