Friday, November 26, 1943. The sinking of the HMT Rohna.

The HMT Rohna was struck by a HS-293 guided bomb and sank, killing 481 officers men in the initial explosion and 534 who subsequently drowned.  Details of the death of the 1,015 men off of the coast of North Africa were not released until after the war.

HMT Rohna.

Yank published "Jungle Mop Up" in its November 26, 1943 edition, with photographs of combat on the Islands of Arundel and Sagekasa in the New Georgia Group.

Wounded, now dead, Japanese soldier left by withdrawing comrades

.

Company commander spotting artillery fire on mortar fire.

U.S. machine gun crew with M1919 machine gun.

The Red Army took Gomel, Belarus.

Medal of Honor winner and the Navy's first ace of World War Two, Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare, failed to return from a combat mission, being a casualty of it.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in Turkey.

The MGM hit musical comedy Girl Crazy was released.

Thursday, November 18, 1943. The (Airborne) Battle of Berlin commences.

The RAF commenced the airborne Battle of Berlin on this day in 1943, hitting Berlin with 440 Lancaster bombers in a nighttime raid.  The raid killed 131 Berliners, caused light damage and resulted in the loss of nine aircraft with 53 airmen.   Raids would continue through March, 1944.

Cordell Hull addressed a joint session of Congress on the Moscow Conference.

The Germans opened the Ebensee concentration camp, with the first prisoners being non-Jewish.

The 1st Panzer Division pushed the Red Army out of Zhytomyr.

The U.S. Army issued a report on a newly encountered rifle, the FG42

German Paratrooper's Rifle F.G. 42" from Tactical and Technical Trends

German paratrooper in raid to free Mussolini carrying a FG42. By Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-567-1503A-01 / Toni Schneiders / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5412659

Never completely finished in terms of design, the FG42 was arguably the world's first battle rifle, although it is often called an assault rifle. The selective fire rifle, firing the standard full sized German 8x57 round and was designed to fill the role of rifle, light machinegun and submachinegun.  It was made in fairly limited numbers.

Following World War Two, the concept would be adopted by NATO countries, in part because of the U.S. rejection of intermediate sized rounds.  The FAL, G3, Stg 57, BM59 and M14 are all examples of post war battle rifles.

The Army also reported on German armored cars:

"German Four-Wheeled Armored Cars" from Tactical and Technical Trends

British soldiers exam a disabled SdKfz 222, the most common German four-wheel armored car.

The Germans, like the British, liked armored cars and used four wheel, six wheel and eight wheel varieties, the latter of which proved influential after World War Two and which inspired armored cars currently in use by the U.S., Canada and Germany.  Their four wheeled variants were in the Leichter Panzerspähwagen class and used for reconnaissance.

The U-718 accidentally rammed and sank the U-476 in the Baltic.

The Greek sailing vessels Agios Demetrios  and Kanelos were shelled and sunk south-east of the Kassandra peninsula and Strati, Greece by the Royal Navy, although I don't know why.

The HMS Chanticleer was torpedoed off Portugal and damaged beyond repair.

The Empire Dunstan was torpedeoed and sunk in the Ionian Sea.

German patrol boats sank the Soviet No. 35 motor boat in the Black Sea.

The Columbian Ruby was sunk by the U-516.

The Liberty Ship Sambridge was sunk by the I27 in the Gulf of Aden, where you don't really think of Japanese submarines operating.

The Sanae, a Japanese destroyers, was sunk by U.S. submarines.

French aircraft carrier off of Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, November 18, 1943.

1943  The Wyoming Department of Education released the results of a survey revealing that the state was short 70 teachers, no doubt the result of teachers having joined the armed forces during World War Two.  Attribution. Wyoming History Calendar.

Tuesday, November 2, 1943. The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay.

The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay occured as the Imperial Japanese Navy responded to the invasion of Bougainville, which had in fact caught the Japanese off guard, by sending in a naval task force.  U.S. Navy Task Force 39 was on sight.

The U.S. Navy had radar, the Japanese did not.  This overcame the Japanese nighttime advantage, which was based on training, resulting in a complete Japanese defeat. The U.S. pursuit ended with first light and with it naval action in the Philippines. The Japanese Navy would not significantly reappear.

The US sustained nineteen killed, one cruiser damaged, and two destroyers damaged.  The Japanese lost one light cruiser, one destroyer sunk, and one heavy cruiser was damaged, one light cruiser was damaged, two destroyers heavily damaged, twenty-five aircraft shot down and somewhere between 200 and 650 killed.

The heavy cruiser Haguro in Simpson Bay, Rabaul.  She had been damaged at Empress Augusta Bay the previous night.  November 2, 1943.

