The first use of the revolutionary VT fuse in combat occurred when the USS Helena shot down a Japanese dive bomber with a projectile equipped with the fuse.
Designed for surface-to-air and ground to ground use, the VT used radar to detonate when close to the target. The Navy's use came first, as it was feared that the fuse would fall into enemy hands if used in ground combat. Amazingly, use by ground forces of the joint British-American fuse would not come until late 1944 when it was deployed during the Battle of the Bulge. There was some reluctance to use it even then, but its revolutionary features were never discovered by the Germans or Japanese.
The fuse is widely used today.
Gen. Kenneth Walker led a heavy bomber raid on Rabaul to hit Japanese shipping, the presence of which the US was aware of due to decoding of Japanese radio transmissions. Eight Japanese merchant ships and two destroyers were hit during the raid by B-17s and B-24s. Gen. Walker's aircraft, in which he was riding as an observer, was brought down by Japanese antiaircraft fire, and he was killed.
Walker was 44 years old at the time of his death. Born in New Mexico, he grew up in Denver, Colorado in a home maintained by his mother, as his father left the family. He attended a variety of schools in Denver. He entered the Army during World War One and was commissioned as an airman in 1918.
The Department of Agriculture ordered that 30% of all butter production be reserved for the Armed Forces.
George Washington Carver, prominent American scientist and African American, died at approximately age 78.
The Red Army continued to advance in the Caucasus. British paratroopers and commandos took the high ground near Mateur, Tunisia. Free French forces advanced in southern Libya.
