August 19th, 1943 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command in England both fly missions.
- The VIII Air Support Command flies Missions 27A, 27B and 28 against 3 Luftwaffe
airfields in France without loss. (1) 36 B-26B Marauders bomb Glisy Airfield at Amiens at
1129 hours; they claim 1-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft.
(2) 35 B-26s are attack Nord Airfield at Poix at 1218 hours.
(3) 36 B-26s are dispatched to Bryas Sud Airfield but the target is obscured by cloud and
the mission is aborted.
- The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 85 against 3 Luftwaffe airfields in The
Netherlands.
(1) 38 B-17s attack Gilze-Rijen at 1802-1814 hours and 55 hit Flushing at 1756 hours; they
claim 29-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17's are lost; escort is provided by 175 P-47
Thunderbolts who claim 9-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 is lost.
(2) 45 B-17s are dispatched to Woensdrecht Airfield but weather prevents them hitting the
target.
Minesweeper HMS Pincher launched. Submarine HMS Venturer commissioned.
Corvette HMS Berkeley Castle launched.
Patrol vessel HMS Kilkenzie launched.
GERMANY: Luftwaffe Chief of Staff, Jeschonnek commits suicide after being criticized for the effects of the attacks two days ago on Schweinfurt and Peenemunde. He leaves a note asking that Göring should not attend his funeral.
ITALY:
- The US Ninth Air Force in North Africa sends about 70 B-24s to bomb the marshalling yard at Foggia, Italy.
- The Northwest African Strategic Air Force dispatches 150+ B-17s to bomb the Foggia marshalling yard, while almost 100 medium bombers hit marshalling yards at Sapri and Salerno; the bombers, and escorting P-38 Lightnings claim 34 enemy planes shot down, against 8 losses.
PORTUGAL:
U.S. General Bedell Smith, Eisenhower's Chief of Staff, and British General Kenneth Strong arrive in Lisbon to continue discussions with the Italians about surrender negotiations. General Giuseppe Castellano heads the Italian delegation. Castellano wants an agreement that would allow Italy to join the Allies and fight the Germans. He's shocked when the Allies insist on unconditional surrender.INDIA: Major General Howard C Davidson becomes Commanding General of the US Tenth Air Force replacing Major General Clayton L Bissell. The change is a result of a complaint against Bissell by Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek because Bissell and Major General Claire L Chennault, Commanding General of the Fourteenth Air Force in China, do not get along.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: USAAF 5th AF B-24s attack Manokwari, sink small craft near Babo, and bomb Larat and Saumlakki. B-25s hit Koepang, Fuiloro and Lautem.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, operating in pairs and with fighter escort, hit barges at Timbala Bay on Vella Lavella Island, Kakasa radio station on Gill Island, and a beached vessel in Paraso Bay. From this date through 28 August, Japanese airplanes attack Allied forces in the Barakoma area of Vella Lavella Island, losing a considerable number of aircraft (claims total about 50) to Allied fighters and ground fire without doing any great damage to the Allies. On Baanga Island, US Army ground forces finally capture the Japanese artillery pieces which have been shelling Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island.
CORAL SEA: The pilot of a USN Scouting Squadron
Fifty Seven (VS-57) OS2N-1 Kingfisher sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-17 off
eastern Australia in location 23.26S, 166.50E.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The USN submarine USS
Finback (SS-230) sinks Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser HIJMS Cha 109
(ex-Dutch patrol vessel Kawi) off the east coast of Celebes Island in position
03.01S, 125.50E.
CANADA: The Combined Chiefs of Staff meeting in Ottawa,
Ontario agree that the US will not invade the Japanese Kurile Islands due to the poor
weather in the area and instead, will only bombard the islands by sea and air and monitor
the Japanese via aerial photographic reconnaissance. As a result of this decision, US
troop strength in the Aleutians is reduced to 113,000 by the end of 1943.
Minesweeper HMS Rockcliffe launched Port Arthur, Ontario.
Frigate HMCS Wasskesiu and minesweeper
HMCS Canso arrived Halifax, Nova Scotia
from Esquimalt, British Columbia.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "A Lady Takes a Chance" is released today. This romantic western comedy is directed by Henry Hathaway and stars John Wayne, Jean Arthur and Phil Silvers. A wide-eyed city girl pursued by many men (Arthur) boards a bus driven by a zany driver (Silvers) and meets a handsome rodeo star (Wayne).
Destroyer escort USS Lyman launched. Destroyers USS Gatling, Halligan and McCord commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Aircraft of Composite Squadron Twenty
Five (VC 25) from the escort aircraft carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25) attack German
submarine U-134, northwest of the Azores, but the sub escapes.