The Allies began bombing Rabaul in what was termed Bloody Tuesday.  The 71st Bomb Squadron, 38th Bomb Group, 5th United States Army Air Force attacked Japanese shipping, inflicting heavy losses but sustaining them as well.  It also resulted in a posthumous Medal of Honor being awarded to Maj. Raymond Wilkins.  His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Rabaul, New Britain, on 2 November 1943. Leading his squadron in an attack on shipping in Simpson Harbor, during which intense antiaircraft fire was expected, Maj. Wilkins briefed his squadron so that his airplane would be in the position of greatest risk. His squadron was the last of 3 in the group to enter the target area. Smoke from bombs dropped by preceding aircraft necessitated a last-second revision of tactics on his part, which still enabled his squadron to strike vital shipping targets, but forced it to approach through concentrated fire, and increased the danger of Maj. Wilkins' left flank position. His airplane was hit almost immediately, the right wing damaged, and control rendered extremely difficult. Although he could have withdrawn, he held fast and led his squadron into the attack. He strafed a group of small harbor vessels, and then, at low level, attacked an enemy destroyer. His 1,000 pound bomb struck squarely amidships, causing the vessel to explode. Although antiaircraft fire from this vessel had seriously damaged his left vertical stabilizer, he refused to deviate from the course. From below-masthead height he attacked a transport of some 9,000 tons, scoring a hit which engulfed the ship in flames. Bombs expended, he began to withdraw his squadron. A heavy cruiser barred the path. Unhesitatingly, to neutralize the cruiser's guns and attract its fire, he went in for a strafing run. His damaged stabilizer was completely shot off. To avoid swerving into his wing planes he had to turn so as to expose the belly and full wing surfaces of his plane to the enemy fire; it caught and crumpled his left wing. Now past control, the bomber crashed into the sea. In the fierce engagement Maj. Wilkins destroyed 2 enemy vessels, and his heroic self-sacrifice made possible the safe withdrawal of the remaining planes of his squadron.

 

Wilkins had originally intended to be a physician, but had joined the Army in 1936 after two years of pharmacy studies.  He served in the Army Air Corps from that point on, becoming a pilot in 1941.

The U.S. Fifth Army reached the Garigliano River in Italy.

The U-340 had to be scuttled after engaging a British warship off of Morocco.]

The US Comptroller issued the following finding:

B-37793, NOVEMBER 2, 1943, 23 COMP. GEN. 329

TRAVELING EXPENSES - FARES - ROUND-TRIP TICKETS WHERE IT IS SHOWN THAT DUE TO EMERGENCY WAR CONDITIONS AN OFFICIAL TRAVELER WAS UNABLE TO OBTAIN ADVANCE RESERVATIONS ON TRAINS AND WAS REQUIRED TO SECURE ONE-WAY TICKETS FOR EACH STEP OF THE JOURNEY, IT MAY BE CONCLUDED THAT THE SECURING OF A ROUND-TRIP TICKET WAS NOT "PRACTICABLE" WITHIN THE MEANING OF PARAGRAPH 16 OF THE STANDARDIZED GOVERNMENT TRAVEL REGULATIONS, REQUIRING TRAVELERS TO SECURE ROUND-TRIP TICKETS WHENEVER PRACTICABLE AND ECONOMICAL.

COMPTROLLER GENERAL WARREN TO C. P. KNAPP, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, NOVEMBER 2, 1943:

REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER OF OCTOBER 16, 1943, AS FOLLOWS:

THE ATTACHED VOUCHER FOR $98.15, IN FAVOR OF H. M. HUFFMAN, PRINCIPAL PHYSICAL CHEMIST OF THE BUREAU OF MINES EXPERIMENT STATION, BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA, HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO THIS OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXAMINATION AND CERTIFICATION.

MR. HUFFMAN TRAVELED FROM BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA, TO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, WASHINGTON, D.C., PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND RETURN TO BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA, ISSUING GOVERNMENT TRANSPORTATION REQUESTS FOR ONE-WAY TICKETS FOR THE VARIOUS STEPS OF THE JOURNEY INSTEAD OF PURCHASING ROUND-TRIP TICKETS, WHENEVER PRACTICABLE AND ECONOMICAL, AS REQUIRED BY PARAGRAPH 16 OF THE STANDARDIZED GOVERNMENT TRAVEL REGULATIONS. HE FURNISHES THE FOLLOWING JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF ONE-WAY TICKETS FOR THE VARIOUS STEPS OF THE JOURNEY:

" DUE TO THE FACT THAT I WAS UNABLE TO OBTAIN ADVANCE RESERVATIONS, THE LOCAL TICKET AGENT ADVISED THE PURCHASE OF ONE-WAY TICKETS. AT EACH STEP IN THE TRAVEL IT WAS NECESSARY TO TAKE WHATEVER RESERVATIONS THAT COULD BE OBTAINED FOR THE NEXT STEP OF THE JOURNEY. SINCE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHICH RAILROAD THE JOURNEY WOULD BE MADE ON, IT SEEMED ADVISABLE TO MAKE THE TRIP ON ONE-WAY TICKETS.'

