October 9th, 1943 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions.
* The VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 81: 66 B-26B Marauders bomb the Woensdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands at 1516-1526 hours. This is the final Eighth Air Force B-26 operation; the B-26s will be transferred to the IX Bomber Command, Ninth Air Force on 16 October.
* The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 113 against 2 targets in Germany and 2 in Poland; 26 B-17s and 2 B-24s are lost.
- 106 B-17s hit the industrial area in Anklam, Germany at 1142-1146 hours; they claim 65-19-47 Luftwaffe aircraft, 18 B-17s are lost.
- 96 B-17s hit the industrial area in Marienburg, Germany at 1253-1302 hours; they claim 9-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17s are lost.
- 41 B-24s hit the U-boat yards at Danzig and the port area at Gdynia, Poland at 1305 hours; they claim 7-3-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-24s are lost.
- 109 B-17s hit the port area at Gdynia, Poland at 1304-1324 hours; they claim 41-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost.
MAC ship Ancylus launched.
Frigate HMS Retalick launched.
Minelayer HMS Apollo commissioned.
Submarine HMS Stratagem commissioned.
GERMANY: During the night of 9/10 October, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Berlin without loss.
U-244 commissioned.
POLAND: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 113 against two targets; 109 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 41 B-24 Liberators bomb the port area at Gdynia between 1304 and 1324 hours; six B-17s are lost. The bombers claim 41-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft.
U.S.S.R.: The forces of General Ivan E. Petrov, Commander of the North Caucasas Front, complete the occupation of the Kuban. Most of the German 17th Army has escaped to the Crimea where they reinforce the German line south of Zaporozhye.
Most of the German 17th Army has escaped to the Crimea. They
are sent to reinforce the German line south of Zaporozhye.
Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: Submarine
"M-172" - supposedly mined or attacked by U-boat and sunk, at Varanger-fjord.
(Sergey Anisimov)(69)
ITALY: Allied intelligence warns General Eisenhower and top Allied commanders that the Germans have decided to defend Rome and the southern two-thirds of the Italian peninsula. Intelligence has discovered that three elite German divisions have reinforced Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's 10th Army along the Volturno River, 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Naples.
Intelligence also has learned the Germans are using Italian labourers to prepare a stronger position -- called the Gustav Line -- 85 miles (136.8 km) south of Rome.
In U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division finishes clearing the right flank of the army. (Jack McKillop
With the Italian surrender to the Allies, the Germans occupy the former Italian positions in the Balkans. Marshal Tito (Josip Broz) leads Yugoslav guerilla forces against German troops outside of Trieste.
The USAAF XII Air Support Command does not operate, but the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and the RAF's Desert Air Force hit traffic in the Termoli and Montenero areas, guns north of Capua, a HQ at Palata, and roads and railroads north of Naples.
GREECE: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb six airfields without loss; 31 bomb the South Airfield at Argos, 30 each hit Eleus Airfield at Athens and Larissa Airfield, 24 attack Sedes Airfield and eight each hit Calato and Maritza Airfields, both on the island of Rhodes and 16 B-24 Liberators bomb Pediada Airfield at Kastelli..
YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-38 Lightnings fly a sweep over Dubrovnik.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: XII Bomber Command B-17s bomb airfields at Larissa, Athens and Salonika, Greece, and Argos, Italy. B-24s hit Pediada Airfield at Kastelli, Crete. P-38s fly a sweep between the island of Corfu, Greece and Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, and escort shipping in the Karpathos Straits between Carpathos and Rhodes. In Italy, the XII Air Support Command does not operate, but the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force and the RAF's Desert Air Force hit traffic in the Termoli and Montenero areas, guns north of Capua, a HQ at Palata, and roads and railroads north of Naples.
