Thursday, February 17, 1944 German defeat at Korsun and near victory at Anzio. Japanese setbacks in the Pacific.

German forces escaped the Korsun Pocket but abandoned most of their heavy equipment, ending the Battle of Korsun-Cherkassy.  

35,000 troops out of the original 56,000 escaped.  General Stemmerman was killed in the breakout. Six German divisions were rendered combat ineffective.

While the bulk of the German forces escaped, their evacuation is not regarded as particularly triumphal, given that these formations were basically destroyed.

At Anzio the German counterattacks continued, with the Germans nearly breaking through the 45th Infantry Division.  The HMS Penelope was damaged offshore by a torpedo attack.  A British counterattack briefly takes Point 593, but the Germans retake it.  On this day, therefore, the Germans nearly prevailed in pushing the Allies back into the sea.

Soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division preparing to leave Enubuj Island for another small island, February 17, 19.

US forces land on Eniwetok Atoll on islets near Engebi, commencing the Battle of Eniwetok.

The U.S. Navy launched a massive areal offensive against the Japanese at Truk Lagoon in Operation Hailstorm.  Japanese losses would be massive.

Japanese shipping under air attack at Dublon Island, February 17, 1944.

U.S. destroyers bombarded the Japanese at Rabaul and Kavieng in a nighttime raid in what is known as the Battle of Karavia Bay.

Thursday, December 9, 1943. Wintertime Italian victory.

Today in World War II History—December 9, 1943: 80 Years Ago—Dec. 9, 1943: US airfield opens at Torokina on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, only 220 miles from major Japanese base at Rabaul.

From Today In World War Two History. 

The Battle of Monte La Difensa concluded as an Allied victory.

A letter home authored on this day:

112 Letters Home: Thursday, December 9, 1943: Let me take this moment and thank Grandma Robinson, Grandpa Robinson, Grandpa Wyse, and my Uncle Jim for serving our country.  The immense ...

Thursday, November 11, 1943. Armistace Day.

It was Armistice Day for 1943.

Japanese American Girl Scouts walking in front of barracks and carrying American flags while incarcerated at Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, 11/11/43.

The Moscow Conference came to an end.

French security forces raided the homes of President El Khoury, Prime Minister Riad Al Solh, and all but two members of the Cabinet, including future President Camille Chamoun, in reaction to the unilateral Lebanese repeal of the League of Nations' mandate over the country.

High Commissioner Helleu suspended the Lebanese constitution and appointed Émile Eddé as the new President.

The dissolution and unraveling of the French Empire had commenced.

In France, Armée Secrète Resistance fighters led by Colonel Henri Romans-Petit placed flowers at the foot of the memorial for the dead of the Great War in an act of bold defiance of the Germans.

The Red Army took Radomyshi.

Allied bombing of Rabaul ended following a final raid, with nearly every Japanese ship there disabled or destroyed.

Sarah Sundin notes something about that raid:

Today in World War II History—November 11, 1943: In Rabaul raid, US Navy Curtiss SB2C Helldiver makes its combat debut. US Eighth Air Force activates “Carpetbagger” squadrons to deliver supplies to resistance.

The film Sahara, with heroic Allies stranded in the desert, and even a sympathetic Italian character, holding off the Germans, was released.

Three Allied transport ships and a tanker are sunk east of Oran in a major Luftwaffe raid.

1943  The Commander of the Prisoner of War Camp in Douglas announced that 1,000 Italians held at the camp would be helping with the fall harvest. Given the timing of the announcement, it would have to be presumed that the harvest was well underway at the time.  As Douglas itself is not in a farming belt, it would be interesting to know where the POWs actually went, and how they were housed.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Friday, November 5, 1943. Task Force 38 at Rabaul, Marines at Bougainville, Red Army in Ukraine, US and British Armies in Italy, Somebody's air force over the Vatican, A Martyr

Task Force 38's aircraft attacked the Imperial Japanese Navy squadron detected the day prior, resulting in the Japanese sustaining damage to 4 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 2 destroyers. Ten American planes were lost.

Ground based B-24s hit Rabaul and the squadron later that day.

The 3d Marine Division defeated a counterattack on Bougainville by the Japanese Army's 23d Regiment.

The French Resistance set off bombs in the Peugeot factor at Sochaux.  The target was regarded as France's third most important one by the British Ministry of Economic Warfare due to its production of machinery used for tank turret production.

The Red Army began to encircle Kiev.

Offensive operations by the U.S. 5th Army on the Reinhard Line in Italy fail.  The British 8th Army captured Vasto, Palmoli and Terrebruna.

Also on the Italian peninsula, four areal bombs hit Vatican City.  IT was never clear whose air force was responsible, but a RAF crew had released bombs after developing engine trouble while not quite knowing where it was.

