Posted on 07/01/2013 4:15:04 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/jul1943/f01jul43.htm
Romania and Italy consider quitting war
Thursday, July 1, 1943 www.onwar.com
In Rome... Marshal Antonescu, the Romanian leader, visits Mussolini to suggest that Italy, Romania and Hungary should leave the war together. Mussolini is unwilling to commit to such a move.
In the Solomon Islands... The marines from Segi Point capture Viru Harbor.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/frame.htm
July 1st, 1943 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMS Bamborough Castle laid down.
Destroyer HMS Saumarez commissioned.
GERMANY: U-986 is commissioned.
ITALY: Romanian Marshal Antonescu arrives in Rome. He meets with Mussolini suggesting the Italy, Hungary and Romania leave the war together. While he feels it is a sensible action at this time, he is afraid to take the lead with Hitler.
FINLAND: The founding meeting of Finnish-American Society is held. It’s chairman is Eljas Erkko, former minister of foreign affairs and the owner of Finland’s largest daily newspaper. Among the membership are MP’s from all the political parties, except from the ultra-right-wing Patriotic People’s League. Unsurprisingly, Germans react with fury, and demand that Finnish government blocks the Society’s registration process. This comes at a time when the Fenno-German diplomatic relations are already in bad shape, but Finns reject the German demand by stating that the Society is formed by private persons and there are no legal grounds why the its registration can’t be accepted.
NEW GUINEA: US forces advancing from Segi Point capture Viru harbour. In New Guinea, Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs support Australian troops that landed near Nassau Bay.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Japanese air attacks continue against Allied shipping off Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands in the morning. The IJN dispatches 40+ aircraft to attack Allied shipping off New Georgia Island. US Navy F4F Wildcat pilots shoot down four of 12 Aichi D3A Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers, Allied Code Name “Val” and one of 18 Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters, Allied Code Name “Zeke” off Rendova between 1015 and 1100 hours local. At the same time US Army Air Forces P-40s shoot down 9 “Vals” and 7 “Zekes” between Munda and Rendova Islands between 1020 and 1140 hours.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The USN submarine USS Gar (SS-206) lands commandoes on Timor Island.
PACIFIC: On 27 May 1943 USS Runner departed Midway Island for the Kurile Island chain and waters off northern Japan. No report was heard from her. Captured Japanese records indicated that she sank the cargo ship Seinan Maru on 11 June in Tsugaru Strait off Hokkaido, and the passenger-cargo ship Shinryu Maru on 26 June off the Kurile Islands. Runner was declared overdue and presumed lost in July 1943 and struck from the Navy list on 30 October 1943. Most likely she was mined. The loss date is an approximate one.
U.S.A.: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: In the Aleutian Islands, the 632d and 633d Bombardment Squadrons (Dive), 407th Bombardment Group (Dive) based at Drew Field, Tampa, Florida begin operating from Amchitka Island with Douglas A-24 Dauntlesses. The squadrons will return to Florida in August 1943.
CANADA: In 1941, the Canadian government decided to start a non-commercial transatlantic air service with air mail service to the Canadian military as the primary purpose. An RAF Avro Lancaster Mk. III, s/n R5727, was obtained and modified into a passenger aircraft and given the civil registration CF-CMS since it was to be operated by Trans-Canada Air Lines. The first flight across the Atlantic took place on the night of 1/2 July from Prestwick, Scotland to Dorval Airport, Montreal, Quebec via Iceland.
Corvette HMCS Shediac completed refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia and joined WLEF EG W-8.
U.S.A.: A memo by Major General Barney Mc Giles, Chief of the Air Staff, for General Henry H “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General, USAAF, stresses great need for more fighter escort for Eighth Air Force strategic bombing missions from England. The present ratio of less than one fighter group to four heavy bomber groups is held to be completely insufficient and a minimum ratio of one to two is suggested.
“Pay-as-you-go” income tax withholding begins in the U.S.
The second USS Satterlee (DD-626) is commissioned into the US fleet.
Destroyer USS Newcomb is launched.
Minesweepers USS Pirate, Pivot, Pledge, Project, Device and Diploma laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Haverfield and Merrill laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Fechteler and Moore commissioned.
Destroyer USS Satterlee commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
Bay of Biscay: With only a token force of seven U-boats remaining in the North Atlantic now that the “air gap” has been closed, British naval and air forces are being deployed to tackle the enemy in the Bay of Biscay. Substantial damage has been inflicted, and two weeks ago Admiral Dönitz ordered submarines to cross the bay submerged and in pairs.
More effective U-boat detection devices, plus Allied ability to read German codes, is still putting the German navy on the defensive, however. A particular target for the Allies are the “milch cows”, U-boat tankers which are used for refuelling other boats.
SS Tutóia sunk by U-513 at 24.43S, 47.19W.
