Saturday, January 16, 1943. The RAF Bombs Berlin, the Red Army prevails at Velikiye Luki, the Afrika Korps repulsed at Bou Arada.

A heavy Royal Air Force raid saw Berlin bombed for the first time in 14 months, seeing the return of the British air arm for the first time since November 7, 1941.  The resulting fires from 1,000 bombs on the city could be seen for 100 miles.

On this, Sarah Sundin notes:

Today in World War II History—January 16, 1943: RAF bombs Berlin for first time since November 1941, with the first use of target indicator flares to mark the target for bombers farther back in the stream.

Only one British bomber failed to return.

Sundin also noted in her blog that the British 8th Army and the Free French, marching across the Sahara from Lake Chad, linked up.  That was a remarkable feat by any measure.

In North Africa, the Afrika Korps attacked at Bou Arada, Tunisia, and was repelled.

The Red Army prevailed in the Battle of Velikiye Luki, sometimes called the Little Stalingrad of the North.

Following the war, the Soviets tried a collective set of German soldiers, ranging from a private to a general, who had fought at the battle.  Nine were sentenced to death for crimes related to anti-partisan warfare and hung in the town square in January 1946.

Iraq declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan.

You'd think, by this point, the message to the Germans should have been pretty clear.

The cover story of Science News was on radios for the war.