A RULING IS REQUESTED AS TO WHETHER ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVAL AND CERTIFICATION MAY BE MADE OF THE VOUCHER IN THE AMOUNT CLAIMED.

WHILE YOU DID NOT SIGN YOUR LETTER IN THE CAPACITY OF AUTHORIZED CERTIFYING OFFICER, IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT YOU OFFICIALLY OCCUPY SUCH STATUS; HENCE, YOUR LETTER WILL BE REGARDED AS A REQUEST MADE IN THAT CAPACITY FOR DECISION PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 3 OF THE ACT OF DECEMBER 29, 1941, 55 STAT. 876, WHICH GRANT TO CERTIFYING OFFICERS "THE RIGHT TO APPLY FOR AND OBTAIN A DECISION BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL ON ANY QUESTION OF LAW INVOLVED IN A PAYMENT ON ANY VOUCHERS PRESENTED TO THEM FOR CERTIFICATION.'

PARAGRAPH 16 OF THE GOVERNMENT TRAVEL REGULATIONS PROVIDES:

THROUGH TICKETS, EXCURSIONS, TICKETS, REDUCED RATE ROUND-TRIP OR PARTY TICKETS SHOULD BE SECURED WHENEVER PRACTICABLE AND ECONOMICAL.

IN VIEW OF THE EXPLANATION FURNISHED BY THE TRAVELER REGARDING THE DIFFICULTY OF MAKING ADVANCE RESERVATIONS ON TRAINS--- A CONDITION WHICH IS A MATTER OF COMMON KNOWLEDGE AT THIS TIME, ARISING FROM THE EMERGENCY WAR CONDITIONS--- IT MAY BE CONCLUDED THAT IT WAS NOT "PRACTICABLE" WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE REGULATIONS, SUPRA, TO HAVE OBTAINED ROUND-TRIP TICKETS IN RESPECT OF THE INVOLVED TRAVEL. ACCORDINGLY, SO FAR AS THE QUESTION RELATES TO THE MATTER OF THE PURCHASE OF ONE-WAY TICKETS FOR THE LOWEST FIRST-CLASS ACCOMMODATIONS INSTEAD OF ROUND-TRIP TICKETS, THE VOUCHER, IF OTHERWISE CORRECT AND PROPER, MAY BE CERTIFIED FOR PAYMENT.

New Yorkers went to the polls, where the following items were on their ballot:

Proposed Amendment No. 1 Admin of Government. Establishes a department of commerce in the state government

It was approved

Proposed Amendment No. 2 Taxes Authorizes the legislature to establish a fund or funds for tax revenue stabilization

It was also approved

Proposed Amendment No. 3 Redistricting Relates to the creation of assembly districts in counties that have been apportioned a greater number of assemblyman then there are towns

It was defeated

Proposed Amendment No. 4 Direct Democracy Changes residence requirements for voting purposes

It was approved.

Proposed Amendment No. 5 Direct Democracy Relates to residence requirements for election to the state assembly or senate in the first election after redistricting

It was approved

Proposed Amendment No. 6 Judiciary Relates to the jurisdiction of the court of appeals and the regulation of appeals by that court

It was approved.

The following recordings were made on this day on the Decca label, all from the movie Girl Crazy.

But not for me. Judy Garland  

Treat me rough Judy Garland ; Mickey Rooney  

I got rhythm Judy Garland

Hollywood, for promotional purposes, spent a fair amount of time trying to promote the concept that Garland and Rooney were a couple, which they weren't.

A really rough looking Gen. Clair Chennault appeared on the cover of Look.

Tuesday, October 26, 1943. Extending Conscription.

President Roosevelt extended registration for the draft beyond the 48 states to the territories of Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Residents of those territories had until the end of the year to register.

Today in World War II History—October 26, 1943: US Thirteenth Air Force and US Navy bombers and fighters attack Japanese-occupied Bougainville in the Solomon Islands in advance of the Allied invasion.

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

October 26, 1943 – PoWs Arrive in RMNP

They'd been arriving at various locations in the US this week as well.

The Polish Home Political Representation created Social Anticommunist Committee to combat activities of the Polish Workers (Communist) Party.

Today was the first flight of the Dornier Do 335 of which a mere 37 were built.

The U-420 was sunk by a Canadian B-24.  She was one of 15 ships lost on this day.

The 1943 Hurricane Season came to an end when the last storm dissipated.

Fiday, October 22, 1943 Kurt.

Today in World War II History—October 22, 1943: Maj.-Gen. Robert Laycock becomes British Chief of Combined Operations. A German meteorological team lands in Labrador, to establish weather station “Kurt."

From Sarah Sundin's blog. 

The automated weather station would operate for only a month before failing due to unknown causes.  It was discovered in 1977.

