September 15th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
An RAF Lancaster of No. 617 Squadron drops the first 12,000-lb bomb on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. (22)
The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies 2 missions with the loss of 6 bombers.
- Mission 95, in 3 forces, is flown against aviation
facilities in France.
(1) 87 B-17s attack the Romilly-sur-Seine air depot at 1848-1850 hours.
(2) 139 B-17s attack three targets; 40 hit the Caudron-Renault industrial area
in Paris at 1855 hours, 21 hit the Billancourt-Renault works at 1854 hours, and
78 hit the Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine works in Paris; they claim 12-2-4
Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17's are lost.
(3) 47 B-24s hit Chartres Airfield at 1904-1911 hours; they claim 3-0-0
Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 is lost.
- Mission 96: 5 B-17s join the RAF in a night attack on the Dunlop factory at Montlucon, France.
The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air
Support Command flies Mission 58 against 2 airfields in France without
loss.
(1) 72 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to Nord Airfield at Lille but the mission
is aborted due to weather.
(2) 68 B-26Bs hit Merville Airfield at 1745 and 1748 hours.
Minesweeper HMS Friendship commissioned.
Frigate HMS Nadder launched.
Submarine HMS Vivid launched.
Frigate HMS Spragge laid down.
FRANCE: During the night of 15/16 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 369 aircraft,
209 Halifaxes, 120 Stirlings, 40 Lancasters, to attack the Dunlop tire and rubber plant at Montlucon. Five USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses also took part. This is a moonlit raid and the Pathfinders marked the target accurately and the Master Bomber brought the Main Force in well to carry out some accurate bombing. Every building in the factory is hit and a large fire is started. Three aircraft are lost.
GERMANY: The 12,000 pound (5 443 kilogram) Blockbuster bomb is used for the first time, when eight Lancasters of RAF Bomber Command took off to carry out the postponed raid on the Dortmund-Ems Canal but the area is misty and five of the six aircraft attacking are lost. These heavy losses, and the losses of the Dams Raid, confirmed that low-level attacks on German targets, even when away from major defended areas, are not viable with heavy bombers and this type of operation is not repeated. Meanwhile, seven Mosquitos bombed Berlin without loss.
U-1162 commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: Continuing toward Kiev, Soviet troops of
the 1st Byelorussian Front under the command of General Konstantin Rokossovskii
capture Nezhin. To the north, the Soviet Army opens a strong offensive against
Smolensk. Dyatkovo is evacuated by the Germans. The Germans admit the loss of
Bryansk.
ITALY: US Ninth Air Force B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Potenza and attack railroads and warehouses in the areas around Potenza, Altamura, Gravina di Puglia, and Matera.
US Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb highways and a railroad at Torre del Greco while B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit highways and road junctions at or near Torre Annunziata, Battipaglia, Eboli, Serre, Auletta, and Polla. The US XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements attack buildings, railroads, highways and motor transport in support of US Fifth Army as German counterattacks astride Sele River subside. British Eighth Army forces reach Saptri, threatening the enemy with entrapment between US and British forces.
During the night of 15/16 September, 123 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb a highway at Pompeii.
At Salerno the counterattack by the Germans is halted for
them to regroup. HMS Valiant and Warspite join the warships offshore in their bombardment of German positions.
General Harold
Alexander, Commander in Chief 15th Army Group, replaces General Dawley of the British VI Corps.
The British 8th Army continues its advance. Forward elements of the British 5th
Division, attempting to contact the U.S. VI Corps, reach Sapri. The Germans are
threatened with entrapment by the British Eighth Army and the U.S. Fifth Army.
.
Procida in Naples Bay is captured by the Allies.
Salo: Supporters of Mussolini form a Fascist republican rival government to the
Pietro Badoglio administration.
GREECE: British paratroops occupy the island of Kos in the Dodecanese and a
squadron of Spitfires is flown in.
Kos: Much to the disapproval of their American allies, British troops have landed on this Dodecanese island only a mile from the Turkish coast. The 5,000-strong Italian garrison is fighting with them. Such is the low priority given to this operation that General Eisenhower refused the use of landing craft, and Britain's Special Boat Squadron was forced to requisition Greek fishing caiques to land in Kos.
