Yesterday          Tomorrow

September 3rd, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)

* The VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 44 without loss: 
(1) 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 31 hit the target at 1007 hours; 
(2) 36 are dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and all hit the target at 0907 hours; and 
(3) 69 are dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille and 31 hit the target at 0828 hours.

* The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort is provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 are lost. 
(1) 168 B-17s are dispatched to the Romilly sur Seine air depot; 100 hit the target at 0903-0911 hours; 28 hit the secondary target, the airfield at St Andre de L'Eure at 0947-0949 hours; and 12 hit a target of opportunity, Fauvill Airfield at Evreux at 0955 hours; they claim 11-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost; 
(2) 65 B-17s are dispatched to Mureaux Airfield; 38 hit the target at 0843-0844 while 18 hit a dummy airfield near Dieppe; and 
(3) 65 B-17s are dispatched to an industrial area at Caudron-Renault near Paris; 37 hit the target at 0925 hours; they claim 15-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost.

Frigate HMS Domett is commissioned.

FRANCE:  The VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 44 without loss: (1) 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 31 hit the target at 1007 hours; (2) 36 are dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and all hit the target at 0907 hours; and (3) 69 are dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille and 31 hit the target at 0828 hours.

     The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort was provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 are lost. (1) 100 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Romilly sur Seine air depot at 0903-0911 hours; (2) 38 B-17s bomb the Meulan-les-Mureaux Airfield; (3) 37 bomb the Caudron-Renault aircraft engine factory near Paris; (4) 28 bomb St. Andre Del'Eure Airfield; (5) 18 bomb the dummy St. Aubin Airfield at Dieppe; and (6) 12 bomb Fauville Airfield at Evreux. 

     The RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Wellingtons, six Mosquitos and six Halifaxes to an ammunition dump in the ForLt de Raismes, near Valenciennes; 39 bomb the target without loss. Two mining missions are flown: 12 aircraft lay mines off Gironde and four mine off La Pallice. 

GERMANY: One million civilians have been evacuated from Berlin in the last month.

During the night of 3/4 September, the RAF (RAF) Bomber Command dispatches 316 Lancasters and four Mosquitos to bomb Berlin. Because of the high casualty rates among Halifax and Stirling crews in recent Berlin raids the heavy force was composed only of Lancasters. Two hundred ninety five aircraft bomb with the loss of 22 Lancasters, nearly 7.0 per cent of the force. The Mosquitos are used to drop 'spoof' flares well away from the bombers' route to attract German night fighters. The raid approached Berlin from the northeast but the marking and bombing are, once again, mostly short of the target. That part of the bombing which did reach Berlin's built-up area fell in residential parts of Charlottenburg and Moabit and in the industrial area called Siemensstadt. Several factories are hit and suffered serious loss of production and among 'utilities' put out of action are major water and electricity works and one of Berlin's largest breweries. Thirteen Lancasters bomb three targets of opportunity. 

U.S.S.R.: Putivl, northeast of Konotop falls to the Soviet Army. Bovask in the Donets Basin is also liberated. The Bryansk/Kiev railway line is cut.

ITALY: SICILY: Italian Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio radios General Giuseppe Castellano of the General Staff the authorization to surrender. The secret armistice that will take Italy out of the war on 8 September is signed at Cassbili with U.S. General Walter Bedell Smith initialling the agreement for the Allies. No announcement of this is made until arrangements to prevent the German takeover of the government can be worked out. 
 After weeks of talks in Portugal led a "freed" British PoW, Lt-Gen Adrian Carton de Wiart, VC, the Allies have agreed an armistice, to be announced "at the right time" - in order not to prejudice the Salerno landings. From the moment that Marshal Badoglio became Italy's premier, he was determined to take his disillusioned country out of the war. But the Germans are unlikely to take kindly to Italy's surrender.

Straits of Messina: Following two days of heavy bombardment by four battleships, British troops of XIII Corps, Eighth Army cross the Straits of Messina and land in force on the European mainland north of Reggio di Calabria, today, the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war. General Montgomery took no chances. Every available artillery piece as lined up on the Sicilian coast. Monitors, cruisers and destroyers rained shells ranging from six to 15 inches in size on beaches near Reggio di Calabria.