Royal Navy HMS Charybdis which was lost in action on this day.

The Battle of Sept-Îles was fought near the French coast between the Royal Navy and the Kreigsmarine when British ships were ambushed in the Channel Islands area. The Royal Navy lost a cruiser and a destroyer to no German losses as a result of the action.

Wednesday, October 20, 1943. Naval events, Polish hero.

A Navy PBY and a Japanese Navy G4M exchanged fire off of Attu.  The unlikely exchange by two non fighter aircraft was the last combat action off of Alaska and the last off of any U.S. territory that would be part of the present fifty states.

Two gasoline tankers collided off of Palm Beach, Florida and exploded, killing 73 people on board one and 43 on board another, far more people than modern ships carry of the same type.  There were 28 survivors.

The United Nations War Crimes Commission was established.

The U-378 was sunk by U.S. aircraft.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—October 20, 1943: 80 Years Ago—Oct. 20, 1943: Germans arrest Polish social worker Irena Sendler for smuggling 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto.

As she notes, Polish resistance bribed camp guards to release her and mark her down as executed. She lived until 2008.

Sunday, October 17, 1943. The Burma Railway completed.

The German surface raider Michel was torpedoed and sunk off of Japan by the USS Tarpon.  On the same day the German's lost the U-540, U-631 and U-841 in the Atlantic.

The Burma Railway, constructed with Asian slave labor and Allied POWs, was completed.

Tamils working on the bridge.

The railway may be best remembered today due to the fairly inaccurate movie, The Bridge On the River Kwai, which is nonetheless a great movie.

POW illustration of the construction of Bridge 227 across the Kwai.

A second concrete bridge replaced the original wooden bridge shortly after its construction. It was destroyed by the RAF in February 1945.  Shortly after the war, most of the original railway was dismantled and only the original 81 miles remains in use.

The Third Moscow Conference begins.

It would begin to work on the post-war world.

Chicago began running its subway for the first time.

October 13, 1943. Italy declares war on Germany.

Italy would not be the last Axis power to switch sides, but it was the first.   The declaration was delivered by radio.

PROCLAMATION BY MARSHAL BADOGLIO TO THE ITALIAN PEOPLE, OCTOBER 13, 1943

Italians, with the declaration made September 8th, 1943, the Government headed by me, in announcing that the Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-American Forces in the Mediterranean had accepted the Armistice requested by us, ordered the Italian troops to remain with their arms at rest but prepared to repel any act of violence directed at them from whatever other source it might come. With a synchronized action, which clearly reversed an order previously given by some high authority, German troops compelled some of our units to disarm, while, in most cases, they proceeded to a decisive attack against our troops. But German arrogance and ferocity did not stop here. We had already seen some examples of their behavior in the abuses of power, robbery, and violence of all kinds perpetrated in Catania while they were still our allies. Even more savage incidents against our unarmed populations took place in Calabria, in the Puglie and in the area of Salerno. But where the ferocity of the enemy surpassed every limit of the human imagination was at Naples. The heroic population of that city, which for weeks suffered every form of torment, strongly cooperated with the Anglo-American troops in putting the hated Germans to flight. Italians! There will not be peace in Italy as long as a single German remains upon our soil. Shoulder to shoulder we must march forward with our friends of the United States, of Great Britain, of Russia, and of all the other United Nations. Wherever Italian troops may be, in the Balkans, Yugoslavia, Albania, and in Greece, they have witnessed similar acts of aggression and cruelty and they must fight against the Germans to the last man. The Government headed by me will shortly be completed. In order that it may constitute a true expression of democratic government in Italy, the representatives of every political party will be asked to participate. The present arrangement will in no way impair the untrammelled right of the people of Italy to c hoose their own form of democratic government when peace is restored. Italians! I inform you that His Majesty the King has given me the task of announcing today, the thirteenth day of October, the Declaration of War against Germany.

The Australians prevail at the Battle of John's Knoll-Trevor's Ridge.

Australians after the battle.

The Germans prevailed against the Soviet/Polish offensive at Lenino.

Soviet armed and organized Poles at Lenino.

The battle was badly fought by the Red Army, and well fought by the Germans.

The U.S. Navy destroyer Bristol was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by the U-371. The U-402 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by a TBF Avenger from the USS Card.

Monday, September 20, 1943. Sort of airborne at Kaiapit, Holocaust expands into Belgium, Gold moved, Midget submarines deployed against the Tirpitz, Coast stand down, Consript the dads.

The Battle of Kaiapit in the  Markham and Ramu Valley – Finisterre Range Campaign was fought between the Japanese and Australian armies.

The battle saw the Australian 2/6th Independent Company flown into the Markham Valley by the United States Army Air Force, which then attacked the village the prior day.  The village was reinforced by the Japanese, unbeknownst to the Australians, who then held out against strong counter-attacks against a more numerous foe, allowing the Australian 7th Division to be flown into the upper Markham Valley.

