August 31st, 1943 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command both fly missions against targets in France.
- The VIII Air Support Command flies Missions 41 and 42: 104 B-26B Marauders bomb the Rouen and Mazingarbe power stations; Poix/Nord and Lille/Nord Airfields; and the Hesdin fuel dump; 1 B-26 is lost.
- The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 88 against two
aviation locations.
(1) 105 B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Glisy Airfield at
Amiens at 1807-1824 hours; they claim 5-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17's are
lost.
(2) 149 B-17's are dispatched to the aircraft plant at Meulan; the plant is
cloud covered and 1 B-17 hits a railway northeast of Rouen. These missions are
escorted by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts which claim 2-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47's
are lost.
The Battle of Berlin continues: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 613 aircraft: 331 Lancasters, 176 Halifaxes, 106 Stirlings with nine Oboe Mosquitoes as route markers. Abortive sorties: 86, 14.0%. Many of the crews were tired, having had only a few hours sleep since the raid of the previous night. The force was easily tracked on its approach and at least 18 bombers were shot down by fighters.
Twenty-two aircraft, most Stirlings and Halifaxes were shot down in the target area and during the initial 70 miles of the journey back to England. A total of 377 bombing photographs were examined. Only ten of the photos showed aircraft bombing in the centre of Berlin.
Most bombs fell in a long spread 30 miles south of Berlin. Most bombs were scattered in a wide area of the south. Sixty-eight people were killed in Berlin and 19 in the countryside.
A total of 47 aircraft, 7.7% of total were missing: 10 Lancasters, 3.0%; 20 Halifaxes, 11.4%; 17 Stirlings, 16.0%. (Jay Stone)
Frigate HMS Parret commissioned.
Submarine HMS Terrapin launched.
Frigate HMCS Loch Alvie (ex HMS Loch Alvie) laid down.
Minesweeper HMS Antares commissioned.
Submarine HMS Storm commissioned. Frigate HMS Duff commissioned.
THE NETHERLANDS: Four RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb Texel during the night of 31 August/1 September.
FRANCE: The Japanese submarine I-8 reaches Brest from Singapore.
BALTIC SEA: Soviet motor torpedo boat TK 94 sinks Finnish minelayer Riilahti. 24 men, including commander, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Lt.-Cdr Osmo Kivilinna are lost.
U.S.S.R.: The Red Army advances south from Sevsk and captures Glukhov
and Rylask.
Soviet submarine "Sch-130" of the Pacific Fleet is lost when it
collides with "Shc-128" at America Gulf. (Later raised and went into
service.) (Sergey Anisimov) (69)
ITALY:
- US Ninth Air Force B-24s visually bomb the marshalling yard at Pescara and claim 9 enemy fighters destroyed.
- About 150 Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s blast the Pisa marshalling yard, doing a large amount of damage.
- Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers bomb the Cosenza marshalling yard and road-railway junction in Cantanzaro during the morning, and in the afternoon bomb the area around Cosenza when clouds prevent hitting specific targets; and fighter-bombers hit Sapri railroad and seaplane base; and during the night light bombers hit the bivouac areas southeast of Reggio di Calabria.
During the night of 31 August/1 September, 46 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Salerno with the loss of one aircraft.
SICILY: Negotiations for Italy's surrender resume near Syracuse, with General Giuseppe Castellano of the Italian General Staff pleading with the Allies to occupy Rome and protect King Victor Emmanuel and the Badoglio government. U. S. General Walter Bedell Smith insists on unconditional surrender, with the armistice to be announced as a large Allied army lands in Italy. Smith refuses to tell Castellano where the Allies will come ashore or how large the army will be. Disappointed by the unconditional surrender demand and fearful of the large numbers flooding into Italy, Castellano returns to Rome to confer with Italy's new head of state, Marshal Pietro Badoglio.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 7 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Gia Lam Airfield; and 22 P-40s and 2 P-38 Lightnings bomb a dike near Co Bi barracks.
CHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25's hit Ichang Airfield while 3 others attack an oil storage area to the east; P-40's also hit the oil stores. Three P-40's sink a small Japanese coastal vessel off Stonecutter's Island near Hong Kong; and 4 P-38's dive-bomb Yoyang railroad yards and Sinti warehouses; a P-38 is shot down by ground fire.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, nine USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs fly a low-level strafing mission against Malahang Aerodrome located 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) east of Lae.
EAST INDIES: In the air in the Netherlands East Indies, (1) USN PBY Catalinas sink small Japanese cargo vessels off Ceram; (2) RAAF Mitchells sink a small Japanese cargo vessel off north coast of Alor Island; and (3) U.S. aircraft sink a guardboat off Halmahera Island.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (Fifth Air Force): Bombers fly scattered strikes against shipping and shore targets in the Saint George Channel between New Ireland and New Britain Islands and in the Netherlands East Indies.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Thirteenth Air Force P-40s, in a running battle over Vella Lavella Island, claim 5 IJN aircraft shot down at 0910 hours; other P-40s strafe barges in Timbala Bay on Vella Lavella Island. 22 B-25s and 50 USMC airplanes bomb gun positions and the radio station at Vila on Kolombangara Island.
PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS
Seawolf (SS-197) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship and a merchant cargo ship
northwest of Okinawa in position 28.30N, 123.05E.
NORTH PACIFIC: The USN's Task Force 15, consisting of the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9) with Carrier Air Group Nine (CVG-9), USS Independence (CVL-22) with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Two (CVLG-22), and USS Yorktown (CV-10) with CVG-5 with a battleship, 2 light cruisers and 11 destroyers, attack Marcus Island located about 725 miles (1,167 km) northwest of Wake Island. A total of 275 sorties are flown against the Japanese and several IJN "Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) are destroyed and ground facilities are heavily damaged.
This strike marks the combat debut of the Grumman F6F Hellcat. The fighting squadrons on all three aircraft carriers are equipped with F6F-3s, i.e., Fighting Squadron Five (VF-5) in USS Yorktown, VF-9 in USS Essex and detachments of VF-6 and VF-22 in USS Independence. The Hellcats destroy four aircraft on the ground and later in the day, an F6F pilot shoots down a Japanese aircraft. (Gene Hanson, Jack McKillop and John Nicholas)
CANADA: Tug HMCS Dispatch assigned to Sydney, Nova Scotia.
HMC ML 109 commissioned.
U.S.A.: Destroyer escorts USS Keppler, Lloyd Thomas, Milton Lewis, Strickland, Sutton laid down. Submarines USS Trumpetfish and Tusk laid down.
Destroyer escort USS Kretchmer launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Forster, John J Van Buren, Stockdale, Cockrill, Edward H Allen and Tweedy laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Swasey, Amesbury and Harmon commissioned.
Destroyer escorts USS Jordan and Thomason launched.
Destroyers USS Haggard, Miller and Ingersoll commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Snowden commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Sage commissioned.
Destroyers USS Colahan and Cowell commissioned.
Destroyer USS Gregory laid down.
Commissioning of USS Harmon, first Navy ship named for an African American sailor.
Light cruiser USS Biloxi commissioned.
Escort carrier USS Corregidor commissioned.
Light fleet carrier USS Langley commissioned.
Submarine USS Redfin commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-380 damaged SS Pierre Soulé. An attack by an aircraft killed 2 and wounded 3 on U-406.