A gendarme on duty reported:

I distinctly heard the continuous noise of an aircraft flying at low altitude. I could not see it, prevented by the darkness. From the noise of the engine it seemed to me that the aircraft was coming from the northeast. It flew over the Vatican Railway Station and then went a little further away and immediately turned back. I almost immediately heard a hiss and a prolonged burst that gave me the impression of the almost simultaneous explosion of several bombs. The first of them fell on the escarpment near the boundary wall of the Vatican City State on the side of St. Peter's Station; the second one fell on the terrace of the Mosaic Studio; a third one behind the Governorate Palace and a fourth one in the Vatican Gardens in a location that I could not identify at the moment.

Sarah Sundin notes:

80 Years Ago—Nov. 5, 1943: Capt. Clark Gable leaves England, having flown 5 missions with the US Eighth Air Force, with footage for his documentary, Combat America.

The U.S. 56th Fighter Group, flying P-47s, became the first Eighth Air Force fighter group credited with 100 enemy aircraft destroyed.

German Catholic Priest Benhard Lichtenberg, 67 years of age, died while being transported in a cattle car to Dachau.  4, 000 mourners attended his funeral in Berlin.

An outspoken anti-Nazi, he was beatified in 1996.

Congress passed the Connally Resolution, which stated:

Senate Resolution 192-Seventy-Eighth Congress, November 5, 1943

Resolved, That the war against all our enemies be waged until complete victory is achieved.

That the United States cooperate with its comrades-in-arms in securing a just and honorable peace.

That the United States, acting through its constitutional processes, join with free and sovereign nations in the establishment and maintenance of international authority with power to prevent aggression and to preserve the peace of the world.

That the Senate recognizes the necessity of there being established at the earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, and open to membership by all such states, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security

That, pursuant to the Constitution of the United States, any treaty made to effect the purposes of this resolution, on behalf of the Government of the United States with any other nation or any association of nations, shall be made only by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur.

The German submarine U-848 was depth charged and sunk by an American aircraft off Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. 

Guadalcanal Diary was released.

Thursday, November 4, 1943. Island hopping.

 A seaplane tender in Aleutian waters trains a 40mm battery on an unidentified aircraft, November 4, 1943.

The U.S. War Department concluded that attacking Japan from mainland China was impracticable.  Therefore, the island strategy was solidly recommended.

An uprising broke out at the Szebnie concentration camp in Poland following the execution of over 1,000 of its prisoners. The SS rapidly suppressed it and the inmates are shipped to Auschwitz.

The Red Army broke out of its Dniepr bridgeheads.

A newly arrived Japanese Imperial Navy task force consisting of ten cruisers and ten destroyers is spotted by the U.S. Navy near Rabaul resulting in Task Force 38 preparing to strike it from the air.

The Allies achieve full lateral communications through Isernia in Italy.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—November 4, 1943: Plutonium processing plant opens at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for atomic bomb development as the X-10 graphite reactor reaches criticality.

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.

Monday, October 25, 1943. Another October day.

The Red Army's 3d Ukrainian Front captured Dnepropetrovsk.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—October 25, 1943: 80 Years Ago—Oct. 25, 1943: Adm. Sir Bertram Ramsay becomes Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief Expeditionary Force (ANCXF) for Operation Overlord (D-day).

The U.S. Army Air Force raided airfields near Rabaul destroying twenty Japanese aircraft on the ground.

Hong Beom-do (홍범도; Хон Бом До) Korean hunter who became a revolutionary, died on this day at age 75.

Reacting to the Japanese ban on Koreans owning firearms, which precluded hunters from their trade, he formed the 1907 Righteous Army of Jeongmi.  Upon Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 he moved to China and became, by 1919, the commander of the Korean Independence Army.  It did well, but ultimately was forced to retreat to the Soviet Union in 1921, which resulted in the disarming of the army.  He joined the Red Army in hopes that it might liberate Korea from the Japanese, a forlorn hope at the time.

In 1937 he was deported along with other Koreans to Kazakhstan where he died on this day.  His body was repatriated to Korea in 2021.

Akcja Fruhwirth (Operation Fruhwirth) was attempted by the Polish underground. The aim was to assassinate S-Scharführer Engelberth Frühwirth but SS-Scharführer Stephan Klein was shot by mistake.  He was, however, also a target of the Polish underground.

The newspaper comic strip Batman and Robin debuted.

Tuesday, October 12, 1943. Expanded use of the Azores.

Portugal expanded the use of naval and air facilities in the Azores under the treaty of 1373, even though, as recently noted, Portugal was neutral.

It was, of course, increasingly obvious which way the war was going, and that by this time the risk to Portugal was less than it was previously.

The U.S. 5th Army began its assault on the German Volturno line in Italy.

The U.S. attacked Rabaul by air, damaging three Japanese vessels.

The Battle of John's Knoll-Trevor's Ridge began on New Guinea.

The Battle of Levin began on the Eastern Front

The American Broadcasting Company's purchase of the NBC Blue Network was approved by the FCC, ending an antitrust suit against NBC.