The entire Allied strategy in the battles provided an interesting example of the use of air power for transport, making the units types of airborne units, while neither paratroopers nor glider infantry were deployed.  Insertion by C-47 is something that the US Army had experimented with prior to the US entering the war, briefly considering creating units that would fly in, and land, and then go into combat.  This was abandoned before the war, but it's exactly what occured here.

American forces on Sagekarasa in the Solomons discover that the Japanese forces have evacuated the island.  The Japanese were proving adept at withdrawing from locations undetected.

Sarah Sundin notes on her blog that the U.S. 5th Army and the British 8th Army linked in Italy on this day.

General Marshal and Admiral King testify in front of a Senate Committee that failing to conscript fathers of families stood to prolong the war.

Germany began the mass deportation of Belgian Jews to Auschwitz. 

The Germans demanded that Italy's gold reserves be placed in German custody in Milan.

Crew of the midget submarine X-5. All were killed by counter fire from the Tirpitz during the raid when their vessel was hit and sank.

Six Commonwealth midget submarines, of which five were lost, raided the German Kriegsmarine in Norway, damaging the Tirpitz.  The raid, Operation Source, was heroic, but of debatable utility given the heavy loss of life.

The crews were made up of members of the Australian, New Zealand and British navies.

The first flight of the De Havilland Vampire took place.

The fighters were ordered into production in 1944 with the first deliveries coming in April 1945, too late to be used during it.  It would go on to be a successful post-war British fighter, but was already obsolete by the early 1950s.

Sarah Sundin notes that the U.S. stood down its coast observation posts, the threat of invasion having ceased.

 USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56), September 20, 1943.

Thursday, September 9, 1943. Operation Avalanche.

The U.S. Army VI Corps and British X Corps landed at the Gulf of Salerno.  German forces offered heavy resistance.  The landings were not proceeded with areal bombardments in an effort to keep the element of surprise.

The Italian fleet put to sea in an effort to avoid capture by the Germans, as the Germans rushed to occupy the country.  Those ships that could not sail were scuttled.

The Luftwaffe attacked the Italian battleship Roma, sinking it through the use of a guided bomb.  1,253 of its 1,849 man crew died, including the commander of the Italian Navy, Carlo Bergamini.

The wreckage was not discovered until 2012.

The British landed at Taranto.

The Germans and the Italians commenced fighting on Rhodes.  Grossly outnumbering the Germans, but less well-equipped, the two-day battle would result in an outsized Italian defeat resulting in large numbers of Italian surrendering.  The Italian commander, Admiral Inigo Campioni, would become a POW and ultimately be executed by the Germans, showing a real idiocy in regard to their own situation given that by this point in the war, they'd clearly lost it.

The Italians, now at war with Germany, did sink two German submarine tenders and five naval barges in the Action off Bastia.

Iran declared war on Germany.

The Red Army captured Bakhmach.

Monday, August 23, 1943. Kharkiv changes hands for the last time.

Today in World War II History—August 23, 1943: Soviets take Kharkiv, Ukraine, the fourth and final time it changes hands during World War II, and the Germans lose the Donets Basin industrial area.

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=593872

And that was a big deal in the war, we might note.

We should also note that the Red Army took massive casualties in the Battle of Kursk and its independent subparts, and in the counteroffensive following it.  While putting it oddly, an achievement of the Red Army by this point of the war was being able to sustain huge manpower and material losses and not disintegrate.  On the other hand, while the Red Army has numerous fans, it was fighting in a style that simply tolerated losses at a level that anything other than a totalitarian state could not endure, something the Germans also would do, but with the Soviets taking much larger casualties.

Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, a Polish born senior Soviet commander, had his illustration appear on the cover of Time.  The painting, which we cannot put up here as it is copyright protected, featured the Soviet general looking forward with piercing blue eyes and the words "USSR" behind him.  He was painted seemingly thinner than he was in real life.  Rokossovsky had been arrested during the Purge but had amazing survived, and then was dragged back out of confinement when it ended and the Red Army was in need of experienced commanders, which he was, after the disaster of the Winter War.  He never blamed Stalin for his confinement, but rather the NKVD, taking a politic, if toady, approach to both the horror and his ongoing servitude to the monstrosity of the USSR.

Orphaned as a child, he'd joined the Imperial Russian Army during World War One, then went over to the Reds during the Revolution.  After the war, in 1949, he became the Polish Minister of Defense under Stalin's orders, showing the extent to which Communist Poland was a puppet. He was not popular with the Poles, which he knew, commenting;  "In Russia, they say I'm a Pole, in Poland they call me Russian".

Rokossovsky and his wife Julia had a daughter named Ariadna.  He cheated on his wife with Army doctor military doctor Galina Talanova during the war, with whom he had a second child named Nadezhda.  He was fond of hunting.

