UNITED KINGDOM: A new Yugoslav Government is formed in London by former Prime Minister Yovanovitch. King Peter had been handed the resignation of the former government on 29 December 1942.
Light cruiser HMS Uganda commissioned.
FRANCE: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 28: The primary target is the St Nazaire U-Boat base, the first attack on this installation since 23 November 1942 and the heaviest attack to date against U-Boat bases to date. The command dispatches 85 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 13 B-24 Liberators; 60 B-17s and eight B-24s hit the target dropping 171 tons of bombs between 1130 and 1140 hours local. Formation (instead of individual) precision bombing is used for the first time by the VIII Bomber Command, and considerable damage is done to the dock area. Seven aircraft are lost
During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 (A-20) Bostons to Cherbourg but they are recalled. Three each Mosquitos attack railway targets in the Amiens and Tergnier areas. No aircraft are lost.
During the night of 3/4 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 45 Wellingtons and Lancasters to lay mines off the Bay of Biscay coast: 15 off the Gironde Estuary; 7 off Lorient, six off St. Nazaire, three each off Amiens, Bayonne and Tergnier, and two each off La Pallice, Limoges and St. Jean de Luz.
NETHERLANDS: During the night of 3/4 January, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Texel Island.
GERMANY: During the night of 3/4 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches three Pathfinder Mosquitos and 19 Lancasters to continue the Oboe-marking experimental raids on Essen. Three Lancasters are lost.
U-310 launched.
SICILY: British two-man "chariots" based on a modified torpedo, score their first combat success by sinking the Italian light cruiser ULPIO TRAIANO in Palermo harbour. The first such use of the device by the Royal Navy, which had copied it from the Italian Navy's Maiale that had been used to considerable effect against British shipping earlier in the war.
GREECE: CRETE: RAF Baltimores operating under the USAAF IX Bomber Command, bomb Suda Bay and Timbakion Airfield on the southern coast. A few of the aircraft also bomb Kapistri in eastern Crete.
U.S.S.R.: Exploiting the German withdrawal in the Caucasus, the Red Army occupies Mozdok and Malgobek.
TUNISIA: An Axis tank-infantry force, with artillery and air support, overruns the French 19th Corps troops at Fondouk. The British First Army's V Corps, employing the 36th Brigade of the 78th Division, begins limited attacks to improve positions on Djebel Azag and Djebel Ajred, west of Mateur. The British 6th Armoured Division conducts a reconnaissance in force on the Goubellat plain.
All USAAF XII Fighter Command units, i.e., fighters and light bombers (A-20 Havocs and DB-7 Bostons), attack Axis tanks at Fondouk el Aouareb. The fighters and light bombers attack the tanks as they move west from Fondouk; several tanks are reported destroyed or aflame and numerous other tanks and vehicles are damaged.
U.S.S.R.: The Red Army recaptures Mozdok in the Caucasus.
NEW GUINEA: Japanese supplies and reinforcements are landed at Lae under Allied air attacks. This convoy will provide the Allied Air Force planners valuable experience for future use. Over 100 sorties are delivered by the USAAF Fifth Air Force. Lieutenant General George C. Kenny, Commanding General Allied Air Force and Commanding General USAAF Fifth Air Force, had information from ULTRA as to when the convoy would leave Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, its destination and when it would arrive. Aircraft were ordered into the air as soon as they were ready. In some cases a medium or heavy bomber would attack singly, in other cases in twos or threes. Not surprisingly, with hindsight, the convoy handled them easily. One small transport is sunk by an Australian (PBY) Catalina attacking at night. After the convoy delivers its cargo, the Fifth Air Force sinks two more ships but by then the damage is done.
In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s strafe troops in the waters off Buna as U.S. and Australian ground forces are mopping up in the nearby Buna Mission area. In Northeast New Guinea B-26 Marauders, along with a single B-24 Liberator, bomb Madang and A-20 Havocs hit Salamaua.
103 sorties were delivered by 5th Air Force, but uncoordinated. Kenny had information from ULTRA as to when the convoy would leave Rabaul, its destination and when it would arrive. Aircraft were ordered into the air as soon as they were ready. In some cases a medium or heavy bomber would attack singly, in other cases in twos or threes. Not surprisingly, with hindsight, the convoy handled them easily.
Only one small transport was sunk, by an RAAF Catalina attacking at night. After the convoy delivered its cargo, 5th Air Force sank two more ships but by then the damage was done.
Mounting co-ordinated air attacks is harder than it looks. It requires a great deal of preparation and trained personnel on the ground at all airfields and at co-ordinating stations. At this stage, 5th AF didn't have these.
After the debacle at Buna, the initiative lay firmly with the Japanese. Imamura had decided to withdraw his forces from the Buna enclave and at the same time reinforce Lae with fresh troops. For the moment the Hyakutake in the Solomons got nothing.
The troops landed at Lae were tasked with eliminating the last allied airhead north of the Owen Stanley ranges - Wau. No-one knows what Imamura intended. He paid lip-service to IGHQ's orders to mount another attack on Port Moresby but I suspect he intended to draw MacArthur into another costly defensive battle, probably in the trackless coastal approaches to Salamaua (south of Lae). (Michael Alexander)
SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 6th US Marines land on Guadalcanal. The 1st Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, exerts pressure against the eastern part of the Gifu and establishes contact with 2d Battalion to the left.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: A lone USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberator strafes the airfield at Gasmata on New Britain Island.
AUSTRALIA:
U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Robert E Peary launched.
A Prisoner of War camp is approved for location just outside Douglas, Wyoming. (Pat Holscher)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-337 (Type VIIC) is listed as missing today. There is no explanation for its loss. 47 dead (all hands lost). U-337 reported for the last time on 3 Jan, 1943 from position 63N, 12W. (Alex Gordon)
U-406 took on an ill crewmember from U-123.
At 1800, the unescorted SS Baron Dechmont was torpedoed and sunk by U-507 NW of Cape San Roque, Brazil. Seven crewmembers lost. The master was taken prisoner and later lost when the U-boat was sunk ten days later. 28 crewmembers and eight gunners landed at Fortaleza.
At 2252, SS British Vigilance (Master Evan Owen Evans) in convoy TM-1 was torpedoed by U-514 about 900 miles NE of Barbados in 20°58N/44°40W (grid DQ 9325) and abandoned. 25 crewmembers and two gunners were lost. The master, 21 crewmembers and five gunners were picked up by the HMS Saxifrage and landed at Gibraltar.