The SBS was joined by 120 men of the 11th Parachute Battalion dropped from Dakotas, before the main body of troops, the 1st Battalion Durham Light Infantry, flew in. The British and their Italian allies have been under continual attack from the Luftwaffe, and troops from a Dakota have been interned in Turkey after the aircraft was forced down on the sea by a Messerschmitt. Hitler has diverted aircraft from all parts of the Mediterranean to the Dodecanese. Eisenhower, on the other hand, has ruled that the Aegean "campaign" as no more than a British side-show.
CHINA: Chiang Kai-shek
demands the recall of General Stilwell, who asked Chiang to join the Communists
against the Japanese, complaining that Stilwell does not understand the
realities of China.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 5 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s attack a cement plant at Haiphong; 50+ Japanese fighters attack the B-24's, shooting down 4 of them; the 1 returning B-24 claims 10 fighters downed.
NEW GUINEA: The Australians of the 7th and 9th Divisions have pushed the front lines to within two miles of Lae.
By dusk, the 7th Division, advancing from the west, is 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Lae and the 9th Division is a little over one mile (1,6 kilometers) east of Lae Aerodrome, the airfield Amelia Earhart took off from in 1937 en route to Howland Island.
US Fifth Air Force B-24s, with P-38 escort, bomb airfields in the Wewak area, destroying 10 enemy aircraft on the ground; 14 more are claimed destroyed in air combat. B-17s bomb the Lae area; and B-25s sink about 15 barges between Alexishafen and Finschhafen, blast an ammunition and supply dump near Bogadjim, and attack AA positions at Bostrem Bay.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Thirteenth Air Force B-25s bomb Vila airfield on Kolombangara Island and Kahili and Kara airfields on Bougainville Island. B-24s, with fighter escort, later pound the Kahili runway area; others hit Parapatu Point on New Georgia Island. During the night, B-25s hit Kahili Airfield twice and heavy bombers bomb airfields on Buka and Ballale Islands. Ballale Airfield is also hit by USN SBD Dauntlesses, supported by USAAF, USN and USMC fighters; a bivouac area, revetments, supply dumps and gun positions are hit; the runway appears badly damaged by the strikes.
A PBY-5 Catalina of USN Patrol Squadron Twenty Three (VP-23), based in the Florida Islands, spots a submarine southeast 100 miles (161 kilometres) southeast of San Cristobal Island. The destroyer USS Saufley (DD-465) assists in sinking the Japanese submarine RO-101; all 50 submarines are lost.
GILBERT ISLANDS: Aircraft of USN Task Force 15 attack Tarawa, Makin, and Abemama to decrease Japanese pressure on the Ellice Islands and provide operational training. During the attack on Tarawa, TBF Avengerss, SBD Dauntlesses, and F6F Hellcats from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16), and small aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CVL 23) and Belleau Wood (CVL 24) sink Japanese motor torpedo boats Gyoraitei and Gyoraitei No. 3.
AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief South West Pacific Area, orders the New Guinea Force (all Allied ground forces in New Guinea) to capture Kaiapit and Dumpu in Northeast New Guinea with assistance from RAAF and USAAF aircraft.
PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN submarine USS
Haddock (SS-231) sinks a Japanese collier north of Truk Island in the Caroline
Islands.
CANADA: Tug
HMCS Beaverton launched.
Loch or River Class frigates ordered for
RCN but cancelled by Dec/43 - Canadian Vickers Ltd, Montreal Province of
Quebec: HMCS Alexandria, Alvington,
Henryville and 9 un-named. Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Ltd. Quebec City,
Province of Quebec: 2 un-named. Yarrows Ltd Esquimalt, British Columbia: 8
un-named. Davie Shipbuilding and Repair Co. Lauzon, Province of Quebec:
HMCS Lingabar, St Edouard, Shipton, St
Agathe, Westbury and 2 un-named.
U.S.A.: T.V. Soong, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., presents a plan to President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the reorganization of the China theater in such a way as to eliminate American Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander of the U.S. China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-Shek and Commander of the Northern Area Combat Command in Burma. Stilwell had asked Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek to join the Communists against the Japanese, and Chiang complains that Stilwell does not understand the realities of China.
French Patrol Squadron One (VFP-1), manned
by Free French naval personnel trained under U. S. Navy control, was established
at Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia.
American Airlines DC-3-401, msn 4803, registered NC-33657, crashes at Dallas
Texas.
Destroyer escort USS Pennewill commissioned.
Escort carrier USS Wake Island launched.
Submarine USS Pintado launched.
Minesweepers USS Prime and Prowess laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Eversole and Dennis laid down.
Escort carrier USS Marcus Island laid down.