He died in 1968 of prostate cancer in Moscow at age 71.

Life magazine, in contrast, had a black and white portrait of a young couple dancing the Lindy Hop.

Uruguay transferred German sailors of the battleship Graf Spee and auxiliary ship Tacoma to an internment camp at Sarandi Del Li after they violated the conditions of their internment in Montevideo boarding houses.

The Pasadena Post reported on the cast of Poppa is All touring military bases, which included Casper born and Lander raised former Miss Wyoming Helen Mowery.

Fairly forgotten in our present age, she was born Helen Inkster to parents who parents who owned the Quality Grocery in Casper, back in an age when Casper, like most communities, had a large number of local grocery stores.  Her father worked at a local refiner as well, and died in an industrial accident there when she was five.  Her mother then moved to her parent's ranch in Fremont County, while also giving birth to her only sibling at that time, the boy being born after the father's death.  When of high school age, she was sent to Cheyenne to complete her public school education.  Her popularity was notable even at that early age.  She became Miss Wyoming in 1939 in a competition that didn't qualify for the national one, as it was essentially a rodeo queen competition, with riding part of it.

She attended the University of Wyoming for two years after graduating from high school in 1940, but became an actress after that.  Never a big screen name, she acted as late as 1961, and died in 2008 in Pasadena at age 86.

Sunday, August 8, 1943. No Photos.

The United States banned taking photos or making illustrations of Atlantic beach resort beaches.

U.S. troops landed at Sant'Agata di Militello, Sicily, in an amphibious end run. German forces had succeeded in halting the US advance, which resulted in a series of beach landings.

U.S. soldier receives plasma from a pipe smoking medic at Sant'Agata di Militello

The Tripitz and Scharnhorst lead a task force to bombard Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and Grumant on Spitsbergen.

Ambassard Steinhardt wrote back to the Secretary of State regarding U.S. aircrewmen in Turkey.

The Ambassador in Turkey (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State

Ankara, August 8, 1943—11 p.m.

[Received August 9—9:30 p.m.]

1388. I discussed with the Minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday the status of the various American aviators interned in Turkey after the Ploesti raid. I suggested to him that the survivors of the crew of the Liberator which crashed off the coast and who were rescued by the Turkish coast guard be regarded as “shipwrecked mariners” and be released, and that all of the wounded aviators (some of whose wounds are very light) be regarded as unfit for further military service and be released and that subsequently the Turkish General Staff be instructed not to interpose too many barriers in the path of attempted escapes by others. Numan replied that he would give serious consideration to the release of the “shipwrecked mariners” and the wounded, and that he would suggest to the General Staff that they should not take “exceptional measures” to prevent escapes but that we must not embarrass him by “too many escapes” in the immediate future and particularly while the internment of the planes and crews was in the public eye. He added that “unfortunately” there were no German or Italian internees whose release could constitute a basis for exchange. He agreed to the immediate transfer of all the wounded to the American hospital in Istanbul.

Please inform General Arnold of foregoing.

Steinhardt

Saturday, June 26, 1943. Mutiny in Norway, Choosing Normandy, and Willie Gillis.

Today in World War II History—June 26, 1943: Allied commanders choose Normandy for invasion of France in 1944 and appoint Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory to prepare air plans for D-day.

Sarah Sundin, on her blog.

The crews of six U-boats based in Norway mutinied, refusing to put out to sea in light of high German submarine losses.  They were arrested and placed in Akershus Prison in Oslo.  The collapse of Imperial Germany began, of course, with sailor revolts in 1918.

Fritz Schmidt, age 39, the German Commissioner-General for Political Affairs and Propaganda in the occupied Netherlands died when he "fell, jumped, or was pushed out of a train".

"USS Newell (DE-322), launches sideways at Houston, Texas, June 26, 1943. The ship was named in honor of Naval Aviator Lieutenant Commander Byron Bruce Newell who was killed while serving onboard USS Hornet (CV-8) during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, October 26, 1942. Ship’s Sponsor was the widow. Photographed August 12, 1943. Official U.S. Navy photograph."

A famous Norman Rockwell illustration appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, depicting his everyman soldier figure, Willie Gillis,  showing the "cat's cradle" string trick to an Indian snake charmer.

Sunday, June 13, 1943. Bose arrives in Japan.

Indian revolutionary Subhas Chandra Bose, whom we've discussed on these pages before, arrived in Japan after traveling via U-boot and then by Japanese Imperial Navy submarine. The transfer of Bose en route is the only such example to occur between two nations of a civilian during World War Two.

Bose with the crew of the Japanese I-9.

The Zoot Suit Riots came to an end.  Amazingly, in spite of their damage so the American social fabric, and to the Zoot Suit itself, nobody was severely physically injured in the episode.

U.S. Army Air Force General Nathan Bedford Forrest III, age 38, when the bomber he was riding in as an observer was shot down over Kiel. He was the great-grandson of the famous and controversial Confederate General of the same name.

