September 10th, 1943 (Friday)
UNITED KINGDOM: Light cruiser HMS
Royalist commissioned.
Destroyer HMS Vigilant commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: The Russians land at Mariupol on the Sea of Azov capturing the area. Other unts head across the Desna River in the vicinity of Novgorod Severski.
In the Donets sector the Russians capture Volnovakha and Chaplino. A major engagement begins at Novorossiysk on the Black Sea after landings.
ITALY : The US front at Salerno is quiet and the front is pushed inland.
Most of the German reserves concentrate in the British sector and local counterattacks recapture positions lost that morning.
Other German forces retreat north. They intend to form a
defensive line across Italy.
Germans begin to evacuate the garrisons from Sardinia. They will move first to
Corsica and then to Italy. There will be some losses to shipping and harassment
from small French units that land on Corsica. By the end of September this troop
movement will be complete.
Although now firmly established at Salerno, the Allies do not have enough room between the coast and the Germans to allow use of the ports at Salerno and Vietri. The U.S. 36th Infantry Division,sets about capturing high ground from Ogliastro to Albanella. Meanwhile, the British 10 Corps pushes on at Battipaglia to capture Montecorvino airfield while 46 Division is to clear Salerno and the corridors through the Sorrento peninsula. However, at first light the Germans strike first, driving 56 Division out of Battipaglia but Montecorvino airfield is captured by 3 Coldstream Guards and 2/6th Queen's Regiment, 169 Brigade and Faiano falls without a fight.
On 10 Corps' left, 46 Division troops end the day in a stalemate with German forces at Cava di Tirreni. At the Gulf's southern end, the U.S. 45th Infantry Division gets ashore virtually unmolested to support the 36th Infantry Division - most defenders having been moved to the north against 10 Corps. General Clark believes he will soon advance on Naples.
The British Eighth Army reaches the Catanzaro 'neck' after an advance of about 100 miles (161 km). General Montgomery wishes to pause here but is reluctantly persuaded to push forward to relieve pressure on the landings at Salerno. 1 Airborne Division's patrols from Taranto reach Monopoli on the Adriatic Coast and find it clear of Germans, but at Castellanata 10 Parachute Battalion has a sharp engagement in which the Divisional commander, Major-General G. F. Hopkinson, is mortally wounded. 5 Corps troops are now being shipped into Taranto from where they are intended eventually to come under Montgomery's command.
US Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb a satellite airfield at Foggia. US Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command medium bombers hit railroad and
road junctions and road net in the Castelnuovo-Pescopagano-Cassino-Capua-Formia
areas; B-17 Flying Fortresses attack the Ariano intersection and highway bridge
(and bridges and roads in the area), bridges near Botena and over the Tiber
River southwest of Rome, and roads, buildings, and railroad facilities at
Isernia; XII Air Support Command and RAF airplanes of the Northwest African
Tactical Air Force blast heavy road movement north from Lauria and cover
beachheads in the Salerno area as the British Eighth Army increases pressure on
its front in an effort to prevent the Germans from concentrating against the US
Fifth Army's Salerno beachhead. During the night of
10/11 September, B-25 Mitchells hit communications centers at Corleto, Perticara,
Auletta and Saptri.
During the night of 10/11 September, 49 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the highway junction at Formia and USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit communications centers at Corleto, Perticara, Auletta and Saptri.
Rome: German reaction to the Italian surrender was predictably swift. Within hours of Eisenhower's announcement of the Italian surrender, General von Vietinghoff, the commander of the Tenth Army, today moved paratroopers and a Panzer division to occupy Rome.
Five Italian divisions stationed around Rome appeared ready to defend the city, but capitulated quickly as the German commanders put Operation ACHSE (Axis) into force. Ironically, the Americans had been preparing a division-strong airborne landing in the city - but cancelled the operation when Marshal Badoglio protested.
German troops occupy Milan and Rome taking over the protection of Vatican City.
Minelayer HMS
Abdiel which is bringing in supplies and a holding force after the announcement
of the Italian armistice, is sunk in the port of Taranto by German GS type
magnetic mines laid the previous evening by MFP478 and S54 and S61. There are 48
casualties amongst the crew plus 120 soldiers. (Alex Gordon)(108)
MALTA: "Be pleased to inform Their Lordships that the Italian Fleet lies at anchor under the guns of the Fortress of Malta." With these words Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, signalled to the admiralty the total surrender of the Italian navy. Flying black flags of surrender and escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, units of the Italian fleet are anchored off Valetta's Grand Harbour. More ships are heading for Gibraltar and other Allied ports, removing the naval threat in the Mediterranean.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The Allies occupy the Dodecanese island of Castelrosso.
EGYPT: Major General Ralph Royce takes command of U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East (USAFIME) replacing Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton who is departing for England to reconstitute the USAAF Ninth Air Force.
BURMA: US Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells again bomb Gokteik Viaduct; the approaches are battered but the viaduct remains usable.
SINGAPORE: The Italian submarine Reginaldo Giuliani is taken over by the Germans.
Other Italian submarines COMMANDANTE ALFREDO CAPPELLINI (I-503) and LUIGI TORELLI (I-504) are seized by the Japanese before being given to the Germans as UIT24 and UIT25 respectively. (Henry Sirotin)
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 7th Division relieves the U.S. 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment at Nadzab and begins a drive eastward toward Lae. The Japanese at Lae are thus threatened from both the east and west. The Australians begin a general advance into Salamaua and by evening, Japanese defenses south of the Francisco River have collapsed.
The Australian 7 Division, having been flown to Nadzab in US Fifth Air Force C-47 Skytrains, begins a push east toward Lae.
CANADA: Frigate
HMCS Stettler launched Montreal, Province
of Quebec.
Minesweeper HMCS St Boniface commissioned.
Corvette Matapedia arrived Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for emergency repairs.
Minesweeper HMCS St Boniface following her
transit to Halifax and workups, she was assigned to EG W-5, later, W-4 of the
Western Escort Force, both times as the Senior Officer's flagship.
U.S.A.: The First and Fourth Air Forces are relieved from their assignments to the US Army's Eastern and Western defence Commands respectively and hereafter serve primarily as training organizations for fighter units.
Frigate USS Grand Rapids launched. Destroyer USS Hickox commissioned.