August 15th, 1943 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Uther commissioned.
The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command both fly missions.
- The VIII Air Support Command flies Missions 19A, 19B and 20 against targets in France
and the Netherlands.
(1) 31 B-26B Marauders bomb Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer France at 0959 hours.
(2) 36 B-26Bs are dispatched against Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands; they turn back
at the Dutch coast aborting the mission.
(3) 19 B-26Bs attack the marshalling yard at Abbeville, France at 1933 hours.
- The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 82 against Luftwaffe airfields in France and
the Netherlands.
(1) 147 B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Vlissingen Airfield in the Netherlands and Amiens
and Poix Airfield in France at 1926-1931 hours.
(2) 143 B-17s bomb Merville, Lille/Vendeville and Vitry en Artois Airfields in France at
1925-1933 hours; 2 B-17's are lost.
FRANCE: Annecy: An RAF Halifax crashes on a secret mission to supply the Maquis, killing crew and civilians and damaging property.
U.S.S.R.: Karachev, Russia falls to Popev's forces.
Generalleutnant Heinrich Recke, commander of the German 161 Inf. D.is killed as he personally leads an assault to retake a small Russian village. (Jeff Chrisman)
ITALY: The British enter Taormina, Sicily. Another US amphibious
flanking movement finds the Germans have evacuated once again.
US Seventh Army troops land on the Sicilian north coast
northwest of Barcellona during the night of 15/16 August to block the enemy withdrawal.
The US 3d Infantry Division heads along the north coast to Spadafora.
British Eighth Army troops complete a drive around Mount Etna as the Randazzo-Linguaglossa road is closed. Linguaglossa is taken.
SPAIN:
Madrid: The Italian General Giuseppe Castellano meets Sir Samuel Hoare, the
British ambassador, to ask for Allied assistance to help Italy shake off the
German alliance.
CHINA: Fighting between Japanese and Kuomintang troops in the Shantung region ends, with heavy casualties on both sides.
NEW GUINEA: The Allied airfield at Tsili Tsili, is the target of a Japanese air strike.Salamaua: Not only were the infantry in action against the raiders and the artillery ready for them, but the ubiquitous signallers were, as usual, playing their part. Accompanied by a linesman, Lieutenant Hodson was today restoring the telephone between Boisi and Nassau Bay where it had been cut by the Japanese, two miles north of Lake Salus. At 1 pm an enemy patrol fired on the two signallers, who jumped into prepared holes and returned the fire. The enemy soon withdrew and the signallers resumed their task. (Michael Alexander)(155)
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Elements of the 25th Division occupy Vella Lavella. Fighters are sent to cover amphibious landings at Vella Lavella Island where elements of the US 25th Infantry Division, and supporting units, go ashore in the Barakoma area and establish a beachhead at 0741 hours. Allied airplanes knock down about 25 Japanese aircraft. USMC F4U Corsairs also claim 10 Japanese shot down over Kahili, Bougainville Island. B-25 Mitchells bomb Papatura Fa and Ighiti Islands in the Rekata Bay area of Santa Isabel Island.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 34,426 US and Canadian troops invade Kiska Island and discover that the Japanese, under the cover of fog, evacuated their garrison on 28 July. Troops landing are the US Army's 17th, 53d and 184th Infantry Regiments, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment and the 1st Special Service Force. Also landing is the Royal Canadian Army's 13 Infantry Brigade Group. Allied HQ is justifying its continued bombardment of the last 18 days by claiming that its attacks had destroyed Japanese radio equipment so that there was no way of knowing if anyone was left.
U.S.A.: The US Army forms the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate). It is formed with personnel of Norwegian ancestry, at Camp Ripley, Minn. (Nick Minecci)
The War Department awards Sergeant Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit for his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes.
Large cruiser USS Alaska launched. Destroyer escort USS Kyne launched. Submarines USS Lancefish and Ling launched. Minesweeper USS Sentry launched. Destroyer escorts USS Ira Jeffery and Frament commissioned. Frigate USS Newport is launched.
During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "German Doctrine of the Stabilized Front." (William L. Howard)