He was a West Point graduate from the class of 1928, and had been in the cavalry branch, but only for a year, before transferring to the Air Corps.  His father had been a businessman and a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.

May 24, 1943. Dönitz recalls the U-boats

Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz recalled the German fleet of U-boats following the reduction by 1/3 of that force in May, 22 out of 60, due to Allied action.  All together, 41 German U-boats would be lost in May.

Germany had effectively lost the Battle of the Atlantic.  While the submarines would redeploy, they'd never again pose the threat they had up to May, 1943.  This also meant the effective victory for the Allies against the Germans in a second front, although the fighting would go on, with the first being in North Africa.

Sarah Sundin notes the event on her blog, also noting that rationing of cheese in the US expanded to include all but cream and cottage cheese.

Josef Mengele was posted to Auschwitz.

Wednesday, May 19, 1943. Penicillin.

The Army Medical Corps cleared the release of penicillin.  It would be administered for the first time two days later to an unidentified soldier.

Penicillin's possibilities had been known for fifteen years, but it wasn't until 1942 when a particularly potent strain of the mold it is from was discovered in Peoria, Illinois, the critical sample of which was donated by an unknown woman who brought in a moldy antelope.

Churchill addressed Congress.

The speech is a famous one, but I cannot find a written transcript of it, which is unusual for his speeches.  There are some well known exerts of it, including:

Sure I am that this day, now, we are the masters of our fate. That the task which has been set us is not above our strength. That its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our cause, and an unconquerable willpower, salvation will not be denied us.

And:

All this gives the lie to the Nazi and Fascist talk that the parliamentary democracies are incapable of waging an effective war. We will punish them with further examples.

Joseph Goebbels declared Berlin to be free of Jews.

He was incorrect.

Berlin had certainly suffered an enormous decline in its Jewish population, and there had been a large effort to detain and expel (to fatal consequences) Jewish Berliners in the Spring of 1943.  8,600 Jews were expelled in the early months of hte year.  However, 6,790 Mischlinge (half Jews), members of Mischehen (mixed marriages), Jewish widows and widowers of non-Jews, and Jewish citizens of neutral countries or German allies still resided in the city in the summer of the year.  Over the course of the war, 55,000 Jewish Berliners would be reduced down, however, to only about 1,000 by the war's end.

The U-954 was sunk off of Greenland, taking down with it Peter Dönitz, a son of the head of the German Navy, Karl Dönitz.  Of Dönitz's three children, only his daughter would survive the war, dying in 1990, outliving her father by only a decade.  His son Klaus had been withdrawn from combat duties under a Nazi policy regarding the deaths of other sons of leading figures, but was killed on an E-boat after persuading friends to allow him to ride along on a raid.

Pope Pius XII wrote to Franklin Roosevelt

Your Excellency,

Almost four years have now passed since, in the name of the God the Father of ail and with the utmost earnestness at Our command, We appealed (August 24, 1939) to the responsible leaders of peoples to hold back the threatening avalanche of international strife and to settle their differences in the cairn, serene atmosphere of mutual understanding. «Nothing was to be lost by peace; everything might be lost by war». And when the awful powers of destruction broke loose and swept over a large part of Europe, though Our Apostolic Office places Us above and beyond ail participation in armed conflicts, We did not fail to do what We could to keep out of the war nations not yet involved and to mitigate as far as possible for millions of innocent men, women and children, defenceless against the circumstances in which they have to live, the sorrows and sufferings that would inevitably follow along the constantly widening swath of desolation and death cut by the machines of modern warfare.

The succeeding years unfortunately have seen heart-rending tragedies increase and multiply; yet We have not for that reason, as Our conscience bears witness, given over Our hopes and Our efforts in behalf of the afflicted members of the great human family everywhere. And as the Episcopal See of the Popes is Rome, from where through these long centuries they have ruled the flock entrusted to them by the divine Shepherd of souls, it is natural that amid all the vicissitudes of their complex and chequered history the faithful of Italy should d feel themselves bound by more than ordinary ties to this Holy See, and have learned to look to it for protection and comfort especially in hours of crisis.

In such an hour today their pleading voices reach Us carried on their steady confidence that they will not go unanswered. Fathers and mothers, old and young every day are appealing for Our help; and We, whose paternal heart beats in unison with the sufferings and sorrows of ail mankind, cannot but respond with the deepest feelings of Our soul to such insistent prayers, lest the poor and humble shall have placed their confidence in Us in vain.

And so very sincerely and confidently We address Ourselves to Your Excellency, sure that no one will recognize more clearly than the Chief Executive of the great American nation the voice of humanity that speaks in these appeals to Us, and the affection of a father that inspires Our response.

