December 5th, 1943 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US 8th Army Air force begins Operation Crossbow against German "Ski" rocket launch sites in northern France.
FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 149: Airfields in France are targeted and eight B-17 Flying Fortresses and a B-24 Liberator are lost. The targets are: (1) 216 B-17s are dispatched to Laleu Airfield at La Rochelle, St Jean and D'Angely Airfield, Bois and Ivry Airfields in Paris and D'Colombes Airfield; none hit the target due to weather. (2) 96 B-24s are dispatched to Chateaubernard Airfield Cognac; two hit St Nazaire as a target of opportunity. (3) 236 B-17s are dispatched to the Merignac air depot at Bordeaux; one1 hits the target. Eight B-17s are lost. These missions are escorted by 34 P-38 Lightnings and 266 P-47s plus 36 Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs.
Fifty two USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Ligescourt, Campagne-les-Hesdin, and Saint-Josse while 200 others are forced to abandon the mission because of heavy cloud cover over the targets, including V-weapon sites which the Ninth had scheduled to attack for the first time. Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs fly their first escort mission, accompanying Eighth Air Force heavy bombers in a raid against targets in the area near Amiens.
ITALY: Attacks and counterattacks mark the continued fight for possession of the summit of Monte Camino.
The Indian 8th Division crosses the river Moro, pushing towards the supply port of Ortona.
The first Italian internment camp specifically for the Jews was opened in Fossoli by Benito Mussolini's Italian Socialist Republic (RSI). By the end of the war, approximately one third of all Jews in Italy were either interned or exterminated.
In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, the Germans withdraw from Monastery Hill (963) since the position is threatened by 56th Division units, which move up toward Colic, west of the hill. The U.S. II Corps retains current positions on Mt. Ia Difensa and Mt. Maggiore, but they are being supplied only with great difficulty. The U.S. VI Corps remains in place, consolidating and patrolling. (John Nicholas)
In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps pushes toward Ortona, whose harbor can be used for supply, the Indian 8th Division crossing the Morn River. (John Nicholas)
Headquarters, USAAF Twelfth Air Force transfers from Tunisia to Italy.
Weather hampers Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations, but B-25 Mitchells manage to bomb a bridge at Pescara. Fighter- bombers and fighters (and a number of other Allied airplanes) hit gun positions south of Chieti, trains and trucks west of Aquino, bridges near Mignano and Ladispoli, the town of Arezzo, airfields at Piombino and Aviano, and building south of Garda Lake.
YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb a marshalling yard and shipyards at Split. Fighters hit a vessel in Poljud harbor (near Split).
EGYPT: At the Cairo Conference, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt decides on General Dwight D Eisenhower as the Supreme Allied Commander for Operation OVERLORD, the invasion of western Europe. Roosevelt accedes to British wishes that Operation BUCCANEER, the plan for amphibious operations in the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean, be canceled. The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) ask Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Commander Southeast Asia Command, to suggest an action to be taken in the event he loses most of his landing craft. The CCS also issue a directive for the organization of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) consolidating RAF and USAAF forces of the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) and Northwest African Air Force (NAAF). As to the Pacific, landings in the Bismarck Archipelago and the Marshall Islands are to be made in January 1944; Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands is to be taken by April 1944; Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea will be taken by June 1944; a nd the Mariana Islands are to be secured by October 1944.
INDIA: Japanese bombers make their first strategic daylight raid on Calcutta damaging dock area; 350 people are killed and 150 injured in the attack.
CHINA: Sixteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s over the Chang-te area damage several large supply sampans near Ansiang and strafe various targets of opportunity in the Tehshan and Hsutu Lake areas while 20+ P-40s on patrols over the Chang-te area attack numerous boats and other targets throughout the nearby lake region.
BURMA: During the night of 5/6 December, USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators mine waters in the Moulmein area while five others lay mines in the Rangoon River.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Japanese rearguard has orders stating "while avoiding any decisive engagement" to "carry out successive resistance to try to delay enemy advance." The rearguard is positioned at any natural obstacle while the main body of the Japanese 20th Division hurries north from Wateo.
In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit Japanese forces in the Finschhafen area while B-25 Mitchells, B-26 Marauders, and P-40s attack targets along the Bogadjim Road.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Forty USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island and A-20 Havocs destroy small craft off New Britain.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, 23 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 20+ USN SBD Dauntlesses hit the Monoitu, Aitara Mission, and Mosigetta area; fighter patrols hit several areas on Bougainville and on Shortland Island, including Chabai, Numa Numa, Mosigetta, Monoitu, and Faisi Island.
USN destroyers bombard the Choiseul Bay area on Choiseul Island. .
PACIFIC OCEAN: From Glen Boren's diary: Newsflash! Jap carrier sunk by sub. Monterey fighters shot down a betty, 6 miles from the task force. Scuttlebutt has it that a new raid is in store for us soon.
U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Capable commissioned.