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December 2nd, 1943 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Westminster: Ernest Bevin, the minister of labour, announced in the House of Commons today that men are to be conscripted to serve in the coal mines in the same way as in the armed services. By next April 30,000 men of 25 or under will be chosen by ballot from those called up, and directed into the mines. A draw will be made of a figure between 0 and 9, and those whose national service registration number ended with that figure - one recruit in ten - would be chosen.

After medical inspection, they would get four weeks training, including underground training, and then start work under supervision of experienced miners. They would not work at the coalface until they had been underground for four months.

Mr Bevin said he would not have resorted to compulsion but for reasons of "urgent national necessity": "I have delayed compulsion to the last possible moment because I don't like it any more than honourable members." Asked if he had power to do this without legislation, he replied, "Oh yes! I am entitled to direct anybody anywhere."

Coal production has fallen below 200 million tons this year and the number of miners has sunk to 700,000, despite the recall of many miners from the army.

No. 139 Squadron RAF begins operations with the Mk XX Mosquito. These aircraft are built in Canada. (22)

Forty six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses blast submarine pens at Marseilles.

     During the night of 2/3 December, 24 RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command fly Mission 146: one B-17 Flying Fortress flies an Oboe test over Huls at 2139 hours dropping two 2,000 pound (907 kilogram) general purpose bombs and a photoflash bomb. Four B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 2.09 million leaflets over Bremen, Oldenburg and Hamburg.

     During the night of 2/3 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 458 aircraft, 425 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos and 15 Halifaxes, to continue the Battle of Berlin. There were no major diversions and the bombers took an absolutely direct route across the North Sea and the Netherlands and then on to Berlin. The Germans identify Berlin as the target 19 minutes before Zero Hour and many fighters are waiting there. Incorrectly forecast winds scatter the bomber stream, particularly on the return flight, and German fighters scored further victories here. A total of 401 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of 40 bombers, 37 Lancasters, two Halifaxes and a Mosquito, are lost, 8.7 per cent of the force. The Australian No. 460 Squadron loses five of its 25 Lancasters on this raid, including the aircraft in which two newspaper reporters are flying.. The inaccurate wind forecast causes great difficulties for the Pathfinders, who are not able to establish their positions correctly. The b  ombing photographs of the Main Force suggest that the attack is scattered over a wide area of southern Berlin and the countryside south of the city. The Berlin report confirms this but adds that some useful damage is caused in the industrial areas of the eastern and western districts, with two more of the Siemens factories, a ball-bearing factory and several railway installations being badly hit. Damage elsewhere is light, only 136 buildings being destroyed. Five Mosquitos attack Bochum with three bombing the city and two hitting the Vereinigte Stahl steel plant; and one each Mosquitos hit Osnabruck and Witten.

AUSTRIA: nr. Krems: STALAG 17B: James Proakis and Ralph Lavoie attempted to escape under the cover of snow and darkness. Other POWs had tried to bribe a guard to cut the wire, but unbeknownst to Proakis and Lavoie, the other prisoners called off the escape attempt when the guard reported the attempted bribery to his superiors. When Proakis and Lavoie crawled past the wire, they suddenly found themselves under a hail of gunfire. Proakis began to run to a nearby air-raid trench but was immediately killed by machine gun fire. Lavoie crawled back toward the camp, but found his way blocked by two guards standing over him: one, with a rifle, and the other, an officer brandishing a pistol. When the officer noticed Lavoie was still alive, he repeatedly shot him in the legs, chest, and face. Kurtenbach and a few others ran up to stop the guards and demand access to the men. After a tense argument - during which the guard hit  Kurtenbach in the mouth with his rifle butt - the POWs were allowed to take Ralph Lavoie to the hospital. Lavoie recovered and was repatriated in a prisoner exchange due to his wounds. The POWs were not allowed to recover the body of James Proakis until the next day. After the war, the incident was reported to the War Crimes Office under the violation of "unlawful wounding" in the Geneva Convention. (Mike Yared)

U.S.S.R.: The Russians cross the Ingulets River and advance on Znamenka.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, Allied aircraft and artillery pound enemy positions in preparation for Operation RAINCOAT (the assault on the Camino hill mass). Artillery concentrations are the heaviest thus far in the Italian campaign. The British X Corps continues an attack toward Calabritto but does not take it. Despite this failure, the 56th Division begins an attack on Mt. Camino from the south after nightfall. The U.S. II Corps opens an attack on the Camino hill mass from the northeast during the night of 2/3 December. The 1st Special Service Force moves against Mt. Ia Difensa, the 2d Regiment spearheading, and clears it before dawn. In the U.S. VI Corps 45th Infantry Division sector, the Germans continue a stout defense of La Bandita and positions on Hill 769. The U.S. 34th Infantry Division commits additional elements against Mt. Pantano and with great difficulty takes the second knob; Company L of the 133d Infantry Regiment gains Hill 180, on the southern slopes of Mt. Marrone, in a night attack, on 2/3 December, but the regiment is unable to gain further ground in the area after this.

