12 November 1943

UNITED KINGDOM: US Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton takes command of the US Ninth Air Force at Sunninghill Park, Berkshire, England. Headquarters Ninth Air Force issues Tables of Organization for the IX Fighter Command, authorizing two air support divisions, five fighter wings, a reconnaissance group, 21 fighter groups, and 65 fighter squadrons. Three combat wings are activated for the IX Bomber Command: the 97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) at Marks Hall, Essex, which will control light bomber groups; the 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium), formerly the 3d Bombardment Wing, at Earls Colne, Essex; and the 99th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium), formerly the 44th Bombardment Wing (Heavy), at Great Dunmow, Essex.

GERMANY: Grand Admiral Donitz complains that in the Atlantic "the enemy holds every trump card ... (he) knows all our secrets"

During the night of 12/13 November RAF Bomber Command dispatches seven Mosquitos to attack three targets: two each bomb Rheinmetall armaments factory at Dusseldorf, the Krupps armaments factory at Essen and the Edelstahlwerke steel factory at Krefeld.

U.S.S.R.: The Russians capture Korostyshev and enter Zhitomir, west of Kiev. This is an important rail center on the last rail line available to the Germans east of the Pripet marshes.

A treaty is signed between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union in Moscow "pledging mutual aid in prosecuting the war, no separate peace, and mutual respect for each other's sovereignty."

ALBANIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers hit Kucove airfield at Berat and an oil refinery after failing to locate targets near Athens, Greece.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings fly an air-sea rescue patrol off the mouth of the Semeni River.

GREECE: The Germans land units of the 22nd Infantry Division on British and Italian-held Leros Island in the Dodecanese.

ITALY: The Allied advance is at the Germans Reinhard Line. The British 56th Division is forced to withdraw from some positions on Monte Camino.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division makes limited progress toward Acquafondata but is threatened by Germans on Hills 769 and 640. The 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, makes contact with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which has pushed past Fornelli to Colli and is maintaining contact with the British Eighth Army.

Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force light bombers hit guns, troops, and railway facilities near Palena, the town of Atina, and the road at Acquafondata. During the night of 12/13 November, light bombers attack the Arezzo marshalling yard and Perugia airfield; fighter-bombers of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command and RAF Desert Air Force continue to provide close support to the U.S. Fifth and British Eighth Armies, blasting gun positions and motor transport, and also attacking targets (aircraft, guns, rail yards, bridge, and trains) around Lake Bracciano, Orbetello, Rieti, Sant'Elia Fiumerapido, Opuzen, Ancona, and Iesi.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack railroad bridges and tracks in the Montalto di Castro and Orbetello areas, but heavy cloud cover prevents effective hits on the targets.

During the night of 12/13 November, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack three targets: 32 bomb the marshalling yard at Pontessieve, five bomb a railroad bridge at Cecina and one bombs the railroad at Ortebella. Two other bombers drop leaflets over Turin.

CHINA: Ten USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 24 P-40s attack Yoyang, hitting the warehouse area, railroad yards, and AA positions; five B-25s bomb the Yangchi Kang waterfront area and attack waterfront targets at Puchi; six B-25s and 12 fighters hit targets at Yoyang; 15 P-40s and a B-25 on armed reconnaissance hit several targets of opportunity in the Lungling area and between Yang-Chia-Kang and Sichai.

BURMA: Two USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators mine the Rangoon River during the night of 12/13 November.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells knock out a railway bridge and damage two others near Thanh Hoa. Meanwhile, fighter-bombers hit various targets of opportunity at several other locations scattered throughout northern French Indochina.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack targets on Java and on Ceram Islands.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bomb villages between Finschhafen and Saidor.

AUSTRALIA: Between 0353 and 0530 hours, Japanese aircraft bomb Parap, Adelaide River and Batchelor Airfield in the Northern Territory. This is the 64th and last bombing attack against northern Australia since February 1942.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The Japanese withdraw the remaining 52 aircraft of their aircraft carrier groups that have been flying off land bases at Rabaul on New Britain Island. Of 173 aircraft that arrived on 20 October, 121 have been lost, most with their pilots.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Japanese withdraw the remains of their carrier groups that have been flying off land bases at Rabaul. Of 173 aircraft that arrived on October 20, 121 have been lost, most with their pilots.

In the Treasury Islands, the 8th Brigade Group, New Zealand 3d Division, completes the elimination of a small Japanese garrison on Mono Island, the large island north of Stirling Island. For 205 Japanese dead counted, 40 New Zealanders and 12 Americans lost their lives.

On Bougainville Island, 18 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Tarlena; six others bomb the Matchin Bay area south of Buka Island; and eight P-38 Lightnings strafe Bonis Airfield on the northern tip of Bougainville.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-34 is sunk by HMS Taurus off Penang. (Mike Yared)(144 and 145)

Japanese submarine HIJMS I-21 torpedoes and sinks the U.S. troopship SS Cape San Juan about 242 nautical miles (448 kilometers) south of Suva, Viti Levu Island, Fiji Islands, in position 22.08S, 178.06E. The ship was en route from San Francisco, California, U.S.A., to Townsville, Queensland, Australia, with 49 crewmen, 41 USN Armed Guards and 1,348 Army troops. Sixteen men are killed when the torpedo hits the ship and a further 114 drown while abandoning ship. The survivors are picked up by a merchant vessel, a USN destroyer and a Pan American Airways flying boat. Attempts are made to tow Cape San Juan to port, but she sinks tomorrow.

Frigate HMCS Montreal commissioned.

Frigate HMCS Lasalle launched Lauzon, Province of Quebec.

Frigates HMCS Joliette launched Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks on the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) to go to sail to Casablanca, French Morocco, where he will continue to the Allied conferences at Teheran, Iran, and Cairo, Egypt

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-508 and US Navy Liberator aircraft (Squadron VB-103/C) engaged in a deadly duel. Both the aircraft and the boat perished. The aircraft was forced to ditch a few miles away from where the u-boat sank due to three damaged engines caused by the attack of a Ju-88 squadron.