December 7th, 1943 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Air Marshal Harris claims that he will win the war over the next several months with new support for the continuing attacks on Berlin and other German targets. His plan is to make 15,000 missions with 40 squadrons of Lancaster heavy bombers which will be operational in the next three months dropping 13,850 tons of bombs a month and "produce in Germany a state of devastation in which surrender is inevitable". He will actually make 14,500. The war does not end.
London: Severe justice will be meted out to many thousands of war criminals. So Viscount Simon, Britain's Lord Chancellor, told parliament today/. But he added: "There must be no mass executions of great numbers of nameless people. It must be justice administered to an individual." His comments come after Lord Vansittart, former head of the Foreign Office, had warned: "We shall not establish sanity in Germany without a considerable measure of sanitation. War criminals must be followed to the uttermost ends of the earth."
ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps makes an unsuccessful attack on Orsogna.
The U.S. Fifth Army begins the second phase of the assault on the Winter Line in the Mignano Gap. The U.S. II Corps begins envelopment movements against German positions in the St. Pietro area astride Highway 6. In preparation for the assault on Mt. Lungo, the Italian 1st Motorized Group relieves the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, on the southeastern nose (Hill 253); the 2d and 3d Battalions, 143d Infantry Regiment, prepare for a drive on St Pietro, moving forward to the line of departure on Cannavinelle Hill; the 1st Battalion, 143d Infantry Regiment jumps off toward Mt. Sammucro (Hill 1205) at 1700 hours and gains the crest before dawn of 8 December. On the northern flank, the 3d Ranger Battalion attacks at dusk toward Hill 950, 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) north of Mt. Sammucro. The German defenders absorb the attack well.
USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and A-36 Apaches bomb the harbor and town of Civitavecchia; B-25s also attack Pescara, hitting the railroad, road, and town area; A-36s, P-40s, and RAF Desert Air Force fighters hit a gun position west of Orsogna, the towns of Viticuso and San Vittoria, and a bridge at Civitella Roveto.
Heavy cloud cover severely restricts operations but one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-26 Marauder attacks a bridge south of Arma di Taggia.
EGYPT: The U.S. and British delegates conclude the SEXTANT Conference at Cairo. To gain landing craft for Operation ANVIL (the plan for the invasion of southern France), plans for amphibious operations against the Bay of Bengal are canceled. Plans for the north Burma campaign are unsettled. The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) set up a tentative timetable for the offensive against Japan as follows: seizure of the Marshall Islands and New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, January 1944; Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands, April 1944; Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, June 1944; and the Mariana Islands, October 1944. The CCS issue a directive establishing a unified command in the Mediterranean, effective 10 December. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom President Franklin D. Roosevelt has already decided to make commander of Operation OVERLORD (the Normandy invasion), is to be responsible for all operations in the Mediterranean except strategic bombing.
CEYLON: Since British Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Commander Southeast Asia Command, is ordered to release a large portion of his amphibious resources for use elsewhere, planning is begun for a limited operation (PIGSTICK) on the south Mayu Peninsula in Burma on the Bay of Bengal as a substitute for Operation BUCCANEER (amphibious operation in the Andaman Islands), subject to approval of Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
CHINA: Thirteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and escorting fighters attack Chang-te twice.
BURMA: Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s strafe freight cars between Mogaung and Myitkyina.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb troop encampments and dumps in the Finschhafen area and P-40s strafe boats and barges near Madang.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Eighteen USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells carry out strikes against Kahili and Kieta Harbor on Bougainville Island. Torokina Island is bombed by two Royal New Zealand (PV-1) Venturas on patrol.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Over 90 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells attack the Cape Gloucester and Borgen Bay areas on New Britain Island.
During the night of 7/8 December, 26 Australian Beauforts attack Borpop Aerodrome on New Ireland Island.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Glen Boren's diary: Raid on Naura postponed until the 8th.
MARSHALL ISLANDS: During the night of 6/7 December, 14 USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, staging through Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, hit targets on Maloelap and Wotje Atolls and six B-24s from Nukufetau Island in the Ellice Islands bomb Maloelap Atoll, and one other, failing to reach the primary, drops bombs on Mili Atoll. This date marks the beginning of Operation FLINTLOCK (operations against Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls).
U.S.A.: Battleship USS Wisconsin is launched. (Marc Small)
The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) accept the U.S. plan for a strategic air command, the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSAFE), to coordinate the operations of the USAAF Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces.
The escort aircraft carrier St. Andrews (CVE-49) is transferred to the British as HMS Queen (D 19). She is returned to the USN on 31 October 1946. This is the 31st escort aircraft carrier transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend Lease.