I wonder how many Marine lives would have been saved if they followed the Navy’s Battle plans for the Pacific instead of MacArthur’s.
Well, how do Marine casualties compare in the Southwest Pacific Area versus those in the Pacific Ocean Areas?
ITALY: Romanian Marshal Antonescu arrives in Rome. He meets with Mussolini suggesting the Italy, Hungary and Romania leave the war together. While he feels it is a sensible action at this time, he is afraid to take the lead with Hitler.
FINLAND: The founding meeting of Finnish-American Society is held. It’s chairman is Eljas Erkko, former minister of foreign affairs and the owner of Finland’s largest daily newspaper. Among the membership are MP’s from all the political parties, except from the ultra-right-wing Patriotic People’s League. Unsurprisingly, Germans react with fury, and demand that Finnish government blocks the Society’s registration process. This comes at a time when the Fenno-German diplomatic relations are already in bad shape, but Finns reject the German demand by stating that the Society is formed by private persons and there are no legal grounds why the its registration can’t be accepted.
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The two stories above pretty much sum up the relationship between Germany and her allies/co-belligerents.
American soldiers took casualties wherever we faced the Japanese.
Having dual tracks across the South Pacific and Central Pacific axes was a valid strategy. It kept the Japanese off-balance and they had to divide their limited forces to both fronts, particularly in naval assets and increasingly scare merchant shipping. While there was competition for resources between MacArthur and Nimitz, American industry was able to adequately supply both drives.
We will see how this pays off next June when MacArthur lands forces on Biak at the northwest end of New Guinea, triggering the Japanese naval response in Operation KON. A few days later Nimitz lands Marines on Saipan, a far greater existential threat to the Japanese Empire. The Japanese have to hurriedly scrap Operation KON, and shift to A-Go, the plan to fight for the Marianas. The IJN carrier fleet and aviation is gutted at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, while MacArthur gets a pass to seize land within B-24 range of the Central Philippines.
Now, I would concede this was not exactly Gen. MacArthur's original idea but basically was forced on him by high command not giving him all the forces he needed to accomplish his original plan. The leapfrogging plan worked very well and got him where he wanted to go - the Philippines.
I see VP Wallace is still making himself obnoxious to Roosevelt’s irritation. Thank goodness. It would have been a disaster to have Wallace in charge instead of Truman when the Cold War began.
Yep. Considering how such a large quantity of Japanese raw materials passed through the South China Sea, retaking the Philippines would provide a base of operations from which the vital Japanese supply route could be strangled thereby greatly facilitating an eventual invasion of Japan.
Which was the greatest benefit of the dual axis strategy. The Southern route gave us the Philippines, which cut off Japan from her resource base. The Central Pacific route gave us bases in the Marianas for B-29s to commence bombing the homeland.
The foundation for this strategy is being set now, with Operation Cartwheel. The Japanese are being ground down in a war of attrition, particularly in the air, while the United States Navy gathers its strength. Despite the heavy losses of the Guadalcanal campaign, the IJN emerged tactically stronger than the USN. At one point, we were down to two damaged carriers, the Enterprise and Saratoga. The Japanese had two complete carrier divisions with fleet carriers Shokaku, Zuikaku, Junyo and Hiyo, and light carriers Ryuho and Zuiho. We also lost a lot of valuable cruisers and destroyers in the night actions. If the IJN had pushed a “decisive battle” a few months ago, I don’t know if we could have sortied in response to the challenge. However, Yamamoto threw away all his carrier pilots during Operation I-Go. So the sought after “decisive battle” was instead “No-Go.”
I made a funny.
This is a difficult question to answer. Any American action in the Central Pacific Area drew Japanese resources away from the Southwest Pacific Area of Operations and vice-versa.
Perhaps of greatest concern during 1942 was protecting Hawaii, preventing a Japanese invasion of Australia and islands south of the Solomons to New Zealand. This was accomplished on land in the southwest at the Kokoda Trail and Guadalcanal. Coral Sea, the Solomons and Midway accomplished this objective at sea.
In early 1943 with Japanese advances across the Pacific having been stopped, the strategic objective shifted to one of pushing back the Japanese.
Prior to the arrival of the B-29 in 1944 and greatly increased American naval capabilities versus the battered IJN, one might be justified in saying Central Pacific operations served primarily to prevent further Japanese gains, spread out Japanese resources, support allied Southwest Pacific operations (Solomons and Coral Sea) and push back the Japanese (Makin Island Raid 8/43, Gilbert and Marshals campaign 11/43-2/44).
Once the B-29 became available and it's use from forward Chinese bases against portions of Japan proved to be too resource intensive, the Central Pacific operation took on a greater strategic role. FDR knowing about a maturing Manhattan Project certainly influenced resource allocation towards seizing islands in the Central Pacific Area of Operations (Marianas 6/44) from which B-29 strategic bombing of Japan could take place.
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