http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/apr1943/f29apr43.htm
British 8th Army takes Sidi Abdallah
Thursday, April 29, 1943 www.onwar.com
In North Africa... British forces capture Sidi Abdallah.
In Berlin... Hitler meets with the prime minister of Vichy France, Pierre Laval.
In Occupied Poland... A German sponsored 11 member “International Medical Commission” dissects 8 Polish corpses, found at Katyn, and reports that Soviet forces committed the massacre in the spring of 1940, using German small arms.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
April 29th, 1943 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The RAF has converted key areas of the Baltic into a minefield which paralyses shipping. Known to aircrew by the codeword “Gardening” (because areas where mines are laid are named after flowers), mine-laying is a little-publicized form of warfare, yet one which can have deadly results for U-boats on their way to patrol or training areas. Almost 11,400 mines were dropped by Bomber Command last year in spite of heavy flak from ships. In all, 23 aircraft were lost in last night’s mission.
Escort carrier HMS Striker commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: U-861, U-981, U-982 launched.
U-975 commissioned.
U-870, U-1233 laid down.
(Dave Shirlaw)
NORWAY: Six British commandos place limpet mines on German ships, but are caught by a patrol.
U.S.S.R.: A series of minor attacks in the Caucasus slowly pushes the Germans back.
TUNISIA: 2nd Lt. Louis Curdes, USAAF, 82nd FG, 95th FS, shoots down three German Me-109s and damages a fourth near Cap Bon. (Stuart Kohn)
AUSTRALIA: 79 Sqn RAAF move to Wooloomanata, a station and extemporised airfield near Geelong. (Daniel Ross)
U.S.A.: The motion picture “Mission to Moscow” is previewed at the Earle Theatre in Washington, D.C. to members of the government and the press. Directed by Michael Curtiz, it stars Walter Huston, Oscar Homolka, George Tobias and Gene Lockhart. This propaganda film about the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow, Joseph Davies, in the 1930s contains interesting insights into America’s concepts of the USSR before World War II.
The documentary short “Mission Accomplished” is released in the U.S. This ten-minute film details the first high-altitude daylight bombing of Germany by USAAF B-17 bombers. (Jack McKillop)
Submarine USS Becuna laid down.
Destroyer escort USS Jacob Jones commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: A U-boat sinks five merchant ships off the West African coast.
One man was lost when a 461 Sqn Sunderland attacked U-119.
U-332 sunk in the Bay of Biscay north of Cape Finisterre, Spain, in position 45.08N, 09.33W, by depth charges from an RAF 224 Sqn Liberator. 45 dead (all hands lost).
At 2334, the Nanking was hit in the bow by one of two torpedoes fired by U-123 and sank at 0013 after being missed by a coup de grâce twelve minutes earlier.
At 0924, U-258 fired torpedoes at Convoy ONS-5 and reported hits on three ships. However, only one torpedo hit the McKeesport, the other torpedoes detonated away from the convoy after missing the ship, which had been in station #42 but had fallen slightly astern. The torpedo struck on the starboard side at the collision bulkhead and the #1 hold. The explosion blew out all beams, hatches and ballast, put the steering gear out of order and opened a large hole. The ship continued at full speed for 45 minutes, but developed a list of 20° to port and began to sink further by the head. Then the twelve officers, 31 crewmen and 25 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and nine 20mm guns) abandoned ship in four lifeboats. Due to the list, they had difficulties to launch the boats; some of them became tangled in the lifenets. The survivors were picked up within 30 minutes by armed trawler HMS Northern Gem and landed on 8 May at St John’s, but one men died of exposure on the vessel. HMS Tay was ordered to sink the ship by gunfire, but apparently the vessel stayed afloat and was sunk at 1455 by two coup de grâce from U-258. (Dave Shirlaw)
Do you have the complete Morganthau story? The one about forced savings?