December 15th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF Ninth Air Force comes under operational control of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF). A new directive for tactical bomber operations lists reduction of enemy fighter forces as the basic objective. A Ninth Air Force planning staff, composed of officers who have had service with the Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC), is set up in London.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Colsay launched.
INTERNATIONAL: The Soviet Union, the U.S. and the U.K. break off diplomatic relations with the Yugoslav government-in-exile and recognize Marshal Josip Broz Tito's Communist Popular Liberation Committee as the government-to-be of the country.
GERMANY: During the night of 15/16 December, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb four targets: four aircraft bomb Bochum with three hitting the Vereinigte Stahl armaments factory and one bombing the city, three bomb Leverkusen and one bombs Cologne.
AUSTRIA: Forty eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt escorts, bomb the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck; one aircraft is lost.
ITALY: The Fifth Army attacks along the length of the Reinhard Line; the Moroccan troops secure the San Michel Pass, but the Germans put up strong resistance.
US II Corps begins an attack toward Montte Lungo and San Pietro. Hollywood director John Huston, serving as a US Army lieutenant, filmed the battle.
The U.S. Fifth Army renews their offensive against the Reinhard (Winter) Line before dawn. On the II Corps' southern flank, the 142d Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, opens an attack on Mt. Lungo from the south at dusk and advances rapidly. The second battle for St. Pietro opens about noon, with the 143d Infantry Regiment ( ) attacking from the slopes of Mt. Sammucro and the 2d Battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment advancing from Mt. Rotondo area. Progress is slow and costly. The 1st Battalion of the 143d Infantry Regiment, with the 2d Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment to its right, begins an attack on western slopes of Mt. Sammucro shortly after midnight, during the night of 14/15 December. Paratroopers suffer heavy casualties during a fruitless attempt to take Hill 687; the 1st Battalion is pinned down short of Hill 730. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division, on the southern flank of the corps, begins an attack toward the heights dominating La Rava Creek on the left and toward Lagone on the right: the 157th Infantry Regiment gains positions on Hills 640 and 470, north of La Rava Creek, and makes a futile attempt to clear Fialla Hill and Hill 770, south of the creek; the 179th Infantry Regiment is stopped short of Lagone; a platoon of 45th Reconnaissance Troop fails in an attempt to clear a hill just north of Lagone, but elements of the 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, occupy La Bandita, farther north, without opposition after nightfall. On the northern flank of VI Corps, the 8th Rifle Regiment of the 2d Moroccan Division seizes Mt. Castelnuovo and St. Michele Pass. (Jack McKillop & Gene Hanson)
USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs bomb roads at Pontecorvo and north of Frosinone while fighter-bombers attack gun positions along the U.S. Fifth Army front.
Fifty two USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses. with P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt escorts, bomb a marshalling yard at Bolzano while 45 B-24 Liberators, with P-38 escort, attack a railroad bridge and a viaduct at Avisio. All targets suffer considerable damage.
YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the airfield at Mostar and A-36 Apache and P-40 fighter-bombers attack vessels, vehicles, and parked aircraft north and east of the Peljesac Peninsula, near Mostar, and at the Zemonico landing ground.
EUROPE: Allied bombers raid Piraeus harbour and Greek airfield, and attack Innsbruck and Bolzano in the Tyrol.
INDIA: Eastern Air Command (EAC), a combined US-British air command, is formed under Lieutenant General George E Stratemeyer (USAAF), with Air Vice Marshall Thomas M Williams (RAF) as Assistant Commander. HQ, at New Delhi, will control all operational air units in Assam and Burma which presently make up the USAAF Tenth Air Force and RAF Bengal Air Command. Major components of EAC are to be the Third Tactical Air Force under Air Marshall Sir John E Baldwin (RAF), Strategic Air Force under Brigadier General Howard C Davidson (USAAF), Troop Carrier Command under Brigadier General William D Old (USAAF), and Photo Reconnaissance Force under Group Captain Stewart G Wise (RAF). The Strategic Air Force and Troop Carrier Command are activated on this date, the former having headquarters at Belvedere Palace, Calcutta and the latter at Comilla.
CHINA: Twenty five USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s strafe parked aircraft, trucks, and several buildings at Pailochi destroying at least three Japanese airplanes. Sixteen P-40s on armed reconnaissance strafe the towns of Owchihkow and Shihshow while six others attack the town of Luchiangpa and villages in the area.
BURMA: In the north, the 1st Battalion, of 114th Infantry Regiment, Chinese 38th Infantry Division, tries unsuccessfully to relieve the isolated 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment. After the attack, the Japanese return to their previous positions, which they proceed to strengthen.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 112th Cavalry Regiment lands on Arawe Island near New Britain. This is a diversionary move for the landings on New Britain later this month. Admiral Barbey with US naval TF 76 provides naval support.
Army Major General Oscar Griswold, Commanding General XIV Corps, relieves Marine Major General Roy Geiger, Commanding General I Amphibious Corps, of responsibility for the Bougainville beachhead, where the final defensive perimeter is virtually secure, although the 21st Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, is still clearing the heights near the beachhead.
Twenty one USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators strike Sohano Island. On Bougainville, six B-25 Mitchells hit installations in the Numa Numa-Arigua area; 23 B-25 Mitchells and 16 fighters attack Buka Island, causing heavy damage in the Chinatown area; and P-40s destroy a bridge at Runai. Numerous targets of opportunity are attacked by USAAF aircraft, operating individually and in small flights, on armed reconnaissance over Bougainville and other northern Solomons areas.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Operation DEXTERITY opens when, as a preliminary to the main invasion of New Britain Island, USN Task Force 76 (Rear Adm Daniel E. Barbey) lands Task Force DIRECTOR, the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) reinforced under command of Brigadier General Julian W. Cunningham, USA, on the coast of Arawe Peninsula about 0700 hours local, after naval gunfire and aerial bombardment. Scattered opposition on the peninsula is overcome without difficulty. Before the main landing, cavalrymen try in vain to make surprise landings at Umtingalu, on the mainland east of the peninsula, and on Pilelo islet. Despite alerted Japanese forces, Troop B succeeds in landing on Pilelo and quickly clears it. Japanese planes are active against troops and shipping, attacking at frequent intervals during this and the next few days. Plans to use Arawe as a base for light naval forces never materialize, nor is the site used as an air base. The plan for the Cape Gloucester landing is amend ed to increase the size of initial assault force and limit the objective of the secondary landing.
USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells pound villages in the Arawe area; B-24 Liberators bomb Cape Gloucester while P-39 Airacobras strafe barges at Reiss Point.
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Twenty USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Nanumea Island in the Ellice Islands, hit Maloelap Atoll; one aircraft is lost. Ten B-24s, staging from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands through Baker Island, bomb Wotje Atoll.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Lakona, 15 miles north of Finschhafen, is captured by Australian forces. The road from Lae to Nadzab is completed.
PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Gulf of Tonkin off French Indochina, two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a sea sweep claim an ocean-going tug sunk.
CANADA: Submarine HMS L-23 arrived Halifax, Nova Scotia for ASW training.
U.S.A.: During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "German Winter Warfare." (William L. Howard)
Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular Letter on non-discrimination in Navy V-12 program.
Light fleet carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) commissioned.
Destroyer escorts USS Cates and J Douglas Blackwood commissioned.
Escort carrier USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Thomas F Nickel laid down.
Destroyer HMS Volage launched.
Destroyer escort USS Holton launched.