The British 8th Army capture Lanciano and in V Corps area, Castelfrentano falls to New Zealand troops.

Bari: Frantic attempts are being made to conceal the inclusion in an Allied ship's cargo of a consignment of mustard gas which is causing the deaths of dozens of troops and dock-workers after a surprise German air raid here today.

Over 100 German Ju-88 bombers hit the port during a 20 minute attack. During the attack, Duppel, the German equivalent of Window (tinfoil strips dropped from aircraft to simulate aircraft echoes and confuse ground search and night fighter radars), is used for the first time. They sink 16 ships, partially destroy four more, and set off major explosions in two ammunition ships, starting huge fires and extensive damage to the harbour, 70,000 tons of shipping is sunk with 38,000 tons of supplies. Hundreds of survivors were picked out of the harbour and taken to hospital suffering from no more than shock, exposure and burns. Or so it seemed; but within a few hours these apparently only slightly hurt men began to die. They had succumbed to the effects of mustard gas, a weapon which caused thousands of casualties in the last war and which the Allies have in the past declared too horrific to be used by decent nations. One of the ships hit in the raid, the SS JOHN HARVEY unloading at Berth 29, was carrying a top-secret US consignment of 2,000 deadly M47-A1 mustard gas bombs, ( brought in case the Germans resort to chemical warfare) and guarded by a unit of the 701st Chemical Maintenance Company. The ship explodes and the blast wave caused by the explosion destroys or sinks seventeen ships in the harbour and kills or injures over 1,000 military personnel, civilian workers and nearby residents of the town. As ship after ship explodes or catches fire, hundreds of men are struggling in the oil covered water in a desperate attempt to escape. The Americans will spare no effort in covering the incident up.

Most of the dead and injured were stricken by gas escaping from the John Harvey as they swam through the water. Many more deaths from the effects of gas are expected.

The Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman SS Fort Athabasca (7,132 GRT), loaded with ammunition and, when fires broke out after the ship was struck, 44 men out of her crew of 56 are killed. With the Allied hospitals filling up with injured, the doctors are at a loss to know what caused the terrible burns on the victims. Of the 617 men who made it to hospital, 83 die during the first month. If the doctors had known at the time it was mustard gas, it possible many more lives could have been saved with the proper treatment. The Allies immediately clamp a tight security blanket over the whole affair and it is not until five years later that the public learns the whole truth.

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, A-20 Havocs, and RAF light bombers support ground forces in the Monte Trocchio area, and other B-25s, A-20s, and RAF and South African airplanes support ground forces near Sant' Ambrogio; more B-25s hit bridge and approaches near Chieti; fighters strafe trucks and trains while fighter-bombers blast gun positions along the U.S. Fifth and British Eighth Army fronts. .

     Thirty seven USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, with fighter escort, bomb the town area, railroad bridge and marshalling yard at Bolzano while B-26 Marauders achieve excellent results in a raid on a bridge south of Orvieto and the marshalling yard at Arezzo.

     During the night of 2/3 December, 11 RAF Bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb Arezzo marshalling yard.

YUGOSLAVIA: German forces begin a major operation against the partisan army of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, Commander in Chief Yugoslav Liberation Army.

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers hit harbors and shipping along the coast at or near Omis, Drvenicki, Trogir, Vrbnik, and Ston.

CHINA: Eighteen Japanese bombers and 30 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) attack Suichwan Airfield. Nine USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s intercept, shooting down one Japanese and two P-40s are lost;. Six P-40s on armed reconnaissance bomb villages between Sha Nyao and Chiao Tou Chieh; 16 others bomb Japanese positions northeast of Changte.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: USN submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) lands ammunition and stores, and evacuates certain people from Mindanao.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, over 50 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack the Borgen Bay area; 20 B-25s and B-26 Marauders hit Japanese forces in the Finschhafen area; and the Sio area is bombed by two B-24 Liberators.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, over 20 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit Malai and attack positions on the Porror River and Rigu Mission at Kieta; over 20 B-24 Liberators bomb Korovo and fighter patrols strafe the Chabai area.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Victoriaville laid down Levis, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Fifteen atomic scientists, including the Soviet spy Klaus Fuchs, arrive from Britain to join the atomic research project.

Washington, D.C., the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) authorize the Allied Expeditionary Air Force to attack "sky sites" in the Pas de Calais area and on the Cherbourg Peninsula in France, which RAF photography and British intelligence have virtually identified as Fieseler Fi 103 (V-1) missile-launching sites.

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