29 December 1943

UNITED KINGDOM: Admiral Ramsay RN is named as Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief, and Leigh-Mallory RAF, is confirmed in his appointment. (Doug Tidy)

That fine and frank book, Target Germany, which tells of the deeds of the 8th United States Army Air Force in its daylight bombing operations, pay tribute to the desperate courage of the German pilots, who come rushing in nose on through curtains of lead, closing to point-blank range, to try and tear up the Fortress formations.

Whether it is true that the Scharnhorst went down with colours flying I do not know; but it is in the manner of the German fighting man, and only those who have never met him in combat would think otherwise.

NETHERLANDS: Eleven RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines, seven in the Frisian Islands and four off Texel Island.

FRANCE: During the night of 29/30 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches Mosquitos to bomb suspected V-1 launching sites: three each aircraft bomb sites at Bristillerie and La Glacerie; seven Stirlings lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports, four off La Pallice and three off Gironde and four aircraft drop leaflets over Paris.

GERMANY: Berlin: RAF aircraft killed 182 civilians in a bombing raid last night, for the loss of 81 crewmen.

During the night of 29/30 December, RAF Bomber Command sends 712 aircraft, 457 Lancasters, 252 Halifaxes and three Mosquitos, to bomb Berlin; 656 aircraft bomb the target. A long approach route from the south, passing south of the Ruhr and then within 20 miles (32 kilometres) of Leipzig, together with Mosquito diversions at Düsseldorf, Leipzig and Magdeburg, cause the German controllers great difficulties and there are few fighters over Berlin. Bad weather on the outward route also keep down the number of German fighters finding the bomber stream. Twenty aircraft, 11 Lancasters and nine Halifaxes, are lost, 2.8 per cent of the force. Berlin is again cloud-covered. The Bomber Command report claiming a concentrated attack on skymarkers is not confirmed by the local report. The heaviest bombing is in the southern and south-eastern districts but many bombs also fell to the east of the city. Mosquitos are also active with eight bombing Magdeburg, six hitting Dusseldorf (four on the city and two on the Rheinmetall armaments factory), five attacking Leipzig and three bombing Leverkusen (two hitting the city and one bombing the I.G. Garben chemical plant.

U.S.S.R.: Korosten and Chernyakhov northwest of Kiev fall the Soviets as does Skvira to the southwest, in a massive Ukrainian breakthrough.

Destroyers HMCS Haida, Huron and Iroquois arrived Kola Inlet with Convoy JW-55B.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, No. 9 Commando makes a seaborne raid just north of the Garigliano River mouth to secure information for future operations. In the U.S. II Corps area, combat patrols of the 36th Infantry Division enter St. Vittore but are forced out. In the U.S. VI Corps sector south of the Atina road, French forces seize three hills on the eastern end of Mt. Monna Casale and dig in.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-36 Apaches attack the railway station at Ferentino, harbour and railroad yard at Civitavecchia, and truck park near Aquino. P-40s attack a railway station at Anagni..

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack the marshalling yard (M/Y) and bridge at Certaldo, the marshalling yards at Poggibonsi and the viaduct at Bucine, and a bridge in the north-western part of Orvieto; 76 B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the M/Y at Ferrara and 28 B-17s attack the M/Y at Rimini.

During the night of 29/30 December, six RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Voghera while a seventh aircraft hits the railroad bridge at Piacenza.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: In the Adriatic Sea on the north side of the Peljesac Peninsula in Yugoslavia, USAAF P-40s damage a vessel. French Submarine FS Protee was disarmed at Alexandria, Egypt and interned by the British on June 22, 1940. The ship rejoined the Allied fleet and was re-armed on May 30, 1943. Today she is sunk by German aircraft while on patrol between Toulon and Marseilles.

ALGERIA: Allied Force Headquarters informs U.S. Seventh Army planners of the general objectives of Operation ANVIL, the projected invasion of southern France.

CHINA: Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s on armed reconnaissance strafe the railroad station, yards, and town area at Hsipaw, hit numerous freight cars between Hsipaw and Mansam Falls, and attack railroad yards at Hopong. Three B-25 Mitchells on a shipping sweep along the Yangtze River sink an army cargo ship and a merchant cargo ship and damage an army cargo ship southwest of Wuhu.

BURMA: Continuing their attack to clear the Tarung River line, the Chinese 38th Division eliminates another Japanese strongpoint and forces the Japanese to break into small groups.

NEW GUINEA: Task Force MICHAELMAS issues formal orders for the invasion of Saidor, Northeast New Guinea. D-Day is tentatively set for 2 January.

In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit Madang; B-24 Liberators bomb bivouac and communications targets near Sio, and other B-24 Liberators fly a light attack against Manokwari, hitting the town and shipping.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Cape Gloucester: Three battalions of the 1st US Marine Division today made a strategic breakthrough in the South-west Pacific by taking an important airfield at Cape Gloucester, on the western coast of New Britain, four days after landing in force.

Early today Japanese Zeros began strafing the wrecked airfield which had been theirs only a few hours earlier. Once operational, the airfield will give the Allies air control of the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits between New Guinea and New Britain. Possession of these are essential to any further advance by MacArthur's forces along New Guinea's north coast. At the same time control of the straits severs one of the main supply routes to Japan's increasingly isolated South-west Pacific HQ at Rabaul, in New Britain.

The Cape airfield was taken after a flanking action that began four days ago when the 1st Marines, Guadalcanal veterans who have been recharged by a year in Australia, waded through the surf on the Cape's south and north coasts. Japanese resistance was non-existent in the uncharted and treacherous waist-deep bogs behind the southern beach-head. Once on the airfield road the 1st encountered mortar, machine-gun and rifle fire from 12 bunkers at a place immediately christened Hell's Point as tanks obliterated the concrete and bamboo defences at point-blank range, killing 266 Japanese.

The 5th Marine Regiment arrives to reinforce the beachhead and make a wide sweep inland toward the airfield to block a Japanese withdrawal. The Japanese makes another unsuccessful counterattack on the Arawe beachhead.

On New Britain Islands, over 120 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and B-26 Marauders attack positions at Cape Gloucester as the U.S. Marines take the airfield.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Philippine Sea, USS Silversides (SS-236) sinks three Japanese ships and damages a fourth off Palau.

U.S.A.: According to the Wyoming State Archives, quotas of bicycles for adults cut in half on this day in 1943, with Wyoming allotted 40. (Patrick Holscher)

Escort carrier USS Makassar Strait laid down.

Minesweeper USS Eager laid down.

Frigates USS Key West and New Bedford launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Riley and Martin H Ray launched.

Escort carrier USS Ommaney Bay launched.

Destroyer escort USS Naifeh laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-530 was forced to return to base after being rammed by the tanker Esso Buffalo.