Eisenhower had planned this invasion - Operation Baytown - to draw German forces away from Salerno, where large-scale landings are planned. Two Panzer divisions had been in the Reggio area, but the Germans had left by the time that the men of XIII Corps - the British 5th and Canadian 1st Divisions of the British Eighth Army - came ashore today. There was little resistance; some Italian soldiers even volunteered to unload the landing craft.

The invaders are fanning out quickly into the hilly countryside of Calabria, and already the lack of roads, the rough terrain and the effects of German demolition work are causing problems in moving men and armour. Reggio, Catona, San Giovanni, Melito and Bagnara are captured by the end of the day. Meanwhile, convoys are preparing for the second stage of the invasion of Italy. The US Fifth Army, comprising the US VI Corps and the British X Corps, under the command of General Mark Clark, will hit the mainland at Salerno.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

* Ninth Air Force: B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Sulmona, Italy; they claim 11 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; 6 B-24s are lost.

* Twelfth Air Force: P-40s on a sweep over Sardinia hit Pula and Capo Carbonara radar installations. In Italy, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, fighters and RAF light bombers hit gun positions throughout the toe of Italy, attack airfields at Crotone and Camigliatello and hit railway yards at Marina di Catanzaro and Punta di Staletti, troop concentration near Santo Stefano d'Aspromonte and road junctions and bridges at Cosenza.

     During the night of 3/4 September, RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group visually bomb three airfields: 44 bomb Capodichino Airfield in Naples; 27 bomb Capua Airfield; and four bomb Torre Annunziata Airfield. 

CHINA: The USAAF 68th and 69th Fighter Wings, redesignated 68th and 69th Composite Wings in December 1943, are activated in Kunming to oversee combat operations of the 23d and 51st  Fighter Groups respectively. 

JAPAN: The worst earthquake in ten years kills 1,400 people in Tottori, 300 miles (483 kilometres) west of Tokyo. 

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS Fourteenth Air Force: 11 P-40's and 2 P-38s blast the barracks area at Pho Lu, FRENCH INDOCHINA.

EAST INDIES: The USAAF Fifth Air Force flies light raids against targets on Ceram Island in the Moluccas Islands and Timor Island in the Sunda Islands, both in the Netherlands East Indies..

SOLOMON ISLANDS: US forces take Arundel Island and consolidate their position on Vella Lavella.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon Islands, 20+ B-24s, 14 P-40s, and 30+ USN airplanes attack Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island. Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island is bombed by 5 B-24s and 10 USN aircraft. P-40s strafe a wharf at Webster Cove on New Georgia Island.

Eleven RAAF Catalinas bomb Rabaul tonight. (Michael Alexander)

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (Fifth Air Force): Heavy and medium bombers blast gun emplacements and terrace defenses in the Lae, New Guinea area. Other heavy bombers hit the Cape Gloucester area on New Britain Island. Light raids are flown against targets on Ceram Island in the Moluccas Islands and Timor Island in the Sunda Islands.  

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, RAAF Catalinas bomb Gasmata Airfield and USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb the Cape Gloucester area. 

PACIFIC OCEAN: Three USN vessels sink three Japanese vessels:
(1) the destroyer USS Ellet (DD-398) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25, about 173 nautical miles (320 kilometres) northwest of Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands, in position 13.10S, 165.27E;
(2) the submarine USS Pollack (SS-180) sinks a transport about 124 nautical miles (230 kilometres)  south of Tokyo, Japan, off Mikura Jima in position 33.38N, 140.07E;
and (3) submarine USS Pompano (SS-181) sinks a merchant cargo ship about 391 nautical miles (725 kilometres) northeast of Tokyo in position 41.00N, 144.34E. 

U.S.A.: After 15 months of training, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ship out by sea to England on the transport ship SAMARIA. This is the group in the TV drama "The Band of Brothers." (Gene Hanson)

Destroyer escort USS Raby is launched. Destroyer USS Healy is commissioned. Destroyer escort USS Marts is commissioned.

Top of Page

Yesterday        Tomorrow

Home