While providing air cover for RN warships that have bombarded German installations in the Dodecanese Islands, two P-38 pilots of the 37th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, achieve "ace" status. Major William L. Leverette, Commanding Officer of the 37th, downs seven Ju87 Stuka dive bombers in a single pass at about 1215 hours to become an ace. This is the highest single-mission score in either the European and Mediterranean Theater of Operations in World War II; he ends the war with 11 confirmed victories. The second pilot is 2d Lieutenant who downs five JU-87s at 1217 hours to become an "instant ace." These are his only victories of the war. (Skip Guidry and Jack McKillop)
While making a sortie in the Greek Dodecanese Islands to intercept German convoys in the Scarpanto Strait, the British light cruiser HMS Carlisle (D 67) and destroyers HMS Panther (G 41) and Rockwood (L 39) are attacked by Luftwaffe Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers. HMS Panther is hit and sinks in less than a minute about 42 nautical miles (78 kilometers) south-southwest of the city of Rhodes on the island of Rhodes at position 35.48N, 27.38E. HMS Carlisle is seriously damaged and she is taken in tow to Alexandria, Egypt, by HMS Rockwood. On examination of the damage it is concluded that Carlisle is a constructive loss, and never placed in service again. She remained at Alexandria as a base ship for the remainder of the war. In 1948 the old cruiser is finally broken up for scrap at Alexandria. (Alex Gordon)(108)
At 0036 hours, destroyer USS Buck (LCDR M. Klein, lost) was on patrol off Salerno, when she was hit in the bow by a Gnat fired by U-616, causing the forward magazine to explode and sank within four minutes. Destroyer USS Gleaves and landing craft HMS LCT-170 picked up the survivors.
CHINA: 4 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s on a shipping sweep off the southeastern coast in the Amoy-Quemoy area sink a 150-ft (45.7 m) tanker and damage a patrol vessel, and a freighter; a B-25 crashes into a hill and explodes. Ten P-40s bomb fuel storage and barracks at Mangshih; a P-40 is downed by ground fire.
NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and RAAF aircraft bomb and strafe defensive positions in the Sattelberg and Finschhafen areas.
EAST INDIES: B-24s bomb Makassar on Celebes Island.
ELLICE ISLANDS: Nukufetau Airstrip on Motulalo Island is ready for use.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force B-25s and P-40s hit barges and concentrations on western Choiseul Island. P-39s and USN F4U Corsairs strafe buildings, a radar station, and gun positions on Poporang Island.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Two U.S. submarines sink an IJA cargo ship and a merchant vessel.
In the South China Sea, four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a shipping sweep off the southeastern coast in the Amoy-Quemoy area sink a 150 foot (46 meter) tanker and damage a patrol vessel, and a freighter; a B-25 crashes into a hill and explodes.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 12 Kurile Island-based IJN bombers attack Attu Island.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Stettler launched.
Minesweeper HMCS St Boniface commissioned.
U.S.A.: General Henry H. "Hap"Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, recommends to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in Italy be divided into two air forces, one strategic and one tactical, to increase the power of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). It has already been decided that Italian-based aircraft will assist in offensive to knock out Germany.
The 30 minute children's fantasy radio program "The Land of the Lost" debuts on the NBC Blue Network at 1130 hours Eastern on this Saturday. The opening phrase for the show was, “In that wonderful kingdom at the bottom of the sea...” This children’s adventure-fantasy serial took the audience underwater where the main characters, Isabel and her brother Jimmy, were guided by their friend, a red fish named Red Lantern and played at first by Junius Matthews and later, by Art Carney. "Land of the Lost" found a large audience and remained on the air until July 1948.
Frigate USS Beaufort launched.
Destroyer escort USS Durik launched.
Minesweeper USS Chief commissioned.
Submarine USS Sand Lance commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-220 laid a field of 66 mines off St John’s, which later claimed two ships, sunk.
U-645 sank SS Yorkmar in Convoy SC-143.
U-737 was attacked by shore-based artillery off Barentsburg (Spitsbergen), but the boat dived and did not sustain any damage.