The assurance given to Us in 1941 by Your Excellency’s esteemed Ambassador Mr. Myron Taylor and spontaneously repeated by him in 1942 that «America has no hatred of the Italian people» gives Us confidence that they will be treated with consideration and understanding; and if they have had to mourn the untimely death of dear ones, they will yet in their present circumstances be spared as far as possible further pain and devastation, and their many treasured shrines of Religion and Art, – precious heritage not of one people but of ail human and Christian civilization – will be saved from irreparable ruin. This is a hope and prayer very dear to Our paternal heart, and We have thought that its realization could not be more effectively ensured than by ex- pressing it very simply to Your Excellency.

With heartfelt prayer We beg God’s blessings on Your Excellency and the people of the United States.

Thursday, May 6, 1943. The end of the Wolfpack.

The last major "Wolfpack" U-boat attack of World War Two took place, resulting in the loss of six U-boats. Convoy ONS 5 had been attacked by 40 U-boats over the course of a week, and had lost twelve of its party, ten on May 5, but it had been well defended, and the slow convoy marked the end of the Wolfpack.

Admiral King ordered the creation of the Naval Combat Demolition Units following prior successful frogmen operations.

Tuesday, May 4, 1943. How did they intend to pay for the war?

The Federal Government, oddly for wartime, was looking for ways to reduce income tax and nearly passed an income tax holiday for 1943.

The Germans lost three U-boats, two in accidents, in a month that would later be called Black May by German submariners.

Tail Gunner, Cpt. Clark Gable, flew on his first mission:

4 May 1943

Taketora Yamamoto,  Santa Fe Rail Road machinist, at the Winslow. Colorado River Relocation Center, Poston, Arizona:

Saturday, April 28, 1923. Measuring

The Saturday magazines were out.

The SS Deutschland was launched. The passenger ship of the Hamburg American line would go into Kreigsmarine service in 1940 as an accommodation ship.  In 1945 she was converted to a hospital ship but insufficient paint existed in order to paint her entirely white.  She was sunk in May 1945.

Wembley Stadium hosted its first event.

McGreen & Harris, 4/28/23

Williams ran a wordless classic.

Friday, March 19, 1943. Ships lost, Airmen Promoted, Mobster departs.

The Carras (Greek), Glendalough (UK), Lulworth Hill (UK), and Matthew Luckenbach (US) went down in the Atlantic.   So did the U348, which was sunk by a British B-17.

Sarah Sundin notes, in her blog:

Today in World War II History—March 19, 1943: U-boats break off attacks on convoys HX-229 and SC-122, ending largest convoy battle of the war. 

The HMS Derwent, Ocean Voyager (UK) and Varvara went down in the Mediterranean.  

The U-5 went down in a diving accident off of Pilaue, East Prussia.  The Soviet TKA-35 collided with another torpedo boat and sank.

USS Wahoo.

The Japanese lost the Kowa Maru, Takachiho and Zogen Maru, all merchant ships, to two submarines. The USS Wahoo sank two of them.   She would be lost in December 1943.

The Japanese losses demonstrate that the Japanese were enduring in the Pacific what the Allies were in the Atlantic, shipping losses due to submarines.  However, the Japanese were never able to adjust to it to the extent that the Allies ultimately did.

Sundin also noted:

Today in World War II History—March 19, 1943: Henry H. Arnold is promoted to four-star general.

Arnold was a career airman and had in fact received flight instruction from the Wright Brothers.  A West Point graduate, he had wanted to be a cavalryman, but his initial assignment was to infantry.  He switched to aviation in 1911, but did not receive any sort of World War One overseas assignments, being used in other roles, much like Eisenhower, until 1918 at which time he became ill with Spanish Flu.  He arrived in Europe right at the time of the Armistice.

He became chief of the Air Corps in 1938.

56 at the time of this promotion, he was in ill health and starting in 1943 he would have the first of four severe wartime heart attacks which should have caused him to be required to leave the service, but he was allowed to stay due to intervention by President Roosevelt.

He was appointed to General of the Army in December 1944, and General of the Air Force, although retired in 1949.  He's the only person to have held five-star rank in the Air Force, and the only one to hold five star rank in two services.

He retired in 1947, before the establishment of the Air Force as a separate branch, and died at age 63 in 1950.

The Albanian Communist Party formed the Sigurimi which gathered intelligence in the fight for Albanian freedom, and then was used post-war to stamp out any chance of Albanian freedom.

Frank Nitti, cousin of and mobster with, Al Capone, died by suicide the day before a scheduled grand jury appearance.  

Nitti had risen high up in the Chicago mob due to Al Capone, although he was not exclusively active with it.  He did become a very significant member of it and was more than mere muscle, contrary to the way he has been portrayed in film.  Born in Italy, and raised in the US under rough circumstances, he was perhaps a natural for crime.

Contrary to what is sometimes assumed, Nitti and Capone were not in the mafia and were not eligable to be as they were not Sicilians or of Sicilian extraction.