October 8th, 1943 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command sends the Vickers Wellington bomber into action for the final time when aircraft of Nos. 300 and 432 Squadrons are used. In total Wellington's based in the United Kingdom have dropped 42,440-tons of bombs. (22)
The Eighth Air Force flies three missions.
* The VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 80: 144 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to Vendeville Airfield at Lille and Chievres Airfields in France; the mission is abandoned due to thick haze and generally unsuitable weather.
* The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 111: 4 locations in Germany are targeted. On this mission the Eighth Air Forces uses, for the first time, airborne transmitters (Carpet equipment) to jam German radar. The B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24s are escorted by 274 P-47 Thunderbolts; they claim 12-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 30 bombers and 3 P-47s are lost.
- 105 B-17s bomb the shipyard at Breman at 1505-1513 hours; they claim 42-2-28 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost.
- 53 B-17s bomb the industrial area at Breman at 1512-1513 hours; they claim 24-7-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost.
- 43 B-24s bomb the U-boat yards at Vegesack at 1622-1624 hours; they claim 17-1-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost.
- 156 B-17s bomb the city of Bremen and targets of opportunity at 1505-1527 hours; they claim 84-12-33 Luftwaffe aircraft; 14 B-17s are lost.
* VIII Bomber Command Mission 112: 2 B-17s drop 266,336 leaflets over Rennes, France, at 0005-0011 hours, 9 October.
RAF: No. 453 Squadron (Spitfire) flying from Perranporth, Cornwall, intercepts eight Me110s over the Channel, shooting down five of them, two fall to Flt. Lt. Russell Leith.
FRANCE: During the night of 8/9 October, RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines. Ten Stirlings lay mines in the River Gironde and six lay mines off La Pallice.
GERMANY: Allied air raids on Bremen and Vegesack (with heavy Allied losses). (Glenn Stenberg)
During the night of 8/9 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 504 aircraft, 282 Lancasters, 188 Halifaxes, 26 Wellingtons and eight Mosquitos, to bomb Hannover; 457 bomb the target. This is the last Bomber Command raid in which Wellingtons took part. 300 (Polish) and 432 (Canadian) Squadrons provided the 26 Wellingtons which operated on this night; they all returned safely. The German controller guesses correctly that Hannover is the target and many night fighters arrived before the attack is over. Twenty seven aircraft, 14 Lancasters and 13 Halifaxes, are lost, 5.4 per cent of the force. Conditions over Hannover are clear and the Pathfinders are finally able to mark the centre of the city accurately; a most concentrated attack follows with a creepback of only 2 miles (3,2 kilometers), all within the built-up area. This is probably Hannover's worst attack of the war. A second attack is made against Bremen with 119 aircraft, 95 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes and seven Lancasters, dispatched; 107 bomb the target with the loss of three Stirlings, 2.5 per cent of the force. This is a diversionary raid on a larger scale than ever before. The bombing is scattered but this is a subsidiary aim of the operation. Mosquitos are also active with eight hitting the Klocknerwerke synthetic oil refinery at Castrop Rauxel, six bombing Berlin and one each attacking Duren and Oldenburg.
On a bomber escort mission, the USAAF 334th squadron are bringing up the van. They see over thirty Luftwaffe aircraft above and in the sun. The US fighters orbit to gain altitude but are continually bounced by sections of four to eight Germans. This breaks up the squadron and draws it away from the bombers. No enemy aircraft attack the bombers.
During the fighting Ralph Hofer chases a Bf 109 at 400 feet above the Zuider Zee, trying to get it off another P-47. The P-47 was shot down, but Hofer shot down the Bf 109. Duane Besson shoots down two Bf 109s, bringing his score to six. Maj. Roy W. Evans, CO of the 335 FS/4 FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downs a Bf 109 near Oldenburg at 1455 hours. He scores one more victory to end the war with six kills. (Skip Guidry and Perry Stewart) See
www.fourthfightergroup.com/resource/tidbits.htmlITALY: The British 8th Army captures Larino and Guglionesi as the advance on Biferno, Italy. The US 5th Army finishes its advance to the Volturno River and begins planning the next attack for October 12.
The Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and RAF Desert Air Force aircraft hit a bridge at Minturno and a road junction and military concentration at Termoli.
GREECE: Clashes take place between pro- and anti-communist guerrillas leading to civil war over the next six years. (Glenn Steinberg)
Twelfth Air Force aircraft attack targets in Greece. XII Bomber Command B-24s bomb Tatoi and Eleusis Airfields at Athens, airfields at Kastelli and Heraklion Airfields on Crete, and Maritsa Airfield on Rhodes; B-25 Mitchells also hit Eleusis airfield; P-38s fly convoy cover, patrols, and sweeps over the Aegean Sea.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Nine USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, supported by 20 P-40s, bomb Gia Lam Airfield outside Hanoi.
FAR EAST: 9 Fourteenth Air Force B-24s, supported by 20 P-40s, bomb Gia Lam Airfield.
CHINA: While on ferry mission over the Hump, 3 B-24s bomb Tengchung, scoring hits on warehouses, barracks, and a HQ area.
AUSTRALIA: The US Army forms the 5217th Reconnaissance Battalion, Special, Filipino personnel at Camp Tabragalba, Australia, The unit left Australia the same day to arrive in New Guinea 21 November 1943. The unit will be redesignated 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, Special on 20 November 1944 in New Guinea. (Nick Minecci)
Minesweeper HMAS Cowra commissioned.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force B-25s and P-40s sink a barge off the west coast of Choiseul Island.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: A single Fifth Air Force B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Cape Gloucester Airfield on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Two USN submarines sink two IJA cargo ships.
U.S.A.: Destroyer escorts USS Howard F Clark and Silverstein laid down.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: An escort of Convoy SC-143 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, to U.K.) and three German Type VIIC submarines tracking the convoy are sunk by aircraft in the North Atlantic.
The escort Polish destroyer ORP Orkan (ex HMS Myrmidon) sunk by U-378. The destroyer is struck by a torpedo and sinks about 578 nautical miles south-southwest of Rekjavik, Iceland in position 56.30N, 26.26W. There are only 23 survivors of the crew of 198.
RCAF Sunderland patrol a/c from RCAF 423 Sqn attacked and sank U-610, KptLt Walter Freiherr Von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen, CO, in the North Atlantic, in position 55.45N, 024.33W. Although 15 men were seen in the water after U-610 was sunk, no survivors were recovered and her crew of 51 men was lost.
U-419 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, at position 56.31N, 27.05W, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 86/R). 48 dead, 1 survivor.
U-610 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, at position 55.45N, 24.33W, by depth charges from a Canadian Sunderland aircraft (RCAF Sqdn. 423/J). 51 dead (all crew lost)
U-643 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, at position 56.14N, 26.55W, by depth charges from 2 British Liberator aircraft (Sqdns. 86/Z and 120/T) . 30 dead, 18 survivors in captivity. (Alex Gordon)
The commander of U-603 became so ill that he was incapacitated, leaving the U-boat unable to act against the enemy.
The commander of U-631 broke his hand in an accident during patrol.
U-762 was bombed by a Liberator aircraft from 120 RAF Squadron. Three crewmembers were wounded, and the boat was slightly damaged.